Page 23 of Awake in Cheshire Bay

He tipped his head to the side. “Ja, sure.”

A drunk cowboy staggered out the door as we were passing by. “Evenin’ miss.” His words were slurred, and his breath reeked of too much gin.

I tried my best to ignore him, but he grabbed my arm.

“I said, evenin’.”

“You’d better let go of me.” I bored into his eyes, determination tightening my muscles as I readied for action. He was taller than me and thick through the shoulders, but if he didn’t let go, he was going to find himself in a world of pain.

Instead, the jerk laughed.

Before I had a chance to show this guy he messed with the wrong gal, Antonio grabbed the guy by the shirt collar. Unfortunately, in my surprise reaction, I had not anticipated on Antonio pushing me out of the way, and I misstepped, slamming into the wall and cracking my head. As the guys roared, I slid down to the ground, covering myself.

Chapter Eight

I looked up and stared around Antonio, over to the cowboy who had his fists up, ready for a fight.

“Leave. Now.” His voice commanded attention, as the murmuring ceased, and all eyes readied for a showdown. Antonio inched closer to me, putting distance between him and the cowjerk.

Apparently, cowjerk had an ounce of smarts as he skedaddled away.

Antonio bent down to help me up. “Let us get help.”

I rubbed the back of my skull and blinked a few times to focus. It smarted, but there was no blood. “I’m okay. Stunned, but okay.”

He shielded me from the crowd and pointed to a nearby lookout. “There.” Arm wrapped tightly around my shoulders, he guided me over to one of the unoccupied benches. “Sit.”

It was a good idea as my legs were quivering from the adrenaline my body was trying to burn off.

I really should’ve gotten into a better stance; it would’ve prevented me from making contact with the wall, but I’d been ready for the cowjerk’s move, not Antonio’s. I pulled my legs up under me and tucked my head onto my knees.

Antonio’s hand rested between my shoulder blades. “You safe now.”

Tears I didn’t want to fall betrayed that request, and silently slipped down over my cheeks, although there was no reason for them. Nothing had happened, and nothing likely would’ve happened. Still, I kept my head hidden from Antonio, but no doubt, he felt the shaking in my chest since he pressed himself into me and wrapped me tighter in his arms. It only took a minute to gain control, but it was enough for the fault in my armour to have shown.

I needed a distraction. “Tell me about your family. Anything.”

His chest rose and fell beneath my cheek, and his fingers rubbed my arm. “Mother and Father live Malta, in Mediterranean Sea. My sister, Maia, live in Naples.”

Oh geez, he was Italian. My heart pounded at the thought of sitting beside a rich, handsome, and charming Italian.

“I baby in Barcelona but live in Germany most of life.”

“Wow. You’re really a world traveller.” I stayed in his arms even though I desperately wanted to look up into his eyes.

“Ja. German was language one, Spanish two, Croatian three.”

“Croatian?” Geography wasn’t at the top of my favourite subjects, so I tried hard to picture where that was in relation to the others. I wasn’t successful because I didn’t think it was anywhere near the Mediterranean Sea. “How many languages do you speak?”

“Nine.”

Nine? Wowsers. How unskilled was I? I knew English and a little bit of the local Haida language, but only what was common knowledge, and I only knew the written words. If someone spoke it to me, I was lost in translation.

“I learned English for girl.”

I pushed out of the embrace and stared at him. “Oh yeah? A romantic, are you? Picked up a new language to impress a girl?” It was sweet.

“Emelia was to be wife.”