ran to the door. Shoved it open. Said something hard and loud and absolutely ugly.
The man swung toward him.
“What the hell do you want?” he snarled. “This is none of your business. Go on, get the eff out of here!”
Caleb looked at the woman. Her eyes were enormous, her face pale despite the heavy layers of makeup. One strap of her dress was torn and the bodice was falling down.
“Are you all right?”
“He was going to—” Her voice broke. “He was going to—”
“Hey, pal. You deaf? I told you to get the eff out of—”
The man was just about Caleb’s size. He had a muscled body, same as Caleb.
But there was a difference.
One of them was all lust and ego.
The other was all righteous rage.
Caleb went straight at him.
It didn’t take very long. A couple of quick rights, a left to the gut and the son of a bitch staggered and clutched his belly.
“I was just having some fun,” he said.
Caleb’s smile was all teeth.
“So am I,” he said, and hit him one last time.
That was the blow that did it. The guy fell back, hit the wall and went down it, slow and easy, until he lay right where he belonged.
On the floor, at the waitress’s feet.
Caleb looked at him, wiped his hands on his trousers, then looked at the woman. She was even paler than she’d been moments ago.
“Hey,” he said softly.
Her eyes flew to his.
“It’s okay,” he said.
He saw her throat constrict as she swallowed.
“He’s—he’s been after me all night.”
The words were a rusty whisper. She was starting to tremble. Caleb cursed softly, stripped off his suit coat and held it toward her.
“Put this on.”
“I tried to get rid of him but he wouldn’t leave me alone.” A shudder went through her; she looked at Caleb again. “And then he—he grabbed me. And—and he pushed me in here.
And—and—”
Caleb stepped forward, started to wrap the jacket around her. She jumped at the feel of his hands.
“Easy,” he said as softly as if she were one of the fillies he used to tame when he was a kid, working with the ranch hands at El Sueño.
Carefully, he draped his jacket around her shoulders. It covered her from her throat to her knees.
“Come on,” he said. “Put your arms through the sleeves.”
She did. And even more carefully, making sure he didn’t let his hands brush against her, he snugged the lapels together and closed the buttons.
She trembled, but she let him do it.
Her attacker moaned.
Caleb looked down at him. The man’s nose was pouring blood, and angled crookedly across his face. One eye was swollen shut.
Not enough, Caleb thought coldly.
The woman seemed to sense it. She touched his arm.
“Please, could you get me out of this place?”
“Shall I call the police?”
She shook her head.
“No. The publicity … And—and he didn’t—he didn’t … He never had the chance to—to do more than—than touch me. You got here before he could—” She drew a deep breath. “I just want to go home.”
Caleb nodded. It was an excellent idea—until he thought of shoving through the crowd outside.
“Is there a back entrance?”
“Yes. That door, behind you … It leads to a delivery bay.”
In his rage, he hadn’t noticed the door but he saw it now, in the rear wall.
“I’m going to put my arm around your shoulders,” he said. “Just to play it safe. Okay?”
She looked up at him. Her face was streaked with mascara. Her mouth was trembling, and he thought he had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.
“Okay?” he repeated.
“Yes.”
Caleb put his arm around her. She stiffened but she didn’t pull free. They walked to the door; he pulled it open.
The street outside was dark and deserted. He’d stepped into enough streets like it, back in his Agency days, to feel every sense come alive.
“Stay close,” he said softly.
She burrowed against him as the door clicked shut. She felt delicate, almost fragile in the curve of his arm.
He wanted to go back into the club and pound his fist into the face of the bastard who’d hurt her again.
But he couldn’t.
She needed him.
And he needed wheels. He’d come here by taxi but from the looks of things, it might take a long time for one to cruise by.
They walked to the corner. Caleb took out his cell phone and hit the pre-programmed number for the private car service he used when he was in New York. He was in luck. One of their limousines had just dropped off somebody only a couple of blocks away.
He held her close while they waited. A couple of minutes was all it took before a long black car pulled to the curb. The driver sprang out and opened the rear door.
The girl turned toward Caleb.
“Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“I don’t even know your name.”
He was tempted to say he’d introduced himself earlier but she obviously didn’t remember the incident. Besides, he wasn’t proud of it.
“Caleb,” he said. “And you’re …?”
“Sage.”
The name suited her. Sage grew
