“It’s not your fault, Victoria.” His mother’s voice was calm and soothing, the tone she used when someone was upset. “Men like him are always looking for an opportunity to hurt women.”
Some bastard had hurt Victoria?
Sweat trickled down Eric’s back and chest as he listened, rooted to the spot.
“I can’t believe I trusted him.” Victoria sniffed. “He used me. He humiliated me, and he enjoyed it. He almost destroyed my life.”
“He’s in prison now, and that’s right where he deserves to be.”
Prison?
What the hell?
What had the bastard done?
A dozen ideas flashed through Eric’s mind, none of them pretty.
If she wanted you to know, she’d have told you.
Taylor and Lexi knew. That’s why Taylor had warned him about her.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to trust myself when it comes to men again. I was sostupid.” Victoria spat the last word out, her rage at herself palpable.
“No, you weren’t. There’s no way you could have known what kind of man he truly was. But you know what? I don’t hear the lawnmower. Eric will be back inside in a minute.”
Another sniff. “I don’t want him to see me like this.”
Well, shit.
His mother had always been someone that people trusted, someone they confided in, someone they turned to for support, so it didn’t surprise him that Victoria had opened up to her. But Victoria needed more time, and Eric knew how he could give it to her.
He stepped inside, let the screen door slam good and hard behind him. “Hey, Mom, I’m heading to the auto-parts store to get that cap for your transmission fluid tank. I’ll be back as soon as I can be.”
“Okay, son. Thank you!”
He grabbed the T-shirt he’d tossed onto the floor a few hours ago, yanked it over his head, and stepped outside again, cutting across the yard to his pickup, which sat parked at the curb. He jerked open the door, threw himself into the driver’s seat, then jammed the keys into the ignition. Only when he nearly missed the stop sign at the end of the block did he realize how tense he was.
No, not tense. Angry.
He was pissed off that Taylor hadn’t trusted him with the whole story. He was pissed off that all he had to go on were the ideas his imagination was churning up one after the other. Mostly he was pissed at the son of a bitch who’d hurt her.
Damn it.
He had no tolerance for men who abused women.
Then again, why was he so worked up over this? Sure, he felt compassion for Victoria, but then he felt compassion for anyone who was suffering. But what was with the rage? He was getting primal and protective over her, and he barely knew her. She was the friend of a friend who happened to cross his path. Next Sunday, she’d get on a plane and fly back to Chicago. He’d see her now and again when she came to Scarlet to visit Lexi, and that was it.
You’re falling for her.
A laugh burst from between his lips.
Thatwas loco. Absurd. Completely insane.
Hell, yeah, he was attracted to her. She’d been on his mind a lot since she’d arrived. But there was no chance he and Victoria were going to get together. He didn’t do relationships. He didn’t even have time to get laid these days.
That was it. He was horny.
You’re always horny.