Butterflies swarmed in her belly. “I’m sorry for giving you a hard time at work. I know you were just looking out for me. The truth is, I hate feeling like I need protecting at all, in any situation, but I’m thankful you were there for me last night.”

He looked like he wanted to say something more, his emotions so potent, she could feel him struggling to hold back whatever it was. She opened her mouth to ask at the same moment he lifted his hand and brushed her hair away from the bandage above her brow. It was such an intimate, tender touch, words failed her. His expression softened, his eyes trailing over the bandage, the scrapes on her cheeks, and gazed so deeply into her eyes, she thought he was going to kiss her. A heaviness pulsed around them like nothing she’d ever felt before. Her heart raced, and she held her breath, silently willing him to do it, or to say whatever he was feeling. A knock sounded at the front door, startling her and breaking their connection. Diesel’s jaw tightened, his expression chilled, and he stepped back, restacking that wall of bricks around him.

“That’ll be Red and the girls,” he said gruffly. “I’ll get out of your hair.”

He headed for the front door, and the air rushed from her lungs. Her mind was a fog of confusion. She’d never met a man so hard and visceral he could sweep her into his vortex without a single word and leave her feeling like a different person when he walked away.

The sounds of her friends’ voices and fast footfalls heading toward the kitchen jarred her from her thoughts just as Josie and Sarah burst into the room with Dixie, Finlay, and Crystal on their heels, enveloping her in a group hug that made her wince with pain.

“Ow, careful,” Tracey pleaded.

“Sorry,” Sarah said. She was the older of the two sisters, a little taller and blonder than Josie.

“We’ve been so worried about you.” Josie was holding a bag from her gingerbread shop.

“Are you okay?” Finlay asked.

Dixie planted a hand on her hip. “Diesel should have killed those bastards. I knew they were douchebags.”

“How about you give her a second to breathe, ladies?” Red said as she walked into the kitchen with Penny and their other friends, Roni and Gemma. Red took Tracey’s hands, holding them tight. “I’m going to hug you very lightly, because Biggs said you got thrown around pretty badly, but my mama heart needs to do it, okay?”

How could words alone make Tracey feel like crying? Not for the first time, and she was sure not for the last, she wished she’d had someone like Red around when she’d been with Dennis. Maybe if she had, she wouldn’t have stayed for so long.