“Every time I look around, your regulars are glaring at me. Why do I feel like some red-headed step-child?”

She glanced around the bar and realized he was right. Maybe coming here with Trey had been a mistake. She hadn’t brought a date here since the night… A chill ran through her. “Don’t worry about it,” she said and reached for her beer.

“I’m not worried.” He lifted her chin until she met his eyes. “I’m curious.”

Her chest tightened because she hadn’t discussed that night with anyone outside the bar besides Allison and Logan in nearly a year. “You were honest with me. I guess I owe you the same.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” He clasped her shoulder with a gentle, reaffirming touch. “I just want to understand what’s going on.”

A swirl of apprehension snaked through her gut. She didn’t want to talk about Trevor. Not tonight. But Trey deserved to know the truth, the same respect he’d given her when he’d bared his soul about his past. “It’s a long story.”

He set his elbow on the bar and propped his chin in his hand. “I’ve got nothing but time.”

His powerful presence and total attentiveness overwhelmed her. She scraped her beer label with her thumbnail. “It’ll sound stupid.”

“Nothing you say could ever sound stupid.” The sincerity on his handsome face soothed her nerves.

“Okay.” She exhaled a slow breath. “The majority of the guys I dated I’d met in the military or, later, men with similar careers in IT. Around the time Allison started working at Stone Security, I decided to try online dating.”

Trey straightened. “I would’ve expected you to go that route first. Being a technology pioneer and all.”

She shrugged. “I’d heard mixed reviews. Other women’s bad experiences left me leery. Finally, I decided what the heck, I’ll give it a shot. I viewed plenty of profiles, but no one really stood out or clicked. When Allison and Logan got together, and I saw the amazing connection they shared. While I wasn’t looking for forever, I missed spending time with someone.”

“They’re a great couple,” he agreed. “Those two were definitely meant for each other.”

She nodded. “The same week Allison found out she was pregnant with Logan’s baby, I received a message from the online dating service, from a man who struck me as unique and fascinating. He had military experience like me, and had gone on to pursue espionage tracking, cryptography, and he’d traveled all over the world.”

“Sounds like the whole package,” Trey muttered, taking a long pull from his beer.

“Sounded like that to me, too. We chatted through emails and texts, and the more we talked, the more I fell for him. When he asked to meet me for our first date, I suggested Jake’s.”

“Here?”

“I know everyone and thought it would be a safe, neutral place. If he turned out to be a cretin or the hunchback of Notre Dame, I knew my regulars here would have my back.”

“Did they?” Trey asked, shooting dark looks at Mo and Mitch.

“I never got through the door.” Terror and humiliation welled up in her throat at the memory, as if the incident happened yesterday. “I parked my car, got out, locked my doors, and when I turned around this guy was in my face.” She swallowed. “Without a word, he hit me, tied me up, and threw me in the back of his van.”

“Jesus.” Trey’s jaw clenched. His dark eyes were pools of compassion and anger. “I’m sorry, Devon.”

She focused on the beer label half-mauled by her fingernail. “I woke up to find myself bound and dumped on my couch.” Her eyes stung. “Like last week’s garbage.”

“Who the hell was this guy?”

“Trevor Hurtz, Allison’s psychotic, stalker ex-husband. He used me to get to her.”

Trey gritted his teeth. “You got the shit end of that stick all the way around.”

Nodding, she drained the bottom-third of her beer. “I wasn’t going to let him beat me. I came back to Jake’s a week after the incident, faced my fears, and told them what happened. Now they’re a little protective of me.”

“I can see why.” He glanced at Mo and Mitch again, this time with a newfound understanding weighting his gaze.

“Really, it’s no big deal. I got over it.” She really wished she hadn’t finished the last of her beer. She could use a little more liquid courage.

Trey motioned to Mitch and held up two fingers. Two more shots arrived. Trey slid the empty beer out of her grasp and supplied her with a fresh one. She took several swallows, the whisky-and-beer combination making her head swim, a blessed relief from that horrible memory.

“It’s kind of amazing you didn’t let that trap you or stop you from living your life.”

Although, according to Allison, she was limiting herself by not accepting new opportunities to date. Well, she thought, notching up her chin. I’m sitting next to one fine opportunity right now.

She snapped out of her dismal circumspection. “Anyway, sorry you had to endure the guys’ concerns about you. But if I brought you in here, they have to know I trust you.”

Trey lifted his second shot glass. “Here’s to starting over, and to finding the right man who’ll treat you like the treasure you are.”

She blinked away the sudden spring of tears and laughed, surprised how much lighter she felt telling him the dark truth that had haunted her for a year. “To waiting until a good one comes along.”

They drank to the toast and set their empty shot glasses on the bar. His broad hand brushed the back of her neck, sending a welcome chill across her shoulders.

He took a swig of his beer and sucked the foam off his upper lip. Then he ran his warm palm down her back. “Want to shoot some pool?”

Immensely relieved he’d changed the subject, she nodded. “I admit it’s been a while since I played. You’ll probably be embarrassed by my lack of skill.”

His eyes hooded seductively. “We’ll take it slow. Ease you back into the game.”

She wondered if he was talking about billiards or sex. Desire tightened in her abdomen. “Let’s hit the jukebox first. This place is too quiet. We need some tunes.”

With his hand planted firmly on her lower back, he steered her through the crowd of regulars. A few waved and smiled as she passed, asking how she’d been. She greeted them distractedly, her attention focused on how good it felt to be touched. Treated with care. Protected. Claimed.