Burning Touch

Excerpt from: Burning Touch

“I’ll be okay. Thanks for a nice evening.” Halle James tried not to gag as she spoke the words that were a bold faced lie. She gave her friend Kathryn a look that clearly said they would be talking about all that had happened that night. Kathryn winced then came to her.

“I’m sorry,” Kathryn said softly as she hugged her.

“You owe me big,” Halle replied in an equally soft voice.

Kathryn stepped back and went to her husband Chris. They both glared at the man named Dillon whom Halle had dubbed as octopus. Dillon returned the look and sauntered down the block whistling. She sighed and waved at her friends as she walked away from them. Her skin still crawled at the memory of the dinner she’d just had with her friends. They’d been matchmaking again. Dillon, the octopus, had groped her all evening until she’d finally had enough. When she had told him she would cut off his hands if he didn’t keep them to himself, he hadn’t even blinked. He just leered and said he liked it rough.

She’d had seen the look of fury on Chris’ face and had known he was about to deck Dillon. Although she would have enjoyed seeing her date sprawled on his ass, Halle hadn’t wanted a scene. To alleviate the brewing fight, she’d gotten up to leave. Her friends had followed her, as well as the Octopus, outside the restaurant where they’d been having dinner. Dillon was so oblivious to the ass beating he was about to get he’d made another salacious comment. Chris had lunged at him. Dillon was quick on his feet and moved out of the way. It had taken both her and Kathryn to calm Chris down. Instead of leaving, Dillon had stuck around a little distance from them and acted offended. Making a nuisance of himself, he said he didn’t know what their problem was.

Shaking off the thoughts of the evening, Halle swore silently. Her friends didn’t get that she wasn’t interested in them finding her a man whom they thought was perfect for her. Each time they’d tried had been one disaster after another. When she’d asked them to stop, they had backed off for a bit then the matchmaking had started again.

“Tonight is the last straw,” Halle vowed.