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were more than three feet apart, her standing and him on the bench. Definitely G-rated stuff.
    Trevor stepped into her personal space enough to see the dusting of hairs on his upper lip. “My mother was staff. She has certain privileges. You had better start following directions or you won’t have this job. I can replace you.”
    The restraint she’d held onto broke, but her courage soared. “You know what? I quit. I don’t need this shit from you. The library over in Bainbridge had an opening for a part-time librarian in the children’s section. I’ll go over there. I’d rather work with kids anyway.”
    “You can’t quit. I’m firing you.” The veins in Trevor’s neck bulged and his voice cracked when he spoke. “I’ll make sure Bainbridge and anywhere else you want to go to won’t hire you.”
    “Whatever.” She turned to Sam. “Give me fifteen minutes to collect my stuff. We can leave when I get done.”
    ****
    Sam stood face to face with Trevor. He loved the way Emma held her ground against her boss. Loved her courage and her pluck. Trevor? Yeah, he wanted to rip the punk a new asshole.
    “She was so much better when you weren’t here,” Trevor snapped. “Go back to your motorcycle club and leave her alone.”
    “Motorcycle club?” Sam folded his arms, flexing the muscle in his biceps. The shit didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. “Rose didn’t mention how she knew me, did she?”
    “No. She deals with all sorts so I’m sure it was at some community event. She’s better with charitable events than I am.” He tipped his chin and smirked. “I bet you’ve never been to a library before now.”
    “I’m with the Gates Mills Police Department. Officer Rhodes, to you. I helped collect books for the kids book drive at Christmas. We bring the cars and K-9 officers over for Men in Uniform Day and provided the roulette wheel for the fundraiser. I might not hang out at the library, but I am very visible in the community. Does that satisfy you or should I go on?”
    “Fuck.”
    “Yeah.” He widened his stance and stared down at the smaller man. “If you want to keep good staff, you can’t abuse them. You can’t shout at them because they aren’t interested in getting horizontal with you. She did her job and damned good one from what I’ve heard. Lay off Emma.”
    “And you’ll do what?”
    The shit wanted to press his luck? Fine, he’d go there. Sam glared. “I’m not going to come after you, if that’s what you think. It’s not ethical, but I warn you, if I find out you did something to her I won’t hold back my temper. A real man doesn’t treat a woman like shit.”
    “You’re threatening me.” Trevor didn’t back down, but the octave of his voice rose a bit more. “You can’t do that.”
    “I’m not threatening you any more than I would any other asshat .” Sam glanced over Trevor’s shoulder. Emma, bag slung across her shoulder, trudged toward them. She held her head high, but the pain in her heart was evident in the tight smile on her face.
    “I’m ready, Sam,” she murmured.
    “That’s right. You get out of here. I don’t want to see you on library property,” Trevor snapped. “Ha.”
    “Okay, I’ve been nice for long enough.” Sam balled his fists. “The library is a public building. If she hasn’t done anything wrong, you can’t keep her out.” He clenched his teeth. “Get your head out of your rectum and do your job, not harass your staff. I’d hate to see you get busted for harassment. You’re uptight and couldn’t handle a night in county.” He stepped around Trevor and clasped Emma’s hand. “Let’s get out of here before things get ugly.”

Chapter Four
     

    “This is…interesting.” Sam squinted in the dirt flying through the air. The city never sent patrol officers to the speedway, and without any real need to be there, he’d never ventured to the racetrack. “This is how all the races go? Lots of crap in the air?” he