Kenna wanted to roll her eyes.
By this time, she noticed several patrons had their cell phones out and were filming the altercation. She winced. Alani probably wouldn’t care too much, since there hadn’t been any damage to the restaurant. Midas and Marshall had easily taken control of Shawn and prevented him from hurting Carly any further, but it still wasn’t exactly great publicity to have something like this happen on the premises.
Shawn continued to fight their hold, to no avail, and within five minutes, three police officers were there. They nodded at Marshall and Midas and took control of the swearing and out-of-control Shawn.
They tried to talk to him, but he just continued raging at everyone around him.
“Fuck all of you! I didn’t do nothin’ wrong! I was talking to my girlfriend and these two assholes jumped me for no reason. You should be arresting them, not me! Do you know who I am? I know the governor! If you don’t let me go, I’ll have your fucking badges!”
Two of the cops led Shawn out of the bar and through the restaurant. Then, and only then, did Kenna let out a sigh of relief.
The second Shawn was out of sight, Marshall was there. He put his hands on her shoulders and moved close. “Are you all right?”
“Of course. Are you?”
His lips twitched. “Yeah.”
“There’s nothing funny,” Kenna scolded.
He immediately sobered. “You’re right. Sorry. But for the record…subduing that shithead wasn’t exactly hard.”
Kenna shook her head. Of course it wasn’t. Not for the big bad SEAL. She was suddenly very glad he and his friends had been there. “I need to go check on Carly,” she said.
“Jag’s got her. But if she’s not all that keen on pressing charges, I hope you can convince her otherwise.”
“Oh, she’ll press charges,” Kenna said with confidence.
“If she doesn’t, I will,” Alani said, coming up next to them. “I saw him shaking her. It’s unacceptable. Thank you for your assistance,” she told Marshall.
“You’re welcome.”
“Sir? We’re going to need your info and your statement,” the police officer said. “If you can please stick around for a while.”
Marshall nodded.
The officer turned to Kenna. “You too, ma’am.”
“I’ll be here. I need to get back to work though, will that be a problem?”
“Not at all. We’ll let you know when we’re ready for you.”
“Thanks.”
The officer turned to talk to Midas, and Kenna looked at Marshall. “So much for a relaxing night,” she joked.
“Are you really all right? That was pretty intense,” he said in response.
“I’m fine. Shawn didn’t touch me.”
“Even so,” Marshall insisted.
Kenna couldn’t help but melt a little inside at his concern. “I’m really okay,” she told him. “I’m very glad you and your friends were here though. I wasn’t sure what else I could do to get him to let go of Carly.”
“Me too,” Marshall said. “The thought of that asshole turning on you is gonna give me nightmares. Can I…Never mind.”
“What?” Kenna asked.
“I was just going to ask if I could give you a hug,” Marshall said a little self-consciously.
Without thought, Kenna moved forward. She stepped into his personal space and within seconds, his arms were around her, and she had her nose buried in the crook of his neck. She sighed, realizing for the first time how tense she’d become during the altercation.
She heard Marshall inhale deeply as he nuzzled her hair.
Smiling, she pulled back, but didn’t step out of his arms. “Did you just smell me?” she asked.
“Yup,” he said without embarrassment. “You smell like coconut and fried food.”
Kenna burst out laughing. She never would’ve thought she could be laughing so soon, after something so intense, but she was beginning to think that with this man, anything was possible. “That’s what happens when you work at a restaurant,” she told him. “Although the coconut is my shampoo.”
“I like it,” Marshall said simply.
They stared at each other for a long moment before Kenna heard Elodie talking to her husband.
“What an asshole. Too bad you didn’t get any licks in.”
Kenna chuckled. She wholeheartedly approved of how bloodthirsty the other woman was. She kinda wished Shawn had struggled more, just so the guys would’ve had to use more force to subdue him.
“I really do need to go check on Carly,” Kenna said. “And take care of my tables.”
Marshall nodded, but didn’t immediately let go of her.
“Marshall?” she asked.
“Sorry. I just…I know things between us are new, if there’s even an ‘us.’ But when I saw him grab hold of Carly and glare at you, I couldn’t get to you fast enough. And when you shoved him, I swear I aged ten years.”
“Because I shoved him?” Kenna asked in confusion.
“No. Because I was afraid of what he’d do in retaliation,” Marshall told her.
Kenna licked her lips. “I’d like there to be an us,” she blurted.
“Good.” Then Marshall slowly dropped his arms from around her and took a step backward. “Go do your thing.”
“You aren’t leaving yet, are you?” Kenna couldn’t help but ask.
“No. We’ll stick around. Need to give the cops my statement, as do the other guys, and I’m sure Elodie and Lexie will want to throw in their two cents as well. I’ll be here for a while.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you in a bit.”
Marshall nodded.
It was harder than it should’ve been for Kenna to head for the kitchen, where she’d seen Jag leading Carly. It was safe to say that she was definitely “into” Marshall. Time would tell where things between them might go, but for the first time in a long time, she was definitely looking forward to getting to know a man.
Chapter Five
Aleck glanced at his watch. Ten forty-seven. In some ways, the night seemed to have gone by extremely slowly, but in actuality, he’d been there less than four hours. His emotions had definitely been on a roller coaster during that time. Anticipation, excitement, contentment, confusion, horror, relief…he’d felt all of those and more in the span of four hours.
He had to hand it to Kenna. She seemed to bounce back from what had happened fairly quickly. But he supposed she had to. She smiled and laughed with the people at her tables and acted like the professional she was.
Watching her, Aleck realized once more how unfair he’d been. He really had wondered if her parents were all right with her being “only” a waitress. It wasn’t until she’d pointed out how rude his question was, without actually coming out and saying those exact words, that he’d realized he’d fucked up.
Luckily, Kenna seemed to have forgiven him. It was crazy how relieved he was. He’d only met her…today? Had it truly only been this morning that she’d jumped on top of him in the water? She had such an engaging personality, and the chemistry they shared made it seem like he’d known her for much longer.