[///ON HOLD///] Animal House (Rendezvous #2)

Prologue

"Stupid girl," Declan muttered under his breath before he immediately did a U-turn and headed back to the bar where he had spotted Nora Banks stumbling out of.

Nora was a woman who worked at the hospital he had helped establish. She was a nurse who didn't stand out compared to the others. She looked plain and the way she greeted him was cold and awkward.

Though it might've partially been his fault. He had taken one look at her and dismissed her. She had seen the look and was smart enough to do her own guessing as to what his look meant. Declan had no interest in her, and luckily, it seemed she had no interest in him either. They both liked it that way.

But as he was driving home from the hospital, he saw the crazy woman walk out of a bar, and she didn't exactly look sober. Declan wasn't the type to ignore something like that, especially since Nora could've been easily taken advantage of. Though it would've had nothing to do with him, he'd feel guilty if anything happened to her since he saw and did nothing to prevent any harm to her.

When he reached the bar, he saw that she hadn't gotten far. She was leaning against a building with her hand over her mouth. There were also two men giving her looks, and he immediately pulled up next to her.

He rolled down his window and shouted, "Nora!" She lifted her head and looked at him. His eyes widened when he saw that she had been crying. Quickly, he softened his voice. "Nora. Get in. I'll take you home."

Nora squinted her eyes at him and stared for a few seconds before she clicked her tongue and gave him a look of annoyance. He nearly gawked at her behavior. She never acted like that in the hospital. She was always polite and never did anything to get on someone's nerves.

But she was getting on his nerves awfully quick tonight.

"What the hell do you want?"

Declan glared. "Would you just get in here before something goes wrong?"

"Hey, dude." Declan's jaw clenched as he slightly turned his head and saw the two who had been eyeing her previously. They had walked up to his car and one of them leaned against it. "She doesn't want to go with you. Leave the girl alone."

The other one walked over to Nora and placed his hand on her shoulder. She didn't shake it off, but she did give him an icy glare.

"Do you want to come with us? Don't worry, we'll help."

"Don't touch me," Nora hissed before she finally shrugged the guy's hand off. Then she brushed her shoulder and jutted her chin at him. "And get lost. I don't need your help."

Declan would've been completed shocked at Nora's sudden bold behavior, but the two men were too annoying to be overlooked.

"Mind your own business," he said to the two of them.

But they acted as if he hadn't spoken.

"C'mon," the guy with Nora drawled. "You're obviously irritated. We can help you with that."

"I said, get lost," Nora spoke through clenched teeth before she began walking away. But the guy grabbed onto her arm and tugged her back to his side.

Declan immediately got out of his car and the one who had been leaning against it was shocked and backed away when he realized just how tall Declan actually was. The other by Nora didn't notice and continued to hold onto her.

He walked to their side and gripped the stranger's arm painfully. The guy was just about to complain until he saw the look on Declan's face.

"Get. Lost." He repeated Nora's words in a low voice.