A High-End Finish(5)

“Yeah, that’s more like it,” Jerry murmured as he pressed himself against me.

“No, it’s not,” I insisted, wishing I had something heavy to smack him with. This would teach me to go on a blind date without a set of tools. All I had in my purse was the pair of needle-nose pliers I’d used to fix my sunglasses earlier. Not exactly the best bludgeoning tool to discourage an aggressive jackass.

He nuzzled my neck and made a moaning sound, oblivious to my struggles.

“Stop it!” I shouted to get his attention as I arched away from him.

But he wasn’t about to stop. Instead he reached up and tried to grope me, but I managed to twist and wriggle out of his way. He tried again and I elbowed his hand away.

“Don’t be such a prude,” he snapped.

“I’m not. I’m just not interested.” The irony was that I would’ve gladly kissed him a few minutes ago, but now I was disgusted by him. And just a little bit scared, although the watchful crowd on the pier was a good sign that nothing too awful could happen. I hoped.

Shifting quickly, he yanked my jacket off my shoulders and moved in to try to kiss me again. Now my arms were pinned so I couldn’t shove him away. I had to contort my head and neck in every direction to avoid his mouth. My head butted against his and it must have shocked him, because he let down his guard for a second.

“What the hell’s your problem?” he sputtered, rubbing his forehead where I’d struck him.

“I told you to stop.” I used the moment of distraction to shrug my jacket off completely.

He grabbed my arms again and shook me hard. “I paid for dinner, babe. I expect you to show some gratitude.” He tugged me close again.

“I’ll give you the money back!” Up on the pier I could see people pointing and staring at us so I yelled out, “Help!”

He laughed. “Like they can hear us over the waves.” With a grin, he slid his fingers around the neck of my blouse, and I slapped his hands away. We struggled. I tried shoving him again, but he didn’t budge.

“Come on, babe, stop playing games.”

“I’m not playing games.” In that split second while he was moving in close again, I did what my construction guys had always instructed me to do in a situation like this. I slammed my knee up into his crotch.

Unfortunately, he was too close and too damn tall, so I only managed to clunk my knee into his.

“Oww! What the hell?” He reached down to rub his knee and it gave me another chance to strike. This time I kicked his shin as hard as I could and was happy I’d decided to wear boots.

“Damn it!” He pushed me away.

“I’ll aim higher next time!” I said. I didn’t add that I would need a stepladder to do any proper damage to the big lug. His height had been a good quality at the beginning of the evening. Not so much now.

I kept my focus on him as I cautiously bent to pick up my purse. He wasn’t ready to call it quits, though, and I watched him plant both feet in the sand to balance himself, waiting for his moment to attack.

I knew I couldn’t run around him, so I would just have to fight it out here and hope that someone on the pier would help. Jerry took two creeping steps toward me and I swung my purse at his head. He caught it and laughed, tossing it onto the sand.

He thought he had me now and leered in triumph.

That’s when I stomped down on his instep. He yowled like a wounded animal and hopped around until he lost his balance and fell backward.

I grabbed my jacket and started to dash off—until I felt cold air hit my skin. I looked down to see my teal blouse rippling in the breeze. He had torn it off my shoulder!

I turned back and yelled, “You big jerk!” I was so angry. He’d ripped my clothing! What a Neanderthal! I knew it was wrong, knew I should just keep moving, but I wanted to give him a swift smack across his big stupid head. Just walk away, I thought.

I started to move, but stopped when I heard another sound.

Applause?

Looking up at the pier, I saw two men rushing down the stairs toward me. The rest of the people standing at the railing were clapping and laughing and whistling. I even recognized a few of them when they waved at me. What did they think was going on here?

Jerry raised his head and glared at me. “You’ll be sorry for that.”

“Oh yeah?” I felt safer now that we were about to have company, so instead of slapping at him like I wanted to, I reached inside my purse and pulled out the only weapon I had on me. My pink needle-nose pliers. I leaned over and snipped them in front of his face a few times.

He recoiled. “Get that thing away from me!”

“Just a warning,” I said with deadly calm, furious with myself for ever believing that he might’ve been a nice guy.

His lip curled in disgust. “You’re a freak.”

“You’re a bully,” I said, just as the two men from the pier reached us and tried to lift Jerry up.

Jerry growled at them and waved them away so they dropped him instantly. He was either embarrassed or in pain. I didn’t care which one it was.

“You’re a loser!” he shouted.

“Loser?” I cried in disbelief. “I’m a loser? You’re a vicious twit!”

“Prude.” He spewed the word.

“Idiot.” I leaned in close enough for him to hear me above the crashing waves. “I’ll kill you if you ever come near me again.”