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Her hands slid up his areous arms, because she couldn’t help herself She had to touch him "You can’t tell me how I feel, Matt Nor can you make me tell you what you want to hear"

"Maybe not" But apparently she’d issued soe to his manhood because he stripped the covers from them and looked down at her nad body with more than a little wicked, purposeful intent "But I can ood parts rippled with anticipation "Don’t be silly You have to get back to work"

"After"

"After what?"

"After I prove that you feel a whole hell of a lot when I touch you"

Which he did with slow, purposeful, shocking ease

Much later, after Matt had brought Aot a cryptic call fro no clue what she could possibly want after she’d told Aht to Eat Me

"Good Lord, girl," Jan said at the sight of her

"What?"

"What? You just got yourself soal, flaunting your good fortune around like that"

Henry was at the stove He stopped stirring and stared at Arin

Amy clapped her hands to her cheeks "You can’t tell just by looking at me"

"Okay, and I suppose you still believe in Santa Claus," Jan said "I’d ask if it was any good, but that’s all over your face, too You’d best get yourself together, Sawyer’s gonna be here any second We have a proble one if the sheriff was involved Most problems Jan took care of herself--with sheer orneriness "What’s up?"

"Mallory’s , that’s what’s up," Jan said "She’s on her way, too"

Amy’s stomach hit her toes "Her HSC money jar? The one for the teen center?"

"Yep Luckily you ehts back Still, I reckon we lost about a hundred bucks, and it pisses ht her sto "What are you talking about? What girl?"

Jan looked at her like she was a dim bulb "Riley"

"Wait--You can’t think that Riley did this"

"Hell yeah, I can," Jan said "She stole the money, sure as day"

"Did you catch her at it?" Amy asked

"Well, no But she was in earlier, and it’s her day off She was slinking around, and then she was gone And so was the jar"

Aave her a slow nod "Sorry, babe," he said "But she was in here, just like Jan says, and she was looking guilty as hell"

"But you kno she is," A sick Howso desperate? But Riley wouldn’t She had no such need any her, not toat the diner, so there was no reason for this "She’s just sullen and defensive naturally She always looks guilty"

"She’s a loose cannon," Jan said "An unknown"

"All teenagers are loose cannons," Amy said "It doesn’t mean she did it How many customers have you had in here today? How many people at the counter? Hell, how many helped themselves behind the counter to pour their own coffee because you were too busy watching the cooking channel to be bothered?"

Jan shrugged, unwilling to be repentant about her own serving deficiencies "She’s an unknown," she stubbornly repeated

"I was an unknown," Aain signaling that Aht not quite have 100 percent proven herself yet either Nice "Look," Amy said, not nearly as calmly as she’d have liked, "it wasn’t Riley, okay? She wouldn’t do that She’s trying to get her life together"

Jan was shaking her head "That girl is feral She’d do whatever she needed to in order to survive, and you know it"

Yeah She knew it all too well Just as she also kne shitty a person’s life had to get in order to live that way "Well, I refuse to believe it of her And I can’t believe you believe it My God, Jan, just last night there was so her You saw that, both of you," she said, encoht after the fight She’s in trouble She’s not the trouble"

"I saw you both afterward," Jan allowed "But I didn’t see anyone attack her"

"So I made it up?" Amy asked in disbelief "Because I saw, Jan I saw him" She lifted up her shirt to reveal the covered stitches "I was there"

Jan sighed "Look, I get that, and I’ll be sure to tell Sahat I know But the person who stole this jar was souy in the alley outside This was sos and goings, soular basis So to the custo her head "It was the girl I know it"

Saalked in the back door, iht of him both stopped Aht then and there that the promise she’d made to Riley was about to blow up in her face She whipped back to face Jan, who o, Matt had sent her skittering over the edge into an orgasm with just the heat in his eyes Now those eyes were filled with concern

For her

She shook her head as the dread doubled, heavy in her gut

Jan pushed everyone out of the kitchen and into the dining rooave the gist of what happened, including last night’s alley fight