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Her hands clenched on the steering wheel as she drew in a hard, deep breath Her father had always called her his little rogue He would sirl" clothes as he called theh he knew so she didn’t

"You’re as wild as the wind," he would tell her, and she had always denied it

But now, she could feel that part of herself burning beneath the surface of the "good girl" The drea had always held her back A teacher had to be circuue Walker was no longer a teacher

She no longer had to worry about being circu a job she didn’t have

She flipped on the car’s turn signal and took the road that headed to the little bar outside of town It had begun there--soht--and if her father knehat had happened, he would burn it to the ground

Unfortunately, she had loved being in that damned bar

She had sat in the corner, watched, devoured the atirl" while she had been there

There was an apartood friend of her father’s, as were the bouncers that worked there She only had to walk in, announce who she was, and take over ownership

Had her father soo awry here more than he had told her? Because he had offered her the bar Told her that when she got tired of playing the political games that filled the educational system that she could always run the bar And his eyes had been filled with knowledge, as though he had known the wildness inside his daughter would eventually be drawn free

Her reputation had been destroyed because of whatever had happened there the one night she hadn’t been cautious enough Noas ti, but she was pragmatic She was bitter now, and she knew that bitterness would fester until Nadine Grace and Dayle Mackay had paid for what they had done But she wasn’t going to let it destroy her She wouldn’t give the her

She ser Nadine Grace and Dayle Mackay had no idea what they had done They had destroyed Caitlyn Walker, but nothing or no one could destroy the Rogue she intended to become

One week later

Sheriff Ezekiel Mayes eased froh the bedroo slept on, oblivious to his absence as he showered and dressed

It would be the last night he spent with her, he knew Zeke insisted on privacy in his relationships He didn’t publicly date; he didn’t claim any woman There was no room in his life, his heart, or his secrets for such a wo for more He knew if he didn’t break it off now, then it would only become a mess he didn’t want to face

He didn’t want ties He didn’t want the co any woer he kneo a thin line and he knew it; he wouldn’ta lover that could becohter was definitely a weakness, simply because of her affiliation with the Walkers and others’

hatred for theile balance at the ave in to the needs clawing at his gut right now for one innocent little schoolteacher

As he moved from the bathroom Mina rolled over and blinked back at him sleepily

Slumberous, dark eyes flickered over him as a pout pursed her full, sensual lips

"It’s not even dawn yet," she

She should have expected it He always left before dawn

"I need to get into the office early," he told her And he did, but it could have waited

Mina Harloas a generous, warm lover, but she wanted a relationship, and Zeke wasn’t ready to coh of hi it on a regular basis

"Whatever" She stretched beneath the blankets before eyeing hiot to tell you That little schoolteacher that looks at you with stars in her eyes, Miss Walker The school board fired her last week"

He didn’t want to hear this particular piece of gossip again He sure as hell didn’t want to hear the satisfaction in Mina’s tone at the fact that the little schoolteacher had been hurt Mina was gloating over it, simply because Caitlyn hadn’t hid her interest in hiht better of Mina at one tiave a soft little laugh "Come on, Zeke, it’s all over town and now it’s hit the Internet Pictures of her in the cutest little three-souessed she had it in her"

Zeke wouldn’t have, and he still didn’t believe it He’d heard about the pictures more than he wanted to He refused to look at the her fun," Mina said set aith playing like that here She should have known better"

Zeke’s lips thinned as he sat at the bottom of the bed and pulled his boots on Daain He could feel that edge of burning anger in his gut, the one that warned hiue Walker was nothing to hi to him, either She was too daht show Not to