Page 5 (1/2)

She couldn’t figure it out She just couldn’there at a dark table staring into the s the county as a hostess at the most exclusive and notorious restaurant in the town, Mackay’s She was here instead, hiding, hiding from the false condolences and the questions she knew she would receive elsewhere

She was a Walker White trash, gutter-guzzling sleaze was but one of the nicer descriptions she’d heard She’d laughed in public over it, sometimes; she shed tears in private and wondered why the hell she stayed

Pulaski County wasn’t the center of the universe, she had told herself countless nights

She could return to Boston, teach anywhere she wanted to teach, and escape the mountain-bred hypocrisy and cruelties she had known here But even in Boston, she had never fit in

And Boston didn’t have Sheriff Zeke Mayes

God, she was such a fool If anyher, then it was Sheriff Mayes He stared at her so around her was horrifying And then there were times, times his brown eyes had darkened further, his lashes had lowered, and she could see the hunger he thought he was hiding from her

There were tihts she drea, hts she actually faced the truth that even if it ever happened, it would never last And she wondered which orse Never having? Or having and losing?

"You’re worryin’ h "Sit-tin’ around drinkin’ and reflectin’ ain’t your way Remeht you better than that, remember?"

Her lips tilted "They" The little mountain bikers’ club that didn’t even have a naers in men’s and women’s bodies who had known her father at one tiht the too-soft little schoolteacher how to be the rogue she had been naulars at the bar They had seen the couple she had left with that night, and they had helped her plot her vengeance against them They had sheltered her for the first year beneath their protection, and they had taught her how to be tough How to fight How to laugh at the insults, and how to grow up

"I’m fine, Jonesy," she promised him "Just a little mellow"

She sipped at the whisky She didn’t drink it often It took a certain er to allow her to enjoy liquor She was a beer girl, until the anger overflowed her control and she had to face more than she wanted to face

"A little toothat sheriff" Jonesy pulled the whisky bottle out of her reach with a teirl I taught you better than that"

"Zeke’s not ain

Zeke wasn’t her ene inside her weak, s that she knew she couldn’t have

"Sheriff Mayes is gonna break your heart," Jonesy warned her with a hint of anger

"Pull yourself up here now He’s gonna be here soon, and you don’t want to see hi sorry for yourself andThat was Jonesy Never let the She could feel it, from a wound inside her heart that she couldn’t seem to close

She shook her head "Joe wouldn’t shoot Jaime," she said softly "Neither of those boys would have ever hurt each other, Jonesy, let alone anyone else"

"If there’s so more involved, then I have no doubt Sheriff Mayes will find it, girl," he gruue He’ll be here any onna hate yourself in theyourself whenever you let Mayes see you weak"

She was aleak around Zeke It was a fact of life Like taxes and breathing

"Go tend the bar, Jonesy" She sighed "I’ll be fine"

Jonesy stared at her for long, silent er

Jonesy alorried about her, and it always ht after he closed up, he’d probably call her father, and her parents would worry then, too

If she wasn’t careful, her father would end up on her doorstep and then talk about stirring up so it so long ago was Louisville She always met him there God help her if he ever actually caripped her shoulder for a second in a tender hold before he heaved out a hard breath and , and she eak He would be here soon, and she felt lost and alone and uncertain She hated feeling that way; she avoided him at all costs when she felt that way, because she wanted nothing ainst his broad chest and o away

As though he could do that

She finished the whisky in the glass, capped the bottle, andto her feet

Four-inch heels were like a second skin to her feet Vivid red to es of the scarlet camisole she wore beneath her black sleeveless leather vest It was paired with a short leather skirt that showed off her legs and flashed her upper thighs