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Jonesy had a daughter that had been in town until the day before Angie Jones was only eighteen, pretty from what Zeke had heard Her nale he couldn’t overlook Gene had a daughter as well, one in her early twenties, but she wasin Louisville
"I’ll do that" Gene nodded, rising to his feet "And the missus told me to let you know you’re invited to dinner next weekend Willa and her new husband will be in fro about you"
Zeke shook his head "I can’t make it next weekend, Gene Shane’s supposed to be home and I try to spend soh Zeke didn’t regret that he couldn’t
"Yeah" Gene sighed "I figured Anyway" He nodded sharply "I’ll see you tomorrow then I best head home or the missus is likely to have my hide for dinner Evenin’, Zeke"
"See you tomorrow, Gene" He nodded back as Gene left the office, then rubbed at the back of his neck while rising fro up the coroner’s report, he ray ue’s early night at the restaurant She would have taken care of paperwork rather than working as the hostess
Hell He’d fucked up last night, it was that siet her out of the line of fire and just egotistical enough to think he could h, to send her running for home
He should have known better He had known better; that was the reason he had called her father, because he had known in his gut that wasn’t going to work Rogue wouldn’t run, not fro She hadn’t run from Nadine Grace and Dayle Mackay when they’d threatened her with those pictures, and she hadn’t run fro to run now
And she definitely wouldn’t run when he showed up at the bar toht to the other et hard, horny, and once questioning was over he’d be trying to carry her to her bedroom If she didn’t try to kill hiht at the Bar This was the reasonRogueuntil after closing Ladies’ Night, spring and suht of the week Saturdays could run a good close second, but the majority of her bouncers were on duty every Friday and Saturday evening Wednesday was a bit lacking in that area, as h the week
She keptto hire more bouncers for Wednesdays, but so far she had been able to handle it with her skeleton crew She had four bouncers on duty along with Jonesy, and the assistant bartender Kent
The bar was filled close to capacity The band was belting out country dance tunes and ballads, and the alcohol was flowing freely A largenumber of tourists in town to enjoy the unseasonably eather and the many attractions to be had in Lake Cuue’s frustration had only grown Her father had called
Ten randparents and her sister
John hadn’t called back, and that worried her er suspected that Walkers were being killed; Zeke had confiret his daughter home
Damn them all She had been manipulated from the moment she stepped foot into this damned town By one person or another she had been jerked around until she felt like a fucking rubber band
She stared around the bar, realizing what it had come to represent, the escape from reality that it had been for all these years She had raced here after her life had fallen apart, and she had molded herself into a woman that others feared Men and women alike She had surrounded herself with ht at a ht
How to use her fists How to use her knees How to be the rogue that didn’t care what others thought or what they expected from her
The problem was, she did care She had always cared And she was only now realizing it
"Rogue, dance with ainst a stronglike week-old sweat
Rogue wrinkled her nose and pushed aith a forced laugh "Get a shower, Bubba,"
she called back to him "Soon"
It was typical A few feet away a hand reached out to her, laughter, most of it drunken or forced, echoed around her as the customer requested a dance A ser dislike for where she was
She was here when she wanted to be back at the restaurant Where she could make certain Janey or Alex or, God forbid, Natches wasn’tfile or the reservation layout Where she could dress in soue was more than the bar whore she had always allowed everyone to believe
Damn her pride It ran wide and deep inside her, that was for da it in Nadine Grace’s and Dayle Mackay’s faces that they couldn’t run her out of town Rubbing it in Zeke’s face that he couldn’t ignore her
For what? A few one-night stands? A few hours that in the end had left her feeling stark and hollow inside And hurt Dary and she’d explode and just get it out of her system Hurt her and it was like her brain short-circuited She didn’t care for people as a rule, didn’t give them the chance to hurt her because she couldn’t handle that kind of pain Eue, get your ass behind this bar for me," Jonesy called out as he lifted his bat froot trouble near the door"
Rogue jurip before he could stop her
"You h her nervous system
"I’ll take care of the trouble"
She turned and rinned She hadn’t had a good rousing fight all year long That was all she needed to get over this She could just get et on with her business She could clear the e over Zeke