Travis leaned back. “All good. Just discussing ménages.”
“What?” Curt’s face filled with thunder, and she glared at Travis. Was he trying to deliberately rile Curt?
“Travis is just being an idiot,” she said hastily. “I’m going to bed.”
Curt was still scowling as she walked past him towards the stairs. She needed some space. Now.
Reaching out, he grabbed hold of her arm.
“Did you eat some dinner?” he asked, surprising her.
“Yep.”
“Not much,” Travis added.
The rat.
“I’m fine. I’m not very hungry. I just want to go to bed. Before you guys leave, just lock up, will you?”
Curt looked over at Travis. “Jenna, we’re staying here tonight.”
“Oh, but I only have one spare bedroom. The hotel is way more comfortable than my old couch. There’s really no need for you to stay.”
“I’m staying,” Curt said firmly. He turned to Travis. “You can stay at the hotel.”
“Bit late to head out now. One of us can take the couch,” Travis replied. “Means we can get an early start heading back to Dallas tomorrow.”
“I’m not going back to Dallas tomorrow,” she told them.
“What?” Curt looked at her in surprise. “Why not?”
“I’ve got commitments here. I can’t just up and leave my job without notice. I have patients to see. I have things to do this weekend.”
“What about your mom?” Travis asked. “Won’t she need you?”
Guilt stirred inside her. “When she’s not self-medicating, she’ll spend her time complaining about how hard this is on her. I don’t need that. Not right now.”
“The feds will want to talk to you,” Curt told her. “They’re going to have questions.”
“But I don’t know anything.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Travis said. “And staying here won’t shield you from all of this. They’ll find you here. Just like the reporters will.”
“Look, I get that you guys need to go back. I’m not stopping you. I’ll be safe here. This town looks after its own. Especially the women.”
“Despite its name, this isn’t some safe haven where nothing bad happens,” Travis told her. “Not so long ago, I was here trying to help capture a serial killer who’d fixated on one of the women who lives here.”
Was he talking about Laken?
“And didn’t I hear about his girlfriend holding a gun on another one of the town’s women?” he asked.
“Yes, but those were extraordinary circumstances,” she said. “That doesn’t happen every day.”
“I’d hope not,” Curt muttered. “I don’t trust the men in this town.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m sure they don’t think much of you, either,” Travis said with a grin. “I think Curt doesn’t like the way some of them look at you.”