She grabbed the handle and pulled the heavy door up. “Not anymore. Come get these boxes or I will put them out in the parking lot.”
He must have heard the enormous rattle of the door, because his voice lost its helplessness and turned serious. “Don’t put my stuff outside. Please. You’re the one who said I could leave it there.”
She moved into the shadows of the garage and stared down at the boxes stacked next to her car. “I changed my mind. I’m hearing rumors. Whatever the hell you’re up to, I can’t be involved. This isn’t a bluff, Ellis. And it’s not a tantrum. Come get the boxes now.”
“Fine. Just shut the door, all right? I’m down at Hoback. It’ll take me a few to get there.”
“Okay. You’ve got one hour. And whatever you’re doing, stop it. Just stop it and leave.” Jenny hung up and glared down at the first box. The flaps were folded over each other to secure the top, but it wasn’t sealed. She reached toward it to free a corner and peek in, but changed her mind before she’d exposed the contents. Better if she didn’t know. Better to have deniability. She jerked her hand back and wiped it on her sweater.
The cold hit her then. Her feet came alive with a twist of pain that shot up her legs. She’d forgotten to put on shoes and the cold was seeping from the cement into the soles of her feet. And the air snuck beneath her skirt to chase away every last vestige of sated relaxation. It whisked away even the memory of pleasure and left her with ice.
“Shit,” she cursed, crossing an arm over her chest as she bit back a shiver. She reached up and pulled down the garage door, wincing when it landed with a crash. It sounded as if the day had broken in two, and that was exactly what it had done. One part had been searing and delicious and frighteningly good. The other part? Well. The other part was a jagged, broken stump. Jenny put her head down and raced up the stairs on numb toes.
* * *
NATE WATCHED WITH weary eyes as Jenny ran back to her apartment and slammed the door. He let his head fall back and stared at the roof of his truck, too stunned to do more. A gust of wind shook the vehicle, rocking it on its axles.
When she’d come out, he’d thought she was coming after him, and he was glad he’d hesitated. Glad he’d sat in his truck in the parking lot like a fool, trying to plan an apology. He’d screwed up, but she would forgive him. This thing between them was too damn good, and she could feel it, too. This strange urgency to be near her. To get closer. After what they’d just done, it was even more powerful. An unseen tattoo glowing beneath his skin, pressing him toward her.
She’d see him waiting, and she’d ask him to come back, and he’d try to explain what he felt, and what he’d meant to say.
But she hadn’t looked up when she’d reached the parking lot. Instead, she’d been talking on the phone, and Nate had eased his door open and shamelessly listened.
The cold had wiped that hot tattoo from his skin, thank God, because it was the mark of a fool.
Jenny Stone wasn’t a sweet, innocent bystander to a criminal operation. She was involved. At the very least, she was actively protecting her ex-husband. Warning him. Tipping him off. At worst, she was participating in this whole operation. Maybe even orchestrating it.
But no. He had good instincts. Good enough that he’d managed to collect his wits even after a bout of the most intense sex he’d ever had. He’d asked what he’d needed to ask, clumsy as he’d been. And now he had his answer.
He was a fool, but he wasn’t an idiot. Jenny Stone was lying to him. Hell, she might even be playing him. But she was only on the edges of this. And if she wasn’t, then she’d pay the price, and this time it wouldn’t be only a suspended license.
But the investigation wasn’t the least bit interesting to him anymore. He didn’t want to pursue it further, and now that he’d slept with one of the players, he couldn’t. He’d call Luis and give him the rundown, and then he’d go to his supervisor. If there was going to be a stakeout tomorrow, it’d be done by another deputy. Nate couldn’t damage the investigation by putting himself in the middle of it. Plus, he had his hands full with damaging himself.
CHAPTER SEVEN
JENNY DRAGGED HER sorry ass into the saloon to pick up an extra shift out of pure pitifulness. She’d moped around her apartment for hours, feeling sorry for herself, and furious with Ellis, and hurt by Nate.
Ellis had denied doing anything wrong. He’d even opened one box to show her a jumble of plastic hosing. But his eyes had slid away whenever she’d tried to meet his gaze, so she’d refused to give in. He was in over his head again. In what, she had no idea, but she didn’t want any part of it.
After he’d gone, her apartment had been too small. It had started snowing, and gotten dark, so she couldn’t drive. Couldn’t indulge the awful burning in her muscles telling her to run. Go. Fly.
If only it were summer. She could find a quiet stretch of highway and roll down her windows and forget for a few minutes. Hell, maybe even keep driving. Drive until the pain lost its hold and she felt peaceful enough to stop and start over.
She’d been here too long. She was making mistakes now. Wanting more than she deserved.
That was the reason she’d given in to Ellis. She’d known it was a mistake to allow him anything, but she’d wanted to be forgiven. She’d wanted to forgive herself, and so she’d latched onto the idea of making it up to him. The mistake of marrying him. Of letting them both believe she’d loved him. And then the panic when she’d awoken and realized what she’d done. The terrible way she’d left him, sneaking out in the night.
Ellis hadn’t been a good husband. Hell, he hadn’t even been a man. Just twenty-three years old and as aimless as he’d been sweet.
Jenny wiped down tables in a quiet corner of the saloon. She took her time, scrubbing at chair legs and cleaning the seats. She thought about calling home. It’d been years since she’d checked in. Maybe things were better now. Maybe her mom had finally decided to give up the pills.
But no. Someone would’ve gotten in touch. Her dad. Or maybe even Mom herself. But most likely, it would’ve been her sister, Jess, who took care of all the things that Jenny had walked away from. Who stayed because Jenny hadn’t. Who was stronger in so many ways, and weak only in that she cared too much and too easily.
“Hey there, girl!” Rayleen’s rough voice called. “You lost in thoughts of last night? You’ve been cleaning that table for five minutes.”
“Sorry,” she said, grabbing the spray bottle and heading behind the bar. It wasn’t busy tonight for some reason. The weather was bad, and no one wanted to head over from Teton, probably. She really wasn’t needed behind the bar,
as Benton had it under control, but she didn’t want to go. “Benton, I can take this shift, if you want,” she said as she passed him.