“Your fiancé gone?” There had never been a hint she’d once been engaged. Did that not-so-little fact have anything to do with those thick walls she’d erected around herself?
“He’s not my fiancé.” She took a few steps away, then glanced over her shoulder. “You coming?”
There was something different about her, and whatever it was, he liked it. “Lead the way, Sheriff.” He’d let his voice drop on sheriff, and she’d looked back at him again, and ah...that glint in her eyes! As if she knew a secret, one he’d very much like.
As he slid off the bar stool to follow her out, he noticed a man leaning against the bar and staring hard at her, a stranger with mean eyes. He was a big guy, muscled, with tats covering his neck and both arms. A teardrop was under one eye, a sign that he’d served prison time. Sometimes that particular tattoo meant the wearer had committed murder.
Tristan stepped in front of the man, blocking his view of Skye. “You just passing through town?”
The man’s gaze dropped to the badge on Tristan’s belt, then slid over to the gun on his hip, then down at the growling dog next to Tristan’s leg. “Yeah, just stopped for a beer before moving on, Officer.”
“Chief, as in police chief. Don’t take too long to move on.”
The man lifted his beer bottle, giving Tristan a mocking salute.
Tristan detoured to the end of the bar where Jessie was. “Keep an eye on that man. If he sticks around, let me know.”
She glanced at the man. “I will. He’s scary.”
Jessie had bartended long enough to have a good sense of people, and if she thought he was scary, then he was. Fuzz was no fool either. He rarely growled at anyone, even strangers, but he’d let his feelings be known to Skye’s ex and this man.
“What was that all about?” Skye asked when he caught up with her.
“Just trying to keep trouble from happening before it happens.”
When they got to his SUV, she held out her hand. “I’m driving.”
“Bossy woman,” he muttered, hiding his grin when she laughed. Whatever this new mood of hers was, he liked it. He tossed her the keys, opened the back door for Fuzz, then buckled himself into the passenger seat.
He waited for her to explain the part about having an ex-fiancé, but they were halfway back to his house, and she hadn’t said a word. She did, however, keep glancing at him, and he could almost see the smoke coming out of her ears. “What?”
“If I’d told Danny I was driving, he would’ve gotten all pissy.”
“Sounds like Pretty Boy is an ass.”
“That he is.”
He was damn glad she thought so. “Want to tell me what that was all about?”
“When we get back to your place. Then after I finish off that bottle of wine, you can let me crash on your couch or drive me home. Your choice.”
“My couch is very comfortable.” His bed even more so.
“I’m not happy talking about this,” Skye said from the corner of his couch.
“Then don’t.” He wanted her to, though. He wanted to know who Pretty Boy was and why he’d shown up. What had they talked about when they’d gone outside? She’d removed her shoes and socks, and had curled her legs under her, but not before he’d caught a glimpse of her blue toenails. So, the uptight sheriff had a wild streak. He liked it.
“The only way for you to understand why I freaked out when I learned who you were is to tell you about Danny.” She took a healthy drink of wine, then stared down into the contents of the glass. “You saw him. He’s gorgeous. When he started paying attention to me, I was flattered. He could have any woman he wanted.”
“Have you looked in a mirror, Skye?” Did she not see that she was beautiful? Any man would be interested in her.
She shrugged. “I know men think I’m attractive. It’s just he literally had women throwing themselves at him.” She lifted her gaze to his. “The thing about Danny is that he’s not so pretty on the inside.”
“He called you his fiancée.”
“Ex. We dated for eight months, and I thought he was the one. When he asked me to marry him, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. The very day he put a ring on my finger, things changed. Danny’s a cop. I was the chief deputy sheriff. I thought that gave us a lot in common. We understood the demands of each other’s jobs. Turned out he was jealous that I had a higher rank than him, something he’d hidden until he considered me his. When he failed his sergeant’s exam because he didn’t study, it got worse.
“Then the jealousy started. I have two best friends in Florida. He resented any time I spent with DeAnna and Kerry, and that was basically once a week at our standing Sunday brunch. Apparently, that meant he wasn’t the most important thing in my life. Then he started accusing me of flirting with any man I talked to, including my coworkers.”