Shit. Shit. Shit.
I take a deep breath and stomp out.
The fallout of this isn’t going to be fun, but I’ll worry about that tomorrow.
Damn it.
4
Linc
I watch Jodie stomp out, her back straight and her head held high. Her long black hair is flowing in waves down her back and she’s in a little white dress that hugs her curves. The dress completely covers her and falls just above her knees, but it’s sexier than anything I’ve ever seen on a woman. I hear Caleb laugh behind me, but I ignore him.
Deke stands up and I walk over to the weasel.
“Linc, don’t do anything stupid,” Sheriff Larson calls from behind me, but the warning falls on deaf ears, because I’ve already made it to Deke, and there’s only one thing on my mind—and being rational is not it.
“Damn it, Linc. You could have told me you had popped her cher—”
Before he can finish, my fist is slamming into his face. Blood spouts from his nose, and he falls back against his chair, causing it to slide loudly against the tiled floor. The weight of Deke falling against the chair, upends it. When it falls on its side, Deke drops to the floor, holding his nose, his eyes wide.
“Sheriff, you know where to find me if this dipshit tries to press charges.”
“He won’t,” the sheriff replies, but I don’t think Deke is that smart.
“Linc, what about that job?” Caleb, the owner of the Fireside Bar and Grill, calls out. He’s been trying to get me to leave the Reef for a while. I don’t see me ever leaving Daphne in the lurch but getting a few extra hours wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“I’ll think it over and let you know,” I promise, not turning around.
I make it outside just in time to see Jodie pulling out of the parking lot. I smile when I remember how she threw her wine in Deke’s face and then told him how she loved sex, before announcing she gave me her virginity to everyone in the damn place. She was gorgeous. The one thing I didn’t like was how she announced she couldn’t stand me. Fuck, the word she said was loathe. I don’t like that, and I really don’t know how to fight it.
I don’t know why I want to.
But for some reason, I do.
I walk over to my Jeep and hop inside, feeling more than a little disgusted with myself. Well, I’m alternating between that and being irritated at Jodie Jones for making me feel that way. One thing about it, after tonight, the hot as fuck night we shared will be broadcasted all over the place. Maybe that should piss me off, but it doesn’t.
I spend the ride home thinking over the whole situation. My gut instinct was to go to Jodie and try to sort things out between us. Was she really a virgin? Jesus. She couldn’t be, could she? Then, I remember the trace of blood on my sheets. Fuck. If she was a virgin, that would explain why she was so pissed the next morning.
Maybe she didn’t know the score after all. Maybe she thought it was more than just a hookup.
The more I think about it, though, I decide the best thing I can do is stay away. I can’t fix what happened between us, and it’s clear the two of us don’t mix. I need to steer away from her. She isn’t like the other women I’ve fooled around with. I thought she knew the game, knew what we were doing. After tonight, I’m not so sure. No woman I’ve dealt with would have reacted to that asshole like that. She’s way over-emotional. I don’t like that she hates me, but as much as I want to change it, I figure I can’t. I’m not the kind of man that a woman like Jodie would be satisfied with, and she’s not my kind of woman, either.
It’s for the best that it ends like it has, with Jodie hating me. We’ll both move on, put our one night together behind us and it will be fine.
Better than fine.
It will go back to normal, and Jodie Jones will be nothing but a distant memory. That thought makes me smile for the first time since seeing Jodie at the gas station. If anything, this whole experience has taught me that I need to be more careful when taking a woman up on what she offers. Clearly, I misread Jodie completely, which sucks, because I would have loved having more of her.
I feel better and better about my decision as the night goes on. The entire time I put my bed together and crash into it, I’m breathing easier. It’s early, but I’m working the early shift in the morning to help Daphne go through inventory, so I decide to go to bed. Starting tomorrow, Jodie Jones is a memory. There are plenty of fish in the sea. That’s the beauty about being a surfer with no ties—and no desire to make any.
Too bad Jodie’s face is the first one that pops into my memory when I close my eyes to sleep.
5
Jodie
“You’re going to be late for work this morning, Jodie,” Mom says, censure in her tone. I hold back a sigh. I don’t want to tell her about what happened last night. Cherry Falls is a small town and I figure my freaking announcement at the Fireside last night has spread everywhere. The only thing saving me is that my mother and father don’t really go out much. Mom works in Syn City—a fact that, as a deacon’s wife in our church, she despises—and thankfully does most of her shopping there. I’m hoping they will remain in the dark. It’s a slim hope, but I need something to cling to.
“I don’t have work today,” I tell her instead, kind of lying, but kind of not. “Actually, I’m thinking of finding a new job. I’m getting kind of stressed-out working dispatch. I was thinking about finding something less stressful.”
Until this moment, my father has kept his nose in his newspaper, but with my words, he drops it and those eagle eyes of his stare straight at me. I do my best to keep from panicking and not jumping as Mom drops a bowl onto the counter.
“You’re what?” she gasps. “But Jodie, you love your job and there’s not a lot of jobs in Cherry Falls these days unless it’s tourist season.
“Grace Gilroy mentioned there might be an opening at the Secret Garden Bookshop. I think I might apply there. It’d be less stress and I wouldn’t have to work late at night,” I murmur, and I know I’m appealing to their protective instincts, but I’m desperate here. I don’t dare tell them why I want to quit. I really don’t want to go into my announcement at the Fireside Bar and Grill last night neither. If fate is merciful, my parents will never know about that.
“That might be better,” Mom says, grudgingly. Dad just lets out an annoyed breath, but that means I’m off the hook for now, so I’ll take it. The doorbell rings and Mom frowns. “Who would come calling this early in the morning. Do you think it’s an emergency?”
“What kind of emergency would it be, Marge? We’re all here,” Dad grumbles.
“Well, then who could it be, Stanley?” Mom asks, her voice full of annoyance.
“Gee, Marge, I don’t know. Maybe you should answer the damn door,” Dad grumbles, still looking at his paper.
I close my eyes. I swear Mom and Dad love one another, but sometimes I’m convinced they don’t like each other at all.
“I’m busy. You could go answer, you know. I mean, it could be someone here to rob us. You should try and protect—”