Chapter 12
Charlie
This is the worst fucking party I have ever been to in my life.
I have never been so irritated. I want to throttle Jessica.
Mitch and I are standing off to the side of the large patio area while the rest of the group mingles.
“You’re grinding your teeth again.” His tone is smug enough to irritate.
I forcibly unclench my jaw. “I don’t know what you mean.”
He chuckles. “She’s good, I’ll give her that.”
I grit out. “She’s not my concern.”
Today is a lesson in being careful what you wish for. I’d asked her to play it cool, and she overdelivered.
Jessica Moore hasn’t given me the time of day.
“Sure, she’s not.” His casual amusement makes me want to punch him.
I glance over to where she’s talking to Cole Montgomery. Again.
They’ve been like magnets, parting for short bursts of time, only to come back together. All day, I’ve been forced to watch them smile and laugh.
He wants her. It’s written all over him.
I’m so irrationally, infuriatingly jealous I’m sweating.
I hate the way I feel about her. The emotions she evokes in me are everything I stay away from and why I need to break the connection.
Her laugh floats across the air.
Or maybe the connection is all in my head.
I don’t fucking know anymore.
Cole crooks a finger and runs it over her bare skin, grinning down at her, all pleased with himself.
I turn away. I can’t watch this anymore.
I need to get away from her. Around her, I feel chaotic and explosive, and I don’t do that.
Not after my childhood.
When I’d been ripped from my shitty life in North Carolina and shown a different world, I’d sworn the cycle would die with me. It was the only thing I had control over. I have never once doubted my ability to remain detached.
Until Jessica showed up.
So I guess it works out that she’s basically ghosted me.
“Looks like I was worried for nothing,” I growl out.
“Seems that way,” Mitch says.
I tear my gaze away from her. “Good. She’s out of my hair. Problem solved.”
Once again, she’s done nothing I expect.
I thought she’d be all flirty and challenging.
That she’d be obvious, like all the other times.
My friends would probe.
I’d insist there was nothing between us.
But not one single person at this party has asked about her.
She’s all I can think about, and she’s completely oblivious to me.
In fairness, she’d warned me I was going to suffer, but this wasn’t what I anticipated.
She’s done exactly what she promised.
She’s been charming, fun, smart and witty.
And hot. So fucking hot. That top. Jesus Christ.
All it would take is a crook of my finger to rid her of it.
I glance over again, and Cole’s second-in-command, Liam, has joined the small group. Luckily, he’s gay, so I don’t have to worry about him.
My frustration grows. Why am I thinking like this? Where’s my famous detachment when I need it?
“You know she’s playing you, right?” Mitch’s voice rips me from all my furious thinking.
“I don’t think so.” I’m clenched tight again and force myself to relax.
Mitch assesses me, taking a slug of his beer. “Flirt with someone to level the playing field.”
“I’m not playing her game.” The words sound like I’m grinding glass. “This is for the best.”
“Oh yeah? How’s that?”
I shrug and don’t provide an answer.
I don’t understand what happened. I thought we were on the same page and it was just a matter of time before I dragged her into the bathroom.
Then she took one look at Revival’s new fire chief and moved on.
She did warn me about her short attention span. It serves me fucking right. Karma comes for us all, and I’m no exception.
Sam walks over to us.
I tense. He’s the last thing I need. I visualize a brick wall between my mind and his. I can’t let on how out of sorts I am.
It’s bad enough Mitch knows. I wish I’d never told him.
Now it feels like a loose thread.
I down the rest of my drink then turn to my friends. “I’m going to get another. You good?”
Sam gives me a cocky grin. “I’m cool, but you’re not.”
I freeze. “What did you just say?”
“I said, I’m cool.”
I think of the text I sent Jessica about being cool.
My eyes narrow. “Why would you phrase it like that?”
His grin spreads. “Why wouldn’t I?”
I ignore his implication, tilting my head in the direction of the house. “So you’re good?”
“I am.” Sam zeros in on me, takes a deep breath, then blows it out.
A wave of calm laps at my skin like Lake Michigan on a still, sunny day. It soaks in, and some of the raggedness melts away.
Whatever he does works, but somehow, that just makes it worse.
All it does is amplify the sensation that everyone at this godforsaken party knows exactly how I feel about Jessica.
And how she doesn’t feel the same way.
I glance over in her direction. Her back is to me, her dark hair like a tumbling waterfall.
What drives me even crazier than the jealousy is how anticlimactic it all feels. I was prepared for her chaos, and I’m dissatisfied that she’s not giving it to me.
My phone goes off.
I retrieve it from my pocket to see a text from one of my lieutenants, Sadie.
“I’ve got to go.” I raise my head and say to Sam and Mitch, “Someone tried to off the congressman’s mistress.”
“I thought she didn’t remember anything,” Mitch says.
“She doesn’t, but that information isn’t public.” While I’m happy for the distraction, this is not a good situation. Now, instead of putting the finishing touches on the reports and closing the case file, I’m looking at an attempted murder investigation.
Why does everything need to be not boring at once?
Ryder disentangles himself from the group he’s talking to and comes over to me. I jut my chin back toward the crowd. “Since this party is in honor of your sisters, you stay. I’ll take care of it.”
He frowns. “You sure?”
I text my lieutenant to tell her I’m on the way. “Yeah, Sadie is already there.”
Ryder scrubs a hand over his jaw. “Other than the congressman being investigated, nothing we’ve uncovered hints at foul play.”
“Seems we’re missing something. Question is, what?”
“You sure you don’t want me to come?”
I shake my head. “There are so many eyes on this already. One less won’t hurt. If there’s anything that can’t wait, I’ll let you know. Otherwise, I’ll fill you in tomorrow.”
“All right. As long as you’re sure,” Ryder says.
I hand my bottle to Mitch. “See you later.”
Then I take off, not looking in Jessica’s direction.
Which works out, considering she’s not looking in mine.
Jessica
I’m sitting on the front steps of the farmhouse, staring up into the inky, starlit sky. There’s a pit in my stomach.
How did everything go so wrong?
The disparity between what I anticipated versus the reality is jarring.
Sure, the party was fun. I met a lot of people. Everyone was nice and welcoming. And yes, Cole Montgomery was hot and fun to flirt with, but he’s not Charlie.
Who’d left before I’d figured out how to act around him.
It’s hours later, and he hadn’t texted. Hasn’t called.
It’s been radio silence.
Like the flame between us was snuffed out.
The door opens, and Hailey comes to sit next to me, handing me a glass of wine.
“Thanks.”
She nudges my shoulder with hers. “You okay?”
I take a sip of the smooth red and stare up at the sky. “Sure.”
“Talk to me.”
“I’m just tired.”
“You don’t want to talk about how you’re disappointed about the sheriff?”
“I’m not disappointed.” I’m not going to admit that I built the party into this epic game of cat and mouse, full of lust and seduction, that culminated into one big nothing burger that’s left me feeling lonely and bereft.
It’s pathetic.
I shrug one shoulder. “I told you that you didn’t have anything to worry about.”
She sighs. “Jess, this guy is shaking you.”
“He is not. Didn’t you see how cool I was?” I was so damn cool I’d made everyone forget about the tailing incident. “Not one person suspected anything. Mission accomplished.”
She laughs. “You’re so delusional.”
“What do you mean? I didn’t cause the slightest bit of drama.”
“So you weren’t using the fire chief to make Charlie jealous?”
I wave my hands in the air. “Was he jealous? No. I was making new friends. I solved the Charlie problem. Everyone’s happy.”
“Since I’m not fumbling around trying to figure out how to act in front of the first boy I like, let me tell you that Charlie Radcliffe looks at you like he wants to devour you. I promise he was jealous.”
“I didn’t see anything.” He’d seemed annoyed and disappointed in me.
I want to text him.
Yesterday, anytime he popped into my head, I texted him, but somehow a sassy, flippant remark about scaring him off no longer seems appropriate.
Should I say I’m sorry? But for what?
He told me to play it cool, and I did.
He’s the one who didn’t rise to the challenge.
Hailey nudges my shoulder again, shaking me from my thoughts. “You didn’t see anything because you treated him like he was a ghost.”
Stubborn, I shake my head. “You told me to lie low.”
“Jessica, admit it. You’re terrified you’re into him because you thought you were above all that.”
She’s so accurate it makes me dig in my heels harder. “No, I was trying to be good.”
“Maybe, instead of playing all these games with him, you should try talking to him.”
My throat tightens. Which infuriates me. I do not cry over men.
I put my elbows on my knees and hang my head, swallowing the tears down. “This is for the best. It’s not like we were ever going to have a relationship.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t want to be tied down. I don’t want some man trying to mold me into what he wants, instead of who I am. I want to be free.”
“Maybe he’s different.”
I raise my head and look into the infinite darkness that now reminds me of Charlie’s midnight eyes.
Look how far I’ve fallen, and for what? “This is for the best.”
Hailey is still next to me, and I don’t look over for fear of what I’ll read in her expression. “If you say so.”