Page 40 of Rival Hearts

“It’s Sabrina. Your neighbor’s cameras caught her carting my campaign signs intoyourshed every night this week.” I was particularly queasy at the thought of Sabrina spending every night in bed with Grady. I shouldn’t care. I didn’t want to care.

Confusion marred his face, and he glanced over his shoulder. “Sabrina?” He frowned.

“I need to talk to her.” I tried to step into the house.

He shook his head and barred the door. “You’re not coming in here, Maggie. I’ll talk to her.”

“Fine. I’m going to your back shed, which I see is locked. I want my signs back.”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” He swung the door closed.

I stood on the doorstep, tempted to listen in, to see if he congratulated Sabrina or kicked her out. Staying would mean I cared enough to listen, and I didn’t. Not at all. Anger, which had been my companion all morning, propelled me to the back shed where I paced and tapped my foot until I saw Sabrina beside the driver’s side of her car. We stared each other down, time stretching between us, elastic and tension-filled before Sabrina slid into the driver’s seat and backed out of the driveway.

It was official. I hated her.

He ambled down the side of the house once Sabrina was gone, his head down while rooting through a set of keys. “I’ve never locked or unlocked this goddamned thing.” He tried two or three keys while I looked on.

“You should have asked Sabrina which one before she left.”

With an annoyed glance, Grady slid one last key into the lock, and it flipped open. “She says she doesn’t know anything about it.” He eased open the double doors, and signs of all sizes poured out, landing at his feet. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

“Right,” I said, drawing out the word. “Nothing about it. That means this is all you, correct?”

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “No, I didn’t know this was happening.”

“That’s a lot of signs. Sabrina must be losing weight or out of breath or something carting all those around.” I surveyed the pile. In spite of myself, I was impressed with Sabrina’s commitment to the task. With a sigh, I realized I was going to need to redistribute these to whoever had them taken, assuming they’d even noticed.

“I’ll talk to her.” He picked up a sign from the ground and propped it against the door.

“Don’t bother. I’ll call Mike and let him know what’s been happening.”

“There’s no need to get the police chief involved. Your signs are here. I’ll help you take them to your car.”

“This is espionage. Stealing campaign signs is a felony, especially when you’re sleeping with a candidate.”

He stared at me for a moment, frustration pouring out of him. He wanted to say something and was holding back. I wondered if I pushed him just a little further if he’d come out with it. Perhaps then I wouldn’t be the only one irrationally angry.

“You’re not getting Sabrina arrested. She’s got three kids.”

“I’m sure she takes really great care of them while she’s servicing you.” Inside, I cringed as the words left my mouth. This wasn’t like me. Why was I saying these things?

His jaw tightened. “What Sabrina does or doesn’t do with her kids is no concern of mine.”

“It will be when baby number four is on the way.” I needed to put a lid on my temper. I sounded like a jealous, out-of-control fool. The neighbors were probably watching this exchange on their cameras while eating popcorn.

“You’re not giving me much credit.” He grabbed a bunch of signs from the ground and propped them under his arm.

“Oh, please. If you’re sleeping with her, you don’t deserveanycredit. You’re following the wrong head.” I snatched a sign off the ground and stalked toward my vehicle at the curb. It was a small SUV. There was no way all the signs Sabrina accumulated would fit in the back.

“Tell me how you really feel.” Grady threw his armload into the back. “You jealous, Maggie? Is that what this is? There’s no way you’re this pissed off about a bunch of campaign signs.”

I tossed my sign into the back. “Did you see how many signs were in your shed? It’s not one or two, it’s probably somewhere between fifty and a hundred. She did it all on her own, and you didn’t notice?”

“I was busy admiring other things.” His gaze raked over me.

Another burst of anger and annoyance surged through me. I slammed the back of my SUV closed and stalked to the driver’s side. “I’ll send Tyler to get the rest. Tell Sabrina to expect a visit from Mike. I’ll suggest he check your bed before looking elsewhere.”

He let out a whistle and then chuckled. “Maggie, come on.”

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