Page 29 of The Moment They Can't Forget

“You saying I won’t carry my weight, Zoe Duke?” JD glared at her.

“Yes,” she said because it was expected of her.

Her brother hooted, and Bart Matilda said, “Now, Zoe, it’s a game for everyone to play.”

“No way did you just say that to me.” JD bared his teeth at her when he turned after dancing between Bart and Delores, whose breasts were now in serious danger of escaping her gown.

“Well, you are a city boy. I mean, did you even get your hands dirty and rip your clothes playing baseball in the park? Did your prep school have a team? I thought you guys played lacrosse,” Zoe said.

Sawyer was doubled over laughing now while beside him Birdie nudged him in the right direction.

“You want to put some money on that mouth of yours?” JD drawled from beside her. His hand then slid up her wrist and stroked her skin. It was quick and over before anyone realized what he’d done. But Zoe knew, and that brief touch of his fingers ignited her body, which would never do.

“What are you doing?” she hissed, turning as the music changed. She sent him a glare.

“You play with fire, pretty girl, you get burned.”

Zoe looked away, ignoring that low dirty laugh he gave. She did not want to want this man.

“Do you think he’ll handle wearing a uniform shirt? It doesn’t have a label,” Nina said.

“I know what to do. It’s like when I used to moan to Mom about my clothes not being expensive like Cindy Lee?—”

“I hated her,” Delores said interrupting Cill. “Always prancing around in those expensive clothes her daddy got her. I was glad when she left, taking her snooty attitude with her.”

“Amen,” Nina said. “But my point here is that we could cut one of the labels off JD’s expensive shirt and sew it onto a Leaders one, and he won’t know it’s not high-end fashion.”

“Right here,” JD drawled, making Zoe laugh.

“It’s a thought,” Sawyer said.

The music finished then. Those who weren’t actually inside The Gnat when the music started but had been in the vicinity said their goodbyes.

“Well then, girl, get into my rooms, and I’ll see what I can do with your face,” Nina said to Zoe when they walked back inside.

“You got a trowel and a gallon of filler?” Sawyer said.

This time it was JD who laughed. Zoe glared at him. He looked better than he had when she first arrived. He’d been tense when she’d found him and the dead rat.

Other than being her brother’s best friend and the best sex she’d had, she didn’t know him well. But Zoe knew if Sawyer liked him, he had to be a good man, no matter how much she’d told herself otherwise. JD Hopper was also everything she’d sworn to stay away from. Rich, arrogant, and a man who could destroy someone far too easily.

Chapter10

“You want me to deal with these brows?”

“What’s wrong with my brows?” Zoe asked from her position in the chair. Nina tilted the chair back and peered down at Zoe through a mirror.

“I think the question should be what’s right with them? You’ve let yourself go since you came home.”

“Have not,” Zoe protested. But she knew her friend was right. She’d come home with her tail between her legs and been in a funk since. Not going into the office filled with immaculately dressed people every day or out with her friends at night, she’d neglected her appearance.

“So when are you helping Mrs. C out?”

“I don’t know if I will, Nina. I have to get a job, and I’m spending my days sending out résumés,” Zoe lied. “Plus, I need to help Ryder with his cafe.”

“And that’s just bullshit. You have enough hours in the day to help Mrs. C out and your brother,” Nina said as she started threading Zoe’s brows expertly. “Do you know what I think?”

“No, and I don’t want to.”

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