Page 9 of Ruined
CHAPTER FOUR
“Son of a—” Gripping my shirt between my fingers, I pulled it away from my body.
“I’m so sorry.”
That voice. I tore my eyes away from the dark stain spreading over the cotton to focus on the person fidgeting in front of me. Her head was bent down as she scavenged the bag hanging from her arm. A second later her hand emerged, a tissue pinched between two fingers.
“Let me just…” she shook her head. “I’m really terribly sorry.”
My jaw clenched in irritation. Not because she was furiously dabbing the wet spot; not even because of the way the warm liquid was scalding my skin. No, I was irritated at the way my heart had responded to her voice.
I couldn’t take it anymore. Wrapping my hand around her fingers, I stopped her. Her head whipped up, those hazel eyes I couldn’t seem to forget, trained on me. My heart stuttered once more as I took a second to take in her beauty. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but something seemed different about her.
Zoe’s eyes widened, and I could’ve sworn I saw fear burning in them. “You.” The single word fell from her lips in a mere whisper.
Hadn’t I just thought about her a few hours ago? Now she was here in my town, looking sexy as sin. It was unsettling. So much so that the next words out of my mouth were, “Watch where you’re going.”
Her jaw dropped at the same time as her brows knitted together, she looked completely taken aback. Hell,Iwas shocked at the harshness in my tone. It occurred to me that I was still holding her hand; the feel of her soft skin against my palm sent my mind reeling. How was it possible for this woman to affect me in such a way?
She had no right to mess with my equilibrium like this. I let go of her and promptly spun around to march back to the station. No amount of pecan pie was going to fix this particular problem.
“What happened to you?” Ester jumped up as soon as I entered the station.
Zoe, that’s what happened. “Nothing,” I mumbled as I stalked toward my office.
I could hear Ester’s hurried footsteps behind me. “Doesn’t look like nothing, you’re soaking wet.”
With force, I tugged my shirt from my jeans and started working on the first few buttons. Impatient, I yanked the partially unbuttoned material over my head and dropped it to the floor. It was only when I heard Ester’s small gasp that I realized I hadn’t even bothered to close my door.
“You’re hurt,” she exclaimed.
I looked down at the red spot on my chest. I wasn’t burned and it didn’t hurt. Shrugging, I moved to the file cabinet in the corner, there would be aWC sheriff’s officet-shirt in there. Ester was still watching me; I knew this because I could feel her eyes bore into my skin. I threw an “I’m fine” over my shoulder for good measure.
“I’ll get some aloe ointment for—”
“Ester,” I straightened and planted my hands on my hips. “I said I’m fine.” For the second time today, my tone was a lot harsher than I intended.
Her big bow flopped up and down with the nod she gave me before she backtracked to her desk. I blew out a breath. Bending down, I pulled the navy material from the bottom drawer then dragged it over my head.
With a grunt, I sank into my seat. Falling back against the plush leather, I stared at the ceiling, wondering what the hell Zoe was doing in town. No one had said a word about Kenzie’s friend coming for a visit. Not that they had to report their comings and goings to me, we were a tightknit bunch and news like that would surely have traveled.
I straightened my spine while running my finger over the track pad of my computer. Directing the little arrow toward my web browser, I clicked. Once it opened, I typedZoe Carlisle, Texas Cityinto the search bar.
During one of our boys’ nights, I’d subtly asked who Kenzie’s friend was. Brett had supplied me with a name, surname, and city of residence. Before he had time to inquire about my intentions, I had swiftly changed the subject.
For whatever reason, I never used the information to look her up. Maybe I was afraid of what I’d find.
Well, curiosity certainly got the better of me now.
No, I wasn’t curious, I was being cautious — at least that’s what I told myself. After everything with Molly’s mom, Melissa, went south I realized that most people’s secrets had the ability to destroy lives. I’d made a vow that I’d never be blindsided again.
If Zoe was bringing trouble to my town, it was my duty to know what it was.
I clicked on the first line of the results, it took me to a website for a gallery. My first thought as I scrolled through the pictures of the paintings and sculptures was that Molly would love visiting an art gallery. I made a mental note to take her to one soon.
After looking through a few more pictures, I clicked on theabout the ownerbutton. Staring back at me was a smiling Zoe. Golden locks draped over her shoulders, big hazel eyes staring through the screen right into the bottom of my soul. She looked happy, carefree even. The woman in the picture looked a lot more like the woman I met at the creek than the one I ran into at the diner.
I scanned through the information on the page, impressed that she held not one but two degrees in art. According to the website, her gallery had started out with only one artist willing to display their work. Over the years, she’d built it up to a point where most artists coveted a spot in her gallery.
