Page 28 of Whiskey Chase
“Look at you bein’ all lawyerly,” I crooned.
“Well, would you look at that, Bodines?” Bowie announced. “A mature suggestion that actually makes sense.”
“I guess it’s less taxing than beating the shit out of each other,” Gibson mused. He waved Clarabell over. “Clarabell, I changed my mind. I think I’ll have the eggs benedict.”
12
Devlin
It appeared that the Bodines had reached a tentative truce. It was good news for them, but I still had yet to get Scarlett alone to talk to her about that kiss. I had thought of little else, and the longer we went without talking about it, the stupider I felt bringing it up.
I watched her through the deck doors. It was another beautiful spring day. A Monday, and I had no place to be but staring out the door onto the deck where the afternoon sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a beautiful woman was swearing a blue streak at a particularly bad-tempered joist.
She wore those ass-hugging jeans and an old V-neck t-shirt. Her work boots were doll-sized and scarred from years of abuse. She wore her hair back in a high ponytail that made me want to wrap it around my fist.A new temptation.
“That’s my new sister you’re staring at there,” Jonah said wryly.
“Got a problem with it?” I asked.
Jonah smirked. “Don’t know yet. What are your intentions?”
I gave a dry laugh. That was the thing about Scarlett. She inspired instant and unshakable loyalty.
“I don’t know what my intentions are. I can’t get her alone to talk to her long enough to find out.”
“I’m torn by newfound family loyalty and roommate gratitude,” Jonah warned.
Scarlett hammered the wayward joist into submission with a triumphant shout and was working on positioning the new board on top of it when her phone rang. I watched her idly as Jonah prowled the kitchen. “You want eggs?” he asked.
We’d worked out a deal on splitting groceries and utilities. and like magic, food appeared in the fridge. An added bonus? Jonah could cook.
“Sure,” I said.
“You son of a bitch!” We both heard Scarlett growl into her phone. It was different than the litany of curse words she’d laid down on the timber.
Jonah left the eggs on the counter, and I started to open the door.
“If you don’t give me my shit back, I will burn down your life!”
Jonah and I exchanged a glance.
“Yeah, that’s real funny Wade,” Scarlett shouted. “You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna go find a nice tiny jar that I can store your little baby balls in. And when I find it, you better hide because I’m coming for you and your microscopic balls.”
The unlucky bastard on the other end of the call must have hung up on her because Scarlett held the phone in front of her face and gave a scream of rage. She wound up and hurled the phone off the deck into the yard.
Jonah whistled. “Nice arm.”
She reached for the nail gun and started to wind up again.
In a display of emergency teamwork, Jonah got the door open, and I nipped her around the waist before she was able to launch it into the yard. She fought like a wild animal in my arms. I outweighed her by a good hundred pounds and had a foot on her. It was almost comical… at least until the heel of her boot connected with my knee.
I pressed her against the siding of the house. “Scarlett,” I said calmly. “Breathe.”
She growled, and Jonah backed up a few paces.
“Breathe,” I ordered again.
She sucked in a seething breath.
