Page 112 of Moonshine Kiss
“Hold your horses,” I hissed. “Keep it down. No one’s supposed to know.”
“Why not?” Scarlett was bouncing on her toes.
“That Connelly character who’s investigating Dad thinks she’s too close to us. If he knew we were—” I looked left and right, making sure no one else was eavesdropping “—seein’ each other, he’d have her badge.”
Devlin frowned. “I don’t know if he can do that. I’d need to check on the jurisdictional—”
“I love it when you talk lawyerly,” Scarlett breathed, leaning into him.
“He’s already taken her off the investigation.” If I was gonna air Cassidy’s dirty laundry, then I was going to hang it all out to dry. “She’s only allowed to scan old files and drive patrol.”
“That’s bullshit!” Scarlett snapped. “Dev, I want you to sue him or disbar him or whatever.”
Gibson echoed her sentiment.
“Needless to say, none of you are allowed to breathe a word of this to anyone or I will sign y’all up as prom chaperones,” I threatened.
“What are you gonna do about it?” Jonah asked. He was warming up to the way things worked around here. Bootleg Justice had a special kind of appeal.
“Nothing right now. It’s better if she handles it,” I told them.
“Excuse me?” That brunette from earlier was poking her head into our circle. “Jonah, was it?”
Jonah looked mildly flustered, and I wondered if it was because she was inordinately pretty or just a stranger. We’d all been a little careful around strangers the past few weeks. Especially since the press had tip-toed back into town.
“Uh. Yeah. That’s me,” he said.
“It was a great class,” she said, beaming at him.
At least someone had enough energy to beam. The rest of us just got sweaty and wheezy.
“Thanks,” Jonah said, putting his hands on his hips then deciding to cross his arms over his chest.
Scarlett was watching with a twinkle in her eye, and I made a mental note to warn Jonah. When Scarlett got an idea, everyone generally got out of the way and let her have whatever she wanted. It was easier than trying to survive the consequences.
“I’m Shelby, by the way.” She held out a hand, and Jonah hesitated too long before finally shaking it.
“Are you new in town, Shelby?” Scarlett asked, the picture of innocence.
Gibson rolled his eyes. “Watch your back,” he whispered to Jonah out of the corner of his mouth.
“I’m in town for the holidays,” Shelby said, turning her warm smile on Scarlett.
“Well, you’ll probably see all us Bodines around,” Scarlett predicted.
“I bet I will.”
53
Cassidy
Dating Bowie was easy. I’d already dedicated a large portion of my mental function over the years to him—Where was he? What was he doing? Why did he smell so good? Was he watching me walk away?—and he’d been such a strong physical presence, that all this felt…natural.
Well, besides the secret part. And the could lose my job part. We’d called a truce on the topic of the pictures because there wasn’t much else we could do. Neither one of us agreed with the other’s priorities, me and my job and him and his family. So we ignored it and hoped it would go away on its own.
We had dinner with Jonah every night, the three of us catching up on our days. Every night, Bowie would come into my bed and we’d live out the fantasies we’d each carried with us over the years.
In public, we played it cool as cucumbers.
