Page 36 of Sheriff's City Girl

“It’s been five years!” My ex-girlfriend threw up her arms like she was coming at me for a hug, her black high heels clicking across the tile.

Why is she here?

Craning my neck around the incoming toxic woman, I saw Emma, standing there with a spot of flour on her cheek and hair a mess, looking just as beautiful as ever. “Hey,” I said to her, side stepping around Brittany’s attempt to hug me. “These are for, um, you…”

“Oh my god,” Brittany gasped. “I totally almost just got in the way of such a sweet moment.” She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder before pushing more of it behind her ear. In the process, I noticed her bright—and very large—diamond ring on her left finger.

She finally trapped some poor son of a bitch.

I stepped toward Emma, placing the vase on the counter. “I don’t know if you’d like these, but Dorothy said they were your favorites.”

Emma smiled, her cheeks growing red. “Thank you, that’s really thoughtful of you. Makes my day.” There was something in her tone that made me wonder just what had happened to her on this particular day.

“You two are just cute,” Brittany cut in, completely ruining the moment. “I had no idea that you were dating again, Mason.” She turned to Emma, giving her one of those wretched, fake smiles. “We,” she motioned to me, “have a history.”

Emma’s smile faded. “Oh? I had no idea…” She looked at me, waiting for me to say something, but before I could, Brittany was at it again. In truth, we never had much of a relationship at all... She just kept inserting herself into my life, despite me making it clear after two months that we were not compatible.

“Yes, we dated for almost three years—well, off and on, anyway.” Brittany then turned to me. “I was just here dropping off some recipe ideas for some low carb options. You know how I feel about carbs… They’re basically the devil.”

I nodded, my stomach knotting up as I glanced back to Emma. She looked wounded, her eyes lacking their usual glimmer as they fell to her clasped hands. Had Brittany said something to her? Because I had no problems going up against the manipulative woman. She was nothing but bad news.

“We didn’t date for three years,” I clarified, clearing my throat as the shock of seeing my ex wore off. “I just had contact with her for about three years.”

“Details,” Brittany rolled her eyes at me. “I think we can both admit that you were getting more than just contact from me.”

I clenched my jaw as the anger began to build beneath the surface. This was the kind of woman Brittany was. She kept her tone light and playful, but her words were pure venom. She was dangerous, and if it were my guess, she was more than likely married to a doormat or a man just as lethal as she was.

“Anyway, I hope you enjoy those recipes. I’ve made some of them myself, and I would be more than happy to come by any time and give you some pointers,” Brittany beamed, leaning against the counter and giving Emma an imposing smile.

“Thanks,” Emma muttered, setting a damn near book worth’s of papers on the bar stool. “We’re not looking to change the menu for a while, but I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Oh, I definitely think you should,” she said, before pushing herself off and heading for the door. “Good to see you, Mason. I figured I’d run into you around here one of these days.”

I nodded, breathing out a sigh of relief as the door closed behind her. However, the silence that hung in the space between Emma and me was unsettling. I could only imagine how uncomfortable the conversation had been for her—on top of Brittany bringing her recipes? What the hell was that about?

“Thanks for the flowers,” Emma said in a soft tone, meeting my gaze. “I need to get things closed up. Can I get you anything?”

“Nah,” I said, hating to see the defeat on her face. “I just came by to drop those off.” I waited for her to say something about Brittany or go off about how rude she was—something that would give me a chance to explain everything…

But Emma just nodded. “Have a good night, Mason.”

And then disappeared into the kitchen.

Chapter Sixteen

Emma

“This pizza is so good,” Dara groaned, shoving more of the alfredo pizza into her mouth. “Like oh my gosh.”

Lily and I exchanged glances, laughing with each other. I had promised Lily and Dara that I would join them for a girls’ night out, and it was a welcome relief given that I had just been bombarded with low carb recipes from Brittany and found out in the worst way that she was Mason’s ex-girlfriend. Speaking of the sheriff…

“Where’s Jess tonight?” I asked, eyeing Dara as her smile faded.

“She’s with Cody,” Dara answered me, acting as though it pained her to say the name. “I swear she’s been ditching me every chance she gets.”

“Are they dating now?” Lily chimed in, much less concerned than Dara appeared.

“I don’t know,” Dara snapped, shaking her head and setting her pizza down. I had definitely made a mistake bringing this up. “All I know is that those guys are so annoying, and now Cody works at the Lowe Ranch and it’s just ugh.”

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