Page 7 of Stone Cold Sinner

“Please don’t finish that,” Dillon interrupted, seeming annoyed as she shook her head at Nash. “Ransom is hardly comparable to a rundown strip club.”

“You’re right,” Nash went on. “Ran doesn’t hold a candle to Lola May’s?—”

“Nope.” Devyn put her hand up to stop him from finishing his thought. “Don’t finish that either.”

“Haven’t you outgrown nudey bars, little brother?” Dillon asked.

“Gasp! Nudey bar? Why, I never… I go there for the food,” Nash defended.

“Sure, you do.” Coy snorted.

Nash shrugged. “Best BLT in town.”

“BLT? Not exactly complicated cuisine, Nash,” Nora, Cut’s wife, added. “Can you keep in mind the children are right here hanging on your every word like you’re some kind of hero?”

“Ah. My little fan club. I’d never corrupt their minds with talk of a bad BLT.” Nash ruffled the hair of the oldest boy, Beau. “A good BLT is an art. It’s all in the toasted bread and thick bacon that’s perfectly smoked. Not too soft so the bread don’t stick to the roof of your mouth, and not too toasted so it wrecks it, and that bacon better not cut your gums.”

“You smell like you stopped for a BLT on your way here this morning,” Cut said with a disgusted look.

“Nah. But I sure did last night.” Nash winked.

“Let me guess, with that brunette you keep making eyes with,” Coy noted.

“Nope. That’s Charlotte. Mama’s oncology nurse.”

Devyn shook her head in disappointment. “Of course, you were at the bar all night. Wait—you knew Mama’s nurse?”

“Told ya. Grieving.” Nash shrugged, eyes still on the brunette across the way. “And yes, I’ve known her quite a while.”

“You’ve been grieving since your first fake I.D.,” Coy chimed in. “When are you going to grow up and get your life together? And how’d you meet Mama’s nurse?”

“You mean like never leave the farm, raise a bushel or two of kids, feel trapped…” Nash went on, “And Mama introduced me. There’s a lot y’all don’t know.”

“Clearly. And I don’t feel trapped,” Cut said. “I chose to stay and run the farm when Pop passed. I like my life, and it’s only three kids.”

“Going on four,” Devyn corrected.

“Not four yet,” Cut said under his breath.

“Basically four,” Dillon argued.

“Oh… it’s definitely four,” Nora said, rubbing her pregnant belly.

“Wow. Was that a scripted confession? Because I never mentioned your name, big bro.” Nash snickered.

Dillon leaned in and asked Coy. “Glad you came home?”

“Not even a little bit.”

3

“Who’s that guy Devyn’s talking to outside?” Coy asked as he took his place at the breakfast table.

Dillon leaned back from the stove where she was plating bacon and eggs onto platters and gazed out the window. “Ah, that’s Sawyer.”

“She’s been eyeing him since we arrived.” Ransom chuckled.

“Is he new? I don’t recall seeing him on your detail before,” Coy questioned.

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