Page 32 of Bucked By Love

He lifts his hands. His I told you so gesture. “Told you not to ask her about it.”

I roll up the poster and set it back in my bag. “No, I mean…she’s a bitch. I love her.”

I sit back down beside him. He chuckles and puts his arm around me. A breeze kicks up and my skin breaks out in goosebumps. “Wanna go inside?”

“Please.” I pout. “And I need something to drink. Someone made my lips dry.”

“Aw. Poor princess.” He gives me another kiss and my heart flips.

27

RANSOM

Claire finds a booth to settle into and I go to the bar to get us a couple sodas.

Maeby plops the two bottles down on the bar. “I’m telling you this because your mama can’t,” she says. Her eyes connect with mine, her mouth a serious line. “You take care of that girl or I’ll rip your innards through your throat.”

I give a nod. “Yes, ma’am.”

Speak of the devil—Claire appears suddenly beside me. “We have to leave.” Claire’s face is pale, her voice tight with urgency. “Now. I’ll wait for you in the truck.”

“Sure.”

She turns tail, vanishing outside. I settle up with Maeby and follow her out.

Claire is sitting straight up in the passenger seat of my truck, her spine as stiff as a cue stick. My ass has only just touched the driver’s seat before Claire urges: “Can you start the truck? Please.”

“You got a body to bury?” She shoots me a look. I start the truck and we rattle out of the parking lot. We hit pavement and, as we get further from the tavern, Claire’s shoulders slowly start to relax.

I glance at her. “You ready to tell me what’s going on with you?”

I catch her looking over her shoulder, as though something’s chasing her. “There were men at the bar…men who work for my father. If they saw me here…”

Her voice trails off, so I finish it. “You mean if they saw you with me.”

Her lips thin. “I mean all of it. This is a big year for me. I’ve got a show coming up.”

“You’ll be great.”

“You can’t know that.”

I drum my fingers over the steering wheel. “Yeah. I can. You’re always great.”

“I need to be more than great. They’ll be judging me for Belleflower Queen.”

“Christ. Not that again.”

Those gray eyes train on me. “It’s important to me.”

“You didn’t hear a word of what Miss Maeby said, did you?”

“Of course I did. She’s angry and bitter. I would be too if I’d gotten all the opportunities afforded to the Belleflower Queen and I’d squandered it so I could serve warm beers on a Thursday.”

A bark of a laugh leaves me. “Y’know, sometimes, I think that you’re better than the rest of them, and then you open your mouth and you sound just like your old man.”

Wrong thing to say. Claire goes quiet.

There’s nothing scarier than a quiet Claire.

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