Page 25 of Hot to Trot

"You don't know Rayne very well, do you?" Scarlet said, worried that Rayne might refuse. Her older sister was likely pissed Scarlet had done something so... so... true to form. But who else could she call? Her parents had left for California the day before. Maybe Aunt Frances? Scarlet should simply call the Inn. Whoever answered would come get her. They were probably on their way right now. After all, her family and friends wouldn't leave her in jail, would they?

She wasn't prepared for actually sleeping in a jail cell. For heaven's sake, she wore flip-flops and hadn't put on a bra,a fact she knew Adam had discovered in the overzealous air-conditioning. She'd caught his gaze sliding toward her chest a few times, something that had made her feel a little warmer.

His voice interrupted her wayward thoughts. "Rayne? She's a sweetheart."

"You're not a good judge of women, are you? Rayne is one way on the surface but tough as nails underneath. She fights dirty."

"If no one comes or we can’t get in touch with a judge, don't worry. The holding cell is clean, and I'll turn down the AC when Roz leaves." He glanced again at her breasts.

Scarlet felt her nipples tighten even more at his sneaky perusal. She hunched her shoulders a bit, but it didn't help. She knew her girls were at attention.

"Would I stay here alone?" She hated to sound cowardly, but being locked up in a cell alone in the building would be creepy. Apprehension tickled between her shoulder blades. She didn't want to be alone. She hated being alone.

"We don't get much traffic in our holding cells, so the deputies and I trade off. I'll take tonight if need be so you won’t be alone.”

The trepidation melted away, only to be replaced with a new tingling. One that pecked at her thoughts. It tapped out,You. Adam. Alone. No bra.

She couldn't stay here. Rayne would come through, call a judge, post some sort of emergency bail. She was Scarlet's older sister. Accustomed to bailing her out. Although never before in such a literal sense.

Her apprehension made her angry. Rayne better call one of the judges and pull some strings. "I bet you'd love having me at your mercy. Love seeing me locked up. I've been a thorn in your side since I came to town."

In his eyes, she could see a small measure of truth of her words before he shuttered his emotions. "That's absurd and you are being overly dramatic. Again."

Yeah? She didn't think so. "I'll take that phone call now."

He lifted the receiver. "Have at it."

CHAPTER SEVEN

ADAM STUDIED SCARLET as she sat on the lone bunk in the holding cell.

Rayne hadn't been such a sweetheart. In fact, Scarlet's predictions about Rayne had been true. She was more than willing to let her sister stew in lockup. Honestly, it surprised him, but he sort of understood. This was her way of giving Scarlet time to think. Or so he thought. He really didn't know Rayne, and as Scarlet had said earlier, he wasn't a good judge of women.

Still, he hadn’t really expected Rayne to refuse to make a few calls and pull a few strings. Wasn’t like Scarlet was dangerous.

To anyone but him.

From the time Scarlet had slammed down the phone with an impassioned "Fine!" to the present, she'd confused the hell out of him.

Currently, she looked like someone who didn't give a damn that she sat in the middle of a jail cell.

He looked up from the desk in the holding room. Her bare feet swung to a silent rhythm as she leafed through a batteredcopy of a March 2017Glamourmagazine he'd found tucked under a pile ofField and Streamsin the waiting area.

“Hmm…this look really never took off the way they thought," she said to no one in particular. Or maybe she was talking to him.

He grunted and continued typing the incident report.

"Yeah, smudgy eyes aren't attractive on anyone, especially skinny pale girls. It's so corpselike, but I guess some can't resist the attraction of looking like death."

"What are you yapping about?"

“This fashion trend someone tried to revive from the nineties. All skin and bones with dark eye makeup."

He tore his gaze from the report and glanced at her again. Nothing skin and bones about Scarlet. She was full-on fleshed-out woman. No more swinging bare feet. She'd tucked them beneath her bottom, leaning over so her breasts fell against the thin material of the top. He had stood in front of the thermostat, staring at the more comfortable 73 degrees. But truly he hated being hot. So he left it on sixty-eight degrees. Guess he wasn't any better than his dear old dad after all. ''Why would anyone want to look like a drug addict?''

She shrugged. "Why would anyone ever wear overalls and think they're sexy? But women do it. Fashion is such a fickle force.”

He shook his head and tried to focus on the words on the computer screen. It was hard with Scarlet's scent filling his nose. She smelled like a woman. Floral, sweet, and innocent. Three things he figured she wasn't. He liked that oxymoron. “I think overalls are sorta cute.”

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