Page 30 of Hot to Trot

"Enjoy." With that Drake turned, popped Adam on the shoulder then disappeared through the door, whistling "That's Amore."

Adam studied the pizza box, before finally looking at her. "I'm sorry. That was a mistake."

"Not to me."

CHAPTER EIGHT

SCARLET WALKED OUT of the Oak Stand police department, wearing the exact same clothes she'd had on the day before when she'd been processed, booked, and jailed. The only notable exception was she wasn't wearing the tiny golden slipper pendant on a chain around her neck.

And not because she'd put it away like some schoolgirl boxing up her corsage, love notes, and the locks of hair from a former lover.

No.

The damn police department had lost it. Or someone had taken it.

She tapped a finger against her breastbone and gave a jaunty, not so heartfelt wave at the journalists clustered in the shade of a giant silver-leafed maple tree. They looked hot and not so alert. They jerked to attention, every cameraman hoisting a camera to his shoulder, every newsperson running a hand over her updo.

"Scarlet!" they shouted.

She double-timed it toward the beat-up construction truck idling at the end of the sidewalk, wrenched open the unlocked door and said, “Move it.”

The reporters and cameramen disappeared from her view in a blur of color.

''Your sister is still pissed at you," Brent said as he whipped a U-turn and gave the media a wise-guy smile.

“What’s new,” Scarlet said, running her hands over her face. She hadn't slept well. Not after kissing Chief Tight Ass and wolfing down three pieces of pizza. She'd had heartburn to go with the heartache she bore like a cross. What had she been thinking, asking for a kiss like some desperate geekazoid? How could she still love John and feel so turned-on by a virtual stranger?

Brent didn't say anything for the next minute or so.

"Thank you," she said, breaking the silence in a small voice she usually reserved for scenes requiring contriteness. "For coming to get me."

He didn't look at her. Simply kept his eyes focused on the faded yellow line dividing the road. He turned off onto a neighborhood street. "You're welcome. Couldn't leave you there no matter what Rayne said. She talked Frances into leaving you there, too. But if someone hadn't posted bail for you by noon, Adam would have had to take you to county lockup.”

He turned his head to look at her. "You wouldn't have wanted to go there."

She swallowed a lump of guilt and stared straight ahead. A shaggy dog stood at the base of a tree, presumably barking at a squirrel. Fred Harp shuffled toward his car, wearing his Sunday best and grasping a Bible. A mockingbird swooped at a cat hunkered in the faded lawn of Brent's parents' house. All things normal. A typical small-town Sunday morning. Even the bells in the Presbyterian church bell tower pealed the all-familiar call to worship.

"No, I wouldn't have, so thank you."

He nodded and gave Fred a wave. Fred waved at Brent, but scowled when he saw Scarlet sitting beside his neighbor.

"Is Rayne mad at you, too? I mean, am I gonna cause some problems between you two?" Scarlet asked as Brent pulled into the graveled drive of Serendipity Inn.

A week ago she would have been pleased to be a thorn in her sister and Brent's relationship, but now it felt self-indulgent. Maybe yet again, she'd rushed in where no one should have tread and fallen on her face. Maybeshe'd been wrong about Brent.

Brent shrugged. "I think she's secretly pleased I took the initiative to get you out. She wants us to mend some fences." He shut off the engine, but made no move to exit. "You know Rayne loves you, right?"

Scarlet pushed her hair back. "She has to. I'm her sister."

"No, she doesn't. Family is family, but you can choose not to love them."

Scarlet looked at him. He seemed earnest. Sincere. Not slimy at all. "I know she loves me, but sometimes she doesn't like me. She doesn't understand me."

“That's okay. She doesn't understand me sometimes, either. That's part of loving someone."

Scarlet lowered her head slightly. "I didn't give you much of a chance. I took what I thought I knew and pinned it to you. I wasn't very fair. To you. Or to Rayne."

"No, you weren't. But that's okay. I understand."

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