Page 31 of Hot to Trot

She licked lips that were suddenly too dry.

"No, I do," he continued. "You were trying to protect her and you screwed it up. I know exactly how you feel right now. Like gum on the bottom of a shoe. Look, no harm. No foul. We all make mistakes."

"That's a platitude. And it won't work with Rayne. I'm sure she's damned tired of the drama I bring."

"But it's a platitude that's true."

She sighed. "Okay, it's true."

''And Rayne might get tired of your drama, but it's who you are. You don't really look before you leap, do you? That gets you in trouble, but it's also a great strength in a person. Rayne's the opposite. She measures three times, dips a toe in, sends off for test results, puts on her special jumping shoes, and double knots them before she even thinks about taking a leap of faith."

That was definitely Rayne. "You got her pegged."

"That I do."

"You love her," Scarlet said. The idea didn't feel as bad as it had.

"Don't go into detective work anytime soon. You'll starve." He climbed out of the truck and headed around to her door. Like a gentleman. Like his mama had raised him.

Scarlet shoved the door open before Brent could reach for the handle. She noted reporters driving up the street and parking. They were like cockroaches scurrying when a light switched on. "Don't worry. I'm planning to stay as far away as I can from the police."

Yet as the words slipped from her mouth, she knew them to be false. There was one police officer she didn't want to stay away from. In fact, she felt quite the opposite. He'd awakened a fire in her, and she wanted to feel its warmth again. To bask in the flames. Even as she resented the hell out of his meddling in her emotions. She wanted to keep her armor in place.

She reached for the necklace that wasn't there. Maybe losing the golden slipper was for the best. Maybe the weight of it against her heart had allowed her to cling too hard. Perhaps it prevented her from healing, prevented her from getting on with her life. She should have taken it off months ago. She would try not to miss it pressed against her chest. Try to put it and John away. For good.

As Brent turned and waited for her on the first step of the inn, the image of John appeared. There was something of her former lover in Brent. The confidence, the charisma, the curl of the mouth. John wore a sardonic smile like a weapon, and his salt-and-pepper hair was his trade mark as an actor, along with dimples on his rough-hewn cheeks. Wicked brown eyes and a matching sense of humor. And a warm embrace. John Hammerstein had taken care of her the way no other man ever had. With John, Scarlet had been safe.

Now she was no man's concern.

"Just a minute," she said, shaking off the memory. "I need to address the press, or they will be on the lawn all day long. Don’t think Rayne or the neighbors will appreciate that.”

Brent eyed the clamoring pack of media heading up the drive as if they were stampeding triceratops or hungry T. Rexes. He looked fascinated and repulsed at the same time. "You sure?"

Rayne appeared at the door. She looked at Scarlet, then at Brent. She didn't say a word.

"Scarlet!" one reporter shouted in a nasally voice, before shoving a microphone at her.

"Give me a little space, and I'll address you all,” Scarlet said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and wishing like mad she had worn a bra. She knew she looked tired and worn out. Like someone who had spent a sleepless night on a narrow cot in a jail cell. The mirror in the bathroom of the police station had not lied.

She climbed onto the porch and held up a hand.

“Scarlet, how was your night in jail?" one reporter shouted. She looked familiar. Had someone fromStar Accesscome all the way to Oak Stand?

"Okay, here's my statement. Yesterday, I stood up for a cause I believe in which is giving Americans the right to choose what they read. Most of the time, censorship of books likeTheMagpie's Jewelis a result of ignorance and fear. I don't regret my decision to protest the removal of the book. I do, however, regret thinking with my heart and not my head. I never should have broken the law in my quest to make my views known. It was irresponsible. For that I'm sorry."

"Scarlet, what has the network said about this?"

"Have you talked to any cast members?"

The questions flew at her, left and right.

She shook her head. "That's all I have to say for now."

She whirled around, dodging the questions still being shouted, pushing away the microphones being shoved in her direction. Brent stepped in front of her and crossed his arms, a six-foot-three-inch barricade, while Scarlet slipped into the house beside her sister.

Rayne wrapped an arm around her. "You okay?"

Scarlet shrugged. "I'm surprised you care. Aren't you the person who left me in jail so I could learn a lesson?"

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