Page 77 of Hot to Trot

"Relax," Dr. Patterson said, pressing an insistent hand on her shoulder, but she didn't want to lie back. It felt too vulnerable, and after all that had occurred, she didn't want to be lying down when the shit hit the fan.

Because it would.

She'd fainted into something squishy and picklely.

She'd slugged her ex in front of the whole town.

And Adam had kissed her in front John and Dr. Patterson... who felt obliged to share the 411 with her sister. Not to mention Bubba and Meg had heard the scoop.

Dr. Patterson grabbed her wrist and started taking her pulse again.

"Scarlet had a little episode, but she seems fine now." Adam looked less guilty and more determined to control the situation.

Scarlet was glad he felt better about things because she certainly did not. She'd allowed her emotions to boil over and ruin the agreement she and Adam had... the one where they kept their feelings for each other under lock and key.

"So why did you kiss her?" Rayne kneeled beside the sofa and pushed Scarlet's hair back to study her eyes. ''Are you okay? Do you feel lightheaded?"

Scarlet shrugged off her sister's ministrations. "I'm fine. Totally fine."

"Is she okay?" Rayne asked the doctor.

"I can't be absolutely certain without running tests, but her color is good and her pulse is normal."

Scarlet pushed her sister away and stood. Her legs felt a bit shaky, but she could stand just fine. She waited for Adam to say something, but his expression was shuttered. He was in take-charge mode. Or clean-up-in-aisle-Scarlet mode.

"Adam?" she queried, very aware everyone wanted the answer to Rayne's earlier question. She could feel their curiosity. What had the good-as-gold police chief and the bad-girl actress been up to? How long had they been getting it on? Why would he risk his career for a woman who would be gone before the first cold front came through East Texas?

He shrugged. "I'm no saint."

Rayne shook her head, making her corkscrew curls fly around her shoulders. "What's going on here?"

"Come on, Rayne," Scarlet said. "You know I love a challenge. Do you know how long I've been trying to seduce this man? If I had known fainting would do the trick, I'd have hit the pavement a week ago."

"Well, hell, Summer Rose," Bubba Malone said in a deadpan tone. "If you needed a kiss that badly, l'd a done you a solid."

Meg elbowed him in the gut, causing him to grunt, but Adam didn't move. His unflinching gaze held Scarlet's. She was the first to cut eye contact.

"This one was hard to break. Thought I'd have to pull the ol' catsuit out of the closet and play Veronica to get him to notice me." She rubbed her sweating hands against her denim short shorts, unwilling to risk glancing at Adam in case the truth - that she'd screwed up the moment she put her bare foot on the town square - was plain on her face.

Bubba chortled. "Well, if you ain't using that catsuit, can Meg borrow it? I've got this fantasy where-"

Meg reached up and twisted her boyfriend's ear.

"Ow!" Bubba hollered, swatting at her hand.

"Pardon this hick for a moment. I need to remind him of the manners his mother taught him, and I think you guys need some privacy. Come on, Brandon." Meg tugged on Bubba's arm and they escaped to the front porch, where Scarlet could see Adam's date sitting on the steps.

Guilt erupted around the corner of Scarlet's conscience.

Sophie was probably a nice girl, but Scarlet wasn't as nice. She didn't want someone so pretty, so thin and, well sogoodto have Adam. If any man needed a little kinky in his life it was him. Case in point, he wore pristine running shoes, a tucked in t-shirt, and not one single strand of hair was out of place. This man needed some mussing. He needed some untucking, some potato salad on his shirt.

She was just the woman to give it to him, somewhat literally if the chunks of food on her shirt was any indication. But now wasn’t the time so she pretended to crack her knuckles. "Well, guess my mission here is accomplished. Now, who else can I go out there and seduce? Who’s the toughest nut to crack?”

“For you? Probably Harvey Primm,” Rayne drawled, tilting her head.

“Pass,” Scarlets joked, knowing her sister was in the process of making connections, drawing conclusions, and creating a game plan for dealing with Scarlet, her ex-lover, and her not-yet-but-she'd-really-like-him-to-be-next lover.

“Well, y0u might have some success," Dr. Patterson said. "I heard from Lolita Frasier over at the library that the old man asked for a copy of the protested book,andshe saw him reading it in his car.”

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