Page 60 of Hotter 'N Hell

If I could just hear her voice…

The door to my office swung open, and I snapped up my head, startled because no one came in without knocking. The man who walked inside, I realized, didn’t care about any formalities. He wasn’t here for anything to do with the church. I sat up straighter, refusing to let the sight of him intimidate me. There was also the fact that he was the closest thing I’d had to Saylor in six days.

The door clicked shut behind him, and he walked over and satdown in one of the chairs on the other side of my desk.

“How can I help you?” I asked him. What I wanted to say was,How is Saylor? Is she okay? Is she with you?

He leaned back and stared at me as if he were trying to dissect me.

“Is that what you always ask folks who walk into your office, uninvited?” he asked.

No. Because that had never happened until now.

“You would be the first.”

His expression didn’t change. It stayed the same. Almost…bored. Or perhaps annoyed. I wasn’t sure.

“I don’t want to be here. I’ve got shit to do. Didn’t see a point in wasting time,” he said. “Do you know who I am?”

I knew he’d been here the day of the tornado, but I couldn’t remember which one he was. “I know you’re one of the members of the family. A friend of Saylor’s.”

An almost smirk might have twitched on his lips—I wasn’t sure. “A friend? Yeah, I wouldn’t say that. Saylor wouldn’t throw water on me if I was on fire.”

She didn’t like him. That meant this one had to be…

“Bane Cash,” I said, realizing this was Crosby’s older brother. The one who had married the girl that Crosby had cheated on Saylor with.

That response did get a smirk. One that actually made the muscles on his face move. “I’d say, good guess, but I made it easy for you.”

I nodded my head once.

“Well, you have my complete attention, Mr. Cash. What is it you want to talk to me about?”Please let it be about Saylor. Tell me something.

He rubbed the short beard covering his jaw. “Seems Saylor has gotten herself a champion in the form of my wife.” He said it as if it might actually be distasteful to him.

I wanted to ask him when they had met. How it had happened. But I bit my tongue. What mattered was Saylor had faced that obstacle and sounded like she’d conquered it.

Good girl. A smile of pride pulled at my lips.

“Saylor has an effect on people.”

Bane’s brows drew together. “What, like immediate annoyance?”

I tensed. My hands fisted, and my eyes narrowed.

“Are you glaring at me?” he asked with an incredulous tone in his voice.

“Don’t disrespect her,” I replied.

He didn’t respond as he sat there in his arrogance, studying me.

“It’s not one-sided then,” he said finally. “You have feelings for her.”

I did. More than I wanted to admit.

“Why are you here, Mr. Cash?” I asked, ready for him to leave now.

He’d not helped with the absence of Saylor from my life. He might be making it worse. I was worried about her now.

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