Page 11 of Rowdy Hearts

“Don’t let the outside fool you.” Raffi beckoned to me from the wide wraparound porch, wooden rocking chairs and benches, decorated with pumpkins, hay bales and mums. “It may still look like an inn from the outside, but it hasn’t been for almost a hundred years.”

Raffi opened the front door, and warm light spilled out, practically calling out to me. I released an unconscious sigh. I was so damn tired. I just wanted to shut off my brain.

“Come on, sweetheart. You’re about to fall asleep on your feet. Everything’ll seem better in the morning.”

I didn’t think that was true. But right now, I didn’t want to think about the mess I’d left behind. I didn’t want to think about anything. I just wanted to get my daughter into a bed, curl up around her, then maybe this heart-pounding anxiety would ease just a little.

CHAPTER THREE

Rowdy

“Dude,what’s wrong with your face?”

I glanced over at my brother, riding shotgun. Rebel stared at me like he was looking at a pile of dogshit on the floor.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Your face looks like you took a hit from Big Tony.”

As I rolled my eyes, Kane barked out a laugh from the backseat.

I glared at him in the rearview. “What the fuck, Kane? Whose side are you on?”

Kane continued to laugh until he could barely catch his breath. Of course, that didn’t mean he couldn’t talk.

“Because he’s not wrong.” Kane managed to wheeze out. “You look like you got t-bagged.”

Now I rolled my eyes, because… “Fuck you, asshole. You both suck.”

“Nah.” Rebel snarked. “Butwe know you do.”

Jesus Christ, why the hell did my brother still act like a fucking twelve-year-old? I punched Reb in the shoulder, hard enough to make him flinch.

“Bitch.”

“Jerk,” Rebel shot back at me. “At least, I’m not lusting after some strange woman who stumbled into the bar and conveniently dropped into your arms.” He paused. “She is damn pretty, though.”

“I’m not lusting after her.” Okay, maybe I was a little, but I certainly wasn’t going to admit it. “And you don’t need to worry about how pretty she is. The woman was practically dead on her feet. She would’ve fallen if I hadn’t caught her.”

“Uh huh. Sure.”

I swear, my brother deserved whatever I decided to dish out the second we got out of the damn car. I didn’t care if Reb tattled to our mom. Christ, we were fucking adults. I should be able to smack my younger brother for his asshole-ishness without our mom getting in the middle.

But Reb wasn’t wrong. The woman was damn pretty.

For now, I decided to ignore Rebel and concentrate on finding the woman’s car. She’d been fairly specific about where her car had died, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.

“Hey,” Kane pointed out the front window. “That must be it.”

I checked the mileage readout on my Bronco and realized we’d driven almost three miles out of town. No wonder she’d nearly passed out.

“Damn, I can’t believe she walked all that way.” Rebel shook his head. “And in those shoes, too.”

Pulling my Bronco onto the shoulder, I stopped it in front of the high-end Acura.

“Nice car.” Kane leaned forward between the two front seats, gaze narrowed as he stared out the windshield. “Really nice.”

Yeah, it was. And the latest model, too.

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