Page 120 of Nate

After opening the gate, he led Mystic out, removed his saddle, and cooled him down before putting him in his stall for the night. Nate patted the horse’s neck affectionately.

“You did good today, boy. We may have lost, but you ran your heart out.” Nate chuckled as Mystic looked at him as if to say, ‘I didn’t really feel like running anyway,’ before digging into his bucket of oats.

As Nate closed the stall gate and headed back toward his truck, he stopped when he thought he heard something, but shook his head. Now he was getting paranoid. He walked from the barn and entered the house.

“Markie?”

“I’m here.” She entered the kitchen, walked toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He heard her sigh when he put his arms around her, pulling her tight against him.

“You okay?”

“No. I’m scared, Nate. What if it was Jarrett?”

“I don’t know. He has some balls showing up there if it was.”

“We don’t know for sure though.”

Nate huffed. “Markie, I think it was him. I looked straight at him. The way he stood, and I swear I saw him smirk when I saw him. The only difference was his hair was cut short and blond, but he could have dyed it. The APB is for a man with dark hair. No one would notice him as a blond.”

“You did.”

“Yes, but I know him. I know his damn cockiness and he was letting me know he was there.”

“I don’t know what we can do.”

“Rafe was going to tell Sam, so we’ll see what happens. I’m glad you’ll be here tonight. I’ll take you home tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’m just glad I can walk to work.”

“I’d use the back door if you can.”

“Yes, I should do that. I wouldn’t be walking too far. That alley is creepy all the time. The back door is closer for me.”

“Yes. Please do that.”

“I will. Now, go take a shower. You’re filthy.” Markie grinned.

Nate chuckled. “I am. I’ll be right back.”

“Do you want me to start dinner?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. There are thawed steaks in the fridge.”

“I’ll start them. You like yours medium rare, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Nate sat on a chair, removed his boots, then set them in the laundry room. He returned to the kitchen and kissed her lips.

“I won’t be long, sweetheart.”

Markie nodded, and Nate walked toward the bathroom.

He entered his bedroom, then the bathroom where he stripped off his dirty clothes and dropped them to the floor. Dust billowed up from them. Reaching into the shower, he turned the water on, waited for it to warm, then stepped into the stall. He groaned as the hot water hit between his shoulder blades. His muscles were tense because he knew Knowles was back.

Nate would bet a year’s salary that he was back for two things, and that was him and Markie. He blamed her for Stella divorcing him, and Nate for stopping him from getting away with stealing the medicine that night in the hospital.

Nate was also sure Knowles needed to get a fix. How did he not see it when they first met? Of course, a lot of addicts hid their addiction.

“Nate?”

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