Page 39 of Hell or High Water

He sighed, giving me an exasperated look. What? I did what he’d said. I hadn’t touched her, and I deserved a fucking award for that.

“That’s not what I said. I told you not to fuck her. I didn’t tell you not to gain her trust. I especially didn’t tell you to make her hate you.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Uh, Linc, that’s asking me to walk a very tempting line.”

He drank down the rest of his glass and set it on the desk, then stood up completely. “Yeah, well, it’s what has to be done. My gut tells me she’s a kid alone in the world who needs help, and that is all this is. But I can’t go with my gut when it’s the governor’s reputation. Be her friend. You’re going to be the only friend she has. Once we have some idea of what is going on in her head, then we’ll know how to plan. Honestly, I don’t give a fuck what she does or who she tells in two years. He has plans to run for a place in the Senate, but he won’t get it. That rarely goes well. But right now, all we have to be concerned with is the next two years. Take her to work with you. Let her do her schoolwork at the distillery and give her work to do there. Make her feel like she’s a part of your world.”

I let that idea take root. Taking her with me to work. Having her around the guys…I wasn’t going to like that. Gathe was bad enough.

“Yeah, okay.” I’d suffer through it.

“As for the other stuff, I’ve handled the school and explained that due to her mother’s passing, Montana realized she wasn’t ready to go back to the classroom. She preferred to finish virtually. Since she left her phone behind today, I installed some software on it that Levi had sent to me, so I can see all her incoming and outgoing calls as well as text messages. If she’s hiding something, we should be able to find it.”

I’d bet my life on the fact that she wasn’t. Not a damn thing. My gut also told me she wasn’t what we’d assumed, and two guts couldn’t be wrong.

I only nodded my head.

“She might open up to you more if you befriended her. Get her to trust you. Use your charm.”

I wanted to laugh. He assumed that would be easy for me. Did he not realize that it had already been hard for me to keep my hands off her, and we’d not even made it through the first week?

“I’ll try.”

“You can do better than try. She doesn’t trust us. We need her to trust you.”

I nodded again. A weight settled in my chest. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but it was there. If I survived Montana Carrigan, it would be a miracle.

Seventeen

Montana

After being informed that I was finishing my senior year via virtual school, I’d spent the afternoon getting things set up on my laptop from the school. At first, I’d been upset about this. Sure, I’d get my diploma, but I wouldn’t have an actual graduation. Then I realized there would be no one at my graduation. Momma wouldn’t be there. What was the point? I just needed my diploma after all.

If I allowed myself to think about my high school in Monroe and my senior class, I got sad. They would be having senior prom and the senior picnic soon. Momma had been sick, and I’d not attended any of the senior events this year. Now I wouldn’t even be walking up on the stage to get my diploma with them or anyone. But life happened, and mine had turned against me.

Towel-drying my hair, I stared at myself in the mirror. Today hadn’t started out bad. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. It had been nice. Really nice. Than had been different, and I’d enjoyed being around him. And riding Jack had been exciting.

The front door opened and closed, snapping me out of my thoughts. I hung up my towel and brushed my hair. Than had gone to get our dinner from Linc’s house about thirty minutes ago.

Checking to make sure I looked okay, I thought about drying my hair, but I was starving, so this would have to do. Besides, Than had seen me like this already. Just because he was being nice to me didn’t mean he was suddenly going to find me attractive.

Than was already sitting at the bar with two plates full of food and a sparkling water beside each one when I came out of the bedroom. He’d even added a napkin and flatware. How…domestic and not at all something I’d have imagined him doing. He was being charming, and as much as I wanted to enjoy this new Than, I was suspicious.

He glanced over at me as he was lifting his bottle of water to his lips and paused. The way his eyes slowly traveled down my body made me feel warm, tingly, and insecure, all at the same time. Than wasn’t the first guy I’d been attracted to, but he was the first one to cause that odd sensation.

“Come eat,” he finally said, then took a drink from the bottle and turned back to his food.

It smelled like an Italian restaurant, much like it had last night, and my stomach growled. I wanted to devour that bread, but with Than sitting beside me, I wouldn’t be doing that.

Ugh, there I went again, caring what he thought of me. I had to stop that.

“Jayda made the dairy-free lasagna first for Stevie. The kid wanted more Italian tonight so that’s what we are having. Jayda didn’t have the real cheese lasagna ready yet when I got there,” he explained when I pulled the stool out and sat down, then took my napkin and placed it in my lap.

“It smells wonderful,” I said, anxious to taste it.

“It is.”

He hadn’t said anything about the fact that I wouldn’t be gone during the day now. Did that mean he would have to stay here too? If he didn’t like me before, he was really going to start hating me now. My threat to Jericho had made me a burden on people who hadn’t done anything to deserve it.

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