Page 45 of Bourbon and Secrets

She looks up at me and smiles. “Define dating.”

“Going out for food. Enjoying each other's company...”

She sighs. “Linc, it’s like you don’t know me at all. I am absolutelyfuckingthe fire chief...” Then she lowers her voice. “And his newest recruit.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Do they both know that?”

“They know.” She nods, grinning. “Oh, believe me, they know.”

“Dang, girl,” I shout with an added twang. I know there’s more to it, and when she wants to share, she will. Because as much as my best friend has a good time and goes wherever the wind takes her, she craves stability. It’s why she started spending so much time with us growing up, as wild as me and my brothers were. We’ve always had family dinners. Griz was there to askwhere we’d been and what was coming. Nobody cared about her enough to ask until she ended up at our dinner table.

“Proximity is everything,” she goes on. “You know my roof deck has direct access to the fire station across the street...”

I do my best to listen, but I can’t stop myself from glancing toward the stables. Ace takes the reins of both horses as Faye follows him.Smiling, smiling, smiling. Why is she spending any time with him? I’m still thinking about the way she felt leaning against me. The smell of her that lingered on my fingers later that night. How close I came to storming next door and fucking her like I wanted.

And now she’s throwing her head back, laughing at something Ace is saying. He’snotthat funny. My common sense snaps. “I’ll be right back,” I interrupt.

“Oh-kay...” Hadley says in response, and I can hear her chuckling as she realizes where I’m headed.

Hands twitching at my sides, I wrack my mind with what I’m going to say once I get there, but I come up blank. My boots scuff along the concrete pathway and into the stable’s double doors. The only thing I’m certain of is that I don’t want my older brother anywhere near her.Can you be considered unhinged if you know what you’re about to do is exactly that? Stupidly unhinged.

If it wasn’t for the cool breeze working through the open doors, you’d never know how many horses were in here. The place is pristine. Faye’s voice kicks up in another laugh toward the end stalls, and the sound of it shouldn’t do a fucking thing, but it does. The echo of it sneaks under my skin and edges me into a streak of anger I haven’t felt in a long time. One that makes me want to take things I have no business taking or wanting. She’s wearing an oversized men’s shirt she’s buttoned only halfway, one that better not fucking be his, and tight black pants that disappear into her tall cowgirl boots—these dirtierand more worn than the purple ones she wore at Bottom of the Barrel.

Ace laughs about something she said, that smile still stuck on his face when he notices me. “Hey, Linc.” He lifts the saddle off the horse he was riding.

“Hey,” I say with a labored breath, shifting my attention solely to Faye. “I need a minute.”

Faye looks at Ace quickly, and then back to me.

“Ace, I’ll make sure the horses are set before we come inside for dinner.” And because he’s my brother, he doesn’t ask any more questions. He respects that I need a minute alone here. With her. He pauses momentarily, trying to read between the lines.Yeah, brother, this one is mine.

“Great ride, Faye,” he says as he claps his hand on my shoulder. Then, with a half-tipped smile as he walks by me, he adds, “I’ll be here if you’re up for another.”

Under my breath I mumble, “Fucker.” Just loud enough for him to hear.

His shoulders bounce with a clipped laugh as he walks off.

Faye picks up the tack box and sighs before she says, “I’m starving.”

Lifting the tack box out of her hand, I put it back on the stool she pulled it from. With just one more step forward, I’m crowding her. “What are you doing here?”

As I keep moving forward, she steps backwards. “Pretty obvious I was out with your brother.” She lifts her chin in a challenge. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good ride.” The innuendo is loud and clear.

“No,” I grit out, and she searches my face for the meaning of that simple word. “You misunderstood me.” As her back reaches the wall, she stops, and I leave just enough space to breathe between us. “I don’t like being lied to, so I’m going to ask you again, what are you doing here? In Fiasco. And don’t giveme some bullshit about headlining at Hadley’s place or what Maggie’s up to. You two barely look at each other.”

I lift my hand and let my fingers push the hair away from her face. I don’t know what it is about being near her that feels good. I should ignore it, move on, and forget all about the other night in that dark alley. Erase every moment of that night in the cornfield before my life got even more complicated and confusing. I shouldn’t want to be around someone I can’t trust. “Of all the places you could dance, why here?”

She tilts her face up, swaying into me as I twirl a piece of her hair. I pull it just slightly, tilting her head back a little farther, just where I want her. With her lips parted, it’s like she’s trying to decide if she should let me lead. “What makes you think it’s any ofyourbusiness knowing what I’m doing here?”

Her eyes focus on my mouth when I say, “It’smybusiness when you start working at my best friend’s club. It’smybusiness when you come to my family’s house for dinner. It’s myfuckingbusiness when you have a secret that you keep from me when it’s about my girls.”

“Dammit,” she says on an exhale. “They’re very convincing. But then you fold a puppy into it...”

I can’t help but let out a small laugh, and it snaps me out of my anger. “Oh, I know.” Shaking my head slowly, I release a heavy breath. “Somehow, they’ve figured out how to skirt around asking me for what they want. They just do it on their own.” I don’t know why I’m telling her this. “They bought a cow, Dottie. Honestly, I’m more impressed than anything that they did it.”

She barks out a laugh. “And now you have a dog named Kit to add to the brood.”

Feeling more relaxed, I can’t help but laugh with her. “I feel like I should be mad, but I’m?—”

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