Page 65 of Baited

“Hmm.” Riley pressed the tip of her finger to the corner of her mouth as ideas rolled through her mind.

Ethan leaned forward and nipped the tip of her nose between his teeth. “You’re trouble, you know that? If we didn’t have an ulterior motive here tonight, I’d—”

“Riley.” The voice, teetering on shrill, came from behind her. Riley whirled around in Ethan’s arms. His hands tightened on her hips, but relaxed as soon as Jenny stepped forward.

She pulled Riley into a fierce hug and Ethan stepped around the pool table to greet Eric, Jenny’s husband.

“My god, girl. You need to fill me in,” Jenny hissed.

She’d checked in with her friend during the week, but had avoided the topic of the car accident. She hadn’t meant to leave Jenny in the dark, but reliving the accident and the other events, was not something she’d wanted to do. After texting Jenny earlier today to let her know she’d be at Drew’s tonight, she’d expected to get the third degree from her. But when Jenny planned on going out for a drink, she often invited a lot of patrons from the restaurant. The more people to witness her and Ethan’s falling out the better.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been a little overwhelmed—”

Jenny pulled away and waved her hand in the air. “Don’t be silly. I’m just glad you’re okay.” The arch of her eyebrow rose and her mouth curved suggestively. “And I think you’re more than okay. You did it, didn’t you? You’re sleeping with Ethan?”

Heat crept into Riley’s cheeks. She scooped her drink up from the edge of the pool table and sipped. The liquor did nothing to calm the tingle in her veins.

Jenny bounced on her toes, her brown hair, straightened for once, danced over her shoulders. “Well?”

“Yes, all right?” She whispered.

Her gaze shifted to where Ethan stood. His eyes locked on her despite Eric’s conversation. A lump hardened in her throat and her cheeks burned even more. She turned her back to Ethan and sipped again.

“You lucky little thing,” Jenny hissed. A laugh burst from Riley and she swatted her friend. “But seriously, how do you handle all of that?”

Riley pinched her arm. “Would you stop staring at him? He’s going to know we’re talking about him.”

“Oh, I think he knows. He looks kind of pissed.” Jenny lifted her shoulder nonchalantly, and zeroed her blue eyes on Riley. “So?”

“He handles me, okay?” She grinned in response, but if she didn’t change the subject, Ethan’s gaze was going to burn a hole through her back. Jenny let out a whoop of laughter and she did nothing to stifle the sound.

Riley hung her head, and slowly glanced over her shoulder again. Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets, his brow furrowed, and his cheeks dark.

Eric shifted his gaze from each of them and scratched his head. At nearly half a foot shorter than Ethan, Eric was lean and slight in comparison. His friendly olive eyes smiled when they landed on Riley and he lifted a hand in a silent wave.

Heat spread through her and she waggled her fingers at him. “You’d better hope Eric doesn’t know what we’re talking about.” She took a big gulp from her cup; its warmth filled her mouth.

Jenny flung her hair over her shoulder. “Are you kidding? He knows Ethan’s a hunk. He admitted to having a man-crush on him.”

Riley snorted and the acrid liquid shot out her nose as she sputtered on a laugh. Jenny snickered and passed her a napkin.

“All right, enough about your sexy boyfriend. You look hot.” Her gaze dropped to the black minidress Riley wore. “Is everything okay?” As if a cloak had been lifted, Jenny’s teasing tone and smile vanished. Concern creased the corners of her eyes, and her arms folded over her white halter top.

Riley’s fingers tangled in her hair as she pushed it back. Okay as in what? Hanna was still missing, someone had broken into her house more than once and tried to kill her five days ago, she’d found a snake in her bed, and now she was physical bait for a psychopath.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’ll be back to work on Tuesday, I’ve just been—”

Jenny held her hand up. “That’s not what I’m asking. It doesn’t matter to me when you come back, though we all miss you and the place runs smoother when you’re there.” Her eyes shifted away and then came back to meet Riley’s. “I just worry, you know? What happened that night?”

Nausea mixed with vodka roiled in her stomach, threatening to heave onto the floor. Jenny was referring to the night of the car accident. She couldn’t go over that again. She owed it to her friend to tell her what happened, but not now. The last thing she needed to get was cold feet in the midst of catching Hanna’s captor.

The weight of every eye in the room pinned her in the back. She took a deep shuddering breath and fought the terror that clawed at her throat. “I can’t talk about it right now, okay? Let’s talk on Tuesday over lunch.”

Warm, hard fingers closed over her upper arm and spun her around. She teetered on a wave from the liquor as her gaze came into focus on Nate’s face.

“Rye, good to see you, babe.” He pulled her into a hug, his hands moved over her back and heat crept up her chest.

She backed out of Nate’s reach and looked up into his smiling green eyes. “Damon, what are you doing here?”

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