Page 22 of Love Bank
The mayor sniffed, then pasted on a smile I recognized. It was the same one that was on all the posters a few years back when he ran for office. It was quite swarmy in person.
“Oh, I’m sure you will. Lovely to have you on the end of Brinestone Way, keeping an eye on all of our citizens.”
“Nothing I like better than keeping the citizens of Auburn Hill safe.”
I sneezed, a leftover side effect of Yedda’s cat fur, and remarkably, it sounded a lot like “bullshit.”
Bain’s gaze sliced to me and I saw a spark of irritation that pleased me quite a bit.
“Bless you.” Bain turned back to the mayor. “As I was saying, I’m sure things will settle down now that we’ve gone through a trial week. Nothing but smooth sailing ahead!”
I cleared my throat, rather loudly, unable to deal with all the bullshit pouring forth right under my nose. Care about the citizens? What a load of baloney. That’s why I had to resort to blackmailing him to keep those same citizens safe from his hardened criminals. Smooth sailing? Only if he did what I asked and got the flow of traffic from his facility to leave my clinic alone.
“Do you have a cold, Miss Eureka? Need a cough drop?” Bain’s jaw clenched tight around the words and I couldn’t help but flash back. I wondered if he always did that jaw thing. Probably not good for his molars, but it was a mighty fine sight to see from my point of view.
“No, no. I’m fine. Probably just some seasonal allergies from Yedda’s National Cat Protection Society. Well, that and I don’t like the smell of bullshit so early in the morning.”
Bain took a step toward me like he planned to wring my neck, yet I felt no fear. The only thing I felt was satisfaction.Oh, he sees me now, all right.
The mayor was forgotten entirely as Bain and I stared at each other. Those brown eyes of his were menacing, but they held a fire that drew me in. Made me a little reckless.
I fluttered my hands and produced a giggle, quite believably, if you asked me. “The silliest thing happens. The cats get out sometimes and come into my clinic to visit. Funny how neighbors can tend to intrude on each other if you’re not careful. Isn’t that right, Mr. Sutter?”
I smiled up at him, even going so far as to bat my eyelashes for good measure. His facial expression did something to the electricity now coursing deeper than skin level. Seeing him riled up made me positively gleeful.
Bain stepped even closer, the fire in his eyes lashing out at me, an untapped anger brewing inside of him. His target? Me.
Perfect.
Inside I laughed like a maniacal psycho. Outwardly, I tilted my head and wished desperately I’d left my hair down so I could have tossed it dramatically behind my shoulder.
“Well, I must be off to work. Good to see you, Warden. Mayor.” I finally ripped my gaze away from Bain’s, giving the mayor a slight head nod.
I spun on my heel and made it halfway to my car, Bain’s laser stare burning a hole through my blouse, when I realized I never got my muffin and coffee. Well, crap. There went my grand exit.
I spun again and marched right past the stunned face of the mayor. I didn’t hazard a glance at Bain. Figured I’d riled him enough.
My muffin and coffee sat all by themselves on the counter. I gave Lukas a thank-you and a wave and then I was back out the door, seeing that Bain and the mayor had dispersed. My head swiveled left and right before I could reel it in. No sign of Bain anywhere. The guy moved fast.
Whatever. My mission was accomplished. He couldn’t just ignore me now. This was a small town after all. We’d be seeing each other constantly. He could try to ignore my blackmail all he wanted, but I’d make sure our paths crossed.
Again and again.
My convertible chugged to life and cruised down Main Street, the same knocking sound coming more frequently now. I sent up a prayer to the car gods to get me to work and home all right. The last thing I wanted was to get stranded and ruin my one day off a week that I gave myself.
The car gods must have been listening, but had a poor attention span.
The little convertible made it down Main Street and even part of Brinestone Way, giving one final bang and sputtering on the street outside Yedda’s shop. I was able to get her off onto the shoulder before it came to a complete stop. All the righteous indignation that had fueled me after seeing Bain swooped out of my body. My head dropped back and hit the headrest.
“Well, shit.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for patience. At least I was here at my place of work. I could rest in the safety of my own business while I awaited the town tow truck. And I already had an appointment on Monday for the car to get looked at.
Feeling better already, I opened my eyes. My jaw dropped open and the first stirrings of a headache hit that spot between my two eyebrows.
Standing outside my safe—cue the sarcasm—business were two men. One wore the standard-issue gray cotton pants they gave inmates at the prison who had lost their own pants for one reason or another you usually didn’t want to know about. The other had a pair of shorts on Daisy Duke would have been jealous of. Not the dark, curly leg hair, though. That was his own unique contribution to the fashion ensemble.
“Well, double shit.”
