Page 12 of Faking I Do
Shrugging my shoulders, I shot him some major side-eye as we made our way back to his truck. “Shoot.”
He stopped as we reached the bumper. “Just how big is that stick you’ve got up your ass?”
My jaw dropped. My eyes popped. My hands clenched into fists. “Excuse me?”
“You’ve done nothing but bust my chops since you’ve been back. I’d like to know how much longer I can expect that to last.”
“You can’t talk to me like that.” Heat flooded my face. I wanted to hobble him with a scathing comeback, wanted to slap him upside the head, wanted to knee him in the groin and leave him writhing on the ground. But under all of that animosity, another kind of desire simmered. I wanted to kiss him. And that scared me the most.
“I know things aren’t going like you planned.” Bodie leaned against the back panel of his truck. “You thought you’d take over as mayor, spit shine the family name, and add a nice bullet point to your résumé.”
The glare I gave him should have curdled his stomach and wiped that smug grin off his face. Instead, he kept going. His words pinned me to the pavement.
“I’m sorry it’s not working out like you wanted. But if we’re going to figure out how to save Idont, we’re going to have to work together in some capacity.” He nodded, finally meeting my gaze. “And I’d rather we keep things civil.”
Civil. I could do civil. I’d be so freaking civil he’d be wishing and hoping for something to break up the sheer politeness of my properness.
I swallowed the urge to spite him, nodding instead. “That sounds great, just great.” I even thrust my hand out, figuring we’d officially seal the deal.
He hesitated, probably figuring I was going to try to undermine him in some way, before reaching for my hand. “All right, then. Can I give you a ride back to your truck?”
“Yes, please.” I squeezed his hand as hard as I could. His expression didn’t change. He probably couldn’t even feel it. But I sure could. A sizzling awareness zinged through me, snapping along every nerve ending from the tip of my toes to the ends of my hair. For all I knew, my wavy locks might possibly be standing on end.
Bodie released his grip. “Let’s go.” He rounded the bumper, leaving me standing in place.
Smoothing my hands over my hair, I forced myself to move to the cab. I didn’t have time to think about Bodie Phillips in any capacity other than someone who could help me find a way out of the quicksand sucking me down. And before he’d even be willing to do that, I had to figure out what kind of stick I had up my butt and how the heck I was going to remove it.
Bodie
We drove in silence the rest of the way back to the sheriff’s office. I pulled into the spot next to her truck, expecting her to jump out before I even stopped moving. But she sat there instead, her back to me.
“Lacey?” I reached out to touch her shoulder then thought better of it. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” She nodded as she turned to stare straight ahead. “I am going to find a way to save this town though.”
I rested a hand on top of the steering wheel. “I have no doubt you will.”
“With or without your help.” Her eyebrows lifted, like she’d asked a question she wanted me to answer.
My jaw set, my pulse ticking away at the base of my throat. When I didn’t respond, she opened her door and climbed out of the truck. I waited for the door to close behind her before I let out the breath I’d been holding.
I knew Lacey would do whatever she had to do to fix things in Idont. The only time I’d ever seen her give up at anything was during a heated game of Monopoly. She must have been about eleven years old. When the game stretched into the early-morning hours, Lacey had wanted to take a break and pick up again the next day. Luke and I had pushed and pushed, telling her if she went to bed she’d lose. Finally, she dozed off, her face landing in the pile of Free Parking money in the center of the table. While Luke had danced around the kitchen table, celebrating, I had carried her out to the couch in the living room and covered her with a homemade quilt.
Reconciling the determined-but-vulnerable eleven-year-old Lacey with the strong, grown-up version had me reeling. I’d always held a soft spot in my heart for her, thinking of her like the little sister I’d never had. But recently the kind of thoughts I’d been having about her were anything but brotherly.
In fact, they might be the most polar opposite kind of thoughts I could possibly have. Thoughts that included running my hands over those filled-out curves, nipping my teeth along the column of her neck, and, God help me, getting to know the grown-up Lacey in the most primal way known to man.
Yeah, Luke would kick my ass to next Tuesday if he had even an inkling of the kind of ideas I’d been entertaining about Lacey. Once I got this whole warehouse business sorted, I’d be doing us all a favor if I started seriously looking for a deputy job in a bigger county. Maybe even a different state.
Before the whole day got away from me, I ought to try to do something productive. I snagged my phone and pulled up my dad’s number.
“Hello, son.” My dad’s deep, rough voice came across the line.
“You around? I’d like to stop by.” The sooner, the better, too.
“How about tomorrow morning?” A horn honked. The sound of passing traffic served as background noise.
“Where are you?” Dad couldn’t be in town. Idont had one stoplight and even then, it worked only about twenty-five percent of the time.
