Page 28 of Lavender Lake
“If browbeating doesn’t work, we can always make a sizable donation.”
Hadley paused. “I should’ve thought of that.”
“Money opens doors.”
That was one thing the Powell family had a lot of. Plus, the Powell family was a staple in the community. Everyone knew who we were.
It was one of the reasons I’d left.
“I feel bad for the nurse that tries to stand between Muddy and her son,” I said dryly. “The woman doesn’t takenofor an answer.”
“If all she’s going to do is sit and crochet or sleep, I don’t understand why they won’t let her,” Hadley remarked.
“Protocol, I guess.”
“Hmm. Yeah.” She sighed. “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later.”
I hung up with my sister, and then stared out the window.
“What’s the word?” Bowman asked.
I glanced at him and smiled. “You want me to recount an entire conversation I know you already heard?”
He grinned. “Nah. Just trying to be polite.”
“Hmm. I don’t know if I like you polite.”
“But you like me, huh?”
“I wouldn’t gothatfar.”
“Oh yeah, you definitely like me.”
“Only when you’re naked,” I quipped, trying to lighten the intensity of the conversation I’d just had with my sister. “And when your mouth is otherwise occupied instead of talking. Talking ruins everything.”
“We talked. That night.”
Despite my saucy barbs, my cheeks flamed with heat. “That wasn’ttalking.That was . . . something else.”
“Something you desperately want to do again.”
“Turn,” I commanded, pointing to a fork in the road. “Go up that way.”
“I’m right, right?” he demanded. “You liked when I whispered dirty depraved things in your ear. Things I wanted to do.”
I couldn’t stop the memories or the shivers that pattered up my spine and settled at the base of my neck. If he was trying to get me to concede the bet—he would have try harder. A lot harder.
“Not going to happen, Caspian,” I said, my tone raspy.
“We’ll see, Powell. We shall see.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Ranch
Bowman parked the truck outside the front of my childhood home—a home that hadn’t felt like much of one since my mother had died several years earlier.
It had been so long since I’d been here.
