Page 16 of I Want Crazy (Loco, Texas 3)

“You did?”

“Are you really this gullible?”

“Around here, we tend to take people at their word.”

Jessie bit her lip, forcing back her smile. “I’m sorry. I’m just not big on talking about myself.”

“So what are you big on talking about?”

“My new life, my new bar, and all things rock ’n’ roll.”

Red grunted. “Seems like we’ll have a lot to talk about, then.”

Chapter Five

Red was an active guy, but after five hours of painting, his arms were sore as hell. He stepped back and looked around the bar at their handiwork.

“I think that’s it,” he said.

She walked over to the space heater and turned it on. “Well, that’s the first coat. I’ve got to wait for this one to dry before I can apply the next one. Hopefully the heat helps.”

“So what else do you need to get this place open?”

He sensed her hesitation, as if she still wasn’t convinced he was here to help. “Listen, I appreciate your help, but you don’t have to do this.”

“I know, but to be honest, I really don’t have anywhere else to be… Shit.” He felt all the blood leaving his head. “What time is it?”

She checked her phone. “Seven ten.”

“Fuck, she is going to kill me.”

“Who, your wife?”

Her casual question made him grin. “My mother, but smooth.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just assumed it was your wife, because what grown man is afraid of his mother?”

“You do not know my mother. If you did, you would fear her too.”

Jessie laughed. “Somehow I doubt that.”

Suddenly, he had an evil idea. “Then why not come with me? Distract her from the fact that I’m late?”

“Thanks, but I’m not really a family dinner kind of girl.”

He watched her gather up her paint tin and roller, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly. “What else are you going to do?”

She hesitated. “Probably go back to the hotel and take a bath.”

“What are you going to do for dinner? There’s nothing open on a Sunday night.”

He could see he had her. “Seriously? Nothing?”

“This is small-town Texas, sweetheart. We respect the day of rest.”

“Well, shit.” She walked toward the back of the bar with her hands full. “I guess I’ll just wait until the bakery opens tomorrow.”

Red trailed behind her with his own equipment, frustration pulsating through his body. “Are you always this stubborn?”

---