Page 30 of I Want Crazy (Loco, Texas 3)

“Threats?” Red asked.

Both women looked at each other, and Rand said, “Don’t worry. We have an understanding.”

Jessie caught Red giving her a curious stare and ignored him. She was too busy contemplating how to stop ogling him when she didn’t even realize she was doing it.

Chapter Nine

Red hadn’t seen much of Jessie since he dropped her off after dinner Monday, but their texting hadn’t slowed down. Red had been averaging four hours of sleep a night between writing and late-night texts, and by Friday afternoon, he had forty thousand four hundred and sixty-six words. He was so close to his first draft, and it was all because of her.

Sitting at his table, he stretched and stood up, heading back to take a shower. He’d spent most of the day in his boxers and a T-shirt and was pretty sure he’d smelled better.

When he got out of the shower, he saw the light on his phone flashing. He picked it up and touched the little envelope.

It’s all done. Wanna see?

Smiling, he tapped out a message. Sure, be there in half an hour.

He got dressed quickly and drove over to the bar. Jessie was standing in front, holding a wooden sign, and he parked in front of her.

“Did you just ask me here to hang up your sign?” he asked as he climbed out of his car.

“No, although I do need your help. I want your opinion on everything, since you’re my biggest critic.”

Not anymore.

“Sure, show me the goods.”

She flipped the sign around with a little squeal. “Well, what do you think?”

He cocked his head and studied the sign. Jessie’s Bar and Grill looked like it was branded into the wood, and he nodded. “Well, it’s no Outlaws and Angels, but it fits.”

“Gee, thanks for the enthusiasm.”

He took the sign from her and held it up, surprised by how light it was. “So, where are we hanging this?”

Jessie pointed to the ladder against the wall. “I was thinking above the door.”

“Are you serious?” he asked, but she was already gone, walking toward a car pulling up.

He grumbled as he grabbed his tool belt from the backseat, and when he straightened up, he saw Jessie walking inside with a swarthy, muscular guy Red thought looked familiar.

Setting the sign against the ladder, he started to come through the door, but she stopped him. “What are you doing?”

“I was just—”

“I’m conducting an interview for the head chef position, so can you please hang the sign?”

He opened his mouth to argue, but she shut the door in his face. Scowling, he grabbed the sign with one hand and climbed the ladder with the other. As he started nailing the sign into place, he remembered how he’d known her “head chef applicant.” It was Ray Leon. He had been on the varsity football team at White Oak, and when they’d played against Loco, Ray had played fast and loose.

But more recently than that, he remembered seeing Ray on the news several years ago in an assault case.

No way in hell are you letting her hire him.

He climbed down off the ladder and pulled open the door to find Jessie sitting down with Ray. “Jessie, I want to talk to you about this sign.”

He heard her sigh loudly and mutter, “Excuse me, please.”

She got up from the table, and when she reached him, she pushed him out the door hard.

---