Page 58 of Part of Me (The Seaside Chronicles 2)

Sutton

The second I pulled out of the parking lot, I called Palmer.

“Miss me already?” she asked when she picked up.

“Brody punched the living daylights out of Jack!”

“Wait—what?”

“Oh my God, Palmer, I know this sounds so wrong, and I’m so confused. But I was also so turned on watching Brody lunge forward and hit Jack. It was the best thing I’ve ever seen!”

Palmer giggled. “Lord, you are so weird. What happened? Where did you see Jack?”

“After you and Harlee left, he came into the store. Brody stayed in the back room while I went to see who was there. You forgot to lock the front door, by the way.”

“No, I didn’t. I locked it, Sutton.”

My heart dropped. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

“That means…”

“Jack has a key to the store.”

I hit the steering wheel and cursed.

“What if he goes back?” she asked.

“I set the alarm, and I know for a fact he doesn’t know the code. I changed companies, as well as the password and code, when I left him.”

“Thank God. Lord knows what that crazy man would do if he got into the store without you there.”

I made a mental note to call the locksmith first thing in the morning. “I’ll have the locks changed tomorrow.”

“Good. Now back to the punching.”

“Oh, right. So, I walked out to see Jack standing there. I immediately went behind the counter to put distance between us, and he started going on about how he can’t believe I won’t drop the restraining order. I wasn’t scared, but that’s probably because I knew Brody was in the back. The next thing I knew, Jack started to walk toward the counter, and then I heard Brody come out.”

“What did he say? What did he say!?”

“He said something like, ‘Take another step toward my wife and my fist will be in your face!’ Not going to lie, it was hot.”

Palmer burst out laughing, and so did I.

“Jesus, Sutton. You want the guy bad. So tell him.”

“We’re friends, Palmer.”

“Who are both in love with one another. Anyone who sees the two of you looking at each other knows how you feel. Why can’t you see it?”

I sighed. “I know Brody has feelings for me…but I’m not sure they’re those kinds of feelings.”

“Ugh! I really wish someone would punch you in the face.” She paused. “Hey, did you bring a vibrator home?”

“No.”

I must have waited a beat too long to answer because Palmer said, “You are such a terrible liar. Which one did you snag?”

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