Page 48 of Forsaken Hearts
Summer spent her entire shift feeling like somebody was watching her.
Every time the front door opened at the Stockyard, a band stretched between her shoulder blades. Every loud laugh from the bar made her glance up. Every shadow she spotted from the corner of her eye commanded her attention before she could stop herself.
Then she would see Gray Malone sitting at the bar and scanning the room with his calm watchfulness, and her pulse would stabilize.
She was safe—at least from physical threats.
But her body still hadn’t recovered from Vander’s hands all over her a few hours ago.
Between hypervigilance and loss of focus, by the time her shift ended she felt emotionally wrung out. When she finished, she moved behind the bar to store her apron and notepad for the next day.
She inched closer to Gray still seated there.
He gave her a passing nod. “Quiet lunch hour,” he said quietly enough to keep their conversation private.
“Yes.”
“Pope’s outside.”
Her stomach tingled at the name everyone else used for him. A hot name. As if just the thought of seeing her lover wasn’t enough to turn her on.
Right now, she only had to worry about him making a scene again about bad security when they picked up Ben from school.
She offered Gray a grateful smile and pushed through the door into the bright sunshine. Vander was parked a few feet away, leaning on his truck. Her gut gripped as their gazes locked for a throbbing beat.
“I’ll follow you home.”
With a nod, she turned and walked to her vehicle. Just as they planned, she drove home with him tailing her, which made her insides warm and uneasy at the same time.
She pulled into her driveway a few minutes later, and he parked on the street. She was aware of his every move as he climbed out, extending his long legs to the ground and walking up to her car.
When he got into the passenger seat, the scent of fresh shampoo hit her. He’d showered at the ranch.
“Good shift?” he asked as she backed out of the driveway and headed to the school.
“Made fifty-two dollars.”
The brim of his cowboy hat concealed his eyes from her, so all she could see was how he compressed his lips. “You deserve a lot more.”
Emotions poured through her, and she spent the next few minutes talking herself out of more bad decisions, like pulling over and jumping him again.
The school came into view, parents already lined up along the curb as kids spilled out through the front doors bundled in jackets and backpacks.
She looked over at Vander. “We should probably get our stories straight.”
One corner of his hard lips lifted. “Stories?”
“In seven years I’ve never brought a guy around Ben.”
He nodded. “We’ll tell him the truth—I’m watching out for you both.”
“Yes, but Ben is seven and observant.”
“Dangerous combination.”
She sighed and leaned back against the seat. “He’s gonna ask questions.”
Vander’s expression softened slightly. “Then we answer them.”
