Page 11 of Tenebrous

She pulls a few dollar bills from her pocket and flings them across the counter. When she turns to leave without another word, I scramble to grab my things and run after her, telling Mary to keep the change. “Hey. Paula, wait.”

I catch up to her outside, parked at the pump next to mine with her back to me. She straightens her shoulders and sets her coffee on the roof of her car before turning to me with a tight grin. “Good to see you survived your first shift. How'd it go?”

Tilting my head, I study her closely. “You don't have to do that with me.”

“Do what?”

“Pretend. Act like what that lady said back there wasn't fucked up.”

Paula's chin quivers slightly, lips growing slack. “What did you say your name was again?”

“Benji. Short for Benjamin.”

She releases a slow breath and squints out toward the trees. “Mary's just an odd duck. Her father was down in the mines when they flooded, and she's lost people, too. We all grieve in different ways.”

“Yeah.” Running a hand through my messy curls, I lean back against my car after putting my groceries away. “I know what that's like. Grief, I mean. I lost both my parents recently, on the same day.”

Silence stretches on for a moment while she stares at me sadly. “I'm so sorry. Gale mentioned his sister passed, but I didn't know…”

I shrug and pull out a pack of smokes. “It’s why I'm here. Fresh start, yada yada.”

“And you picked this place?”

A huff leaves my throat when she wrinkles her nose cutely. “It's not forever. I just need to save up before moving on.”

That smile softly curls her mouth again as she watches me light my cigarette. “Just a rolling stone, then, huh? Laying your head wherever you land?”

“The way I like it. All fun, no strings.”

She laughs low, a throaty sound that honestly makes my nuts tingle. Our eyes stay locked when she steps up slowly to pluck the smoke from my lips before putting it between her own. “You got some place to be right now, Benji?”

Well, fuck. These bad ideas just keep on coming.

My gaze tracks down her body, hands already itching to grab onto those plush hips. “Nope. I'm free. What'd you have in mind?”

Chapter

Five

Benji

Following the sheriff’s wife to their house for a quick romp is definitely in my top five dumbest ideas.

Top three, honestly. Maybe even number one.

“You coming?” Paula calls from her porch, dragging me out of my thoughts. Warm light spills from inside the enormous house behind her, outlining the curve of her hips. The sheriff’s cruiser is nowhere in sight, but that somehow doesn’t make me feel better.

If anything, it makes this worse.

Still, against my better judgement, I kill the engine and climb out of the car. “You know, where I’m from, sleeping with the sheriff’s wife is a good way to get shot.”

She snorts out a laugh. “Relax, sweetheart. Earl’s on nights. And who says we'll be sleeping?”

Something about the way people in this town even say the word “nights” makes my skin crawl.

I slam the Camaro door shut and head up the porch steps despite my apprehension because apparently, Self-Destruction is my middle name. Warmth wraps around me as soon as I walk inside the place, the scent of cigar smoke and a vanilla candle hanging heavy in the air. An ornate lamp paints the parlor gold. Velvet curtains frame the windows, and lavish furniture takes up most of the white marble floor.

Jesus. Is the sheriff also the fucking mayor or something?