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“Who’s the little flunky reporter you sent my way yesterday?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Cut the bullshit, Lori, I’m not in the mood. Who is the prick? And if you don’t tell me, I’ll make one call to figure it out on my own and have his ass fired.”
The waiter brought over her wine, and she took a slow drink of it before she set it down on the table and then gave me a cunning smile. “He’s someone I…work with.”
“Sleep with?” I corrected.
She shrugged. “We might have rolled in the sheets a time or two. Did he catch your attention for me?”
“He’s not really a reporter, is he?”
Lori laughed. “God, no. He’s my personal trainer.”
I dropped back in my seat and shook my head. “You went to a hell of a lot of trouble to catch my attention.”
“You’ve been ignoring me, Anson. I don’t like to be ignored.”
With my voice lowered, I asked, “What part of I don’t want to fuck you, are you not getting?”
Her face broke out into a cool smile once again, but I could see the anger in her eyes.
She picked up her wine once more, then looked around the restaurant as she set it back down. “I don’t want to fuck you, Anson. I wanted to warn you about someone.”
My brows pulled in tight. “Warn me about someone?”
“If you had read my text messages or bothered to open an email, you would have known I don’t want your…”
Her words died on her lips. Then she laughed. “That’s not true. I’d always be up for a round with you, but that isn’t why I worked so hard to get your attention.”
“What do you want then?”
“About four months ago, I was at a birthday party for a colleague of mine. Another reporter at the party, his name is Mack, seemed to have a beef with you and was asking me all kinds of questions. For a few hot minutes there, I thought he was privy to our colorful past, but I quickly figured out he simply knew I had interviewed you a few times.”
“Mack Charleston?” I asked.
“Yes. That was him.”
I dragged my hands down my face and groaned.
“I take it you know him.”
“Yeah. I sort of hit him once.”
Her eyes went wide. “How do you sort of hit someone, Anson?”
“When you hit someone and then pay them a lot of money and have them sign lots of legal shit to say you didn’t hit them. That’s how it sort of happens. Witnesses were there and ready to testify that Mack was pushing me. Literally pushing me from behind because I wouldn’t answer his questions. I turned and hit him.”
“He deserved it then,” she stated.
“Yeah, and he’s stayed clear of me since.”
“That you know of. Something seemed weird to me, so I had him followed.”
I nearly spit out my water. “You had him followed?”
She nodded. “Yes. He had a reason to come to me and ask about you. If he was poking in your business, he was poking in mine. I wasn’t sure what his game was. But I found out.”
“And?” I asked as my heart rate increased.
“The PI I hired checked in with me the other day. He sent me a list of all the places Mack has been in the last four months.”
She leaned in and lowered her voice. “Anson, he’s been to Comfort three times, and the last time he was there, your father threatened to shoot him if he didn’t get off the porch of your grandparents’ house.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I replied, “He should have shot him.”
Lori smiled.
“Bristol?” I asked.
She shook her head and I felt a sense of relief. I had slipped once and said Bristol’s name in front of Lori. She had sworn to me she would keep her name off the record. She’d never publish a word about her. This little stunt she pulled yesterday had me second guessing things though.
“I don’t think he’s figured it out. But I can’t help but wonder what his fixation is with you.”
“I’m not sure. Revenge? He’s got a restraining order not to come near me or my family, so he’s playing with fire if he really is going to Comfort.”
She finished off her wine and set it down on the table. “I wanted to tell you. Maybe you should let Bristol know.”
I shook my head. “She doesn’t talk to me, hasn’t in almost six years.”
Something moved across her face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. “Then tell someone who is talking to you, because they need to relay it to her. Someone is bound to talk someday, Anson. As much as you don’t want it to happen, her name will come out eventually.”
My hand went to the back of my neck to massage the sudden ache. “I know.”
