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She groaned in frustration. “I should have stayed in California. ”
“And miss all the fun here?” Rogue laughed. “Really, Janey, that’s so selfish of you, wanting your privacy and peace over our entertainment. Alex should spank you. ”
She flushed to the roots of her hair as Rogue squealed in glee.
“Oh my God, has he spanked you?”
“No!” She glared at her friend. “Leave me alone. You’re too bad, Rogue. ”
“You liar. ” Rogue laughed, amusement sparkling in her violet eyes. “He spanked you, didn’t he?”
Did those few little slaps last night count? Oh hell yes they did, because she wanted more.
“He didn’t spank me. Now stop. This is embarrassing. ”
“Only because you never had a real friend before. ” Rogue waved her comment away as she propped her feet on the glass coffee table and wagged her brows suggestively. “You should give me all the deets, you know. That way, I can look bored and uninterested when all the good juicy gossip pours in. I can be a mystery, and let everyone think I know absolutely more than they do, which I will. It ups my standing in the little demi-community I live within. ”
The demi-community, as Rogue called it, consisted of bikers and misfits, criminals and troublemakers.
Somehow, Rogue knew all of them.
“I think you can manage to make them believe you know even when you don’t,” Janey pointed out. “You don’t need deets. ”
“But deets make it much more fun. ” Rogue sighed heavily. “Oh well, since you refuse to accommodate me . . . Do you think Alex will bring that sexy sheriff with him?” She lifted her brows suggestively.
“I’d guess he’ll bring Natches with him if you saw his motorcycle in Alex’s driveway this morning. ”
“Yes. I did. All that testosterone in one place. ” Rogue gave a false shiver of pleasure. “It’s enough to make a woman have naughty thoughts. ”
“Try living with all that testosterone. ” Janey sighed. “You’ll change your mind fast. ”
“No doubt. ” Rogue cocked her head and listened as Janey heard the deep throb of a Harley pulling into the back lot. “Sounds like that testosterone is about to invade your office. ”
“They fight,” Janey muttered. “They’re making me crazy. ”
“Like two little boys over a toy. ” Rogue’s laughter was light and compassionate. “Poor Janey. All that love and she doesn’t know what to do with it. ”
Janey gave her a sharp look. Rogue grimaced and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s all my bitterness coming out. Ignore me. ”
It wasn’t the first time Rogue had made a remark, or given that explanation for it. Rogue had her
“daddy,” who sent her presents, gifts, and pretty clothes. And he left her in Somerset to face the hell Nadine Grace had built for her when Rogue first arrived in town, as a teacher of all things.
Lena Rogue Walker had come into town as a high school teacher, and her first day on the job, Nadine Grace had invaded her schoolroom, along with the principal, demanding to know if Rogue was related to the Walkers that lived near the county line. Rumored moonshiners, a hard-drinking, rough-living lot that Johnny Grace had once tried to steal from.
Unfortunately, Rogue had been related to them. Her father was one of them, though he had left before the trouble with Johnny, and made a small fortune in electronics and the stock market.
What happened in the months after that had become Rogue’s personal nightmare, and still had the power to leave her shaking in fear, Janey knew.
Maybe it was the reason they were drawn to each other as friends. A similar hell. Nightmarish visions they couldn’t always separate in their dreams, and couldn’t forget while they were awake.
Whatever the reason, they had survived, and despite the other woman’s harder edge, Janey was coming to trust her as the only true friend she’d ever had.
Rising to her feet, Janey smoothed her hands down the sides of her jeans and straightened the snug T-shirt she wore before opening the door.
Right on time. Natches and Alex walked into the office. Both were scowling and neither seemed in a pleasant mood.
“Rogue, how did I know the two of you would end up hooking up?” Natches grinned when he saw the other woman. “Come here and give us a hug, sugar. ”
