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“And Mom and Dad have their things to do. That leaves poor little Rogue sitting in the corner to stare at the walls. ”
“Caitlyn,” he growled her name. “Your name is Caitlyn. Son of a bitch, you’ve had four years, Cait. You’ve had plenty of time to get back at the bastards that hurt you. Now it’s time to come home. ”
She stared at him in surprise, and she admitted a bit of anger. She would have thought that her brother would have known better than to believe she had stayed in Somerset for such a paltry reason.
“You think the only reason I stay here is because I want to get back at someone?” She felt like pulling at her hair. She hated dealing with her brother, or her father, when they got something into their head. They didn’t let up until they got their way, and Rogue wasn’t of the mind to give in to them.
“That’s exactly why you stay,” he bit out harshly. “Tell me what else you have. Family?
Friends? You didn’t even make friends outside the damned bar until last year. ”
“So? I have friends now. ” She shrugged as she adjusted the hem of her T-shirt over the band of her jeans. “I have a business, a job, and a sheriff. ” She winked suggestively as she watched him flush angrily. She hadn’t said the word lover, it hovered there in the air between them, infuriating his brotherly sensibilities.
“Caitlyn . . . ”
“Rogue,” she injected softly. She was getting tired of reminding him.
He grimaced. “Even I know Sheriff Mayes’s reputation with women. He’s not a relationship kind of guy and you know it. He’s going to break your heart. ”
Rogue pushed her hands into her back pockets and gave him a tight smile, warning herself to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t want to fight with her brother. It had been too long since she had seen him. She’d let him bitch a little, then maybe take him down to the bar and let him have a drink or two. Maybe a beer would chill him out a little.
“You’re not even listening to me, are you?” he accused her, a hint of anger entering his voice.
“Should I be?” Rogue arched her brows as she pulled her hands from her pockets and turned away from him to grab her apartment keys and cell phone from the kitchen table. “Let’s go down to the bar. I need to check a few things out and you need a beer. ”
“I don’t need a damned beer. ” His violet gaze hardened as he stared back at her. “I’ll help you pack instead. ”
Her lips quirked. “You can come downstairs for a beer, or you can find yourself a hotel room for the night first. But packing isn’t something we’ll do. ”
His lips thinned. “You have a spare bedroom here; why should I have to find a hotel room?”
“Because you aren’t staying here,” she informed him as she moved for the door.
“Because your sheriff stays here?” he forced out between clenched teeth.
“Pretty much. ” She shrugged mockingly. “I prefer not to have my brother in the next room while I’m sleeping with my lover. It just smacks of tacky. ”
His hands plowed through his hair. Anger marked his face and glittered in his eyes as she strolled past him.
“Come on, John. ” Opening the door, she stared back at him warningly. “I’m not in the mood to fight with you, and you don’t want to push it. Let’s go downstairs and have a beer and chill out. You can go back home tomorrow and tell Daddy I’m just as stubborn as I ever was and you can go on about your business. ”
“You think all it takes is telling Dad that you’re being stubborn, don’t you, Rogue?”
“That’s all it took before. ” She moved for the stairs. “I’m a big girl, John. I really can make these decisions all by myself. ”
She heard him follow behind her, the door closing before she started down the stairs.
Music drifted up the stairs, clashing and wild as a popular classic rock tune thundered out onto the dance floor and beyond.
“You like to think you’re a big girl,” he snorted behind her. “A half-pint wishing is more like it. ”
She grinned at the comment. A half-pint wishing, that was one of her father’s ways of telling her she was too small and delicate to do the things she normally did. It was usually in reference to another fight she had been involved in, or when she went nose to nose with Jonesy over something he ended up tattling over.
Pushing through the door that led to the main customer area of the bar, she let a grin tilt her lips. It was going to be hard at first to step away from the home she had taken over four years ago. The bar had been her rebellion, and she had done a damned good job of rebelling in it. Maybe she had grown up a bit over the years though. The bar wasn’t as important as it had been, or maybe she was tired of rebelling. Either way, she knew her time there was limited.
Moving behind the long counter, she drew her brother a draft beer before pulling a chilled bottle of her favorite brand from beneath the counter. Her gaze went over the bartenders’ activity, from Jonesy at the register as he made a point to ignore her, to Kent as he filled orders quickly and efficiently.
“You know, you should move to Somerset. ” She grinned at her brother’s look of horror.
