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Never let them see you sweat, bleed, or cry, her grandmother had once told her. Rogue had kept her head high, but it hadn’t been easy. Staring Zeke Mayes in the eye after those pictures hit the Internet had been even harder.
Now, today, four years later, she found that bravado was second nature, pissing people off came easily, and pretending to be the wild, vivacious Rogue was like a second skin now. Unfortunately, the illusion was only skin-deep. The wild, sexually aware, teasing, motorcycle-riding hellion was just that, a game, a joke on the county and the people that had turned on her. Beneath the skin Caitlyn still lurked, waiting, watching, and fantasizing about a man she couldn’t have.
So what did she do after the best kiss of her life? Did she have incredibly erotic dreams of getting him out of uniform and devouring his hot, hard body? Of course not; she had nightmares.
And she also had a job outside of lounging around the bar. She’d skipped out on Janey the night before, but she couldn’t skip out today or tomorrow. The lunch-crowd days were murder, and the bookkeeping at the end of the day looked like something a cyclone had blown in if Rogue didn’t get a hand on it quickly.
Not that Janey couldn’t handle the paperwork; it was just that Rogue was better at it and she knew it. And she hated having to figure out Janey’s system when she called demanding help. It was a hell of a lot easier when it was Rogue’s system.
April was being especially nice when she stepped out the back door of the bar that afternoon. The early afternoon sunlight was pouring down and warming the mountains with unseasonably heated days. Perfect days for the motorcycle ride to the restaurant.
The nights were colder, though, and far less hospitable, but endurable.
She missed the nights Zeke had picked her up after he went off duty at night. The sheriff’s four-by-four Tahoe had been toasty warm and smelled of Zeke. That rich, dark male scent mixed with a hint of aftershave.
Straddling the Harley, Rogue gave herself a mental shake, turned on the ignition, and kicked back the stand before pulling out of the back lot of the bar and heading toward Somerset.
The Bar was only a few miles out of town, but the drive to the Mackay restaurant was nearly a half hour. By the time she pulled into the back lot there the chill wind had sliced through her leather riding chaps and heavy jacket. Her face felt frozen, and she wasn’t looking forward to the ride home that night.
Damn, if she kept this up, she was going to have to pull that ugly sedan out of the garage where she kept it stored and start driving it again. Wouldn’t that just leave her reputation as the bad-girl biker in the dust. Her dignity, too, because that sedan was damned ugly.
Kicking the stand in place, she pulled the key from the ignition, tucked it into her front pocket, and dismounted in one smooth move before pulling the small leather backpack she carried from a saddlebag.
Janey was in the office as Rogue strode in. The other woman was sitting nice and cozy and warm in her lover’s arms where he sat in the large leather chair behind the desk.
“Chief of police caught lazing on the job,” Rogue reported tongue-in-cheek. “Sources close to the owner of the Mackay Restaurant and Café report that said chief definitely knows how to make use of a leather office chair. Pictures below. ”
Janey rolled her eyes as Alex grunted, though his gray eyes were lit with amusement.
“Sources close to Rogue Walker are also well aware of a certain sheriff’s late-night visit,” he stated, though his gaze turned somber. “Has he learned anything yet?”
Rogue shook her head as she loosened the buckles to her chaps and slid them from her jeans-clad legs. “Nothing that I know of and I’ve ignored the phone this morning, so the gossip hasn’t exactly made it to me yet. ”
“The gossip we can definitely do without,” Janey stated, her dark green eyes sparking with anger.
Janey had endured enough gossip since her father’s death. Dayle Mackay had been a maggot and his sister, Nadine Grace, had been even worse. Sometimes Rogue thought it rather ironic, the friendship she had developed with the other woman, considering her history with Janey’s father and aunt.
“Have you heard anything further?” She watched Alex as he lifted Janey to her feet, then rose from the chair.
The man was definite eye candy. She got a nice slow look, then arched her brow at Janey’s frown as her lips twitched in amusement. It was a game. Rogue couldn’t help it.
Alex always just almost blushed, and Janey always bristled. Rogue laughed.
“I haven’t heard anything further,” Alex growled. “Stop trying to embarrass me, Rogue.
It’s not going to happen. ”
Rogue shrugged. “Hey, a girl needs some excitement in her life, ya know. ”
Janey leaned back against the table set close to the wall and arched her brows at Rogue’s comment. “I guess that’s why Zeke called Alex no more than five minutes before you arrived. To add excitement to your life?”
Rogue glared back at her. “Yeah. Right. If he lets my life get any more exciting, I might not be able to handle it. ”
“Uh-huh,” Alex murmured. “Explains the beard burn under your jaw. ”
Rogue’s hand flashed to the incriminating mark, and she felt the heat flood her face.
Dammit. She knew she had covered that with makeup.
