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u. But...I’m glad you wanted to see me.”
Walker suddenly became aware that he was standing in his open doorway with an ex-lover who wasn’t exactly dressed modestly. He moved in and shut the door. Nicole took that as a sign that she should slide her arms around his waist.
“Nicole...” He eased away, shaking his head. “I didn’t go out there to see you.”
She moved closer again, smiling up at him. “You just happened to be in the neighborhood?”
“No. I wanted to see Roosevelt.”
Yikes. That knocked the smile right off her face. “The dog?” Her hands fell to her sides. “You’re kidding, right? You’re just saying that to be mean. You told me you wouldn’t come on the property to see me because it felt wrong. But you’re fine with throwing it in my husband’s face to see your dog?”
“I thought your husband was out of town.”
A little snarl warned him he was missing the point. He’d heard that snarl many times before in his life.
“I’m sorry, Nicole. Again. I meant it when I said it was over. I don’t need this kind of complication right now.”
“No?” She huffed and spun away to stalk to his couch, her high heels like hammers on the floor. “What kind of complication do you need, huh? The brunette kind? The sneaky embezzler kind? Or some other kind I don’t know about?”
Walker sighed and wearily shrugged off his coat. “I can honestly say I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Your new girl,” she snapped as she struggled into her jacket.
He hung up his coat and set his hat on a table, then reached out to help her into her jacket. “My new girl,” he repeated flatly.
“Charlotte? Isn’t that her name?” She grabbed her purse and finally turned to face him.
“I’m not sure she’d like to be classified as my new girl. She’s a friend.”
“Big surprise. You’re good at making friends, aren’t you, Walker? But maybe you should be a little more choosy.”
“You’re not making any sense. Charlie is someone I grew up with.”
She stared at him for a long moment, head tilted to the side, mouth tight with anger. “You don’t know?” she finally asked.
“Know what?”
She flashed a bitter smile. “Wow. Really? Well, let me put it this way. I don’t think she’s that girl you grew up with anymore.”
Walker scrubbed a hand over his beard as the stress of the day finally slammed into him in a wash of bone-deep exhaustion. “Maybe you should just go.”
“You don’t believe me? Look her up. She was brought back to Jackson to help her brother recoup the money he owes people.”
“That’s absurd. She doesn’t even like her brother.”
She smiled again, sadly this time, and reached up to cup her fingers to his chin. “She’s a criminal, Walker. That’s why she’s here.” She leaned up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his mouth. He was so confused, he could only stand there and let her. “And I’m the one who got you fired.”
“What?” He drew his head back until she let him go. His mind was nothing but a dark, blank space with chaos swirling through it. “What did you say?”
She shrugged. “You said you wouldn’t sleep with me because you were working for my husband. So I complained that you’d been disrespectful and I got you fired. But I guess it wasn’t about your job, after all. That was just a convenient lie.”
He took a step back to put more distance between them, trying to calm the wild anger that was building. “You got me fired and now you’re calling me a liar?”
“I was just helping you with your scruples. It must have been uncomfortable working there, knowing how close you’d come to fucking me.” Nicole headed for the door. “Bye, Walker. Don’t forget to do a search for your new girlfriend online. It’s pretty interesting stuff.”
After the door slammed behind her, Walker stared dumbly at it.
Nicole had gotten him fired. No wonder people were talking. And no wonder she’d been so pissed that he wouldn’t sleep with her after.
