AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They’d kill each other. Yeah. That’s what would happen. That’sallthat would happen.
An image of Roxie in those tiny shorts flashed in his mind and he grimaced.Damn. He was in trouble. After all, wasn’t denial the first sign of a problem?
CHAPTERTWO
It was going to be a long day. As always, Roxie had arrived at her café, Comfort Food, at four in the morning, and the doors had opened at six. Now, at only seven thirty, they’d already served twice as many customers than usual, and the crowd didn’t look like it would let up anytime soon.
The businesswoman in her was thrilled, but she wished she could attribute the traffic to something better than the rumor mill. Small-town gossip was like a wildfire—it traveled fast, could be devastating, and left a giant mess behind—and the news about her banged-up face had been no exception.
But money was money, and customers were customers. Gossipy busybodies or not. So Roxie was doing what she did best: pasting on a smile and sucking it up. Besides, she was touched by the true concern of her regulars, some of whom she considered more like family.
Nina Castillo, her lone full-time employee, turned to her. “I’ve got the front covered if you want to head back.”
She was beyond tempted by Nina’s offer, but she refused to hide. “That’s okay, it’s no problem. I—”
“Oh my god!”
Her molars ground together, and she winced at the shrill voice. She winced again as the slight motion increased the pain in her throbbing jaw. Sheila Lancaster, her newest part-time employee, had aHello Kittyvoice that was too high-pitched for this early in the morning.
“Roxie, your face! What happened?” Sheila rounded the counter, her eyes wide with concern, her hands fluttering in a helpless gesture.
Roxie forced a smile, reminding herself that one of the reasons she’d hired Sheila was because, squeaky voice and all, the customers loved her.
“Don’t worry, Sheila. It looks a lot worse than it feels.” Complete lie. Her jaw and head throbbed from the punch, and her shoulder ached from the tackle. She desperately wanted to lie down. Preferably on a soft surface far away from the looky-loo customers.
Glancing between her employees, a sense of calm settled over her. These two women were solid, and she knew Comfort Food would be in good hands if she decided to listen to her body and rest for once. Which was doubtful, but never say never and all that...
Nina had been with her for just over a year, and she was efficient, organized, innovative, and the best right-hand woman anyone could ask for. Sheila was also a great worker. It had only been a month since she’d joined the team, but Roxie had a good feeling about her.
As far as appearances and personalities went, while both women were petite, they were polar opposites in every other way. Nina was Filipino-American with long black hair and enormous dark-brown eyes reminiscent of Princess Jasmine’s. On first impression, she was the epitome of sweet and innocent. Whilesweetheld true,innocentwas a complete facade. Nina’s sarcastic and bawdy humor had Roxie in stitches on a regular basis.
Sheila, on the other hand, was a curvy, hourglass-figured, blond-haired, blue-eyed bombshell. If you looked upsexyin the dictionary, you would find a picture of her. Beneath Sheila’s sultry pinup-girl looks, however, was an innate sweetness and naivety that all the customers adored.
“But what happened?” Sheila asked, her baby blues welling. “Are you really okay?”
The corners of Roxie’s lips twitched. See? Sweet. “I promise I’m okay. It was an accident. I have an unexpected new housemate, and last night we had a massive lack of communication when—”
“Who the fuck did that to you, Roxie?” a low, ominous voice interrupted.
Could this day be over yet?
Roxie groaned, and her shoulders sagged. She counted to five before turning to meet the storm-gray gaze of Sheriff Quinn O’Conner.
“I want a fucking name, Roxie. Now.”
Those seven little words had a small smile ghosting her lips.
Like Joe, she’d known Quinn her entire life. The three of them had grown up together, thick as thieves. But while she and Joe had grown apart, she and Quinn had stayed close. The man was the big brother she’d never had. He was her dearest friend and most favorite person. His wife, Alex, was a close second. And their little one-month-old daughter, Annie, was angling for the top spot.
She and Quinn had seen each other through both wonderful and devastating times. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to protect him and his family. She knew he reciprocated the sentiment, and because of that, her smile slipped. She had no clue how to tell him about what had happened last night. He saw things in black and white, and no matter what spin she put on it, no matter how much she explained it had been a misunderstanding, he’d be furious.
Yes, Joe was a complete jackass, but she didn’t want him to get pummeled. And yes, Joe had all sorts of combat training and could probably hold his own, but right now, Quinn looked capable of murder. Her friend had absolutely no tolerance for violence toward women—misunderstanding or not. Especially since his wife was a former victim of domestic abuse.
He’d met Alex when she’d fled to Hudson Island after her sadistic then-husband, Preston Woodsworth III, had been put in jail. Not only had the evil man been under investigation by the FBI for public corruption and extortion, but he’d terrorized Alex. The stories of abuse she’d relayed about the horror and pain she’d endured at the hands of her ex-husband turned Roxie’s blood cold every time they crossed her mind.
Especially since Roxie’d had the misfortune of experiencing his monstrous nature firsthand. It had been a horrible case of wrong-place-wrong-time that had led to Woodsworth taking her captive. He’d left her with a fractured and dislocated shoulder—the same shoulder that was now throbbing, thanks to Joe—and a severe concussion.
And nightmares. Countless nightmares that she woke from in a panic, dripping with sweat, swearing she could still feel the cold barrel of the gun pressed to her head and the jut of his arousal against her back.
