“How long has it been since you had a good night’s sleep?” he asked.
She rubbed her eyes again. “I’m fine. It’s just…late, and I’m getting punchy.”
“Let me out of here so I can take you home.”
“You don’t have a car.”
“We can use your car.”
He didn’t know if she would’ve gone for it or not. There was no question that she wanted to check out of regular life for a while, ignore her responsibilities. She’d admitted as much. And since he was only in Bordertown temporarily, he thought he was the perfect candidate to become her partner in escape.
But she never got the chance to answer. At that moment, someone called out to her from the front.
“Sophia? Hello? Hey, where are you?”
The door separating the jail from the station swung open and Stuart Dunlap stuck his head through the gap.
11
Sophia felt her face flush hot. She hadn’t done anything wrong, not yet, but she’d wanted to. She’d considered allowing Rod to deliver on his promises, imagined it. And that was bad enough.
Stuart glanced between them. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I was just having a few words with my inmate.” She retrieved her coffee cup and stepped toward the door. “What are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer. Neither did he move. He was too busy glaring at Rod.
“Stuart?” she said.
He pulled his gaze away. But only briefly. “I ran into Half-pint Harris at the pool hall a few minutes ago. He told me he was driving by the motel earlier and saw you load a man into your backseat. I came by to make sure you were okay.”
She saw no need to thank him; he wasn’t really concerned about her welfare. He’d stopped by to see if that “man” was his hated half brother. But he couldn’t gloat over Rod’s incarceration as he’d probably planned, because he sensed that something was going on between them, and Stuart was nothing if not possessive, even though he didn’t have any right to be.
“Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I can take care of myself.”
He jerked his head toward Rod. “What’d he do to land himself in the cage?”
“That’s none of your damn business.” Rod stalked to the back of his cell and once again stretched out on his cot.
Sophia wished she hadn’t gone to the trouble of arresting Rod. She’d been well within her rights. But doing it had required energy she didn’t really possess. They’d both let what had happened in the past tempt them into creating a problem that didn’t need to exist in the present.
“I caught him jaywalking,” she said.
Stuart didn’t seem amused by her flip remark. “Half-pint said he wasn’t wearing a shirt.”
“That’s a crime around here?” Rod said.
“It is if you’re messing with my girl,” Stuart snapped.
Rod sat up. “Your girl?”
“I’m not his girl,” Sophia said. “We’re not having this conversation. Come on, Stuart. Let’s get you out of here.”
She tried to grab his arm, but he jerked free and approached the bars. “What are you doing in town, Rod? No one cares about you. You know that, don’t you? You’re not wanted here today any more than when you were born.”
Rod sounded bored when he replied but Sophia knew his reaction hid a deep reservoir of feeling. “You can take that up with your father, Stu. He’s the one who asked me to come.”
“And you rushed back to town, hoping he’d finally accept you.”
“Stuart, stop,” Sophia said.
“He invited me to stay at the ranch. Did you know that?” Rod covered a yawn. “Maybe I’ll have to take him up on that offer, brother.”
“Over my dead body!”
Rocking forward, Rod came to a sitting position. “I’d be more than happy to accommodate you.”
“Are you threatening my life?” Stuart glanced at Sophia. “Did you hear that?”
Releasing a sigh filled with disgust, she pushed him toward the door. “It’s time for you to leave.”
He pulled out of her grasp. “The old man seems to think you might’ve turned into something.”
Rod shrugged. “Considering the disappointment you’ve become, I don’t blame him for hoping I’d make a better showing.”
“You filthy spic!”
“That’s enough!” Sophia attempted to step around Stuart, but he shoved her out of the way, knocking her cup to the floor, where it shattered.
Rod was on his feet and at the bars in a second. “I suggest you get out of here before you really piss me off.”
“Or what?” Stuart taunted. “What’s the big Navy SEAL going to do from in there?”
Removing the key to Rod’s cell from her pocket, Sophia dangled it in front of Stuart’s nose. “If you don’t leave, I’ll unlock the cage and we’ll find out.”
The surprise on Stuart’s face told Sophia he hadn’t expected her to take such a hard line. But this was her jail, and she wouldn’t put up with him heckling a prisoner. Especially since Rod had had enough of that kind of abuse while growing up.
“What the hell, Sophia? You’re taking his side?” Stuart complained.
She didn’t care if he liked it or not. It was about time someone in Bordertown took Rod’s side. “He didn’t start this. You did.”
“This is screwed up, that’s what it is,” he said, and stomped out.
In the silence that followed, Rod didn’t speak. He returned to his cot and glared at her as if he suddenly resented her as much as he had before. “I don’t need you to stick up for me.”
“You’ve made it abundantly clear that you don’t need anyone.” She unlocked the cell. “But since you’ve already sent my evidence to a lab, there’s nothing to be gained by keeping you in here. I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Let’s go.”
His eyes shifted to the door. “Where?”
“I’m driving you back to the motel.”
No response.
“Are you coming or not?” she asked.
“Will you be staying there with me?”
The shift from anger to lust knocked her off balance again. “No. Whatever insanity possessed me before is gone.”
He came toward her with the restrained energy of someone who used only a fraction of his true strength. “Have you ever slept with my half brother?”