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“No, I didn’t have to. I got a call from Jim Hazelton. Hesells us alfalfa, and it looks like somehow our last shipment wascontaminated,” Pops explained.
Grim walked out, pulling off a pair of latex gloves. “Let meguess. Blister beetles?”
“And that is why you’re the smart one, son,” Dad replied.“How fucked are we?”
“I think we caught it early enough.” Grim started for thebarn door. “But I’m going to need some hands to help me check the rest of theherd. Josh, we need to set up for exams and then you take a shower and get outof here. You made a promise to our girl. Go and get her. Maybe spending the dayexamining cattle will be fun for her.”
It wouldn’t, but it would tell him a lot about Nicole and ifshe could handle what they needed.
“I’ll go get Momma.” Olivia joined Grim. “It’s going to be afun family day.”
They would earn Sunday supper, but then they always did.
Josh joined his fathers and got to work, his mind on Nicolethe entire time.
* * * *
Nicole looked around the motel room and wondered whyit seemed so lonely now. They’d only been here for the night. It shouldn’t feellike she was missing a piece of something important.
She glanced over at the pillows on either side of her.They’d slept next to her. At least she’d thought they had. Now she wondered howmuch of the night before had been a dream. Not the sex, of course. She was damnsore. The sex had been real, but all the emotions had to have been one sidedsince they hadn’t even stayed around for breakfast. For some reason, she’dthought they would stay.
Tears clouded her vision as she realized no one had left anote. She checked her crappy phone. It barely had text messaging. She’ddutifully put in their numbers the night before at the bar, and she’d giventhem hers. Maybe there was a message there.
Nothing.
They were gone.
Why was that such a kick in the gut? She’d known shecouldn’t have them for long, but now she realized how much she’d counted onhaving a couple of days with them, a few wild and wicked nights. Sweet nightswhen they made her feel like she was normal, like she was worthy.
She sat in bed for the longest time, listening to the soundsof people moving in the room next to her.
Why on earth had she believed them? She had nothing. Not adamn thing to her name. She’d given them the only thing of worth she owned—herbody and her caring and affection. Why should they stay around? They weregorgeous, and she was a normal woman. Not even normal. God, she was a woman whowas wanted for the murder of her husband. She should thank her lucky stars theyhadn’t stuck around because she was almost certain those men would be damnnosy. Their sister, too.
Had Olivia known all they wanted from her was a good time?
She was an excellent wingman. She knew exactly how to pushsomeone into her brothers’ arms. If Olivia hadn’t been there, making her wait,she would have gone up to the second floor and read a book and hoped there wasa job for her at the end of the night. But no, Olivia had tempted her withmargaritas and nachos and friendship.
She wondered if Olivia was laughing her ass off this morningat the young woman who so obviously didn’t belong anywhere at all.
Nicole pushed off the bed, dragging the sheet around her.Even alone it felt weird to be naked. It hadn’t the night before, but she’dbeen fooling herself.
She took a shower, forcing herself to move. It didn’t mattertwo men she barely knew were done with her. Nope. She’d had what she wanted,too.
That was how she needed to look at things. She’d gotten whatshe wanted and hadn’t even had to deal with two needy guys.
It was perfect.
Except how was she going to feel the next time Josh cameinto the café? He was a regular. How was she going to feel when he came in withthe kind of woman he could care about? The kind he didn’t leave far beforemorning came.
Was their whole sharing thing a big joke? They’d made it outlike they were wounded souls looking for someone who could handle their needs,but had it been a way to slip in and out of her bed?
As far as seduction techniques went, it was a good one. Ithad absolutely worked on her.
Now she had a whole day to waste since she wasn’t scheduledfor a shift.
Her stomach growled. Why couldn’t she be one of those womenwho wasted away when she was heartsick? Nope. When her heart hurt, she wantedpancakes. And she’d expended a ton of energy the night before.
So now she had to drag her sorry ass to the café since shedidn’t have any groceries here. She’d eaten her last protein bar and hadn’tworked up the will to walk two miles to the store and two miles back.
