“It was just so weird,” she whispers after a moment, and I give her hand another squeeze and stop in front of the school.

Putting The Beast in park, I lean over and wrap my hand around the side of her neck and tug her closer to me. “Put it out of your head, okay?” Her eyes study me for a minute, and then she nods and looks over my shoulder. Running my fingers up through her hair, I pull her even closer and her gaze comes back to mine. “I’ll be here at four to pick you up.”

“Okay,” she agrees, and I nip her bottom lip.

“Tonight, we’re going out to dinner.”

“Okay,” she repeats, this time smiling.

“See you at four, baby.” I lean forward, kissing her softly, then unhook her belt and let her go. Putting her hand to the door handle behind her, she fumbles then falls back into me, sliding her hands through my hair. Her lips hit mine and I let her lead for a second before I take over the kiss, and do it thoroughly, with tongue. When I pull my mouth from hers, I watch her eyes flutter open and she smiles.

“Have a good day at work.”

“You too.” I smile back then watch her reach for the handle again. It takes her a couple tries, but she eventually gets the door open and hops out, and I wait until she’s in the building to take off and head for the office.

“You’re still alive,” Sage states as I push through the door to the office.

Ignoring him, I look at Jax and ask, “You call you’re uncle and tell him about the letter?”

“Called after I got off the phone with you. He’s sending a message to Lane’s attorney,” he informs, pouring some coffee into a cup and stirring, and then he looks at Sage and me. “I’m thinking about hiring someone to run the office. I don’t have time to do callbacks and run checks. You guys cool with that?”

“’Bout time,” Sage mutters, taking a seat in one of the chairs. “You have someone in mind?”

“Not yet, and do not mention it to my mom. The last thing we need is her coming in here and taking over.”

“I love Aunt Lilly.”

“You want my mom up in your business all the time?” he asks Sage, who looks at me and grins. He mutters, “She’ll make sure we always have coffee, and I have no doubt she’ll make us cookies.”

“My mom’s out. I’m gonna put the word out and see if I can come up with someone.”

“Whatever,” Sage grumbles, leaning back. “What’s on schedule for today?”

“I need the paperwork from the purchase of June’s house,” I say, going to the fridge and grabbing a premade shake.

“Why?” Sage asks, and I look between him and Jax.

“I want to know who she bought the house from. The situation isn’t sitting right with me. I’m wondering if the intruder wasn’t looking for someone else when they came across June, were surprised, and took off.”

“Have you had a chance to talk to Brew?” Jax asks, and I close the fridge and move my gaze to him.

“That’s my next stop.”

“Could still be Lane trying to scare her,” Jax says, studying me.

“No, he wouldn’t do that. He’s not going to do anything to risk not having her back in his life. I read the letter he wrote her, and he believes he’s doing what he can to protect her. He said he broke up with her so she wouldn’t get swept up in his mess, and as much as that shit pisses me off, I believe him.”

“Does June know you read the letter?” Sage asks, and I pull my eyes from Jax and look at him.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know. You seem to keep a lot of shit to yourself.”

“Sage,” Jax rumbles, and Sage moves his gaze from me to focus on his cousin.

“You know as well as I do that he”—he jerks his chin towards me—“hasn’t been honest. Who’s to say he’s not the one who sent someone to June’s to make a play at getting her back?”

“Seriously?” I ask.

“Just sayin’. It’s the perfect fucking play. Weeks ago, she wanted nothing to do with you, and now you’re suddenly sleeping in her bed, buying a dog, and getting domesticated.”

“Fuck you.”

“No, man, fuck you,” he says, coming off his chair, and Jax moves between us as I push forward.

“Stand down,” Jax orders, looking between the two of us.

“We’ve known Evan for over a year, and still don’t know shit about him,” Sage growls, and I move toward him, stopping when Jax’s hand hits my chest.

“You’re right. You don’t know me,” I say quietly. “You don’t know what the fuck I’ve seen or done. You’ve got no fucking clue.” I lean forward. “And I don’t need to prove shit to you.” I turn and leave the office, slamming the door behind me when I go.

Getting in my truck, I head for June’s block. Seeing Brew’s bike in his driveway, I shut down The Beast, hop out, and head across the yard so I can ask about the previous owner of June’s house, when what I really want to do is trade my truck for my bike and ride out.

Chapter 8

June

Looking at the bedroom door, I pull my legs under me to sit Indian-style and grab my lotion from the side table. As I squeeze some into my hands and rub them together, I let my mind run away with me while waiting for Evan to come into the room. Something is wrong. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know what to do about it, but the second Evan picked me up from work, I felt it. I knew, without him saying anything, just from the look on his face, that something had happened.