Brazen (Brazen #1)(52)

He nearly zoomed by her, and then she heard the squeal of tires as he braked, nearly fishtailing into the ditch. She continued walking.

“Jasmine,” he shouted behind her.

She walked faster.

He caught up to her and grabbed her arm.

“Jasmine, honey, what on earth are you doing out here in the rain for God’s sake? You shouldn’t be on your feet, much less three miles from the ranch. Where do you think you’re going?”

“Away,” she said dully.

His expression softened. Rain sluiced down his face, and he wiped the water from his eyes. “Get in the truck okay? In case you haven’t noticed, it’s damn wet out here.”

“I’m not going back there,” she said in a quiet voice. She shivered as more of the cold seeped into her skin. His hand tightened around her shoulder.

“You can go back to my place and get dry,” he said.

She hesitated.

“Jasmine, I’m not leaving you out here on the road, in the rain. Forget it. Now get in.”

She shrugged and allowed him to lead her back to his truck. He all but picked her up and shoved her into the passenger seat before walking around to get in on his side.

He executed a U-turn in the middle of the road and headed back toward town. He drove for a while in silence, and she stared straight ahead, watching the up-and-down swipe of his windshield wipers.

“What happened, Jasmine?” he finally asked.

Bitterness welled in her throat, and she looked out her window to avoid his gaze.

J.T. sighed. “What did Seth do now?”

She turned to stare at him in surprise. “You seem so sure it’s Seth.”

He grinned. “I don’t think anyone else has the power to hurt you like he does. Am I wrong?”

She sighed. “No, you’re not wrong.”

His lips turned down into an expression of sympathy. “Handcuffs not work?”

Her shoulders shook with an almost laugh. “They want me gone.”

J.T. took his eyes off the road again. “Now I know that can’t be right, honey.”

She shrugged. Started to tell him all she’d heard but then decided it just wasn’t worth it. She turned again to stare out her window.

Several minutes later, J.T. pulled up outside of his house one block off Barley’s main street and just two blocks from the police station.

“Come on inside so you can get out of those wet clothes.” J.T. met her at the front of his truck and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to help her inside. The air conditioned air hit her smack in the face, and she shivered as water dripped from her body.

“Let me get you a T-shirt and some sweats you can change into. I’ll put your clothes in the dryer,” he said as he directed her toward the bathroom. “You can take a hot shower to warm up. I’ll leave the clothes by the door.”

She nodded and closed the door behind her. When she saw herself in the mirror, she winced. Drowned cat didn’t quite do justice to the image staring back at her.

While she was grateful that J.T. hadn’t insisted on driving her right back to the ranch, she also wondered what the hell she was doing here. It wasn’t like she could hide forever. But bless J.T. for giving her a little time and not crowding her.

As hurt as she was by the conversation she’d overheard, she knew that she’d go back, and she had a choice. She could pretend she hadn’t heard it, or she could take the bull by the horns and confront Seth and Zane about it. But if she did that, she had to be prepared to hear some things she might not want to hear.

She stood underneath the shower spray for a long time, enjoying the hot water on her cold skin. About the time she began to wrinkle up like a prune, she got out and shut the water off.

After wrapping a towel around her body, she peeked out of the door to see that J.T. had, indeed, left clothes on the floor for her.

She collected them and stepped back into the bathroom to pull them on.

A few minutes later, fully clothed again, she walked out of the bathroom. As she neared the living room, she heard J.T. talking in a low voice. An eerie sense of déjà vu closed in around her as for the second time that day, she heard her name in someone else’s conversation.

“Jasmine’s here, man, so don’t have a cow. I picked her up on the side of the road when I was on my way out to see you. She’s pretty upset.”

Jasmine held her breath. How typical of J.T. to call and rat her out. So much for any damn loyalty among friends.

“I’ll make sure she stays here until you come to pick her up,” J.T. promised.

“Like hell you will,” she muttered.

She turned, no longer interested in his conversation. She yanked on her still-damp tennis shoes and let herself out the kitchen door.

At least the rain had let up.

She stalked off, ignoring the slight protests her ankle made. She wasn’t prepared to face Seth and Zane, and J.T. damn well should have known that. But he had no loyalty to her. That much was obvious. Men sticking together and all that shit.

She kicked at a can on the road as she headed in the general vicinity of Tucker’s. Not that she’d stop there. She had no money on her, and it was the first place they’d look for her.

She shoved her hands deep into her pockets and continued walking. She cut across the open field behind Tucker’s. The grass squished beneath her feet as the ground soaked up the rain like a greedy lover.