Only His (Fool's Gold #6)(88)

“I hate this,” she said, then stomped her foot. “I miss Nevada and I miss that stupid little town. What little creativity I felt is gone. But now I don’t know what to do. Cody was a disappointment.”

“Who’s Cody?”

“Oh, one of the college boys renting a room from Nevada. I thought he would help, but he doesn’t. Then I remembered how good you and I were together, so I came here. You have to fix this, Tucker. I need you.”

Her voice was a whine, her expression petulant. She was a child who hadn’t gotten her way. After stomping out of the party, she regretted what she’d done and wanted to go back.

“Sorry. I can’t help you.”

“You can, but you won’t.” She crossed to him and put her hands on his chest. “How can you resist me?”

“Easily,” he said without thinking, knowing it was the truth.

The truth slammed into him like a professionally thrown fastball. It hit his gut going ninety-seven miles an hour and knocked the wind out of him.

“I love her,” he said.

Cat’s big green eyes narrowed to angry slits. “What did you say?”

He pushed her hands off his chest and stared into space. “I love her. I have for a while. I didn’t love you at all. Being with you was like being a junkie waiting for my next fix. I could never match the previous high but I was sure the lows were going to kill me. Nevada isn’t like that. Every time I’m with her, I feel better and stronger. She gives everything.”

He turned in a slow circle, not sure where to go or what to do. “She told me she loved me and I left. What the hell was I thinking?” He grabbed Cat’s upper arms. “She said she loved me. What am I doing here with you?”

His car keys were on the small table by the drawer, where he always tossed them. So was his cell phone. He picked up both as he headed out the door.

He was halfway down to the parking garage when he realized he probably should have packed something, or closed the door to his condo. Whatever, he thought with a shrug. Cat would shut the door behind her. Or maybe not. Either way, he didn’t care. This wasn’t his home—he didn’t belong here. He belonged with his woman and, by God, he was going back to her.

NEVADA THOUGHT maybe she should get a pet of some kind. While the self-sufficiency of a cat was appealing, maybe a dog would be better. Some kind of mixed-breed rescue dog who could come with her to the job site. She logged into the Fool’s Gold Animal Shelter website with the idea of looking at pictures. Maybe staring into big, brown dog eyes would make her feel better. Eventually something would have to.

She missed Tucker. She wanted to be strong and brave and say that she was over him. That he’d been an idiot to leave, and if that was how he treated her declaration of love, then she was better off without him. It was possible that one day she would actually believe that, but today wasn’t that day. Today, or rather, tonight, she ached. The hole where her heart used to be endlessly reminded her of what she’d lost.

She clicked on the dog pictures, then just as quickly left the site. It wasn’t responsible to get a dog now—while she was grieving. She had to figure out how to deal with her loss. Then, when she felt better, she would decide if she was ready to take on the responsibility of a pet.

Very rational and mature, she told herself. Her mother would be so proud.

The phone rang.

She glanced at the clock and saw it was after ten. Had something happened to someone in her family?

She glanced at the caller-ID screen and her throat went dry when she read Fool’s Gold Police Department. She pushed the talk button.

“Hello?”

“Nevada, this is Chief Barns. No one is dead.”

She drew in a breath. “Good to know.”

“That said, I have a problem. I need you to come to the town square right away. No one’s hurt. Don’t worry about that, but there’s…a situation.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’ll be a whole lot easier to show you.”

With that, the line went dead.

Nevada had no idea what the police chief was talking about, but she wasn’t going to get any answers just waiting. She got up and pulled on boots, then shrugged on a heavy coat and gloves. It was barely above freezing this late at night.

She jogged through the quiet residential streets, grateful it wasn’t windy or wet out. As it was, her ears were freezing by the time she rounded the last corner and could see into the square.

Streetlights illuminated the benches, the bushes that were mostly naked this time of year and the police car parked just to the left. The floodlights that had been installed for the giant vagina shone up on the weird sculpture. They also showed a ladder, a man on that ladder and the sparks of a blowtorch.

Chief Barns stepped out of the shadows and walked toward her.

“I don’t understand,” Nevada said, confused by what she was seeing. “Is he—”

The man moved then and she recognized him. Tucker. Tucker? What was he doing here? Was he back?

“Seems to me some vandal is dismantling that eye-sore,” Chief Barns said cheerfully. “The good news is Cat believes in simplicity of assembly. It went together quickly and should come apart just as easily. In the morning, one of my officers is going to find that it’s missing. What a shame. There’s going to be a lot of paperwork with this one.”