Reckless (Brazen #2)(15)

Nobody important. Certainly no one he’d ever settle down with.” J.T. looked as though she’d just slapped him. He released her chin and stared at her with a combination of shock and horror. And she hadn’t thought she could hurt any more than she already did.

She rose abruptly from the couch, folding her arms protectively across her middle.

“I want you to leave, J.T. We have nothing more to say to each other. You won’t have to worry. I’ve gotten the message. I won’t be stalking you anymore.” He was on his feet in two seconds, pressing into her space. She backed warily away.

“Now you wait just a damn minute, Nikki,” he growled.

They were interrupted by the doorbell. She turned swiftly to answer it, relieved to be saved the confrontation. What else was there to be said? He’d made his point. She got it.

No need to beat her over the head.

She yanked open the front door to see Zane standing there, hands shoved into his pockets.

“Hey, Nikki,” he said in a gentle voice. “I heard you had a rough night.” To her eternal disgust, she burst into tears.

Zane pulled her into his arms. “Hey now, it’s okay. I’ll take you out to the ranch.

Jasmine was worried about you.”

She nodded against his chest.

“J.T. still here?” he asked.

She pulled away and scrubbed at her face. She started to ask how he knew J.T. was here, but then she looked beyond him to see the squad car in her drive. Great. Now the whole damn town would know he’d stayed over. Not that she gave a shit, but J.T.’s reputation would suffer, no doubt.

She turned in time to see J.T. walk up behind her. “You should get your car out of my driveway,” she said acidly. “Whatever will people think? You can’t have everyone thinking you’ve been a round with the town whore.” J.T.’s face whitened, and anger glittered in his dark eyes. “That’s enough, Nikki.” She turned back to Zane. “Can we go?” she pleaded. She didn’t want to stay here another minute.

“Sure,” Zane said. “Go on and get in the truck.”

“Wait a minute. You’re not going anywhere,” J.T. said in a frustrated voice. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

She ignored him and walked at a fast clip out to Zane’s truck. As she got in, she could see the two men talking and then J.T.’s nod. A few seconds later, Zane slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

He gave her a look of sympathy then reached over to squeeze her hand. “It’ll be okay, Nikki. You can stay out at the ranch as long as you need to.”

“Thanks, but there’s no need,” she murmured. “I’m leaving Barley.”

Chapter Seven

J.T. sat in his office, his sweltering office, head in his hands, elbows propped on his desk. Nikki had been holed up at the Sweetwater Ranch for two days, and when he’d finally gotten tired of getting the runaround on the phone, he’d driven out, only for Jasmine to refuse him entry. He was seriously tempted to go out with a warrant. But then he’d piss off Seth and Zane and ruin a perfectly good friendship. His only hope was that Nikki would eventually calm down and have a rational conversation with him.

His cell phone rang, and he reached for it, irritated by the hope that it was Nikki. He frowned when he saw an unfamiliar number on the LCD screen. Flipping it open, he brought it to his ear and uttered a brisk hello.

“J.T., it’s Lucas. We need to talk, man.”

Fuck.

He sucked in a deep breath. “Hey, man,” he greeted, trying to keep his voice light and unaffected. “What’s up?”

“I need you to tell me what the f**k is going on with Nikki,” Lucas said, cutting straight to the point. “She said she’s leaving Barley. For good.” J.T.’s stomach bottomed out. “What?”

“You mean you didn’t know? I thought you were keeping an eye on her for me.

She’s upset, and I don’t know what the f**k is going on. All I got out of her is that she’s packing up and going. I tried to get her to agree to wait until I could get leave so I could at least help her and find out what the f**k happened, but she’s determined to haul ass out of there as soon as possible. I need you to sit on her, J.T. I don’t want her going anywhere until I can get there.”

J.T. groaned. Christ. He was going to have to come clean with Lucas. No way he could keep his best friend from finding out what happened.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Lucas demanded when a long silence ensued.

J.T. sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“If it involves Nikki, I doubt it’s simple,” Lucas growled. “Cut the shit and tell me what’s going on.”

“I think I’m in love with her,” J.T. said in a low voice. And then he nearly let his head drop to the desk. What a dumbass. You didn’t go around spouting shit like that out of the blue. And where the hell had it come from anyway? Was he in love with Nikki?

Haven’t you always been, you dumb shit?

Lucas’s silence was starting to unnerve J.T. He was probably coming up with a list of classified methods of torturing J.T.

“What do you mean you think? ” Lucas snarled. “Either you are or you aren’t. Are you the reason she’s out at the Morgans’ crying her eyes out?” Crying? Shit. Nikki didn’t cry. Or at least she never had before. She had perfected her you-can’t-hurt-me exterior. It seemed only J.T. had the power to upset her so badly.