Fury on Fire (Devil's Rock #3)(48)

Hale Walters glanced to the stage, where a patron was making an ass of himself attempting to climb the stage to reach one of the dancers. A bouncer emerged to grab him and cart him away.

“We both know men don’t change,” he murmured idly in a voice that belied the tension lining his shoulders. “Not really.” His steely gaze drifted back to North as though waiting for him to reply.

There was no point. For the most part, North didn’t disagree with him.

“Sorry for the wait,” Piper’s sweet feminine voice said breathlessly as she arrived at their table. “We’re slammed. What can I get you, North?” Her dark gaze slid to the sheriff. “And your friend here?” She uttered the word friend in a skeptical manner. She might walk the straight and narrow, but she was a Walsh. North doubted there was a family member of hers that had not seen the inside of a jail.

“Ice water is fine,” Walters said.

Her lips thinned and he could imagine she was calculating a zero tip from him on that order.

“I’ll take a beer. The usual,” North supplied.

Nodding, she gave his shoulder a friendly pat before moving on.

Walters’s gaze didn’t miss the touch. His eyes followed Piper as she moved away. “Cute girl,” he murmured.

North followed the direction of the sheriff’s stare, noticing it followed Piper’s ass until she disappeared behind the bar.

“She’s a good girl.”

“You know her well then.”

North heard the judgment in his voice. “Well enough.”

The sheriff grunted. “Right. Seems like if you have that tasty piece on the line, you can leave my sister alone.”

He smiled without bothering to correct Walters’s assumption that he was banging Piper. This man was determined to think the worst of him and nothing he said would convince him otherwise.

“So we’ve reached the part when you warn me off your sister?” He crossed his arms across his chest. “Does it even matter if I tell you that your concerns are misplaced?”

“No. It wouldn’t matter. I saw the way you looked at her.”

“And how’s that?”

“Like a wolf ready to eat its next meal.” He leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking under his weight. “Only you can forget about that. There are hundreds of girls for you to f*ck with.” He stabbed a finger in North’s direction. “So hands off her.”

North shook his head and laughed. The sad thing was . . . he couldn’t even deny wanting her. He did. He had.

“Yeah,” Walters said smugly. “Thought so.”

“We’re just neighbors. That’s all we’ll ever be.” That much was true.

“She’s too good for you.” He gestured around the room. “Why don’t you stick with your strippers and bimbo waitresses and steer clear of her.”

A bottle of beer clunked down in front of North. He looked up, startled. He hadn’t even noticed Piper’s return. “Oh, and here’s your ice water.” She plopped the glass down clumsily in front of the sheriff, close to the edge. Too close apparently. The glass toppled over and spilled all over Walters.

“Shit!” He erupted from his chair, wincing at the icy deluge soaking the front of his pants.

“Oh, my goodness!” Piper grabbed a napkin and patted savagely at his crotch, making him yelp. North covered up his smile with his hand.

“Stop! I’m okay! Really.” Walters dodged her hand, backing away.

“I’m so sorry, Deputy. I didn’t—”

“Sheriff,” he ground out, snatching the napkin from her hand when she came at him again. “Sheriff Walters.”

“Oh!” Piper’s enormous, Disney-princess eyes rounded in her face with exaggerated zeal. “Sheriff Walters. I’m so, so sorry!”

“It’s quite all right—”

“I’m so glad you can forgive me.” She hopped a little in place, sending her rack bouncing as she grabbed a lock of her dark hair, curling it around her finger. Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “But gosh . . . what can you expect from a bimbo waitress?”

Hale’s eyes narrowed. He flung the napkin down on the table. He clearly understood then that the drink in his lap had been deliberate. She had overheard his remark and was having a little fun at his expense.

“Exactly,” he retorted.

Piper squared her shoulders and stared him head-on, not the least bit intimidated. In that moment she reminded North of her brother. That mean bastard fought like a rattlesnake. Multiple men. Bigger men. Cruz would take on anyone. Reid always said it would be a miracle if the guy ever made it to thirty.

Walters wrenched his gaze back to North. “Remember what I said.” His gaze returned then, lingering for a long heated moment on Piper. Then he was gone, stalking from the table.

“Piper,” North said warningly. “You don’t need to go making enemies with men like that.”

She snorted in disgust. “I’m not afraid of him.”

“Maybe you should be. Your family doesn’t exactly have a good track record when it comes to the law.”

Piper sobered and looked at him somberly. “I’m nothing like my family. Me and my sister . . . we’re different.”