“I understand you well enough.” She stood and pushed away from the swing. “Are you going to ask me inside or not?”
“No, but I will walk you to your car.” He glanced to see it parked on the side of his metal shop near the trees and out of the way. “Let’s go.”
She pouted her bright red lips and strode down the three wooden steps to stand in front of him. “I have a better idea. How about bourbon by the fireplace…inside?”
He fully planned to have a bourbon by the fire after she was on her way. “Come on.” He turned with his hands still in his pockets to walk to her car, keeping his stride short so she could keep up in the heels.
She tottered next to him and slid her hand between his arm and his ribcage to hold on. “You’re mean.”
He sighed and kept walking. “No, I’m not. You wrote a hit piece on my cousin based on something I told you confidentially,and that ended things for us.” Not that they’d been going anywhere, anyway. While he liked ambitious people, Jolene didn’t care who she hurt, and he couldn’t get on board with that.
“We’re still friends, aren’t we?” She pressed closer to him, and her breast brushed his upper arm.
“Not really.” He’d learned a long time ago not to play games with women. Except chess. Did Heather play chess? He enjoyed the strategy of the game. She’d probably be pretty good at it.
Jolene huffed out air. “Fine. I’m sorry I wrote that story about Anna, but it was all true.”
“True and slanted in a way to hurt her. What’s your problem with Anna?” Quint reached the car and opened the driver’s side door for her, wiping snow off the window with his hand.
“She makes for a good story,” Jolene admitted, not looking at him.
Quint didn’t care if Jolene still had the hots for Aiden because that guy was so wrapped up in Anna he couldn’t see straight. In fact, Quint could feel a little sorry for him because Anna’s life was anything but calm. Ever. “You might want to leave her alone,” he suggested. “You and Aiden dated for a short time way back in high school, and you should leave the past where it belongs.”
Jolene scoffed. “Please. I’m not writing stories about Anna because of Aiden. It’s because of Anna.”
Yeah, Quint could see that, too. “All right. Drive carefully home. This snow is only going to get thicker and the roads are already icy.”
She released him and turned fully into him, her hands sliding up his chest. “I have a much better idea.”
The wrong woman had her hands on him. He knew it without a doubt, and he was going to have to figure that out by himself at the fire.
Zena barked from the porch. Yeah, he definitely should’ve taken his cue from his dog. She’d never liked Jolene.
Quint gently extracted himself.
Zena barked louder.
That was odd. A truck rumbled up the drive, and Quint’s instincts kicked in. He grabbed Jolene around the waist and threw them both over the hood of her car as bullets exploded against the metal. They landed on the snow-covered gravel, and pain burst through his elbow. She screamed and struggled beneath him.
He scrambled up and shoved her around the side. “Keep your back to the tire and your head down,” he barked.
She whimpered and hunkered down.
He measured the distance to the house, where he could get a gun. Then he levered up to see the taillights of the truck speeding down his driveway and away. He could probably catch the guy. “Are you okay?” He stood, ready to run.
“No,” she said, crying. “I think I was shot.”
Shit. He forgot all about pursuit and rushed around the car, dropping to his haunches. “Where?” He gingerly ran his hand down her arms. She sat with her knees bent and her arms wrapped around them. “Are you bleeding?” Damn it. He needed to get her into the house where he could see. “Hold on.” He lifted her and ran across the lawn toward the porch, clearing it and opening his door to rush inside, where he laid her on the sofa.
Then he flipped on the lights and returned to her. “Where are you hit?”
Her hair was all over and her eyes wide. She looked down at her jeans, which were ripped at the knees. Blood welled from them. “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m just scratched from the gravel.” Was she going into shock?
He looked her over and then grabbed a blanket to cover her. “What hurts, Jolene? Were you hit?”
She slowly shook her head and cuddled into the blanket. “No. I don’t think so.”
He exhaled as relief buzzed through his veins. “Okay.” Tugging out his phone from his back pocket, he quickly dialed 9-1-1.
