Bad boys were not interested in rule-following good girls. And rule-following good girls weren’t interested in them.
And yet, she didn’t move either.
She just waited.
And hoped.
“Oh!”
Magnolia’s surprised voice had Tully startling and dropping her book and Jaxon taking a step back. His molten gaze held hers for only a second before he turned to Magnolia.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said. “I was just coming to see if y’all needed help finding anything.” She glanced at Tully and smiled knowingly. “But it looks like you found what you wanted.”
“I don’t know about Tully, but I did.” Jaxon held up the book. “I’ll take this one.”
The book reminded Tully of the book she’d dropped. She glanced at the floor, relieved the cover was face down.
Magnolia nodded. “You want me to ring you up or do you want to do it yourself?”
Tully didn’t know who was more surprised by the question. She or Jaxon. Everyone in town was allowed to check themselves out . . . everyone but the Hennessys. They were the only people in town who hadn’t been trusted to open the cash register. As a kid, Tully had thought it grossly unfair. Even after the Nutty Buddy incident, her Time To Read cash register privileges hadn’t been revoked.
But stealing an ice cream treat as a kid was different than stealing a couple thousand dollars as an adult . . . even if the money had been returned. After her daddy had arrested Jaxon, the money had been found in a bag outside the back door of the gas station. Her daddy believed one of his siblings had returned the money in hopes the charges against their brother would be dropped.
That wasn’t why the charges were dropped.
They’d been dropped because her daddy hadn’t had enough evidence to hold Jaxon.
But if her daddy believed Jaxon was guilty. He was guilty. As a sheriff’s deputy whose job it was to protect the community, she should speak up and warn Magnolia about giving a fox the key to a henhouse. But she just stood there with her face burning and her lips sealed tight.
Maybe because those brown-butter eyes were staring at her, daring the rule follower to rat him out. Daring her to be the good girl who placed all the blame on the bad boy.
Finally, after a long tense moment, Jaxon spoke. “Why don’t you ring me up, Maggie?” His gaze remained on Tully. “I wouldn’t want to be accused of anything.”
Magnolia sent a confused look between them before taking the book from him. “I’d be happy to.” She turned and headed for the staircase.
Tully expected Jaxon to follow. Instead, he bent down and picked up the book at her feet. She quickly snatched it out of his hands and clutched it to her chest. But if the knowing smirk on Jaxon’s face was any indication, she hadn’t jerked it away fast enough.
“Enjoy your book, Officer Gentry.” He turned and followed Magnolia.
Once he was gone, Tully lowered the book and looked at the cover.
A heavily muscled, half-naked, tattooed guy stared back from beneath the title.
Sweaty Nights with a Bad Boy.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Holy shit! This is a hellhole.”
Jaxon couldn’t disagree with Huck’s observation.
Honky Tonk Heaven looked much worse in the light of day, than it had at night. After finally getting the okay from the fire department and a building inspector to start renovations on the charred dancehall, Jaxon, Dawson, and Huck had spent the morning removing the boards from the side windows and doors.
Not that there were any windows left.
Either the fire department had busted out the panes of glass while they’d been trying to put out the fire or the combustion of the flames had knocked them out. All that was left were gaping holes that sunlight streamed through, revealing the extent of the fire damage.
The dancehall did look like a hole that you’d find in hell. Everything was either cinders or charred beyond recognition. The stage that had hosted country music greats from Hank Williams to Faith Hill was completely gone. So was the mahogany bar Mama had Jaxon polish every night to a high shine. The dance floor was covered in rubble, so Jaxon couldn’t see its condition. But being that it had been solid oak, he figured it was burned or water-damaged beyond repair.
