Then there’s the woman in front of me, her riot of red curls somewhat wrestled into submission by the twin braids running down either side of her head. Freckles explode rather thandust across her nose and cheeks, adding to the rather adorable picture she makes.
She’s a much less intimidating figure than the sheriff, with her dark hair in a high, tight ponytail and her pale-green eyes that seem to see straight through me, so I focus my attention on the bookseller and fix a bright smile on my face. “I am, yes.”
Grabbing my hands, the pretty redhead bounces excitedly in place. “I’m such ahugefucking fan, you have no idea.”
“Watch your language, Persephone,” Sheriff Donnelly snaps, pinning the pretty bookseller with a hard stare.
Persephone just rolls her eyes. “It’smybookstore, Sheriff. I can use whatever language I want. And besides, I think a few naughty words are called for when my favorite author walks through my door.”
I can’t help but grin at her cheekiness. “That’s a lovely compliment, Persephone, thank you.”
Wrinkling her nose, she makes an annoyed scoffing sort of sound. “Poppy, please. Only the sheriff and my dad call me Persephone, and my dad only calls me that when he’s annoyed. Which is to say he calls me that a lot,” she adds with a grin. “But everyone else calls me Poppy.”
“Poppy, then.” I hold up the book I grabbed from the shelf. “Would you like me to sign this for you?”
It’s a genuine offer, as I’m always happy to do something nice for a fan. But I’m also hopeful I can get Poppy somewhere private, away from the prying eyes of my Daddy and his siblings. Even better if the sheriff insists on following us. I don’t dare tell them what’s going on right here in the open, but if we could get just a few seconds of privacy…
Before Poppy can answer, however, the bells on the front door ring and Gray comes striding into the bookstore, her usual cocky half-smile on her face. That smile tightens considerablywhen she spots the sheriff, and I swear I canfeelthe electricity crackling between them.
Fuck my life.
“Sheriff. I see you’ve met our new friend.” Moving as if there’s nothing amiss at all, Gray crosses the shop to sling an arm around my shoulder. “Bram ran into Josie here in town the other day and they hit it off, so we told her we’d show her around if she wanted.”
Rather than looking mollified by the explanation, Sheriff Donnelly narrows her eyes. “Are you the woman from the candy shop? The one who called Bram by another name? Benjamin or something.”
Bennett. Bennett Fucking Kincaid, one of the former heirs to the Kincaid mafia empire.
The words clog my throat, but I don’t dare let them free. Not only because GrayandBram are now flanking me, but because I can’t be sure where the sheriff stands in all this. On the surface, it seems like she would be on my side, given her position and her apparent sneering hatred of the “Thorne” family.
But I saw the way she looked at Gray when she walked in. The sexual tension between them is so fucking thick you could cut it with a knife. There’s no possible way I can risk not just my own life but sweet Poppy’s as well without knowing for sure which side the sheriff will ultimately come down on.
So instead I force a smile, like my whole world isn’t crumbling around me. “That was me. He looks a lot like my college boyfriend, which spooked me a bit, but I just had the wrong guy.”
The sheriff doesn’t look convinced, and my heart feels like it might beat right out of my chest as I wait for her to make up her mind on whether I’m telling the truth or not.
Once again, though, it’s Poppy who breaks the tension. “Oh my god, Reese, stop being weird,” she says with a roll of her eyes.“I swear it’s like youwantsomething horrible to happen to our town the way you act sometimes.”
Insult flickers across the sheriff’s face. “I do not. I just don’t trust outsiders.”
“And the Thornes have lived here for two freaking decades. At some point you have to get the fuck over it.”
“Language,” Reese and Gray parrot together, and the way they immediately turn to snarl at each other would have me in stitches if I wasn’t watching my one hope at escape wither and die before my very eyes.
“It’s my fucking store!” Poppy yells back. Tightening her hold on my arm, she tugs. “Come on, Marjorie. I’ve got a whole stack of books in the office for you to sign. I mean, if you’re okay with that.”
“Of course.” Smiling as though I’m not secretly dying inside, I gesture toward the back of the store. “Lead the way. And please, call me Josie. That’s what my friends call me.”
“Friends,” she whispers reverently. “I’m friends withMarjorie Fucking Kincaid.” With a happy squeal, she drags me toward the back of the store, chattering the whole way about her favorite books and characters of mine. All the while, Daddy watches on, his gaze zeroed in on me the entire time.
And when our eyes meet and he smiles, a smug, knowing smirk, I swear I can hear the sound of the lock turning on my cage.
CHAPTER 15
JOSIE
Three hours and several hundred dollars later, we’re headed back up to the cabin. Lanie is waiting for us at the front door, bouncing excitedly as she peppers her “auntie” and “uncles” about what they brought her from town.
Arms laden with bags, Gray stops and raises a brow at little Lanie. “You know you don’t get a treateverytime someone goes into town, little girl.”
