no. He deserved her retaliation, despite her better judgment. She was a proud, reputable kindergarten teacher with a stellar credit score and a hybrid. Her life might be by-the-book and boring, but Jenna liked it that way. It kept her safe, out of trouble, and off her small town’s radar for gossip.
It also leaves me empty.
Jeff stomped toward her.
Jenna tensed, afraid he would grab her. Another fist flew out, not hers. This one was large and muscular and caught Jeff across the nose. A loud crunch cut through the air before he went down for good.
Jenna spun to see—
“Colt?” Shock raced through her and a swallow of air caught in her throat. She hadn’t seen Colt McCade in the flesh in nearly ten years. He had been eighteen and if she remembered correctly, running out of town…with the sheriff on his heels. Colt had a wild streak in him and got into a bit of trouble when he was younger. Nothing major, but enough to piss off a few people and get on the sheriff’s list.
He didn’t say a word. His blue eyes were bright, glaring from within the shadows of his ball cap. He snagged her glasses off the counter, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her out the front door.
“Hey!” She wiggled to get free of his death grip but quickly gave up.
For God’s sake, the man held on to bucking bulls for a living. Not to mention he was a good foot taller and built like an “Army of One” ad.
Her heels clicked across the parking lot as he dragged her toward a blue pickup. Still ignoring her protests, Colt opened the cab door, practically tossed her in, and slammed the door shut.
It wasn’t until he walked around and climbed behind the steering wheel that he looked her in the eye.
“Why are you here?” she blurted out.
“Me?” He started the engine and peeled out of the gravel lot. “This is my turf, sweetheart. You’re the one who’s far from home.”
“Don’t you have some rodeo to be in?”
“Yes,” he snapped. “But I got a call from Lily saying you were getting liquored up at the Rusty Bolt.”
Damn. Jenna knew she shouldn’t have called Lily earlier and spilled everything, from her location in the big city to her despair over the meeting. Lily was not only Jenna’s best friend, but Colt’s baby sister.
“What the hell were you thinking? This isn’t Diamond. Do you know what kind of assholes hang out at that bar you were in?”
“You just said that you go there.”
“Exactly my point, JJ.”
Even though Colt was obviously tense, his voice rolled off her like hot buttered rum. When they were growing up, he was the only one who called her JJ. Colt was two years her senior. This was not the first time he had come roaring in with his high-priced pickup to save the day.
Since Jenna was a kid, Lily McCade had been her best friend, and Colt looked out for his little sister. And that protection had been extended to her. Whenever Lily asked him to go get Jenna—whether from her own mama’s trailer or, years later, out of a dive honky-tonk—Colt went.
Some things never changed. But she wasn’t a scared teen running from her mother anymore. She could handle herself. And she was about to tell Colt that, but when she turned and looked at him her throat went dry and her blood pressure spiked.
My God.
The man was fine. He had always been tall and built. Lean muscle, hidden beneath tan skin, stretched across his whole body. That boyish charm still laced his face, but with the blond stubble and strong jaw, Colt McCade was simply mouthwatering. He had definitely grown up and filled out in the last ten years.
A white T-shirt clung to his strong chest and torso. She could see the ridged indentations of his abdominal muscles beneath the thin cotton.
“Lily told me why you’re here in Kansas City…how did the grant meeting with the state go?”
God. The grant.
Jenna had devoted the past year to getting Diamond’s first full-time after-school program up and ready. All she needed was that grant money. She had calculated every aspect of her life so that she could help the kids of Diamond with the much-needed program. Every community service stint, every volunteer teaching program, everything was to show why she was the best woman for the job. Not the trailer trash that some people still whispered her to be.
“The board still isn’t sure if I have the qualifications for the position,” she admitted, suddenly not so sure herself. “And the state won’t give money to someone they don’t see fit to run the after-school program.”
“You’re a teacher, JJ. A damn good one.”