“I’m not sure there’s anything I can say to explain the way I’ve been acting.” He paused. “The only thing I can tell you is that I realize I was wrong to take out my frustrations on you. I apologize if I’ve caused you any trouble.”
I inhaled deeply through my nose. “Not good enough, pal. What the hell has been wrong with you?”
“If you missed what I just told you,” he said with a bite to each word, “I guess I need to spell it out for you. I don’t want to tell you what has been wrong with me.”
Was he born stupid?
“In fact, I didn’t miss it, I heard you clearly, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let it go. I deserve to know what I did to upset you so much. You’ve barely said one word to me and I’m the living person in this equation. I should be ignoring you, not the other way around. So you have to own up to it and tell me what the hell has been going on.”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
My irritation set my blood on fire. “Nothing? So, you have been Mr. Nice Guy to everyone else except me, but I’ve done nothing wrong?”
He folded his arms over his chest and looked at me with pure arrogance. “That’s right.”
The staring contest lasted minutes and neither of us had moved an inch. We were getting nowhere, and whatever it had been, clearly he’d gotten over his issue. He did apologize and I’d learned from Caley long ago to let go—to know when defeat was inevitable and to stop pushing. Instead of continuing and beating my head against the wall of Kipp McGowen, I snorted. “And you call me difficult.”
He grinned, apparently pleased over his win. “You can’t have it both ways, you know.”
The look deserved a slap in the face, but since I couldn’t hit him, I clenched my fist as a substitute. I should have left it alone, but of course, my curiosity always did get the better of me. “What do you mean both ways?”
“You can’t hide from yourself and expect people won’t hide from you.”
This ghost was about to be hell bound. “Don’t you dare go there! I mean it. Don’t try to turn this shit around on me. You’re the one who has had a stick up his ass for days. The problem is yours, not mine. Got it?”
His jaw clenched before he answered, insolently. “Heard loud and clear.”
Silence fell between us as we glared daggers at each other. Zach obviously took the lack of conversation as a sign to return to the truck. He opened the door, slid back in his seat and looked at me.
I sighed in either resignation or annoyance—both were equally strong. “I do this, then what?”
“We rule Cole out,” Zach answered. “Kipp’s got a nose for these things. If he’s sending you in, he doesn’t think Cole’s the killer. But without testing him first, there’s no way to know for sure.”
That sounded good and all, but there had been one little fact they had yet to consider. “How do you know he’ll like what he sees?”
Kipp laughed with no amusement to it and he glanced out the side window. “Trust me, he’ll like you.”
The gentle look in Kipp’s eyes before he turned his head, plus the softness of his voice, all said one thing—longing. It simply confused me. Moments ago, he’d been tough, arrogant, blaming me for his past petulance—none of that showed now.
“So, are you in?” Zach asked, drawing my focus away from Kipp.
As much as I’d been confused by Kipp’s reaction, I still had enough sense to remember to find a way out. I wouldn’t give in so easily. “Are there no undercover cops you can call in?”
“There are, but we’re under time constraints.”
Dammit! “Isn’t there…can’t you find…what about…” I hit a dead end. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Good.” Kipp sounded thoroughly pleased with himself. “Tell Zach to take you home.”
I scowled. “And just why do I have to go home?”
“You need to change…” Kipp’s earlier expression washed away into haughty smile, showing he enjoyed my apprehension, “into the woman no man could refuse.”
Before I could form a solid way out, I’d been home, whored up and was heading back downtown. Even though the drive was quick, I felt Kipp’s gaze on the back of my head, and that made it feel like a lifetime. My thoughts remained on the longing I’d seen earlier and the yearning look in his eyes.
I’d been so lost in my own feelings, I didn’t realize we had arrived at Coyote Ugly Saloon until Zach turned off the ignition. Memories of the last time I’d been there and Kipp’s dirty words swept through my mind, but as quickly as they surfaced, I stuffed them away. I had enough to think about it without bringing my unstable emotional state into the mix.
Tonight, no line of people awaited entry and I cursed, then I could’ve found a reason to not go in. I focused back on the door handle, willing myself to open the door. “How did you talk me into this?”