“No,” she replied.
“Not wanted for murder in seven states or any other counties?”
“No.”
“There’s not a warrant out for you and you haven’t robbed a bank at gunpoint, right?”
She tried to feign concern then. “Would that matter?”
“Probably not, and don’t fake it here. We already know all we need to know about you.”
“But of course you do,” she said, realizing if they’d wanted information about her, they could’ve had it in black and white.
Mac lowered his lips to hers and took the first kiss of the night. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him and for a moment, she was lost in a transitional place.
She had been a mere girl when her mother had taken money for her signature. She’d been an athlete with a promising future, quick on her feet, full of life, and so ready to face the world with everything she had. Her mother had stripped her of those opportunities and sold her off to the highest bidder. She hadn’t loved Tony McCoy. In fact, he’d made her sick to the quick soon after they’d said their nuptials in the Harlem County Courthouse.
Still, she couldn’t hate her mother anymore. She couldn’t despise the McCoys or even Tony and she had every reason to hate him.
It was because of her mother and because of the McCoys that she had somehow found Trouble. As she swayed to the music and peered over Mac McCall’s broad shoulder, she counted herself among the lucky as much as the previously troubled.
Maybe life had dealt her a bad hand in the beginning, but that bad hand had landed her in beautiful Trouble, in a place where she could be herself and she could be with others who would appreciate her. She could be loved and love in return.
She was free. Most of all, she was happy.
THE END