Drop Dead Gorgeous

“That is . . . graphic,” I admit begrudgingly, and though Sheriff Barnes’s lips lift, it’s not a smile. It’s feral and predatory. But why is he mad at me?

Higher logic takes over, my brain overriding my fight or flight instincts. “Before you try that—and to be clear, it would be nothing more than an attempt before I kick your ass—”

Sheriff Barnes takes a step closer, and I hold my palms up, hoping to freeze him in place before he can toss me in the refrigerator.

“Before that . . . exactly why are you trying to kill me? This is supposed to be my big moment of kicking your ass for whatever you did to hurt Zoey so badly that she ran out of the courtroom.”

“Kick my ass? That’s funny as hell, kid.” Sheriff Barnes laughs. And then, as though it never happened, he sobers. “What I did? To Zoey? I didn’t do a thing to that poor girl. You did . . . using her like that. Shameful is what it is.”

He pokes a finger in my chest, much like Frederick did not too long ago, but where Frederick’s had been a gentle prodding, the sheriff’s poke makes my arm flinch reflexively.

Shit, did he hit a pressure point or something? I rub at the spot and work my shoulder back and forth a couple of times.

“Use Zoey?”

What in the hell? I’m not some selfish asshole. And I didn’t even know she’d told anyone about us since that was the whole point of hiding our relationship. And what did she tell Sheriff Barnes?

“Look, I’m not a kiss and tell sort, but rest assured, I wasn’t ‘using’ Zoey. I made sure she came . . . multiple times, and she was . . . into it.”

That might be the weirdest thing I’ve ever told another man. Even Trey and I don’t talk like that, sharing that degree of personal stuff, which is why I damn near stumble over the words as I try to say them.

I don’t see the punch coming, not a single tell is telegraphed. My jaw just explodes in fire, and I stagger, looking for purchase on the slick floor.

“You son of a bitch!” Sheriff Barnes shouts. “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”

He’s stalking toward me, winding up for a round two I can’t let him start. I throw an uppercut to his gut, and though he huffs at the contact, it doesn’t stop him. What does is my answering shout, “Then what the hell are you talking about? What did you do to Zoey?”

“You keep saying that. Why do you think I did something to her?”

I glare at him, panting. “Because she ran out of the courtroom this morning and you were the only one sitting next to her. What did you say to her? Did you call her one of those hurtful names? Drop-Dead Gorgeous? Or Black Widow? Or something worse? Do you know how much that guts her? This whole county just shits on her, treating her like a pariah, when she hasn’t done anything wrong. She never did anything wrong!”

We’re scuffling, arms flailing as we push off one another, neither one of us making any headway. He gives me a big shove, creating a gap between us that we fill with panting breaths. “She ran out because of you, you stupid idiot.”

I’m struck dumb and forget all about the fight, dropping my guard and standing defenseless. “Me? What did I do?”

“You used her for this whole Everlife case. I know she put that invoice together and gave it to you.”

“Then you know why I didn’t say that. I was protecting her.”

Sheriff Barnes snorts disbelievingly. “Sure, and it just conveniently proved your whole theory so Everlife didn’t have pay out.”

“We didn’t pay out because it’s not a valid claim and you haven’t done your due diligence in investigating when Zoey told you it wasn’t open and shut from the get-go. You ignored her, and we did what we had to do to find the truth!”

Our accusations twist around us like barbed wire, digging into our tough guy exteriors to the soft underbellies we both hide and pulling us to a middle ground that seemed impossibly unreachable just moments ago.

“You really weren’t using her?” Barnes finally says.

I shake my head, looking him in the eye. “You didn’t say something to hurt her?”

“I treat her like my own daughter. Though my daughter is always asking for money and wanting me to take her to the mall. Zoey wants to be left alone, so I do that as much as I can and make sure no one else messes with her.”

“I’m just trying to get underneath all those layers of defenses and get her to go out with me, something she finally agreed to, and then this whole court thing blew up.”