Too Fast to Fall (Jackson Hole 1.10)

“Go!” Jenny gave her a gentle shove toward the back of the room. She never would’ve shoved Grace a few months before. Grace looked tough as hell with her edgy hair and smoky eyes and black boots. She was tough as hell. But she’d become one of Jenny’s best friends over the winter, and Jenny assumed that Grace probably wouldn’t punch her over one tiny, little shove.

She didn’t.

After ditching her cleaning supplies, Jenny tossed Rayleen a scowl. “It’s slow. I’m clocking out.”

“Hot date?”

Instead of cursing at her, Jenny grabbed her coat and headed toward the bathroom. She found Grace waiting in the narrow hallway. Grace tipped her head. “There’s already a party of four in there, comforting a girl who ran into her boyfriend on a date with his wife. Poor thing.”

Jenny winced. “We can sit in my car.”

“Sure. I’ll do anything to hear this story. I don’t think you’ve dated anyone since I moved to town.”

“I haven’t.”

“Then let’s go.”

They raced through the snow to Jenny’s car, and Grace was laughing breathlessly by the time they ducked and slammed the doors. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to snow,” she gasped. “I feel like I’m on vacation every time a storm hits. Because this can’t be my real life. It’s like living in a nature documentary.”

“It’s called winter, L.A. girl,” Jenny teased, but she was glad for Grace’s silly affection for snow. Grace’s smile was different than it had been when she’d first moved to Jackson. Everything about her was different, starting with her hair, which was only brown and black now, and missing the vivid purple that had once streaked through it.

“So,” Grace said, tilting her chin toward Jenny. “Who are you doing?”

Jenny took a deep breath. “You know that cute deputy I told you about? The one who keeps pulling me over?”

“Holy crap. No. No! That’s like something out of a porn movie. Please tell me it was a frisk that went bad.”

“Shut up. It wasn’t like that. Well, not really. He pulled me over again, because I’m an idiot, and I maybe mentioned something about buying him a beer, and…he actually showed up.”

“What do you mean, ‘actually’?” Grace shook her head. “Of course he showed up. You’re cute and sexy. He’s probably been plotting a way to ask you out from day one.”

“I don’t know. But it went well, even after my ex showed up and nearly ruined everything.”

“Okay. So why do you look tortured?”

Jenny rubbed the side of her neck that was slightly raw from such vigorous attention. “We had sex. It was… God, it was amazing. Spectacular. And then he started asking about my ex.”

“What do you mean? Like he’s jealous?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

“Oh, that’s bad news, no matter how good the sex was. If he’s that controlling after one night, you need to think very carefully. No question.”

“I don’t know. It didn’t seem that bad.”

“Jenny. He’s a cop. And he’s already jealous. That could be a bad combination.”

“Maybe,” Jenny conceded, but as she said goodbye to Grace and started the car, she shook her head. It hadn’t felt like jealousy or control. It had felt like genuine worry mixed with a little “Just doing my job, ma’am.”

Had she overreacted? He’d been sweet. And so damn hot. And if she looked at it through his eyes… Heck, aside from all the cop stuff, she’d have been asking some very serious questions of Nate if an ex-wife had shown up in the middle of the night, causing trouble. Add to that the fact that Ellis definitely was acting a little strange, and Jenny lost a little of her hurt. Or a lot of it.

She stared out at the snow racing past the path of her headlights, but she didn’t put the car in gear.

Had Nate done anything so terrible? He’d been awkward, yes. His timing had been unfortunate. But maybe he really had been overwhelmed by… what? Lust? Need? Her?

The snowflakes blurred into a solid white mass, and Jenny closed her eyes against tears. Pitiful to feel so moved to be wanted that way, but it wasn’t gratitude. It was more like an answer to the need she’d felt for him. It struck her, ringing a chord deep inside her body. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a comforting sound.

Jenny pulled out of the parking lot and turned away from home. Storm or no storm, she needed to drive. And she needed to find out what the hell Ellis was up to. For Ellis’s sake, but more than that, for her own.