"You fucking—" the man yelled before another bullet slammed into the ground between his legs. "Okay, okay!" Asshole cried out as he waved his hands frantically. "I'm sorry, Jolene! I'm sorry."
The woman, Jolene, moved to his side but kept the gun pointed at him… at his balls, anyway. She didn't say a word and both Asshole and I hung there for several beats, each waiting to see what she'd do next. Admittedly, I was in more than a little awe of her.
Jolene waved the gun just a little, but Asshole was smart enough to read the silent message. He tried to get to his feet, but after several attempts gave up and ended up crawling on his hands and knees to his truck. Jolene kept the weapon trained on him until he managed to pull himself into the cab of the vehicle and drive off. Only then did the reality of her state become clear. Just as the taillights disappeared into the darkness, Jolene's hand began to shake violently and then she crumpled to the ground. I managed to catch her by the arm to keep her knees from slamming into the rough earth, but as soon as she was able to, she pulled her arm free of my hold.
Sobs began erupting from her throat as the adrenaline that had been sustaining her for so long began to drain from her system. I wanted to offer her comfort, but I didn't know how. I wasn't really a comfort kind of guy. But it wasn't like I could just leave her sitting there in the dirt by herself. So I lowered myself to a crouch in front of her with every intention of asking her if there was someone I could call on her behalf, but before I could open my mouth, she was lifting the gun and pointing it at me.
"Wh-who are you?" she demanded to know as her hands shook violently.
I couldn't help but let out a sigh as I once again found myself staring down the barrel of her gun. So much for the little town of Eden being a much-needed break from the chaos that was my life…
Chapter 2
Jolene
I'd shot someone.
I still couldn't believe it.
Okay, I hadn't actually shot someone, but I’d shot at them. How many times had I told my ex-husband that I wasn't capable of shooting any living thing, let alone a human being, when he'd put the gun in my hand and insisted I learn how to properly use it? I wondered what Jackson would think if he could see me now. Hell, he probably wouldn't even recognize me. I barely recognized myself.
Of course, even without the weapon, my ex probably would've struggled to see any part of the Jolene he'd promised himself to when we’d been nothing more than fresh-faced teenagers. Even now, the dress I was wearing felt all wrong, and if I hadn't been in the middle of interrogating my would-be rescuer, I would've been trying to scrub the makeup off my face because it just wasn't me. Ted had liked it—the dress too.
But hadn't that been part of the problem?
Numbness began to creep in my fingers as I clutched the gun in my hands. I needed to focus on the man in front of me, not the man who'd turned out to be so much more than just a self-absorbed player.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
A little voice in my head reminded me that this guy had intervened, giving me the time to get to the gun in my purse, but I was way too on edge to even consider lowering the one thing that stood between us. He wasn't a hulk of a guy like Ted, but there was something infinitely more dangerous about him. He was taller than me and sporting his fair share of muscles, but he had the kind of build that was earned from everyday life and not bought and paid for in a fancy gym. There was nothing about him that said he belonged in Eden in any kind of way. His dark hair appeared to be shaved on each side of his head, but there was a section along the top that was long and loose and hung over part of his face. He had a heavy beard with a few flecks of gray here and there. Tattoos covered sections of his arms and I could see that there were letters inked on the knuckles of both hands. I'd never seen any man wear jewelry other than the occasional wedding band or watch, but this guy had several silver rings on his fingers and leather cuffs on both wrists. He also had a couple of earrings in one ear.
He looked like the kind of guy who knew all about trouble, and Eden was the kind of town that didn't welcome trouble.