Kickout Clause by Jenna Bennett

Author:Jenna Bennett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, suspense, southern, mystery, humor, nashville, interracial, tennessee, real estate
Publisher: Jenna Bennett

Chapter Thirteen

We ate our burgers—which were excellent, even if I felt as though the fat and carbohydrates were bypassing my stomach and adhering themselves directly to my thighs as I chewed—and then we left the Shortstop to go home.

We had learned nothing else. The other waitress hadn’t noticed Bradley last night, so she couldn’t help us at all. And they all said that nothing had happened or gone wrong in any way as to explain what had happened to Manny. I hadn’t expected his trip to the Shortstop to have had anything to do with his murder—how could it, when all he’d been doing was following my harmless and boring ex-husband?—but I could tell that Rafe was disappointed.

“I’m sorry.” I tucked my arm through his as we navigated the rutted gravel lot in the dark. “This was a huge waste of time.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” He grinned down at me, his teeth bright in the dusk. “Any time I get to watch you eat like a human being is a good day.”

“I do eat like a human being. I just don’t work out the way you do. If I keep eating like you, I’ll get fat.” And then he wouldn’t want me anymore. As my mother—and Wallis Simpson—said, a woman can never be too rich or too thin.

“More to love.” He leered exaggeratedly, and I snorted, halfway between amusement and disbelief.

“Sure.”

“Darlin’, if you knew what looking at you in those jeans does to me, you wouldn’t doubt it.”

Surely not? I twisted to look over my shoulder. “Are you sure they don’t make my butt look big?”

“Positive,” Rafe said. “Your butt’s just the right size.” He slipped a hand down my back to demonstrate, with a squeeze.

I swatted at it. “You’re awful.”

The leer went away and was replaced by sincerity. “I like the way you look, darlin’. Always have. But I love you, not what you look like. So if your butt gets twice as big, I’ll still love you.”

“I don’t understand that,” I confessed, even as I melted a little inside. “Not the butt thing. I get that. You’re a man. You like women’s butts. But the other part. I’m not a nice person. I spent a lot of time judging you for things you can’t help.”

His response was easy, and entirely free of recrimination. “You got over it.”

“It took too long.”

“It took as long as it needed. I’m just glad you got there. And between you and me...”

“Yes?”

We’d reached the Volvo, and he swung me around and up against the side of the car. “Between you and me,” he stepped close enough that there was nothing between him and me but a few layers of fabric, “the way you look don’t hurt, either.”

“Glad to hear it,” I said—a little breathlessly, as always when he was this close—and looped my arms around his neck.

I expected a kiss. The look in his eyes promised one, and between you and me—hah!—the way he was pressed against me didn’t leave much to the imagination.

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