Chapter Twelve

He couldn’t believe it; she’d gone to work today. Had she thought his little gunshot wound last night would keep him down? Stupid cunt. Nothing could keep him away from her.

As the Snatcher paused in front of the display window of Pick-a-Posy’s flower shop, he ignored the blooming potted flowers showcased and stared hard at Jenna. She stood at the counter, surrounded by her two cousins as a customer approached to pay for her purchase.

When she glanced his way, a professional welcoming smile lit her mouth, probably inviting him inside to purchase a posy.

He couldn’t believe she remembered nothing from her captivity, either. It was too good to be true. He could walk right up to her, right this instant, and she wouldn’t know who he was.

He, on the other hand, had forgotten nothing. He kept remembering what she looked like naked and chained to his wall, and he needed her there again. His hands had begun to shake at the oddest times. Withdrawals were setting in. If he didn’t collect another pet soon, he might lose it totally.

But no one except Jenna would do. She thought she’d been so smart, escaping him; he needed to teach her how wrong she was, how stupid, how pathetic. He needed to teach her to never hurt him again.

When a couple brushed by him to enter the shop, he gritted his teeth at the jar of pain. Thank God the bullet had passed through a safe, meaty part of his upper thigh because it wasn’t like he could go to the hospital to fix it. But fuck, it hurt.

Red filtered over his vision.

He’d make Jenna pay. He wasn’t sure if he could wait until no one was looking. His patience ran thin.

Needing just a sample of her, he started toward the entrance, careful not to hobble. He relished the thought that he could get so close to her and she’d have no idea how close her owner watched over her.

* * * *

“Boy, we’re busy today.”

At Skyla’s announcement, Jenna glanced up from the register, where she’d punched in yet another purchase. On cue, the bell over the door gave a greeting ding, admitting another pair of customers. The flower shop truly was bursting with activity.

To her right, Paige finished wrapping the bouquet they’d just sold, and to her left, Skyla sighed as she rested her elbows on the countertop, then plopped her chin on her open palm as she took in the crowd milling around their shop.

“Seriously,” Sky added, nudging Jenna in the hip with her elbow. “If I knew you getting snatched would bring us this much business, I would’ve suggested it months ago.”

“Sky,” Paige gasped. She leaned around Jenna to scowl at her cousin. “That’s terrible.”

“Oh, pish. Jen knows I’m joking.”

Ignoring them both, Jenna smiled at the customer and handed her the roses she’d just bought. “Have a good day, Claire. Thanks for stopping by.”

Claire Sumpter paused a moment, glancing from Paige to Skyla, as if eager to hear more, but when she must’ve realized their byplay was over, she sighed and turned away. Jenna picked a fallen petal from the countertop and threw it away.

Three deputies lingered in the store—Quincy Rose, Seymour Perrot, and Dally Matlock—she wasn’t even sure which one had guard duty this morning. She must not have been the only one to wonder if her serial killer would make an appearance here today, however. The officers eyed every curious customer with acute suspicion.

When Skyla made a sound Jenna could only label a purr, Jenna glanced from Matlock scowling at the entrance in time to see her cousin licking her lips. “My God,” Sky murmured, eyeing the entrance as well, like a cat who’d just seen a big, juicy mouse stroll into the joint. “No one does bad quite as good as Court Lawson.”

With a gasp, Paige spun toward door, immediately flushing. When Lawson glanced their way, she ducked her head, pretending to be busy with the pens in the penholder next to the register. Jenna watched her poor cousin’s hands shake as she pretended to be busy.

“He is not bad,” Paige muttered under her breath, narrowing a scowl Skyla’s way.

Skyla snorted. “Honey, he is the ultimate bad boy.”

Jenna had to agree with Sky. Though, okay, the man looked damn fine in a simple t-shirt and faded pair of blue jeans, he had a chip on his shoulder the size of Antarctica, and he was just as cold. She’d never seen anything but a fuck-off gleam spark from his eyes. A deliveryman that drove a truck, distributing soda to all the vending machines in Miners Bend and surrounding counties, Lawson epitomized standoffish. No one would ever consider him a warm and caring gentleman.

Frankly, Jenna was surprised he hadn’t left town the day his mother died. Even before Grete Lawson had committed suicide, people called him and his strange mother freaks. After her burial, however, all the odd looks centered solely on him.

But instead of packing up and heading off, he used his inheritance to tear down his mother’s old house and build himself a new one in the same lot. And he continued to stalk around the town, glaring at anyone who glanced his way.

“Joseph is half-convinced he’s the Snatcher,” Jenna murmured, pitching her voice low so only Paige and Skyla could hear her.

For a split second, the three women studied the topic of their conversation as he neared a philodendron and frowned at the plant as if it were an extraterrestrial. In unison, all three ladies shook their heads.

“No way,” Skyla claimed first. “A man with that kind of body does not have to steal a woman for his pleasure. I don’t care how nasty his attitude is; that only makes him sexier. In fact, if Paige here didn’t have such a crush on him, I’d have sampled him myself, years ago.”

“I do not have a crush,” Paige whispered harshly, her face glazing red as she glanced around, probably to make sure no one had overheard Skyla’s declaration.

Sadly, Jenna patted her arms. “Yeah, sweetheart, you do. You’ve been in puppy love with him since you were, like, ten.”

“Nine,” Paige regretfully admitted. She let out a depressed sigh as her eyes slid longingly across the room.

“Oh my God,” Skyla gasped, latching onto both Jenna and Paige’s wrists. “He’s bending over.”

And indeed, he did. Three women sucked in a breath as Lawson bent down to pick up a baby potted elephant ear. As the hip pockets of his jeans stretched tight over a perfectly-formed ass, Jenna heard at least one person beside her gulp.

Lawson straightened, his arms locked around the enormous pot, where his biceps bunched and moved under his tanned flesh as he hefted his load. Jenna reminded herself to exhale. She reluctantly admitted Paige had fine taste in looks if not a man’s overall character.

“He’s never come in the store before,” Paige mused with a thoughtful pucker to her eyebrows. “I wonder why he picked today of all days.”

Skyla snorted. “Well, that’s easy. Just like everyone else in the county, he’s curious to get a look at Miss Snatcher Escapee here, which brings me to the question…” She rounded on Jenna with an arched expression. “What the hell were you and Joseph doing, exchanging a list of possible Snatcher suspects? Did you not use my toys at all?”

Jenna blushed. “Yes,” she grumbled under her breath. “We used them.” More than once. But after that, they’d curled together, spooning, and stayed up late into the night, just talking.

God, she loved pillow talk with Joseph Morgan, almost as much as she loved not talking with him. He opened up to her in a way she sensed he didn’t with anyone else.

“Well, good,” Skyla murmured. “I was afraid you’d chicken out and never want sex again.”

“So was I,” Paige added, biting her lip as she sent Jenna an apologetic look for being so honest.

Jenna opened her mouth to tell them that while she was in bed with Joseph, they didn’t need to worry about her sex life in the least, but a customer approached the counter.

“Excuse me,” the woman broke into her lusty daydream of how nice it had been this morning, waking up to Joseph kissing his way up her body, intent to use that last condom before he left. Blinking the woman into focus, she heard, “My daughter just had a baby. Do you have any lilies? Lilies are her favorite.”

“Of course. They’re right this way, Mrs. Eggon.” Paige eagerly jumped forward, leading the woman toward a refrigerated display case.

As they drifted away, Skyla stretched her arms above her head and let out a yawn. “I’m going to take a break, see if I can’t sweet talk some chocolate from Farris.”

Jenna rolled her eyes as Sky skipped off. Since the day the three of them had opened their store next door to the candy shop, Skyla had always managed to get free samples from its owner, Sam Farris, and she usually got enough to share with Paige and Jenna.

Putting a little extra sway to her hips as she strolled out the front door and passed in front of the display window, Skyla sashayed her way toward Farris’ Candy Shop.

Just as Jenna realized both her cousins had left her side for the first time today, Court Lawson approached the counter.

“Nice shiner,” he said, plopping the elephant ear plant into the counter separating them.

Unconsciously, Jenna lifted her hand to the corner of her eye. No amount of concealer had been able to cover the bright purple smears surrounding both eyes. Lawson, however, was the first customer to mention her bruises, the first to even refer to her recent captivity. While many had flocked to the flower shop today, no one had the guts to even mention the Snatcher to her.

“I’m surprised you’re even out and about so soon,” he said.

Jenna cleared her throat, concentrating on her task of rotating the pot on its base until she found the price tag. “I didn’t see any reason to sit at home when I’m still perfectly capable of working.”

And that was the truth. When Paige and Skyla saw her limp in the front door twenty minutes before opening, they had instantly ordered her back home. But honestly, she couldn’t think of anything worse than spending another day alone on her couch, fearing something she couldn’t even remember. She much preferred to stay busy, and around people.

Lawson didn’t respond, but she felt him watching her as he she rang up his purchase. It made her distinctly uncomfortable because all she could remember was the look in Joseph’s eyes when he’d mentioned Lawson and the Snatcher in the same sentence.

“That’ll be twenty-four, ninety-five,” she said, lifting her face to send him a pleasant smile.

Wallet already in hand, Lawson stretched it open and fished inside. Jenna could clearly see a five-dollar bill. But he bypassed the five to pull out a twenty and a ten, ensuring he’d need change.

When he held out the money toward her, an odd intense look filled his gaze, almost daring her to take it. Reaching out a hesitant hand, Jenna quickly plucked the cash from his fingers. As she handed his change back, their skin barely grazed. Despite how hot it was outside, his flesh felt cool, almost arctic. She immediately pulled away, repeating in her head, he’s not the Snatcher, he’s not the Snatcher. Please don’t let him be the Snatcher; Paige would be devastated.

He held the money a second, frowning down at the cash long enough to make her glance down too, to ensure she’d given him the correct change.

She had.

Finally, Lawson lifted his face, his eyes filled with an emotion resembling disappointment. Then he cleared this throat, and gruffly mumbled, “Thanks,” before he hefted his purchase off the counter and swung away from her, moving toward the exit at just the moment Joseph opened the front door and stepped inside the flower shop.

Immediately, Jenna warmed.

Merely thinking his name caused something powerful to flutter through her system. But seeing him turned up her internal temperature another twenty degrees. As his gaze drifted around the flower shop before it settled on her, she felt a zap of emotion.

Oh, boy. This couldn’t be good. How had she fallen so deep, so quickly?