FAMILY EMERGENCY
Naomi
My feet were begging for a break, but the $20,000 in my apron gave me more than enough energy to face the final hour of my shift.
“Naomi!”
I spotted Sloane at a table in the corner with middle-aged biker babes and library board members Blaze and Agatha. Sloane had her hair pulled back in a perky ponytail and was wearing cut-offs and flip-flops. Blaze and Agatha were in their usual uniform of denim and vegan leather.
“Hey!” I greeted them with a spring in my step. “Out on the town?”
“We’re celebrating,” Sloane explained. “The library just got a big, fat grant that I didn’t even remember applying for! Not only does that mean we can start offering free community breakfasts and upgrade the second-floor computers, I can also officially offer you that part-time gig.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, elation rising inside me.
“As serious as a nun in detention,” Blaze said, slapping the table.
Sloane grinned. “It’s yours if you want it.”
“I want it!”
The librarian held out her hand. “Welcome to the Knockemout Public Library, Ms. Community Outreach Coordinator. You officially start next week. Come by this weekend, and we’ll talk about your new duties.”
I grabbed her hand and shook it. Then I hugged her. Then I hugged Blaze and Agatha. “Can I buy you beautiful, amazing ladies a round?” I asked, releasing a dazed-looking Agatha.
“A public librarian can’t say no to free drinks. It’s in the town charter,” Sloane said.
“Neither can us literary supportive lesbians,” Agatha added.
“My wife is right,” Blaze agreed.
I floated through the crowd on the dance floor and plugged in the order for my new bosses. I was thinking about the car I could now afford and the desk I wanted to buy Waylay for her room when Lucian appeared.
“I believe you owe me a dance,” he said, holding out his hand.
I laughed. “I guess it’s the least I can do since you let me win.”
“I never let anyone win,” he assured me, taking my tray and setting it at a table of lady horse farmers who didn’t seem to mind.
“That’s very mercenary of you,” I observed. The band shifted into a slow, twangy tune about lost love.
Lucian pulled me into his arms, and once again, I found myself wondering why Knockemout had such a large population of impossibly sexy men. I was also wondering what Lucian’s motive was for asking me to dance. He struck me as the type of man who never did anything without an ulterior motive.
“Knox and Nash,” he began.
I congratulated myself on being so astute. “What about them?”
“They’re my best friends. Their feud has run its course. I want to make sure it doesn’t get stirred back up.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Everything.”
I guffawed right in the man’s face. “You think I’m going to reignite some feud that I had nothing to do with in the first place?”
“You’re a stunning woman, Naomi. More than that, you’re interesting, funny, and kind. You’re worth fighting for.”
“Well, thank you for your kind but bizarre opinion. But you can rest easy knowing that Knox and I can barely stand being in the same room.”
“That doesn’t always mean what you think it means,” he said.
“He’s rude, mercurial, and blames me for everything.”
“Perhaps because you make him feel things he doesn’t want to feel,” Lucian pointed out.
“Like what? Murderous?”
“What about Nash?” he asked.
“Nash is the opposite of his brother. But I just got out of a long-term relationship. I’m in a new town trying to do what’s best for my niece, who hasn’t had the easiest life. There’s no time left on the clock to explore things with any man,” I said firmly.
“Good. Because I know you’d hate to unintentionally add fuel to the fire.”
“What started their stupid fire in the first place?” I asked.
“Stubbornness. Idiocy. Ego,” he said vaguely.
I knew better than to expect a straight answer from a man who was like a brother to the Morgans.
“Hey, Naomi! Can we add an order of—” Sloane cut off mid-sentence.
The petite blonde was staring open-mouthed up at Lucian like she’d just been sucker-punched. I felt Lucian’s entire body go rigid.
My heart sank with the realization that I’d somehow betrayed my new friend.
“Hey,” I said weakly. “Do you know—” My awkward introduction was unnecessary.
“Sloane,” Lucian said.
While I shivered at the ice in his tone, Sloane had the opposite reaction. Her expression went mutinous, and an emerald fire snapped in her eyes.
“Is there an asshole convention in town I wasn’t aware of?”
“Still charming as always,” Lucian snapped back.
“Fuck off, Rollins.” With that parting shot, Sloane spun around and marched toward the door.
Lucian still hadn’t moved a muscle, but his gaze was glued to her retreating back. His hands, still on my hips, gripped me hard.
“You about ready to unhand my waitstaff, Luce?” Knox growled behind me.
Startled, I yelped. There were too many pissed-off people in my vicinity. Lucian released me, gaze remaining on the door.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
“He’s fine,” Knox said.
“I’m fine.”
It was clearly a lie. The man looked as though he wanted to commit a cold-blooded murder. I wasn’t sure who I should attempt to fix first.
“Dinner. Tomorrow,” he said to Knox.
“Yeah. Dinner.”
With that, he headed for the door.
“Is he okay?” I asked Knox.
“How the hell should I know?” he asked irritably.
The door opened just as Lucian got to it, and Wylie Ogden, creepy ex-police chief, stepped inside. The man flinched, then covered it—poorly—with a smirk when he saw Lucian in front of him. They stared at each other for a long moment before Wylie stepped sideways, giving him a wide berth.
“What in the hell was that?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Knox lied.
Silver whistled from the bar and waved him over. Knox headed in her direction, swearing under his breath.
The guy was wound tighter than a mummy wrapped in Spanx.
“Did Sloane just leave?” Blaze demanded, arriving at my side with Agatha on her heels.
“Yeah. I was dancing with Lucian Rollins. She took one look at him and left. Did I do something wrong?”
Blaze blew out a breath. “That’s not good.”
Agatha shook her head. “Definitely not good. They hate each other.”
“Who could possibly hate Sloane? Isn’t she the nicest person in Northern Virginia?”
Agatha shrugged. “There’s some kind of sticky history between those two. They grew up next door to each other. Didn’t run in the same crowds or anything. No one knows what happened, but they can’t stand the sight of each other.”
I’d been caught dancing with my new friend/boss’s mortal enemy. Damn it.
I needed to make this right. At least ignorance was a plausible defense. I was already reaching for my phone when it started ringing.
It was Stef.
“Shoot. I have to take this,” I told the bikers. “Hey, is everything okay?”
“Witty, I’ve got bad news.”
My heart stopped and then stuttered to a start again. I knew that tone of voice. This wasn’t “we’re out of champagne and ice cream”—this was “family emergency.”
“What’s wrong? Is Waylay okay?” I plugged my other ear with my finger to hear over the band.
“Way’s fine,” he said. “But Nash was shot tonight. They don’t know if he’s going to pull through. He’s in surgery.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“Some sergeant named Grave notified Liza. He drove her to the hospital. He’s sending someone to notify Knox.”
Knox.I found him through the crowd behind the bar, half smiling at something a customer said. He looked up and locked eyes with me.
My face must have telegraphed something because Knox vaulted over the bar and started pushing his way toward me through the crowd.
“I’m sorry, babe,” Stef said. “I’ve got Way here at Liza’s with all the dogs. We’re fine. You do whatever you need to do.”
Knox reached me and grabbed my arms. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I have to go,” I said into the phone and disconnected.
The front door opened, and I saw two officers in uniform looking grim. My breath hitched. “Knox,” I whispered.
“Right here, baby. What happened?”
His eyes were bluer in this light, searingly blue and serious as he held on to me.
I shook my head. “It’s not me. It’s you.”
“What’s me?”
With a shaking finger, I pointed at the officers making their way to us.
“Knox, we need to talk,” the taller one said.
* * *