Page 32 of Sugar & Shadows

An irritated scoff escaped me. “Why?”

“Don’t know. But it felt good.” She scooped up another handful and tossed it at me. This time it splattered against my chest, dampening my suit jacket.

“We have to sleep in these clothes,” I gritted out.

She shrugged. “Making you uncomfortable will help me sleep.” With that, she pushed past me into the room.

Once, I’d wiped the wet snow slop from my chest, I followed, taking in the space. It was small. All their rooms were. With a queen-size bed covered in a plaid comforter.

A small chair sat in the corner, and the single other door led to the bathroom.

Looking away, I silently cursed myself for checking out her ass in that tight skirt. I didn’t look at Sabrina Monroe that way, but the long day and the close quarters were making me dizzy.

Because I absolutely did not have a weakness for her or her full deep-red lips.

“I’m not sleeping in that bed,” she declared, shuddering. “I’ll sleep standing up.”

“Like a vampire. That tracks.” I shucked my damp jacket and searched for a place to hang it to dry.

It was only eight, and I worried I’d never survive this night. “Hey, there’s a bar on the other side of the parking lot. Let’s go,” I said. She looked over at me for a moment before nodding. “Anything to get out of this shithole,” she grumbled, grabbing her purse and heading for the door.

The place was shitty, even by roadside rural Vermont standards, but I couldn’t spend one more minute in that hotel room with her. The snow was coming down, but it was right next door, and I assumed the beer was cold and it had a functioning roof. Anything else was a bonus at this point.

This woman infuriated me. She was so superior. So sure that I was a useless dumbass. It only drove me harder to prove her wrong.

The lights of the beer signs flickered as I strode to a bar. Sabrina trailed behind, a look of pure confusion falling across her beautiful features.

“Hello, handsome,” the bartender drawled. She was in her early forties with bleached-blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. “What brings you into this place in the blizzard?”

“Stranded,” I said as Sabrina hobbled to the stool next to mine.

The place was empty save for a few truckers who had parked outside to ride out the storm.

“I’m Lucky,” she said, pointing to the name tag on her chest. “Kitchen’s closed. And all I’ve got is beer and whiskey.” She gave me a wink that said she’d be interested in meeting up once her shift was finished. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but it was one I rarely took advantage of. Being the mayor of a small town meant I was rarely met with opportunities for casual hookups. Most of the time I was too busy and too exhausted to leave town to even bother looking for fun.

Too bad, because Lucky was cute and seemed like a hell of a lot more fun than Sabrina, who was currently glaring at her while inspecting the bar stool like it was a health code violation.

“I’ll take one of each,” I said.

She stared at me for a moment, ignoring Sabrina, which no doubt enraged her.

Sabrina didn’t speak for several seconds, like she was debating whether to have a drink with me. “I’ll have the same,” she said primly, reaching for a paper napkin to wipe down the bar in front of her.

Lucky deposited our drinks and raised an eyebrow at my companion, who was typing furiously on her phone.

“To Maplewood,” I said, raising the shot of whiskey.

She looked up and stared at me. “To fucking with our enemies.” With a tap of her glass against mine, she tossed the whiskey back with gusto.

I blinked at her, still holding my own whiskey aloft.

“What?” she said, glaring.

“I um… expected you to sip it,” I said.

She snorted. “Please. Like I’m some goody-goody like you?”

“I don’t know. You were, um—are… intense,” I explained. “And you were so focused in school. You color-coded notes and alphabetized everything.”