Page 41 of Not Mine to Rescue

Lemon was going to die. Whether it was a slow and painful one remained to be seen. “Like the lady said, please?” I made a face at her to urge her to leave.

Sure, I was setting myself up for further rejection, but by this point, I wanted closure more than whatever remained of my pride. And yes, I should be worried about that, but maybe it was my wounded pride that needed to watch Honoria grovel a bit. Considering she’d already apologized once, I figured she’d tack on a whole lot more, with a side dish of “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Man, I had it scripted in my head.

I’d heard it often enough.

Lemon patted Molly before walking away.

“So, last night.” It was as good as any place to start. I dangled that bit out there, hoping Honoria would stay on script. I glanced at her expression to guess what would come next. Would it be a fortifying breath or blinking eyes?

Honoria surprised me with neither. “If your club is having trouble with their former one, perhaps Walt should file a restraining order.”

I deadpanned my reply. “I’m sure he’ll get right on that.” He’d do nothing of the sort.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Ah, shit. I forgot she was a damn smart person underneath all that conflicted denial. But I couldn’t resist. “Last night I fucked your brains out. Now today you act like I’m some idiot you’re defending in court.”

“Reckless endangerment? Resisting arrest?”

She fought dirty. Noted. I could get dirty.

“Two orgasms?”

Her nostrils flared. “I’ve had orgasms before.”

I’d bet not two in twenty minutes, but I suppose technically she wasn’t lying.

Maybe I should call her out on that? But if I did, that would be a shit move. Instead, I softened my approach. “I’m sorry about your ex and the bullshit.”

“You’re probably the only person who thinks that way.” Her quick glance away and the succession of blinks covered her watering eyes.

“Talk to me.”

Several starts and stops later, she finally blurted, “Photos.”

I leaned against the fence to hear her out. “Go on.”

Molly parked her fuzzy butt on Honor’s toes. “He sent the entire firm baby photos. He sent me the baby photos.”

She couldn’t have kids. That had to hurt. I tried to think of something comparable to get a bead on what to say.

Not having my whole family together hurt. But likely not as much as having a world without them in it. My pain wasn’t nearly as bad as Honor’s. “Take a load off.” I patted the fence next to me.

“I’ll stand.”

Honor was her own woman, that’s for sure. “If it were warmer, I’d suggest riding.”

“You’re on probation for reckless driving, remember?”

I smiled at her. She was being all cute by wrapping herself in that lawyer persona. It was armor. Huh.

My patch was mine. With it on, I felt invincible. Without it, I was just a scared kid with too big of a heart and too little brains to make sense of the crazy. “Someone like you should get everything they want.”