“Wait a second. You’ve already chosen these three assholes?”
Pressing her lips together hard, Honor bit her tongue. Why hadn’t she just kept her mouth shut? By the violent flash in Zeke’s eyes, he was more likely to spontaneously combust than he was to open her cell door. “C’mon, Zeke. This is only gonna take a few hours and then it’s done. Three dates. That’s all. Then, I can prove to Bree once and for all that you’re…” she trailed off, clamping her mouth shut before she overshared again.
“That I’m what, Honor?” Zeke questioned, narrowing his eyes.
“That you’ll be reasonable about this,” Honor lied as her nails dug into her palms as she fisted her hands at her side. “She tried to warn me that you’d put up a fuss, but I hoped you’d be fair here and see that I’m just going through the steps of therapy.” Boy, if he believed that whopper, she deserved an Academy Award, she thought anxiously. How was she supposed to explain to him that these dates were supposed to help her decide if it was really Zeke she wanted or just the idea of being around a safe man that compelled her to remain close to him? He’d lose his mind if he thought that.
“Who are they?” the sheriff barked, crossing his muscular arms over his broad chest as he glared at her.
“Who’s who?” she all but yelped.
“These dickheads you wanna date. Who are they?” he growled.
“Zeke, they aren’t di-… they’re nice men. One is RJ Reardon – Melody Reardon’s brother. You just signed up for a membership over at the gym he’s opening with Melody’s fiancé, Cal. He’s not a di--- a jerk,” she amended quickly. She was making huge strides with her therapy, but she still didn’t feel comfortable using naughty words and probably never would.
Zeke clenched and released his fists, his nostrils flaring as he exhaled. “You’re right,” he admitted, lowering his voice. “RJ isn’t a dick, but he’s not for you. You’d eat a guy like him for lunch, babe. He’ll never stand up to you when it’s important.”
“I’m not marrying him! Tomorrow, I’m eating a sandwich on a bench in the park with him. Then, we’re going to walk his sister’s dog. End of date number one,” Honor blurted.
“I don’t like it, but I can live with it,” Zeke finally muttered his acceptance. “Who’s next?
“Well, on Sunday…”
“Just a damned minute,” Zeke exploded. “If whoever Sunday’s date is thinks that they’re takin’ you to church, they’ve lost their minds. I take you to church, Honor. Only me, woman!”
“Why?” Honor asked, silently wondering if Zeke had finally gone around the bend. Since when did going to church qualify as a date with anybody?
“You know why. Takin’ a woman to church is tantamount to announcing a wedding in Paradise. The only man that sits in a pew beside you is me! You got me?”
Honor sighed wearily. “I get you. Nobody but you takes me to talk to my Lord and Savior.”
“Don’t be a smartass,” Zeke retorted, glaring at her.
“I wasn’t,” Honor huffed, matching his glare with one of her own. “Before you so rudely interrupted me, I was going to share that on Sunday afternoon, Hunter Quaid is going to take me out to eat over in Knoxville at some new seafood place.”
“For God’s sake, tell me what in name of all hell could you and a tattoo artist have in common, Honor?” Zeke spat, shaking his head.
“I don’t know,” Honor replied, feeling as though she was being quizzed on a test for which she hadn’t studied. “We both own businesses. We could discuss that!”
“Okay, RJ is a nice, safe guy. He sounds like he would have been Harmony’s suggestion for a date. Am I right?” he asked as Honor nodded. “Uh huh. I figured. And Hunter… he’s a little edgier. A bit riskier. But not dangerous. Plus, Patience already dated him so she wouldn’t suggest her leftovers to you. So, Hunter had to be Faith’s pick, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Honor acknowledged softly.
“So, that leaves Patience. Who’d she choose?” Zeke grilled her, propping his hands on his lean hips as he lifted his chin and focused his intense stare on Honor.
“Maybe we should talk about that later… like after I’ve stumbled through the first two dates,” Honor hedged. When he heard who her third and final date was with, in all likelihood, she was never going to be released from her current jail.
“That bad, huh?” Zeke grunted.
“It’s not until Monday, Zeke,” Honor stated dismissively. “A lot can happen between now and then.”
“Monday is the 4th of July holiday, Honor. Are you standing there telling me that you intend to spend the holiday with another man?” Zeke bit out in a tone that implied that she’d better not be stating as much.
“I…it’s an afternoon date,” she quickly explained.
“With who?” Zeke clipped.
“Don’t get upset, Ezekiel,” Honor urged worriedly. “It’s just a couple of hours on Monday afternoon.”
“Honor, I’m running out of patience,” Zeke warned gravely.
“It’s Wrath!” she blurted.
“Wrath,” Zeke repeated, his jaw flexing as he clenched his teeth. “As in, the Wrath McKay that is president of a fuckin’ motorcycle gang?”
“Actually, I think it’s a club rather than a gang, but yes, that’s the Wrath McKay to which I was referring.” Honor nodded.
“No.”
The word fell harshly from Zeke’s lips and Honor blinked slowly. “What?” She couldn’t have heard him right, could she? He didn’t just flat out deny her like he had some kind of say in the matter, had he?
“I said, no.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought you said,” Honor grumbled irritably. “Zeke, you do realize that this isn’t up to you, don’t you? It’s my life, and I can spend time with anyone I choose. Furthermore, Wrath is a perfectly nice man who…”
“Wrath is a hard-drinking, whore chasing son of a bitch that I wouldn’t want near my worst enemy let alone the woman I’ve spent years being in love with. By God, I’m gonna kill Patience for this! I know that little shit chose him on purpose to get on my nerves. Seriously, baby,” he said with a beseeching look at Honor. “That dick put the ass in jackass, Honor. Not only that, but everyone in town is aware that fucker’s had a thing for you for years. No way in hell are you getting anywhere near him.”
“Wrath doesn’t have a thing for me, Zeke. He’s just a decent guy doing me a favor,” Honor countered.
“Decent? The man is half criminal, half vigilante, and a hundred percent total pain in my ass.” Zeke retorted.
“Then why isn’t he taking up space in one of your fine cells here,” Honor returned, waving her arm toward the other empty cells.
“Because the bastard is cunning as hell. Plus, there are times that I might look the other way when his actions – while illegal – are for the greater good,” he muttered.
“So he’s a principled villain. Is that what you’re saying?”
Running a hand down his face, Zeke groaned. “Going out with Wrath sends the guy the wrong message, Honor.”
“What message?”
“That you are available. When – for the record – you are NOT,” Zeke roared.
“It’s just a bike ride and a picnic, Zeke,” Honor tried to reassure him, wincing when she saw his eyes widen dramatically.
“A bike ride? That prick wants to put my fuckin’ woman on the back of his goddamned bike?” She heard him choke as he stomped forward to grip the iron bars between them. And at the moment, she couldn’t give enough thanks to the Almighty that there was a barrier standing in his way. Otherwise, she was fairly certain those attractive hands of his would be wrapped around her neck.
“Zeke, honey,” Honor began gently.
“Oh, no,” he said, wagging a finger in front of her face. “You don’t get to call me ‘honey’ and squirm your way out of trouble. There is no way in this world or the next that I will allow you to climb on the back of that asshole’s motorcycle. I swear to God, Ho
nor, I will leave you in a jail cell until the Second Coming if you think to test me on this,” he threatened, the muscle in his jaw pulsing as he fumed at her.
“Fine,” she replied. “I’ll call him and ask him to bring his truck instead. There! See how fair I can be? Can I go now?” She hadn’t wanted to ride a motorcycle anyway so Zeke’s mandate actually worked for her. She knew Wrath drove a great big cherry red F250 during the winter months when the weather in the mountains wasn’t fit for man or beast. He could just use it to take them to the holiday picnic celebration in the park and maybe Zeke would relax a bit.
Breathing deeply, Zeke stared at Honor for a long minute. “Alright, Honor, if you’re dead set on this, go on your fuckin’ picnic with that asshat. But the only lips that better touch yours at the fireworks show on Monday night are mine. Wrath can borrow you for lunch, but after that, you belong to me. Agreed?”
“If I say yes, will you let me out of here? Pretty please? Seriously, Zeke, it stinks in here,” she complained unhappily, looking at the stained sheet covering the cot behind her. “When was the last time you laundered those sheets or mopped the floor?” she asked, wrinkling her nose at the odor emanating from the thin bed.
Shaking his head at her question, Zeke’s lips twitched. “Only you would worry that even criminals should receive some creature comforts. But I’ll make certain that I let the maid service know that you were more than a little displeased with the sub-par accommodations,” he offered as he unlocked and slid open the cell door.
“Just because someone breaks the law doesn’t mean they should have to sit in squalor until Lady Justice decides their fate. Honestly, it reeks in there, Ezekiel,” she informed him primly as she stepped over the threshold of the cell.
Rolling his eyes as he settled a hand on her lower back and guided her toward the steel double doors separating the jail from the office area, Zeke grinned despite his frustration at her. “Let’s go home, Kitten. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and all this talk of you dating anybody but me will all be a nasty dream.”
“Sorry, Zeke. I don’t think that’s likely to happen,” Honor replied quietly, honestly regretful that she had upset him. She wasn’t thrilled to go out with these men either, but she owed it to herself to try things Bree’s way.
“A guy can hope, Honor. A guy can hope.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Monday, July 4, 2016
10:45 am
Honor
“I still say that this is complete and total bullshit. You tell Bree that I’m thinkin’ about suing her over these damn homework assignments.”
Honor couldn’t help grinning as she heard Zeke’s irritated snarl coming from the next room. “Since you aren’t her patient, that will be a neat trick,” she returned, looking in the mirror while she continued brushing her hair before pulling the heavy tresses into a loose bun on top of her head. It was July in Tennessee… and there was no way she was wearing her hair down on this kind of muggy summer day. “We talked about this, Zeke. Bree’s just trying to make sure I experience some of the important aspects of being a young, single woman. We both know that up until the last several months, I wasn’t exactly open to new experiences,” she chided, lifting her voice so she could be heard by him over the low hum of the central air. “Besides, it’s just for a couple of hours. We’ll be surrounded by people in a public park and I’ll be home in time for us to drive over and find a good spot on the duck pond to see the fireworks,” she reminded him, glancing over her shoulder to look into her bedroom where the morose man sat on the side of her bed.
“No, I’ll be picking you up from the picnic. The man doesn’t need to drive back out here. It’s bad enough that he’s picking you up.”
“I know that I haven’t done this dating thing a lot, but isn’t it customary for the man to pick up the woman at her home?”
“Sure. But it’s NOT customary for a woman that’s already taken to be wandering around with other men,” Zeke retorted.
“I’m not having that argument with you again,” Honor declared, shaking her head as she spritzed her wrists with a light floral perfume.
“Hell, Honor, I just don’t want him here,” Zeke pouted, his jaw clenching as he watched her drop her perfume back on the white porcelain vanity from his perch on the bed. “And I sure as hell don’t want you wearing perfume for that fucker. If you wanna smell sweet, you can smell sweet for me,” he growled.
“I’m wearing a scent for me, Zeke,” Honor returned crisply, unable to believe her big, bad Sheriff was acting like an immature teenager. “In case you missed it, it’s almost a hundred degrees outside and it’s not even noon yet. I don’t want to stink.” Sighing, she dropped her hands to her hips and frowned as she looked over her makeup supplies for her blush brush. “Look, I can tell that today has you on edge, but what exactly is it that you think could go wrong today?” she asked, leaning over the bathroom vanity to search for her tube of lip gloss.
“It’s Wrath McKay, Kitten. Trouble is his middle name. He doesn’t even have to look around to find it,” Zeke griped back at her. “I still don’t see why you have to do this,” he continued, his voice getting louder as he moved from her bed to stand in the open doorway of her bathroom. “It’s not like your other two dates went so well,” he added with a condescending smirk, meeting her eyes in the mirror as she rubbed her lips together.
Snatching a tissue from the box, Honor glared at Zeke’s reflection in the mirror. “You do not want to bring up my previous two attempts at dating, Sheriff Monroe. I’m still seriously considering filing a complaint against you with the Mayor for that nonsense you pulled. You put poor RJ through hell, and bless Hunter’s heart… he may never have the courage to get behind the wheel of a car again!”
Zeke shrugged carelessly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he maintained easily. “I wasn’t anywhere near you or your beaus when misfortune found them, m’dear.”
Honor made a sound of disbelief. “You might not have been present, but your fingerprints were all over those poor boys’ bad luck. Seriously, Ezekiel. Having the county health inspector show up at RJ’s gym while he was out with me? That was tacky.”
“Can I help it if Frank had a hole in his schedule and decided to visit Get Fit?” Zeke asked innocently. “I didn’t tell RJ and Cal to put in a smoothie bar, darlin’. That was their decision… and he made the decision to leave you sitting in the park with the family dog and a hot dog to rush back to his gym. Seriously, who buys their date a hot dog for lunch?” Zeke mocked.
“I happen to like hot dogs!” Honor huffed as she flipped on the water to wash her hands.
“If you ask me, that whole date was doomed from the start.”
“It wasn’t doomed, you interfering idiot, it was damned. BY YOU!! RJ couldn’t help the way he had to leave me and he was sorrier than he could express for having to do it, but the poor man could hardly trot his sister’s dog into the gym with the health inspector lookin’ for something to write him up for. And don’t think I don’t know that you were in the bar the night before buying that very same health inspector that was intent on makin’ RJ’s life a living hell a beer, Ezekiel. That was no coincidence. Honestly, that was just spiteful!
“Look, I can’t be responsible for what goes on in that overactive imagination of yours. Frank Simmons and I have been friends for years and we happened to see each other at the restaurant. Contrary to your popular belief, I have no diabolical plan in place.”
Honor snorted as she reached for a towel and dried her wet hands. “Fine. Let’s say you’re innocent of the ordeal with RJ. I know you aren’t, but let’s – for the sake of argument - just say you are. There’s still no way that you didn’t sabotage my date with Hunter last night. You had him arrested, Ezekiel!”
“Actually, I didn’t have him arrested. I wasn’t even there,” Zeke corrected.
Honor narrowed her eyes dangerously as she whirled to face him. “No, you had one of your minions doing your dirt
y work,” she amended with a mockery of a smile before tossing her towel down on the sink and marching out of the bathroom, tightening the sash on her robe as she made her way to her closet.
“If by minions, you mean my sworn deputy that took an oath to uphold law and order, then yes,” Zeke called as she flipped on the light inside her closet and pulled the door shut as she began her search for a suitable outfit, her fingers flipping quickly through the hanging clothes. “And I fully support Deputy Collins in his endeavor! He was just doing his job, Honor” She heard him vouch for the deputy.
Snatching a pale green sundress with bright pink flowers trimming the hem off the hanger, she shrugged out of her robe. “That’s just bull,” she shouted back as she pulled the dress over her head and the hem fell to her knees.
“How can Hunter’s inability to pay attention to the expiration date on his car tags be my fault?” Zeke questioned from outside the closet door. “Then as if that wasn’t bad enough, he compounded the sin by not having insurance. Soooo not my fault, Kitten,” Zeke defended himself.
Hanging her robe on the peg on the back of her closet door, Honor fought a scream of irritation. “He had insurance, Zeke. He just hadn’t printed his proof of insurance out on the computer yet. If your deputy had just let Hunter use his phone and pull up the information, everything would have been fine. The fact remains that your so-called dedicated employee refused to see that it was an unfortunate misunderstanding. And to add insult to injury, it was a holiday weekend and Hunter wasn’t able to get down to county clerk’s office before it closed on Friday. So, because of you, I spent my date sharing a bag of chips through prison bars instead of eating a nice shrimp dinner in Knoxville.”
“Babe, you want seafood, I’ll take you into the city tomorrow,” Zeke offered generously from outside the closet.
Adjusting the dreamcatcher necklace around her neck as she looked around the floor for a pair of heels, Honor bit her lip. Ezekiel couldn’t really be that thick could he? “No, I don’t want any seafood,” Honor returned tightly as she located a cute pair of white heeled sandals and began sliding them on her small feet. “I want you to see that having a man arrested for the sin of agreeing to go on a date with me is wrong,” she insisted, finally getting her shoes on and straightening to jerk open the closet door and meet Zeke’s amused gaze. Pointing a finger at him, she growled, “You better make sure that doesn’t go on Hunter’s permanent record, or you and I are going to have a big problem.”
Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) Page 38
