“Step out of the car, please.”
“JT, I don’t have time for this. I have a flight to catch.”
“Ma’am, step out of the car.”
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
Climbing out, I put my hands on my hips.
“Where are you traveling to this time? Brazil?”
“Minnesota.”
He paused, not expecting that answer. “What?”
“I said, Minnesota.”
“I thought you were going doing a story in Brazil. What’s in Minnesota?”
“A hockey team reunion.”
He took off his sunglasses and hooked them over the neck of his shirt.
“I’m surprised you’re working. Shouldn’t you be showing Sarah around town?”
“I’m not working. I’m pulling over a speeding driver.”
“Why?” I asked, completely confused. “Why are you pulling people over?”
He put his hands on his hips. “I’m not pulling people over. I’m pulling you over. Jesus, Daphne, I don’t want you to go.”
My mouth fell open. “What?”
“Don’t go to Brazil. Don’t leave Bozeman. There’s something between us, something crazy.” He ran his hand through his hair. “We should give it a shot.”
“How did you know where to find me? You want to…wait.” I held up my hand. “What about Sarah? The white picket fence?”
“You said it last week. Sort of. You said you were my fantasy, but you were looking for reality.”
“Yeah, I remember.” I remembered all too well.
“You had it backwards.” He stepped into me so he blocked the sun, tucked my wayward hair behind my ear. “Sarah and the white picket fence were just fantasies. You are my reality.”
“Holy shit.”
He grinned. “Yeah, holy shit. Now can you please not go off to Morocco or Mozambique or Minnesota.”
“I was only going to be gone the weekend. I…I rented a little house downtown.”
JT grabbed me and pulled me into his arms, hugged me to him so tightly I couldn’t breathe. Or maybe it was the fact that the stupid wall I’d built around my heart crumbled and I was, for once, letting someone in. “I’m still going to take assignments, shorter ones, but only for a little while longer. Your idea about working for a local magazine was a good one. I’ve started putting my resume out there and I should hopefully hear from one of them. In the meantime, I’ve got money saved up.”
He pushed me back, only just enough to look down at me. “So if I don’t Tase you, you’ll give us a try?”
I nodded. “Will you?”
“As long as you don’t punch me in the nose.”
Other books by Jennifer Zane:
Gnome On The Range
Gnomeless
Gnome For The Holidays
Gnome, Alaska
About the Author:
Jennifer Zane has lived all over the country—from Georgia to Maryland, New York to Colorado. including an exciting five years in Montana. Her time in Big Sky country was the basis for this book. When she's not writing, she savors the insanity of raising two boys, is figuring out how many meals she can make with a pressure cooker, and teaches a pretty mean karate class. She currently lives with her family in Colorado.
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© 2015 by Jennifer Zane
Cover Design © 2015 by Jennifer Zane
Cover Image: © Ratkom - Fotolia.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or copied in any form or format, by electronic, digital, or mechanical means including, but not limited to, information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher. An exception is granted to book reviewers who may quote up to 250 words in a review.
Author's Note:
While I have made my best efforts to make this book geographically, historically and all things accurate, I have deliberately altered some places while inventing others. I have embellished quite a bit with the use of the roller derby, teams, team names, Hardin's lovely Walmart parking lot, and the closing times for the Visitor Center at Pillar's Rock as well as many other things. Please know this was solely to embellish this book, which is pure fiction. Any errors in this work are mine, and this book is entirely from my imagination.
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