I shook my head.

“No, my friend Annette is bringing my stuff to Denver as we speak and as soon as I get it and my car, I’m going.”

“Sunshine –”

“No, Hank. There’s no going back. I’m not mad at you for thinking I’m an idiot, because, wel , I am an idiot, I’m just not an idiot about that. It’s that… I have to get my life sorted out and that’s going to take awhile. You should… move on.” His eyes flashed dangerously.

“Move on?” he said the words slowly.

I nodded.

“Yeah, it’s nice that we’l end on a good note and not a misunderstanding,” I told him.

“Roxie, we’re not ending.”

“Yes, we are. You’re a good guy…” I stopped and realized that was just it. He was a good guy. I was a nut, my realized that was just it. He was a good guy. I was a nut, my house had been trashed, my ex-lover was wanted in four states and stil at large, God knew where, and the thing we were both skirting around was that I was tainted. He knew it. I knew it. Even if he knew I didn’t love Bil y anymore, the fact that Hank would even think that let me know al I needed to know about what he thought of me.

“It’s over,” I finished.

“Sorry, wasn’t it you that I was f**king an hour ago?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

I scowled at him.

“It isn’t over,” he said.

My brows drew together. “It is. I’m leaving tomorrow.” He watched me for a second, then let go of my hand, pul ed his wal et out of his back pocket, threw some bil s on the table and got up, shoving his wal et back in his pocket.

He pul ed me out of the booth and, holding my hand, guided me to the door with a chin lift to our waitress before we went through it.

Once we got outside, he dropped my hand and put his arm around my shoulders and pul ed me into his side.

Wel . He was taking my ending things real y wel .

Although I knew I should be relieved, it kinda pissed me off.

At the 4Runner, he opened my door for me and I turned to him, deciding to keep things on a positive bent and be polite.

“Thank you for understanding.”

He looked down at me. “I don’t understand,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Roxie, you aren’t going anywhere. I just have to convince you to stay.”

I blinked at him.

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” I said (again).

He moved into my space, I moved back and he pinned me against the inside of the door.

“Then, I gotta convince you before tomorrow.”

“You won’t be able to do that. My mind is made up,” I told him, pressing on his chest with my hands to push him back.

“A few days ago, you didn’t even want to have dinner with me. In less than twenty-four hours you were in my bed.

I’l be able to convince you.”

Wel ! He was certainly sure of himself.

Of course, what he said was true (al but the convincing me part) but stil .

“Take me back to Uncle Tex’s,” I demanded.

He grinned.

“You aren’t going to Tex’s. You’re comin’ home with me.” I made a huffy noise.

So, I guessed this meant he wasn’t taking my ending things with him real y wel , in fact, he wasn’t taking it at al .

Then, he kissed me.

Then, stil feeling dizzy, I went home with him.

* * * * *

I was on my back. Hank had lifted my legs at my knees so they were tucked into his sides. He was up on his elbows so his weight wasn’t on me. With my legs bent and his leverage, he was sliding deep inside me, deeper than anyone had ever been.

I had my eyes closed, feeling him move, my arms wrapped tight around his back.

I let him seduce me again (honestly, it didn’t take much) and was memorizing everything, the smel of him, the feel of him, the taste of him, the strength of him. I’d need to keep these memories for a long time.

He pul ed out and broke his rhythm, his body tense, I could feel him but he wasn’t coming inside.

My eyes opened.

“Hank?”

His head dropped and in my ear he said, “Stay.” Holy cow.

My entire body spasmed.

“Don’t.”

“Promise me you’l stay,” he whispered.

I moved, tightening my arms and wrapping my legs around his back.

“Whisky –”

When I used his nickname, he slid deep inside and kept going, finishing me off.

* * * * *

After we were done, he held me against his side and made me tel him what happened with Bil y, from the minute he left for his run, to the minute he got into bed with me after I came back. He listened without saying anything but his body was speaking for him, getting tense; his hand, which was stroking my back, going stil every now and then, sometimes, flexing and biting into me.

Then, he made me tel him about the sledgehammer incident.

He said something then. “I’m gonna kil that motherfucker.”

“That’s what Uncle Tex said,” I told him.

Then, he made me tel him about my plan to get rid of Bil y.

In other words, we had the conversation we were meant to have over breakfast five days ago.

“That wasn’t a very good plan,” he said to me.

“I know that now,” I replied.

Then, he told me he knew my place was trashed, Mace had told him at Lincoln’s Road House.

“You’re not safe to go back there,” he said.

“I’m going,” I returned.

“We’l see.”

Jeez, there was just no shaking this guy.

“Yo u do know that there’s this little thing cal ed the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote?” I asked.

“I heard of that,” he said and there was a smile in his voice.

“And there’s this whole movement cal ed fem… in… is…

im.” I said it slowly, like he was a dim child. “Where women started working, demanding equal pay for equal work, raising their voices on issues of the day, taking back the night, stuff like that.”

He rol ed into me, which made me rol onto my back.

“Sounds familiar.”

“Do you have an encyclopedia? Maybe we can look it up. If the words are too big for you to read, I’l read it out loud and explain as I go along.”

He got up on his elbow. “Only if you do it naked.” I slapped his shoulder.

He ignored my slap, threw his thigh over mine and settled in.