Page 74 of Desperate Justice

Or worse, to use her for information he needed.

Better to end this right now before Rafe broke her heart like the other men had.

“You don’t fit into her world, Ally, because you’re honest and dedicated and down to earth and real. Not shallow like the glam world of modeling.”

Averting her eyes as he came closer, she snatched up her pack and stuffed the jacket inside. “You know, Rodriguez, maybe you should stop worrying about my sister and focus on your own damn family. Seems like you don’t know where you fit in with their world as much as I don’t fit into my sister’s. Even with your own grandmother you seem out of place.”

The words tumbled out before she could bite her tongue. Oh, how she wished she could snatch them back, but there they were, hovering in the air. She’d used his own words and confession about his family to hurt him.

A shadow passed over his face before his gaze went arctic cold. Well, if she’d wanted to put distance between them, it worked.

But this wasn’t her. Nasty and sarcastic by using someone’s vulnerability against them. Worse than pouring salt into an open wound, and damn it, she was a nurse. She healed people, not wounded them.

“I’m sorry, Rafe,” she said and meant it.

“It’s better if we avoid each other for a while. You’re compromising my investigation.”

Oh, she knew what he meant. There was no going back. It was over, before it even began.

“I am sorry,” she mumbled.

“So am I.”

Allison hugged her backpack tight to her chest as she ran out of the hotel room, slamming the door behind her.

Her motorcycle sat in the parking lot, all gleaming black steel and silver chrome, shiny in the moonlight. So shiny it was blurred.

Or maybe it was caused by the tears starting to trickle down her cheeks.

CHAPTER 18

Rather than return to the cabin, Allison paid for a night at a local campground. She stretched out on a picnic table, using her jacket as a blanket, and tried to sleep.

Too wounded to return to the cabin and face Di, she didn’t want to be barraged with all those probing questions she didn’t want to answer.

Finally she slept, nightmares chasing her of Rafe hunting her sister down to haul her to jail.

A recreational vehicle pulling into the campground woke her at dawn. Allison fumbled in her bike’s saddlebags for a towel she always kept there and headed for the campground showers. After a quick hot shower, she steeled her spine.

Time to face the music.

Powering up her bike, she rode to the cabin.

Gravel crunched beneath her tires as Allison pulled into the drive, parked and shut off the engine. She yanked off her helmet.

Thick with pine, maple and oak trees, the woods surrounding their parents’ cabin pulsed with bird song. A slim peace threaded through her as she took a deep breath, drinking in nature. Too long since she’d been here.

To her relief, Diana’s bike was gone. Maybe Di went into town for shopping.

It was best anyway to forget Rafe, forget the amazing sex they’d had, pretend it was as fleeting and memorable as her last one-night stand. Diana needed her for all the last-minute wedding crap over the next few days, to hold her hand through the jitters. They could open a bottle of cold wine, eat some cheese and share laughs as they watched a rom-com on Netflix.

Sister stuff.

Nothing compares to the night you spent in his arms.

A cool breeze ruffled stray hairs escaping her braid. Allison slid off the bike and rubbed her butt. All those hours of riding hadn’t stretched muscles as much as riding last night in Rafe’s bed...

Stop it.