Page 6 of Smokescreen

She mentally willed the man not to sit down—a mind trick she knew wouldn’t work.

Instead, she decided to focus on what would work. She had the gift of talking herself out of situations. She might be able to do that if push came to shove. She needed to get her story straight.

“We gotta get out of here before Skip comes back.” The man passed from the back of the desk.

Olive let out a small breath. But her relief was premature.

“Let me check one more thing before we leave. Gotta make sure all our bases are covered.” Cowboy Boots pulled out the chair. The next instant, he muttered, “What the . . . ?”

He stared directly at Olive.

CHAPTER 3

Olive had to think quickly.

In three seconds flat, she pulled an earring from her ear and pretended to grab it from the floor. “Oh,hereit is! Y’all, I seriously thought I was losing my mind.”

Cowboy Boots continued to stare at her, an incredulous look on his face.

She climbed from beneath the desk and inserted the gold hoop back into her ear. “I thought I was never going to find this thing, and my daddy wouldkillme if I lost it. It’s an heirloom. Belonged to my grandma’s grandma.”

The men stared at her another moment.

“Olive . . .” Trick said in her ear.

If only Olive could respond. However, she knew Trick and Tevin could hear everything being said right now.

She got her first glance at the men. Cowboy Boots was short with thick, blond hair. Work Boots was tall and lanky with dark hair and craggy features.

Olive wasn’t sure how this situation would play out right now.

“You were down there the whole time?” Work Boots finally chimed in.

“This whole time?” Olive used her best Texas twang. “I came here to grab something for Skip, and then I lost my earring. Thought I was never going to find it.”

Cowboy Boots grunted as he stared at her.

She needed to pivot. “Okay . . . y’all caught me. Iwaslooking for my earring. But I was in here because . . . I had a private little meeting with Skip. You know what I mean?” She winked at Cowboy Boots.

“Private meeting? With Skip?” Disbelief stretched through his voice. “He’s married to my sister!”

Olive’s pivotclearlyhadn’t worked. Win some, lose some, she supposed.

The man’s nostrils flared, and he reached for her arm. “You need to come with me.”

“Now, is that any way to handle a lady?” Olive shrugged out of his grip.

He tried again.

It was time to say goodbye to nice girl Olive.

She drew her arm back and threw her elbow into his face.

As Cowboy Boots barked out a curse and grabbed his nose, Olive swung her legs over Skip’s desk and hopped off the other side.

Work Boots tried to grab her, but she ducked out of his reach. He dove onto the desk instead.

Now Olive just had to get to the door without being caught.