“Josie, Maddox is a momentary distraction in what will become our life.”
“Our life?”
“He’s a wild oat, something which will complicate our vetting when I run for a higher office.”
“What are you talking about?” Nolan hadn’t let me in on the joke yet, and that’s what it had to be. A joke. A bad nightmare.
“Sell your property to me, rid yourself of the convict, and take the life I’m offering. You know I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
This was getting out of control. I pushed from the table. “Nolan, I’m here to talk about my land.”
“And I’m talking about our future.”
“We have no future!”
I lowered my voice as the waiter crossed behind us. God, since when was Jackson’s this busy on a Thursday night? I avoided the gaze of Mrs. Greentree as she and her husband greeted the server. The gossip would spread about this tonight. I had to get out before word got back to Maddox.
“Do not confuse this for what it is,” I said.
“And what is it?” Nolan folded his hands and held my gaze. “Why should we restrict our interests to your property?”
“Because that is our only common interest.”
“If you give me the chance, I could make a good life for you. Your property is worthless without your candy shop. I’ll rebuild it. Your grandfather’s debts are known to the town. I’ll arrest his bookie and debt holders. His medical bills? Paid. Do you understand what I’m offering you? This isn’t just a property sale.”
I swallowed, hard. “No. You’re buying me.”
“I’m giving you an opportunity.”
“You aren’t that noble. You’re after more than charity.”
Nolan grinned. “Is it a crime to want you?”
“Don’t speak to me like that.”
“Why? Maddox does worse.” His words edged, but it was his fingers that worried me, digging and twisting and ripping the cloth napkin. “Maybe I’ve been chasing you wrong. I’ve been kind, I’ve been logical. But you don’t want those things, do you?”
I leaned away. “You have no idea what I want.”
“Do you like danger? Excitement?”
“Stop it, Nolan.”
“Maybe you’d like to be bent over the table like a filthy whore?”
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that.”
Nolan imagined it, and I couldn’t stop those foul fantasies. The thought rooted in him. If I ever gave him the chance, if I ever trapped myself alone with him…he’d take what he wanted.
“I’m offering this once, Josie,” he said. “If you agree to this sale, everything is yours. I’ll rebuild the shop, take care of Granddad, and give you a life of luxury and fame. I’ll need an honest, beautiful woman on my arm to propel myself into politics. You are that woman. We could be happy.”
“I don’t love you.”
“Maddox can’t give you those things.”
“This isn’t about him.”
“Of course it is! You’re obsessed with that man and can’t see him for the demon he is. It’s time you realize he can’t support you.”
“He’s trying,” I said.
His voice chilled. “And if something should happen? If he returns to jail? If something else—”
“Threaten him once and the negotiations end.”
Nolan leaned back, swirling his wine. “This is my only offer, Josie. I want you. Let me prove myself worthy of you.”
“How?”
“One night.”
I stiffened, and everything inside me turned to ash. “What kind of night?”
“You aren’t that naïve.”
“You aren’t that perverted.”
“I want one night with you in my bed. Then you’ll see we have a connection. We’ll make a deal and begin planning for the future.” Nolan leaned closer, smiling over his wine. “No one will know. I won’t tell Maddox. You won’t tell Delta. It’ll be our little secret.”
Those were the secrets that consumed people, tore them open and bled their conscience dry.
This wasn’t what Granddad wanted for either of us. Losing our property was horrible enough. Losing myself to…letting Nolan…
I couldn’t, but I couldn’t afford not to. I reached for the wine. Nolan grinned.
“How long do I have to decide?” I asked.
“Does it take that much thought? Figure it out before dessert. I plan to eat it off of you.”
My heart thudded, too hard, too fast, too frightened.
“If I refuse…” I whispered. “What happens to Maddox?”
Nolan didn’t answer. His eyes narrowed, and a vein throbbed in his forehead. “Ask him yourself.”
A shadow fell over the table. I didn’t move, didn’t speak. Maddox stalked behind me, ripping a chair from a nearby table to join ours.
I braced for war or, at least, the flash of a blade. But Maddox took the wine list and stared at Nolan.
“What are we having tonight?” he asked. “I heard the steak is good.”
Nolan met his challenge. “I’m surprised you know. No one in your family has ever afforded a meal here. You aren’t good enough to wash the dishes.”
“Fuck washing them.” Maddox seized a bread plate and cracked it on the edge of the table. The restaurant silenced, and he pointed a shard at Nolan before I could stop him. “You got ten seconds to explain what the fuck you’re doing here with my girl.”
Nolan didn’t fear the shattered edge. “She didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
My throat dried, but I couldn’t have spoken louder than a whisper anyway. “I’m selling my property.”
“No, you’re not.” Maddox answered immediately. “Forget the offer. She’s not interested.”
“Granddad got moved to another floor. I don’t have the money.”
“We’ll find a way,” he said.
“Maddox—”
“I said we’ll find a way.” He wasn’t playing. A simmering rage boiled through him, a fury I didn’t recognize. “Let’s go, Sweets. I’m sure Mayor Rhys has better things to do tonight than dine with my woman.”
“Charming,” Nolan smirked. “Very charming.”
“Yeah. My dad always said I got the charisma in the family.”
“The only thing they couldn’t sell for drugs.”
“Believe me.” Maddox hauled me from the chair. “They tried. We’re done here.”
“The offer is good only for tonight, Josie.” Nolan sipped his wine, like he expected that I’d agree to sleep with another man while the one I loved held my hand.
“Sorry for wasting your time.” I counted the last few dollars in my bank account. The number scared me more than Nolan’s intentions. “I’ll find a way.”
“Bake sales with your boyfriend?” He chuckled before his voice turned sour. “For a relationship built on lust and poverty, you promise each other the world. It’s sweet…given your circumstances.”
I tugged on Maddox’s arm. “Come on.”
“Especially after your prison sentence.”
Maddox took the bait even though I begged him to leave. “Josie knows I’m innocent.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
I wasn’t letting this happen. Not here. “Maddox, please.”
“It’s just amazing how easily you’ve forgiven her.”
Maddox scowled. “Forgiven her for what? Josie’s done nothing wrong. She’s the victim.”
Nolan shrugged. “It’s a funny thing, becoming the mayor. I’m privileged with more information than most people in the town.”
Oh god. I wished I had just signed the papers and offered him my body. At least then Nolan couldn’t have threatened me with something worse than his slimy touch.
Nolan captured Maddox’s attention with a veiled warning. “As mayor, I have access to police reports and files. I learned everything about the fire that destroyed Sweet Nibbles.” His gaze fell on me, enjoying how I squirmed, panicked, silently begged him to stop. “Did you know about the anonymous tip called in after the fire? Someone pinned the arson on you, Maddox.” He grinned. “And here’s the thing about anonymous tips. They aren’t so anonymous.”
My heart didn’t break—I no longer had one.
“Do you know where the call came from?” Nolan asked.
Maddox shrugged me off his arm. “Where?”
“Freedom General Hospital. It was a female caller, and she refused to give her name.”
The world crumbled beneath my feet, but I didn’t fall. My lies pinned me, immobile and agonized.
Trapped in Maddox’s pained stare.
“I always wondered if you knew who framed you for starting the fire?” Nolan enjoyed my misery. “And what you’d do to her when you found out.”
Tears rolled over my cheek.
Maddox said nothing. The truth spoke for us both.
I was the caller who slipped the police the tip about the arsonist. I was the one who said it was Maddox that burned down my shop. I was the reason he went to jail.
And he’d never forgive me for it, even if it saved his life.
Chapter Sixteen – Josie