“Baby, I don’t blame you for being upset.”
The Mud Lilies had done some crazy shit over the years . . . but this crossed the line.
“Let’s go back to the house and figure out—”
“No. I can’t be around GG right now. She’ll know something is wrong.” Her eyes narrowed. “Promise me that you won’t tell her any of this.”
“Jade—”
“Promise me that you won’t bring any of this up with her at all.”
“Fine. I promise.” This was so fucked. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “So now what? You’ll just stay out here and dig holes until dark?”
“Probably.” Jade made a growling sound. “And I’m really mad that this—no, that they—ruined our plans for a whole night of hot sexy times.”
What? Fuck that. “Jade. We can’t let them—”
“Too late, Tobin.” She held up her gloved hand. “I’m feeling a little ragey and a lot stabby, if you haven’t noticed. And even when I’m not mad at you, I will take it out on you.”
“I’m a big guy, tiger. I can take whatever you dish out.” He had an image of her completely wild. Her silken hair a tangled mess as she rode him. Her teeth at his throat. Her fingers digging into his chest, his ass, his shoulders, the tops of his thighs . . .
“Omigod. Seriously? Lose the hard-on, buddy.”
His gaze reconnected with her face, but Jade was eying his groin. “You’re backing out of our plans for tonight?”
“Yes. First of all, I don’t want to leave GG alone. You saw her. She knows something is up, doesn’t she?”
He nodded reluctantly.
“We’ve waited this long. I want the focus to be completely on us. No distractions. No interruptions.”
“All right.”
“Can you set it up for tomorrow night?”
“No. I’m goin’ to a bull sale in Nebraska with Abe Lawson tomorrow at noon. It’s an overnight trip. I won’t be back until the next day.”
“This sucks.”
The anger he’d kept in check rushed through him. “We’ll talk more after I set some things straight.”
“With GG? But you promised you wouldn’t say anything!”
“To your grandma. But I made no such promise about the rest of them. And this shit? Not gonna fly with me, Jade.”
“But—”
“It’s wrong, they know it’s wrong and I have a personal stake in it because it affects you.”
Tobin figured the ladies would reconvene at Tilda’s house since it was closest to Garnet’s. To retain the element of surprise, he parked his truck on the road and hoofed it up the driveway.
He knocked loudly on the screen door and then stood off to the side. Polite behavior was too ingrained for Tilda not to answer, but he sure as hell wasn’t giving her a chance to slam the damn door in his face.
When she said, “Who’s there?” and he stepped into view, she yelled, “Run, ladies, we’re busted!”
But it was too late; Tobin barreled into the dining room. He said, “Nobody move.” Since Vivien and Bernice were already up and out of their chairs, he pointed at them and said, “Park it.”
“Tobin. What a nice surprise,” Miz Maybelle said with wide-eyed innocence. “Could I get you something to—”
“Nice try, Miz Maybelle, but you sit back down.” He motioned to Tilda. “You too. And that had better not be a damn Taser behind your back, Pearl,” he warned. “You do not want to piss me off any more than I am right now. All of you. Hands on the table.”
Pearl sighed. Her Taser hit the wood table with a clunk.
Bernice followed suit by dropping a pair of scissors that had been fashioned into a shiv.
Vivien’s small-caliber Walther pistol gleamed as she set it down.
Tilda’s pocketknife made a slow spin.
Miz Maybelle was the last one to show her hand, which contained . . . another Taser.
“Is that it? Or do I need to frisk the rest of you for firearms too?” Tobin demanded.
“We all have permits to carry concealed,” Pearl sniffed, “so I don’t suggest you try it. You won’t like what you find.”
Jesus.
“Fine. I will cut to the chase. What in the hell were you thinking forcing Garnet’s granddaughter, who is a guest in her home, to take a lie detector test today? A test which you conducted without Garnet’s knowledge and for all intents and purposes without Jade’s consent?”
They all exchanged looks, as if they were asking each other . . . How do we play this?
“Huh-uh. You look at me. Not each other. Because you all knew what you were doin’ today was wrong, yet you did it anyway, so don’t give me any bullshit crocodile tears.” He slammed his hands on the table. “But Jade’s tears were very real.”