She snorted, an unbecoming sound from such a hot woman. “Fun’s overrated.”
Destin knew an opening when he heard it. “What about lovers, Georgia? Do you have a man in your life? Maybe more than one?”
She yanked her head up and shot him one of her confused scowls again. “More than one? Who has more than one man?” She shook her head, sending her hair dancing. “Nope. No way. I don’t even want one man to fool with. I have enough trouble in my life without having to deal with some man.”
“You don’t mean that.”
She snorted again, then wiped her nose. “Oh, yes, I do.”
She could try and lie to herself, but he’d be damned if he’d let her lie to him. “No, you don’t. And if you give me the chance, I’ll prove it to you.”
She laughed, full and throaty, once again drawing the attention of several men. Destin and Paul leveled hard looks at them, warning them to back off.
“Look, Georgia, I know you’re trying to play it macho right now, but you don’t have to try and fool us.”
“I’m not playing. And it’s not macho when you’re a girl.”
“Point taken. Still, you don’t have to act like you’re tough. Not with us.”
She leaned away from him, scrutinizing him. He’d struck a nerve, throwing her.
“Are you here alone, Georgia?”
Her scrutiny was gone as she whipped her head around, looking for the bartender or a waitress. “Yeah, I’m alone. So what? Can’t a woman get a drink by herself?”
“Sure. But getting drunk alone in a hotel bar? That’s not too smart.” Destin caught Paul’s warning look, telling him to take it down a notch. But he liked straddling the line between teasing and antagonism.
She met his gaze, rebellion in her blue, alcohol-clouded eyes. “Do you need me to prove how tough I am?”
He’d seen pain before and he saw it even clearer now. Whatever had gone wrong, whatever she’d experienced, was eating her up inside.
“Never mind Destin. That didn’t come out right. He’s not challenging you.” Paul rested his forearms on the table. “Georgia, listen up and really give this some thought. Sometimes people who are in powerful positions, like for instance, a police officer, need to give that power up every so often. It’s like a release valve. You’ve got to unscrew it and let things out. Either that or you’ll break and blow sky-high.”
She tunneled her fingers through her hair. Although the lights were dim, Destin could see the blue-black streaks in the shiny, black mane. He could easily imagine the feel of its silkiness against his palm.
“I won’t break. No matter what.” She let out a sigh that had the weight of the world in it. “Why don’t you go away and leave me alone?”
“We can’t do that. Especially after you came here to see us.” Destin skimmed a finger along her arm and felt her tremble.
“That’s horse shit, too.”
“Nope. What’s the line from that old movie? Something about ‘out of all the gin joints in the world’? Yeah, you came into this hotel bar because you remembered Paul telling you where we were staying.”
She scowled, but he could see the truth written all over her face. “It’s a bar. I wanted a drink. Enough said. Now get the hell out and let me drink in peace.”
“Sorry, but we can’t do that. We can’t leave you in the state you’re in.” Paul eased back, giving her room. “Do you want to tell us about it?”
“Tell you about what?” She glared at him. Her staunch refusal darkened her mood even more. Then, all at once, fresh pain flashed across her face, yet it was still unable to mar her beauty. The pain was gone as quickly as it had come. “Fuck off. It’s none of your damn business.”
“You’re drinking to forget. And whatever’s making you do that has got to be bad. Real bad.” It was Destin’s turn to be on the receiving end of her glower. “Trust us, Georgia. We’re really good listeners.”
“Why do you care? I’m just a cop that gave you a ticket.” She pointed a finger at his face, close enough that she touched the end of his nose. “We aren’t friends and we’re not going to be friends. So fuck off before I have you arrested.”
“Actually, you only gave us a warning to get our brake light fixed.” Destin grinned and gave her a quick salute like a soldier following orders. He ignored her remarks about not being friends. “Which we told the rental company about, by the way.”
“Good.” She slumped in her seat. “At least I know you can follow orders.”