Free Scorch by Dani Collins Page B

that road again. He was her friend . She was allowed to have friends who weren’t women. They weren’t living in nineteen-oh-two.
    “If we know the truth, it doesn’t matter what other people think,” she muttered.
    “Yeah, it does. I need the respect of the crew when lives are on the line. I won’t have it if they think I’m acting like a douchebag, moving in on the captain’s wife.”
    “Because that’s all I am? The captain’s wife? I’m not a grown-up woman capable of deciding if I want to see someone?” She swung her head around to challenge him with a hard stare.
    “You’re not ready to start dating.” Something in the sharp blue of his gaze gave her heart a zing, heightening the intensity of this confrontation.
    “Am I not? Men are such arrogant jackasses sometimes! You don’t know what I feel. Let me tell you what you feel. You’re the one who’s not ready.” Her pulse battered her arteries like an out of control rally car. “You stupid men with your pigeon holes where you’ve filed me as ‘Russ’s widow’ and how dare I be ‘Jacqui.’”
    “Fine. Yeah. We’re not ready. Our job cost you your husband , Jac. We’re all feeling really damned protective of you. Me most of all. I would be really worried about you getting hurt if you started dating right now.”
    “Fine.” She bit out, pronouncing with exaggerated patience. “Concern noted. It doesn’t mean I can’t be seen speaking to you or any other man. It doesn’t mean I can’t move on if I feel like I’m ready. Do you have any idea how tired I am of this town owning my sexuality? You love Russ .” She mocked. “ You’re saving yourself for Russ. When are you going to have Russ’s baby? Now I’m supposed to stay true to Russ even though he’s dead ? Fuck that noise!”
    She gathered her purse and the bottle of wine she’d brought. As she threw herself out of the truck, she muttered, “I should have slept with that guy in Florida.”
    “What?!” Vin’s door slammed even harder than hers, rocking the pickup on its oversized chassis. “ What guy ?”
    “My dad’s neighbor’s son,” she said over her shoulder as she started across the lawn. “He was very romantic. Used a ‘back on the bike’ reference.” Gag .
    “Are you fucking kidding me?” Vin came alongside her in a couple of strides.
    “That is very much my line.” She informed darkly, climbing the steps to Rhonda’s front door. “Are you kidding me, telling me you’ll let me know when I’m ready to see other men? How exactly do you see that unfolding, by the way? The prospect will submit a medical exam, obviously. ” She jabbed the doorbell. “Maybe you should print me a requirement sheet so I know how many pull-ups he has to complete before I can fu—”
    “Hi!” Rhonda pulled open the door and threw her arms around Jacqui, stopping Jacqui’s tirade with a warm, sisterly embrace. “Welcome back!”
    *
    Vin’s head was spinning, but he had to shift gears and accept a brief hug from Russ’s older sister. She had Russ’s smile and red-gold hair and was warm as ever, but seemed to have aged since the accident.
    “Look at you!” Rhonda said as she forced Jacqui to pivot so she could take in her chopped hair.
    “Come on, Jac,” Rhonda’s husband, Cliff, bemoaned as helped her remove her coat. “What am I gonna pull now when I want to get a rise out of you?”
    “My leg?” Jacqui suggested, glancing in the small mirror in the foyer and giving her short strands a quick finger-comb. “Vin says I look like a Japanese anime character first thing in the morning, when it’s standing every which-way, but I like it. Super easy to take care of.”
    She flicked him a snippy look with her reflection. Yes, I know how that sounds. Bite me .
    He met the look without reaction, but she had to know Cliff and Rhonda’s antennae went up as she set that intimate tone.
    Cliff definitely hammered him with an unspoken “what exactly do you think you’re