Free Jeannie Watt by A Difficult Woman Page A

work. Only one of those two occupations gave him nightmares, though. Maybe he needed to think about that.
    He blew out a breath. Nothing to think about. He was a cop and he wasn’t going to quit.
    A cup clinked onto the table, followed by a glass. Next came the Pyrex teapot. He glanced up to see not Ginny, but Becky. And she obviously intended to join him. Matt gestured to the opposite side of the booth. Becky smiled and sat, pushing her curls over her shoulder.
    “You on duty?” he asked. She shook her head. She had a lot of hair. Not hair like Tara’s, but bigger, blond hair. But she did smell good.
    He smiled. “Then I guess I don’t have to tip you.”
    “Guess not,” she said as she squeezed his knee under the table. She left her hand there as she stirred her drink with the other. “You never really struck me as a tea drinker.”
    Matt smiled politely at her comment, then put the bag in the cup and poured the water over it.
    “You haven’t been eating here as often.”
    “I’m working,” he said. “Meals come with the job.”
    “She’s a good cook.”
    “Yeah, she is,” Matt agreed, halfway amused at how “she” suddenly came into the conversation without being identified. He figured in a town this size everyone knew everyone’s business.
    He let the tea brew for a minute, then pulled the bag out. He usually only had tea when he visited his mom and stepdad down in Las Vegas, and the smell of the orange pekoe brought back comforting memories—or would have if Becky’s hand had not been inching higher as she leaned forward.
    He put his hand over hers, stopping her progress up his thigh. But he didn’t move her hand away. He just pushed it down closer to his knee and held it there. She raised her eyebrows in a silent question. He shook his head. She pulled her hand away and brought it up to hold her straw as she sipped, then gave him an “oh well” smile. There were obviously no hard feelings.
    “Girlfriend?” she asked.
    He decided it would be better for her ego if he said yes. So he did, neglecting to mention that she was now long gone, driven away by the effects of stress. His stress.
    “Things happen,” she said. “And if they do…”
    Matt smiled broadly. He couldn’t help but appreciate Becky’s honesty. He decided to take advantage of it. “Do you know who drives a white Beemer? Blond guy.”
    “Oh, that would be Ryan Somers.” A look of dawning realization crossed her face. “Did he go to see Tara?” Becky leaned forward as she asked the question, giving him one heck of a view of her assets. “Oh, man,” she whispered even though Matt hadn’t answered. “That would be something to see those two together again.”
    “They were together?”
    Becky wrinkled her nose. “They were, but…”
    Matt waited. Becky stirred her drink and her heavily mascaraed eyes narrowed. “They were together for a while about a year and a half ago…maybe a little less…and everyone was kind of surprised because the Somerses are rich and influential, you know, and the Sullivans…well, Tara’s dad did die in prison. Not exactly the people the Somerses hang with. And Ryan is the nicest guy. Everybody likes him, but Tara—” Becky’s mouth formed a commiserating little smile “—you work for her. You know how she is.”
    Matt kept his face carefully expressionless, hoping for more information. He got his wish.
    “Anyway,” Becky continued as she fiddled with her straw, “Tara is very, very pretty and Ryan always was a sucker for a pretty face. And they were both from Night Sky, living and working in Elko. It was probably natural that they hooked up for a while, but then—” Becky leaned closer again, but thankfully kept her hands off his thighs “—according to Ryan, Tara started getting real possessive. Following him, things like that and he had to end it.” Becky shook her head. “Possessiveness… Not his thing. And then rumor has it he applied for a restraining order against