Free Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2) by Jennifer Foor

town paper and waited for them to open for the day. While flinging the wad of newspaper on the editor’s desk, I tried my best to keep myself calm. "What the hell is this? Who would print this?"
    "Sheriff, it wasn't me, but you have to understand that this is public information. The people of the town want to know you."
    I leaned over the desk. “My life is none of their damn business!"
    A fter arguing for another twenty minutes, I climbed in my truck and headed straight for the liquor store. Everyone now knew what I was running from. I couldn't hide from it any longer. I would be judged, consoled and harassed about my feelings. Never again could I just live out my days in peace. I wanted to just pack my shit up and leave, if I had to face one single person about my girls.
    I wasn't ready to talk about them; to tell people how I'd taken their life.
    Since the little town paper was usually a freebie to only the town people, I managed to grab as many copies off of lawns as I could. Then I went into the gas station and the grocery store and removed them as well. Sure, the news would travel, but it was still early and I was sure that I had removed at least half of what was out there.
    To free some of the stress that was overwhelming me, I bought two bottles of Jack before heading back to the cabin. I needed to be alone. I wanted to disappear.
     

Chapter 8
    Vessa
    Did I feel bad for making Ramsey think I couldn’t play pool?
    Not really!
    He was hiding something, and even though it was none of my business, I was more intrigued than ever to find out what had made him the way he was.
    We still hadn’t had a real conversation, but I felt like progress was being made. Maybe I was one of those people who thought they could fix people. Obviously, I wasn’t, since my own life had gone to shit. Ramsey was just one of those people that you were dying to know what broke them.
    Since he had been in the night before, I never expected him to stumble into the bar the very next day. I’d only been there for about thirty minutes when I heard the door open and shut. During the day, it was pretty quiet without the jukebox running.
    Right away, I could tell that he’d already been drinking. He barely made it to the edge of the bar before struggling to climb up on a stool. I dropped the rag that I had in my hand and approached him. “What brings you in here this time of day, Sheriff.” He was still in his uniform, which I might add, made him look even sexier than usual.
    This is what drove me crazy the most. I never had met a man that I couldn’t stop looking at. Honestly, I’d never been interested in anyone except Gavin. Technically, I was still married by law, but in my heart I knew my marriage was over.
    “Does it matter? Give me a drink and mind your business, for once!” As the slurred words came out of his mouth, I backed away from where he sat. I could smell the liquor and I knew when it was time for someone to be cut off. Based on the size of Ramsey and how much I had seen him drink before, I knew that this was far from what I had ever seen.
    I poured him a glass of coke and pretended to put Jack in it. When I handed it to him, our hands touched and he kept his over mine for a second.
    Was it a plea for help?
    This man was so hard to read.
    “I’ll just be over there if you need me.” I wasn’t about to argue with someone who was this drunk. Clearly, he shouldn’t be out driving, so the best way to keep him safe was to appease him and keep feeding him soda until he sobered up and realized what a fool he had been for driving in the first place.
    Ramsey was quiet for about a half hour and then out of nowhere, he stood up and started yelling. “ You wouldn’t understand! Nobody can! Do you hear me? Nobody could ever understand!” He was pointing at me, but backing up as he tried to stand still.
    I’d seen many drunk people and even had to call the cops a few times when things got out of hand, but clearly Ramsey was