Free Relentless by Aliyah Burke Page B

unlocking it with a touch and
placing his bag on the passenger seat. “So, don’t go spittin’ on
it.”
    “Can I touch it?” Randy whined in falsetto.
    “Like I told you in the showers, no. You’ve got
dirty hillbilly finger grime.”
    “Don’t worry,” he said, dragging out his words. “I
won’t use my fingers.” He grabbed his crotch.
    Toby laughed again and slammed his car door. “So,
you’re laying naked on my Audi? That’s the only way it’s going to
touch my car. You forget, I’ve seen your dick; I ain’t
worried.”
    “Fuck you, man.”
    More laughter.
    “You boys causing problems?” The teasing question
came. Toby turned to find a police cruiser idling behind his car. A
blonde leaned out the window, a shit-eating grin on her face.
    “Well, I’ll be damned. Vicki Boshay. Who the hell
gave you a badge?”
    “Mind your tongue, Tobias,” she drawled. “I have no
problem slapping cuffs on you.”
    He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Didn’t we do
that in school?”
    A chorus of “ohhs” came.
    “You know it,” she sassed. A call came over the
radio and, after she responded, she turned back to Toby. “Come see
me before you drive back to the fast life. Good to see you. And,
Tobs, glad you’re home.”
    “I’ll find you,” he promised.
    She headed off. Approaching from down the road
behind that drove a blue Nissan Pathfinder. He recognized the
driver. Mellie.
    “Guys, we’ll catch up tomorrow. Right now, I have
something to do.” He opened his car again and started the powerful
engine. With a wave, he took off, following the SUV.
     
    Melinda drove along the darkened street toward the
town square. She needed to think and that would be one of the best
places to do so. At her parents’, she knew her father would be
waiting for her explanation about her behavior. Her items would be
delivered, and she would not be at their place but a small
one-bedroom on the outskirts of Cottonwood Falls.
    No matter how long she’d been away, the small center
of the town square had always been a favorite of hers. She parked
and opened the door. The mugginess attached to her skin like
suction cups from a cephalopod.
    “Best get used to it,” she muttered, heels clacking
on the sidewalk as she strode to a bench. Not clad in the best
park-sitting attire, she didn’t care. Right now, she needed the
peace.
    She sat and rotated her ankles, running over the
situation. It wasn’t that she’d had to come home. That had been a
niggling thought for a while now.
    No, this was about learning her father had been
diagnosed with cancer. About her putting herself together before
facing them. Before heading to the clinic this evening, she’d had
dinner with a girl she’d gone to school with, Hermione Windsor.
That was the reason for her being dressed up. Normally, she would
have been at the clinic in scrubs.
    Now, all that remained was heading home. The hand
covering her mouth trembled, and she lowered it to her lap. At
work, she had mastered the art of hiding her pain, yet after she
hung up the white jacket and changed, she reverted back to a little
girl petrified of losing her father.
    She pinched the bridge of her nose before sighing
again. “Buck up, Glazer. Can’t spend the night in the town
square.”
    “I can think of a few people who would frown upon
that. Mrs. Traveler, for one.”
    She started at the rich, masculine voice. When his
face registered, she groaned. Why did it have to be him?
    “I’m in no mood to deal with you, Mr. Latner.”
    He didn’t take the hint. Instead, he sat beside her,
leg aligning intimately to hers. Her deep breath imbued her senses
with an intoxicating mixture of sandalwood, patchouli, and a scent
she had no doubt belonged solely to Toby.
    “I’m sorry to hear about your father.”
    She scoffed. “So much so you keep pestering him to
sell?”
    “I am offering him a damn good deal.”
    “Bullshit,” she snapped. “Just because it’s a small
town doesn’t mean