Free Till I Kissed You by Laura Trentham

last time. “The man I saw wasn’t as lean. He was built more like Sawyer. Plus, he led with his shoulders. You lead with your hips with a long stride. See?”
    She made the walk across the floor in front of them. Her shoulders were back, her hips swinging, but when she turned, she walked with her shoulders forward, faster and with less hip swing. “I learned all about the mechanics of walking during pageant training. I used to lead with my shoulders too, but Mother made me practice until I led with my hips like a supermodel. Since then I’ve always noticed people’s walks. And you don’t move like the man I saw.”
    â€œSounds like if things go to hell here, you could move to New York and take up modeling with your pretty face and perfect catwalk.” Sawyer tried to tease some trust back into Jeremy’s eyes.
    At twenty-two, Jeremy was like an abused dog, mistrustful and ready to bite any hand whether it offered help or not. Sawyer hadn’t gotten the entire story from their new addition yet, but he’d had a rough start in Alabama, and he knew the boy blamed himself for most of his misfortune. It meant that any bad luck that fell his way took on an air of inevitability, as if he was receiving what he deserved.
    Cade harrumphed and picked up his wrench. “An anonymous tip can’t stick. You’re new to town and an easy mark. I’ll let it be known that if people mess with you, they’re also tangling with the Fournette brothers.”
    Sawyer and Cade might fight like two polecats trapped in a sack, but when it came down to it, they had each other’s backs. Always had. Cade lifted his fist, and Sawyer gave him a bump with his. “Hells yeah.”
    â€œI’d best be going before the testosterone man-love smothers me.”
    Although he sensed an eye-roll, amusement lightened her voice. She was already halfway to the door when he caught her arm. “You going to be at your shop later?”
    â€œProbably. Got a big job to prepare for tomorrow.”
    â€œI want to stop by and see those letters.”
    She nodded and he let her go.
    â€œHey, let me see that pageant walk again.” He didn’t even know why he said it except to watch her backside shimmy.
    Her smile was saccharine, and her hand went to her hip. She walked waving her other hand in a parody of a beauty queen during a parade. On the way out, she kicked a heel up behind her and tossed a wink over her shoulder. He threw his head back and laughed. Something hard popped him on his upper arm.
    â€œWhat the flip is going on?” Cade pointed to the door and tapped Sawyer’s chest none too gently with a wrench.
    â€œWhat?”
    Cade mocked Sawyer’s laugh with a simpering one of his own. All humor wiped clean in an instant, he jabbed the wrench at Sawyer’s chest. “That woman damn near destroyed you.”
    â€œI know, but…” Sawyer scratched his beard and looked to the ceiling.
    He’d never told Cade the entirety of what went down between him and Regan. Whether it was pride or shame or pain that kept the truth bottled up inside, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was he’d never gotten the chance to fully explain himself to Regan, and she’s the one who’d deserved the truth. But she’d cut him out of her life and her heart with the precision of a scalpel. The trust and love he’d thought they’d built together like an impregnable stone wall shattered like glass.
    While he’d humbled himself and begged her to listen, she’d wiped him out of her life like he was the Louisiana scum her mama had always accused him of being. Granted, what she’d walked in on had looked bad, astronomically bad, but things weren’t always as they appeared.
    Sawyer sighed and braced his feet apart. “Look, if I want our festival to go off without a hitch, then I need whoever is trying to sabotage both festivals caught. Regan has the