The O’Connells Books 4 - 6

Chapter 2-2

Way too many choices. She found herself grabbing two jars of marinara sauce, pasta, and what else did he need? Garlic, right. But there was already some in the sauce, so…

“Suzanne, almost didn’t recognize you.”

It was his voice, so deep that it pulled her abruptly from her distraction. She found herself looking over to Harold Waters, in a deputy uniform much like her brother’s, but from the next county over. His blond hair was short and tidy, not something she remembered, but he still had that perpetually pissed-off expression that reminded her how much of an absolute asshole he was. He dragged his gaze over her, and she had to fight the urge to slap him.

“Like what you see?” She inclined her head, holding the basket of groceries and resting her hand on her hip, still in her blue uniform, having not changed since work. His basket was filled with steak, chips, nachos, and milk. She dragged her own gaze up and over him in the same manner. It was then she thought she spotted an edge, something in the pull of his lips, not a smile.

All he did was grunt, taking his time before answering. “You look good,” he said. “Guess I don’t have to ask what you’ve been up to. Thought I heard you joined the fire department.”

She wasn’t sure what to make of the way he’d said it. There was just something about Harold that she’d never been able to figure out. He had a way of giving her everything when he was talking to her.

“Excuse me,” a woman said, and Harold gestured to Suzanne, moving her out of the way as if they were together, barely glancing over. She didn’t miss how buff he had gotten. He was under six feet, but his arms… He looked like he had taken up bench pressing as a new pastime, not that she had any idea what his pastimes were.

“Yup, going on five years now,” Suzanne said. “So are you lost or something, or just slumming in Livingston?”

He didn’t smile. There it was, that heavy gaze, those hazel eyes. He had a square face, a hard, chiseled look, and scars on his face from acne as a kid. To some, it was distracting. But there had always been something about Harold. He didn’t fit the image of a typical pretty boy, didn’t have the natural charisma, wasn’t the total hot package that Toby was, but something about his personality and the way he moved gave him a level of attractiveness that kind of snuck up on her.

“Stopped in to visit my sister and her husband, who live here, after meeting with your brother today. Not slumming, just shopping on my way home,” he said as if setting her straight, another reminder of the way he was.

She wasn’t quite sure what to say to a man she had gone out of her way to avoid seeing for years even though she had known exactly where he was and what he was doing. She was rattled to hear that he had met with Marcus. Why hadn’t her brother said anything? Then again, why would he?

“I see you’re still with the Gallatin County sheriff’s office,” she said. “Still living in Bozeman?”

He said nothing but kept looking at her in that way of his, giving her everything, definitely not the self-centered, surface-level crap she’d become used to. She had to remind herself this was just a ruse. He was a player, too, and she’d never been able to wrap her head around how he’d yanked the rug right out from under her.

“I’m back in Gallatin, but maybe not for long.”

“Back? Did you go somewhere?”

He hadn’t looked away. It was unnerving, not something she was used to, considering Toby was always looking away. “Yeah, took a job down in Oklahoma City, with hate crimes. I’ve been back only a month.”

So that was why she hadn’t run into him. “Wow, I had no idea you were gone. So you’re thinking of leaving again?” she said. What was it about hearing him now? She couldn’t shake this unsettled feeling, considering how things had been left between them.

“Weighing options, is all,” he said. There it was again, something in those hazel eyes—sadness or something else? She didn’t know, considering she really didn’t know him as she’d once thought she did.

“Well, this has been fun,” she said, “but I’ve got a dinner date. I should be going. Great to see you.”

She went to step away, but he pressed his hand to her bare arm, glancing past her and then stepping in closer, really looking at her in a way that made her feel as if he were scrutinizing her, and she didn’t have a clue why. For a second, she thought he was going to say something, but he stepped back and shook his head as if deciding not to. She hated when guys did that. Why did she have this feeling that so much between them had been left unsaid? Too much misunderstanding, betrayal, and uncleared air.

“What?” she said. Even she could hear how sharply it had come out.

“Nothing. Just…you look great, Suzanne. Hope life is treating you well. Stay safe out there,” he said. Then he stepped around her and strode to the end of the aisle.

She took one last look at her basket, sure she had everything, and started to the cash register. She spotted him at the next till over, paying. The cashier laughed at something he said, and he took his plastic bag and turned to where Suzanne was paying for her own groceries. He just nodded at her as he walked on by. It was pure instinct to watch him. He was mysterious, sexy, and at one time, she’d thought he was the one.

“Is that everything?” the cashier said.

Suzanne had to pull her gaze away. “Yes, thank you,” she replied, then tapped her debit card, took the groceries, and walked out of the store, into darkness.

She found herself looking around for a man that she shouldn’t have been paying any attention. Because there was Toby, even if there was no commitment, no depth. What she did know was that tonight, she and Toby needed to have a talk or something to establish exactly which direction they were headed in.