She’d been his mother first.

“That fucking sucks,’’ I whispered.

“Were you happy with him?”

I sighed, wishing I’d never gotten out of bed that morning. It was too much. All of it.

“At first, maybe. He didn’t get bad until after we’d been married for close to a year. He’s got a lot of pain—the nerve damage makes it almost constant. He was drinking more and more, and he burns through pain pills like you wouldn’t believe. Then he started gambling and things got ugly. His parents spent more than six hundred thousand bucks bailing him out that I know of. Like I said, they’ve finally cut him off.”

“You never answered my question—did he hurt you?”

“He never hit me. My lawyer tells me he was verbally abusive, whatever that means. All I know is that I was dying inside. I’m not ready to be dead.”

We stared at each other, then he reached out to wipe something off my cheek. A tear. I hadn’t even realized I was crying.

“I want you, Darce,” he said, his words more intense than anything I’d ever heard in my life. “I never stopped wanting you. Not for one day. You’ve been in my blood since we were kids.”

Swallowing, I closed my eyes, desperate to carve out enough space to think. This was huge, all of it. Him still wanting me, learning that Renee had set me up.

That hurt. I’d trusted her.

I guess there wasn’t much I wouldn’t put past the Evans family. There was a reason I hadn’t asked for anything in the divorce—their money didn’t just come with strings.

It came with chains.

“I’m not ready for a relationship yet,” I said, looking at him again. “For the first time in my life, I’m free. I’m not sure I can give that up again.”

Boonie’s eyes darkened.

“Give me a chance,” he said softly. “That’s all I’m asking.”

“I’ll think about it.”

I spent the rest of the day obsessing about our talk. Part of me wanted to call Farell’s mom and confront her—she’d been my ally, my savior, even my friend for so long now.

I couldn’t believe she’d done this to me.

Of course, she probably thought she’d been doing me a favor. In her mind, I was a poor girl who’d done well for herself, marrying into one of the most prominent families in the valley. I knew better than that now.

You can’t buy happiness.

By that evening I was tired of thinking, so a night partying with Kelly and her friends sounded perfect. I didn’t know the girls that well, but we’d gone out a few times and they were all fun and nice. Not only that, there was a huge car show going on downtown. Thousands of people were flooding the streets to see the hot rods on parade, which meant lots of good music, cheap booze, and dancing in my future. So what if Boonie confused me? That didn’t mean I shouldn’t go out and have fun.

Tomorrow was soon enough to figure him out.

Popping a beer, I pulled on a short skirt and a sexy thong/bra combo I’d bought for myself to celebrate the divorce. I finished it off with a low-cut top that showed off my shoulders, and cute sandals. My hair was long and free, my makeup was just this side of slutty, and I was ready for action.

Unfortunately, it was still two hours before I was supposed to meet my friends. I decided to go down early, finding a spot on Sherman Avenue to sit on the curb and watch the cars drive by. All around me little children jumped and squealed, their parents drinking beer and arguing about whether Ford or Chevy should rule the world.

Time passed as the kids disappeared and younger people started filling the bars. It felt good to be out. Farell didn’t like being around people after his accident, so it seemed like we always ended up staying home.

The Ironhorse had a live band for the night, and they’d opened up their big sliding glass doors onto the street, creating a beer garden outside. Kelly was already there when I came in, along with her friend Cherise. I knew there were more girls on the way, but they weren’t going to join us until later. We did a round of shots before hitting the dance floor. By midnight I couldn’t remember why the hell I’d ever considered staying home.

“I need water!” I yelled in Kelly’s ear, lurching toward the bar. We had a table staked out in the back corner, but flagging down a waitress was next to impossible.

“Grab a pitcher for the table!” she replied, turning back to the dance floor. I wound my way through the crowds of people, trying not to fall on my face. I’d lost track of how many shots we’d done. More than a lot, but not too many. Yet. I giggled at the thought—when was the last time I went out and just let myself go?

The bar was slammed, of course. Not exactly a huge surprise, but I didn’t mind waiting my turn. I could use the break. Even though I was in good shape, all that dancing left me out of breath and covered in sweat. I probably looked like hell, but that didn’t matter—I wasn’t here to find a man.

Fuck romance. Being single kicked ass.

I should tell that to Boonie, I decided. He might be hot and have a nice dick, but I wasn’t going to let any man tie me down. Ha!

“Can I buy you a drink?” asked a guy next to me, and I turned to look at him. He was cute—probably around my age or a little older, with a shock of dark black hair and green eyes. He was all frat boy, coated in a thick layer of Abercrombie and Fitch. Kelly would be all over him.

I opened my mouth to tell him I was married, then snapped it shut again because I wasn’t married anymore!

Holy crap, that was awesome. Suddenly I grinned at him like an idiot, leaning toward him to say, “No, but thanks for asking.”

I turned away to find the bartender smirking at our little exchange, and shrugged my shoulders in a “whatcha gonna do?” kind of move.

“Can I get a pitcher of water?”

“And a round of kamikazes,” a deep voice said behind me. I froze as big arms reached down to grasp the bar on either side of me.

Boonie?

I could see his reflection in the mirror behind the bartender. He stepped closer, crowding and covering me with his powerful body. Then he leaned down, smoothing aside my hair to speak directly in my ear.

“That guy sitting next to you looks like he wants to eat you,” he said. “You give him anything that should be mine?”

I stiffened, refusing to reply as the bartender set a tray of shots in front of us. Then I reached into a pocket to pay for them, because like I said—I buy my own drinks.

Boonie wrapped an arm around my waist, trapping my hand as he handed the bartender a wad of bills.

“I ordered the fuckin’ shots,” he rumbled in my ear. “What’s got your panties in a knot?’’

I smelled alcohol on his breath and I wondered who he’d been drinking with. Was it a woman? I turned in his arms to frown at him.

“I’ve decided to stay single for the rest of my life,” I announced grandly. “I don’t care how good you are at sex—I’m not interested.”

Boonie gave a shit-eating grin as he tipped the bartender.

“So you think I’m good at sex?’’

“Don’t be a dumbass,” I said, rolling my eyes. Uh oh. That made me dizzy. I caught his arm and steadied myself, wondering what I’d been planning to say.

“Where’s your table?’’ he asked. I glared at him.

“It’s full,” I declared. “We don’t have room for you.”

“You can sit on my lap.”

He wasn’t kidding about sitting on his lap. Kelly and the others squealed with excitement when they saw the tray of kamikazes, and they squealed harder when five big men wearing Silver Bastard and Reapers MC colors came to join us.

“You know,” Kelly slurred, leaning toward Boonie. “I didn’t like you very much this afternoon—even wished I hadn’t told you where to find us. I’m really glad I did.”

I turned on her.

“You’re responsible for this?” I demanded. “I thought you were on my team!”

“I’m sorry! It was before you took him back with you—remember I said I was trying for his phone number? And he bought us shots. He’s a good guy.”