Shut Up and Kiss Me Read Free Page A

to a new level. A little more sweet talk, and one dance, and then I’ll cough up Sky’s address. Bo’s words bounced through her head like a Ping-Pong ball with spikes. Sort of like how the man danced. She’d have sweet-talked himuntil the cows came home hungover, but that dance would haunt her. And not in a good way. Who knew disco wasn’t dead?
    Shala stepped out of her car. The hot night clung to her skin. A hope of sweet-talking her camera from Sky Gomez flitted through her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. Something told her he didn’t like women. Or maybe it was just blonde, blue-eyed, all-American chicks ogling his loincloth. Fate wouldn’t create a man that drop-dead gorgeous and make him gay, would it? Oh, yes, fate would.
    Not that she thought Sky Gomez was gay. Or cared. And him liking her or not liking her? That didn’t matter, either. She had one objective: getting her camera.
    Stiffening her spine, prepared for this to get ugly, she hugged her bag. If she had to call in the cops, she would. She’d lost her patience back on the dance floor when Bo had flung her between his legs.
    Taking a deep breath, checking her bag for her can of Mace, she walked up to the dark front porch. One deep breath later, she knocked. When no one answered, she knocked again. “Please be home,” she muttered, rapping her knuckles against the thick wooden door a third time. “Damn it, I had better not have discoed for nothing. Be home.”
    “I’m home.”
    Shala jumped and bumped her head against the doorframe. The voice had come from the right, the dark side of the porch, and she aimed her gaze that way.
    “Bo must have given you terrible directions,” the voice continued. “It took you twice as long to get here as it should have.”
    “Bo told you I was coming?” She squinted into the darkness, only to make out the shape of a man sitting on a porch swing. A very nice shape that she hoped wore more clothes than earlier.
    “I’ve been answering calls about you all night. JamesStone’s son at the ticket gate. Moonshine, Cougar, Wolf, and finally Redfoot. Redfoot had nice things to say about you.”
    She knew she’d liked Redfoot best. “Look, I want—”
    “You managed to meet the entire tribal council tonight. Congratulations.”
    “Look, I’m here—”
    “Tommy Crow called while flipping burgers and said some hot chick was looking for me. Evie, at Walgreens, told me to be nice to you. Harvey at the Shop and Go said you sounded desperate—and you must have been, to actually walk into the Funky Chicken. Most weekenders stay clear of that place.”
    “I wouldn’t know why,” she sassed. But she wasn’t here to discuss tourism. “I’m not here to—”
    “Eduardo, the bartender, said he turned down your bribe. But you lucked out when you found Bo. There’s nothing Bo wouldn’t do for a beer and a dance. Bo said—”
    “I’m not interested in what Bo said, Mr. Gomez. I get the point. Everyone in town is loyal to you.” Which meant they either liked him or feared him. She touched her purse and felt for her Mace.
    A growl echoed from behind the swing. Shala saw two big dogs stretched out behind her camera thief. She stepped back, having reached her limit of humping for the day. Between the dog and then Bo—
    “Don’t worry, you’re safe,” Sky said.
    “From the dogs or you?”
    “Both.” He patted the porch swing. “Have a seat.”
    “I’d rather stand.” Silence rang out. She noticed he wore jeans and a button-down shirt. “You know, it would have been easier if you’d just agreed to talk to me.” A hell of a lot easier if he just hadn’t taken her camera in the first place.
    “Easier for whom?” He shifted. The porch swing creaked, then was drowned out by the intimate silence.
    “For both of us. I wouldn’t have had to run all overtown, trying to bribe people. And you wouldn’t have had to be disturbed with calls.”
    He crossed his arms over his chest. The pose made him