Alibi (Brantley Walker Off the Books #5) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,9

she hesitated now. It had nothing to do with wanting to listen to Baz’s conversation. Nope, her trepidation had something to do with having been jumped from behind a week ago, knocked unconscious when that prick hit her over the head.

Try as she might, JJ found herself jumping at every sound. It didn’t matter that she was currently living with Baz, staying in his guest room. For the most part, he wasn’t home, which should’ve been the way she preferred it since she was heartbroken that he’d gone and slept with another woman and said woman was claiming to be pregnant with his child. Only, JJ wished he would be there simply so she’d have someone to count on to watch her back.

It was stupid, she knew. The man who’d attacked her was dead. And Dante Greenwood, her ex-boyfriend who had dragged her into his stupid plan, was in rehab for his addiction. The threat had been neutralized, as Brantley would say, so it didn’t make sense for her to be so panicked.

If only she could get her brain to process that.

JJ heard footsteps on the stairs. Immediately, she focused on her computer screen.

“Hey,” Baz greeted, his soft tone telling her he was aware of her current state of jumpiness.

Turning, she offered a smile. “Hey.”

“I was gonna head to the festival. Why don’t you come with me?”

JJ’s gaze immediately slid to the phone in Baz’s hand.

He held it up. “I didn’t invite her.”

“Why not?” she found herself asking before she could stop the words.

Baz sighed. “I’ve already told you. It’s not like that.”

The anger she harbored at Baz threatened to surface, but she swallowed it down, reminding herself it was her fault he’d gotten involved with another woman in the first place. For weeks leading up to that incident, Baz had been making the effort to reconcile with her, but JJ had continued to push him away. Evidently, she’d pushed just hard enough to send him into the arms of another woman. And she was completely to blame.

“Come on,” he said, motioning for her to join him. “Let’s go hang out with the rest of the town. It’s nice outside and we can both use the fresh air.”

JJ knew she should say no. It wasn’t right to lean on Baz, to use him so she didn’t have to be alone. But the truth was, once he left, she would be completely alone until he came back to give her a ride home. Since Reese and Brantley had taken Tesha with them, JJ did not feel comfortable staying in the barn by herself.

“Okay.”

Baz’s surprise lit up his face and it made JJ relax a bit.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Might as well, right?”

His hesitant “right” said he was still processing her agreement to go. “I’ll … uh … wait for you downstairs.”

JJ turned back around, undocked her laptop, and slid it into her bag. She cleaned up the clutter on her desk then got to her feet.

Taking a deep breath, she resigned herself to enjoying a few hours outdoors.

Good thing she’d gotten so good at faking it.

*

Baz remained silent during the drive into town. It wasn’t much different than their morning drive into work. For the past few days, JJ had been riding with him until she received the insurance settlement for her car, which had been destroyed during the explosion that had leveled JJ’s house.

It wasn’t that Baz minded driving with her. In fact, he liked it more than he probably should. Unfortunately, he wasn’t getting the same vibe from JJ, and he completely understood why. Their relationship had started almost from the first day they met. His attraction to her had led him to asking her out, getting shut down. Being one to never give up, Baz had insinuated himself in her life as her friend. And it probably would’ve remained a friendship if JJ hadn’t been harboring the same attraction for him.

Needless to say, they’d acted on that attraction and their friendship had morphed into more. Or so he’d thought. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been on the same page regarding how much more it was, and he’d gone and screwed things up by pushing for her to meet his parents. JJ had panicked, and hoping to bring her back around, Baz had backed off for a little while, committed to eventually winning her back.

Only Baz had fucked everything up on New Year’s. After JJ had gone off to help her ex-boyfriend, Baz had let the liquor do his thinking for him. That resulted