you?”
I nodded. “I haven’t been to my place in town in, gosh, I don’t know. Weeks now, at least. She even comes out to the house to pick up the afghans I’ve done and takes them into town. She’s a huge help. Especially with more orders, helping out Grams and all.”
I took a bite of my buttered roll.
Delicious.
I chewed, swallowed and watched Raiden take a sip from his beer. I liked how his throat worked when he did that, so I decided more conversation was in order so I didn’t obsess about how beautiful his throat was, or more accurately what that throat might taste like.
I just didn’t know what conversation to make.
I wanted to ask what he did for a living, but I was too nervous. It seemed pushy and intrusive, regardless of the fact he asked about my business. I just felt that for a man, and a man like him especially, it was something he needed to share in his way at his time.
I also wanted to ask about something else that had been kind of bugging me since he mentioned it. I didn’t think it was a safer topic, but I did think it was the safer of the two.
Still, I went in cautiously.
“Can I ask you something?”
He put his beer down and trained his eyes to me. “Yeah.”
I put my roll on my bread plate and looked at him. “I’m guessing you know Heather and Bodhi since you mentioned them.”
“Small town and two characters like that don’t go unnoticed,” he replied.
I nodded, thinking his statement was a little weird of the not-good variety, but I pushed myself to keep going.
“If I’m not wrong, you were referring to them when you called them potheads.”
“You’re not wrong because they are potheads,” Raiden responded.
They were.
Still.
“That’s kind of, uh…” I cast my mind for a word, couldn’t find one so I went for it, “mean.”
He leaned into me and wrapped his hand around mine that was sitting on the table.
“Pot is legal in Colorado,” he stated and I tilted my head.
“It is?”
He stared at me a second then grinned. “Yeah, baby, it is.”
God, I liked it when he called me baby.
“Don’t you vote?” he asked.
“Well, yeah,” I answered.
“Straight ticket?” he guessed.
“Well, no,” I told him. “But all the referendums freak me out. I used to try to understand them, then one year I voted for one and found out after that I voted the wrong way because they made the language purposefully confusing so you thought you were voting for one thing and you weren’t. I went back and read and reread it and there was no way I knew what I was voting for. That’s dirty business, so I decided that I should vote only on things I totally understood instead of making another mistake like that because, well, you know, these things affect people’s lives and you shouldn’t screw up something that important. As none of the referendums make a lick of sense to me, I concentrate on the candidates and hope they’ll take care of the referendums.”
“Makes sense. Whacked sense but it makes it,” he murmured.
“What does pot being legal have to do with Bodhi and Heather?” I asked, though I had to admit, this was good news and nice to know why the Sherriff didn’t get into Bodhi’s business.
“I voted against legalizing pot,” Raiden declared, and I got it.
“Oh,” I replied.
“I’m good with live and let live, but shit like that bleeds into bigger shit, and no one needs that.”
“I don’t smoke it, but I know both Bodhi and Heather and they’re really nice people. And I’m not sure something like that bleeds. It’s a personal choice and it isn’t like crystal meth or stuff like that that destroys lives.”
“It is when it bleeds,” he returned.
His eyes were now weirdly sharp, so much so it was uncomfortable, and I squirmed in my chair.
“Okay,” I gave in. “I’m guessing you know more about this than I do.”
“Unfortunately, I do,” Raiden replied.
I bit my lip again, intrigued if a little frightened.
I carefully tugged my hand from his and looked to the corner of the table.
“Hanna,” he called and I turned my gaze to him.
“Bodhi and Heather are my friends,” I told him.
“I know,” he replied.
“Well, I, uh… spend time with them.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Saw you with the guy. Wasn’t hard to read you were tight. And, again, small town. A couple of questions, links you to the girl too.”
Links me to the girl?
What a