Reinstated Bond by Holley Trent Page A

broke her back was having his other girlfriend allude to Marilyn's supposed
bedroom inadequacies.
    About six weeks past, Marilyn had been in Edenton, walking down
Broad Street toward the hardware store. She was in search a new garden hose
sprayer for her mother, and had paused to study a seasonal display in the craft
store's window, when a ballsy little bitch named Amber Evans yelled from her
parked Jeep: "Hey, Marilyn? Do you know what they say about a woman who
can't ride?"
    Marilyn had stopped in her tracks and turned around to find the
brazen strumpet leaning onto the track of her open Jeep window and resting her
chin atop her folded hands. Amber was smiling sweetly behind her pink lip-gloss
and blinking like a coquette.
    Marilyn sighed and took the bait. "What do they say,
Amber?"
    Amber had sat up and let her smile to spread wider to show off
all of her impressively triangular teeth. "They say if you can't ride, get
off and walk ."
    Marilyn had pulled the little preppy bitch right through her Jeep
window and smashed her onto the ground between the parked cars.
    Before she could do any real damage to the minx, the hardware
store owner ran outside, grabbed Marilyn around the waist, and hustled her
inside the store. "No need to be getting yourself in trouble, Mar. He
ain't worth it. Amber's had her hand in nearly every pair of boxer shorts in
the county, mine excluded."
    And he wasn't worth it. Marilyn knew it. Still, the split had
been so public that everyone in town had taken sides without even knowing what
had preempted the break-up in the first place. It had been because he was
screwing Amber, obviously, which eventually got spun into an accusation Marilyn
hadn't been able to keep up with the insatiable dolt. The opposite had been
true, actually, but she was a nice enough girl she'd kept trying new positions
hoping they'd mitigate his "small stature." Didn't work. It'd been a
year since she'd gotten off, except by her own hands.
    She blew out a breath and zoned back in to the present. After
stepping out of her safe haven, she paused at the perimeter to allow her eyes a
few moments to adjust to the change in light. She heard the clamor of chains
being shifted followed by a long, deep yawn, and stalked off in the direction
of Terry: the three-legged adopted pit bull.
    Terry turned himself around and around into a circle, barking
cheerfully at her approach. She laughed and reached out a hand to scratch the
pitiful beast between the ears. "Ready to go in, guy?"
    His response was a lick of her hand.
    "Why don't you finish that kibble in your bowl? Shit's too
expensive to leave out for squirrels."
    Terry cocked his brindled head to the side and stared.
    "Fine. Let me get the key."
    She let herself into the garage and felt around in the dark
atop the worktables where her father liked to take things apart. He let other
people do the putting-back-together.
    No key. She could have sworn she left it there earlier…when
she'd put Terry outside after lunch so he could keep watch on the yard. He
wasn't much of a guard dog, and really was more of an oversized lap pet, but he
was friendly and liked to bark whenever strangers pulled into the drive. She
had been counting on that. Foolishly.
    "Shit, where is it?"
    "You mean this?" came a deep voice from the door.
    She yipped and wrenched herself around to discover her only
point of egress was blocked by six-feet two inches of buff brawn, cocky smile,
and dark red hair that looked burgundy in the dim light.
    Carter crossed his arms over his broad chest let the key ring
dangle from the fingers of his right hand.
    "Some freakin' guard dog…" she mumbled.
    "Oh, he's just a pussycat with lofty ambitions."
    "You gave him a treat, didn't you?"
    He shrugged. "Why don't you just come along with me and
we'll handle this like civilized folks, Mar."
    She picked up a nearby socket wrench and tossed it in his
direction.
    He dodged it easily.
    "Don't you Mar me, you prick!"
    "You didn't used to mind