Sandra Hill - [Jinx 03] by Wild Jinx

ever go over to the island?”
    “Sure. Sometimes during storms, it gets covered by water, but mostly it stays above ground. It’s the natural habitat of a zillion birds and animals. A microcosm of its own.
National Geographic
filmed here one time as a segment of its ‘Hidden Treasures of Nature’ TV special. I’ll take you over sometime this week, if we have time.”
    She nodded, but she did it reluctantly, which really pissed him off. Even when he was being nice, she couldn’t bend a little. “What is it with you and that chip on your shoulder with my name on it? What did I ever do to you?”
    Her face went stiff and closed in, as if she was trying to hide something.
    This was getting weirder and weirder.
    He cocked his head to the side. “Surely, you don’t hold it against me that we did the dirty that one time. It was consensual, babe. I didn’t force you into anything you didn’t want to do.”
    “I never said you did, and I don’t appreciate talking about it, if you don’t mind.”
    “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why don’t you want to talk about it? Are you ashamed?”
    “Of course not. Well, yes, I am. I was never in your league, and I feel foolish that I put myself in that position.”
    “League? What league?”
    “I was invisible to you, before and after the . . . uh, incident.”
    Incident? That’s what they’re calling the deed today?
“What a crock!”
    “Don’t try to say you ever noticed me in high school or in college before that party. And you sure as Satan ignored me afterward.”
    Now we’re getting somewhere.
“I did not ignore you. You walked by me with your nose so high in the air that, if we’d had a rain storm, you would have drowned.”
    “I only ignored you because you ignored me. This is a pointless discussion. You asked me what I have against you. Well, you treat women as sex objects, bouncing from one to the other as if life is a sexual trampoline. You’re too frivolous. You think you’re hot stuff. How’s that for a start?”
    “You do not know me. At all. Yeah, I like women, but my reputation is vastly exaggerated. And I like havin’ a good time. Why not? My life at home was hell, if you must know, an abusive alcoholic father and a clueless mother who cared more about shopping than any bruises on my body. I work hard at a job that provides a service, and I’m a good cop, too, despite your friggin’ article. As for hot stuff . . . ” He shrugged. “Yeah, I am pretty hot.”
    They both glared at each other, then burst out laughing at the same time. He reached over and gave her a quick hug, just to show there were no hard feelings.
    “Come eat,” Tante Lulu yelled from the doorway which was only about three feet from where they were standing.
    Startled, he and Celine jerked apart. The gleam in his aunt’s eye told him that she interpreted the hug as another spark from the thunderbolt. He would have to set her straight later.
    Before they went into the house, he reminded Celine, “I still intend to collect on my payback.”
    She ignored his threat, but he could tell that she knew what he meant. Just in case, he said, “A weekend of hot screaming can’t-get-enough sex at a place of my choice.”
    “Moron,” she muttered. But she was smiling.
    Soon they were all seated at a long, rustic pine table with benches on either side and armed chairs at either end. He made sure he was at the opposite end of the table from Celine, not chancing any further conversation that would give her more ammunition to use against him.
    But he wasn’t the only one with trust issues.
    Despite her best intentions, she glanced at John more times than she should. She didn’t trust the Cajun rogue any more than she would trust that friendly alligator Useless. He was a devil, that’s what he was, just waiting for the opportunity to jab her with his pitchfork, in one way or another. She felt like she was fifteen again, the Plain Jane Geek watching the Cool Guy stroll by, never sure if