Chapter 1 - THE MAN BEHIND THE BOOTH
“You're saying he's rich?”
Lacey Quinn stared at me across the table.
“Nora, Caleb Rowe isn't just rich.”
I lifted my bourbon.
“Does he own the moon?”
“Possibly. But that's not the point.”
“Then what is?”
She leaned forward.
“People are afraid of him.”
I glanced toward the bar's entrance.
The stranger had disappeared into the rainy Louisville night.
“Why?”
Lacey lowered her voice.
“Because he's connected.”
“To what?”
She gave me a look.
“Nora.”
I stared.
Then it clicked.
“Oh.”
“Exactly.”
I looked down at my cocktail napkin.
Ten rules.
Ten requirements.
Ten things I should have demanded from Blake Fenwick before agreeing to marry him.
I folded the napkin carefully.
“Well, at least he gave it back.”
Lacey blinked.
“What?”
“The drunk guy.”
“Nora.”
“What?”
“You just met one of the most dangerous men in Kentucky, and your main concern is your napkin?”
I smiled.
“It's a very important napkin.”
Lacey shook her head.
“You're impossible.”
“That's what Blake said.”
Her smile vanished.
I regretted the joke immediately.
Outside, rain struck the windows.
Inside, someone began playing an old country song.
I stared at the empty booth behind me.
For some reason, I kept remembering Caleb Rowe's voice.
She isn't.
That shouldn't matter.
A man who didn't need to claim me to defend my right to say no.
I looked down at rule number three.
May you like
Then smiled faintly.
Maybe the list wasn't completely ridiculous.
