janey rolled her eyes as alex grunted, though his gray eyes were lit with amusement.

"sources close to rogue walker are also well aware of a certain sheriff's late-night visit," he stated, though his gaze turned somber. "has he learned anything yet?"

rogue shook her head as she loosened the buckles to her chaps and slid them from her jeans-clad legs. "nothing that i know of and i've ignored the phone this morning, so the gossip hasn't exactly made it to me yet."

"the gossip we can definitely do without," janey stated, her dark green eyes sparking with anger.

janey had endured enough gossip since her father's death. dayle mackay had been a maggot and his sister, nadine grace, had been even worse. sometimes rogue thought it rather ironic, the friendship she had developed with the other woman, considering her history with janey's father and aunt.

"have you heard anything further?" she watched alex as he lifted janey to her feet, then rose from the chair.

the man was definite eye candy. she got a nice slow look, then arched her brow at janey's frown as her lips twitched in amusement. it was a game. rogue couldn't help it.

alex always just almost blushed, and janey always bristled. rogue laughed.

"i haven't heard anything further," alex growled. "stop trying to embarrass me, rogue.

it's not going to happen."

rogue shrugged. "hey, a girl needs some excitement in her life, ya know."

janey leaned back against the table set close to the wall and arched her brows at rogue's comment. "i guess that's why zeke called alex no more than five minutes before you arrived. to add excitement to your life?"

rogue glared back at her. "yeah. right. if he lets my life get any more exciting, i might not be able to handle it."

"uh-huh," alex murmured. "explains the beard burn under your jaw."

rogue's hand flashed to the incriminating mark, and she felt the heat flood her face.

dammit. she knew she had covered that with makeup.

he laughed in response. "good makeup job, but i watch janey try to hide the marks too damned often not to know what you're hiding there. tell him to shave before he comes around next time."

at that, he dropped a quick kiss on his fiancee's lips and strode from the office as rogue plopped onto the couch facing janey's desk.

"i hate him," she muttered as she flashed janey a mocking glare.

janey laughed as she took a seat beside rogue on the couch. "yeah, he has that effect on people sometimes."

janey tilted her head to look beneath rogue's jaw again as rogue narrowed her eyes and stared back at her broodingly.

"it's just beard burn," rogue muttered. "it will go away soon."

"what is it about the men around here that they just can't get past marking their women?" janey asked then.

rogue snorted. "i've seen the marks you leave on alex, janey. i swear i think you're trying to have him for a midnight snack."

janey's lips pursed with a wicked little smile. "sometimes."

rogue shook her head as a feeling of loss swept through her. she was jealous of her friend. janey had with alex what rogue had only dreamed of having with zeke in the past five years.

why the hell was she so focused on this single man to the point that no other would do?

what was it about zeke mayes and his total reluctance to touch her that kept her dangling on that ever-present string of attraction to him? whatever it was, it was going to have to stop.

"i'm not his woman anyway." she shrugged as she rose from the couch, picked up her pack, and headed for the door that led into the restaurant itself. "according to him, why, little ole me is much too young for his big, bad sheriffy ass. seems he wants more of a woman than it appears i am."

she tossed janey a careless smile, but it hurt. no, it didn't just hurt, it pissed her off. she could have had a dozen lovers in the past five years. she didn't have to sleep alone. she didn't have to drift through the days waiting to see one man above all others.

she wasn't ugly. no one would have to put a bag over her head to fuck her.

rogue jerked open the door and closed it behind her before taking a deep, cleansing breath. she had work to do. three days a week she was the manager, and it just so happened that she had to pick the three hardest days of the week.

that meant she had a lot of work to do. first off was dressing for the role. she moved to the small employee's lounge at the back and the dressing room there. the waiters and waitresses had uniforms, but rogue dressed as she pleased. she dressed to draw attention and send tongues wagging. janey swore that half the clientele showed up just to see what rogue would wear next. tonight, she was in a wild mood. wild, but subtle.

subtle meant everything when it came to a particular mood, she thought with a tight little smile as she pulled the well-pressed clothing from within her pack.

the schoolgirl's checkered skirt was short but demure. it covered her ass. that was modest, but this one actually went a few inches lower and covered the tops of her thighs as well. the pleats were full and, if she turned a certain way, would flare out enticingly.

with it, she wore a see-through white blouse, a shimmering gray camisole, and beneath that, a lacy black bra. stockings and gray stilettos finished the outfit.

an hour later the curls that cascaded around her face were pulled up to the crown of her head and secured with a thin scarf that trailed behind her head. makeup, a quick application of bronze lipstick, and she looked subtly enticing, sexy, and wicked.

and she knew exactly who would see her looking just young, fresh, and eager to be debauched. she almost laughed at the term her mother had once used. that was exactly how she looked, and sheriff zeke mayes just happened to have a reservation for dinner with his son and his aunt, lucinda mayes- downes, his father's sister.

lucinda mayes-downes was no one's fool, and that old woman was as rowdy as any rogue had ever known. shane mayes, zeke's son, was a crackerjack. the kid was going to be a heartbreaker when he was older, if he ever managed to get hold of that penchant to fight at any given opportunity.

she shook her head, took her hands, and mussed her hair invitingly, then pursed her lips and blew a kiss toward the mirror before giving a light, anticipatory laugh and heading out to the dining room. to work.

damn, how had she managed to let janey convince her to actually work?

zeke had a feeling when he met his aunt lucinda and son in the parking lot of the restaurant that the evening wasn't going to go nearly as planned. once a month he was roped into taking his aunt and son out to eat. a family thing, lucinda liked to call it. it was more along the lines of an excuse to drive from louisville where shane was now attending college and staying in her guest room. an excuse to get nosy, to point out the fact that he was only growing older by the day and that it was time to settle down and give shane a brother or sister.

thankfully, shane didn't seem quite so enthusiastic about the brother/sister part. he found quite a bit of amusement in listening to his great-aunt gently berate zeke though.

hell, it if wasn't the mackays driving him crazy with their shenanigans, then it was shane and lucinda. how the hell was a man supposed to consider an affair, let alone a relationship, when his aunt seemed to have an earful of gossip, about him, each time he saw her?

"you're late, zeke." lucinda stepped out of the cherry red mustang she owned, a new one, a bright smile on her face as shane pushed himself from the passenger seat.

his son didn't look happy. evidently his doting aunt had refused to allow him to drive her new baby.

"by five minutes, lucy," he grumbled. "you're lucky i made it at all."

lucinda's smile only brightened. "of course you made it. otherwise i would have had to start making calls, tracking you down, and pulling you out of the arms of whatever little widow you'd found to amuse yourself with. funny, i haven't heard about any widows lately though."

he shot her a warning look. not that lucinda paid much attention to his warnings.

as he neared, she hooked her arm around his, the fine silk of her conservative blue blouse sliding against the cotton shirt he wore. black slacks and conservative pumps completed her outfit.

her once-black hair was now dark silver, styled to frame her face and add a touch of youthfulness to it. her dark brown eyes sparkled with warmth, and a touch of impish mischief. no one could accuse lucinda of hiding her playfulness under a barrel. the woman fairly shouted "good times" with that grin of hers.

"so, nephew, how is your love life?" she asked as he opened the door for her, casted her a baleful glance.

because he was more than aware of the hostess who had glanced up and more than obviously caught his aunt's question.

"it's still none of your business," he told her as shane snorted behind her.

"that's never stopped her, dad," his son told him. "and before you try to lie to her, she's been on the phone for the past two days discussing you with her cronies here in somerset."

"friends, shane," lucinda reminded him with a long-suffering look. "i've told you, they're friends, not cronies."

"children, we're in public," zeke reminded them, ignoring his aunt's pinch to his arm as she restrained her laughter.

"sheriff mayes," rogue's voice slid through the teasing. "it's good to see you and your family again."

god, her voice did things to him. he couldn't describe exactly what it did, but every cell in his body seemed to be drawn to the sound of her. the sight of her.

he nearly swallowed his damned tongue as she stepped from behind the reservation desk and motioned the hostess to her.

"tabitha will take care of you tonight." she smiled back at them.

"tabitha will do no such thing." lucy moved in front of zeke. "young lady, it's been too long since i've seen you. you can take us to our table and say hello to me for a moment." she caught rogue's hands and let her gaze go over the younger woman. hell, zeke couldn't take his eyes off her.

"naughty rogue." lucinda's smile was pure devilry. "that outfit is to die for."

rogue's brows lifted as she accepted lucinda's light kiss to the cheek and held on to her fingers.

"i thought it particularly appropriate, for my age." rogue widened her eyes, and zeke had to give her credit for never looking his way. the woman could deliver a blow with precise, well- aimed precision.

he was thankful he managed to control his wince.

"for your age, huh?" lucinda drawled. "that little hickey you're trying so hard to hide under your jaw doesn't seem near as age appropriate."

zeke's gaze sliced to her jaw. he saw her face flush, and her gaze jerked from his face as lucinda suddenly looked between the two of them. shane gave an odd little choke behind him.

"yes, well," rogue cleared her throat. "more like a bit of beard burn. occupational hazard with some men. i'll show you to your table now."

her smile was a little tighter as she turned from them, but damn, the view was good.

shit, he shouldn't be looking. he jerked his gaze from the rounded globes of her ass beneath that flippy little skirt to his son. only to see shane's eyes trained in the same exact area.

"hey, brat," he growled. "look up."

shane jerked his head up, blushed, and laughed, then to zeke's surprise murmured back, "shave next time."

hell. he should have known better than to think lucinda didn't know where he was last night. no matter the excuse he gave, no matter the reasons why he had been in rogue's apartment, she had turned up with beard burn the next day.