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swollen.
    “Whoa there. Easy.”
    “Sorry.”
    “Did you want to go back to my place?”
    Feeling shy, she tugged her skirt down. “Why?”
    “To talk, or something.”
    “I thought that you…”
    He pressed his finger to her lips. “Don’t read into it. I
just don’t fuck and go.”
    Montana smiled. She’d been wrong about him. He had a tender
side. And she planned to use that to her full advantage. “Sure. Let me find my
panties.”

Chapter Seven
     
    Clint Mitchum tired of pacing and sat down at the kitchen
table. He stared at his half-eaten sandwich and pushed the plate aside, opting
for stale beer. The walls vibrated. A moment later the front door slammed.
    Garvey ambled in and tossed his keys to the counter,
plopping into the chair beside him.
    “Hey pop, can’t sleep?”
    Clint took in the boy’s ever expanding paunch. “Nah, my
mind’s racing.”
    “Cooking up a new scheme?”
    Garvey’s ignorance aggravated him. “No. On account of the
stranger. He’s bad news.”
    “I dunno. Looks harmless enough. Shifty-eyed, though. Least
he’s spending money.”
    Clint pounded his fist. “You got sticks in those ears, boy?
He’s oozing trouble out his armpits. And we don’t want his tainted money.”
    “Oh. Okay.”
    He ran his hand across his face, aware of the extra wrinkles
he’d developed in the last year. “There’s something familiar about him and I don’t
like it.”
    “Familiar how?”
    “If I knew I wouldn’t be sitting here,” he said with
impatience. “My gut’s all tangled, and that only happens when something’s about
to cause me a mess of problems.”
    “Sorry, pop. You gonna finish that sandwich?” Garvey gave him
a hopeful look that ratcheted his anger a notch higher.
    “Shut up, boy. You need to hear what I’m saying. I want you
to get your ass over to Montana’s place in the morning.”
    “What for?”
    “To see if she’s alone. From the way her mother behaved, I
can’t trust her to not be thinking this newcomer’s her meal ticket outta here.”
    “You sayin’ he might be with her?”
    Clint chuckled. “Wipe that green off your face. That whore
can have any man she wants, and she knows it. She’ll sink her nails into this
guy and run off with him. Everyone knows she’s itching to leave, but we need to
make sure that doesn’t happen.”
    “Maybe he ain’t seen her yet.” Garvey reached toward the
sandwich, but Clint knocked his hand out of the way and shoved the plate to the
corner.
    “No man misses the likes of Montana Lee.”
    “What do I do if he’s there?”
    “Beat the shit outta him and then lock him up. We can’t have
strangers sniffin’ around the woman you plan to marry, can we?”
    Garvey scratched his elbow. “Ah hell. She’s always telling
me to get lost.”
    “All women do that. They don’t know what they want. But I’ll
say this, you’ve been nothing but a coward. Letting her tell you what to do.”
    “I’m not a coward.”
    “You’re a damn momma’s boy,” he said. “Quit taking no for an
answer. It’s up to you to make an honest woman out of her. The second she
tastes freedom you’ll never get a second chance.”
    “Dammit, pop.”
    “Act like a man and remind her who’s in control. Women like
to be told what to do. Don’t let her think she’s got your pecker wrapped around
her little finger. Put her in her place.”
    “She’s a tough little thing,” Garvey whined. “Has quite a
mouth on her. I get near her and I’m all tongue-tied.”
    Clint drummed his fingers. “Once you get into her panties, I
guarantee that’ll change.”
    A smile creased the boy’s lips. “Doubt it.”
    “Trust me. The novelty wears off. Sooner than you think.”
    “She’s not like any of the other women here.”
    Clint snorted. “Course not. She’s the daughter of a whore.”
He licked his lips and relaxed into the chair. “Look, sometimes you gotta take
what you want. Otherwise someone will step in and take what’s yours.