Why the hell not? He’d already run into one Walters sibling tonight. Why not toss in another one? Maybe Tucker Walters would show up, too.
Sheriff Hale Walters slowly navigated the room. Several of the waitresses and dancers eyed him and it wasn’t out of trepidation. North guessed it didn’t hurt that the guy had the kind of face women liked. Not that he was any judge, but if the girls who worked at Joe’s—the girls who saw men all day long in every shape, size and flavor—were eyeing him, then he was better than average. He was impressive. Taller than North at several inches over six feet and built like a tank. North recalled that when he was in high school Hale Walters basically was the Sweet Hill football team’s defensive line.
As it became clear that he wasn’t there to break up the fun, the customers relaxed and resumed their catcalls. North kept his gaze fixed on Walters.
Eventually, the sheriff came to stand before him. “Callaghan,” he greeted.
He dropped his head back. Damn, Faith’s brother was a big bastard. “Looking for me?”
“How’d you guess?”
“Well, you found me.” He didn’t even want to consider how the guy tracked him down. He’d either followed him or had an APB out for him. He wouldn’t put such things past him. The man had power and influence. Enough to make North’s life very complicated. He wouldn’t forget that. “Surprised it took you this long. You could have just knocked on my door.”
“I thought it was a good idea for us to have a little talk someplace . . . neutral.” And by neutral he meant someplace where his sister wouldn’t see him hounding North. “I would have come sooner, but I was hoping to convince my sister that she needed to move.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Faith is headstrong. She believes in second chances.” He lowered himself into the chair across from North. “But you and I have been around. We’ve seen the worst that life has to offer. We aren’t so optimistic. Are we?”
North stared long and hard at the man across from him. “You and I have nothing in common. Sheriff.” This last he added with a touch of force, spitting the word off his tongue as though he didn’t like the taste of it. He’d had enough exposure to lawmen to last him the rest of his life. The fact that he now lived next door to the sheriff’s sister was a major point of discontent. He was leading a law-abiding life. He shouldn’t have to deal with the man.
Hale Walters glanced to the stage, where a patron was making an ass of himself attempting to climb the stage to reach one of the dancers. A bouncer emerged to grab him and cart him away.
“We both know men don’t change,” he murmured idly in a voice that belied the tension lining his shoulders. “Not really.” His steely gaze drifted back to North as though waiting for him to reply.
There was no point. For the most part, North didn’t disagree with him.
“Sorry for the wait,” Piper’s sweet feminine voice said breathlessly as she arrived at their table. “We’re slammed. What can I get you, North?” Her dark gaze slid to the sheriff. “And your friend here?” She uttered the word friend in a skeptical manner. She might walk the straight and narrow, but she was a Walsh. North doubted there was a family member of hers that had not seen the inside of a jail.
“Ice water is fine,” Walters said.
Her lips thinned and he could imagine she was calculating a zero tip from him on that order.
“I’ll take a beer. The usual,” North supplied.
Nodding, she gave his shoulder a friendly pat before moving on.
Walters’s gaze didn’t miss the touch. His eyes followed Piper as she moved away. “Cute girl,” he murmured.
North followed the direction of the sheriff’s stare, noticing it followed Piper’s ass until she disappeared behind the bar.
“She’s a good girl.”
“You know her well then.”
North heard the judgment in his voice. “Well enough.”
The sheriff grunted. “Right. Seems like if you have that tasty piece on the line, you can leave my sister alone.”
He smiled without bothering to correct Walters’s assumption that he was banging Piper. This man was determined to think the worst of him and nothing he said would convince him otherwise.
“So we’ve reached the part when you warn me off your sister?” He crossed his arms across his chest. “Does it even matter if I tell you that your concerns are misplaced?”
“No. It wouldn’t matter. I saw the way you looked at her.”
“And how’s that?”
“Like a wolf ready to eat its next meal.” He leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking under his weight. “Only you can forget about that. There are hundreds of girls for you to fuck with.” He stabbed a finger in North’s direction. “So hands off her.”
North shook his head and laughed. The sad thing was . . . he couldn’t even deny wanting her. He did. He had.
“Yeah,” Walters said smugly. “Thought so.”
“We’re just neighbors. That’s all we’ll ever be.” That much was true.