“Nah,” Jimmy Ray said, stood up and held out his hand. He hauled me to my feet. “I know as much as you do.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” I ducked my head to try and catch his eyes, his face averted from mine. Jimmy Ray who used eye contact as a kind of weapon, for seduction, for intimidation. He was a man who knew the power of his gaze. I knew it meant something that he wouldn’t look at me now.

He turned away from me, limping a little from the knee to the groin earlier. Which, I admit, gave me a twinge of satisfaction. “You know what I always liked best about you?”

I thought back to the compliments he’d given me over the years. “My legs?”

He did look at me then, over his shoulder, eyes sliding from my hips to my bare ankles. “Always did love your legs. They still look damn good.” He smirked. “They’d look even better wrapped around my waist.”

I was suddenly aware of my nakedness, how one quick yank would send my towel flying. A surge of excitement followed the thought, chased immediately by a flush of shame. What was wrong with me that a man like Jimmy Ray made my body react so easily, heat in my belly and wetness between my legs with only a few words? Especially when that same body knew the pain he could inflict? I took a step backward, away from him.

“If not my legs, then what?” I tried to keep my voice brisk and businesslike, but I heard the huskiness in my tone. Jimmy Ray heard it, too, if the way his smirk had turned into a full-on grin was any indication.

He threw me a wink to let me know I wasn’t getting away with anything, and then his expression turned serious. “I liked how smart you are. All the other girls I’ve dated”—he tapped his temple—“not much in the way of candlepower.”

“I thought you liked it that way,” I said. “Less chance they’ll argue with you.”

Jimmy Ray’s hand swiped through the air, swatting away my words. “Pay attention to what I’m saying. You’re smart, Eve. You’ve got stuff going on upstairs. It made you a pain in the ass to deal with a lot of the time, but you were never boring. I’ll give you that.”

I thought Jimmy Ray’s attempt at a compliment was probably bullshit, had more than a sneaking suspicion that he’d called me a dumb-ass cunt a hundred times behind my back. I tightened my hands on the top of my towel. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it’s all right there.” He poked his temple again. “You can figure this out.”

“What if I’m not as smart as you think?”

“You are,” Jimmy Ray said. “But maybe you’re focusing on the wrong things.”

“You mean Matt?”

“I mean there’s only a few reasons people kill each other.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “Sex, money, or pure rage.”