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“I thought we might need a little bit of this to get us through the night,” she said.
Pamela used to be a deputy until she’d gotten hurt in the line of duty seven years back. She’d been in a high-speed chase against some bastard who’d held up the 24-hour gas station on the far side of town. She’d crashed and had sustained a severe crush injury to her right upper leg. They’d said she would likely not walk again, but she’d refused that fate and had fought with everything she had through the surgeries and rehab. She was left with a profound limp on that side, but she was standing.
Another survivor who’d refused to give up.
“I think that might be in order.”
She lifted her chin to the ID in my hand. “Did anything come back?”
“Not a lick.”
Relieved satisfaction brimmed in her expression. “Good. She seems sweet.”
Incredulity huffed from my nose. “Sweet, huh? I thought she might claw my eyes out when I first walked up on her. Nearly scared the pants off her.”
“You wouldn’t have minded that a bit, now, would have you?” Her brown eyes gleamed.
Images flash-fired through my mind before I had the chance to stop them. What that would be like. Seeing her that way. Her body bare, her lips parted, those eyes on me as I touched her.
I clenched my teeth with the dishonor of even thinking it, and on instinct, I fisted my hand with the black band that I still wore around my finger. Unable to remove it. I kept it on as a reminder of how I’d failed.
I swallowed around the rock in my throat and forced myself to give Pamela an unfazed scowl. “You’re going to get yourself into trouble one of these days with those suggestions. How’s it my young deputies know what subjects are off limits, yet you go tossing them around like appropriate work conversation?”
She poured herself a mug of coffee, continuing like she hadn’t even heard the warning, “Don’t act like you didn’t notice she’s a pretty little thing.”
Another stab of guilt, knowing I deserved no pleasure after what I had done.
But it didn’t stop the lust that tied my stomach in a knot when I thought of the little trespasser currently sitting in the cell.
“The only thing I noticed is she might need a leg up,” I corrected because it was the one thing that mattered.
“She might need that, too. Plus, this and a good night’s sleep.” Pamela drew attention to the mug of hot tea she’d made for her.
Pamela might have a whole lot to say about everything, but her heart was gold.
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that,” I told her as I took the mug and went to punch in the code to the holding block. It gave, and I ambled up to the open cell and leaned my shoulder against the doorway as I stared at the woman who was gnawing at the edge of her nail.
Nerves rattling around her.
Anxious and antsy.
Dark-blonde hair threaded with browns a mess and those aqua eyes so wide.
I blinked before I fell into the stupor of it, and I tossed her a casual smile. “Good news, Ms. Ward. You have a clean bill of health.”
Those eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t aware this was a medical examination.”
“Oh, but it is. It’s all about keeping your nose clean.”
She snorted then tipped up her chin, so goddamn pretty it was difficult to keep my breath from hitching. “So, am I free to go or do I need to pay a fine or something? I really was just camping, but I fully learned my lesson. I promise I’ll be a good girl.”
She raised her right hand in a Scout’s honor.
Good girl, my ass.
I got the sense she was playing dirty.
Knowing exactly how to wrap a man around her finger.
Dangerous.
Or maybe I was just the fucking fool who kept taking every word from her mouth as seduction. All the wires running between my body and brain getting crossed.
What I needed to remember was she had been out in that field for a reason, and the whole purpose I’d brought her down here was to offer some help.
“But I’m guessing you weren’t camping because of your love of the great outdoors, but because you didn’t have anywhere else to stay.”
I approached her when she started chewing at the edge of her nail again, her knee bouncing, like the confession might be on the tip of her tongue but she felt compelled to hold it back. The bench creaked with my weight when I sat beside her, and I pushed the mug into her line of vision. “Here.”
Speculation narrowed her gaze as she accepted it. “You aren’t trying to drug me now, are you, Officer Patterson?”
Her brow quirked with the tease, and I scrubbed a palm over my face as I chuckled. “That would be a negative.”
