“He’s my father.”
“Aw, hell.”
Her eyes narrowed.
He looked past her down the long driveway. It was a good hundred yards to the road out front, with twists and turns surrounded by trees and thick brush. The upside was that no one could see his house from the street. That was also the downside. Someone could be parked out front and he’d never know they were there. Until now, that had never bothered him. Now he was thinking he needed a major security upgrade.
“Where’s your Lamborghini?” he asked.
“My what?”
“You’re a Covington. I assume you’ve got a car somewhere, one that costs more than I make in a year.”
“Jealous much?”
“More like aggravated that crime does indeed pay, in your case.”
“You do realize you’re being a judgmental jerk, right? You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you didn’t walk here from Memphis. Did you come alone, or is your father and a group of thugs waiting just out of sight to ambush me for some reason?”
“Ah. That’s what you’re worried about. I’m fresh out of thugs today. And my father doesn’t know I’m in Mystic Lake. I managed to drive here all by myself. My car’s parked on the road out front.”
“So you could sneak up the driveway and surprise me?”
She crossed her arms. “I wanted to check out my surroundings, see what was going on before announcing myself.”
“You wanted to make sure I was alone.” His hand tightened on his pistol grip behind his back.
She rolled her eyes. “Since being placed on administrative leave, you’ve been up here living like a hermit. If someone was actually here with you,thatwould have been a surprise.”
“Who the hell is feeding you information?”
Silence.
He looked down the driveway again, scanning the nearest trees. “If someone is out there playing some kind of shenanigans, planning to jump me…” He pulled the pistol out from behind the door, holding it down by his side but clearly visible. “Don’t expect me to go down without taking a good many of you with me.”
Her dark gaze fell to the gun before looking up again. “No shenanigans. I’m alone. All I want is to talk. Ten minutes of your time.” Then, as if it pained her to say it, she added, “Por favor.”
If it wasn’t for the note of desperation in her voice, he’d have closed the door right then. But that desperation and the intensity of her expression gave her request a ring of truth. Daughters of powerful crime bosses didn’t make a habit of seeking outmembers of law enforcement. There had to be a compelling reason for her to have driven up in the Smoky Mountains, seemingly alone, standing on a police chief’s porch. And the police chief in him was itching to know what that reason was.
Hoping he wasn’t making a huge mistake, he tucked his pistol into the waistband of his pants at the small of his back. “I’ll have to pat you down for weapons before I let you inside.”
Her lips curved in a slow sexy smile, the sly temptress reappearing. “Be as thorough as you’d like, Beau. I promise I won’t resist.”
He ignored her latest come-on and made quick work of ensuring she didn’t have any knives or a gun tucked away somewhere. Even though the contact was quick and as impersonal as possible, his hands practically burned where they touched the generous curves through her clothes. She was dangerous in more ways than one.
When he stepped back, she sighed dramatically, as if disappointed. “Go slower next time. Make it last.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“I doubt you’ll say that when my ten minutes is up.”
“I’ll give you five. The clock’s ticking.” He held open the door.
Chapter Two
Sierra stood on the cabin’s hardwood floor just inside the front door as the police chief locked it behind them, no doubt still suspicious that she was trying to trick him and that her father’s men were waiting outside. She couldn’t fault him for that. No doubt he’d heard only bad things about her family.
