Page 20 of The SEAL and the Sheriff

But somehow it wasn’t landing the way it was supposed to.

She’d laughed twice in there. Properly laughed. Walter’s terrible jokes had never pulled that sound from her. And she’d spent an embarrassing stretch of the meal trying not to be distracted by his hands. Strong, calloused, a thin scar tracking one knuckle. Hands that looked like they knew exactly what they were doing, with anything they touched.

She cleared her throat, aimed her voice at something professional, and reached for the one thing guaranteed to put both of them back where they belonged.

“So,” she said, once they’d cleared the diner’s window and the chance of Louisa reading lips through the glass. “Cord.”

He shifted gears beside her—a small change in his breathing, his shoulders dropping into something more deliberate. Good. That was the version of him she knew how to handle.

“What about him?”

“This isn’t just another fugitive to you. I got that much back at the cannery.” She kept her eyes forward, her breath fogging in front of her. “So why’s this one different?”

The quiet stretched out too long.

“Because I should’ve caught him the first time.”

Sarah glanced over. Something had slipped. She wasn’t looking at the marshal anymore. “The first time?”

For a second, she thought he might answer. Then whatever had surfaced disappeared again.

“Forget it.” His mouth firmed.

“Hudson—”

“I said forget it.”

He looked away from her, his breath clouding the air.

“Sarah!” Ryder crossed the lot toward them, Ellie’s mittened hand engulfed in his. She ran to keep pace with her dad’s longer stride, blonde pigtails escaping a hat with a wobbly pink pom-pom.

“Tantie!” Ellie broke free the second they were close enough and launched herself at Sarah’s legs with full-body commitment.

Sarah caught her and swung her up onto one hip.

“Hey, bug.” She pressed a kiss to the cold pink curve of Ellie’s cheek. “You being good for Daddy?”

Ellie wriggled one mitten free and produced a stuffed whale from inside her coat. Bright blue and visibly over-loved.

Sarah smiled. “Who’s this?”

Ellie looked horrified. “Blubbs.”

“Hello, Blubbs.” Sarah shook a flipper.

Ryder shook his head, hands on hips. “Blubbs has been introduced to everyone in town.”

Ellie hugged the whale. “Blubbs likes marsha-mallows.”

Ryder made a sound that suggested this information had been delivered to him many, many times. “Blubbs does not need marshmallows.”

Ellie hugged Blubbs tighter. “Me going for hot choc-lit. Marsha-mallows.”

“Wow. Marshmallows. Sounds delicious.”

“Tantie, marsha-mallows?”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Auntie Sarah can’t today. I’m busy with work.”