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“Hey.” He took her hand and pulled her back to him when she tried to walk away. “It’s okay. I did agree. I don’t like being your dirty secret, but I get it.”
Was that how she was making him feel, that she was ashamed of him?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tristan did get it, but she didn’t. He would never stand for anyone disrespecting her. What she didn’t understand about the people of Marsville, they wouldn’t turn on her without a damn good reason. Dating him wouldn’t have people talking about her.
He’d thought a lot about how to walk the minefield that was Skye Morgan. One wrong move, and he’d be relegated back to adversary status. The only way forward was slow and easy. Baby steps. Much like taming a wild animal, although he doubted she’d appreciate the analogy.
So, he’d abide by her conditions for a while, but he intended to ease her in to being seen with him. Supposed business dinners, lunch at the Kitchen once or twice a week, whatever else he could think of that would let her feel comfortable being seen with him.
The question he’d asked himself and still didn’t have an answer: Why her? Why was he so determined to have her in his life? Oh, he knew they had chemistry, but it was deeper than that. There had been chemistry with women before her, and he had enjoyed their company, but there hadn’t been this burning need to make them his, to belong to them.
All it had taken for him to fall hard had been one night with her. Even then, deep in his soul, he’d known she was the one. Not that he’d recognized it that night, especially believing she was passing through town. But he had known. Then, when she reappeared a month later, the new sheriff in town, his damn heart had landed at her feet without asking his permission.
And she had stomped on it. Sometimes gleefully.
For a year she’d given him a cold shoulder because of a night when they didn’t know who each other was. Yet he kept coming back for more, a glutton for punishment, her distain better than nothing. If he’d understood the reason for her attitude toward him, the thing she feared the most, he would have done things differently.
He handed her another box. “Let’s get this finished, then we’ll go home, have some dinner. How’s pizza and a beer sound?”
“Perfect. I just realized Fuzz isn’t with you.”
“He doesn’t like the smell of smoke, so I dropped him off at home.”
“Can’t say I blame him.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her about her ex, if she’d considered the man might be responsible for setting her apartment on fire and the phone calls. He decided to hold off until after pizza and beer when she was more relaxed.
Once the boxes were loaded in their cars, he followed her home while keeping an eye on the rearview mirror. No one seemed to be tailing them. That was good. When they reached the house, he drove past her and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to the end of their property, stopping in front of the barn.
“You have a barn?” she said when they were both out of their cars.
“I’m impressed with your observation skills, Sheriff.”
She punched his arm. “Smartass. Why are we here?”
“You can store your kitchen boxes here until you find a place to live.”
“I was going to rent one of those mini storage units.”
“No need when you have a big barn available.”
“Thank you,” she quietly said.
“That was hard, wasn’t it?” Sometimes, he just wanted to shake her. “It’s okay to accept help, Skye. It doesn’t make you weak.”
“Feels like it does.”
“You would be wrong. The faster we get these boxes unloaded, the faster we get that pizza and beer I promised you.”
It was going to take every bit of the patience he could muster to get her to the point where she admitted she wanted him in her life as more than her secret friend with benefits, and he was getting a little weary of trying.
Skye was in the shower, and his imagination was running wild. Water would be glistening on skin the color of pale honey, the drops drifting down her shoulders and over her breasts. Her long hair would be wet ropes hugging her back, her...
It was damn uncomfortable in his pants. He thought about joining her, standing with her under the water, his hands on her slick, soapy body. Would she welcome him? He stared at the closed door to his bathroom. Maybe she would, but maybe she wouldn’t, so he didn’t.
To get his mind off the beautiful and naked woman in his shower, he grabbed clean underwear and his sleep pants, then went upstairs and used Kade’s bathroom to take a quick shower. That done, he headed to the kitchen to put the pizza in the oven. Because he and Parker sometimes had to eat on the run or arrived home late and hungry, they kept pizzas stocked in the freezer. They stored them by slices to make it easy to grab one or two for the microwave if they were in a hurry. Not sure how hungry Skye was, he got six assorted slices. He could eat three or four of those himself.
