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Dread pooled in her stomach as she waited for the two officers to check out her plates. Finally, the officer behind the wheel emerged and ambled toward her, his beer belly hanging over his belt. He had ruddy skin, a big nose, and steel wool hair sprouting from beneath his hat.
She rolled down her window and plastered on a smile. “Hello, Officer.” Please, God, let this be about my bad muffler and not skipping out on my bill. She handed over her license and registration before he asked for it. “Is there a problem?”
He studied her license, then took in her felt cloche. She thought about telling him Ginger Rogers had once worn it, but he didn’t look like much of an old film buff. “Ma’am, we have a report that you left the inn without paying your bill.”
Her stomach dipped. “Me? That’s ridiculous.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the outside mirror as his backup decided to join the party. Except his backup wore jeans and a black T-shirt instead of a uniform. And his backup—
She stared more closely into the mirror. No!
Shoes crunched in the gravel. A shadow fell over the side of the car. She lifted her gaze and found herself staring into the impassive amber eyes of Ted Beaudine.
“Hello, Meg.”
Chapter Four
Ted!” she tried to act as though he was the person she most wanted to see instead of her worst nightmare. “Have you joined the police force?”
“Doing a ride-along.” He propped his elbow on the roof of her car. As he took in her appearance, she got the impression that he didn’t like her cloche either—or anything else about her. “My schedule for the next two weeks suddenly opened up.”
“Ah.”
“So I hear you skipped out on your bill at the inn.”
“Me? No. A mistake. I didn’t—I was just taking a ride. Beautiful day. Skip out? No. They have my suitcase. How could I skip out?”
“I guess by getting in your car and driving off,” Ted said, as if he were the cop. “Where are you headed?”
“Nowhere. Exploring. I like to do that when I visit new places.”
r /> “Best to pay your bill before you go off exploring.”
“You’re absolutely right. I wasn’t thinking. I’ll take care of it right away.” Except she couldn’t do that.
A truck roared by, heading into town, and another trickle of perspiration slipped between her breasts. She needed to throw herself on someone’s mercy, and it didn’t take long to make her choice. “Officer, could I talk to you privately?”
Ted shrugged and moved to the rear of the car. The officer scratched his chest. Meg caught her bottom lip between her teeth and lowered her voice. “See, the thing is . . . I made this stupid mistake. With all my traveling, my mail didn’t catch up with me, and that’s caused a small difficulty with my credit card. I’ll have to ask the inn to bill me. I don’t think it will be a problem.” She flushed with shame, and her throat closed so tight she could barely get out the words. “I’m sure you know who my parents are.”
“Yes, ma’am, I do.” The cop reared back his head, which sat on a short, squat neck. “Ted, looks like we’ve got a vagrant here.”
A vagrant! She threw herself out of the car. “Now wait just a minute! I’m not a—”
“Stay right where you are, ma’am.” The cop’s hand went to his holster. Ted propped his foot on her rear bumper and watched with interest.
Meg spun on him. “Asking the inn to send me a bill doesn’t make me a vagrant!”
“Did you hear what I said, ma’am?” the cop barked out. “Back in the car.”
Before she had time to move, Ted approached again. “She’s not cooperating, Sheldon. I guess you’ll have to arrest her.”
“Arrest me?”
Ted looked vaguely sad about that, leading her to conclude that he had a sadistic streak. She jumped back into her car. Ted stepped away. “Sheldon, what do you say we follow Miz Koranda back to the inn so she can take care of her unfinished business?”
“Sure thing.” Officer Surly pointed down the road a few feet. “Turn around in that drive, ma’am. We’ll be right behind you.”
Ten minutes later, she was once again approaching the front desk of the Wynette Country Inn, but this time Ted Beaudine walked at her side while Officer Surly stopped by the door and spoke into the mike on his lapel.
The beautiful blond desk clerk sprang to attention as soon as she spotted Ted. Her lips curled in a wide smile. Even her hair seemed to perk up. At the same time she furrowed her brow with concern. “Hey there, Ted. How are you doing?”
