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“Fleeing from the scene of a crime, resisting arrest, destruction of property, and getting on every damn nerve I have for the last four hours.”
“Just another Tuesday then.” Ford nods seriously at Kenny, making me stick my middle finger up at him from behind my bars.
My stomach flops again when a ghost of a smile tips up a corner of his mouth framed by his neatly trimmed, black facial hair. It disappears just as quickly as it came when he looks away from me and puts his attention back on my jailer.
Kenny quickly stands up and holds his hand out to the man in front of him. “It’s good to have you back in Harvest Grove, Ford.Please… get her away from me.”
“Oh, eat shit, Kenny.” I roll my eyes so hard I almost give myself a headache.
“Stop calling me Kenny at work, Sidney!” he complains, his face getting beet-red as he chuckles nervously when Ford drops his hand to cross his arms again.
While Kenny looks at the man with the same hero-worship he always has on his face when Ford walks through the door.
Anydoor.
It’s even more annoying thateveryonein town worships the guy, especially when he never seems very happy to be here, complains about all the tourists crowding the streets and being too loud, and glares at every Halloween decoration that gets in his way. I am a goddamn ray of sunshine, and people cross the street when they see me coming.
Eleven months out of the year, thousands of miles away from me, this man sits behind a desk wearing a suit and tie, running his family’s logging business in Oregon. But when he comes to Harvest Grove, he gets to hang up the suits and ties, looking so casual and ridiculously hot that he should be on the cover ofSexy Lumberjack Magazine, if that were a real thing. He’s big, and gruff, thirty-two years old but acts like he’s sixty most days. A hard worker who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and would rather have his skin scraped off with a spoon than talk about his feelings. He rarely laughs, still has an air of mystery about him even though I’ve known him for six years, and he’ll kick anyone’s ass that pisses him off. And will especially kick anyone’s ass that pissesmeoff or upsets me in any way. He’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had who doesn’t even bat an eye with each new crazy thing that happens with me or my family, and he’s one of the biggest crushes I’ve had to learn to get over if I wanted to keep him in my life. He doesn’t do relationships, and he made that clear the one and only time I tried to flirt with him when we met. Lesson learned, and one I vowed to never,everrepeat again.
He’s everything Kenny wants to be when he grows up, and I totally get his admiration. I myself have a hard time not staring at Ford like he’s a superhero come to life every time I see him. And I would absolutely get down on my knees and worship that man any day of the week—you know, if he hadn’t shoved me right into the friend zone the minute we met and kept me firmly there for six years.
It’s fine. It’s not like I still have a crush on the guy. It’s not like I now have images in my head of me down on my knees in front of him, with my hair clutched in one of his big hands, while he stares down at me with a heated look on his face, ordering me to take him in my mouth in that husky, commanding voice of his….
Nope, not thinking about that at all. I got that nonsense out of my head a long time ago. The only reason I have sex on the brain is because I’m going through a little bit of a dry spell. Ford is just my October best friend, who always seems to have the unfortunate job of cleaning up my messes when he’s in town. Since I don’t do relationships either, I am perfectly content with our friendly situation. Especially when one of the perks of our friendship is him getting me the hell out of this tiny room before the sun comes up.
“They’re false charges, just like always. Honestly, it’s more embarrassing for the sheriff’s office that they arrested me for something so silly.”
“The tires on my cruiser were slashed!” Kenny complains as he flops back down into his chair, making Ford’s mouth twitch again before his typicalI’m annoyed by everyone and everythingexpression takes over his face.
“Right, but it wasn’tyourtires that were supposed to be slashed, so there’s that. It was an honest mistake that never would have happened if you finally got someone to replace that burned-out lightbulb on the lamppost on Vine Street. And, you know, parked somewhere else,” I try to argue with a cheeky smile, which just makes both men stare at me with exasperated looks on their faces. “What you should really be doing is thanking me for dismantling the small explosive device that was shoved under one of the front tires before I took off running.”
Now Kenny looks as white as a ghost, and Ford looks like he wants to wring someone’s neck with his bare hands that I could have possibly been in danger. And since Ginger and Penny are definitely at the top of his shit list at the moment for landing me in jailagain, I know I need to quickly take his mind off of them. He hasn’t exactly been their biggest fan since the first time he bailed me out of jail because of something they did, and I’d like to have just one October where the three of them aren’t constantly at each other’s throat.
Although it’s mostly Ginger and Penny acting like yappy little dogs who want to rip his face off, while Ford just stands there and grunts in annoyance.
“This has been fun and all, but can youpleaseget me out of here before I go crazy?”
I can’t stop the way my stupid voice quivers as I quickly glance around this jail cell, the panic starting to rise again the longer I’m in here without being able to go where I want to go and do what I want to do. A glance up at the ceiling tells me it’s notreallygetting lower and lower until it crushes me, but that doesn’t stop my brain from thinking it could happen at any second.
At my words and the way my breath is starting to pant out of me faster when the walls on either side of me feel like they’re closing in again, Ford suddenly remembers where I am and just how much it’s killing me to be stuck in this small space. The irritation on his face is replaced with a quick flash of concern. A softening of his eyes while he quietly studies me that makes my knees feel weak and forces me to hold tighter to the metal bars in front of me before they give out.
“Get her out of there.”
Even though Ford speaks the words quietly to Kenny as he stares at me, they rumble out of him from deep in his chest, like a bear giving a warning growl before it attacks.
The concern on Ford’s face switches over to anger simmering right under the surface when Kenny makes no move to let me out, while my quickly panting breaths start to sound more like wheezes. I clutch the bars of the door so tightly my knuckles turn white, and Ford uncrosses his arms. As they slowly drop to his sides where he clenches his fists, a muscle tics in his jaw as Kenny starts rambling.
“There’s still paperwork that needs to be done, fines that need to be paid, not to mention a tally of the total damages—”
“Get herthe fuckout of that cell right now!”
And the bear attacks….
I tamp down the shiver that wants to make its way through my body when Ford interrupts Kenny with a roar, while Kenny quickly scrambles up from his chair so fast it topples over backward. I would laugh at the situation if my stupid, traitorous body wasn’t busy getting turned on by my best friend, while also tryingnotto pass out as the room gets smaller and smaller.
“Okay, fine! We can square everything away another time. No worries!” Kenny laughs nervously, taking a few stumbling steps away from his desk and righting his fallen chair when Ford narrows his eyes at him. “You’re free to go!”
With that, I push open the door of the cell, rushing out of my prison and right over to Ford. My body smacks into the absolute brick wall of him so hard he lets out a little “oof” as my arms fly around his waist.
