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I shook my head. “I should have called first.”
“That’s okay. Are you his fiancée?” her eyes danced, and she leaned forward like she was waiting on some juicy gossip.
“Yes. Kat.” I stuck out my hand.
She smiled and shook it. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Connie.” She stood from her chair and rounded the desk. For a second, I thought she was going to hug me, but instead she looked me up and down, nodded as if she approved, and then turned toward a set of stairs. “Follow me.”
Upstairs, she led me through the main room—which smelled so horrible that I had to plug my nose—to a corner office. The door was closed, andSHERIFFwas written in bold black letters on the frosted glass. She knocked twice and waited.
“Connie, go away. I told you to go home ten minutes ago,” Sid yelled.
I giggled and covered my mouth.
Connie smirked at me and then opened the door wide. “There’s someone here for you.”
Sid’s eyes met mine, and he smiled. When he stood, I had to suppress a laugh. His hair was disheveled, and his shirt was half untucked. He tucked it in as he rounded his desk, then pulled me into a hug. I settled into it, letting it chase away the fears.
He inhaled deeply, and his arms tightened around me. “I’m happy you’re here.”
I smiled into his chest. “I brought coffee.”
He pulled back and looked down. “Thank you!” He took the cup and tore the lid off. His eyes closed when he took a sip. I was glad I’d bought the largest one. He looked like he needed it.
“Shit. Did you walk through there?” he asked, pointing to his door. “Of course you did. There’s no other way in. I’m so sorry you had to smell that.”
I laughed. “What was that?”
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “One of our deputies. His wife makes him chili almost every shift, and she makes it spicy as hell. It gives him terrible gas. He works most of the night shifts.”
I burst into laughter. “That’s so funny.”
“Not if you’re the one who has to smell it,” Sid said dryly.
That only made me laugh harder.
His usual frown was back, which sent me into another fit of giggles.
“Real funny. What are you doing here?”
I wiped tears from my eyes and then took a seat. Fear settled in the pit of my stomach.
“Mindy asked me to stop by after work. The girls wanted to plan the wedding.”
I watched his expression carefully. His frown deepened, and he ran a hand through his hair. My anxiety grew. He sighed and then sat down in his chair.
“I’m sorry, Kat. This has really gotten out of hand.”
“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. How long are we going to keep this up?”
Sid scrubbed a hand over his face. “I think it’s gone on too long already. It wasn’t supposed to go past the gala, but your sister and my brother were there. Then the gossip rag caught wind of it and then our friends. It just spread like wildfire. I don’t know what to do now.”
I sighed. “I’m glad you said that because I feel the same. The girls pressured me to lock down a date, and I didn’t know whether I was supposed to move forward or tell everyone this is a lie.”
Sid regarded me carefully. “Is that what you want?”
“What?”
“To tell everyone the truth?”
