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“Smile,” he grits out, then releases me and a rush of heat floods my limbs.
As I work through the crowd, I pull my lips into a smile and nod and whisper thank you’s to the compliments as I move by, but my focus is in front of me.
The sheriff stands in the same spot, pinning me with his eyes.
The closer I get, the more the warmth rolling inside me takes over and a flutter between my legs adds to the intoxicating moment. I watch as he tightens his lips over his teeth, the deep set of his eyes coming clear. They are a dark green, like moss in a forest, and the muscle in his jaw is hard like he’s gritting his teeth.
There’s less than six feet left between us, and it must be clear I’m walking directly toward him. My eyes pull him in as I’ve been taught, the sway of my hips exaggerated as I set my teeth into my lower lip, adding an eyelash flutter, my training kicking in without conscious thought.
“Hey.” A voice and a hand on my upper arm jolts me from the moment as three males in their late twenties are suddenly blocking my path.
“You do private dances?” One with a Mossy Oak t-shirt and matching ball cap chuckles as his buddies laugh in encouragement, watching him taunt me with a single dollar bill. When I turn, his mouth drops open and he turns to his friends. “You see those freaky eyes?” He returns his stare laughing and running his hand under his nose. “You are a little freak aren’t you? I like ‘em freaky…”
This is not new. They barely tick my pulse up a notch.
“Well, boys.” I nod over my shoulder toward Thadius, shrugging a shoulder to my ear. “You’ll need to talk to my father about that. He books all my private engagements.”
There is shock in their eyes for a moment, then hope.
“Seriously?” The taller of the bunch with a wad of chew in his lip asks, his eyes going from me to his friends, then back. “How much you charge?”
The scent of wet tobacco and beer on his breath is strong enough to trigger my gag reflex.
“You give out free samples?” The shortest of the bunch with a brush cut and a beer gut reaches out toward my shoulder and they all laugh like he’s the headliner at the comedy stage.
I raise my hand to deflect his touch but I’m too late.
My gaze snaps left where a hand intercepts the one reaching for me and I see it’s the sheriff, only now the look in his eyes is not only unfriendly, it’s dangerous. He’s far taller than I first thought. His chest seems to have thickened as his exposed arm bulges and veins snake around the sinuous muscle underneath.
“Hey!” The too dumb for prime-time guy glares at the sheriff. “Don’t touch me.”
“You were about to touch her. And I don’t think that’s what she wanted. So technically, I could arrest you for attempted assault.”
“Bullshit,” he spits back as the sheriff blocks my view, stepping between us, the acrid scent of the other three replaced suddenly by a spicy man-scent that has that quiver between my legs on overdrive and my nipples drilling little holes through the thin fabric of my blouse.
He’s a wall of man, blocking out all three of the others, and I can’t help but drop my eyes lower. His ass fits nicely in the pressed trousers, but he’s not just beefcake. He’s thick, yes, hard but real. A little bulky…burly I guess, like he enjoys his food and doesn’t live life flexing in front of a mirror.
“Listen.” The sheriff’s voice is low as he turns to look at the two friends, his other hand on the leather snap of his holster which holds his gun. “This is a misunderstanding. This is a nice, family event. You three move on and I’ll watch you go. Or, we can do this another way…”
They all grumble and smack each other on the shoulders with a few ‘she ain’t worth it’ and ‘damn freaky medieval-fair dirty pussy, all used up anyway’ as they step away, looking at me like I suddenly turned from beauty to beast in a matter of seconds.
“Watch your mouth,” the sheriff adds as they saunter away, his jawline hard like he’s holding back.
“Thank you,” I say in my best damsel in distress voice, staying in character. “So many men just think they can take without asking.”
He snaps his tongue against his teeth, considering me for a long moment as adrenaline heats my skin. Then he crosses his arms over his wide chest. The dark brown hair covering them shifts with the muscles below and his size is mesmerizing.
He’s probably a father. He has that air about him. I wonder for a second what it would be like to have someone like him as a father.
