AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then, without warning, she tensed again, shoved hard at his chest, and jumped back. Her face was pale as snow, and her gaze flitted to everything in the room but him. It took him a second to realize she was frightened. Panicky. What the hell was going on here?
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, taking a step onto the porch. “I had no right to do that. I was way out of line. It won’t happen again. But Dana, there’s something—”
“No.” She clutched the bottle to her like a security blanket. Or a weapon. “There’s nothing. It’s best if we just forget all about this. Good night, Sheriff.”
So it was back to formality. Okay. He’d have to figure out how to regroup here. More than his hormones were stirred. Miss Dana Moretti had secrets, and he meant to find out what they were. Because in a tiny space of time she’d crawled under his skin and sparked something deep inside him. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had done that, and he wasn’t about to let this thing go without figuring out why that was.
“Good night, Dana. Call me when you want to talk. I’ll make time. And Guardian Security might be able to help with some of your research. Our resources are extensive.”
For a man who’d been more than circumspect in his love life since taking this job, he suddenly seemed to be losing his mind. And over a woman who had what looked to be a bad case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He’d seen enough of it in the service to easily spot it.
So what was her story? What had traumatized her to such a degree? And what, if anything, did it have to do with the child murders now twenty-five years old? He’d really have to watch himself with her. He might be irritated that she was digging into those old cases, but they were sure to be spending a lot of time together. The last thing he wanted to do was send her over the edge, which was always possible when flying blind.
He sat in his truck for a long while, watching the house, seeing her shadow behind the living room curtains standing totally still. Was she watching, too?
Grinding his teeth, he cranked over the engine and backed out of the driveway. He had the feeling his life was about to get way more complicated than he wanted. Maybe he needed to have breakfast with Tate again. Or take him up on the invite to dinner.
****
Dana stood like a statue in the living room, staring at the curtains as if she could see through them to the man still sitting in her driveway. His empty soda bottle hung limply from her hand. The thunderous beating of her heart banging against her ribs and the pulses throbbing hard in all her private places sounded so loud she was afraid he’d hear them outside. Her entire body felt as if she’d been zapped with a hotwire, then dumped in a freezer.
Slowly, she brought one hand to her mouth and touched her fingertips to her lips. She could still feel the imprint of him there, like the mark of a branding iron. That had been a huge mistake, but the remnants of the dream had still clung to her. She’d nearly put herself in a bad place with him.
Then the panic had clawed its way up, freezing her insides. Gripping her. She knew she was frightened of her reaction to him. It wasn’t just the lightning bolts of awareness that shot through her every time they touched. It was something more. For the first time in her adult life, her body was giving her the kind of signals she’d always hoped to have. Signals that meant she desired a man. Even though it petrified her, she wanted to respond to it.
Because he makes me feel safe.
How ridiculous was that?
Still, she knew that even if she was brave enough to let herself see where those feelings took her, she’d never be able to deliver. She was a fraud. But she could hardly tell that to sexy Cole Landry. And he’d ask questions she didn’t want to answer.
God, she was such a mess.
She wondered what his real motivation had been for coming here tonight. He could have had one of his deputies deliver her phone, but he was curious. She saw it in his eyes. And determined to sidetrack her if he could. Was his kiss meant to throw her off balance, or was it something else? And if it was something else, then what?
Jesus. She was driving herself crazy with all this double think.
With a sigh, she stuck the empty soda bottle in the recycle container, pulled out a chair, and sat at the dining room table. It was time to stop thinking about Cole Landry and the unsettling way he made her feel. She had more important things to do, like analyzing the information she’d gathered so far.
Maybe she’d find the answers she so desperately sought, and in discovering them, she’d turn into the real human being she’d always wanted to be. A woman who didn’t suffer from an endless string of nightmares. One who suddenly really wanted to find out if Cole Landry could be more to her than just the resident sheriff of Salado County.
****
Cole clenched his fists on the steering wheel as he drove along the highway heading home, the memory of the kiss still sharp and vivid. He could still feel the silken softness of her honey-blonde hair beneath his hands. Worse than that, the dream was still so clear in his mind, the image of her naked body playing hell with his testosterone level. The vein in his neck throbbed, and his cock was trying to break free of its restraint in his jeans. He should wear a sign that said Stupid. He should…what? Apologize? Damn it, he already had, but he wanted to do it again anyway. And more.
He was still about three miles from home when his radio crackled to life. He keyed the mic and lifted it to his mouth.
“Landry.”
“Sheriff, this is Grace.” Grace Hathaway had been working night dispatch since long before Cole became sheriff. There was little she couldn’t handle, but tonight her voice had an edge to it. “We’ve got some trouble.”
Cole sighed. “Howdy McMann picking a fight in the Raccoon Saloon again? Frank Nolan’s cattle breaking through the fence to the Silver Spur?”
Just what he wanted tonight. But Grace’s next words put every part of his brain on alert.
“We’ve got a DB in High Ridge Park.”
DB. Dead body.
