Chapter One
SHERIFF HUDSON
Who knew glitter could be such a pain in the ass to get off you? I’ve now taken two showers since my last glitter incident. Yes, by "last," I mean it wasn’t the first time I had been assaulted by the sparkly substance. At this rate, I don’t think it’s going to be the last, either.
It should have pissed me off. In the last week, Kindred Cane has hit me with glitter twice. She is always finding places to put it. I think she gets off on thinking it pisses me off. Kindred is constantly trying to get a rise out of me.
That’s why I never let on how much I enjoy it. I’m starting to see her glitter attacks as her own personal mark on me. It’s her way of claiming me. I’m here for it. She can douse me in it night and day if that’s her way of making me hers. Hell, she’s been mine since the moment I laid eyes on her. She’s just not ready to admit it yet. If I told her any of this, it would piss her off, so I won't because I seem to be able to do that without so much as opening my mouth.
The thing is, there are all the guys out there, and I know she claimed my ass a long time ago. She’s stubborn, but I’m a patient man. Even though it's wearing thin lately when it comes to her.
I’ll never forget that first Christmas her brother Ethan practically dragged me to the small Christmas-themed town of New Hope, and I met her for the first time.
In the world of darkness I’ve always lived in, it was like seeing light when I laid my eyes on her. Kindred is everything and a whole lot more when you think of a small-town girl or, hell, the girl next door. I didn’t think that shit was real.
She is full of life and passion in everything she does. There is this sweetness that floats around her that you can almost taste. That is until you piss her off. Then she’s all fire and will scorch the earth in her revenge. I thoroughly enjoy both sides of my girl.
I grab the towel and run it through my short dark hair to dry it quickly before tossing it into the laundry basket. I didn't get much sleep last night with all that went down at the town's holiday party.
I haven't ever needed much sleep. I'm not sure if it's a skill set from my time as a Ranger or from always being on edge when I was a kid, never knowing when my next beating would be coming.
Those days are gone. I made sure of that. I’m no longer that small boy you could hit and he didn’t swing back. My father learned that real quick once puberty hit. He wasn’t so tough when he was dealing with someone his own size.
He thought sending me off to a private military school would strike fear into me. It had to be private; otherwise, that wouldn’t look so nice to the people around him. My father prettied it up in his own way, telling people I wanted a career in the Air Force one day.
As much as I enjoyed the school he was so sure I would hate, I wasn’t going to give him what he wanted. So I did the thing that would piss him off instead after graduation and entered the Army.
My father George was all about appearances. Scared that the world might get a look at the real man behind the mask. All the military school did was make me bigger and stronger. For a man as wealthy as he was, he sure as shit wasn’t that smart, but I’m sure some of his ideas came to him in one of his drunken-fueled rages.
Thankfully, he was dead before I became a Ranger. I didn't want him trying to take credit for any part of me, and he would have tried to. Becoming a Ranger changed my whole life, putting me straight on a path to Kindred.
I rub my hand down the scar on my right pec, a piece of glitter stuck on it. I smirk. See, that's Kindred, taking something dark and trying to add light to it. Even when she doesn't know she is.
George made sure to only hit where no one would be able to see. How fucked is it that I carry more scars from growing up in his home than I do from my time in the Army or as a Ranger?
I flip off the light in the bathroom as I head for my closet to get dressed for the day. I still have a shit ton of paperwork to get done after last light. I don’t bother with my sheriff’s uniform. It isn’t required as long as the badge is noticeable.
Besides, when I leave the station, I wear a coat that makes it more than clear I’m a sheriff. But being that I’m the only sheriff in New Hope and it’s a small town, everyone knows who I am. It’s more for the tourists, which we have a shit ton of.
We're only a few hours out from the city, and it's the busiest time of the year right now for New Hope, with Christmas around the corner. I’m always a bit on edge during this time. The amount of strangers around town does that to me.
I toss on a pair of jeans and boots before grabbing one of my many plain black shirts that has a pocket where I can slide my badge. I'm still fairly new to the job, and it practically fell into my lap. There hadn't been a plan to leave the Rangers, but Kindredhadn't been in my plans either until she was standing in front of me with those bright blue eyes, curves for days, and that smart-ass mouth of hers.
Her brother is still in the Rangers, but when my contract was up, I left. I knew I needed a job. I might have inherited a fuck ton of money, but I'm used to staying busy. I enjoy the routine, and right now it's the only thing getting me through each day; my control is starting to slip.
I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out on this cat-and-mouse game Kindred is playing. At first, I thought she hated me. I get it. I can be rough around the edges and a man of few words, and fuck, when I did have words, they often got twisted when I was speaking with her. She takes them as me telling her what to do, and I look at it as I’m always trying to protect her. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not innocent in any of this. She drives me nuts but in the best possible way.
It wasn’t long before I started to see that her disdain for me might not be just a dislike. I was the only person who understood her antics and felt her ire. That had to count for something. You'd think I kicked her puppy, not that she has one, but you get the gist.
Or I could be making up shit in my head. The fuck do I know about women? I was sent to military school at the age of thirteen, and after that, I joined the Army, eventually retiring as a Ranger before coming here. Never have I wanted anything to do with women before Kindred.
That woman has me in knots, and I never know if I'm coming or going with her. It both pisses me off and has me fighting a smile. I never had to fight them before her; no, I just didn't have them. There really wasn’t much to look forward to in my life. She changed all of that. Now I wake up and go to bed thinking about a future with her.
I still can't help but bite back a chuckle when I think about the time I gave her a parking ticket. She had been ignoring me for a straight week, so I did what I had to. Kindred came storming into my office, slamming it down on my desk, telling me I could shove the ticket up my ass. Then she darted right back out, leaving the ticket on my desk with a "fucking good job, dumbass" sticker on it.
I didn't know they had those kinds of stickers. I thought they ended at "good job," but knowing Kindred, she'd had that personally made. I love ruffling her feathers. She’s so damn smart and creative that I never know how she’s going to react or exact her revenge on me. But I look forward to every damn second of it. I head out the door, hopping into my SUV that hasSheriffwritten across each side.
Something has to change. I have been trying to figure out the whole romance thing. Shelly over at the library has given me a few tips and a stack of books to read. I didn’t know romance books were filled with so much sex. I also didn’t realize that when you read it, you might picture yourself in the role.
