“Not you, so why does it matter?”
She opened the screen door, stepped outside, and had to take a steadying breath. Her one remaining ovary must be ovulating because why was this man’s uniform fitting like a designer suit? Hugging his body in all the right places.
Not having sex for a few months was really hitting her libido hard in this mountain air.
“You weren’t answering your phone. Lina’s trying to reach you. Then she got panicked and called me like I don’t have anything better to do.”
She smiled. “She probably thought Deborah got me.”
“Well tonight you should stay in your own bed and give her a chance.”
She laughed despite herself. “Rude.”
“Just trying to protect my peace. You hungry?”
“I mean, I could eat.”
“I’ll drive you into town, Lina wants you to come sample her latest menu.”
“Be back in three!” She rushed inside and ran up the stairs like she was being bailed out of purgatory. Changing into a pair of black jeans and peach cashmere sweater that gently clung to her body, she shuffled through her closet to find the rust-colored ankle boots.
Her phone rang and she stopped to dig through her bag and find it.
Come on Lauren, this level of disorganization is not like you, she thought. She didn’t recognize the number but still picked it up since it was a Tennessee area code.
“Hello?” She slipped on a pair of teardrop gold earrings.
“Five minutes, nearly six,” Santiago said, and hung up before she could tell him what specific crevice of his ass he could shove his time limits.
Collecting her laptop, cord, two battery packs…her portable selfie light and her digital camera, she placed them in her bag and rushed out of her bedroom knowing he would leave her if she wasn’t outside soon.
“I’ll be back with answers,” she called to Deborah. “Hold down the fort!”
She set her alarm and greeted a disgruntled sheriff who was back to hiding behind his mirrored sunglasses. He was sitting on her corner chair, his long legs extended out and crossed at the ankle as if he were an actual patient person.
“You can ditch the attitude,” she said, locking the door and adjusting the bag on her shoulder. He pulled his long legs in and stood. Too close. So close it was hard to ignore how her body readied itself for his touch. Which was crazy. The last thing she wanted to think about was a man’s touch, any man’s touch, but her body didn’t seem to care about what her mind wanted to do. It keenly remembered the feel of him, the heat?—
“You better be real good and goddamn glad that you made me breakfast this morning,” he said as he walked toward his cruiser. “Real good and glad,” he called back.
“Or what?” she yelled, trailing after him, the exhilaration of sparring with him had her walking at a clip, heating her blood. “What would you have done if I hadn’t fed you before you went off to work this morning?” She dropped into the passenger seat, closed the door, and buckled her seat belt. “I want to know.”
“Just like I want to know why you dressed like you’re going to some champagne and diamonds brunch at a Michelin-starred restaurant.”
“I have actual jeans on,” she said, looking at him as if he was an idiot. “Besides, once our plans come together, your aunt’s place will be so popular it will be known as the Ritz of Shrouded Lake.”
“Businesses are closing left and right. The people who can are leaving faster than is sustainable, and the people who are staying are either too poor to leave or too stubborn. Those are not the folks who will bring Ritz level prestige to Shrouded Lake, so if you have a vision, I’m not fully seeing it.”
“Youwillsee it,” she said. “It’s just going to take a lot of determination and hard work.” She looked forward to the challenge. It gave her a renewed sense of purpose.
Once he pulled up to Lina’s bed and breakfast, he watched her curiously, silently, before facing the road again.
“I’ll pick you up at the end of my shift,” he told her. “Please don’t go getting into any trouble before then.”
“I’ll endeavor to do my best.”
CHAPTER 12
“I want her arrested,”the mayor said, plopping down in the chair on the other side of Santiago’s desk.
