“You’re an insane idiot,” she yelled, running down the hall in her bra and panties. He, in his boxers, chased her out the back door into a not quite full-fledged hurricane.
The only reason they were wearing underwear was to protect their private parts as they cooked panfried garlic salmon—him; and dirty rice—her; which is where the problems arose. A cultural difference really, because no matter what he said,polenta was grits. They weren’t even making grits, so why did he care if she said she preferred sugar and butter vs salt and butter. She didn’t actually believe it, but she liked being accused of “irritating my spirit.” Then she’d accidently flicked a spoon full of dirty rice, and it just happened to hit him in the throat and tumble down his chest.
She howled as he grabbed her around the waist and swung her in a circle; both slick from the rain.
“It was an accident!” she shouted as he carried her toward the lake’s edge.
“So, if you accidently fall into the lake, it wouldn’t be my fault?”
“You’re literally carrying me to the water!” she said, wiping rain from her face.
He stopped and seemed to consider her words. She turned in his arms until they were chest to chest and wiped the black strands of hair off his face.
“No more accidents, I promise.”
His multi-hued eyes held hers and she nodded hopefully.
He growled and began to move forward again. She screamed and wrapped her legs around his thighs when she felt the cold water bite at her ankles.
“I’ll bake you another cake! Any kind you want. Just for you.”
He backed out of the water and silently carried her to the house.
“You’re fast as hell, you know that?” she said as he placed her on her feet and opened the screen. Although he was four years older than her, he moved like he was ten years younger. She should’ve factored his current and prior employment into her equation before accidently tossing food at him.
“Go get dried off.”
“Yes, lover.” She smiled seductively, posing against the banister before bursting into a fit of laughter and walking up the stairs.
“And just a word of warning,” he called up to her. “If anything tastes off about my next cake, you’re going into the lake.”
They should’ve made more food, she thought, finishing her second plate.
“And I’m not embarrassed about my appetite,” she defended, tightening her robe as she stood.
“You shouldn’t be, we like well-fed women on the mountain.”
“That’s what you’ll be saying after I put this poppy-pussy on you and send you off to sleep.”
“You talk big shit Lauren Green,” he said, lifting her onto the island. “But it’s time you learn that when you invite a man into your little opium den, it becomes his opium den. He owns the lock, the key, and the walls he’ll be bouncing off of. I warned you to get out of my town when you could. Now, I dare you to try. You’re tethered here now, and wherever you go, you’ll always find yourself right back here, fiending after me, lusting after me.”
She would have to return home, eventually, she thought, but she patted his ass like he was a wayward pup. Let Santi have his delusions, because she would have her memories long after she was gone.
CHAPTER 19
After yesterday’s storm,the weather today was unseasonably hot and humid. The department’s air conditioning had gone down in response to working this hard during its off season and Santiago very much understood its rebellion.
He’d dropped a warm bodied woman—strong thighs, soft hands, pliable mouth, a heart that seemed to be expelling pain in bouts and intervals—at his aunt’s this morning. She’d been standing at the front door with Lina, Saige, and Audrey as he’d drove off. They’d all watched him like a bunch of vultures. When he’d looked in his rearview mirror, they were bent over laughing. At him no doubt.
“Uh... Sheriff, you…you alright in there?”
It had been thirty minutes since he’d entered the sheriff’s department, and he was still grumbling and muttering because of his preoccupation with that woman.
Santiago’s office door was open and his blinds up giving both day and night shift a clear view of him as they waited for shift exchange. Everyone’s eyes were on him: trepidation in Derry’s gaze, Roan’s and Audrey’s ranged from smug to real fucking smug, and the others simply looked at him with curiosity.
“I’m good Derry,” he said, stepping out of his office. “Just got a lot on my mind.” And that was the truth. His time with Lauren was a much-needed respite, but every problem in this town felt like it compounded in his absence. His deputies didn’t have any leads or additional evidence regarding the bodies in the morgue. His jail cells were crowded when they were usually empty for days on end, and to top it all off he had to make an appearance at court today.
He looked at his watch.
