“Both,” she said and pulled her hat off her head.
Her dark hair spilled over her shoulders, as she tossed blunt bangs that skimmed the delicate pale skin of her forehead.The smell of cinnamon and mint filled the cab of the truck.She may not have any sense, but she was gorgeous.
He put the truck in drive and headed back into town, but visibility was terrible.
“You’re going the wrong way,” she said.
“No I’m not—the only way is about a half mile into town.You can either stay in the sheriff’s office or see about a room at the hotel.”
“The hotel is full, which is the only reason I was headed out to the coast.”
“To look for another hotel in the middle of a blizzard?”
“No, I have a place I can stay out on Beach Boulevard.”
“Ah, I see.”
“What do you see?”she said, incredulous.
But he pulled into his spot in front of the sheriff’s department and got out, not willing to get into an argument with an out-of-towner.He would keep his feelings about the type of people who lived and vacationed out on Beach Boulevard to himself.
He grabbed her bag for her and walked to the double glass doors of the sheriff’s department, assuming she would follow.A minute later she stumbled into the office and looked around the open-concept small-town sheriff’s department.Several deputies were at their desks working the night shift, in case of any emergencies.The clerk was gone for the night.
“Follow me,” he said gruffly, heading to the back of the building where the only two offices were carved out with flimsy walls.Once he was seated behind his desk he dialed the local inn owner.
“Hey there, Dori, any chance you’ve got any rooms left?Penthouse?Honeymoon suite, coat closet?”he said, watching as the woman walked by each deputy with a genuine smile and then stopped in the doorway of his office.Her smile disappeared as she studied him, and then his office.He could only imagine what was going through her mind.She was dressed from head to toe in all black, a leather coat that skimmed the top of curvy hips, and shoes he would bet were designer, made to look rugged like a runway version of combat boots.There were two C’s etched into the leather of her bag, which he assumed cost a pretty penny.
He wondered what she saw in his tidy office with green leather chairs, a metal desk on bricks because he was six four, and a bird’s-eye view of the town square covered in snow.
Dori’s laughter brought him back to the present.“Sheriff, you must be bored if you’re prank-calling me.Not only are we filled to the brim, but two strangers nearly came to blows to fight for the last room.Now one of them is sleeping in the library for the night.”
He slammed his fist on the desk.“No chance you have room for one more?”
“I guess we could put someone in the foyer?There is a wooden bench.Or the floor.”
“Alright, let me see what she says, and I’ll get back to you.”
The woman stood waiting with a knowing look.
“You have the choice to sleep in that holding cell, or on a wooden bench at the inn.”
She took a few more steps into his office and sat in the closest green chair.
“Can’t I just sleep in here tonight?I’m sure it’ll be safe with you and your deputies here.”
“For one I won’t be here, and for two no.”
“I can’t sleep in a jail cell.There is a man already in there.”
Wesley looked back at the holding cell and spotted the town drunk passed out on the one cot in the small cell they didn’t make a habit of using much.
“Wooden bench I guess it is.”
“Sheriff, if you’re not going to be sleeping here, maybe I could go home with you and crash on your couch?”
Wesley leaned forward and studied the woman.In his well-lit office he could now see her honey-brown eyes framed with thick lashes that looked like they were dipped in black ink.Her top lip had a pronounced V shape even as she pressed it down onto her full bottom lip.
“Miss, are you in the habit of looking for trouble?Driving in blizzards, running into snow drifts, and inviting yourself to strange men’s homes?Because I have to tell you we don’t like trouble in this town.”
