Especially when he spanked me. I had to get out before I lost my mind.
“Sheriff Cole bending the rules? That doesn’t sound like you. You can’t just go around bending the rules for just anyone.” I risked a glance at his stunning profile. To my surprise, he was looking right at me.
“You’re not just anyone.”
The look in his eye took my breath away. He was still stern and intense, but the warmth in his hazel eyes turned hotter. It was wonderful to have Cole Townsend look at me like that, but it wasn’t right.
“Please just charge me,” I said softly. “I don’t deserve any special treatment. You’re the sheriff of the whole town and I’m a delinquent.”
“You’re not a delinquent.”
I held up a hand to count out my crimes. “Possession of an illegal substance, trespassing, attempted breaking and entering, intent of theft?—”
“What were you going to take?”
“Scrap metal. It’s just sitting there and…Mr. Roberts always let me take it. Said it wasn’t worth the hassle of selling. So I’d take it down and keep the money.” I took a deep breath. I’d never admitted to myself the fact that my boss probably knew how much the metal was worth, but wanted me to have the money. He let me keep my pride by earning it.
“And now that he fired you, you can’t.” The pity in his face made me want to crawl into a hole. He put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
I laughed because I didn’t know what else to do. He sounded so sure of himself.
“You trust me right?”
I gazed into his hazel eyes.Of course I trust you.The words sat on the tip of my tongue. My stomach growled.
“I’m going to make you some food.” He stood, and my body cried out at the loss of his warm weight. “Shower first. I bet you’re ready to get out of those clothes.”
“Why, Cole, I thought you’d never ask.”
He glared. “You’re wet and cold, and coming down from a high. I’m going to get you something dry to wear, and you’re going to wash up. You’re filthy.”
I huffed. He didn’t have to say it like that.
He led me to a little bathroom. The ranch house wasn’t much to look at from the outside but inside everything looked clean and new.
“This is nice tile,” I said as if I was getting a tour. “Who did it?”
“I did.” Cole said. “I fix this place up on my days off.”
Of course he did.
He turned on the shower and tested the water. “In you go. Help yourself to soap and shampoo.”
“You’re not going to wash my back?” I snarked. The thought of a simple creature comfort like hot water brought my courage back.
“Not unless you need me to.” He raised a brow, as if waiting for me to be a smart aleck. Goddamn Cole Townsend. Even when he was twelve he’d had the ability to make me feel about two feet tall. When I said nothing, he nodded and left. The bathroom door clicked decisively behind him.
I stripped. I had to get out of this mess. My mom would be okay for the night—her nurse was there, but if she woke in the morning and I was still gone, she’d be worried sick. If she remembered who I was.
My best bet for escape was a high window which was at the end of the tub—a sign that this house was old enough to originally have a claw foot tub. If I stood on the tub’s edge, I could peer out at the rainy night, but the old frame seemed to be painted shut. I worked at it for a minute and got it to budge when the bathroom door opened.
“Regina?”
I froze.
“I’m just taking your wet things to the wash.”
“Okay!” I waited until the door closed again before cussing. There went my escape plan.
