“Because I didn’t trust myself around you. Because I thought you deserved better than me. And as much as I wanted you, I wanted you to have a good life. I figured you’d find better opportunity outside of this town.”
“And when I returned early? When I was twenty?”
“I’d just started my sheriff campaign. I went all in, even though I didn’t expect to win the first time around. I just didn’t have time to give.” He pulled me close, with a hand on my hip. “Should’ve stalked you and handcuffed you to the bed the minute you turned eighteen.”
“Better late than never.” I melted into him, feeling the ties of our past, and our future, binding us together.
“So what now?” I asked. My cheek pressed to Cole’s chest. “Am I still your naughty maid?”
“Only on weekdays. On my days off, I may just keep you chained to my bed.”
“Ooh, a real love slave.”
“I mean it. I’m not letting you go.”
I sat up and put a finger to his lips, feeling them curve into a smile. “I know.”
We made out for a while, and then Cole went to clean up. When he returned, the sight of him, shirtless with boxers hanging low on his lean hips, nearly set me off again.
I bounced out of bed. “Let’s celebrate.”
“How?”
“Post-coital ice cream.”
“I don’t eat junk food.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you don’t.”
Ten minutes later, we were at the Licking Hole corner store. I felt a little nervous when Cole came to open the truck door. It was the first time I’d be seen in public with the sheriff, who was a minor celebrity around these parts. And it was close to eleven pm on a Thursday night. The corner store was a popular hangout spot; we were certain to run into someone we knew.
Cole took my hand and I forgot all that, until we hit the freezer aisle. A skinny blonde, wearing a frown, brightened when she saw Cole.
“Sheriff?”
Lucy Litt, my old nemesis. She was trim and cute even in yoga pants. Or especially in yoga pants.
“Miss Litt,” Cole drawled like the good ole boy he was. “Good evening.”
“I haven’t seen you since the Policeman’s ball,” she gushed. Her eyes flicked up and down every inch of Cole’s six feet, lingering at the halfway point. “I guess you’re too busy to catch up with an old friend.” Her pout made me want to vomit.
“Not at all, Miss Litt. You remember Regina? I think you were in school together.”
Lucy’s smile turned plastic. “Regina? What a nice surprise,” she said, and meant the total opposite.
“Yes, it is nice.” I wore a fake smile of my own.
“What are you two doing here?”
“Just getting ice cream,” I said, opening a freezer and grabbing a pint. “Not staying long.”
“I had a question, actually, about some of the crime going on in town,” Lucy said. “I hear it’s mainly based in the trailer park—Regina, you know the one.”
I gritted my teeth as Lucy shot Cole a brilliant smile.
“Sheriff Townsend, do you have a minute?”
“Of course. You go on, Regina.” Cole held out some cash to me, and color flared into my cheeks. “I got it,” I waved the bill away and stomped to the register.
