“Thinking I’d turn to you for protection?” she asked.
He nodded, his nostrils flaring. “But you turned to that Maxwell asshole instead.”
Raine. Oh, God. The sheriff had called him earlier that morning. “Where is Raine?”
“He’s at the station answering questions with a couple of deputies.” The sheriff waved away the question. “I just needed time to talk to you.”
Wait a minute. She had a stalker in Dallas, was followed by Raine, kidnapped by Kurjans, and now taken by the sheriff? She barked out a hysterical laugh. This was crazy. “I must have some seriously whacked out pheromones,” she muttered.
“What?” the sheriff asked.
She eyed the side doors. They were locked, and there was no way out. Well, there was one way. She bunched her legs and burst through the opening in the divider between the front and rear seats, landing on her knees and hitting her chin on the dash. She moved to the right and kicked back with one leg, smashing Baker’s nose.
He howled and reached for his gun. She pivoted to grab it.
His door was jerked open, and he flew out to land on his ass.
Raine leaned in. “You okay?”
She gulped and nodded.
Raine turned and punched Sheriff Baker in the jaw. The sheriff fell back into the mud, arms splayed, out cold. “Damn it,” Raine muttered.
Mariana scrambled out of the vehicle. “You only got to hit him once.”
Raine turned on her. “This is what happens when you don’t stay where I tell you to stay.”
“Wasn’t my fault,” she said quietly. “How are you here?”
He pulled her close and kissed her. Hard and then soft. “I figured out it was a scam after the first question, and I headed right for you. Caught your scent.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Literally?”
“Yeah.” He kissed her again and held her close. “I love you, Mariana Lopez.”
She snuggled into his hard body. “I love you, too. Forever.”
He chuckled. “It’s going to be an adventure.”
“I hope so.” Then she laughed along with him.
Epilogue
The boisterous crowd had bundled up against the early snow, their happiness obvious as they enjoyed the outdoor festivities following Evan O’Connell being made sheriff. He’d won easily, and Sheriff Baker had conceded…from a jail cell. The guy would face some time for kidnapping Mariana and blowing up the truck. Raine was glad about that.
Kind of. He would’ve liked to have gotten in a couple more punches.
Mariana hustled up with apple ciders in both mitten-covered hands. With a white knit hat on her hair, she looked adorable. A snowflake landed on her nose. “Here. It’s delicious.”
“Thanks.” He’d watched her the entire time she’d worked the crowd with Tabi and was comfortable that she was safe. The drink was good. Nice and warm.
Her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket to glance at the face. “It’s Laura.” She quickly pressed a button. “Hi. You’re on speaker with Raine. He can’t wait to meet you when you visit next month.”
Raine smiled even as he scanned the gathering for any threats. “Hi.”’
“Hi. Can’t wait to meet you, too.” Laura sounded distracted. “You’re not going to believe this, but we’ve found your stalker. Do you remember a computer tech named Kenny Jilloby?”
She swallowed. “Kind of? I think he worked on our system a couple of times.”
