After mulling it over, he decided to answer honestly.“I didn’t want a leg up from him.He’s not someone I admire.”
Jackson studied Wade in silence.Their situations were similar on the surface.Jackson was a young, ambitious officer who worked for an overbearing father.Unlike Boyd Hendricks, however, Sheriff Nava appeared to run a clean department.He was tough but fair.Wade hadn’t expected an easy ride in Lost Lake, and he knew he wouldn’t get one.Even so, he liked it here.He felt more at ease than he had in Last Chance.
Wade left the young deputy to his own devices and grabbed a quick meal at a drive-through before he returned to the station.Sheriff Nava was in his office with the door closed.Wade opted not to disturb him.
At his own desk, he buried himself in the research he’d started earlier, crossing names off the list until there were none left.Frustrated by the dead end, he exited the database and rubbed his screen-tired eyes.He might have to widen his search to include the entire state of Texas.Before he did that, he would email Texas A&M for a list of dropouts.The local newspaper was another resource to tap.It would have articles about college-bound students, especially athletes.Wade made a note to contact the coroner about the official death report and follow up with forensics.
A glance out the crooked blinds of the office window revealed that night had fallen.Wade closed his laptop.He needed to stay on Nava’s good side, and putting in overtime to investigate a cold case wasn’t the best use of department funds.He left the station, climbed behind the wheel of his truck, and headed back to Nolan Ranch.OrWisteria Farmsas the fancy soaps boasted.
When he arrived, the house was dark and quiet.The dogs had been put away.Wade wondered how Mary was feeling.She’d been prickly this morning, and she’d rejected him last night, but that didn’t mean she disliked him.Judging by the way she’d responded to his touch, she liked him just fine.
He stripped out of his uniform and sprawled out on the floor.Against his better judgment, he let his thoughts wander to Mary.He remembered how she’d looked before he kissed her.He replayed that moment in his mind, among others.
Read my lips, Hendricks.
Wade rolled over with a low groan.Arousal thrummed in his veins and pooled in his groin.He considered taking the problem in hand, so to speak, and disregarded it.His mother had been right about one thing.He did need the privacy of his own space.Jerking off in the living room was not an option.
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to sleep, to no avail.After a restless half hour, he rose from the floor, donned clothes, and went for a walk around the property.He hadn’t investigated the barn yet.Inside the dog run, King stood as silent as a statue, his eyes shining with quiet intelligence.Daisy, his polar opposite, put her paws up on the gate and regarded Wade with a thumping tail.Wade reached out to let her sniff his hand as he passed by.She licked his knuckles in a display of affection that surprised him.
The barn was set apart from the house, near the goat pen.One of the goats bleated plaintively into the still night.Wade opened the wooden door and ventured inside.He expected rusty tools and moldy hay, but the space smelled clean, even floral.He switched on a lamp by the doorway and found himself in a tidy workshop.
Wade closed the door behind him and looked around.Metal shelves were stacked with baskets of flowers and other ingredients.There were barrels of lye in the corner.Blocks of soap, curing in cheesecloth, sat on top of a long wooden table.A fresh-cut square of soap had been left out, so he picked it up.The soap was pale pink, like strawberry ice cream.
He held it to his nose and inhaled.This was Mary’s scent.
He preferred the cedar soap for himself, because it had a woodsy smell, but he knew she used this one.He recognized it immediately, and his body reacted as if she was standing here with him, pressing her lips to his.Desire swelled inside him.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.He’d gone too long without sex.If he didn’t have some kind of release, he was going to explode.Wade glanced around the quiet interior of the barn, contemplating the space.It was private enough.He could unbutton his pants and stroke himself right here, but the chance of getting caught gave him pause.Maybe he should go farther away, into the gardens.He pictured himself wanking furtively in the moonlight while goats bleated and chickens squawked.
Not a good look.
Wade kept his pants on, because he wasn’t a horny teenager anymore.He could endure arousal without satisfaction.Although he was tired, his feet didn’t move.He wanted to linger for a moment, and wallow in Mary’s scent.He lifted the soap to his nose again, inhaling deeply.Then he heard the creak of the barn door.
Damn.
He glanced over his shoulder to confirm the worst-case scenario.Mary, the object of his desire, stood in the doorway in an oversized T-shirt, pajama pants, and half boots.Her eyes were wide, her lips parted in wonder.
“What…” Her voice trailed off as her gaze traveled down his body.“What are you doing out here?”
Wade couldn’t come up with an answer.He’d been caught with a raging hard-on and a bar of soap.Unable to think of a plausible excuse, he turned the question back to her.“What areyoudoing out here?”
“I heard the goats,” she said.“We get predators sometimes.”
“Predators?”
“Coyotes.”
“They come into the barn?”
“No, they try to get in the chicken coop.”Her brow furrowed with confusion.“Are you going to wash something?”
He choked out a laugh, more amused than embarrassed.He remembered their first encounter, when she’d mistaken him for an intruder and pointed a shotgun at him.At least she wasn’t armed tonight.“Not exactly.”
“You have a bar of soap.”
Wade couldn’t deny the obvious.“I was smelling it.It smells like you.”
She studied him for a long, awkward moment.This was not an appropriate interaction to have with his mother’s employee, but whatever.He hadn’t sought her out.She’d come to him.They kept bumping into each other, like moths to flame.
