Her hand flew into the air, cutting off his words.
“Really, you risked your life to keep drugs off the street, saving people from living like zombies and overdosing. And after what I’ve seen in the past day and a half, the job is as risky as it gets. So yes, you’ve done great things. And helping me right now, is above and beyond the call of duty for a charter boat captain.”
When she defended his work as a drug investigator and put him on a pedestal, something shifted inside him. He leaned in without thinking and kissed her lovely, bow-shaped mouth. She kissed him softly as she eased her way onto his lap. A scary level of energy sparked between them. Scary in the sense that he wasn’t ready to open his heart as much as it begged him to. Yeah, it had been five years since Blythe had left him, ripping his heart to shreds. Still, when he thought about it, white-hot anger coursed through his veins.
His mother’s words ran through his head. “An angry heart has no room for love, but a heart needs love to survive.”
He hated it when his mother said that to him, yet he knew she was right. With his younger brother having just married and seeing how much Hunter and Hannah adored each other, he’d been thinking about letting the anger go, but he couldn’t figure out how to do it.
Emma’s tongue ran across the seam of his lips, and he let her in. The soft touch of her fingertips heated his skin as she skimmed them over his arms and then dug into his shoulders. He slid his hands down her sides and under her long t-shirt until he reached the bare flesh of her sides. Her skin was warm and soft. To take in more of her warmth, he splayed his hands. His thumbs rested on her stomach, palms on her sides, and fingers wrapped around to her lower back. This is as far as he’d go for now, though the thought of pressing more of his bare skin to hers appealed to him greatly.
A knock sounded on the front door. He sprang to his feet, adrenaline snapping him back into protector mode. He peeked out the window. Deputy Vanderwood faced the door.
Cap threw open the bolt and let her in.
“I just need the restroom,” she said as she stepped through the doorway.
The woman had horrible timing.
Cap shut the door behind her and then moved toward the window again to keep watch while Donna used the restroom.
“It’s been quiet. Not a lot of traffic at all on Glidden,” Donna said when she returned to the room.
“That’s good,” Cap said.
“I’ll be here until eleven o’clock. Deputy Schneider will relieve me then. The poor kid will be on a twelve-hour shift, working overtime. He’s new. Have you met him?” she asked.
“No. I don’t believe so,” Cap replied.
“He’s fresh out of the academy.”
The fact that Schneider was new didn’t surprise Cap; most third-shift deputies were new.
“No worries, though, the shift sergeant is well aware of this situation and will run middle tonight to be close by.”
“Sounds good. Thanks.”
Donna exited the cabin and returned to her squad. The poor woman was probably bored to death on this detail.
Emma rose from the loveseat and walked toward him.
“What’s middle?” she asked through puffy, well-kissed lips.
Yep, he did that, and he was proud of it.
“The sheriff’s department runs four on a shift this time of year. One north, one south, and two in the middle of the county. Since one deputy will be here, there will only be one deputy running middle, and the sergeant is doing that. Staffing is tight. They probably couldn’t put anyone else on. It’ll be fine,” he assured.
Emma stepped toward him, wrapped her thin arms around his waist, and leaned into him, placing her cheek on his chest.
“With you here, I have no worries.”
She needed to stop complimenting him, or his heart would explode.
Emma stepped back and looked up at him with those dark eyes of hers. What was she thinking?
Her mouth opened wide with a yawn.
“I’m tired too. It’s been a long day. I think we should turn in.” As she said that, her irises darkened.
