She swallowed. “Bainsworth finally retired?” Her voice was carefully casual, but the fear and worry in her eyes belied her tone.
“He died. Cancer.” Alex paused when he noticed her infinitesimal flinch. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear. It was almost four months ago. The position was open, and the council was desperate. Frankly, I think they just wanted some fresh blood in here.” He eyed her curiously. “I take it you didn’t like the previous chief very much.”
She gave a short, high laugh and stood. “I need to get breakfast together.” Her face, tight and hard, discouraged conversation. He much preferred her with her mouth soft and her face flushed. Actually, he preferred her best naked and writhing underneath him.
It looked as though he would need to work some serious sweet talking before that happened.
Well, hell.
4
The new chief of police.
She’d saved the life of the new police chief. Oh, the irony.
She didn’t know why she’d convinced herself he couldn’t possibly live in Harrison. Maybe it was because she knew everyone who lived there and no one new ever moved to that damned place. Granted, she stayed far away from them, but she tried to keep up with what was going on in town. Why, the last time she’d spoken to Ron White, one of her mother’s only real friends…
Had been well before the summer. So Bainsworth hadn’t died yet, and the gossip on the exciting new hire wouldn’t have existed then. Since the rest of the townspeople and her avoided each other like the plague, she wouldn’t have gotten the news any other way. Newbury, where she went for all of her supplies and necessities, was far enough away and large enough not to bother with the rumor mill of its nearby neighbors.
Genevieve felt like throwing a good old-fashioned tantrum. In some weird corner of her mind, she’d entertained the notion she’d claimed a part of Alex when she’d saved his life. She didn’t want him tainted with the ugly brush she used to paint the residents of Harrison.
Not only a resident, but the police chief…ugh. Her irrational fear of lawmen was a bit ridiculous, she got it. Alex wasn’t Bainsworth, but still, he was a somebody, a man of influence and power. Men of influence and power plus small towns which looked the other way plus isolated women equaled nothing but disaster.
Should have let him die.Genevieve rejected the thought as soon as it occurred to her. No, she was grateful her powers had returned long enough for her to help Alex.
Now she had to do some severe damage control, though. She couldn’t let word get back that she wasn’t the wicked witch of the woods. Her reputation was part of her protection.
While she picked at her breakfast at the kitchen table, she tried to think of what to do with her troublesome houseguest. Oddly enough, the fact he was from New York reassured her a bit. There were people in the small mountain town of Harrison who considered residents who lived there for ten years “outsiders”. If he’d lived here a couple of months, then it wasn’t likely he was in any inner circle of corruption. Still, she couldn’t trust him, could she?
She’d helped him prop his head up on his pillows before handing him his food. He had cast a mournful glance at the bacon and eggs on her plate, but accepted his bowl of almost-liquid oatmeal. Despite his clear preference, he had methodically eaten his way through two bowls before breaking the silence with a decidedly casual tone. “Are you an international jewel thief?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Just wondering why you hate cops.”
“What makes you think I hate cops?” she hedged.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the way you hung all those do-not-touch signs all over yourself as soon as I mentioned my occupation.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You pointed a gun at me.”
“I pointed a gun at you before you told me you were a cop.”
He started to speak, but then stopped and looked thoughtful. “Huh. You’re right. Still, before, it was like a friendly gun pointing. You got all icy after. If you’d picked up the gun then, it would have been a mean, scared gun pointing.”
“A friendly… You’re crazy. And I don’t hate all cops.” Just those who abused the system, the ones within the good-old-boy hierarchy who could get away with murder.
“You can tell me.”
She shot him an exasperated look. “Stop it.”
“Did you rob a casino?”
“Eat your breakfast.”
“This isn’t a breakfast. This is what the nuns served us in elementary school.”
