Chapter One
Thanksgiving Day is comingup and should be a family event.What a joke!My mother couldn’t even be bothered to pick me up from the airport. Even after I told her I would fly in from Florida. Once again, she has forgotten me. Looking at my watch, I sigh. It’s been twenty minutes, and no one has shown their face around here. Then again, did I expect her to show up? Not in a million years.So why did you come here then?My mind likes to bicker with me about whether or not I am a glutton for punishment. I think I am. Lugging my duffle bag onto my shoulder; I sigh and walk out the door of the airport.
Looking at my cell phone, I notice the battery is dead. Shit, I should have brought the portable battery charger I had. I laugh at myself because I can see exactly where I left the damn thing in my apartment.
The wind has a chilly aspect to it I can’t stand. It’s why I go to college in Florida and spend most of my free time in Austin with my brother. This year, his new girlfriend wanted to spend time in Hawaii. Just the two of them. Screw her and the way she makes me feel like a third wheel.
As I walk the four-mile trek to the mayor’s mansion, cars pass me by like I’m not even here on the side of the road. It’s irritating but understandable because who picks up a stranger in this day and age?
Keeping my head down, I watch the time on my watch tick slowly away. I know I’m not too far from home. A sign ahead tells me there’s two miles to Clover Trails.Thank God.Maybe my mother didn’t get the message I left her yesterday that I was coming home. Laughing at myself, I shake my head. Yeah right. She’s more than likely entertaining guests for the holidays and purposefully forgot about me.
“Hell, it’s cold,” I mutter to myself and shiver, tucking my chin against my chest. A siren startles me, and I slip on the wet pavement. Righting myself before my ass hits the ground, I step closer to the edge of the road, thinking the police car will move on. It doesn’t. The vehicle remains running, but the person stepping out of it isn’t Sheriff Henley.
“What the hell are you doing walking out here?”
The man’s voice is thick like honey, and it makes me flush. I blink, completely taken aback at the surge of want sending electricity through me. No one has ever made me feel this way. My eyes roll before I can stop them. Oh well, he can get over it. I don’t like how his chocolate eyes stare at me. It’s as if he can see all my secrets that are buried deep within me.
“Hey, I’m talking to you.” He’s closer than I thought because he grabs my arms and swings me around. I fully expect him to hit me, and I shrink back before I can control my reaction.
“Don’t touch me!” I yelp, defensively pulling myself away.
“Then stop moving,” he snarls at me.
With him this close to me, I see four freckles on his nose and how full his lips are. He smells so good that I want to sniff him, but I keep myself from doing it. Damn, he’s tall. I’m five-nine, and he’s definitely a foot taller than me. He’s broad through theshoulders, and his waist tapers off. With the way I’m looking at him, you’d think he was a piece of meat.
“I’ve stopped moving. Where’s Henley?” I arch an eyebrow at him, and I notice that his left jaw is ticking.
“Retired. I’m Sheriff Noah Vincardi. What’s your name?”
Normally, I would act nice and professional. I mean, my mother is the mayor after all. But I can tell my snarky attitude is getting under Noah’s skin, and it pleases me.
Giving him a smirk, I go for bitchy. “None of your business.”
“Ladybug, this town is my business and since you’re standing on city property, that makesyou,my business.” Noah winks at me, and I want to kiss him. Ugh, that doesn’t sit well with me because I don’t want to be attracted to the douche.
I huff. “Arrogant much?” He takes a step closer to me, and my heart skips a beat. To deflect how he is affecting me, my sassy side comes out. “Am I under arrest? Because my mother is the mayor of this town. I’m sure she would like to know you are detaining her daughter for simply walking to town.”
He raises an eyebrow at me, and I smirk. “You think name-dropping that your mother is the mayor is a big deal to me?”
The smirk leaves my face as he crowds me. I almost tremble at the smell of his cologne filling my nostrils. Rolling my eyes, I laugh sarcastically. “It should.” I’m lying. My mother hates me. I’m the black sheep of the family. That’s why I haven’t been home since I graduated from high school.
Noah touches my face, and I jerk back, thinking he’s going to slap me. The frown on his face worries me, but I stand still, waiting. I hate how I’m afraid of being hurt, even after all this time.
“I’ll take you home, Othella.” He steps back enough that his body heat is missed almost immediately.
“How the hell do you know my name?” My back goes rigid, and fear forces me to swallow. Is he working for my mother? Is he one of her goons?
“I make it my business to know everyone that comes through our airport.” I don’t know if I am more disappointed or irritated that I thought my mother might give a shit about me and have this man come pick me up. Noah smiles at me.
It melts me a little, but I refuse to let it happen. Trusting him would be foolish. “No thanks, I’ll walk.”
I turn away from his overbearing presence and frown. When he is near me, I can’t seem to think. My feet leave the ground, and I scream.
“You don’t get to walk away from me.” His rough voice makes me squirm, but I’m so angry at his audacity, I swear at him.
His deep laugh permeates the air as he walks us back to his car. “Pipe down, ladybug.” His hand comes down on my ass, and I howl out in rage.
“You did not just hit me?” There he goes again, calling me ladybug.Why do I like that?
