Spring Seduction (Wyoming Fever Book 1)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Jade watched him go, enjoying the fluid way he moved. For such a tall man, he moved with a grace born of power and muscles. What did he do during the day to have so many muscles, she wondered.

  Sighing, she returned to her mural. “That’s a mystery for another day.” With the thought of a mystery, she glanced up at the loft, still stunned to finally understand why there were so many boards laid out across the rafters. “Who knew?” she whispered softly.

  Chapter 4

  Jade groaned at the sound of someone knocking on her front door, fighting gravity to open her eyes. She’d barely gotten two hours of sleep. “I’m going to remove the door!” she groaned, rolling onto her back and fumbled for her cell phone up, bringing it close so her fatigued eyes could read the time.

  “Eight am?” she groaned, rolling back over and pulling the pillow over her head. “I don’t care,” she muttered, referring to whoever was rude enough to knock on her door at such an ungodly hour.

  Unfortunately, the person knocking was persistent and she was a light sleeper. So instead of snuggling deeper into the bed, she kicked the sheets back and swung her legs over the side of the bed, determined to get rid of whoever it was.

  “Do you have any idea what…!” she stopped when her sleep-deprived mind registered the tall, handsome man standing on her front porch. “Simon!”

  “Good morning, sunshine,” he greeted her, handing her a cup of hot coffee as he stepped inside. “Why are you still sleeping?”

  Jade groaned, setting the coffee onto a side table as she padded barefoot back into her bedroom. “Go away,” she muttered, then slammed her bedroom door and crawled back into bed. She pulled the pillow over her head again, and closed her eyes…

  The bastard followed her, damn him. The door swung open and, a moment later, her bed dipped as he sat down next to her, causing her to roll towards him.

  “I need your help,” he announced cheerfully.

  “No!” she grumbled. “Go away!”

  “Didn’t sleep well?” he asked, pulling the pillow away. Evil bastard!

  “Wake up, sunshine,” he whispered. His voice was definitely too close to her ear.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped, shivering when he nibbled her earlobe. She rolled onto her back, pulling the pillow over her breasts. She wore her customary tee shirt, and she didn’t have a bra on. When Simon was around, she definitely needed a bra! In fact, after the other day, she planned to get some sports bras for better protection! His eyes saw way too much for her comfort!

  “I’m trying to wake you up,” he explained patiently. “Should I get into bed with you? Or are you going to come out and help me?”

  “I’m not getting out of bed. Whatever you need help with, call your partner.”

  “He’s following up on some other leads,” he told her, then stood and started taking off his jacket.

  “What are you doing?” Jade gasped, sitting up and pushing herself back against the headboard and pillows.

  “If you’re not going to get up to help me, then I’ll just have to get into bed and help you.”

  She stared at him and in that fraction of a second his jacket hit the floor. Then his fingers started working on his shirt buttons. “With what? I don’t need help!”

  He laughed softly, shaking his head. “You just said you didn’t sleep well last night. That’s why you’re tired.”

  “Yes, but that’s nothing you need to worry about.”

  “Of course I do. You’re exhausted because you were thinking about me,” he said, then bent lower and kissed her briefly. “That’s definitely something I can help with.”

  Jade didn’t bother to deny it. First of all, because he wouldn’t believe her. And secondly, he was right. She’d tossed and turned for most of the night, thinking about Simon. The bastard! He’d gotten under her skin and was driving her wild!

  “Look,” she sighed, pulling the pillow closer with one hand while pushing her hair out of her eyes with the other. “I appreciate your help with the locks. And I know that you have a job to do. Someone killed someone in my barn. You need access, go for it. I officially give you permission to enter my barn any time you need to look around. It’s open right now. And once I get it locked up, I’ll deliver a key to the police station. But right now, you need to–”

  “Why would you lock up a barn?” he asked, reaching under the sheets so that he could slide his hand along her leg.

  His fingers were warm and rough. Her body shuddered with anticipation. She tried to pull her leg away, but his fingers tightened on her knee, holding her leg in place.

  “Jade, why would you lock your barn?”

  “Because,” she closed her eyes, his hand inching higher. “What are you doing?”

  He smiled slightly, his eyes watching hers intently. “Waking you up.”

  Jade saw the look in his eyes and knew exactly what was going through his mind. Probably the same thing that she was thinking. But she’d spent too many hours last night thinking about this, and telling herself that “this” wasn’t a good idea. Not with Simon. She liked him too much. Plus, her body reacted too intensely for her to have any sort of control over the relationship. If he even wanted a relationship, that is.

  Not that she wanted one. Still, it was a good question. The man probably just wanted a quick roll in bed. And that wasn’t something that she did!

  Pulling her legs away, she moved to the opposite side of the bed, relieved when he allowed her escape.

  “Okay, well, I’m awake now,” she said, grabbing a robe off the hook on the bathroom door. “So, what did you need my help with? You seem like a resourceful fellow. I can’t imagine what kind of help you’d need from someone like me.”

  “Someone like you? What do you mean by that?”

  She shrugged, tightening the belt around her waist. “Well, someone new to the area and unaware of the dangers. Like the snow and the plows you mentioned the other day.” She huffed a bit. “I looked them up. You’re right. I don’t have the right kind of vehicle for winters in Wyoming. So, I’m going to remedy that. Are there any other dangers that I should be aware of?”

  He laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Besides me?”

  Jade shook her head, smiling despite her best efforts to resist his charm. “You’re not a danger,” she asserted firmly. “You’d never hurt a woman.”

  “You’re right about that, but I might be dangerous to your sleep.” He headed for the door. “Get dressed, Jade. I’ll be out in the barn.”

  Jade watched him leave, admiring the way the soft denim of his well-worn jeans curved around his very nice butt.

  “Stop looking at my butt!” he called out a moment before he turned the corner.

  Jade laughed, unable to stop herself. Darn it, how had he known she was looking?

  Rushing over to the door, she closed it firmly, then leaned back against it as she tried to contain her amusement. She didn’t want him to make her laugh, she thought rebelliously as she stepped into the shower. She didn’t want him to do anything to her! Like touch her with those rough, work-worn fingers of his. Good grief, she could still feel his hands trailing along her skin.

  She showered quickly, telling herself that she wasn’t going to do this. She absolutely would not fantasize about Detective Simon Kershaw. He was just a man. A handsome, well built, tall, and extremely attractive, in a rough, caveman-sort of way, man. But still, just a man. And any man, especially dominating, irritating, overwhelming men…were off of the menu!

  Pulling on jeans and a tee-shirt, she slipped her feet into a pair of Tom’s flats, pulled her hair back a bit and then, at the last moment, added a bit of concealer under her eyes to hide the dark circles. Since she was there, she dabbed a bit of lipstick on, adding some much needed color.

  Satisfied, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked down the hallway. She found Simon in her kitchen, checking his phone.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, smothering a yawn.

  “
Here,” he said, handing her the cup of coffee he’d brought her earlier.

  “Thank you,” she replied, taking a long sip. Thankfully, the coffee wasn’t scalding hot, so she could take a larger sip than normal, trying to get the caffeine to her system as quickly as possible. “Oh, that’s delicious!”

  “It’s from Jemma’s coffee house in town. Stop by and tell her I sent you. She’s great.”

  “Got it. Jemma’s in town. What else?”

  “Tell me why you’re going to lock up your barn,” he ordered, putting a hand to the small of her back and nudging her out the door.

  “Because I don’t want people coming into my barn,” she replied with a tinge of “duh” to her voice.

  “Why not? What’s in there you don’t want people to see?”

  She led him down the stone pathway towards her barn, admiring the wild landscape all around her. She breathed in the clean air and lifted her face up to the spring-warmed sunshine. “Goodness, it feels good out here!”

  He nodded. “I love this area. Especially in the spring when all of the hills are green and lush.”

  She looked at him curiously. “Have you lived other places?”

  “I was born here and grew up here. I went to college in Texas though.”

  “What did you study?”

  He gave her a self-deprecating smile. “I was pre-law. But when I finished my degree in political science, I knew that I was destined to solve mysteries. My heart wasn’t really into the whole law school thing.”

  That was a fascinating facet to this gruff man’s personality! “And you moved back here because…?”

  “Because it’s my home. I lived in the city for a while. I started as a cop in Houston. It’s a great city, lots of energy and has a good vibe. But it wasn’t the right fit for me. So, I decided to move back here, find a place to live and settle down to the life of a rustic detective.”

  “Do you get a lot of crime out here in Wyoming?”

  He laughed. “You city people think nothing happens out here,” he put a hand to her back again as she pushed open the double doors to the barn. “We have crime, although it’s not the same. We have murders and robberies, burglaries, stolen vehicles, but we also have poaching and drug related crimes.”

  “You have drugs out here?”

  He rolled his eyes. “There are illegal drugs everywhere. A lot come from Canada and are brought down through the rural areas where the police density is lower. We catch enough of them though.”

  “That’s good,” she replied, smiling her approval. Looking around, her eyes were automatically drawn to the spot where she’d found the body several days ago. “Okay, what do you need from me?”

  He handed her a measuring tape. “I need space measurements,” he said. He took the end of the measuring tape and walked to one spot – approximately the spot where the body had been.

  “What is it about Texas versus Wyoming that was different?” she asked, not wanting to think about the dead man.

  “The air is different,” he said, writing something down. He moved to a different spot. “I like the mountains too.”

  “For skiing?” she asked.

  “Hiking. I’m not a big fan of barreling down the side of a mountain.”

  She laughed, agreeing with him. “What else do you like about the state?”

  “The community is pretty great.” He moved again, wrote down the total, then moved to a different spot. He seemed intent on his measurements. “I also just like raising and riding horses.”

  “You have horses?” she asked, moving a step closer.

  “You’re not helping, Jade,” he said, adding a wink. “Of course I have horses.” He wrote down another number. “Just about everyone has a horse around somewhere. Either in their own stable or they keep their horse at a neighbor’s place.” He wrote down something else.

  “How many horses do you have? Just one?”

  He shook his head, concentrated on taking another measurement, then explained, “Horses are herd animals. It’s not healthy to keep just one horse. They get lonely.”

  That was news to her! “Really? You’re not just telling me that because I don’t know any better?”

  He blinked at her. “Why would I lie to you?”

  Jade shrugged. “Because some people like to humiliate others with their lack of knowledge.” She held the end of the measuring table and shrugged. “You might tell me something stupid, then I repeat it to others in town just to give them a laugh at how naïve the city girl is.”

  He looked up at that statement, realized that she was serious and abandoned his measuring. When he was less than an inch away from her, he took her hands and pulled her closer still. “Jade, I wouldn’t do that to you.” His thumb brushed against the top of her hand. “I would never purposely try to embarrass you.”

  She thought about that, then grinned as her next thought occurred to her. “You’d do it accidentally though?”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “I can’t promise never to accidentally embarrass you, honey.” With that, he bent and kissed the top of her head. “Come on. I have what I need in here. How about if I take you on a tour of your property and point out a few things?”

  She grinned, smiling up at him. “That would be really nice! Are you sure that you have time?”

  “Sure,” he laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “I have plenty of overtime to work off.”

  For the next few hours, they walked around her property and up along the sides of the deceptively steep hills. He showed her rabbit tracks, fox tracks, explained the difference between a fox print and a coyote. Simon explained about the weather patterns, how the mountains lifted the air currents on the western side of the Rocky Mountain ranges, which cooled the air and pulled the water out, which was why so much of this side of the Rockies was dry.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said, more awed by this wildly rugged state than she had been the first time she’d seen it months ago. “Thank you!”

  He looked down at her, smiling slightly. “You know that tiny car of yours isn’t going to make it through the winter, right?”

  She grinned. “So you’ve mentioned.”

  “So, you’re going to trade it in and get something more practical?”

  The wind picked up at that moment, ruffling Simon’s hair. He looked like one of the wild cowboys she’d always dreamed about. Of course, during her fantasies, those cowboys also had a lasso tied at their waist and six shooters on each side of their hips. She looked down, smiling at the pistol on his hip.

  “What’s so funny about my pistol?” he asked, stepping closer so that she was pinned against the fence railing.

  “I always thought the cowboys in Wyoming were tougher. You’re not so tough, are you Detective?”

  He growled and pressed his body against hers. “I’m pretty damn tough!” And then he kissed her. It was a hard kiss, filled with passion and desire. It took her breath away! Over and over, his lips moved across hers, teasing until she opened for him. Then he really kissed her!

  Vaguely, she felt something vibrate, but thought it was just the earth trembling along with her. But when Simon finally lifted his mouth, she realized that the vibrating was actually his phone.

  He pulled his cell phone off of the clip on his side and checked the message. When he sighed heavily, Jade knew that their beautiful interlude was over. He had to leave. When he looked into her eyes, she knew it was true.

  “Don’t tell me,” she sighed, laying a hand on his chest. “You have an emergency.”

  “Arik found something,” Simon explained. “It might give us a clue as to what happened to Albert.”

  Jade stepped back, feeling cold now that Simon’s warmth no longer surrounded her. “Go,” she said softly, adding a smile. “You have things to do and so do I.”

  He growled, pulling her closer to kiss her again. Hard! When he stepped back, Jade could see the heat smoldering in his eyes. He wanted her! The tough and formidable Detective Simon w
anted her! What a mind bending thought!

  “That smile of yours is going to be the death of me,” he said, then turned on his heel and walked away. Jade watched, admiring the width of his shoulders and long strides as he disappeared around the corner. Goodness, he was hot!

  She turned and almost danced her way to the barn. Once in there, she realized where her project had gone wrong before and pushed everything out of the way. It took her about six hours to redraw the lines, but by afternoon, she was ready to start setting the mosaic tiles. She worked through the night, not stopping until her eyes refused to focus any longer. Only then did she look up to realize that the sun had set and she’d worked for more than eighteen hours!

  When she finally crawled into bed, even with her exhaustion, Jade struggled to fall asleep. She couldn’t seem to get her mind to shut off. She knew that she couldn’t go out and keep working on her mosaic project, but sleep was slow to come.

  After her mind finally slowed down from sheer exhaustion, Jade dreamed about wind, deep kisses, and strong hands holding her gently as warm, powerful lips teasing her until she could barely breathe!

  Chapter 5

  He rang the doorbell again. When Jade didn’t answer, Simon turned to Arik. “I was just here yesterday. She was fine.”

  “Maybe she’s working in the back?”

  Simon breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered her intensity yesterday when he’d come by to take the measurements. “That’s probably it,” he agreed.

  “Why don’t you stay here in case she answers the door? I’ll go around and take a look.”

  Simon shook his head. “You’re right. She’s probably down at the barn. I’ll go with you. If she’s not there working, then I’ll knock on the back door. It’s closer to her bedroom.”

  Arik knew exactly what was going through his partner’s mind. “She’s fine, Simon. From what you’ve discovered, Albert wasn’t murdered. If you’re right, it was an accident.”