by E A Price
Chapter Five
Deanna tentatively knocked on the sheriff’s door, and he called for her to come in.
Jake sat behind his desk; both palms resting on top, and he was staring at the wall in front of him.
“Gabe’s interviewing that construction worker, and I put your guest in cell number one,” Deanna told him.
“My guest,” repeated Jake slowly.
Deanna pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. “Yes, the irate redhead who was practically spitting when you brought her in.”
Jake winced. What the hell had he been thinking?
“I wouldn’t say she was a guest – I arrested her. And I wouldn’t call her irate, she was just being feisty, and I’d say her hair was burnished gold…”
He stopped as Deanna let out a giggle and looked at her sharply.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just that when people call my mate wild, I always get all defensive and say that he’s just fun-loving. When you were talking about her, you just reminded me of me, to be honest.”
Jake narrowed his eyes. “Did you want something else?”
“How long are you planning on keeping her here?”
“She verbally abused me,” he said hotly.
“She called you butthole – yeah, Cain already told us everything.”
Jake rolled his eyes. Mouthy bear. He could tell that she was forcing herself not to laugh, for which he was thankful. His wolf was already on edge.
Deanna watched him carefully. “It’s just that I’ve heard people call you worse, and you never said a word. Jeez, Hans Lucas has called you worse, and he’s a friend of yours.”
“Friend might be a bit strong,” he muttered thinking of the aggressive wolf.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else going on here? She looked all hot and bothered when you brought her in, but not exactly in an I’m-being-held-against-my-will kind of way. I mean, there are easier ways to get to know a woman other than arresting them.”
It went against the instincts of his wolf, but Jake said, “I’ll give her an hour to cool off, and then I’ll let her go.”
Deanna nodded and turned to leave.
“Does everyone think I brought her in because I… uh…”
She turned back and smiled warmly. “Who cares what other people think?” She was halfway out the door before she added, “but yes, they do.”
Quickly, she shut the door and made her escape. Wily bobcat.
Jake leaned back in his chair and replayed the day’s events. It was pretty normal right up until he got floored by a fiery, five-foot-five bundle of gorgeousness. His wolf yipped happily as a vision of her flashed in front of him. He had to admit it; he’d never had such a strong reaction to a woman. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, but she had something more that other women didn’t.
It wasn’t just her sinful curves, the luscious outline of her breasts, her long, silken, golden red hair, her pretty heart-shaped face. No, it was more than that. It was her, the way she moved, the way she talked, the way her forehead creased when she was mad, the way she pouted when she was mad, the way she balled up her fists when she was mad – okay, she was just adorable when she was mad. It made him want to fall to the ground and bear his soul to her. It made him want to tell her everything about himself and beg her to accept him. His wolf was all for that; he could feel the beast already circling the word mate and that, quite frankly, freaked him out. He had no idea who this woman was!
But, he knew he wanted her. And her eyes… they were unusual. Dark brown that illuminated against her pale skin, but they shimmered with flecks of green and yellow. They were… mesmerizing. For a moment, he’d forgotten why he’d bothered to go to that godforsaken construction site. It certainly wasn’t for the warm welcome!
She wasn’t his true mate. No, he would have been able to scent her if she were. In fact, her scent seemed to be obscured from him. It was strange; maybe it was her perfume, but if he had scented her without seeing her first, he would have sworn she wasn’t human. The problem was; if she wasn’t human, what was she? No, of course, she was human, if she were anything else he would be able to tell. But, he had to admit, she appealed to him more than anyone ever had, and there was definitely something about her that called to him on a primal level. He didn’t need to guess how his wolf felt on the matter; the dopey creature practically started doing back flips when he saw her stalking towards them.
She’d been sullen and quiet on the way over, only telling them her name. Val Daniels. Jake scratched his chin. He guessed this was Glenn’s replacement, and she was a lot more welcome than the weasel-like man had been.
Of course, he had to ruin things by making her hate him. His wolf snarled at him, and for once, Jake didn’t hush him. Yeah, he screwed up by arresting her. It was hardly the best course of action he could have taken. But, in truth, he panicked.
Seeing her being all feisty, and cute made him quiver inside; it made him feel helpless and pissed that he couldn’t stop the desire for this woman coursing through him. He’d never lacked for control with other women; no, he could always take them or leave them. But with this one, he felt his control pack its bags and run off on vacation. And he didn’t like that.
He was a self-confessed control freak and suddenly not having control over himself and definitely not having control over the fiery woman in front of him infuriated him. So he did the only thing he could to regain some control over the situation. Yep, he did the worst thing possible and arrested her. His wolf had howled at him in objection, but, regretfully, he hadn’t listened.
Would she forgive him? Probably not. But darn she had looked cute when she was all spitting mad, and he had to admit that seeing her in the handcuffs had awakened something hungry inside him.
Was she interested in him? The asshole sheriff who arrested her the first time he met her? He had actually scented arousal coming from her, but he couldn’t exactly be certain that it was for him.
His wolf roared in outrage at the thought of her lusting after any other man. No, she was his damnit!
Maybe he should go and see her. His wolf perked up at the thought. Yes, he could go and apologize and make amends, and show her that, occasionally, he could be a reasonable guy. Yes, he and his beast were itching to see her again, and letting her go might actually repair some of the damage. Yes, he had to go do that right now!
He got up and almost ran to his door only to have it swing open in his face. With irritation, Jake saw that Cain was filling the doorframe. Ugh, what the hell did he want?
“What?” barked Jake, trying to dodge round him.
The huge bear shifter remained still. “Mrs. Martin called.”
Jake tried not to groan too loudly. Mrs. Martin was the town busybody. He wouldn’t mind her daily calls if she were actually just a harmless old woman, but no, she was malicious and spread gossip in the hope of creating mischief. And she was convinced that numerous pack mates were out to get her.
“What does she want today?” asked Jake in resignation.
You ignored Mrs. Martin’s calls at your peril.
Cain huffed; he was one of many people in town who’d had a run-in with the older woman. Of course that might have been Cain’s fault, he did barge into her house when he was searching for his mate… “She says her car’s been stolen.”
Jake raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Did she check her garage?”
Yep, last time they’d rushed over to her house it was to find her ‘stolen car’ parked in the garage. She’d put it in there because she thought it might snow, and then had promptly forgotten. They wouldn’t have minded so much if Mrs. Martin had actually just apologized for wasting their time, but no, she was remorseless to the end and blamed them for not suggesting she look in her garage when she first called the station.
“She says she did.”
“Can you…”
Cain smirked. “She’s demanding that the sheriff himself come out and investi
gate.”
Of course she was. Jake would expect nothing less. He’d say no, but it really wasn’t worth the complaint she would make to the Mayor. They really didn’t need to give the guy another excuse to hate them.
“Fine, but you’re coming with me.”
Ha, that knocked the smug look off the bear’s face. The huge guy nodded but started grumbling. Yeah, big guy, that’s how we all feel about Mrs. Martin.
Knowing Mrs. Martin, this would take a few hours. Ms. Daniels would have to be released in his absence. His wolf didn’t like that, but Jake tried to soothe him. Maybe it would be better if he allowed the woman time to cool off. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere; she was going to be in town for a while. He had plenty of time to make a better impression. Yeah, he had plenty of time to wow her… now he just had to figure out how to wow a woman. Usually he just took his shirt off, and mumbled a couple of words about her being attractive, but perhaps he needed to be a bit subtler and a bit more romantic. Ugh, romance, not his forte…
*
Val paced up and down in her cell. Yes, her cell! She couldn’t believe that the infuriatingly sexy sheriff had actually put her in a cell. Well, actually, he hadn’t even bothered to put her in himself, no, he’d passed her off to a small, blonde deputy. That had been disappointing; part of her really wanted him to associate her with being locked up and restrained… jeez, why did that turn her on?
In her other sexual encounters, hadn’t she been the one who was in control? Hadn’t she liked it that way, and the men she was with, hadn’t they always enjoyed laying back and letting her have her bossy little way with them? So why was she more turned on than ever at the thought of the gruff sheriff dominating her? She felt something stir deep down inside her, and instinctively she traced her mother’s ring.
No, it didn’t matter how attracted she was to him, she was angry with him. Yes, first and foremost she was angry, there was no getting past that.
Even if he came in there and gave her that smoldering look and captured her with those dark eyes… wait, what was her point?
She jumped as a tall, lithe, dark-haired deputy came in. Oh, she was so fresh faced and young, damn her, she didn’t even need to wear make-up! Val guessed she was a shifter too; her perfect toned body suggested she was, however, was that the beginnings of a baby bump? Good, she was soon going to get fat!
Oh lord, maybe it was the sheriff’s baby!
The young deputy gave her a dazzling smile. “Hi, I’m Delilah.”
“Are you a wolf?” blurted Val.
Delilah giggled. “Sure am.”
Val pointlessly tried to finger comb her hair, to try and make herself a little more presentable. “Like the sheriff?”
“Yeah, we’re both part of the pack.”
“Hmmm, so you know each other well?”
Val was sure Delilah could tell she was fishing, but she didn’t care. What could she do? Arrest her for being nosy? Ha! Too late.
Delilah nodded. “Yes, we’re friends. I’m mated to a black bear, though.”
“Oh!”
Val felt a rush of relief. Good, good. One woman down. Now she just had to go around town and check that every other woman wasn’t sleeping with her sheriff. No, the sheriff, not her sheriff. Not yet, a small voice added.
Val blushed at her thoughts but was soon distracted as she realized that Delilah was opening her cell.
“You’re letting me go?” she asked incredulously.
Delilah giggled sweetly again. “Of course, the sheriff was never going to charge you. I think he just wanted you to cool down. We’re a small town, but we don’t hang people just for calling people buttholes.”
Val cringed. Why had the word butthole sprung to mind? Could she not have thought of something better, something wittier? Or better yet, could she not have kept her big mouth shut?
She covered her embarrassment quickly with bravado. “Oh, was the sheriff too scared to come and let me out himself?”
The young wolf shifter smirked and winked disconcertingly. “Oh, he wanted to be here, believe me, but he got called away.”
Val didn’t know why she was actually a little happy about that, or what the woman actually meant. Was she suggesting that the sheriff wanted to see her again? Was she suggesting that he threw her in jail as some kind of flirty gesture? Should she be ashamed that the thought of that aroused her? Best not to dwell too much on those thoughts right at that second.
“We’ve finished interviewing your worker,” Delilah’s voice became a little cold and Val wondered if Delilah had been the one to make the complaint against Trip. “My colleague, Gabe, will drive you both back to the construction site.”
“Thanks, nice to meet you,” muttered Val.
Delilah’s frostiness evaporated. “You too, it was really nice to meet you. Don’t be a stranger; I’m sure the sheriff would love to have you back. He’s a great guy, by the way.”
Val murmured a non-committal sound and quickly made her escape. Would the sheriff love to have her back? Did that mean he wanted to arrest her again? Hell, why did she find that exciting?
One meeting with the sheriff and she had turned into a sex-mad loon. Perhaps it would be best to try and stay out of his way. Or maybe she should do something to get his attention. Aha! She should steal something from the local grocery shop.
Oh, god, no, that was a terrible idea! Hell, what was wrong with her?
Chapter Six
Later that night, after having trawled through hours and hours of paperwork, Val was happily crawling into bed. She was staying in a guest cabin on the outskirts of town. The owners usually only opened them up to holidaymakers in the summer months, but they had agreed to give Val a special rate. It was actually quite roomy and contained a small kitchenette. It was better than her first apartment.
She kind of thought that she was starting to make some headway with the paperwork Glenn had left behind, but not by much. She couldn’t make heads or tails of the architect’s plans for the hotel, and when she called the office she found out that Glenn hadn’t actually used one of the firm’s usual freelance architects. She had no idea where the plans came from; for all she knew Glenn had drawn them up himself!
Also, Glenn didn’t appear to have ordered enough materials for the job. He didn’t even appear to have ordered any bathroom fixtures. You couldn’t have a hotel with toilets!
She needed to have another crack at things tomorrow. Or course, she might have gotten through more today if she hadn’t been arrested…
Oh, that damn sheriff! He was invading nearly every single one of her waking thoughts. It was so… so… thoughtless!
How was she supposed to concentrate when he was strutting around town being all brusque and attractive and tall and muscular…? Damn him!
Val punched her pillow into a more comfortable shape. Or maybe, she was just relieving sexual tension. It had been a while since she last had sex. Hell, it was before Christmas. She’d very stupidly fallen back into the arms of an ex-boyfriend at the office Christmas party because she was feeling lonely. She later discovered that he was getting married, and she was his last fling. Dick.
Yes, she was just horny. That’s what it was. It had nothing to do with the sheriff – it was all about her. Yes…
Earlier she’d called her neighbor to check on Tumbles. She managed to get her 13-year-old neighbor Nancy to feed Tumbles for free. The kid loved animals. Apparently, Tumbles was enjoying being looked after by Nancy and the young girl gushed at how affectionate he was. Traitorous little hairball. Tumbles that is, not Nancy.
She then called Hilary to let her know how it was going. She vented at how frustrating the whole situation was, and Hilary alternately soothed her and gave her a pep talk. Her best friend was a one-woman cheer squad. Hilary had asked whether there were any hot men in town and, lord help her, Val had immediately become tongue-tied, leading to cackles of laughter from Hilary and demands to know all the details. Val then proceeded to rant and rail abo
ut the sheriff, clearly a little too passionately, because when she was done, Hilary told her to go for it. Frustrated, Val ended the call with Hilary telling her not to do anything she wouldn’t do. Not likely…
After that, Val gave up and decided to head back to her temporary home in her rental car. As she pulled up, her phone rang with an unknown number. Shrugging, she’d answered it, and it chilled her when Lester’s voice hissed down the line
“Where are you?”
She paled. “None of your…”
“You’re out of town. You can’t hide forever. I will find you, you dirty, filthy, half…”
She’d hung up at that point and swung around, wildly searching the surrounding woodland for unknown stalkers. She calmed down. Lester, the freakazoid, was back in Georgia, back in Ursa. He didn’t know where she was; she was safe.
She couldn’t understand his reaction. They had one date, and it did not go well. Was this all because she wouldn’t go on a second date with him? Would any man really be that desperate to spend time with her? It wasn’t a matter of self-esteem, but she seriously doubted any guy would like her enough to become a crazy stalker. She just wasn’t the type to incite those kinds of feelings.
She’d considered calling the Detective back in Ursa; she still had his card in her wallet. But, it was late, and she doubted the Detective could really do anything anyway at that moment. Plus, she was safe in Rose. She’d consider calling in the morning, when she was less tired.
At that moment, all she wanted to do was sleep, ignore the creeping suspicion that she was being watched, and pretend her muscles weren’t sore and achy. Instead, she focused on the much more desirable image of the sheriff and allowed slumber to take over.
*
Jake rubbed himself against the trees surrounding Val’s cabin. Well, it was either that or pissing up against them, and he doubted she’d like that.
He’d finished the rest of his shift in a daze, not even caring about the insults Mrs. Martin was flinging at him and his department. Yep, there was only one woman he wanted to be insulted by, and he had taken to stalking her.
