A Most Shocking Revelation

by Kristi Gold

  After laying the weapon aside, Gavin sat up and streaked both hands over his face before checking the bedside clock. Five o’clock. Valerie hadn’t been kidding when she’d said she was an early riser. But then, so was he, especially at the moment.

  He tossed back the covers and draped his legs over the edge of the bed. For a second he considered joining her just as he was—wearing nothing except some serious evidence of his usual morning state of arousal—but that might send her flying out the door and out of his life for good. Instead he stood, tugged on his jeans and headed down the hall on bare feet and without a shirt. His mother would have claimed he was being ungentlemanly had she still been around to scold him.

  The closer he got to the kitchen, the more the excitement began to build. Last night he’d told Valerie only a partial truth—plenty of willing women still existed in Royal if a man knew where to look. And he did. He’d encountered a few in Midland, too, at a conference right after he’d been elected sheriff seven months ago. That was the last time he’d indulged in a woman’s company. That was the last time he’d cared to look beyond Valerie Raines and he didn’t understand that one bit. Maybe it was the challenge, the chase. Or the fact that she hadn’t acted as though she cared for him much since that first time he’d seen her at the diner.

  He still planned to get to know her better. He’d seen some serious awareness in her eyes last night when he’d inadvertently begun disrobing in front of her before he’d realized what he was doing. That hadn’t stopped him. After her little double lingerie displays, she’d deserved to be caught off guard.

  And off guard was exactly how Val looked when Gavin walked into the kitchen to find her at the stove. She’d already dressed in her standard uniform with her hair pulled up in a ponytail. Just once he’d like to see her hair down. He’d really like to see it flowing across his bare chest or belly. Maybe if he’d stuck around a little longer last night he might have had that opportunity. And if he really believed that, then he definitely needed more rest.

  Gavin walked up behind Val and peered over her shoulder. “Smells great.” And so did she, like some kind of flowers he couldn’t quite peg. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”

  “It wasn’t any trouble.” She briefly regarded him over one shoulder. “Scrambled eggs and sausage links, your favorite.”

  “How did you know?”

  She sent him a frown. “Because you order it at the diner almost every morning.”

  “True, when I don’t have Manny’s pancakes.”

  She gestured toward the dinette with the spatula. “Have a seat. It’s ready.”

  Gavin was more than ready to kiss her. He had been for a while now. He could wait a little longer, when she wasn’t cooking. Otherwise, she might whack him with the egg turner, or worse, take the frying pan to his skull. That was a hell of a lot heavier than a mop.

  He poured a cup of coffee, black, reluctantly took his usual seat and waited for her to serve him. She was in his house and playing waitress. He didn’t really like that at all. “I don’t expect you to do this every morning.” And that sounded as if he expected her to stay indefinitely. Not a bad idea at that.

  She disagreed, apparent when she said, “I don’t plan to be here much longer.”

  Gavin sat back and laced his hands behind his neck. “Sometimes plans go awry.”

  He almost laughed when she jumped as the toast popped up. No doubt, she was nervous about something.

  She filled his plate, turned and approached him with a small smile. “Here you go, Sheriff. The usual.”

  He straightened and accepted the fork she offered. “What do I owe you?”

  “You’ve already paid me by providing me with a place to land for a bit.”

  He started to tell her he would have preferred she land in his arms. “Not a problem. You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”

  She took the chair across from him, rested her bent elbow on the table and supported her cheek with her palm. “I’ll be leaving as soon as I find a place to stay.”

  “A decent place to say,” he added between bites. “And that might be tough with Christmas only a few weeks away. People don’t usually move during the holidays.”

  She sighed. “You’re right about that. I might have to go back to the no-tell motel until after the first of the year.”

  “No way are you going back there. You’re better off here with me.”

  The look she sent him said she had her reservations about that. “What will the good people of Royal think if they learn I’m living here with you?”

  “I don’t care what they think. I only care about your well-being.”

  “Why is that, Gavin?”

  Having her call him by his name pleased him. A lot. He pushed his plate away and sat back. “Because you’re a nice lady, Val. Besides, if you stay for a while, that will give us a chance to get to know each other better.”

  She took his plate to the sink and kept her back to him. “You might just decide you don’t like what you learn.”

  An odd thing for Val to say—a woman who seemed to have a world of confidence under normal circumstances. Gavin wondered if she’d been treated badly by a man, maybe even had her heart stomped on a time or two. That would certainly explain her wariness. And he had every intention of proving she was a woman worth knowing, starting now.

  Pushing back from the table, Gavin rose on his bare feet and walked to the sink to stand behind her. He rested his hand lightly on her waist and leaned close to her ear. “Tell you what, Val. Odds are I’m going to like you real well. I already do. And my gut tells me nothing’s going to change that. I guarantee it.”

  He felt her frame grow rigid and for a fleeting moment he wondered if it was something he’d said. But he suspected it had more to do with his close proximity. Yet she didn’t move away from him and she didn’t flinch when he kissed her cheek, then on afterthought kissed her sweet-smelling neck.

  And she didn’t slug him when he patted her bottom and told her, “I’m going to take a shower and then we can leave.”

  When he turned away, she stopped him by saying, “You might change your mind about me after a while.”

  He faced Valerie to find her leaning against the sink, wringing a dish towel in her grasp. Striding to her again, he touched her face when he saw the insecurity calling out from her deep blue eyes. “Let me tell you something, Val. I have good instincts about people. And although I don’t pretend to know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours most of the time, I do know there’s not a thing you can say that would change my mind about you. You’re definitely someone worth knowing.”

  He brushed a soft kiss across her lips and then left the kitchen before he was tempted to do more.

  You’re definitely someone worth knowing…

  Gavin’s declaration had haunted Valerie all during the early shift at the diner. Now nearing 2:00 p.m., she continued to think about it and the chaste kiss he’d given her that morning. Think about how she wanted to open up to him. How much she wanted his acceptance. How much she wanted things that she shouldn’t want.

  Pipe dreams, every one.

  She wished for more patrons so she could get her mind off Gavin, but the place was slow at the moment, as it usually was on Friday following the lunchtime crush. Of course, when evening arrived, the crowd would be back in full force, and for that reason, she should enjoy the break.

  After clearing off the last littered table, Valerie walked behind the counter and leaned through the opening to the kitchen. Manny Reno was seated near the stove, reading the paper and gnawing a toothpick like a beaver. A bodybuilding beaver. His arms were as big as the hams he prepared for Sunday dinner, and his chest looked as though it might escape from his T-shirt at any given moment. The other waitresses claimed that at one time he’d been a flirt—basically harmless yet still a flirt—but that was before he’d bought the diner from the former owner, Hazel, and married Sheila, the one-time head waitress. Now
he was successful, totally smitten and a father-to-be. His and Sheila’s apparent happiness had only served to remind Valerie how much she wanted that very thing in the future. Maybe not the near future, but eventually. And she wanted it with someone like Gavin O’Neal. Who was she kidding? She wanted it with Gavin O’Neal.

  Forcing her mind back on reality, she tapped the counter to get her boss’s attention. “I need to take tomorrow off, Manny,” she said, then braced for the fallout.

  He glanced up before going back to the sports section. “Okay. Take two days.”

  Although Manny was always fair, that was just too easy considering they were already shorthanded. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m feeling great. Sheila can come in and relieve you.”

  “I thought you were letting your wife be a lady of leisure, at least until the morning sickness wears off.”

  He grinned without looking up from the paper. “She’s pretty much over that now. In fact, she’s suffering from what she calls ‘raging hormones.’ I like raging hormones real well.”

  Obviously those raging hormones, like the flu, were going around town. Valerie had definitely come down with a strong case of them. “Are you sure she won’t mind?”

  “Not if it means she can be with me all day.” He turned the page without looking up. “And besides, the sheriff called me this morning and told me you needed some time off. When he speaks, people listen.”

  Valerie tossed the rag aside and later planned to toss a few words at Gavin for his unwelcome interference. “He did, did he?”

  “Yeah. He didn’t say why, but I figured that was none of my business. I also decided he owed me one, which means he might go easy on me if I get caught speeding when I need to get home to take care of Sheila’s hormones.”

  If he mentioned hormones one more time, Valerie might be tempted to scream. “I have to find a new place to stay, that’s why I need the time off.”

  Manny glanced up again. “What’s wrong with your old one?”

  “Let’s just say Harvey Joe and I didn’t see eye to eye on the terms of our rental agreement. I’d prefer not to live with rats, even if they are drowning from major water leaks.”

  “I told you Harvey Joe’s a jerk before you decided to move in there.” Manny shook out the paper and stood. “Where are you staying now?”

  No need to lie to her boss. Considering Royal’s small-town penchant for gossip, word would get out sooner than later. “Temporarily with Sheriff O’Neal.”

  Manny laughed. Loudly. “I knew you two had a thing for each other.”

  “We don’t have a thing for each other.” Okay, just a minor fabrication. “I’m staying in the guest room, so get your mind out of the sewer, Manny.”

  He showed her a toothy grin before opening the oven to retrieve his famous coconut pie. “If you say so, Valerie. But I’m thinking he’d rather have you in his bedroom.”

  Valerie was overcome with the urge to protest, until the bell sounded, indicating a customer. She turned to see the somewhat snooty Gretchen Halifax breeze into the diner and head to the corner booth by the window. She removed her coat to reveal a gray wool suit, perfectly pressed and definitely expensive. The city councilwoman reminded Valerie of a mink, all lithe and too slick. Nothing about her seemed real, from her pale blond hair to her ageless face to her phony facade.

  If Valerie had her way, someone else would wait on her. Right now, she was the only waitress available. She took her time strolling to the counter to retrieve Gretchen’s usual—sweetened tea. She took even longer delivering the glass and a menu to the table, all the while avoiding Gretchen’s cool gaze. But Valerie had noted an almost feral look in her stone-gray eyes of late. Most likely the woman was still reeling from her landslide loss in the mayoral race last month. Better to avoid that topic altogether.

  Valerie plastered on a pleasant look as she slid the glass and the menu before Gretchen. “Would you like to hear the special for the day, Ms. Halifax?”

  “I already know it’s beef stew, the same thing every Friday.” Her voice held a note of contempt.

  “Do you know what you would like then?” Valerie asked, keeping her tone friendly even though she wanted to ask why Miss Uppity frequented the greasy spoon if she held it in such low esteem.

  The look Gretchen gave Valerie said she wanted to be left alone. “Not yet. I believe I’ll just have the tea for now.”

  “Okay. Let me know when you’re ready to order.”

  Before Valerie could walk away, Gretchen stopped her by saying, “Manny tells me you’re from St. Louis.”

  Valerie wanted to keep walking but instead faced her again. “That was my last place of residence.”

  “That’s quite a long way from Texas.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  Gretchen drummed her immaculately manicured fingernails on the table and studied Valerie a long moment. “Why did you come here, of all places?”

  Before Valerie could answer, the bell on the door sounded again, saving her from telling another lie. She turned to find that the customer in question was none other than Gavin O’Neal, the interim roommate.

  Her heart did an unwelcome jig when he tugged off his jacket and hung it on the coatrack in the corner near the door. Today he looked every bit the lawman in his crisp tailored white shirt sporting the sheriff’s department emblem on the sleeve and his light beige cowboy hat. He propped a brown leather boot on the rail beneath one faded red bar stool, his long, jean-clad leg bent at the knee, his badge and holster clipped to his belt loop. He was definitely packing today—enough raw magnetism to melt the glass pie display.

  “The sheriff’s quite a specimen, isn’t he, Valerie?”

  Only then did Valerie reluctantly turn back to Gretchen.

  “He’s okay.”

  Gretchen’s smile was as fake as her hair color. “Okay? That’s certainly an understatement. But we always want what we can’t have, don’t we?”

  Valerie frowned. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  Gretchen clasped her hands together around the glass. “Women like us don’t interest men like Gavin O’Neal.”

  If she only knew. “Why would you think that?”

  “Well, I’m too old for him and you—” she sent a derisive glance from the top of Valerie’s head to her sneakers “—you’re a waitress.”

  Valerie propped a hand on her hip. “And what’s wrong with that?”

  “Don’t get me wrong, sweetie. I have nothing against the common folk. But Gavin O’Neal’s originally from the city. He inherited quite a bit of money. I seriously doubt he would settle for anything less than a woman with proper breeding.”

  Disgusted with Gretchen’s judgment, Valerie braced her palms on the table’s edge and leaned into them. “Ms. Halifax, it’s character, not pedigree, that counts in the grand scheme of things.”

  “That sounds nice, but…” Gretchen’s voice trailed off as her gaze landed on Valerie’s chest. All too late, she knew exactly what the woman had seen. “That’s a very lovely necklace.”

  Valerie clasped the heart pendant and tucked it back beneath the bodice of her uniform. “Thank you. It was a gift.”

  “It looks to be an antique.”

  “No. It’s made to appear that way.” Gretchen’s interest in the pendant made Valerie wary. Although she’d worn it since it had come into her possession, she realized it would be best to put it away until she needed it to complete her mission.

  Valerie pushed off the table and pulled her pad from her apron pocket and a pencil from behind her ear. “Would you like to order? I highly recommend the stewed prunes Manny prepared especially for Mr. Parker.”

  Gretchen now focused her attention on the window, specifically on a man standing on the sidewalk, speaking to a woman holding a toddler. “I do believe I’ve lost my appetite.” Without another word she slid from the booth and tossed a five-dollar bill onto the table. “Keep the change. You can use it to get your hair trimmed.”

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nbsp; Valerie’s hand immediately went to her messy ponytail, subconscious insecurity coming through. She knew better than to let the likes of Gretchen Halifax get to her. As far as Valerie was concerned, the woman’s abrupt departure signified good riddance.

  After pocketing the money and retrieving the half-empty glass, she turned from the table to find Gavin leaning back against the counter, elbows resting on the Formica surface, legs crossed at the ankles. He looked concerned—and patently gorgeous.

  She should give him a good piece of her mind for rearranging her schedule without her permission. She should walk right up to him and tell him to butt out. But what she should do and what she really wanted to do went to war.

  Valerie wanted to get in his face all right, but not to scold him. She wanted to kiss him. A real kiss, just to see if his sensual mouth felt as good as it looked. To see if he was as skilled as he was charming.

  But work—and common sense—called to her now. And so did Gavin O’Neal.

  “Come here, Val.” Gavin saw her hesitate a moment prior to striding down the aisle toward him. Before she could hide away in the kitchen, he caught her arm. “Hang on a minute.”

  She set the glass down and faced him. “What now?”

  He countered her frown with a smile. “Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

  “Gretchen has been known to ruin a person’s day. She looked like she was giving you a hard time.”

  She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. Coffee?”

  Here came the game that had evolved between them for the past few weeks. Gavin enjoyed the hell out of it. “You bet.”

  “Sugar?”

  “Sure thing.” He tapped his lip. “Right here.”

  Most times she looked disgusted, but not today when she said, “Lecher.”

  “Sweetheart.”

  “Devil.”

  “Angel.”