by Katie Lane
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll go to your house.” She leaned over and jiggled the door handle until it opened. He carried her to his car and seat belted her in as if she were a toddler. She felt too weak to complain. Nor did she complain when they got to his house and he carried her upstairs and deposited her in the bed of his guest room.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked. “People might’ve overlooked the first time, but they won’t overlook this time. There will be gossip.”
He slipped off her high heels. “Let me worry about that. You need to get some rest.” He placed her shoes on the floor, then helped her get under the covers and tucked her in. “I’ll bring you some hot tea and cold medicine.”
“No NyQuil.”
He grinned, his green eyes twinkling with humor. “What? Are you afraid you might kiss me?”
That was exactly what she was afraid of. And she wasn’t just worried about kissing him. She was worried about giving into the fantasy she’d been having since kissing him. A fantasy that included stripping him naked and ravishing every inch of his studly sheriff’s body. But she wasn’t about to let him know that.
“In your dreams,” she said.
His smile faded as his gaze lowered to her mouth. “Yes. And much too often lately.” Before her feverish brain could figure out what he meant, he turned and walked out of the room.
Her headache and shivering were even worse by the time he returned. He set a tray on the nightstand and sat down on the edge of the bed. He picked up the bottle of NyQuil, then measured some out into the little plastic cup and held it out. “I promise I won’t let you do anything we’ll both regret later.”
“No kisses?”
“No kisses.”
She took the cup and drank the medicine. After she finished, he handed her a glass of water to help wash it down, then he tucked the covers back around her and picked up a book from the tray.
“Chapter one,” he read. “Down the Rabbit-Hole.”
Chapter Fourteen
The tap on his office door pulled Waylon’s attention away from the window. Spring stood in the doorway. She’d recovered from the flu, and he had to admit he was glad to have her back at the office. Things hadn’t run smoothly the two days she’d been gone. He’d had to drink his own coffee, deal with all the emails and reports, and answer all the phone calls. And people were extremely disappointed when he answered the phone. They didn’t want him helping them with their problems. They wanted Spring. Even Tucker and Jonas moped around like they’d lost their best friend.
It seemed that Spring was now as indispensable as Gail.
And prettier. Much prettier.
Today, she wore white tailored pants that hugged her long legs and a lime-green sweater with a daisy print scarf draped between the sweet hills of her breasts. She’d gotten a haircut. The blue stripe was almost gone, and feathery wisps of ebony hair framed her twilight-blue eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips she had painted a dew-drenched raspberry. He loved raspberries.
She cleared her throat, and he dragged his attention away from her mouth.
“Yes, Miss Hadley?” It was probably ridiculous to keep using her surname. Especially when they’d slept together—or not together as much as in the same house. But he hoped the proper title would keep his mind from straying down paths it had no business straying down. And obviously Spring felt the same way. She still called him Sheriff Kendall. Even after he’d nursed her back to health with cold medicine, hot tea, and Alice in Wonderland.
“Sorry to interrupt your work, Sheriff Kendall,” she said. He hadn’t been working. He’d been staring out the window daydreaming about her in his bathtub. Or maybe fantasizing would be a better word. Especially when he’d been in the bathtub with her. And there had been kisses. Lots and lots of kisses. “Raff Arrington just called,” she continued. “And he wanted me to remind you that the first high school baseball game is this afternoon. He said he tried calling you, but you didn’t answer.”
Waylon checked his front pockets, neither of his phones were there. He must’ve left them in the SUV when he went out on patrol at noon. Which wasn’t like him. He might leave his personal phone, but he never went anywhere without his work phone. He glanced up to find Spring looking just as surprised as he was.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine. Why?”
“You’ve just been acting differently the last few days . . . nicer.” She glanced down at his desk. “And messier.”
His desk wasn’t as neat as it usually was. He no longer used a coaster and coffee rings covered his desk calendar—along with a few cinnamon swirl muffin crumbs. His pens weren’t lined up. His stapler was nowhere to be found. And his computer screen still had three dancing pugs in pink tutus. It looked nothing like his father’s desk had looked. And Waylon realized he was okay with that. He was also okay with taking the rest of the day off and heading to the baseball field.
“Do you like baseball, Miss Hadley?” he asked as he got to his feet.
She seemed confused by the sudden change of subjects. “Not really. The one time I sat down to watch it, I was bored silly.”
“Bored? Obviously, you don’t understand the game. Baseball is one of the most exciting sports ever invented.” He took her arm. “And I’ll prove it to you.”
“But who is going to stay and answer the phones?”
“There won’t be a soul calling. The entire town will be at the game.”
He was right. The bleachers at the baseball field were packed with popcorn and sunflower seed munching fans. Fortunately, Raff had saved a couple of seats in the first row. On the way over, they passed Emmett and Joanna. Both were all decked out in Bliss Bobcat t-shirts and caps.
“Hey, Sheriff.” Emmett greeted him with a big grin. “Sure a nice day for a ball game.”
“It certainly is.” Joanna’s gaze swept over to Spring, and she smiled as widely as her husband. “And don’t you look lovely today, Spring?”
The sunbonnet next to Joanna tipped up, revealing Ms. Marble’s piercing blue eyes. “I’m glad to see you both survived that nasty flu.” Her eyes twinkled. “But of course, you had good nurses.”
Waylon knew she and Joanna had known about Spring taking care of him, but he hadn’t thought they knew about him taking care of Spring. Obviously, the two women knew everything that went on in the town. He could only hope that they also knew how to keep a secret. He might’ve decided to stop following in his father’s footsteps and become his own man. But he didn’t want the town thinking that their sheriff was doing naughty things with his assistant. So when they reached the seats Raff had saved, he made sure to sit on one side of Raff and let Spring sit on Raff’s other side next to Savannah.
“How come you didn’t get a little higher up?” he asked Raff as he sat down. “We’ll have trouble seeing the outfield from here.”
Raff cast a quick glance at Savannah, who was making a fuss over Spring’s scarf. “Bleacher steps are dangerous. I didn’t want anyone tripping.” Waylon thought Savannah hadn’t been listening, but he was wrong. She stopped talking with Spring and turned to Raff.
“I realize you’re scared, honey. But you really need to get a grip. I’m a big healthy southern woman. I’m going to be fine. And the baby’s going to be fine too.” She patted his arm. “Now go get me a large popcorn and a Butterfinger.”
While Raff took off for the concession stand, Waylon decided to stay and try to explain the basics of baseball to Spring and Savannah. Neither woman was interested. They were more interested in chatting about everything from designer handbags to designer shoes. And Waylon was relieved when Raff got back.
“They didn’t have Butterfingers so I had to get you a Snickers.” He sat down on the other side of Savannah, scooting Spring closer to Waylon. So much for trying to make things look completely innocent. It now looked like they were on a double date with Savannah and Raff.
Raff handed Spring a box of popcorn, and she held it ou
t to Waylon. Since he loved popcorn, he couldn’t decline. As they sat there munching popcorn and talking with Savannah and Raff, he decided that he didn’t care what people might think. The popcorn was buttery. The sunshine warm. And the company good. For the first time in a long time, he was enjoying life.
But he grew a little nervous when the players took the field. Luke had been working hard—not only at practice, but also with Waylon. Waylon could only hope that it had paid off and the coach would play him, even if only for one inning.
They didn’t play Luke in the first five innings, but he came out in the sixth.
“There he is!” Savannah grabbed onto Raff’s arm. “Oh, doesn’t he look so cute in his uniform?”
“Cute?” Raff stared at his wife. “Athletes don’t want to look cute, sweetheart. They want to look studly.”
She sent him a sly smile. “I bet you were studly in your football uniform.”
“Of course.” He kissed her. “Now quit flirting with me and let me watch Luke play.”
Luke didn’t get to pitch. But he did a hell of a job playing center field. He caught a pop fly and made a double play with a ground ball past second that had Waylon jumping to his feet and hollering his approval. Waylon did the same thing when the Bobcats won five to three.
He didn’t think anything about his yelling, but the townsfolk seemed to. As the crowd was dispersing, everyone was smiling at him as if he’d thwarted a bank robbery and more than a few men thumped him on the back and said “Glad you enjoyed the game, Sheriff.”
On the way back to the office to take Spring to her car, Waylon couldn’t help wondering out loud about the town’s reaction. “You would’ve thought that I’d never enjoyed a baseball game before.”
Spring glanced over at him. “Have you?”
“Of course I have. I loved baseball growing up. I haven’t been to games in the last couple years because I’ve been concentrating on my job. And right after I got out of college, I didn’t go to games because I was pretty depressed about my injury and losing out on the draft. But I loved going to games as a kid.” As soon as the words were out, he realized the truth. “I guess I haven’t enjoyed a game in a long time.” He pulled into the parking lot next to his office. “Where did you park your Jeep?”
“Umm . . . it broke down again and I had to borrow a ranch truck from Dirk.”
He glanced over at her. “Did you drop it off at Emmett’s? I’m sure he won’t charge you for fixing it again.”
“Not yet, but I will.” She reached for the door handle. “Well, thanks for inviting me to the game. It was fun.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Fun? Every time I looked over, you and Savannah were talking.”
“Which was why it was so much fun.”
He smiled, and her gaze lowered to his mouth. Without any warning, she reached out and brushed her thumb over his bottom lip. Heat sizzled through him like a wildfire, and he caught her wrist. Her eyes were wide, but not innocent. They held the same heat that spiraled through him.
“Popcorn butter,” she whispered.
He should’ve released her hand and left it at that. But he couldn’t. He lifted her hand to his lips and gently sucked on the pad of her thumb. Her breath came out in a startled whoosh, but she didn’t pull away. In fact, she drew closer, her eyelids drooping and her lips parting. He knew he was playing with fire, but he didn’t care. He released her hand and slid his fingers around her jaw, tilting her chin up for his kiss. He was a puff of breath away from her delectable lips when his phone rang.
Not his personal phone, but his business one.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he released Spring and answered it. “Sheriff Kendall.”
“Hey, Waylon. It’s Sheriff Davis over in Malcolm County. I was hoping you could do me a favor and keep a lookout for someone.”
Waylon cleared the desire from his throat. “Sure thing, Mike. Who am I keeping a lookout for?”
“Holt Hadley.”
Waylon glanced over at Spring, but she didn’t seem to be listening. Still, he opened the door and got out before he continued the conversation. “What did he do?”
“It seems he’s been running an illegal gambling hall on a used RV lot. When we raided the place, we found RVs filled with slot machines and blackjack and poker tables. What we didn’t find was Holt. My guess is that he got tipped off and headed to Mexico, but there’s a chance he could be hiding out with family. I’ve checked with one of his daughters in Houston and his mother-in-law in Waco. None of them have seen hide nor hair of him, and from the sounds of it, they don’t want to. That only leaves his son. And since you know Dirk, I thought you could talk to him and see if he’s heard from his father.”
Waylon wasn’t surprised to find out Holt Hadley was running a gambling racket. He’d only met the man once, but he’d known immediately that Holt wasn’t a model citizen.
“Holt certainly isn’t on the most wanted list,” the sheriff continued. “But these gambling halls are cropping up all over the place and the governor wants to put a stop to them by coming down hard on the people running them. It would look good if I could bring him in.”
“Sure. I’ll see what I can find out and get back to you.” After he hung up, he turned to Spring, who had gotten out of the car and was standing there watching him.
“Is there a bad criminal on the loose?” she asked.
He started to tell her, but then thought better of it. No one wanted to hear bad things about their father. Especially a softhearted woman who thought the best of everyone. He would talk to Dirk. Although he doubted if Dirk had seen Holt. Everyone knew that there was no lost love between the two men.
“Nothing to worry about,” he said.
She studied him for a moment before she lowered her gaze. “Listen, I want to apologize for . . . touching you. Butter or no butter, that wasn’t professional.”
He didn’t know why the apology annoyed him. Maybe because he wanted Spring to touch him. And he wanted to touch her. Which was crazy. He was the sheriff. If anyone needed to be professional, he did.
“I haven’t been acting very professional either. I had no business bringing you back to my house and taking care of you. I should’ve asked Joanna to take care of you. Or Ms. Marble.”
She lifted her gaze. “Ms. Marble wouldn’t have helped. I think she’s trying to get us together.”
He shook his head. “I should’ve known she was up to matchmaking. She’s been responsible for more than a few weddings in this town. She doesn’t realize that I’m not interested in getting married.” He paused. “But I have come to realize that I am in need of female companionship.” In a bad way. “It’s just not a good idea for that companion to be someone I work with.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” she said a little too quickly.
He studied her pretty pink mouth. “It’s totally against office policy.”
She stared at his mouth. “Totally.”
“So we’re in agreement that a . . . personal relationship between us is a bad idea.”
“In complete agreement.” She held out her hand as if they were making a pact. And in a way, they were.
He took her hand. It was soft, but with an underlying strength that he’d come to admire. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Hadley.”
They held hands and stared into one another’s eyes for a little longer than was probably necessary, but danged if Waylon could look away . . . or let her go. It was Spring who finally pulled her hand free and walked away. But she stopped before she reached her truck and turned. “Thank you for taking me to the baseball game. I did have fun.”
Waylon had had fun too. Too much fun.
“You’re welcome.” He waited until she had gotten in her truck and pulled away before he climbed in his SUV. He should’ve gone home. Sherlock was waiting for dinner. Instead, he sat there and thought about the heated brush of her thumb against his bottom lip. And her desire-filled blue eyes. And the longing that still gnawed a
t his insides. A longing he needed to take care of with someone other than the woman who worked for him.
He pulled out his personal phone and tapped the online dating app. He scrolled through the messages until he found Lynn’s latest message. It had come in while he’d been at the baseball game. He ignored the conversation topic they had started about what pains in the butts younger siblings could be and typed a one-line question.
Would you like to meet?
Chapter Fifteen
“I can’t thank you enough for hooking me up with Mrs. Miller,” Gracie said as she spooned rice cereal and peaches into Luana’s mouth. “She’s watched the girls four times now and is wonderful with them.”
“You’re helping her out as much as she’s helping you.” Spring tried to feed Luella a spoonful of rice cereal and peaches, but her niece kept turning her head away from the spoon. “She has been so lonely since her kids and grandkids moved away. The triplets have filled that lonely space.”
“Well, it’s working out perfectly. Thanks to you.” Gracie spooned in another bite. “I’m also glad you decided to move back into the guest room. It’s nice to have a female to talk to that can answer with more than one syllable.”
Spring liked spending time with Gracie too. But she missed living on her own. For the first time in her life, she’d been able to do what she wanted to do. She’d listened to her music as loudly as she wanted without Summer yelling at her to turn it down. She’d eaten junk food without Autumn cautioning her on all the preservatives she was putting in her body. The trailer might’ve been the size of a postage stamp with a showerhead that dribbled rather than sprayed, but it had been all hers. And she missed it . . . she also missed her Jeep.
Her father had stolen both the night Waylon showed up. Or not stolen exactly. Holt had called her the next day when she was recuperating at Waylon’s and told her he had “borrowed” them. Since she couldn’t leave her job, he didn’t think she’d mind if he did a little camping on his own. His actions showed such disrespect for her that there was no way to justify it. It was the pin that finally busted the fairytale bubble she’d been living in. Her father hadn’t changed, and he wasn’t going to. The only reason he’d called her and been so nice is because he wanted to con her into buying a trailer she didn’t even want. And now he had taken that trailer and left her feeling like a gullible idiot.
