by Katie Lane
Which was probably why she didn’t want to tell her family what had happened. She’d been working so hard to prove she was a responsible adult, and yet, she’d let Holt get the best of her. If her family found out, it would only confirm that she was an irresponsible ditz. So she’d lied about her Jeep breaking down again and wanting to move back in with Dirk because she couldn’t take the trailer’s weak water pressure. She could only pray that Holt brought her trailer and Jeep back before anyone figured it out.
“I enjoy talking to you too,” she said to Gracie. “And hanging with my nieces. Although I’m not very good at getting them to eat.” She tried to give Luella another bite, but the baby refused with a jerk of her head.
“Luella does the same thing with me. She prefers to feed herself.” Gracie pulled a breakfast wafer from the box on the kitchen table and handed it to Luella. The baby squealed with delight before ramming the wafer into her mouth and gnawing on it with her front teeth.
Spring picked up Lucinda’s spoon. Her niece immediately opened her mouth like a little baby bird. But a few bites later, she decided she was finished and spit the entire mouthful of rice cereal and peaches right at Spring.
Spring laughed as she wiped a glob from her eye. “It’s a good thing I haven’t gotten ready for work yet.” She glanced at the clock on the stove. “Although I better get going. Sheriff Kendall gets grumpy if he doesn’t get his coffee first thing in the morning.”
Gracie handed her a napkin. “Is that what’s changed our sheriff? Your coffee?” When Spring sent her a surprised look, she elaborated. “Ever since Waylon became sheriff, he’s been a real grump. But when he came into the diner the other day, he seemed like the Waylon I knew growing up. He stopped at each table to chat with people about the high school baseball team and the nice weather. He even did a little flirting with the Sanders sisters.”
“Maybe he was just having a good day.”
“Or maybe his life has been brightened by some Spring sunshine.” Gracie sent her a knowing look. “It seems like too much of a coincidence that he got happy after you started working for him. And I can’t help but wonder if there’s not something more going on between you and our sheriff.”
There was something going on between her and Waylon. It was called lust. What happened after the baseball game was a perfect example. She shouldn’t have touched him. One brush of his lips had brought back all the desire she felt when he’d kissed her. At that moment, she had never wanted anyone as much as she had wanted Waylon. As much as she still wanted Waylon.
She wiped off Lucinda’s mouth. “There’s nothing going on between me and Way—Sheriff Kendall. We just work together.”
“But you can’t tell me that you don’t think he’s hot.”
No, Spring couldn’t say that. Waylon was hot, and it seemed like he was getting hotter by the day. It was his smiles. When Waylon smiled, he went from handsome to sizzling in two seconds flat. And Gracie was right. He was smiling a lot more lately. He smiled every time Spring brought him his morning cup of coffee. He smiled when Mrs. Miller had brought in her cat’s kittens for Spring to meet. And the other day, she’d caught him smiling at his dancing pug screensaver.
She walked around the office in a constant state of arousal.
“Who’s hot?” Dirk strode into the room with a scowl on his face.
Gracie tipped her lips up for a kiss. “You are, sweetheart.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “Damn straight.” He glanced at Spring. “You have something in your hair.”
“Your daughter gave me a cereal and peaches shower,” Spring said.
Dirk grinned before he leaned down to kiss Lucinda’s head. “Good girl. You keep your auntie humble. She’s always been a little too big for her britches.”
“I think that’s Auntie Summer you’re talking about.” She smiled at Lucinda. “Your Auntie Spring is perfect. Just like you.” She gave her an air kiss that made Lucinda giggle. Then she did the same for each niece until they squealed and chortled.
Dirk ruffled Spring’s hair. “You are pretty perfect.” He sat down at the table, and his expression turned serious. “And I’m proud of you. From what I’ve heard, you’re doing a bang-up job for the sheriff. Everyone in town thinks so.” He paused. “And if you still need that loan, it’s yours. Although I think you should spend it on a new vehicle. The Jeep is crap. I also hope you don’t take off too soon. I’ve gotten used to having my sister around.”
She wished she could take off. Maybe some distance from Waylon would cure her infatuation. Unfortunately, she couldn’t leave now without everyone finding out about her father borrowing her trailer. Plus, she couldn’t leave Waylon. He had come to depend on her, and as much as he made her weak-kneed and loopy, she couldn’t let him down. Nor could she leave Mrs. Miller without someone to chat with about her cats and grandkids. Or Jonas without someone to talk to about his late wife. And she’d promised Tucker a dance at the spring dance.
“Thanks for the offer.” She got up. “But it would be irresponsible to take a loan from my baby brother.” She sent him a sassy wink as she headed to the guest room to get ready for work.
It turned out to be one of those days when nothing seemed to go right. She ran out of mousse so her hair looked flat. The shirt she wanted to wear was wrinkled and she didn’t have time to iron it. On the way to work, she tried to call her father, but he didn’t answer. When she got to the office, Waylon wasn’t there and the coffee machine was broken. Then her computer froze up so she couldn’t answer emails.
Heaving a frustrated sigh, she got up from her desk and treated herself to a bag of peanut M&M’s. Once she had some chocolate in her, she unlocked Waylon’s office so she could answer emails on his computer.
It looked like he’d been in before she’d gotten there. His computer was on and his personal laptop open. It was merely an accident the she brushed against it when she sat down. The online dating screen popped up, and it looked like the revisions she’d made to his profile page had worked. He had gotten more than a few “hugs” and his message board was full of messages.
Spring popped the last of the M&M’s in her mouth and glanced at the open door. It wasn’t like she was snooping. He’d left his laptop open for anyone to see. The fact that he’d locked his door was pushed to the back of her mind as she read the messages. Most were from a woman named Lynn. As she read on, she realized that Waylon and Lynn had really hit it off. They talked about everything from family to their favorite flavors of ice cream. Spring didn’t know why she felt so hurt. Maybe because she’d been working for him for over a month now and he had never told her the things he’d told Lynn.
Spring didn’t know how much he missed his family and how lonely his big house felt. She didn’t know that his favorite ice cream wasn’t ice cream at all but rainbow sherbet. Or that he didn’t like fishing but loved to hunt. And she certainly didn’t know that he couldn’t wait for his assistant to get back so he wouldn’t have to deal with the new temp.
Spring crinkled the empty bag of M&M’s in her fist and blinked back her tears. She shouldn’t take it personally. Hadn’t she just wished that she could take off? She shouldn’t be hurt that Waylon felt the same way. But she did feel hurt. And when she read about Waylon and Lynn meeting, she felt even more hurt . . . and mad. He had asked Lynn to meet him the same day he had taken Spring to the baseball game. Right after he’d almost kissed her.
She clicked on Lynn’s profile page wanting to see what the woman that had captured Waylon’s attention looked like, but Lynn didn’t have a picture of herself. She had a picture of a dog. Which probably meant she was as ugly as a mud fence. And she wasn’t funny either. Waylon hadn’t typed one LOL in all of the messages. Not one. And he’d LOLed plenty of times with Spring.
“Did you get a promotion I wasn’t aware of?”
She jumped guiltily and turned to find Waylon standing in the doorway. His hair was mussed from the spring winds, and he was smiling. Her heart added a
nother beat. She couldn’t help but wonder if Lynn’s heart would beat faster when she met Waylon.
“Where have you been?” she snapped.
His eyebrows lifted beneath the tipped-up brim of his cowboy hat. “Excuse me?”
“If you’re going to leave the office, you should let me know where you’re going.”
He smiled. “Yes, ma’am.” He held up two to-go cups. “But the coffee machine was broken and I thought I’d go to the diner for our morning coffee. Then Stella talked me into some pancakes and I got to talking with Emmett about baseball and completely lost track of the time.” He walked over and placed one cup on the desk. “Disgustingly sugared and flavored.” He sat down in the chair across from her and took a sip from his cup. She thought he was going to get after her for being in his office. He didn’t.
“So do you want to tell me what bee has gotten into your bonnet?” he asked.
“There’s no bee. Can’t a person have a bad day?”
He squinted one eye at her. “Not a person named Spring.”
She lifted her chin. “Miss Hadley to you.”
He tipped back his head and laughed. She should’ve felt smug that she could make him laugh when Lynn couldn’t. But instead she felt even more hurt. Spring now knew the reason for Waylon’s abrupt personality change. He had found a match. A perfect match who might not make him laugh, but made him smile.
She picked up her cup and stood. “Thank you for the coffee. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
Before she reached the door, he spoke in a deep timbre that had warmth settling in her stomach. “I hope your day gets better, Miss Hadley.”
Her day didn’t get better. It got worse as the morning wore on. She couldn’t stop thinking about Waylon and Lynn. And when Joanna Daily called and asked her to help decorate for the spring dance she decided it was time to leave town. She’d have to come clean about her trailer and Jeep, but she didn’t care anymore if her family thought she was a gullible ditz. All she cared about was Waylon finding a perfect match.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t be here for the dance.”
”You won’t?” Joanna said. “Did Gail call and say she was coming back? Last time I talked with her, her mother still wasn’t doing well.”
“It’s not that,” Spring said. “I only planned to work here temporarily. Just until I got enough money to fix my Jeep.”
There was a long pause before Joanna spoke. “Well, Emmett mentioned you still had a little to pay on the Jeep. And I’m sure you’re not the type of person to leave unpaid bills. Besides, the dance is only a week away.”
She tried to think of another excuse why she had to leave, but she couldn’t think of one. She certainly couldn’t tell Joanna Daily it was because she had major hots for the sheriff and was jealous that he’d found a girlfriend who made him smile.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll stay until after the dance.” She hung up the phone a little harder than she’d intended.
“I’m going to make a guess and say that your day hasn’t gotten better.”
She glanced up to see Waylon standing in the doorway of his office. “If you want lunch from the diner, you’ll have to get it yourself. I’m too backed up to order you lunch.”
He pulled on his hat and smiled. “No need. I’m meeting someone for lunch.”
“At the diner?”
“Uhh . . . no.” A blush stained his cheeks. “Did you want me to bring you something?”
As she studied his guilty-looking face, it dawned on her who he was having lunch with. Lynn. He was meeting Lynn. They had talked about meeting for lunch in the messages. Waylon had just interrupted her before she got to the exact date and time. But it was today. Now.
“No,” she said. “I don’t want anything.”
He nodded. “Then I’ll see you after lunch.” He walked out.
Spring stared at the glass doors for only a moment before she grabbed her purse. By the time she locked up and got to the parking lot, Waylon’s sheriff’s SUV was already gone. She caught up with it right outside of Bliss and tailed him all the way to a truck stop a good twenty minutes out of town.
Leave it to a man to pick a truck stop as a first date meeting place. This would probably be strike one for poor Waylon. There was only one woman Spring knew who enjoyed eating at truck stops.
She parked in between two semis so he wouldn’t spot her and watched as he got out of his SUV. If she knew him at all, he was early for the date. The woman would no doubt show up closer to noon. But only a few moments later, a red Mustang pulled into the parking lot and parked only a couple spaces away from Waylon’s.
A red Mustang that Spring recognized immediately. She also recognized the face of the beautiful, dark-haired woman who climbed out of the car.
It was the same face Spring saw every day when she looked in the mirror.
Chapter Sixteen
Waylon didn’t notice that his date had arrived. He was too busy watching Spring. She would make a horrible undercover cop. He had spotted Dirk’s truck tailing him before he even left Bliss. And he knew why she was tailing him. It was obvious when he’d walked into his office that she’d been reading his messages to Lynn and had found out about their meeting. Her blue eyes had snapped with anger and jealousy.
Spring being jealous shouldn’t make him happy. Her developing feelings for him complicated things. But damned if he didn’t feel downright joyful. Even now, he was sitting there smiling like an idiot as he watched her through the window. She seemed to be staring at something intently. Then she seemed to be talking to herself. Or more like yelling. He wasn’t a lip reader, but he knew cuss words when he saw them.
He realized why she was cussing when a woman swept past his line of view. She wore those athletic clothes women liked to wear everywhere—a form-fitting tank top, black spandex pants, and running shoes. She had a nice body, but it was a little too toned for Waylon’s taste. He liked his women softer. He glanced back at Spring, but the truck was gone.
His smile faded, along with his happy mood.
The restaurant door opened. For a second, he thought that Spring had parked somewhere else and decided to come in. But then he realized that the woman who walked in the door was the same woman in the athletic wear. A woman who looked exactly like Spring, but with longer hair she had pulled back in a ponytail.
What was Spring’s sister doing in a truck stop?
He got his answer when she glanced around and her gaze locked with his. She waved and then strode straight toward him with purpose. When she reached the booth, she didn’t wait for an invitation before she slid in across from him.
“Sorry, I’m late. Autumn was not happy when she found out what I’d done, and we had a big blow out.” She held out a hand. “Summer Lynn Hadley.”
He was so stunned all he could do was stare. On closer inspection, she didn’t look that much like her sister. Her eyes weren’t as sparkly or her hair as cute . . . or her lips as kissable.
“I understand why you’re surprised,” Summer said. “And I’m sorry I had to meet you under false pretenses. But if you had known who I was, I don’t think you would’ve been as open and honest with me. And I needed to know the type of man my little sister was working for.” She took the menu he’d been looking at and closed it. “You don’t need that. You want their cheeseburgers. I made my sisters stop here on the way back from Dirk’s wedding, and this place has dynamite cheeseburgers.”
It took a moment for Waylon to catch up. “You mean you joined the online dating site to find out the type of man your sister was working for?”
She tucked the menu behind the sugar and napkin dispensers. “Isn’t that what I just said? And after working with her for weeks, you should understand why. My sister is gullible. Over the years, she’s fallen prey to all kinds of assholes that I’ve had to scare off. Men who want to take advantage of her innocence and sweet disposition. She’s like a magnet for creeps and losers. I wasn’t about to let her work for s
ome horny sheriff who only hired her so he could boink her on his desk.”
He wanted to be offended, but lately he’d felt like a horny sheriff who desperately wanted to boink Spring on his desk . . . or in the guest room of his house . . . or in his SUV. He remained silent as she continued.
“So when Autumn told me about Spring helping you with your online dating, I figured that was my opportunity to see what kind of man you were.” She studied him. “Turns out you’re a pretty decent guy who cares about his family, his dog, and the people of his town. If I wasn’t so busy with the store, I might think about dating you.”
Summer was pretty, but he felt absolutely nothing when he looked at her. No flash of heat. No zing of desire. She didn’t make him want to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless.
Her cellphone pinged, and she pulled it out of her purse and checked it. She must not have liked the text she’d received because her lips tilted in a frown. “Damn you, Ryker.” She stared at her phone for a second before she typed a reply that had her frown turning into a smile. A rather evil smile. Then she put her cellphone back in her purse and looked at Waylon. “Sorry for the interruption. Business.”
Somehow Waylon doubted that.
She lifted a hand and waved the waitress over, then proceeded to order for both of them. “We’ll take two cheeseburgers medium with no onions and extra crispy fries. And two Dr Peppers. No ice in one. And be sure to go heavy on the mayo on one of those burgers.”
Waylon now understood why Spring had left Houston. It had to be tough working with someone as controlling and domineering as Summer. Before the waitress could finish writing down the order, he corrected it. “Make mine a plain hamburger medium well with onions. And water is fine for me.”
