Table of Contents
Praise for Catherine Bybee Wife by Wednesday “A fun and sizzling romance, great characters that trade verbal spars like fist punches, and the dream of your own royal wedding!” —Sizzling Hot Book Reviews, 5 Stars “A good holiday, fireside or bedtime story.” —Manic Reviews, 4 1/2 Stars “A great story that I hope is the start of a new series.” —The Romance Studio, 4 1/2 Hearts Married by Monday “If I hadn’t already added Ms. Catherine Bybee to my list of favorite authors, after reading this book I would have been compelled to. This is a book nobody should miss, because the magic it contains is awesome.” —Booked Up Reviews, 5 Stars “Ms. Bybee writes authentic situations and expresses the good and the bad in such an equal way . . . Keep the reader on the edge of her seat . . .” —Reading Between the Wines, 5 Stars “Married by Monday was a refreshing read and one I couldn’t possibly put down . . .” —The Romance Studio, 4 1/2 Hearts Fiancé by Friday “Bybee knows exactly how to keep readers hap
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Also by Catherine Bybee Contemporary Romance Weekday Brides Series Wife by Wednesday Married by Monday Fiancé by Friday Single by Saturday Taken by Tuesday Seduced by Sunday Treasured by Thursday Not Quite Series Not Quite Dating Not Quite Mine Not Quite Enough Not Quite Forever Not Quite Perfect Most Likely To Series Doing It Over Staying For Good Paranormal Romance MacCoinnich Time Travels Binding Vows Silent Vows Redeeming Vows Highland Shifter Highland Protector The Ritter Werewolves Series Before the Moon Rises Embracing the Wolf Novellas Soul Mate Possessive Erotica Kilt Worthy Kilt-A-Licious
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Text copyright © 2017 Catherine Bybee All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Published by Montlake Romance, Seattle www.apub.com Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake Romance are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. ISBN-13: 9781503943599 ISBN-10: 1503943593 Cover design by Shasti O’Leary Soudant
This one is for Andrea . . . I miss you every day.
Contents Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author
Prologue The sun shot daggers into Jo’s eyes as she opened the door of Zoe’s home. It was already noon, but she and her best friends couldn’t be bothered to wake up early on the day after their high school graduation. The bottle of tequila they’d managed to put a pretty good dent in twelve hours prior resided in her duffel bag for later use. “It burns,” Jo said with a laugh as she covered her eyes. “You dork.” Mel, the third part of their trio, brushed past her and opened the door of her car before tossing her yearbook in the backseat. Zoe hovered in the doorway of the double-wide. The three of them had stayed up most the night talking about their futures. Well, Zoe and Mel had been the ones predicting the next year of their lives while Jo listened and drank Jose Cuervo until her head swam. Mel had another seven weeks of life in River Bend before she was off to California to fulfill the River Bend High’s class prediction about her future. Being voted most likely to succeed was about th
Chapter One Twelve years later Red and blue lights from Jo’s squad car lit up the night sky, and the rarely used siren bounced off the pine trees in eerie opposition to the quiet country road. Josie had called Jo personally to ask her to stop by and handle a couple of locals that were raising the anxiety levels at R&B’s. The only real bar in River Bend sat nestled off the main road leading out of town. It took Jo less than five minutes to climb into a ready uniform, strap on her duty belt, and back out of her driveway. Gravel churned under her tires as she pulled to an abrupt stop in the parking lot of Josie’s bar. A half a dozen motorcycles along with a dozen familiar pickups and off-road vehicles told her the place was close to capacity. Not surprising for a Friday night. She straightened her sheriff’s hat on her head and doubled her stride up the steps to the single-level tavern. Inside, music pumped from the jukebox, and the smell of stale beer from one too many party fouls wafted
Chapter Two Jo, Mel, and Zoe sat in the parlor of Miss Gina’s Bed-and-Breakfast for their weekly girls’ night. Most of the time they had to use Jo’s house for their gatherings due to the B and B having a full house. But Tuesday nights and even the occasional Wednesday this early in the spring meant the inn had one, maybe two rooms occupied. Miss Gina entered the room carrying a red pitcher of her famous lemonade. Her worn Birkenstock sandals made squeaky noises against the floor as she walked, her ever-present tie-dyed skirt swishing at her ankles. Mel stood. “I’ll get the glasses.” A tray of guilty pleasures sat on the table: chocolate, cheese, and fruit that Zoe had thrown together. Anyone else would have put a bowl of Hershey’s kisses and small chunks of cheddar, but not Zoe. Jo could identify two of the four cheeses, and the chocolates looked like the gourmet category that one picked up at the mall in Eugene. Even the fruit had been prepared with some kind of cutesy knife that offe
Chapter Three “Agent Burton?” With the phone to her ear, Jo sat behind her desk, staring at the walls of her father’s office. Her office. “Sheriff, how are you? I’ve been thinking about you.” “Good things, I hope?” Shauna chuckled. “Anything new on the eyes in the dark?” From anyone else, Jo would think Shauna was being sarcastic. But cops, law enforcement, even the FBI knew better than to ignore their instincts. “It’s been quiet. Too much so.” “I never trust silence either. Is there something I can do for you?” Jo tapped a pen against her notepad, the only sign of nerves she let herself have. “I want to know if I can take you up on that training course we talked about last year.” “Honing your skills, Jo?” “It’s not like I have a lot of use for them in River Bend.” They both laughed. “I think the next course is late April. Outside DC.” A little over a month away. “That will work.” “It’s a weeklong deal, you able to get away from there that long?” No, but she’d make it happen. “Yeah. I
Chapter Four Jo took a train down to Quantico, Virginia, from DC. She wondered, briefly, if she could get back into DC overnight and try and find Rocco again before she disappeared from the East Coast for good. The plan was to finish her training Friday afternoon, nurse her wounded everything she was sure was going to hurt, and fly out of DC Saturday afternoon. Viking Man kept her up the first night by action, the second night by memories. Why did she do this to herself? Why put herself out there, make her want something she couldn’t have, only to walk away somewhat satisfied but seriously desperate for more? She should probably just invest in a crate full of cats and be done with it. Burton told her to dress in Friday casual, no dresses—not that Jo owned any—and bring a change of clothes to work out in. And her badge. Her shoulder length honey brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and a tiny dusting of blush enhanced her cheeks. Her lips sported a hint of rose, but that was it whe
Chapter Five There wasn’t much that ruffled Gill. He knew at the time something about Anne wasn’t up-front. But a small town sheriff? No, he didn’t see that coming.
When he’d woke just before dawn and she wasn’t there, he was surprisingly disappointed. She’d been demanding . . . a little needy, even. Then there was the fire that she lit with a touch. JoAnne Ward . . . Little Miss River Bend Nowhere, Oregon, gave as much as she took and asked for more. They’d gone at it for hours. Not something he often did. It was like she was saving it up, soaking it all in to last. Yeah . . . that crack about hooking up in a small town was laughable. He’d have to ask Burton about what she knew when it came to Sheriff Ward’s love life. He watched her ass as she moved through the doors of the training center. There were plenty of law enforcement officers there for the very same training as Jo. They mingled on the sideline while several receptionists took in the newcomers. Gill approached the desk by Jo
Chapter Six Shauna met Jo during lunch. “How was the first half of your day?” she asked, sitting with her sandwich and soda. “Intense.” Jo moved her tray over to give her room. “Gill said you’re a pretty good shot.” Jo couldn’t stop her eyes from searching the man out in the crowd. He sat with a few instructors. “Did he?” “Hey, that’s high praise, coming from him.” “He’s an intense guy.” Gill took that moment to feel the weight of her stare. He met her eyes and didn’t flinch. Shauna glanced over her shoulder and back. “Well, look at that.” From across the room, Gill appeared to laugh before moving his attention to the people he was with. “Look at what?” Jo picked up her sandwich and attempted to focus. “He’s single,” Shauna said, a smirk covering her face. “Who’s single?” “Gill . . .” Jo felt her face flush. “Did I ask?” “Your eyes did.” So did the rest of her, but Jo kept that to herself. “Not interested,” she said. “Liar! But I’ll let it go. We haven’t had a chance to really talk sin
Chapter Seven The beat-up sedans were tinted and framed with extra bumpers to keep those inside the cars as safe as they could be while on the 1.1-mile track housed by the TEVOC training center. Jo’s excitement over the Tactical and Emergency Vehicle Operation Center driving course fueled the smile on her face as she sat in the passenger space of the car. Lenny buckled in as the driver, and she was supposed to keep him informed of what was happening around him when things got dicey. And things were about to get dicey! “Don’t kill me,” she told Lenny as she fastened her seat belt. “Ha!” The radio in the car paired them with an instructor, while the other cars on the track also housed students with a set instructor talking to them. “Have you done this before?” she asked. “Not here. Have you?” “Academy. Pit maneuvers, high-speed basics. Nothing I’ve had to use that often.” Lenny turned over the engine. “You’re in luck, I’ve had my share of chases and haven’t killed my partners yet.” “Let’
Chapter Eight It took Jo a couple of miles to settle on the back of his bike and for her arms to slide around his waist to hold on. Gill would have liked to take a long way to get to her hotel, but there weren’t many alternative routes that didn’t shorten the ride. It was past midnight, the lot was quiet and lit only by the streetlights that spotted the front of the hotel. He cut the engine the second he turned into a small space. Jo hesitated before swinging her leg around the back of the bike. She removed the helmet and shook out her hair. The pink in her cheeks from the cold night air gave her a childish glow: cute. A word Gill was pretty sure she wouldn’t appreciate, so he kept it to himself. “Thanks for the ride, Clausen.” She handed him his helmet. He placed it on one of the handlebars. “Anytime.” She shuffled her feet once. “And thanks for taking my forty bucks.” Yeah, that wasn’t exactly gentlemanly of him, but hey, a bet was a bet. “I did buy your drinks.” He liked her smile.
Chapter Nine Gill kept pace beside her. The woman walked fast for someone with legs so much shorter than his. She stepped out of the building and into the light. Jo reached for her sunglasses and said without looking, “You don’t have to follow me.” Gill covered his eyes from the glare, too. “I don’t have to do a lot of things.” He didn’t invade the place she was inside her head with questions, even though he had a million running through his. It was obvious she was walking off steam. And from the way she was muttering under her breath, she was battling several demons all at once. “Don’t you have to be training someone on how to be badass?” Jo threw out over her shoulder. “Nope. I’m technically done for the day.” “The day just started.” He didn’t need to be there at all, he came for the company. The company that was storming around the building on a mission. He’d been having a hard time getting her out of his head since she walked in the bar in DC. This morning’s little show from the do
Chapter Ten The syndicator counted down, Jo’s heart stayed steady until the red light indicated that the simulation was live. Her weapon out in front, her eyes wide open . . . she waited. The first person she saw on the left side of the room was a civilian walking from an on-screen grocery store. A noise behind her brought her attention to the image of a car. Behind it, a man held a gun to the head of a hostage. The gunman shouted at the camera, which was meant to simulate a real-life situation, but Jo couldn’t talk the man down. This simulation was about gut instinct for when to shoot and when to hold back. The victim in the image cried and attempted to lean away from the gun pressed to her temple. The gunman suddenly looked to a place beyond where Jo stood, his attention diverted. She refused to look behind her. A split second later the gunman turned that gun toward her and the victim managed to move a half a foot away. Jo took the shot. The pretend gunman went down. Only then did sh
Chapter Eleven As liberating as it was to leave River Bend, the feeling faded quickly as the chains started to slowly link back together the closer Jo came to landing. Rain met her return, which was fitting. Zoe waved from the doors of baggage claim, not that Jo had anything but her carry-on backpack for luggage. “Now look who is jet-setting across the country,” Zoe teased with a hug. “I don’t have frequent flyer miles like you.” Zoe might be dressed in jeans, a button-up shirt, and a jacket, but she looked like she’d just stepped through the pages of a fashion magazine. The contrast between how she dressed now and when they were kids always stunned Jo when she saw it after a week away. “Tell me you had fun.” Jo smiled. “I had fun.” Zoe narrowed her eyes. “So Agent Hottie stepped up?” Jo’s smile grew. “Yes, he did.” She kept the details to herself. Her friend blew out a breath and turned toward the doors of the airport and out to the curb, where some travelers were waiting for rides. “
Chapter Twelve Gill looked up from his desk when he saw Shauna walk by. “Burton,” he said, catching her attention. She doubled back. “Yeah?” “Do you have those files on Jo’s case . . . her father’s case?” Shauna regarded him with concern. “I do.” “I’d like to take a look at them.” It was Monday, and they’d be working overtime in an effort to find the suppliers of a local high school in the grips of a heroin outbreak. The investigation went beyond the local police due to the number of seventeen-year-olds that were ending up dead. One of whom happened to be the nephew of a local congressman. Looking at the Ward case would have to take place when he was at home, but he didn’t want it to get away from him. “I’ll get them to you. Once you’ve read them, I’d like to go over a few things,” Shauna said. “Do you see anything suspicious?” Shauna didn’t look convinced. “Seems too cut-and-dry. Like someone put a stamp of approval on his case way too quickly, but I’m not convinced he was murdered.”
Chapter Thirteen Fog socked in, cloaking River Bend in a layer so thick it needed a blowtorch to get through it. Not that it slowed Jo down. She arrived at the track at six, did her warm-up laps, and waited for the distance team to arrive. Tim, her team captain, showed up first. Right behind him, Maureen and Tina, her top girls varsity runners, waltzed onto the field, their heads stuck together in gossip. “Hey, Coach,” Tim greeted when he was close enough. “Finally let up enough for us to practice.” Jo smiled. “Not going to do anybody any good breaking an ankle this close to the invitational.” The track drained rather well for something that needed to be replaced three years ago, but when it poured like it ha
d, the thing resembled a lake more than a place for kids to run. Maureen and Tina were still yakking when they hung their backpacks on the spikes of the fence. Jo looked at her watch and peeked around the bleachers to the parking lot. Her youngest runner, Louis, was jogging from hi
Chapter Fourteen Drew followed the line of cars working their way into the high school parking lot and noticed Tina leaning against her dad’s late model Civic. Her tight little running shorts had distracted him all morning, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she knew it. She glanced up when he approached. “Hey,” he said. “I thought you went home to shower?” she said. “On my way.” Her phone buzzed. He glanced down at Tina’s phone, saw the same image on every sent section of her text messaging. “Is that the sheriff and that guy?” Tina opened the image for him to see it clearly. “He’s really hot.” Drew pulled his gaze from his coach’s ass in the picture to look at the man. “If you like ancient guys.” “He’s not old.” Drew rolled his eyes. “He is for you.” Tina pulled her phone away from his sight. “Whatever.” She pushed off the side of the car and slid behind the driver’s seat. Drew backed up as she started the engine. He’d bet money she was still upset he hadn’t wanted to go to homecoming. You wo
Chapter Fifteen The distraction, otherwise known as Gill, made it nearly impossible to work. The paperwork that had been put aside because of the rain had piled up and needed to be taken care of. An hour into her day, Jo decided the only way to complete anything was to move the massive man from her office. Then she’d double-time until she was finished and find a way to incorporate him into her day. “Okay, Goliath,” she said as she grabbed her hat. “Let’s go.” “Oh, Goliath. I like that.” Jo rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, expecting him to follow. “Leaving already?” Glynis said as they walked out. “I’ll be back,” Jo informed her. The woman smiled and waved, her eyes on Gill. “Bye-bye.” Gill kept pace with her. “So here are the ground rules,” she started. “Rules?” “Yeah. That kiss that everyone in town has now seen on their phones, no more of that in public.” “Really?” He sounded disappointed. “I do have to hold some kind of reputation, Gill. The town had a male sheriff for ye
Making It Right (A Most Likely To Novel Book 3) Page 1
