Phoebe hurried down the stairs.
JOEL CAUGHT the door opening again as he held the idiot teenager aloft and lectured. Another woman stepped out. He looked at her long enough to figure out if she was the mother, or not. She looked like all the rest of the females but was smaller, slighter. A little older. Maybe, but not much. She wore small, thin pajamas that did little to hide the fact that she was all woman. Hell, Joel would far rather be looking at her than dealing with this kid.
She took one look at what was happening and jumped right into the fray. By smacking at him and lecturing him.
Joel couldn’t defend himself and the boy from the small tornado attacking him—not without seriously hurting her—so he dropped the boy heedlessly to the ground and grabbed the woman by her arms. He tried to turn her to face him more fully, but she was mighty resistant.
“Stop. Lady, I said stop, unless you want to be arrested for assaulting an officer.”
She had one little finger pointing in his face, but she wasn’t looking at him. No, now her brothers got the rest of her tirade. She had the younger ones hurrying back inside with a few sharp words, under the direction of one of the sisters. The twin females remained on the porch. Watching silently, warily.
Joel wrapped his arms around her and bear-hugged her when she waved her hands around again. He didn’t have time for this. No matter that he was half enjoying having such a sweet-smelling female in his arms again. If she just wasn’t trying to kick him with her bare little feet…
Joel lifted her straight off the ground and held her there, aloft. “Stop. Now.”
“Don’t hurt her, sheriff! She can’t hear you,” the father said, hurrying closer. He reached out like he was going to try and take her out of Joel’s arms. Joel wasn’t about to put her down just yet. Not until she stopped kicking. “My girl is deaf. I don’t think the hearing aid is on. Battery doesn’t always work right.”
THERE WAS a strange man holding her. Phoebe hadn’t gotten a good look at him, but she thought it was that brute, Tom Rutherford, who’d been harassing Phoenix for weeks. He certainly felt big enough to be Rutherford.
She felt his chest rumble as he spoke behind her. Felt his arms tighten around her yet again. He certainly was a large man. Strong.
Phoenix jumped to his feet and charged the cowboy holding her. The cowboy twisted. His arms tightened around her, almost protectively.
He jerked as her brother struck him on the side.
They almost went down, but the man was strong. Big and muscled… And royally ticked off.
He let go of her and Phoebe scurried away. The man grabbed her brother. Within seconds he had Phoenix wrestled to the ground—and handcuffed. It was then Phoebe saw the emblem on the side of the SUV.
Oh, hell. She’d just accosted the Masterson County Sheriff.
Phoebe pushed Perci’s helping hand away. “Get inside, with Pan and the boys. I’ll deal with this.”
“Phoebe, let Dad deal with it,” her slightly younger sister said.
“No.” She’d deal. She’d made the situation so much worse; it was her responsibility to clean it all up. Phoebe rose to her feet and turned to the man now glowering down at her. She got her first good look at the sheriff.
Even in the light from the front porch, it was hard to miss the gorgeous cowboy in jeans and a white Stetson glowering at her. If he wasn’t about to eat her for lunch, she would almost be tempted to stop and just stare at him.
“You.” He pointed right at her. Phoebe stood her ground and refused to look away...
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Also by Calle J. Brookes
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Epilogue
Excerpts
Excerpts
If the Dark Wins (Finley Creek Book 4) Page 25
