Page 81 of Summer Heat
Short and to the point. She couldn’t help but smile, despite her lingering sense of dread. It was almost enough to make her stay. She imagined him walking into an empty cabin with a box of donuts. Imagined the flicker of confusion in his eyes. The disappointment. Assuming he was disappointed. Oh God, would he be disappointed if she was gone—or relieved?
That way lay madness.
Because even if he was disappointed, he’d made it clear he wasn’t ready for them to be more than friends. Just… why did he have to be so thoughtful? And hot, with his abs and his lopsided smile? Driving up yesterday, he’d looked like a lumberjack. A shirtless one…
Why did he have to be everything she wanted?
She glanced at the sky through the window. Clear. A blue so pale it was almost white. There was no reason to wait any longer. She’d just been stalling, anyway. Hoping he’d make it back before she left.
She didn’t leave the present she’d gotten for him.
She didn’t leave a note.
She ignored Oreo’s doleful eyes and drove toward Austin—a
nd kept driving, even when the sky turned dark. It started to rain. And then the rain turned to ice. And the ice grew large, banging on the top of her car, probably leaving dents. The hard sleet slowed her car down, the low visibility, until she was almost at a crawl. It took three times as long to get home.
When she got there, the signal caught up to her phone. A flurry of missed calls and texts dinged at the same time.
Why’d you leave?
At least tell me you’re okay.
Goddammit.
The last one had made her smile, just a little. She could picture him standing there, frustrated, saying that word, while Oreo pranced around his legs. She clutched the phone in both hands, wondering whether to call or text.
In the end, she typed, I’m okay.
Which was about as final as she could be. He got the message. He didn’t call again.
Chapter Seven
Ethan slammed the door to the pickup shut and headed into the police department. Department was maybe too strong a word for the three-man shop that kept the peace in Dearling, Texas, but Ethan was proud to be part of it. In fact, his new position had everything he could have wanted. A way to use his skills. A chance to help people. If only it wasn’t located a hundred miles away from a certain woman…
Stop thinking about her. But that hadn’t worked when he was in Austin, and it didn’t work now. Even the damned blueberry pie that Natalie sent home with him every night made him think of Lia, and how he hadn’t gotten to share it with her. He’d had ideas for that pie and her body. Then his dick had taken one look at the freezing rain and Lia-less cabin and gone into hibernation.
Maybe he’d just call one more time. No.
The sheriff was waiting for him inside the station. Joe Peterson was tall and slender and sharp as a fucking tack. He cocked an eyebrow. “Cold?”
Ethan barked a laugh. “Looking forward to the summer. I hear they’re brutal.”
“Well, don’t get comfortable yet. I’ve got one more job for you to do.”
That got his attention. “What happened?”
In the six weeks he’d been working here, he followed a standard route around the city and surrounding areas. Deviations from the schedule meant someone had fallen in a field or a barn had been vandalized.
Joe shrugged, seeming almost… sheepish? It was hard to pin down, because Ethan had never seen that expression on his boss before.
“The new teacher needs an escort at the school,” Joe said. “It’s locked up now for winter break. The principal let her in this morning to setup her classroom, but Ms. Cline lives far enough away to make the drive dangerous. I need you to go to the school, lock up after her, and make sure she gets home safely. There’s a storm coming.”
“Got it.” He didn’t need to ask why he got the short end of that stick. He was the rookie—and besides, he was young and single. It stood to reason he would pull the late-night babysitting shift. Even if the pie in his passenger seat cooled with every extra minute.
Joe cocked his head, eyes shrewd. “Oh, and lieutenant?”
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Sheriff?”
