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He hesitated, but he wasn’t a coward, so he trudged through the puddles accumulating on the road and walked around the van.
Kady opened the doors. “Come on up here.”
He eyed her skeptically. With all the equipment, there wasn’t a lot of room left in the cargo area of the van. She’d laid an already muddy towel on the floor, but held a clean one in her hands.
Almost as if she expected to dry him herself.
His skin prickled at the thought, and he swallowed heavily.
Voice softer now, she promised, “I don’t bite, you know.”
Damn it, now she was taunting him? Not tonight.
Mouth tight, he reached for a handhold and pulled himself up next to her. “I never said—”
“Not unless you ask me to.”
His gaze clashed with hers, and she actually smiled.
Oh God, he envisioned that soft mouth open on his shoulder, the wet touch of her tongue, the sharp edge of her teeth grazing his burning skin...
As if she knew the image she’d planted in his brain, her cheeks flushed and she leaned a little closer.
Her scent was that of damp skin and body heat and smoldering sex appeal. He continued to stare, all but mesmerized—an unfortunate reaction to being this close to her—until she finally lowered her lashes, freeing him.
The second she did, he sucked in a deep, necessary breath and tried to regain his famed cool demeanor.
Kady nodded at the muddy towel on the floor. “I had to clean up after being in the storm.” She plucked at the front of a too-large shirt, no doubt a backup because he knew she wouldn’t have come to work in something so unfashionable. “I’m not sure how you managed it, but you’re as muddy as I was. I assume you don’t want to ruin the seats of your SUV, so you’re welcome to clean up, too.”
She said a lot, all of it in a breathless rush that made him uneasy...and a little horny.
Annoyed with himself, he snatched the towel from her lax hand and asked, “Where’s Cleets?”
“I dropped him off at home.” Recovering, her voice turned playful again. “Don’t worry, Sheriff. I’ll return the van, get my car and get home well before midnight, I promise.”
She shouldn’t be out here alone, period. Yes, she was a grown woman who handled a demanding job with finesse, and yes, Buckhorn was mostly free of any serious crimes, but the weather was shit, and he’d already helped two locals who’d gotten stuck in the muck. Anything could happen to a woman alone, and when the woman was Kady—
“My, my,” she murmured, interrupting his dark thoughts. “You look grouchy as a bear. Very uncharacteristic for you.” She shifted, putting one shapely hip against a cabinet, and her voice lowered more when she asked, “Anything I can do to improve your mood?”
She infused so much suggestion into those words, his spine stiffened. “No.” He toweled off vigorously, then shot her a look. “But you can tell me why you’re out in this storm.”
“Yes, sir.” She watched him a little too intently as he ran the towel over his head and the back of his neck, cleaning off most of the splattered mud. “Cleets and I got some live shots of the storm from different locations, one of them near the lake.” She scrunched her nose. “It’s so blasted muddy, I slid, which is why I’m in these clothes and why there’s a muddy towel on the floor.”
Appalled, he stared down at her. “You slid into the lake?”
“No, near the lake.” She continued patiently, “But if I had fallen into the lake, I assure you I can swim. I’ve been in and out of the lake since before I could walk.”
“Not during storms.” He’d seen the lake earlier. Turbulent winds carried waves up and over the surfaces of docks, crashing them against the rock-lined shore.
“No lightning,” she pointed out. “Just rain, so it’s safe.”
The words were barely out of her mouth before lightning cracked behind them, followed by a deafening boom of thunder.
Tucker lifted a brow. “Seems like your forecast is a little off.”
Frowning, she moved close to him—so close he held his breath—then reached past him to close the door, sealing them both inside.
“What...?”
A mere inch away, Kady cocked her head. “We don’t want to invite the lightning in, right?”
He could feel her warm, moist breath, damn it. Stepping back seemed like a good idea, but it also felt gutless. “You’re the meteorologist.”
Her attention dipped to his mouth, then the open throat of his ruined, button-up shirt. Casually, without any evidence of the turmoil he felt, she returned to her position against the cabinet. “I really can swim, you know.”
“I assumed.” Much of her family lived right on the lake. Her dad was still one hell of a water-skier, and all of them spent plenty of time on various boats the family owned.
“The storms will end sometime tonight, and tomorrow it’ll be sweltering.” She bit her lip, for once looking unsure of herself as she softly suggested, “You should come by and take a dip with me after work.”
Get wet with her? While she wore a bikini? Ah, no. “Can’t.” He swiped at the mud on the front of his jeans, studiously avoiding her beautiful blue eyes.
The silence stretched out, straining his composure—and his resistance.
Finally, she asked, “So why were you playing in the mud?”
“I wasn’t playing,” he replied, his tone thankfully moderate. “But it’s not easy to help push a car free without getting splattered.”
She looked him over, then turned and knelt in front of a duffel bag, rummaging inside until she stood again with a large black T-shirt. She thrust it toward him. “Here you go.”
He eyed the shirt warily.
“Don’t be modest, Sheriff. There’s no wiping away the mud.”
“It’s fine.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I’ve never seen a shirtless man before.” She tipped her head, her tone whisper-soft. “I’d offer you pants, too, but I don’t have any more.” She gestured at the loose athletic pants she wore. “I had to do my own wardrobe change.”
“With Cleets?”
“No one has accused me of being shy.”
It was the oddest thing, but heat crawled up his neck and behind his eyes, feeling a lot like anger.
Or jealousy.
Mouth tight, he took a step toward her before he could even think about what he was doing. “You changed in front of him?”
Her lips twitched, then she actually laughed. “If I had, Cleets would still be blushing. He’s shy, you know. And very much a gentleman. Plus he has a sweetheart, and he would never be disloyal to her by ogling another woman.”
Feeling like a fool, Tucker listened as the storm raged outside the van, and in his heart.
“Yup,” she whispered, again reading his thoughts. “I think we’re stuck together, at least until it lets up a little.”
“Probably.” He started on the buttons of his shirt. It was ridiculous the way her eyes flared a little, how she settled back as if expecting a show. Living on a big vacation lake meant she saw men in nothing more than trunks all summer long.
He pulled the tails free of his pants and shrugged the sodden, muddy fabric from his shoulders.
When he reached for the black T-shirt, she held it out of reach. “You’re tanned.”
Did her voice sound huskier? “Yeah, so?” The way her rapt gaze moved over him, he almost felt naked. “I’m not always in uniform, you know.”
She ignored that to say, “You’re hairier than I expected.”
He looked down at his own chest, which, far as he could tell, was about average in the hair department. He wasn’t an ape, but neither was he fifteen and baby-butt smooth.
Scoffing, he asked, “Expected me to manscape, did you?”
“Not really, no.” She deeply inhaled and slowly handed him the shirt. Her eyes locked on his. “I like it.”
Great. Something he didn’t need to know. He took the shirt, but only held it at his side. “Kady...”
“Hmm?”
The way she positioned herself on the cabinet, hands braced beside her hips, arms straight, one leg bent and breasts thrust forward, was enough to distract any man. “I know it’s like a habit to you, but you really shouldn’t flirt with me.”
That got her attention off his body. “A habit?”
“You do it with everyone.”
“I’m nice to everyone.” Brows coming together, she straightened away from the cabinet. “That’s different from flirting.” She threw up her hands. “God save me from obtuse men.”
“Obtuse?”
Her eyes narrowed. “If you can’t see what’s right in front of you, then yes, you’re obtuse.”
Somehow he was closer to her again. “I doubt the town would elect a stupid sheriff.”
Tipping her head back, she stared up at him in blatant challenge. “Oh, you do fine as a sheriff. But as a man...?” She shrugged.
A wash of heat burned his skin and made his nostrils flare. He leaned down, crowding her space. “I’ll have you know...” What? “I do fine as a man.” God, that was so lame.
She looked at his mouth. “Can’t prove it by me.”
Oh, so bold—and so close. Her lips were damp, her eyes heavy, and everything about her screamed an invitation. Could she possibly know what it did to him, having her look at him like that? Did she know that he was getting hard?
Wrestling with temptation, Tucker tried to draw back, but it was as if their gazes had locked and he couldn’t pull free. Maybe he even leaned closer...
Suddenly, headlights flashed in the rear windows of the van, blinding them both. He lifted a hand, turning toward the roar of a muscled engine. Through the windows he saw a car wildly careening toward them. Fast. Too fast.
In his gut, he knew they’d be hit.
Kady squeaked as he grabbed her close and bore her down to the floor on her butt, her face tucked against his chest, his body curling over and around hers protectively. They had no time for anything else, not for explanations or preparation, before the car heavily sideswiped the van with a jolting impact. The screech of metal on metal filled the air as the car shoved the van farther off the road and into the mud.
For one heart-stopping moment, Tucker thought it might roll, but it rocked back with a deep shudder that sent something with hard corners tumbling down onto his shoulder.
Grunting at the sharp pain, teeth locked, he gave thanks that he’d thought to cover Kady’s head so thoroughly. Instinctively, his arms tightened around her, and he ignored the ache to his shoulder muscle.
The seconds ticked by.
When nothing else happened, he cautiously lifted his head. She kept her face against him, her small hands curled on his chest.
He could feel her trembling.
After one stroke to her hair, he unwound from her and helped her to sit up. His shoulder screamed, but he had other priorities. “Are you okay?”
Eyes big and glassy, she nodded. “You?”
Anger washed away a lot of the pain. “Fine. Stay here.” He got up and looked through the front windshield in time to see the car’s taillights disappear around a bend in the road.
The reckless bastard hadn’t even stopped.
With the distance, the rain and the dark, there was no way to see the license-plate number.
Kady sat cross-legged on the floor, her palms to her cheeks. “I guess the driver didn’t see us.”
“The jackass was driving too fast to see anything, especially on a night like this.” But he couldn’t have missed that force of contact. Tucker crouched in front of her. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“Just shaken.” She put a hand to his neck.
Her palm was soft, small, cool to the touch...and yet, he felt scorched. Asinine. It was only his damned neck.
She swallowed. “I take back what I said.”
Wondering if he’d ever understand her, Tucker asked, “Which part?”
“About you being an obtuse man.” Her fingers stroked a little. “You have amazing reflexes, and I... I appreciate that you thought of me.”
Tucker had no idea what to say to that. Truthfully, when he’d realized what would happen, he’d been able to think only of her.
“I mean, I know you’d have done the same with any woman. I’m not insinuating... That is, I realize...” Her voice faded and she shook her head, then said firmly, “Thank you.”
After doing his best to behave, it was crazy that her uncertainty would push him right over the edge, but that’s what happened. For once she wasn’t flirting, wasn’t flaunting that teasing persona.
At this moment, here—with him—she was open and vulnerable and real.
Needing to touch her, comfort her, Tucker put his knuckles under her chin and brought her face up to his. Those summer-sky eyes searched his, and he saw her dawning awareness seconds before he kissed her.
Her lips were soft and warm, slightly parted. She made a sexy, husky sound in the back of her throat and immediately, urgently squeezed closer, her arms twining around his neck, her breasts pressing to his chest.
