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“Which ways?” she asked, her eyes alight with curiosity instead of shock.
I’m loyal and trustworthy, he thought. But didn’t say it out loud because it would leave him vulnerable. “I’ll let you figure it out.”
He turned to go, knowing he shouldn’t make a parting comment, but he couldn’t help himself. “By the way, sweetheart. I don’t show my stick to just anyone.”
Evan left her out in the night air but didn’t close the door. She might change her mind about coming inside once he left. He took his gun with him, locking it back in the cabinet before going upstairs to dress. He never left his guns unlocked.
He thought about the woman waiting for him on his front porch. She screamed big city. The kind of lady he knew better than to tangle with, yet part of him wanted to do just that. He wanted to take care of her wound, then comfort her in his arms.
Dammit, old son, haven’t you already learned that lesson? He didn’t answer himself.
Lydia couldn’t believe she stood on the porch of some backwoods sheriff’s house. Florida was surprisingly cold on this May night and frightening. Foreign noises grew in volume in the darkness, and she couldn’t hear a single car honking or taxi driver cursing. This remote place was nothing like her aunt’s place farther south in Deerfield Beach.
But it wasn’t all an unpleasant experience. The scent of orange blossoms filled the air, and the full moon painted pretty shadow pictures on the ground. Taking a deep breath, she stared up at the sky.
She shivered and ran her hands over her bare arms. Her short-sleeved designer pantsuit might look nice indoors, but outside it offered no protection. Expensive but worthless. Like her?
That line of thinking was too depressing to pursue. Her car was wrecked. She couldn’t give her name or any other information to the cops. They’d call her father, and she couldn’t go home. At least not yet.
After the accident, she’d listened to the warning bell telling her the car door was ajar, realizing that something inside her was ajar. She couldn’t go back home. She couldn’t continue on to Aunt Gracie’s house either because her car was totaled. The future was already written in stone, and it looked long and lonely from where she sat.
She’d have to wing it. But she wasn’t good at spur-of-the-moment things. The last time she’d tried to be spontaneous she’d discovered her fiancé in bed with his mistress. No, she thought, don’t go there.
She hadn’t loved Paul Draper but she’d liked him and thought they’d have a chance at a decent sort of marriage. But Paul hadn’t believed in commitment to one woman, especially a wife.
Catching Paul in bed with another woman hadn’t broken her heart, but it had made her think about marrying for any reason other than love. She’d quietly left Paul’s apartment and informed her father that she wasn’t rushing into marriage. For the first time he’d gotten truly angry with her and insisted she would marry Paul. Feeling trapped Lydia had escaped in the middle of the night with no clear plan of where she was going—only knowing she couldn’t stay in New York City.
She’d looked into the darkening night and made a desperate decision to change the course of her fate. She was going to have to be in the driver’s seat if she didn’t want to take that long, lonely walk down the marriage aisle in September. She had this summer. One short summer to find an alternative and to find herself before she had to make a decision to either submit to her father’s vision of her destiny or change her life forever. During the long walk to the ranch house she’d vacillated, not coming up with any solution, but one thing had been clear—her determination not to play the role her father had chosen for her.
She’d always been close to her father, and they’d grown closer in the last ten years since her mother’s death. Close enough for her to have been fooled by him when he said that she should marry for love and not position.
She was the child of an illicit affair and had lived in a posh Manhattan penthouse with both of her parents all her life, even though they’d never married. She’d gone to an exclusive boarding school with children of rock stars and politicians so her parents not being married had never been an issue. Actually, her family had been closer to normal than any.
Her father would drag her back home, and she’d be forced to marry Paul. She would have thought her father had enough respect for her at twenty-five to let her make her own decisions. But no.
Two months ago he’d come home from the office and announced that she should be married in six months. He’d asked if she had any prospects. Thinking he was joking she’d said no, she was going to be an old maid.
From that moment on her father had shoved one single executive after another down her throat. She’d been on more blind dates and accidental dinners than she’d ever wanted. And it had soon become clear that these men weren’t interested in her as anything other than the means to an end.
She wanted to find her Prince Charming and be swept off her feet by him. She’d come to realize that in real life the handsome, wealthy prince might not be the greatest catch. He might be self-absorbed and cold. Her real-life, handsome, wealthy prince would certainly never banter with her.
She didn’t want to be married off for her position in society, to a man who saw her only as a bank account, she thought sadly. It made her wonder what, if anything, Paul wanted from her. He was her father’s second in command at work. He really had nothing to gain by marrying her. Except a lot of money.
Oh, great. She was getting maudlin. She was too young and spunky to be so melodramatic, she reminded herself. But the lesson didn’t sink in. Tonight, she was tired and cold and her head ached. Taking a deep breath, she sank down onto one of the porch steps. She wanted to bury her face in her hands, but the wound on her head prohibited that. So she rested her chin on her up-drawn legs.
When the good-looking sheriff came back she was going to have to lie for all she was worth to convince him she was nothing more than she appeared. A down-on-her-luck-lady.
She loved her dad, but she wasn’t ready to go back to Manhattan yet. He was too steely-eyed in his determination for her to marry Paul. She’d left him a note with a brief admonition not to worry, but she knew him. Martin Kerr wasn’t going to let her stay hidden.
She wondered if the sheriff would believe she had amnesia? She doubted it. Besides, on the soaps, amnesia victims were always immediately unsure of where they were and what they were doing. She’d probably blown her chance. Frankly, she didn’t know if she was up to inventing a complicated lie.
Simplicity seemed her smartest route. She’d already removed her license plate and hidden it in her suitcase so they couldn’t trace the car to her New York address. She’d also left her cell phone behind, knowing she’d answer it if her dad called and she needed distance to think. She’d have to make up a name and a story. A good one because, even though this was a small-town sheriff, keen intelligence had gleamed in his eyes. Also a predatory awareness that she’d rarely encountered in men. He wasn’t going to be distracted by batting eyelashes and fingers stroking down his arm.
She liked the sheriff. Liked the lean body she’d observed while he’d talked with her. Liked the line of hair that tapered down his washboard stomach beneath the line of the brown towel. Liked the easy strength he’d used to hold her with when she’d tried to escape. Liked especially the fact that he hadn’t hurt her.
She heard feet pounding the earth, and a minute later two monsters surrounded her. Dogs were cute fluffy white things with pink or yellow bows in their hair. These dirty phantoms wanted to eat her alive, she realized as wet coarse tongues swept over her arms and face.
She screamed and tried to scramble to her feet. A strong hand grabbed her upper arm, steadying her. Grateful for the sheriff’s assistance she clung to him. She felt tears burn the back of her eyes and felt not only the helplessness of her current situation, but also the weight of her life and the decision she’d made.
“Settle down, boys,” the sheriff ordered, appearing by her side.
The dogs stilled and then, after a hand movement from the sheriff, disappeared around the corner. Lydia could hardly contain her breathing. The sheriff ran a soothing hand down her spine.
“So you don’t like dogs?” he asked, in a laconic drawl that made her want to kick him.
“I like show dogs. Pets with manners,” she said. To her own ears her voice sounded thin and airy. Did she sound that weak to him?
“Those are real dogs for real men, sweetheart. Not the cultured kind of pet you find in the city.”
“How did you know I’m from the city?” she asked. Oh, God, did he know who she was? For the first time since he’d rejoined her, she studied him.
Her breath caught in her throat. If he’d been sexy wearing only a towel, he was even more so clothed in a black T-shirt and faded jeans. She liked the smile in his eyes and the quiet confidence he projected. She didn’t want to like him because she had to deceive him, but she knew there was little hope for resisting him.
He shrugged his shoulder and scratched his chin before answering her. “You just have the look of the city.”
He had no idea how right he was. She did have the look, had, in fact, been part of a national campaign with her supermodel mother when she was fifteen. Lydia bit her lip as thoughts of her mother assailed her. Her mother had been killed in the terrorist downing of a plane.
“I didn’t realize bloody wounds and rumpled clothing were in fashion this year,” she quipped.
“Maybe you’ll start a trend.”
She doubted it. She hated the spotlight. Uncomfortable with the silence between them, she diverted the conversation to business. “I should have asked you for a phone earlier to call a wrecker.”
“I already took care of that. And I’ve called one of my deputies and an ambulance. They’ll be waiting for us by your car. Here’s my badge, by the way,” he said, quickly extending the badge for her to see. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride back to your vehicle.”
“Thanks.”
She’d always had everything she wanted but riding in a 4X4 would be a new experience. If she’d walked back to her car, her feet would have protested. His big truck sported a little step built under the door. Thank God, she thought. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to climb inside without help.
The sheriff stood behind her anyway and boosted her to the step. She seated herself, then realized they were eye-to-eye. He was a tall man, this sheriff. His eyes were an icy gray. The play of light over his features fascinated her. A strong jaw and sun and laugh lines that radiated outward from his eyes.
A real man. A shiver of awareness spread through her body and pooled at her center. She’d bet her last hundred-dollar bill that he had the kind of muscles you couldn’t get with weekly trips to the fitness center. Stop it, she warned herself.
She’d never been on her own, and the prospect was daunting. For a moment she wanted to return to the familiar, her prestigious name and large bank account. But she also wanted the chance to prove to herself that she was more than a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’m Evan Powell. Please call me Evan,” he said.
“Thank you, Evan.”
“You’re welcome….”
He wanted to know her name. Come on girl, think. The safest name would be her own. She’d use her middle name, which was what her closest friends called her anyway. She’d give her father’s name for the last name. “Lydia Martin.”
“Lydia,” he repeated her name as if savoring the feel of it on his tongue.
He closed the door. She watched him walk around the truck and sucked in a few deep breaths before he returned. The cab smelled warm and masculine. Like his aftershave, she realized as he climbed behind the wheel.
He started the truck and the twang of country guitar filled it. He reached out to turn down the volume and she watched his hands. Twice he’d held her arm. She wondered what his touch would feel like in a different context and not on her arm. Her nipples tightened against her lacy bra.
“Are you visiting around these parts?” he asked.
Glad for the distraction from her thoughts, she said, “No, I’m just passing through. I was heading to Deerfield Beach to stay with my aunt.”
They’d reached the end of his driveway. “Which way?”
“Left.”
Her BMW was still wrapped around a telephone pole, and the wreck looked a lot worse in the harsh light cast by his 4X4 truck. “I’m surprised you were able to walk away.”
“The air bag and seat belt saved my life,” she said and knew it was true.
Amazing she’d survived, she thought as she stared at the twisted pile of metal. She felt as if she’d been given another chance at life, and she decided to make the most of it. If she wanted to marry for love she’d have to find a man worthy of her love—and find out if she was worthy of his love. The ideas she’d been playing with earlier solidified, and she knew a sense of purpose for the first time in her life. And that purpose was going to take her in the opposite direction to where her life had been heading.
The police, ambulance and wrecker all arrived while she watched from the cab of Evan’s truck. She felt a little like a fairy-tale princess who’d just been awakened from a long sleep. Only this princess would travel a harder road to find her knight in shining armor and live happily ever after.
Two
It was bad enough Evan was attracted to a tourist he was sworn to protect and serve but to discover one of his cows had caused the accident was a fitting end to the night. Lydia, who’d yet to produce an ID, didn’t want to press charges. But Evan knew he’d have to cover the car repair and probably a couple of nights’ motel stay.
Though the EMT who examined her feared she might have a concussion, she refused to go to the hospital and stay overnight. Evan knew he couldn’t dump her in a motel.
“She can stay with me tonight,” he volunteered.
The EMT gave him instructions to wake her every two hours and ask her a few questions.
“I don’t want to be an imposition,” Lydia said after the EMT had left.
“You won’t be. I take in boarders in the summer.”
“Really, I’ll be fine in a motel.”
“It’s either my place or the hospital, sweetheart.”
“Listen here, Sheriff. I don’t take orders from anyone.”
“I’m not giving you an order. I’m making a decision for you. You are too impaired due to your injury to decide on your own.”
She glared at him. He’d love to see her rested and at her full fighting strength. “I’m not going to the hospital.”
“Then I’d love to have you as my guest.”
“You’re not going to offer to show me your stick are you?”
Evan laughed. “No, not yet.”
He spared a few minutes to radio his foreman to come get the cow back inside the fence. Then have his men repair the broken section. It had been a long time since he’d met a woman he could spar with verbally. Most of the hometown girls never stood up to him. He caught up with Lydia arguing with the tow-truck driver, Boz Stillman.
“Listen, lady. It’s going to take weeks—two, maybe three, to repair your car. Why don’t you just let me take it to the junkyard and have your insurance carrier reimburse you?” Boz demanded.
“The car is still in working condition. I don’t want it totaled,” Lydia said.
“Do you have insurance?” Evan asked. Her insistence about repairing her car told him she might not be covered. He glanced toward the car and found Boz’s helper unloading a fortune’s worth of designer luggage from the trunk.
“No,” she said, quietly.
“Boz, tow the car in and make the repairs to it.”
“Um…Evan, may I speak with you for a minute?” Lydia asked. Her voice was soft and sweet, not a bit at odds with the woman who’d clung to him when his dogs had been licking her.
“Sure. Give us a minute, Boz.”
Boz walked away mumbling about women with more looks than sense. Lydia shifted her weight from foot to foot and stared off at the red-and-blue flashing lights of the squad car.
“What did you want to discuss?”
“This is kind of hard to say,” Lydia hedged.
“Spit it out,” he said, unable to believe she had trouble saying what was on her mind.
“I don’t have any money right now.”
“Don’t you have credit cards?” She seemed like the type who’d have a wallet full of gold cards.
“No. I don’t like to use them,” she said, staring at the ground.
“Let me pay for the repairs. It’s the least I can do since my cow caused the accident.”
“No. You’re already paying me back by letting me stay at your house tonight. Maybe I can find a job and earn some cash to pay for the repairs. This car looks like it’s going to take some time to fix.”
“I’ll pay Boz for the repairs when he’s finished and then you can send me a check from your relative’s house when you get there.”
“My aunt is out of town. I’m house-sitting for her.”
Of course, he thought. Because he’d been thinking that he could spar with her and enjoy the tinges of arousal racing through his veins until she left, it looked like she was going to have to stay.
“What’s your career?”
