“What are you doing with Killian’s dogs?”
Abruptly ripped from the simmering lust I’d just been enjoying, my expression was dark when I glanced at that chick Monica, hanging out in front of the trading post. I wasn’t going to answer her because it wasn’t any of her business, but she kind of got in my face. Not too close because Cooper and Max started to growl, low in their throats. I’d never heard them do that. Monica was smarter than she looked when she took a step back.
“He doesn’t let people around them.” Had Killian dated her because I just couldn’t see it?
“I didn’t kidnap them if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Hey, Cedar.”
Natalie came up behind me. “Hey, you two,” she said, getting down to rub the boys down.
Monica had just gotten into my face about having Killian’s dogs, but she said nothing about Natalie petting them. Odd.
“It won’t last,” she said, twirling her hair around her finger as she cracked her bubble gum. “Tough nut to crack.”
Not surprising that she didn’t understand him at all.
A brute of a guy came out, saw her talking to me, and grabbed her arm so hard she cried out. “Shut up,” he snarled and dragged her down the street.
I guess it said a lot about me, but I didn’t make a move to help her. I was willing to put myself in harm’s way for animals, but humans…not so much.
“You came out here on purpose, didn’t you?” I asked Natalie, after Monica was out of earshot.
“After she waved that gun around at the tavern, yeah…not sure she’s playing with a full deck.”
“She waved a gun around the tavern?”
“Yeah, you didn’t hear?”
“No. Why the hell would she do that?”
“She was looking for Killian.”
“When was this?”
“Last week sometime”
Probably the night Killian cooked me dinner and was called away, and the following morning he found the cigarettes. “Does she smoke?” I asked.
“Not that I know of.”
Hmm...
“I got to get back to Beast,” Natalie said.
“Is that what you named him?” The dog she took in, the one I’d help liberate.
“Yeah. Poor boy needs a strong name. He’s afraid all of the time.”
“I would be too after the treatment from that jackass. Drinks sometime this weekend? You need to catch me up on what’s going on with you and Liam?”
She started back to the shelter. “Yeah, that’s a story.” She sounded frustrated. “I’ll call you.”
I wondered what that was all about because there was interest on both sides.
The dogs and I crossed the street. The hair on my nape stirred, and I glanced over, just as a truck pulled from the curb. I saw a pair of eyes looking at me from the side window. I was a little unsettled when I entered the station. The kid who’d been there that day with the jackass looked up and then stood up when he saw the dogs.
“You looking for the sheriff?”
“Yes, if he’s not busy.”
“One sec.” Then he hollered, “Got a visitor, Boss.” He looped his fingers into his belt and grinned.
“I’m Cedar.”
He offered his hand. “I know.” He grinned again. “Johnny.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“The fuck I told—” Killian saw me, the area around his eyes softened just slightly. His focus shifted to his dogs. “Hold my calls.”
He waited for me, and then followed after me. As soon as the door closed, he had me up against it. He captured both of my hands in his one and held them over my head before his mouth was on mine. I moaned, wanted to touch him, but outside of his hand on mine, only our mouths touched. It was the most erotic kiss, setting my blood on fire with the need to feel his body against mine, his hands on me.
His tongue pushed into my mouth, tasted then retreated. I leaned into him, trying to get closer, as I explored his mouth, groaning when his taste filled mine.
We were both breathing heavy when he ended the kiss. He didn’t release my hands, didn’t close the distance, just looked at me in that intense way of his. My body was on fire, the ache between my legs was distracting and the way he was looking at me was making me feel reckless.
“You need me?” he asked.
Oh my god, yes, I needed him. Right now, on his desk, against the door, I wasn’t picky. He knew what I was thinking when his eyes turned darker. My heart was racing; my nerve endings were so sensitive that tingles were running down my body. And he stood there, holding me in place with just one hand and that stare.
“You like pie?” I surprised both of us when I asked that. My brain was short-circuiting from lust.
“You thinking about pie?”
“I’m thinking I should have worn my dress.”
He growled deep in his throat. It was the sexiest sound I’d ever heard. “Cherry.”
Cherry? Yes, it was technically already popped, but please pop it again.
His gaze swept my face, his mouth tipped up. “Pie,” he added.
My gaze dropped to his mouth; my tongue touched my lower lip where I could still taste him. He closed the distance, pulled my lip between his teeth, and looked me in the eyes when he applied enough pressure to make it hurt.
My legs went weak. He grinned. Then waited for me to get my balance, before he opened the door and held it for me. I was in a daze walking to the door. Reaching it, he called, “Don’t forget the pie.”
I glanced back; he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. I felt the heat crawl up my neck to my cheeks. He knew what he was doing to me because he grinned.
I almost walked into the door then stood just outside the station, trying to remember why I came into town to begin with.
Maureen and Jared stopped by earlier to take Cooper and Max for the afternoon, her only grandchildren at the moment. There was a definite hint there, and since she put the thought in my head, it lingered. It was a good thought.
I wanted to check the cameras. I wouldn’t go to the ones farther on my property, but the one just inside the tree line was close enough to home. Something was nagging at me. Maybe it was a coincidence, but the timing of Monica waving the gun at the tavern bothered me, particularly when the following day, Killian found the cigarettes. I planned on talking to him about it, but he was following up on something else. I knew he’d been in touch with Detective Donnelly, and if he shared with Killian what he’d told me, I understood why Killian was busy. The threat, however small, of any kind of organized crime activity in his small town, especially one that centered around me, yeah, he was going to nail that shit down. And it was because there was that threat, real or imagined, that I wasn’t crazy enough to check all the cameras. I was curious, but I wasn’t stupid.