Page 74 of Home Town Knight

Maybe it was just me, but it didn’t seem like she was dreaming of a busy news department in a metropolitan city.

Maybe she’d stick around for a while, long enough to tease out the Stillwater story. Hell, I could get lucky and she’d spend several months here. Why not let my imagination run wild? Maybe she’d want to spend every one of thosenights in my bed. Burning up the sheets and exploring every way we could give each other pleasure. Tenderness too.

But eventually she’d seek out the next story. She’d leave.

That wistful look in her eyes right now, though… It made me wish she was imagining a future here, too. A charming small-town newspaper with her name on it.

A small-town guy to call her own.

She turned to me, seeming like she was about to say something. Then my phone rang. I checked the screen and saw it was Keira. “I’m sorry, I need to take this.”

“Don’t worry about it. Go ahead.”

I answered. “Keira?”

“Apologies for bothering you with this, Owen, but it’s about the stakeout at the Alpine Hotel.”

“Josh Ellis?”

“Yeah. It seems there’s a scheduling problem. The undersheriff wants to call CSP to have them send troopers to fill in, but you have thatissuewith Sykes and Rossiter, and I wasn’t sure?—”

“No, you’re right to tell me.” This wasn’t the typical case, and we had to be careful with every move we made. “I don’t want to call in CSP, and I’m not ready to explain my reasons to Norris.” I needed to have that conversation with my undersheriff, but I wasn’t sure yet how much to share about Stillwater or the coin Rossiter took. The moment I reported Rossiter to his captain, this was going to get very messy. As if it wasn’t already.

“I could take the shift tonight,” Keira said.

“No, you’ve been working all day. I’ll figure something out. Let me get back to you.” I lowered my phone.

“You need someone for the stakeout?” Gen was close enough that she must’ve overheard. “What about us? You and me?”

“This might surprise you, babe, but you’re not a cop.”

She pinched my arm. “But you’re the sheriff. Deputize me if you want. Or don’t. Either way, you can bring me if you say it’s okay. Why not?”

There were so many reasons. “You’re a civilian. This is serious.”

“It wouldn’t be my first stakeout. Or my first ride-along. Besides, it’s just recon, right?”

“It’s all too easy for recon to turn into something more.”

“Come on, Owen. We both want to make progress on this investigation. Let me be a part of it.”

I could’ve insisted on going by myself, but I wanted Gen with me. And I didn’t want to put this onto Keira or waste time scrambling to find other bodies to fill in. Gen was right. I did want to make progress, and Ellis was our most solid lead. Potentially the key to understanding what had really happened.

“Fine. We’ll stake out the Alpine together. I’m not deputizing you, because DA Grissom would have a field day with it, but you’re going to wear a vest.”

“I can live with that.” She looked so proud of herself for convincing me, and I couldn’t resist sliding my fingers into her hair. Didn’t matter that we were still on Main Street and in full view. “You’ll have to behave yourself, though,” I said.

She smirked. “Sure, if you stop doing that sexy cowboy thing.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.”

We were barely touching. Yet there was no mistaking our chemistry to anyone passing by. Couldn’t have hidden that if I’d tried. And I didn’t want to, even if it would make my life harder as a result.

For a long time, I’d deliberately chosen solitude out of the fear of letting any woman interfere with my duties as sheriff.But with Genevieve, I was powerless to resist. I would just have to live with the consequences.

Our first stop was my house. I gave Gen an extra ballistic vest, a small one that had somehow ended up with the gear I stowed at my house instead of back at the office. To that, I added a dark coat to fit over it. If anyone saw her riding next to me and recognized me as the sheriff, they’d probably assume she was a deputy. But she wasn’t actually wearing anything marked as the sheriff’s department.

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