Page 36 of Starcrossed Colorado

But Teller shook his head. “I’ve got some work to do back at the station.”

He was Piper’s older brother. Teller and my brother Grayden had been best friends when they were younger, but then Teller went and served honorably as a Green Beret for almost twenty years until he was wounded, while my brother took pretty much the opposite path.

Teller was polite to me and my family, but we hadn’t talked much since he’d come back to Silver Ridge. He had a good reputation as chief though, and was around for Piper and Ollie. Hard to ask more of a man than that.

“I’ll have to skip this one as well,” I said. “I’m anxious to get back to my daughter.”

And actually, back to Emma.

From the pictures she’d sent, it had looked like she and Maisie were having a blast. I wanted in on that. I was ready to admit that I’d been wrong about the park outing.

Wrong about several things.

Dammit, Emma was proving to be much more than I’d expected. Great with my kid. Talented. No pushover, which I respected. And she was really,reallyfucking pretty. So pretty it was a personal attack on my willpower every time she smiled. Looking didn’t do any harm though.

Emma didn’t need to know that she’d starred in several of my fantasies the last week. Maybe I should’ve felt guilty about picturing her in various not-safe-for-work scenarios with me.

But I didn’t.

Ididfeel guilty for almost making her cry. I’d gotten worked up about the stupid trash can, and like an asshole, I’d blamed her. I’d made her sad.

Angry was one thing. But seeing hersad? No, that was just wrong.

Some people in Silver Ridge might accuse me of having no heart for anyone outside my family, but it existed. Way down deep.

I got on the road and decided to head straight to the park, hoping they were still there. Locking my truck by the curb, I walked across the grass and spotted Maisie on a low climbing wall. Emma stood a few feet away, hands on her hips. I felt a smile tug at my mouth.

A flash of golden fur barreled toward me on my left. Stella ran circles around me in excitement, as if I was her long-lost best friend and not a guy she barely knew.

“What’re you doing over here?” I grabbed her by the collar and knelt to rub her belly, just to keep her from jumping up and getting dirt on my black T-shirt. That was the only reason.

I looked up in time to see Maisie leap down from the climbing wall. That made me grit my teeth, but she appeared to be fine.

Then Emma started turning this way and that, hand pressing to her chest. She seemed upset.

Stella and I started toward them. When Emma saw me, she clapped her hands to her mouth. She grabbed Maisie’s hand, and together, they ran to meet us.

“Daddy!” Maisie let go of Emma and jumped into my arms. Stella barked excitedly.

“Hey, monkey. Missed you.”

“We had so much fun. We got Stella from Dixie’s and did the swings and ate snacks.” I set her down. “Daddy, watch! I can play fetch with Stella.”

Maisie picked up a stick and threw it. The stick only went a few feet, but Stella obligingly ran over to grab it. Maisie wrestled it from her mouth and tried again, the two of them playing more of a running game than a throwing one.

Then I realized Emma had her arms wrapped around her middle, shoulders tight, a frown marring her features.

I rested my hand on her back. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I couldn’t find Stella. And before that, there was somebody watching us. And I thought…”

“Wait a minute, slow down. Somebody was watching you?Who?”

“I don’t know. Wearing a shiny blue rain slicker, so I couldn’t see his face. It just didn’t feel right. I decided we should leave, and I went to get Maisie. But then Stella was gone. It freaked me out.”

I stood up straighter, scanning the park for somebody in a blue raincoat.

The person was gone. Had they taken off when I arrived? What would have happened if I hadn’t come? Would this person have followed them home?

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