Page 40 of Engaging the Deputy

As he approached, winding a path through the destruction, she could tell he wasn’t happy with her. Yet she was glad to see him. Even in bright sunshine, this place gave her the willies. Even almost completely destroyed.

Jaden said nothing at first when he reached her. He only looked at her before shaking his head. “What are you doing, Livie?” His voice was soft, caring, maybe even loving.

“Looking for answers,” she said over the wind that whipped her hair. She started to brush it back, but Jaden was already reaching. He caught an errant lock and held it between his fingers. “You called me ‘Livie.’”

He nodded as he tucked the errant lock of hair behind her ear. His hand seemed to move of its own accord to the nape of her neck. He dug his fingers deeper into her hair as he drew her closer. “What am I going to do with you?”

She shook her head. She couldn’t speak. She could barely breathe. She looked into his eyes and saw desire burning there. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

For a moment, she feared that he would draw away, release his hold on her and not go through with the kiss. She ached to feel his lips on hers. She could see him fighting a battle within himself. If he kissed her, he could no longer deny how he felt about her, about them.

The wind shrieked around them, whirling dust and dirt. She’d never felt more alone with him, as if they were the only two people left on earth, than she did in this moment. He pulled her closer. She leaned into him as they both fought the wind on the hillside, their lips only a breath away from touching.

“Livie,” he said, making her pulse spike, and then his mouth was on hers with an unbridled passion that made her weak with longing. He wrapped an arm around her, holding her up as the kiss deepened, and there was nothing but the two of them and their longing for each other.

Neither of them heard the sound of a vehicle approach, then turn around and leave. The wind was too loud, even if they hadn’t been so lost in each other.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Shaken to his boots, Jaden drew back from the kiss. This was exactly what he hadn’t meant to do. Yet he couldn’t regret it as he looked in Livie’s eyes. “We can’t do this. I’m in the middle of an investigation and you’re—”

“Still a suspect.”

He nodded and tipped in to touch his forehead to hers for a moment before stepping back. “What are you doing out here? Cody’s not here, is he?”

She shook her head. “I had this bad dream last night. It was so dark that night… I wanted to see the root cellar in daylight. I don’t know what I’m hoping to find. Answers. Reassurance. Something, since I haven’t been able to forget being in that hole and then seeing Cody lying down there.” Her gaze locked with his again. “And seeing the doubt on your face, I didn’t want you to suspect me anymore.”

“I don’t want to, either, but you know we can’t take this any further until this investigation is over. That’s if it’s something we want to do.”

“How can you even ask after that kiss?” she demanded. “I never stopped loving you. It’s why I came back.”

He hated to ask, especially after that kiss. “What about Cody?”

“Cody and I are just friends.”

“Does he know that?” Jaden heard himself ask and wanted to kick himself.

“Yes, Cody knows that. We grew up together, shared a lot of things, but all we’ve ever really been is good friends. He’d thought we’d end up together and was upset when I left town, but he knows better now.”

He knew she had a strong connection to Cody. Wasn’t that the reason he’d called off the engagement? Livie had years of memories with Cody, something Jaden didn’t have with her. Maybe what he’d picked up on was her longing for Montana and home more than her old high school boyfriend.

While he’d wanted to hear her say it, the kiss had convinced him even more than her words. She was right. Once his lips had touched hers, he’d felt his doubts dissolve and blow away like smoke on the breeze.

“If you’re determined to see the root cellar…” He motioned toward the hillside. “Let me make sure it’s safe to go over there.”

* * *

Olivia gladly letJaden lead the way through the debris. They had to skirt around houses torn off their foundations and dropped at random on the hillside. Everywhere there were piles of lumber and pieces of twisted metal to traverse.

They hadn’t gone far, though, when Jaden stopped to wait for her. She quickly caught up after finding herself gawking at the awesome power of what had been a small tornado by national standards. She saw that he was standing next to the hole in the ground.

“Don’t get too close,” he warned. “It’s caved in some more.”

The root cellar looked so much larger than it had seemed that night, even with more dirt having fallen in. She shivered, remembering being down there when the tornado hit, feeling it trying to suck them up and carry them away.

“Are you all right?” Jaden asked. The wind had picked up to a low howl, much like it had Halloween night before the real storm hit.

Pushing her hair back from her face, she looked down. “It doesn’t seem as deep now,” she said as her dream came back to her. In the dream, when she’d looked up and seen Cody standing over her, the hole had been so much deeper, so much more frightening.

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