Page 16 of Daddy's Heart

Cade was right, like he always is about these things. I swear my brother has some sort of sixth sense when it comes to the fucking weather.

After I kicked him out of my truck, I had a little fucking conversation with myself. Told myself that she was fine, that Logan is a good guy and I don’t need to watch her every second of every day.

Yeah, fucking bullshit. All I’ve done since I got back to the office is pace, the stack of paperwork piling up on my desk not getting any smaller.

My phone buzzes, and I snatch it up like it’s an Olympic sport, knowing who’s on the other end without having to glance at the screen as I hit accept and slam it to my ear.

“This is Colt.”

Her voice is soft. “I know you said I didn’t have to come up today, but the weather’s turning and I got an order from the doctor he wants the wound checked one more time. I thought I should do it sooner rather than later.”

Every logical part of me says I should tell her no. Stay home. Stay safe. Stay the hell away before I do something I can’t take back.

I have to tell her about the fire. Who I am. But the thought of seeing that look on her face I know will come when she realizes I’m the one that didn’t save her best friend that night…

Fuck. I knock the side of my fist into my forehead, then swallow, staring at that damn flickering florescent light above my desk that still needs fixed.

This is not me. This is why I don’t get attached. So fucking complicated.

“The roads are already getting slick,” I choke out. “My ass is fine.”

There’s a beat of silence and I can almost see her cute smile, how she’s rolling her eyes.

“I won’t debate you on that.” She says. “But…” She snickers.

“Emery—”

“I’m already driving. I just turned on Hogback Trail.” She pauses for a beat. “Unless you are at the station? I could come there, I guess I should have asked…”

Of course she is. Of course she’s driving up a mountain in the middle of a storm to take care of me.

No fucking way do I want her coming here to look at my butt. I’ll never hear the end of it.

“Fine,” I snap. “But keep me on speaker the whole drive. Non-negotiable.”

“Colt, that’s not necessary.”

“Speakerphone, baby girl. Now.”

She sighs, and I hear the click. “Okay. So bossy.”

“Good. Talk to me while you drive.”

I bolt out of my office. Gertrude, the department’s eighty-year-old admin assistant, waves as I go by, not bothering to look up from her worn Harlequin novel with a bare-chested pirate on the cover and a woman with her tits basically falling out of her corset.

I push the button on the ignition, pulling out of my parking spot, maneuvering around slower traffic considering pulling out the single magnetic spinning light I have in my console and popping it on the roof of the truck.

Instead, I just ignore the speed limits, careful to get through town before I push the speedometer to ninety, only letting up when I see the flicker of her tail lights ahead.

Even the sight of her car makes my dick hard.

I pepper her with general questions and she asks me about being a Sheriff and my brothers. I ask about her family, she doesn’t give me much, but I pick up that her parents sound like assholes and that I need to meet her grandparents and thank them for helping her settle back in at Wildfire.

She doesn’t give up too much detail about what brought her back, but I let it go because truth is, I want to avoid any conversation that would force me to lie to her about who I am and what I already know.

Law enforcement allows you the privilege of doing some thorough background checks. She’s got some secrets of her own, but I want her to trust me enough to share them, in her own time. Once she does, I’ll know I’m doing something right for once.

“Colt? I think someone might be following me. There’s been a truck behind me for a while.”

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