Page 44 of Surly Sheriff
And he had given his surroundings a thorough study.
The lounge area of the basement had two long, narrow windows at ground level on one wall, but the sleeping area had none. It had been rather cool to have his private dungeon-like retreat as a teenager, but yeah, adult-Beau admitted, it was creepy in a serial-killer kinda way.
With the image of Rae’s face, as deathly pale as her hair filling his mind, he had grabbed a pillow and blanket and spent the rest of the night on the sectional in the living room.
And last night, waiting for Nate to return with his in-laws, he pondered her extreme reaction to Kismet’s cage.
The flash of terror …
The way the color had drained from her face …
Beau had shuddered thinking of a terrified little girl Rae trapped in a dark, windowless space. He had seen enough human atrocities during his years in the Marines to give him a very fertile imagination.
Therefore, he had spent another restless night mulling the conundrum named Raegan-with-an-ae — a woman withgemstone eyes and intoxicating kisses, and a big heart and selfless nature — and what he was going to do about his feelings toward her.
A ripe curse ripped through the cab of his new F-150.
Glancing at the front door, he recalled how he’d picked her up and carried her over the threshold into her new home. Like a groom with his bride. His impulsive action had caught him off guard. To his relief — or maybe disappointment? The jury was still out on that — she had brushed it off as a flight of fancy.
It wasn’t a flight of fancy. Meeting her was fate and fighting the inevitable useless. He had four weeks to convince her to forget about the bungalow in Key West.
Beau leaned sideways, grabbing hold of the pizza boxes from the passenger footwell. His arm stopped mid-air, and he barked a laugh.
Her choice of toppings, though, might need some tweaking.
*
“Aw, is big and strong Beauford scared of an itty-bitty piece of anchovy? Watch.” Tilting her head back, she dropped the disgusting fish fillet into her mouth. “Yum, yum,” she hummed, smacking her lips together, leaning closer.
Beau reared back. “Don’t come near me with that mouth.”
She offered him a big smile. Masticated bits of muck clung to her teeth. It truly looked awful. He shuddered. “Not even a hungry dog will eat that.”
Her head swung toward Kismet lying at the edge of the rug. Mischief sparkled in her eyes when she looked back at him. “Bet you he will.” She cocked her head. “A hundred?”
He grinned. “You’re on.” He knew he was going to lose. Kismet was not a fussy eater.
Rae tore the slice in her hand in half. “Kismet. Look what I’ve got, boy.” The dog shot to his feet and darted over, dancingbefore her. “Sit,” she instructed. Tail swishing, tongue lolling, the traitor obeyed. “Good boy,” she crooned. She offered him the food and, of course, it disappeared in one gulp. Kismet licked his lips and watched her with true puppy-dog eyes, eager for more. She popped the other half in her mouth, and held up her hands, shrugging. “All gone.”
Beau threw his head back and laughed at the disgruntled expression the dog gave Rae before skulking back to his previous position.
Rae stretched out her arm, palm up, flicking her fingers. “Pay up, mister.”
He canted over to his left hip, hauled out his wallet from his righthand back pocket, opened it with a flourish, knowing what it contained. He held up his last note. A ten-dollar bill. “Oops. Do you accept IOUs?”
“Nope,” she said, emphasizing thep. She grabbed the wallet from his hand, brandished the condoms he had slipped in earlier, and gave him a sly look. “You’ll just have to work off your debt.”
It seemed a perfectly agreeable solution to him. “If you insist,” he deadpanned.
Rae rose. “I do.”
He grew hard watching the exaggerated sway of her hip as she strutted across the room. Hot damn, but she filled out those shorts to perfection. At the archway, she paused and cast him a sultry look over her shoulders. “How about you tidy up and settle Kismet while I cleanse my mouth from anchovy pollutants?”
Guess she meant to extract payment right now. He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.” His leftover pizza would hold till later. Much later.
She disappeared into the short hallway leading to the bedroom area.
Beau shot to his feet. He’d been hoping to stay over, not looking forward to another restless night in his sister’s livingroom. Nor facing Mrs. Fisher again until his annoyance with the woman had abated.
