The Sheriff Gets His Lady

“We don’t see many strangers in town, either,” he said, inviting her to share her reasons for being here.

“Don’t tell me you’re the welcoming committee.”

Strands of soft blond hair shimmered in the sunlight as she tossed her head. He found himself watching with interest as each lock fell smoothly back into place as though well trained.

“Nope, but I admit I’m curious. There isn’t much to lure visitors to Darwin Crossing.”

“You might be surprised.” Her words seemed to startle her. She started forward briskly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me...”

He blocked her by the simple expedient of turning around directly into her path. She bumped his shoulder and jumped back as if scalded.

“Is there a problem here, Sheriff?”

As a law enforcement official, he’d met this sort of defensiveness before. Lots of people didn’t like cops for all sorts of reasons. Problem was, she shouldn’t know his occupation. He wasn’t wearing his uniform.

“Now, how could you know I’m the sheriff?”

He watched with interest as the color faded from her cheeks. He fought down an urge to remove those dark sunglasses so he could see the eyes beneath. What color would they be? And what would they reveal?

“I saw you in uniform the other day.”

The keen anticipation that had been building inside him shut down instantly at those words. He hadn’t been in uniform since he picked Lauren up at the airport a couple of days ago. At least a full day before Alma said the stranger had come to town. He leaned back against the door to her car. “Is that right? Which day would that be, exactly?”

“I’m not... Does it matter?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Why?”

“Alma tells me you’ve been hanging around the past couple of days.”

“Alma being...?”

“The woman who runs the café.”

“Ah. That Alma.”

She’d regained her composure, and this time her look was designed to reduce a man to the level of cow manure.

“So what seems to be the problem, Sheriff? Tips not generous enough?”

“I wouldn’t know.” He came off the car and closed the distance between them, deliberately using his body to intimidate her. “But I would like to know why you’re here in town and how you know who I am,” he said with deceptive softness.

He was unaccountably pleased that she held her ground. This was not a woman who would be easily intimidated. His reflection stared back at him from the mirrored sunglasses. He had a feeling he’d be seeing sparks flashing if he could see her eyes.

If she was a private investigator for the Rossiters, they were obviously hiring unusual new talent. No surprise there. They had plenty of money.

Noah put her age somewhere near thirty. Up close, her skin was flawless, her makeup so carefully applied as to appear nonexistent. And as the breeze shifted direction, the air carried a subtle hint of fragrance—something delicately feminine. Soft. Unobtrusive. Almost elusively compelling.

Just like the woman herself.

He found himself relaxing despite his instincts to the contrary. He didn’t want to like her, even if he admired her spunk. And he sure didn’t want to be attracted to her, yet it was hard to prevent. Noah chided himself for being mildly distracted by the rise and fall of her chest. She’d gone back to looking unruffled, but he could almost hear her thoughts whirling.

“If you must know, Sheriff, I’m here sketching.”

He’d give her points for originality, but she’d lose on the delivery. He didn’t have to see her eyes to know they’d be shifting away on that answer.

“Not much scenery here in town,” he said mildly.

“You’d be surprised.”

Her tone was dry, but her meaning unmistakable. He was the scenery she was talking about.

He knew women found him attractive. His daughter had once come home after a dance to gleefully inform him that he was considered the catch of the county. Now that same sense of embarrassment crawled over his skin at her deliberate stare.

She lifted her chin and her expression became serious. “I’m not sketching scenery, Sheriff,” she said. “I’m a clothing designer. I came here to soak up some atmosphere for a new winter line.”

Noah didn’t have to ponder that one. “This is February.”

Sky found herself on the verge of smiling. She caught herself in the nick of time. This strangely compelling attraction she felt was dangerous. The sheriff was the sort of man a woman spun fantasies about, the kind of man they put on billboards to convince men—and the women in their lives—that some product could make them look like him.

It was a delicious fantasy. He was a delicious fantasy.

Too bad he was her daughter’s adoptive father.

CHAPTER THREE

SKY TRIED to steady the erratic beat of her heart.

When she’d asked the man at the gas station about Lauren, he’d casually pointed her out. Sky hadn’t seen her daughter up close yet, but she’d been following her, trying to learn all she could while remaining unobtrusive. She hadn’t yet decided on an approach.

The moment she saw the sheriff looking over her car, she recognized him from the airport. There was no mistaking the sexy stranger in uniform or not. To think she’d come so close to meeting her daughter within minutes of landing here in Texas. This had to be some sort of fate at work. For a second she was tempted to tell this incredibly handsome man who she really was. Fortunately, caution prevailed.

“Designers have to work well ahead of the calendar year, Sheriff,” Sky said, stalling as she tried to decide the best tactic to take. “The designs I’m sketching right now are for next winter,” she explained.

The sheriff had a devastating smile that invited a person to smile back. Sky ordered her pulse to behave. She wasn’t here to have a flirtation, and based on her observations, Lauren would drive past any minute now. Sky had hoped to arrange an “accidental” meeting of some sort today, but she could hardly do that under the watchful eyes of Lauren’s adoptive father. Sky had to get rid of the man somehow.

“I don’t suppose you would have some identification I could see,” she asked, trying to reassert control of the situation.

His eyes glinted.

“I think that’s supposed to be my line.”

“You aren’t in uniform,” she pointed out.

“But you’re the one who called me sheriff.”

“I might have made a mistake.” A big one. She had no business baiting the one man who could ruin everything.