What If We Fall in Love?

“It means you wouldn’t know a romance in progress if it sashayed up and hit you in the head with a two-by-four.”

He grinned. She had a way with words and didn’t mince any of them. Not unlike a sassy brunette he couldn’t seem to get out of his mind. Thoughts of Jensen had kept him awake tossing and turning.

“I seriously doubt that there’s anything going on between Jack and Maggie. Like I said, friends.”

“That’s not what Ginger Applewhite said.”

Ginger clerked at Charlie’s Tractor Supply for her owner husband. “What did she say and how did she know?”

Phoebe sighed. “She told me Jack O’Hunk stuck like gum on a boot heel to Maggie at the high school championships last night. Then today he shows up in town and disappears inside her shop. When they come out, he’s not carrying a bag, which means he didn’t purchase anything. So it was personal. Then they wind up having lunch together. What would you call that?”

“Circumstantial evidence.”

“Not to me. It’s love, plain and simple.”

“There’s nothing plain and simple about love.”

Jensen was walking, talking, curvaceous, sexy proof of that statement. He didn’t believe in love, but she’d spent a lot of years pining for a guy who wasn’t worth the powder it would take to blow him to hell. What was plain and simple about that? Or the fact that Grady couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind.

He might have been able to—at least, he’d have had a fighting chance if he hadn’t been dumb enough to kiss her. What was that all about? And could he take it back?

But there was something about the way she’d looked standing on the porch in the moonlight. Something about the vulnerability peeking through the tough outer shell around her when she’d told him about the night Zach died. Something sad and brave that had tugged at him and made him want to fix what ailed her. Even though she’d tried to shrug it off, he knew the bull-riding accident had shaken her up.

He knew it as surely as he knew staying far away from her should be his modus operandi. Hard to do, considering her determination to help. He wished she would just leave it alone.

Phoebe tipped her head to the side as she studied him. “Is that experience talking? Macho baloney? Or are you just a confirmed bachelor?”

“The latter.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“You? By gender definition you can’t be a bachelor. Besides, I thought your motto was So Many Guys, So Little Time.”

She smiled, a dazzling display of full lips and straight white teeth. “You heard that, huh? It’s not that so much as my life is steady and on course. I don’t need a—how can I put this? A nasty speed bump.”

“Me, either.”

Her gaze swung past his shoulder as she looked out the big window on downtown Destiny’s main street. “Don’t look now, but here comes one. A speed bump, I mean.”

Grady half turned and heard a car horn honk as he spotted Jensen hesitate while she waited to see if the truck would stop for her. When it did, she hurried across the street. There was no hesitation as she opened the door to his office and came in. Her green eyes held anger, betrayal and confusion.

He straightened and went to her. “What’s wrong, Jen?”

“I need to talk to you.”

He took her arm and studied her. She was wearing a short-sleeved, light blue denim shirt tucked into jeans. He’d seen her legs in last night’s sundress and somehow covering them seemed even more sexy, hiding her curves yet outlining them at the same time. After the way he’d left her last night, he hadn’t expected she would voluntarily seek him out. His gut tightened and a knot of apprehension pressed on his chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’m so not okay.” She looked at Phoebe.

“Jensen Stevens, this is one of my deputies, Phoebe Johnson.”

The redhead nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

Jen’s polite smile was strained. “Same here.” She looked up at him. “Is there somewhere private we could have this conversation?”

He put his hand at the small of her back. “Let’s go in my office. Hold my calls unless someone’s bleeding or on fire,” he said to his deputy.

“You got it, boss.”

He guided Jen down the hall and felt her trembling. What in the world was wrong? They passed three offices. When they reached the fourth, he turned her inside and closed the door behind them. His gray metal desk was littered with files and scattered papers. The computer monitor was on, displaying data from an unsuccessful search he’d initiated just that morning into the background of Billy Bob Adams. Unfortunately he’d turned up nothing of any use, which was why he’d asked for Jack Riley’s help earlier at lunch. His old friend had been in the army—Special Forces. And a computer expert. Grady figured he could go places a small-town sheriff like himself couldn’t. Especially with equipment from the Stone Age—relatively speaking.

“Sit down, Jen,” he suggested, indicating one of the chairs in front of his desk. The metal frames with plastic-covered seats and backs didn’t invite visitors to stay long. But it was all he could offer.

“I don’t want to sit.”

“Suit yourself.” He took off his hat and placed it on the paperwork strewn across his desk. Then he rested a hip on the corner and folded his arms over his chest. “What can I do for you?”

Her eyes darkened to a shade of hunter green. “You can tell me what my dead husband’s brother has to do with you and your children.”

He felt as if he’d been sucker punched. “What are you talking about?”

“I hope nothing more than Destiny gossip.”

“You’re going to have to be a shade more specific.”

“Someone overheard you talking to Jack Riley at the Road Kill Café a little while ago.”

“Small-town communication system strikes again,” he said grimly. “What about it?”

“The rumor is that Billy Bob Adams is the one suing you for custody of the girls.”

He would feel less cornered if he’d been pinned down by the Hole in the Wall gang. A million things came to mind that he would rather do than have this conversation. With a little two-stepping and a bucket of grease maybe he could slide out of it. “And?”

“Is it true?”

“It’s hearsay, Jen. Not permitted in a court of law.”

“Don’t patronize me, Grady. I know what hearsay is. I also know something felt weird from the time you got those papers.”

“I’ve never been sued before. Of course I acted weird.”

She wasn’t going to let it drop. She was going to force him to tell her something that would rock her world. It was like drop-kicking a kitten, and he was going to hate himself forever for doing it to her.

“Don’t you dare put your cop face on.” She glared at him and tension starched every line and curve of her body. “Billy Bob is Zach’s brother. Only a blood relative would have a chance of success in a case like this or no lawyer worth his salt would waste time with it. I need the truth, Grady. I need to know what’s going on.”

He let out a long breath. “Okay. You want it straight?”