Chapter 3
SAWYER
FIVE WEEKS LATER
“J ace Sullivan, a father!” I shake my head and pat my best friend on the back at the same time. I swear, if I weren’t holding the picture of the little bean in my hand and seeing the way he was looking at his girl, I wouldn’t believe it. Jace hasn’t stopped fuckin’ smiling since she ran out on her wedding and came to our town, and it’s good to see. He’s always been a hard worker and most of the time, he takes life far too seriously. I like the way Maddison brings out the fun side in him.
“How long do I have to wait before I meet the little guy?” I look up from the picture at Maddison, who can’t hide her excitement either.
“Or girl,” she corrects me.
“You better pray you're cooking a boy in there, ain’t no way this guy could handle a daughter. I’ve seen him knoc–”
“Scan says she’s thirteen weeks, so we got a six-month wait,” Jace quickly interrupts me, and I take the stern look he gives me as a sign that he ain’t planning on telling his baby momma about the kinda work we do for his uncle.
“Thirteen weeks? Hell, she must have barely been out of that wedding dress before ya socked it to her.” I join them in laughing until the door opens and Sheriff Hale steps inside.
“Sheriff.” Jace raises his hat to her while my eyes shoot to the floor. I ain’t ever gonna admit it, but seeing her around town ain’t easy. Especially when I can still remember the way her skin tastes, and how she moaned so perfectly when she came for me. I ain’t ever had a girl make me come as fast and hard as she did, and I sure as hell ain’t ever had one run out on me after sex before. I still ain’t forgiven her for it.
“Mr. Sullivan.” Riley nods politely at Jace before she turns her attention to his pregnant fiancée. “Maddison, right?” she checks.
“That’s right.” Maddison extends her smile to our guest, having no idea what a threat her being there could be.
“I was just checking in. I heard you had a little bar brawl happen here last night.” Sheriff Hale looks around my bar as if she’s unimpressed, then her eyes eventually settle back on mine. I’ve been waiting five weeks for her to do such a thing, yet all she seems to have done is stay outta my way.
“Nothin’ out of the ordinary, just some passers-through who needed a little lesson on respect.” I manage to keep my cool.
“Yeah, well, it appears one of the men you tossed out here ended up in the intensive care unit. Got jumped once he made it back to the city,” she tells me, tilting her head suspiciously.
“Ain’t my responsibility once they’re outta my bar, Sheriff,” I smirk at her when I sense that I’m pissing her off.
“And where were you between two-thirty a.m. and four a.m. this morning?” she asks, taking out her notepad and waiting for my response.
“Me? I was here, drowning my sorrows and listening to Dolly on the jukebox.” I look over to Jace and snigger.
“This isn’t a joke, Mr. Anderson. This guy was seriously hurt. Both his legs were broken, he’s got a concussion, and a collapsed lung.” Her lips remain straight.
“Then I’d say whoever got him, got him good.” I rest my elbow on the bar.
“I’ll ask you that question again, where were you?” She narrows her eyes like she ain’t buying my story.
“I can tell you exactly where I was.” Straightening up, I move closer to her, so close that I can almost taste her skin again. I shouldn’t torture myself, but thinking that it might torture her too makes it worth my while. “I had my face buried between Beth Delaney’s thighs.” I allow my lips to brush against her ear as I whisper, “I’m sure she and her roommate can confirm that.” Taking a step back I watch the way she blushes and try to control my fuckin’ dick.
“Her and her roommate?” Sheriff Hale’s eyes widen as she clears her throat.
“She was in the next room, she’d have heard how much Beth was enjoying it.” I smile at her and watch her turn even pinker. She knows exactly how good my tongue feels, she came on it twice.
“And what about you?” Hale turns her attention to Jace, who does a real good job of looking confused.
“He was with me,” Maddison blurts out, shocking me and Jace at the same time. We both know it ain’t the truth, but she’s sure making it sound like it is.
“Is that correct, Mr. Sullivan?” Our sheriff waits for Jace to confirm.
“It’s correct.” He slides his arm protectively around Maddison’s shoulder.
“May I?” Hale must notice the sonogram picture that's in Maddison’s hand now, and when she reaches out to take it, Maddison looks reluctant to hand it over.
I watch the way Hale’s eyes soften as she looks it over, and for the first time since she came to town, the smile she makes seems genuine.
“Congratulations.” She smiles at them both before handing the picture back and marching out the door.
I breathe a sigh of relief for Jace, and I'm just about to offer him a drink when I notice Maddison storm out the door.
“I should…” Jace looks at me awkwardly before he quickly scurries after her.
“Never thought I’d see the day.” I shake my head and laugh as I get back to reading the paper and pretending that Hale acting as if we’re strangers don’t hurt.
The day drags all the way into night, and I find myself constantly looking out the window. I tell myself that I’m just being observant, but I know deep down that I’m waiting to catch a glimpse of her. I usually get to see her two or three times a day. First, when she drives past on her way to work, then when she heads into Jean’s for lunch, and lastly, around five, when she drives past on her way home.
Hale keeps herself to herself, Jace’s uncle can’t seem to find anything out, and even Jean and her posse don’t seem to know much about her. It frustrates me in a way that I don’t understand, and I hate the burden of it.
“Sawyer…you good, man?” Hayden checks, loosening his tie and looking at me strangely.
“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” I hit back defensively.
“You just looked a little out of it, something on your mind?”
“No, nothing on this mind,” I assure him
“You're sure lucky the boss took your word on that alibi you gave her. What would you have done if she’d called Beth Delaney?” he asks me under his breath.
“I had to come up with something quick and believable.” I wink, completely leaving out the part about wanting to make Hale feel jealous. Hell, right now, I’d be happy to make Hale feel anything . She’s so fuckin’ cold and closed off, but I guess that's what you should expect from an FBI agent.
“I’m warning you, Sawyer, she’s smart and she knows things. Maybe things that even we don’t know.” He keeps his voice low.
“Hale won’t be a problem,” I assure him, ignoring the fact that I’m not convincing myself at the same time.
I check the time, it’s only just past eight, and the place is starting to get busy. It doesn’t matter how busy we get, I know that the sheriff will be on my fuckin’ mind.
It’s been five weeks, and she hasn’t even acknowledged what happened between us. I keep wonderin’ if maybe she forgot. But it’s impossible. How do you forget a night like the one we shared? Never in my life had I felt so connected to a female. I’m not too proud to admit that I was scared, but at the same time, I wanted to hold on to it. I wanted to know why she was unhappy, and I wanted to fix it for her.
Then she ran out on me…
“Lenny, can you manage on your own for a while?” I look over to my bartender, who looks around the room before holding his thumb in the air.
“Thanks, I owe ya.” Grabbing my jacket and keys, I start heading for the door.
“Hey, where ya goin’?” Hayden looks confused by my sudden leap into action, “You ain’t on duty tonight, and there sure ain’t no fire.” It’s a sad reminder that the only time I ever leave the bar is when I’m fuckin’ someone's day up for Jamie, or doing my volunteer fire service duty. This town is too small to have its own department, so it relies on the men and women who volunteer until one of the units can get from a bigger station. Not that there are any women volunteers. Loretta Chambers enquired once at a town hall meeting, but her mother, Eleanor, told her to sit down and leave the men to their work. I might consider attending the next meeting to see how our new sheriff deals with Eleanor’s attitude toward the ‘ modern-day woman.’
“I got something that needs dealing with,” I call over my shoulder as I head out the door toward my truck. That something is Hale. I need to find out what she’s doing here. I need to know if she’s a threat, and I need her to somehow acknowledge that night we shared together.
It’s pathetic, and it’s desperate, but it’s been scratching away at me ever since she came to town.