Chapter 1 Not-So-Accidental Encounter #3
He cradled his cup of coffee, taking another sip before answering the last question Decker had posed. “I’m dating Deputy Cannon’s sister.” It was an understatement. A.J.’s heart was more tangled up than a lasso in a dust storm over Aurora Cannon.
Decker’s eyes widened like he hadn’t been aware of the connection. Then again, he could be faking his surprise. “That certainly makes things interesting!” He folded his arms, eyeing A.J. expectantly.
A.J. met his gaze wryly, knowing that interesting didn’t even begin to describe the dilemma he was in.
Four hours later
The moment A.J. stepped outside the historic office building with a temporary employment agreement in hand, he mashed the button on his cell phone for the only woman he had on speed dial.
Though most companies handled their new-hire paperwork online these days with digital signatures, he was old-school enough to have requested a paper copy—one that all parties had signed with real ink.
It was pending a legal addendum his personal attorney would be drafting, involving his investigation on behalf of the JSA and any other contract work he chose to do on the side.
Only then, would he and Decker be able to sit down and finalize his employment agreement with Lonestar.
Aurora answered on the second ring. “There you are! I’ve been texting you all afternoon with nothing more than a thumbs up emoji in return. I was getting worried.”
“Sorry about that.” It was good to hear her voice.
He’d actually sent her two thumbs-up emojis, but her casual disregard for the precise details that defined his existence was adorable.
He rubbed a hand across his stubbled jawline.
“I was in the middle of something. This is the soonest I could break away.”
“Is everything okay?” she asked quickly.
“Yep,” he lied. Things were far from okay, but it was too soon to confide anything of that nature to her. “Have you eaten yet?” It was nearly one o’clock, and all he’d consumed so far was coffee.
“I have.” She sounded a little breathless. “It’s a long story, but I’ll tell you all about it over the box of leftovers my new client sent me home with.”
His heart leaped with excitement on her behalf. “You did it!” Though he was disappointed to hear she’d already eaten, the other part of her announcement was good news indeed.
“Does this mean I finally get to find out who you’ve been so stressed about meeting with today?”
“It does.” She gave a gurgle of laughter.
“But not over the phone. This is something you need to hear in person.” After earning a degree in chemistry and serving an apprenticeship abroad, she’d become a perfumer, which fascinated him to no end.
He’d never before met anyone with such a unique set of talents.
“I’ll be right over.” He was game for any excuse to see her again.
“But I don’t want to hog your leftovers.
I’ll grab a burger or something on my way there.
” He speed-walked the few blocks to his pickup truck that he’d left parallel parked across from the food truck.
He was currently driving a new white Dodge Ram.
It had been a Christmas gift to himself last month.
“Don’t you dare,” his girlfriend threatened playfully. “My client had a feast catered to her shop today for an employee appreciation shindig. You won’t believe how much she insisted I take home with me.”
“Are you sure your brother doesn’t want it?
” Though Deputy Aaron Cannon belonged in jail, he was a complete softie where his sister was concerned.
She was staying free of charge in his guest room at the lake house he was renting.
Granted, she was helping with the cleaning and cooking while he recovered from a bullet wound he’d suffered in the line of duty—yet another issue the Pinetop sheriff wasn’t being very forthcoming about, not even to A.J.
The only thing A.J. could take to the bank about Aaron’s injury was that there was more to the story than what had made it into the official report.
Aurora made a sound of disgust. “He’s the pickiest eater on the planet and a germaphobe on top of that. The possibility that someone else might’ve breathed on the food would be enough to scare him off.”
“Did they?” A.J. teased as he reached his truck, unlocked it, and climbed in.
“Did they what?” She sounded puzzled.
“Breathe on the food you’re about to palm off on your poor, unsuspecting boyfriend?”
She burst out laughing, just as he’d hoped she would. “I’m dating a funny guy.”
“Funny looking, too.” He added that part just to see what she would say. He revved his motor and started the short drive to the lake, which he could see from where he was sitting. The Lonestar Security office he’d just finished touring had an unobstructed view of the water.
She sniffed. “Fishing for compliments?”
“Does that mean you don’t think I’m funny looking?” he taunted.
“Seriously, A.J.?” Humor infused her voice. “As if I’d agree to date anyone less than seriously hot!”
He grinned. “Now, you’re just roasting me.”
“Tell you what.” She chuckled again. “How about we settle this once and for all when you get here?”
“How do you plan on doing that?” He turned onto the road that hugged the lake and made his way toward the cottage her brother was renting.
“Come and find out,” she challenged.
Don’t mind if I do. His heart thumped with anticipation as he pulled onto the driveway leading down to the water’s edge.
The cottage Aurora was staying in with her brother was owned by a pair of schoolteachers who’d retired to Florida.
If they ever put it up for sale, its private dock, gazebo, and picturesque views of the lake would cause a bidding war.
According to A.J.’s research of the area, real estate on the banks of Heart Lake was that much in demand.
He parked in the driveway in front of the garage door and jogged to the front porch where Aurora was waiting for him. Her sweet smile, willowy frame, and wavy blonde hair that tumbled below her waist never failed to fill him with wonder. She was so beautiful inside and out, and she was his.
For now.
At the edge of his mind lurked the fear that her smile would fade the moment she found out what he really did for a living.
It killed him that the first woman who’d interested him in the seventeen years since his wife had passed was related to a man who belonged behind bars.
And it was just A.J.’s luck to be the guy tasked with gathering the evidence that would lead to his arrest.
He’d prayed about it, begging God for the kind of solution to the coming showdown that only He could provide. So far, though, A.J. hadn’t received any divine answers, forcing him to keep his real mission a secret from Aurora.
She scanned his features as he took the steps two at a time to meet her on the porch. “What’s wrong?” She was bundled in a quilted white coat, a white sock hat, and white mittens that made her look like a snow angel.
“I missed you.” Emotion roughened his voice. He really hated not being able to tell her the truth. Keeping secrets this big from the person he loved went against all the Romance 101 rules out there.
“I missed you, too.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.
He lifted his Stetson from his head and placed it on hers before claiming her lips. There was a desperate edge to his kiss that she must have sensed, because she pulled back a little to get a better look at him.
“That was some kiss,” she declared softly. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”
“Oh, you bet your boots there’s something wrong!
One kiss isn’t going to cut it.” He tugged her closer for another kiss, pouring everything he was feeling into it.
They’d only met a few weeks before Christmas, but already they’d grown so close that he could no longer stand the thought of not having her in his life.
The more he got to know her, the harder he fell for her.
At first, he’d felt a little guilty over finding out she was ten years younger than him, but she’d made it clear that their age gap didn’t matter to her.
He planned to speak with her about their relationship soon—about taking things to the next level.
It just didn’t feel right bringing up the topic of always and forever ahead of her brother’s arrest. Instead, A.J.
had been living in constant fear that her brother’s arrest would destroy everything blossoming between them.
“A.J.,” Aurora sighed against his lips. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I have a few ideas,” he informed her huskily. “They sound something like this. Don’t ever let me go.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” She gave the hair at the back of his neck a playful tug. “Ever!”
He decided on the spot there was at least one truth he wasn’t going to let another second pass without telling her.
“I never expected to feel this way again, babe.” He hoped he wasn’t saying too much too soon.
It had been so long since he’d dated anyone that he was horribly out of practice.
Over twenty years since the only other woman he’d dated had been his wife.
“I’m honored, A.J.” Emotion swam in her eyes, making them glisten. “I know it’s not something you would say if you didn’t mean it.”
Her words underscored just how much she really got him, something that both exhilarated and humbled him.
“I do mean it.” With all my heart. He couldn’t bring himself to spring the L word on her just yet.
It felt dishonest to make a declaration of love based on the many half-truths he’d woven into his backstory.
“In case you’re wondering, the feeling is mutual, soldier.” She gazed dreamily into his eyes, not saying the L word, either.
They stood there, clinging to each other for a poignant moment.
Then she unwound her arms from his neck and reached for his hands. “Come inside before you freeze to death. Or starve.” With their hands linked, she walked backward, tugging him along.