Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Ryland
“Are you feeling okay, Sheriff?” Henry asks, looking at me funny.
I’m so far from okay. I don’t even know what this is.
My heart is hammering in my chest as I stare at the empty stage, the image of that angel playing the harp still fresh in my mind. I was in awe as I watched her.
That gorgeous face concentrating on the notes… Those slim, skilled fingers dancing along the strings… She was the most mesmerizing woman I’ve ever seen.
And when she looked at me… It was like lightning striking my soul. I can still feel the energy buzzing through my body. I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same again.
“Sheriff,” Henry says, giving my shoulder a firm jolt with his hand.
It snaps me out of my daze long enough to turn to him. I almost order him to lock the festival down. To block the exits, so she can’t slip out of here before I can talk to her.
“What is it?” I snap a little too aggressively. I’m on edge without her in my sight.
“There’s an unauthorized vendor who won’t leave,” Henry says. “What do you want me to do?”
I grit my teeth and huff out a breath. I don’t give a shit about some unauthorized vendor. Not when the girl of my dreams is back there waiting for me.
“If he doesn’t leave, arrest him.”
My body is aching as I start walking to the stage. Henry says something else, but I don’t hear it with my heart pounding so savagely in my ears. His voice sounds muffled, like we’re both underwater.
I’m in deep for this girl. She’s got me turned all inside out.
The crowd parts for me as I march toward the stage like a man on a mission. I need to find that girl. Find her and make her mine.
I hurry around the large stage, hoping to see her in the back. Her three band members are there arguing, but she’s missing.
She’s gone.
My stomach drops, terrified I’ll never see her again.
“Where’s the other one?” I bark at the girls.
They all turn and look up at me in shock.
“The harp player,” I say, struggling to keep my tone soft so I don’t scare them away. “Where is she?”
“The bathroom,” the singer says, pointing to the community center. “Is there a problem?”
I jog toward the building, not even taking a second to answer her. I have to see her again. I have to let her know we belong together.
I know I’m acting insane. This isn’t me.
I’ve been the Sheriff of this town for nine years and I’ve kept my cool through robberies, blizzards, bar fights, and even one freak bear attack that emptied the entire farmer’s market.
I don’t lose control. I don’t chase women. Especially women I’ve never met.
I’m not that kind of guy.
I’m calm and cool and collected no matter what the circumstances are.
But right now, I’m spiraling. Badly.
I can still see her up on the stage playing that harp, her fingers moving like silk over the strings. The sound she made wasn’t music—it was temptation.
Temptation that I am powerless to resist.
I grit my teeth and start running.