Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Amy
I had never in my life felt the sort of exhilaration I felt when I'd fired Wolfe’s shotgun.
I wanted to continue, but my shoulder was already sore, my arms like cooked spaghetti noodles, loose and limp.
So I stood back and watched as Wolfe and Rhys hopped the small wooden fence and moved toward the target.
Another shot of adrenaline flooded my veins as I watched the two men. Sexy men wearing boots, jeans, and T-shirts, and wielding shotguns. I wasn’t sure I was supposed to be turned on by the sight of them, but I was.
They both exuded some serious sex appeal. Tall, lean, muscular… And their butts. Yum. Encased in Wrangler jeans, these two were the reason for the saying “Wrangler butts drive me nuts.” Or at least I thought that was a saying. If not, it was still true.
Did all women find this hot? Or was it just me?
They pulled the shotguns up to their shoulders, aimed.
Wolfe’s deep voice rumbled something I couldn’t make out and then…
Click-click. Boom!
I jumped when they fired their first shots, the sound reverberating off the trees in the distance.
Click-click. Boom!
Both men continued, rapid-firing the full six shots as they moved one step closer to the target each time. Wolfe got all six of his shots off first, but Rhys wasn’t far behind.
Both men looked at one another and grinned.
From this distance, I had no idea who had hit the most targets.
While my stomach churned with excitement, I waited for them to join me.
“Who won?” I asked, glancing between the two of them.
“I did,” Wolfe noted.
“How do you know?”
“Because I got the shots off first.”
“Oh.” I frowned. “I thought it would depend on who hit the target the most.”
“We both hit dead center every time,” Rhys noted and Wolfe grinned.
Wow. That was … impressive.
They’d obviously done this before.
“You workin’ tonight?” Wolfe asked and I realized the question was directed at me.
“Yeah.”
“You still workin’ for my sister?”
My eyebrows rose as I stared at the handsome sheriff. “Reagan’s your sister?”
Rhys glanced over at Wolfe, then back at me. “She’ll deny it if you ask her, but yeah.” He chuckled. “She’s my baby sister.”
Huh. I'd never thought to get Reagan’s last name.
Now that I thought about it, I did notice the resemblance. They had the same straight nose, the same dimpled chin. However, there were a few differences. Like their heights. Plus, Reagan had brown eyes while Rhys’s were a deep, dark blue.
“What time do you go on duty?” Wolfe asked Rhys.
“Six.” He glanced at his watch. “Which means I need to get goin’.” Rhys met my eyes. “Thanks for lettin’ me tag along.”
“Anytime,” I answered before thinking. Oddly enough, I meant that. I liked Rhys. He wasn’t as intimidating as I'd once thought. I had no idea when I'd changed my perception of him, but now that I knew he was Reagan’s brother, he seemed more approachable.
“I’ll catch y’all later.” Rhys smiled at me, and I once again found myself smiling back at him. “Try to keep our boy here outta trouble tonight.”
Looking over at Wolfe, I noticed he was grinning. A sexy, mischievous smile that said that wasn’t likely.
I smiled, too, the movement natural. “I’ll do my best.”
Wolfe nodded toward his truck as he double-checked his shotgun, likely ensuring it wasn’t loaded. Rhys checked his, then handed it over to Wolfe. “Come on. I’ll drive you back to your car.”
“I’m goin’ right by there,” Rhys noted, his tone soft, non-threatening. “If you’d like, I can drive you.”
I looked at Wolfe. I wasn’t sure what I should say. I didn’t mind the idea of Rhys taking me back to town, even if I didn’t like the idea of leaving Wolfe. Since he was already at home, it seemed like a waste of time and gas for him to drive all the way back though.
“Up to you, darlin’,” Wolfe said, making his way to the truck.
“I’ll … uh…” I glanced over at Rhys. “I’ll ride with you. If you really don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” Rhys walked over to his truck, opening the passenger door.
I stopped beside Wolfe. “Thank you. For this.” I glanced down at the ground. “Do you … uh … think we could do it again?”
His finger curled beneath my chin, gentle and warm. He lifted my face so I had to look at him. “Anytime you want. Just say the word. And next time I’m in town, I’ll see what the pawn shop has. It’d be good for you to have a shotgun, at the very least. But I want you comfortable with it first.”
I found another smile slipping free. When his finger dropped, I immediately missed his touch.
I was sure he was just being friendly. The last thing I needed was for him to see how his touch had affected me.
I liked it. A lot. For whatever reason, his touch was reassuring.
It made me feel safe. Safer than I had in a very long time.
With an awkward wave, I hurried over to Rhys’s truck.
“Here’s the keys if you wanna start it. I need to talk to Wolfe for a second.”
I nodded and took the keys from his hand.
Once I was inside, the door closing behind me, I noticed Wolfe was watching me. A thrill shot through me, but I managed to ignore it. Mostly.
The temperature in the truck was scorching, so I shoved the key in the ignition and started it, my attention lingering on the two men.
Rhys walked over to Wolfe, stepping right into his personal space.
I couldn’t read their lips, but based on their body language, they weren’t talking about anything serious. Wolfe’s smirk was one I'd seen before, one he’d given me. And the way Rhys was looking at Wolfe…
Damn.
Maybe I'd misjudged Wolfe altogether. Maybe he wasn’t interested in women the way I thought. It was almost as though Rhys and Wolfe were engulfed in some powerful sexual tension. Again, I found it incredibly hot to watch, although a little disappointing at the same time.
“Probably for the best,” I mumbled to myself, turning away when both men glanced over at me.
And it was. For the best.
The absolute last thing I needed right now was to let my guard down. It was one thing to hang around a few men who could provide a measure of protection, but it was something else entirely for me to let my guard down.
I'd done that once.
I would never do it again.
Ten minutes later, we were heading past the solar-powered gate at the entrance to Wolfe’s ranch. The truck was silent except for the steady hum of the air conditioner blasting cold air that did little to fight off the suffocating heat.
I did my best not to fidget, but it wasn’t easy.
“Can I … uh … ask you a question?” I blurted, realizing that the silence was making me far more nervous than talking would.
“Anything,” he answered, his tone soft.
“What made you wanna be a sheriff?”
His smile was warm as he stared out the windshield, his eyes darting toward the rearview mirror every so often.
“I don’t think that was ever my intention.”
“No?”
“Nah. Deputy, yeah. Since I was a kid, I knew I’d be a police officer.”
“Did somethin’ happen to make you decide that?”
Rhys sighed, his gaze swerving toward me briefly, then back to the road.
“When I was a kid, the cops were constantly bein’ called out to my grandfather’s place. I grew up there. I’ve got a big family and they were always hangin’ around, too. Probably got a little rowdy from time to time.”
“Probably?” I teased, my mouth clamping shut as soon as the word came out.
Rhys chuckled. “Okay, definitely.”
He pulled up to a stop sign, glanced both ways.
“Anyway. They were always comin’ out for one reason or another.
The old couple livin’ next door liked to bitch and moan, although there were about fifteen acres between the two houses.
” He sighed. “There was this one hard-ass deputy who’d gotten caught up in his power trip.
Pissed me off the way he treated everyone.
Lookin’ down his nose like he was better than us.
“One day, my aunt’s smart mouth got the best of her and she said somethin’ she shouldn’t have.
He got rough with her. My cousin stepped in, ended up goin’ to jail for protectin’ his momma.
” Rhys glanced over at me. “I didn’t assume all cops were assholes.
I knew better. But I also knew there were some out there.
Told myself that day that I would become a deputy in this county and I wouldn’t put up with shit like that.
The people livin’ here don’t need to be hassled by the cops. No reason for all that nonsense.”
I nodded but kept my eyes trained out the window, even as we pulled into the parking lot behind my car. I knew all about how power trips affected people. They could make them mean. Or worse. It could turn them into monsters.
Clearing my throat, I forced my eyes over to him. “Well, I think this town’s lucky to have you.”
His smile was so warm it did something funny to my insides. It was obvious he didn’t get compliments like that often.
“Thanks.”
With a deep breath, I forced a smile and unbuckled my seat belt. “I … uh … had fun. Thanks for … uh … coming out there with us.”
“Anytime.”
That drained some of the tension coiling inside me, and I smiled for real. I really did like this man. And so far, I got the impression he was one of the good guys.
Not that I was the greatest judge of character, but still.
“Hang tight,” he said before hopping out of the truck and walking around to my side.
The men in this town were so chivalrous. I wondered if that was a small-town thing. I hadn’t encountered the same in Houston.
Rhys helped me out, then walked me to my car, opening the door for me there, too.
“If you need anything,” he said, his hands on my door, “holler.”
I smiled up at him. “Thanks.”
I got a wink that made my insides go haywire and then the door closed.
It took two tries to get my car started, but once it screeched to life, I took a deep breath. I had just enough time to run home, change clothes, and make it back to Reagan’s.