Chapter Two #3
She wanted to turn around and hug him—and keep on hugging him.
This whole thing had come at her from out of the blue.
She didn’t know how to act or how to respond.
Her very foundation was suddenly unstable.
It was all so personal, so private. Her parents weren’t here to defend themselves, and her grandmother had passed away nearly a year ago.
These two women had each other for support, but all she had to hold on to was the man who’d let her take his hand.
“Can we at least spend some time with you?” Lexie asked. “We’d like to get to know you.”
“But I’m not your sister,” Maxie insisted.
“Yes, you are,” Roxie said, an edge entering her voice. “I can feel it.”
Lexie caught her sister’s shoulder. “How about dinner?”
Maxie chewed on her lower lip.
“We’ll leave the paperwork. You can look through it, and then we can talk. That way you’ll know as much as we do.”
Maxie looked at that folder, and her stomach turned. She was afraid to open it, but she wanted badly to disprove what it might say.
The only way she’d know for sure was to read what they’d collected.
Overwhelmed, she closed her eyes. She remembered the wish she’d made and instantly regretted it. She didn’t want to be impulsive, if that was what brought surprises like this. She didn’t want to do wild and crazy things.
But that wasn’t quite what she’d wished for, was it?
She’d wished to meet someone special, someone who would be impulsive with her. She’d meant Zac, but…
But the twin pinpricks. Not one, but two.
She worried her thumb over the bandage on her finger. The coincidence was too much for her to brush off. “I suppose we could do dinner.”
That would be safe. On impartial ground. But there was no way she could deal with the two of them all by herself.
She glanced over her shoulder. “What time do you get off duty tonight, honey?”
The words were out before she comprehended what she was doing. She didn’t know who was more surprised—herself or the sheriff—but she had to give him credit. His body tensed, but that was the only sign he gave that she’d caught him off-guard.
“Five,” he responded. “Would six thirty work?”
Maxie tried not to blush when Roxie gave Zac a once-over and clicked her tongue in approval.
What had she done? Honey?
Her lungs expanded, close to bursting. What had possessed her? She rubbed her thumb over the bandage until the pricks on her finger ached. It had been a spur-of-the-moment impulse. It was the only reason she could think of to have him at her side, but she couldn’t believe she’d blurted it out.
She didn’t take risks like that. She was a timid sort!
“Where should we meet you?” Lexie was asking.
Maxie shifted in discomfort. She couldn’t think of anything but the way she was still sitting on the town sheriff’s lap. A sound erupted from his throat, and his arm clamped around her waist, stopping her movement.
“The Indigo Iguana,” he said, taking charge. “It’s on Riverfront, south of the landing.”
The blush on Maxie’s face got hotter. Had she made an awkward situation worse? What must he be thinking? They’d barely even spoken before. The best she’d been able to do until minutes ago was spy on him through a cluttered window.
Big, buff and blond. That was about all she knew about him.
“Indigo Iguana?” Roxie scowled. “Seriously?”
He grinned, and Maxie’s belly clenched. Oh damn. She’d missed blistering. The man was beyond hot.
“Seriously,” he echoed. “The food is good, and the setting is casual. Is that okay with you, Beauty?”
Beauty?
He tugged at her hair. He was talking to her. “Mmm-hmm,” Maxie murmured.
She was in over her head. The man was muscled and warm and, she was beginning to suspect, wickedly smart.
His touch was already dancing over her. He stroked her hair, patted her bare arm and smoothed her dress.
Her nerve endings buzzed, and she was doing her best to ignore the hard press against her hip.
What had she been thinking? Why had “honey” popped out of her mouth?
Lexie clapped her hands. “Perfect. We’ll take in the sights, go see the Falls, and then meet up with you.” She wrote her number on the pad on the desk. “Here’s my cell.” She picked up her purse and caught Roxie by the arm.
Her sister stayed planted where she was. Maxie felt the stare and the emotion behind it. Roxie’s eyes were dark and deep.
“Come on, Rox.”
The twin didn’t budge. “You’ll be there,” she said, her voice tight.
It wasn’t a question, yet it wasn’t quite a demand.
Maxie nodded.
Finally, Roxie gave up her ground. Lexie tugged her along but stopped halfway through the door and peeked back. “It was great to meet you.”
Roxie walked backwards with a growing confidence in her step. She smiled deviously at Zac. “You too, Sheriff Sexy.”
Oh God.
The two were out the door in a poof, but suddenly Maxie didn’t want them to leave.
Sheriff Sexy, indeed.
What had just happened?
She had two women claiming to be her long-lost sisters, and she’d made the hunky town sheriff her imaginary boyfriend. She wasn’t doing crazy things on the spur of the moment. She’d gone insane.