One Night with the Sheriff (One Wild Night: Fling to Forever #2)

Chapter 1

Grady

Iknow exactly where she is. I always know where she is. It’s my job to keep track of my constituents and how they’re doing and what they’re doing as the sheriff of Monroe County.

But I always know every damn little thing about Fiona Marcus.

Such a fancy name for a perfectly unique woman.

Her black hair is pulled back in a ponytail and although I can’t see her pretty amethyst eyes, I know exactly what they look like.

How they have little flecks of deep blue amongst the unique amethyst color.

How they crinkle a little bit at the corners when she thinks about something that she’s not sure about.

I’ve seen that look a lot lately and I had a feeling there was more to it than she said when I questioned her at the diner. But since her Dad came up behind us and interrupted, I knew he was part of the problem.

Fred Marcus is just this shy of a criminal. At least as far as our small town knows.

He dabbles in so many gray areas that I can’t imagine he’s not as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. I know it, we all know it. But I’ve never been able to find enough evidence and then there was Fee. I didn’t want to do anything to hurt her.

But something’s off and I think it has to do with her dad.

Grimacing, I watch the back door of the diner. Watch as she takes out the trash and then shuffles inside, her steps cautious and slow, pained.

My eyes sharpen and I drink in my little angel’s curvy figure like she’s the last shot for the night for the rest of my life.

Her arm comes up and she cradles her right arm in her left arm. I know she’s right-handed but for some reason I didn’t really notice that she handed out plates with her left hand tonight. But I saw her pained expression when she did it and that’s got me wondering what the hell happened to her.

Slipping closer, I can finally hear what’s going on and my brain fucking buzzes like an angry bee when she hits the door and I hear him.

“Fiona! Get the hell in here and finish these dishes! What the hell do you think I pay you for?”

Gritting my teeth, I fight the urge to race in the door and slam that asshole into the wall, dad or not.

“I’m on my way.”

“Move faster! I swear you’re a waste of space,” he grumbles and I bite my tongue so hard I can taste the coppery tang of blood in my mouth.

She doesn’t reply and for some reason that strikes me as wrong. She’s usually so full of fire with me. Although she’s a little shy, her pretty eyes dance with laughter and something darker when she talks to me.

I’ve almost convinced myself that it’s the same thing that hides in my own gray eyes.

Lust. Desire. Love. All of it tangled around one tiny female who probably doesn’t know I exist.

At twenty-five she’s not too young but still…since I’m thirty-four, I should keep my desires in check when I’m around her. But it’s getting harder and harder to do.

I slip inside the door and hide behind the stockroom door to my right, waiting to see what’s going on. I can feel the tension in the air and it’s not just on my little Fee’s face.

I saw something in Fred’s eyes when he watched his daughter this afternoon that started this little stakeout. The way he eyed her body like it was part of a transaction, something he owned and could use. I saw it. Felt it in the tilt of his hard lips. The ice in his eyes.

He’s got plans and they don’t bode well for little Fee with the gorgeous eyes and luscious curves.

And that doesn’t sit right with me. She’s mine. I promised myself that I’d let her go but I just can’t. It’s eating me alive seeing those assholes in the diner hit on her, seeing the naked greed and dollar signs in her father’s eyes.

There’s a knock at the back door and my head whips around as I move my body slightly to keep my big frame hidden. Fred scurries quickly like the rat he is and opens the door to a guy that I unfortunately don’t know.

But I know the type. Douchecanoe that lives on the fringes of society and dwells in the darkness.

My inner antenna perks up and I move just a millimeter to keep them both in sight as well as my little Fee.

“Is she here?” That one sentence send my heart hammering out of control. I can feel it all the way into my throat which is so dry I can’t even swallow.

I only know one she that is currently here and that fucker better not be talking about her.

“She’s here. I sent her to do the dishes so we could finish hashing this out in privacy.”

The ice-cold guy with black eyes glares at him.

“There’s no more hashing things out. You owe me ten grand on the last meeting and if you don’t want me to take it out of your fucking hide, then she’s the way you pay your bill.

I’ve got guys that would pay a fortune to get just a few minutes with her. ”

“She’s worth more than that,” he whines. “She’s a damn unicorn. A fucking virgin.”

The other man’s thin lips stretch wide. “If that’s the case, she may fetch even more than you owe at the auction. But that won’t help you.”

When Fred starts to protest again, the other man looks him right in the eye and without blinking pulls out a gun and presses it into Fred’s miserable head. His eyes widen and he shuts up.

“Think of it as interest on your loan for jerking me around for so damn long.”

Nodding jerkily, Fred backs away and the gun goes back into a holster on the guy’s hip. We don’t have concealed carry here anymore. It’s all open carry so I assume that’s why this guy doesn’t give a shit if anyone sees it or not.

“Now move out of my way and I’ll try to ignore how many fucking times you’ve tried to screw me, you miserable bastard.”

With a gulp, Fred moves back and the guy stalks past him with one last withering look.

With a growl under my breath, I step out quietly and stalk towards Fred, getting close enough that he turns around with a gasp.

My fist connects with his face with a satisfying crack that almost makes me feel better. He goes down like a ton of bricks and slams into the wall so hard that I can hear the thud.

His eyes don’t open and when I reach out and check, his pulse is gone. He’s dead. Shaking my head, I reach for my gun and slip out of the back where we’ve been hiding.

I wish I hadn’t done that. Not that I care that the man’s dead. Fiona deserves so much more than what her father is…was.

I just wish I had the chance to put him in front of a jury of his peers and watch him squirm like the rat he is.

But all of that shit flies right out of my head when a shrill scream cuts through the quiet of the diner.

“Fee,” I growl under my breath and slowly slip into the dark, fighting my way to her in the dim light.

I come around the corner and my heart stops beating. My breath stills painfully. My whole body goes rigid.

That asshole is touching what’s mine. His arms are around her and he’s attempting to throw her over his shoulder but she’s fighting like hell.

Her fist swings out and catches him in the face and he growls and then slams his own fist into her sweet cheek and she goes down.

Red coats my vision and I growl like a feral dog. “You fucker!” Fueled by so much anger that I’m incandescent with it, I roar out of the shadows and my fist slams into that fucker’s head.

His head shakes and his eyes narrow, coming around to me. “Who the fuck are you?” he snaps.

“I’m hers, asshole. And you’re touching what’s mine.”

He drops her like she’s trash and my whole body vibrates with the need to kill him, destroy him.

“She doesn’t have anybody. That’s what her daddy said. So I don’t know who or what you are but she’s not yours.” His smirk makes me want to paint the floor with his blood.

“She does. And in case you’ve never met the law, I’m the sheriff of this place. And I’m taking you in.”

“For what?” He mocks. “Trying to date someone.”

“You’re not looking for a date. You’re trafficking, asshole. And if you think you’re trafficking with my woman, you’re a fucking idiot. Not to mention kidnapping and assault. I’m sure I can come up with about a dozen charges to lay on you, fucker.”

“I didn’t know she was with anyone. Her dad didn’t say and neither did she.”

“I don’t think you actually tried to talk to her.

Anyway, I don’t give a fuck what you know or don’t know.

But if you come into my town and think you’re gonna pull some fucking shady shit with Fred, who is now screaming in hell while they hopefully tear him limb from limb, you’ve got another think coming.

This is my town and that’s my woman and you are nothing. ”

He snorts and his dark eyes sparkle. “Big talk from a guy that’s outnumbered.”

“Perhaps you missed the part where I told you Fred is dead.”

“I don’t mean Fred. My guy’s right out there in the alley and if I don’t get out there in the next five minutes with our lovely friend, he’s coming in here both barrels blazing.”

“You’re not taking her anywhere. If you’re lucky, I’ll let you live another day. Keep pushing and you’ll be pushing up daisies.”

Smirking, he shakes his head. “You don’t understand how this works, sheriff.”

“I really do. And I know one damn thing that you don’t. You’re a dead man if you touch her again.”

His smirk disappears and so does his hand. “I think you’re the dead man.”

His hand moves to pull out his gun but I’m quicker, firing two shots so fast that it almost sounds like one.”

A burst of red flowers on his white shirt and he glances down at it and then at me, shock painted all over his craggy, disgusting face. Right before his body hits the ground.

Squatting, I quickly find where his artery is and there’s nothing. Not even a whisper.

He’s dead.

But I don’t pay a damn bit of attention to him.

Slipping out the back door just in time to see a dark sedan racing out of the alley, the headlights disappearing around a corner.

Shaking my head in disgust, I race back inside the diner and back to Fee.

Bending down I pick up Fee, cradling her gently in my arms.

With a glare at the stranger’s body, I stride out the door and to my SUV in back. Once I reach my vehicle, I lay my precious cargo across the backseat and tuck a blanket that I always keep in my backseat around her so she doesn’t catch a chill.

And then I start the car and head home, one last glance in the mirror assuring me that she’s safe with me.

And that’s where she’ll always be. Safe with me.