Beautiful Lawman

  “I’ll hire you.”

  “You’ll hire me?” She felt the incredulity in her face as she stared at him. He had to be joking. “What? Looking for a housekeeper?”

  “No.” He stared at her in exasperation. “We’re looking to hire someone to train as a new dispatch. Doris would like to retire. We’d need someone to take her place. We actually probably need to grow our staff by two or three more. This is a legitimate offer.”

  She studied him, still not sure if he was serious. A sheriff’s dispatch? She didn’t have a clue what that entailed, but he mentioned training.

  “I don’t know . . .”

  “You can come in Monday. Work with Doris. See if it might be something you’d be interested in doing. The pay is solid. You’d get benefits. Insurance.”

  Her heart started pounding in her chest. It sounded too good to be true. And she knew from experience if it sounded too good, it usually was.

  She narrowed her eyes on him. “What’s the catch?”

  His expression turned puzzled. “Catch?”

  “What do I have to do in exchange for this job?”

  The puzzled look vanished and he just looked pissed, a muscle ticking high in his cheek. “I’m not extorting you for sex. We’d have a purely working relationship. We’d have to forget about everything that’s transpired between us and move forward in a professional capacity only.”

  Forget? How on earth could she do that?

  He continued. “Which is what you wanted anyway. Right? You said you don’t do sex outside of a relationship.”

  She lifted her chin. “That’s true.”

  “Well, I don’t do relationships so this should work out fine for the both of us. You get a job and don’t have to move. Doris gets to start training someone to take her place, which gets her off my back.”

  She studied him a moment longer, searching for any hint of duplicity on his face. “You’re serious about this?”

  He looked exasperated again. “You need to learn a little trust, Piper.”

  “Trust isn’t something that comes easily for me.” She only needed to think of Rex or Shelley Rae to remember that.

  “Well, you’re going to have to work on that. Will you come in tomorrow or not?”

  Several beats passed before she nodded. “Yes.”

  “Good.” He extended his hand for her to shake. She stared at it for a moment as though she expected it to turn into a serpent and leap out and bite her. Finally, she took it. His warm fingers wrapped around her smaller hand. Instantly, heat traveled up her arm and she was reminded of the way his hand felt on her body and all the intimate places he had touched her.

  She snatched her hand back and pressed it to her side, palm rubbing into her thigh.

  He backed off her tiny porch. “See you at 8 a.m. tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  She remained where she was, watching as he got into his Bronco and drove away. She stood on the porch in her bare feet, staring blindly into the parking lot long after Hale had driven away, her thoughts spinning. She’d actually gotten a job.

  Gradually her gaze refocused and then she noticed another car with a person sitting inside it. The car was backed into a spot so it could face the buildings. The figure behind the steering wheel was a dark outline. Simply a faceless figure, unmoving. It was his very stillness that unnerved her. She had the sense that he was looking right at her. Yeah, she also had the sense it was a he. His shape was too large, too tall, to be a woman.

  A shiver broke out on her skin despite the growing warmth of the day. She squinted as though she could make out his features, but it was no use. The window was tinted too darkly.

  She suddenly felt very vulnerable standing on her porch, so she ducked back inside her apartment, her fingers trembling as she bolted all the locks in place. She inched away from the door, feeling silly for her reaction. It was probably someone waiting to pick someone else up.

  She moved to the table and collected her bowl and spoon. She took them to the sink and washed them, setting them in the rack to drain.

  Drying her hands on a dishtowel, she moved to the window and peered out between the blinds, checking to see if the car was still there. The parking spot was empty. Shaking her head, she let the blinds drop back in place.

  Sixteen

  Piper wore the same outfit she wore to job interviews. Sure, the blouse and skirt never brought her luck before, but she hoped that would change today.

  Malia had been excited when Piper informed her that the sheriff had offered her a job. At fifteen, she knew enough to know what kind of place Joe’s was. And even though Piper told her she was only a waitress there, she knew her sister had never liked it.

  Doris came around the oversized counter to greet her when she arrived, treating her to a warm hug. While maybe not the most professional behavior, it was so welcoming that Piper had to blink back tears.

  “Now Hale told me to introduce you around and get you set up. I’ll start showing you the ropes today. There are three other dispatchers—Yolanda, Becky and Tom. I’ll go over the shift schedule with you. You only have to work one night a week. I usually take Thursdays. Yolanda and Tom split the rest of the nights.” Piper blinked, letting that sink in. So she would actually be home in the evenings. She would sit down and have dinner with her sister. Almost like a normal family. For the second time that morning, tears threatened.

  Doris continued. “When I retire, the four of you will coordinate your shifts. You could just keep my schedule if that works for you.” Piper nodded in understanding. “Someone has to be here at all times.”

  Piper nodded and had to bite her tongue to stop from asking where Hale was. He was her boss now. It was none of her business. Not that it had been her business before, but where he spent his time now only mattered as it impacted her duties.

  Even though she didn’t ask for his location, Doris eventually volunteered that Hale was out on a run. Apparently the local hardware store had been vandalized. “He’s not one to sit on his laurels. He takes a lot of calls personally. He’s the face of the department and believes in being visible within the community.”

  “Sounds like a politician.”

  Doris shrugged. “It is an elected office, so I suppose he is. Not that he needs to worry about reelection. He won by a landslide last time and the Walters name is gold in these parts.”

  That must be nice. To be born to a family so beloved that you’re instantly accepted. Even lauded.

  Everyone was civil toward her as Doris moved around the department and introduced her. She might have read a little stiffness in the demeanor of Sharon in payroll, but Molly, a young female deputy, welcomed her with a warm smile. Deputy Briggs might have been a little too warm in his welcome.

  He touched her arm as he spoke to her. “If you need anything, let me know. The sheriff can be a bit of a hard-ass.” He leaned in close to her ear to volunteer that last bit. “He runs a tight ship and it can be overwhelming when you first come on board. Don’t let him intimidate you.” Briggs winked, and in that simple gesture she guessed that he thought pretty highly of himself. And most of the female population of Sweet Hill probably agreed with his assessment. He was young and in good shape, if not a little too put together. He was overly tan with teeth so white she was sure he had them professionally bleached.

  Piper nodded stiffly, for some reason feeling a little defensive of his assessment of Hale. She imagined the role of county sheriff could be stressful. Hale probably only wanted to surround himself with the best staff possible to make sure the people in their county were protected and well served.

  Wow. Had she just defended a member of law enforcement?

  She was clearly suffering from a serious crush and needed to get a handle on it because she absolutely would not be one of those women who slept with her boss. Hale insisted theirs would be a professional relationship and she believed he meant that. He wasn’t the kind of man to say things he didn’t mean. Now she couldn’t
be so weak as to try and tempt him away from his promise of self-restraint.

  As the morning drifted into afternoon and Doris took her through the paces, modeling how to answer the calls that came in and where to direct them, Piper realized her work here could be meaningful. For the first time in her life, she felt like she might have a purpose beyond that of parenting Malia. Not to minimize her role as her sister’s guardian, but someday her sister would grow up and go to college and Piper would be on her own. Suddenly her future felt less bleak.

  She would not screw this up.

  Hale managed to stay out of Piper’s way until her Thursday night shift.

  He knew from Doris she was doing a good job. She was a quick study and picked up everything Doris showed her. From how to take calls from even the most difficult personalities, to filing reports, to interfacing with the public. He had worried about that a little. Piper could be prickly and, historically, people often gave her a reason to be. She had not been treated well by this town.

  According to Doris, it turned out he had nothing to worry about. When people needed help and she was their one lifeline, they weren’t inclined to spit in the face of the person offering to help them.

  The first half of the week he came into the office before her shift started and after it ended, assuring himself she was gone and they would not have to come face-to-face. Cowardly, he supposed, but a little distance was in order after their most recent interactions. He needed to be able to look at her without his first impulse being to jump her bones.

  Thursday night she was on from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. There was no way around it. When he entered the department a little after nine, it was quiet. He didn’t see her at the front desk and assumed she was in the break room, maybe getting a cup of coffee. Late shifts required coffee.

  Molly Brewster looked up from her desk where she worked on her computer. “Hey, boss.”

  “Brewster,” he greeted. “How are things?”

  “Good. Quiet.”

  “Quiet is always good.” Even as he spoke the words, his gaze scanned the main lobby, hungry for a glimpse of Piper. It had been four days and it was like he was starved.

  The soft rumble of voices reached his ears. He followed the sound to the break room to come upon Deputy Briggs leaning in close to Piper as she took a steaming mug out of the microwave and added a tea bag to it.

  Briggs had several nicknames. Casanova was the kindest. STD was probably the most factual. The guy stuck his dick in every female he could. Hale had warned him the minute his activities impacted the job he was gone. So far Briggs had kept his on-the-job flirting to a minimum and kept his dick in his pants while working.

  Hale didn’t know what he was saying but whatever it was made Piper laugh, and that hit him like a sucker punch. She’d never laughed for him like that.

  Hell, he didn’t think he had ever seen her laugh. At least not in scorn or mockery.

  Fuck that. He strode into the room. “Briggs,” he barked. “I didn’t know the County of Sweet Hill was paying to flirt with the staff and crack jokes. Don’t you have work to do?”

  Briggs straightened, a bit of red flushing his cheeks. “Sure, boss.” With a quick, regretful glance at Piper, he hightailed it out of the break room.

  He turned his gaze on Piper only to find her glaring at him. “Did you have to do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “I’m trying to fit in here.”

  He took a step toward her, his hand coming to rest casually on his gun belt. “Fitting in doesn’t mean you need to fuck that guy.”

  He didn’t know why he said it. It was mean and unfair and he knew it the moment it shot out of his mouth. But he felt like being mean. Seeing Briggs standing over her and looking at her like she was his next meal brought out the mean in him.

  A nerve ticked madly near her eye. “You’re an asshole.”

  “Is that how you talk to your boss?”

  She nodded, lifting her chin defiantly. “Apparently.”

  Hell, he’d missed this. He missed her. His gaze dropped to her mouth and he remembered her taste. He was so screwed. How was he going to deal with having her this close all the time and not be able to do anything about it? He could only take so many cold showers and jack off.

  It beats losing her all together. Never seeing her again.

  That thought jarred him because she wasn’t his to lose. She never would be.

  “What I said about us keeping it professional extends to other employees, too, you know.”

  She sputtered. “W-what are you—”

  He closed the distance between them, backing her against the refrigerator door, rasping close to her face. “I’m saying you’re not going to fuck him or anyone else in this building. Understand?”

  “You’re unbelievable. Is this how it’s going to be? You see me talking to any guy that works here and I’m sleeping with him?”

  He jerked his head in the direction Briggs had departed. “I know that guy. Women like him. Just wanted to make sure you didn’t fall under his spell.”

  “Well, you can rest easy. He’s not my type.” She slid out from between him and the fridge. “And as for me and anyone else in this building . . .” Her voice faded away and she shrugged, the action belying the fire still snapping in her dark eyes. “You might be my boss, but you don’t own me . . . or my vagina.”

  That said, she turned, swaying that ass in a very deliberate manner that had him biting back a groan. This woman is going to be the death of me.

  He could do this. He’d always been a man of restraint. She would not be his undoing.

  Stalking out of the break room, he strode into his office and grabbed the ten-inch stack of reports waiting to be filed. He’d intended to divide them up equally among his deputies to spread out the workload.

  He carried the hefty pile out and dropped them on Briggs’s desk with a satisfying slam. “Here you go, Briggs. Something to keep you busy since you seem to have so much time on your hands.”

  Briggs’s eyes widened as he took in the stack. Slack-jawed, he looked up at Hale. “All of it? Tonight?”

  “I’ve got faith in you.”

  Briggs stared at him one beat longer and then turned his head, his gaze landing on Piper where she had resumed her seat at the front desk. Already she talked on the phone, a pen in her hand as she was jotting down notes.

  Understanding washed over the big lummox’s face. Hale hadn’t said the words, but he didn’t need to. Briggs heard them loud and clear. Piper Walsh is mine.

  Hale might not be able to have her, but as far as he was concerned no other man in this department could either. She was off-limits and best to let everyone know that now . . . starting with Briggs.

  Nodding morosely, Briggs slipped the first report off the top and opened it. Lesson learned.

  Seventeen

  Friday was busy. A school bus took a corner too close and knocked out a fire hydrant. All the kids had to be shuttled into a second bus to get them to school, but before that could happen, all forty plus panicked parents converged on the intersection. It took half the department to manage the fiasco.

  It was almost lunch before Hale made it back to the department. Piper hung up on a phone call and looked up to find him in front of her desk. “Hello,” she greeted, cursing the sudden increased thump of her heart.

  “Here.” He thrust a white paper bag toward her. He held two bags actually, but he shoved only one of them at her.

  She eyed the bag and him with uncertainty. “What is this?”

  “Lunch.”

  “Lunch?” she echoed.

  Doris emerged from the break room then, one of her ever present celery sticks in her hand. It was amazing that the woman carried any extra weight. Every time Piper saw her she was eating celery and drinking water.

  “Yes.” He nodded. “You need to eat. You’re too thin.”

  Doris made a snorting sound and rolled her eyes, taking a crunching bite. “Some people have the best problem
s.”

  “Thank you . . . Hale,” Piper murmured, her hands flexing around the bag and crinkling the paper.

  She pulled her lightweight cardigan tighter around her body, feeling suddenly self-conscious.

  He muttered something that sounded like a profanity. “That’s not what I meant. You’re not too thin. You don’t always seem to eat enough . . . or properly. You look . . . fine. You look—” He stopped and scowled.

  “What do I owe you?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  She shook her head. “No, I insist. What—”

  “Just take the damn food, Piper, and leave it at that.”

  She pressed her lips into a mutinous line. He stared down at her. A moment passed before he let loose a curse and stalked away.

  She watched his retreating back until he disappeared into his office and then she dropped her gaze to the bag in her hands.

  “Interesting.” Doris made a humming sound and Piper could only imagine what that meant. She arched both eyebrows and smiled with an encouraging nod at Piper. “That was nice of him. What’d he bring you?”

  Piper shrugged lightly, feeling a need to explain what just happened—even if she wasn’t so sure. “I’m sure he just grabbed me something because he was getting something for himself.”

  “Mm-hm.” Doris settled into her chair and fished a new celery stick out of her baggie. “He didn’t get me anything.”

  “With all the celery you eat, he probably knows you’re watching what you eat.”

  As though proving her point, Doris lifted her celery stick to her mouth and took a healthy bite. She picked up her coffee cup and chased it with a sip. Piper couldn’t imagine a worse combination.

  “Well? What did our fine sheriff get you?”

  Shaking her head, Piper rummaged through the bag, pulling out a fat sliced brisket sandwich wrapped in cellophane. A pickle. A side of potato salad in addition to a bag of potato chips. The savory aroma filled her nostrils and made her stomach rumble. “How am I going to eat all this?”

  “Enjoy it. Take home what you don’t finish.” Doris shuffled across the room.