Kiss Me, Katie! & Hug Me, Holly!

That explained it. Honestly. Because there was no reason to wonder what he was thinking. No reason at all. He meant nothing to her. More important, she meant nothing to him. In light of that, she gave Maria a shaky grin. “I’ll write down the recipe as you give it to me. Soon as I give back-” she dug into her purse “-the sheriff’s wallet.”

“The sheriff’s wallet?”

“My wallet?” Riley asked at the same time as Maria, rising. “How did you get that?”

Maria grabbed Riley’s plate and put it in the sink. “Do you need a witness when you arrest her for theft, Sheriff?”

“Uh, no. I can handle it, thanks, Maria. Great food.”

“As always.”

“As always,” he repeated dutifully.

She actually gave him a small smile before turning to Holly. “If you’re not in jail, I will come to the cafe later.”

If she was in jail, it’d be for ogling charges. Ogling-the-sheriff charges.

“I will show you some things in that kitchen,” Maria added, grabbing her purse and keys. “Things other than low-fat crapola. Though I hear the spaghetti sauce smelled good. Too bad no one got a chance to taste it before you almost blew them all up.”

Holly let that go for the more important fact. “You’ll come help me?” She could have hugged the ornery, older woman, if she’d been the hugging type. “Thank you!”

Maria nodded her head once, regally, and left her alone with Riley.

Alone. Please don’t make an idiot of yourself in front of him this time, she told herself.

It would be harder than she thought. According to what Maria had told her, Riley had been up since before dawn working outside. He didn’t look it, didn’t look anything but…fabulous.

And utterly, absolutely at home in his own skin, which by the way, was fabulous, too. “About your wallet,” she said, forcing her gaze up to meet his. “It must have happened during the gas leak.”

“What must have happened?”

“Well, later, in my apartment, I found the dog chewing on something and-”

“Wait.” Riley shook his head but took the wallet, which he set on the counter without even looking at it. “Dog? The same one from yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“Let me get this straight. You claim you don’t like animals. You also claim you don’t even particularly like people, and you certainly don’t like being out of the big city. And yet here you are, in Little Paradise, running a cafe where you have to interact with people all day, and you’ve adopted both a dog and a cat.”

“They adopted me.”

“Really?” he murmured, smiling that warm, just-for-her smile. “I don’t think so.”

“It’s true.”

“You could lock them out.”

“Yes, but- Yes,” she whispered. She couldn’t tell him she didn’t have the heart. It would ruin her tough reputation. She needed that reputation, she used it like a cloak. “About your wallet-”

“You’re here to help your parents, right? And yet they appear to-no offense-not be too concerned about you and your needs. You don’t have any friends here, and you’re out of your element. Some pretty big odds, Holly.”

“Look, I don’t want to discuss this. I just wanted to give you back your wallet.” She tried to turn away, but he gently and very firmly set his hands on her shoulders.

“Know what I think?” he wondered.

“Ask me if I care.”

He smiled gently. “I think all your confidence and wisecracking is a front. I think in spite of your bravado, in spite of your best manipulations, everything is starting to slip through your fingers. I think you’re learning something about yourself here in the center of exactly nowhere, something that has nothing to do with trying to please your parents.”

“I didn’t know you were a shrink.”

He smiled. “See? That’s exactly the fake bravado I’d expect from you. But this isn’t the big city, Holly. This is a small town, where people have known each other forever, and they care. They’d care about you, too, if you let them.”

“Are you kidding?” She laughed to hide her wistfulness. “I wasn’t born and raised here. People will never trust me.”

“You’re wrong.”

She wanted to be; with all her heart she suddenly wanted to be.

“Just let them in,” he said, his voice suggesting that he cared, too. “That’s all it would take.”

She thought he was going to add, Let me in, and in that moment, she might have, but she found her inner strength. She leaned on no one but herself, ever. She gestured to his wallet. “Aren’t you even going to open it?”

He was disappointed in her change of conversation, and let it show. “No.”

“What if I stole your cash?”

“Did you?”

“Well, no.” She amused him with that, and she schooled her features into an even mask of indifference. She was good at it by now, but Riley surprised her by being good at seeing right through her.

He came closer.

She was leaning against the counter and didn’t have anywhere to back up to, so as he moved toward her all she could do was lift her chin and stare him down.

It didn’t work.

She was used to being as tall or taller than most men, but not this man, so the height intimidation didn’t work on him, either.

Still smiling a little, totally at ease, enjoying himself, he tipped his head to the side, so that in spite of her attempting not to look right at him, she was.

“You still have the dog,” he said gently.

Not a question, but a statement, one that implied he thought all sorts of things. First, that she even wanted the damn dog, and second, that maybe she was too soft to get rid of it.

“You really should check your wallet,” she said between her teeth. “Because someone might have stolen something from it-a credit card, your license, anything.”

“You’re in Little Paradise, remember?”

Oh yes, how could she forget one of their most basic differences? He trusted everyone-except for her-and she trusted no one. “You still should check.”

“Okay, just for you…” He relented with a smile that was far too innocent for her taste. He reached for it, bringing his torso inches within hers, and oh my, no expensive cologne for this cowboy. He didn’t need it. He smelled like the outdoors, like hay, like sweet sunshine and warm, sexy male. If she moved, even a fraction of an inch, she could put her mouth on his bare shoulder. Her knees weakened at the thought.

He opened the wallet, still too close, still giving her that far too guileless smile. “See?” he said, showing her his license. His credit card. His twenty-dollar bill. “Everything of value-” He pulled out not one, but two condoms, and pressed them into her palm, “-is still here.”

Though she’d never, ever, in a million years admit it, her pulse took off like a shot. Heat flooded her body, pooling in all those erogenous zones she’d ignored for far too long, and all because his long, work-roughened fingers had held up two little packets that would allow him to have protected sex.

That she could imagine him doing just that, with her, was no longer such a shock.

“Mmm, that looks good on you,” he murmured.

“What?”

“That unguarded expression. You’re not so polished now, Holly Stone, and it’s a beautiful look for you.”

This was not happening. He was not seducing her with mere words.