This was the first woman he’d been seriously attracted to since before he’d been injured. He was basically rewiring his brain on how to react in this situation. It made sense.
It wasn’t her specifically that was the problem. It was his head.
He’d just have to learn to deal with things in a new way. He wasn’t going to let physical attraction keep him from the job of a lifetime. A position heading a PAVAD division would make his career. He wasn’t going to let that go because of the woman next to him.
But he was going to have to come up with a strategy for dealing with her far more effectively than he had.
No more kissing her. That was for certain.
He used the long miles as she slept to think of strategies for doing just that. When he finally pulled the borrowed truck into the parking area of the inn, he thought he’d come up with a working plan. The Miranda plan.
There was a light on the front entryway. It was a beckoning place. A beautiful, idyllic place for a gaggle of young girls to grow up together. It was a beautiful town, in its own way. People knew each other, helped each other, he supposed.
Maybe mattered to one another.
One of the Talley women was sitting on the porch swing, even though it was far too cold for it. She was bundled up in a thick sweatshirt, with a knit cap on her head. It took him a moment to determine which Talley it was.
Miranda’s sister. The blonde who believed in auras, or something.
He pulled in and turned off the engine. The sister stood and approached, no doubt looking for Miranda. Well, that would work out just fine for him.
She could get her sister inside and taken care of.
Miranda Talley wasn’t going to become his responsibility in any way. That was step one in his plan. No responsibility for her, even as a teammate. He’d watch her back on the job, and that was absolutely it. Anything else to do with her wasn’t his problem.
The sister was waiting when he rounded the front of the truck. “She’s asleep. I trust you can deal with her from here?” His words were short, but he knew leaving Miranda like this was being a real asshole. The sister would just have to accept him as he was.
The sister gave a warm, sexy laugh. “I can handle her for you, Agent Knight. This time. There will come a time it’ll be all up to you, though.”
It must run in the family, the ability to confound him. He had no clue what the woman was talking about.
He took off toward the porch before he did something stupid and woke Miranda himself. No doubt Miranda would be warm, and soft, and her eyes would be welcoming and alluring. Sexy.
Her sister’s laughter rang in his ears. She called after him. “Your aura is glowing blue, Agent Knight. Something about my sister got you all worked up tonight?”
He didn’t answer.
These Talley women were real pains in the ass. He pitied the man that one finally ended up with.
36
Jac was tired, but she kept going. She probably wouldn’t sleep much anyway. Not with Max just next door and with worrying about Miranda. She suspected Miranda had done it on purpose, putting Jac on one side of the suite with a balcony and Max on the other. Nobody else on the team was sharing a balcony, even though the inn had four.
Miranda was going to get what she deserved one of these days. Jac was going to drive her out to the middle of Derrick Tyler’s ranch and spill the fact that Miranda wanted to get married, live in Masterson, and raise six kids on a ranch. No doubt all those super-hot cowboys would flock all over her.
Jac would just stand back and watch.
It was a mild revenge, of course. But Miranda’s machinations were starting to drive Jac crazy.
No doubt that was exactly what Miranda was planning on. It irritated, but she’d never really had a close friend to joke with her like that before. Jac cherished that, more than she suspected Miranda knew.
Finally, after an hour of work on the laptop, while snuggled into the fluffy pillows that covered the double bed, Jac gave up. It was a beautiful room. A comfortable, welcoming room.
Jac hopped out of the bed and threw on her shoes. She knew the security code for the private wing of the hotel. She grabbed her laptop. She could work in Miranda’s suite.
Put some space between her and Max.
Miranda was sound asleep in her room, sprawled over her full mattress and snoring lightly. Her sister, Marin, sat in the rocking chair next to the bed, knitting a light blue blanket. “Hello, Jac. I was waiting for you.”
“How is she doing?” She’d been worried. Jac was an obsessive worrier. Miranda teased her about that constantly, too. Miranda barely worried about anything. She claimed whatever came would come. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Well, I probably can. You want to sit here with her?”
“Yes.” She had met Marin several times before, and while Jac most certainly didn’t believe in psychics or predicting the future or anything like that, the Talleys did. They really believed Marin could see something of the future. Well, all of them but Miranda did.
Maybe. Sometimes Miranda was hard to figure out.
“Good.”
“That’s a gorgeous blanket. Who is it for?” Marin was…odd. She gardened—she ran the most successful nursery and garden center in the county. She was one of the shift managers for the diner. She was the assistant manager of the inn. And she sold knitted blankets made from local mohair yarn.
She laughed lightly. “I’m stocking up. For my nephews.”
Jac shot her a look. Miranda wasn’t involved with anyone. And Meyra, shy and awkward and practically terrified of men, wasn’t, either. “You’re expecting one soon?”
She sent a mysterious smile toward her sister. “I just believe in being prepared. For anything.”
“Blue?”
“Mmm.
