“Maybe. Haven’t you been wanting to do something wild and crazy?” Skye’s eyes were wide, and her expression hopeful, as if she were looking forward to living vicariously through her friend. Other than her work for Second Chance Flower Shop, Skye’s life mostly consisted of navigating her way around her very large family and (mostly unsuccessful) online dating.
“Yes, but that’s just talk. There’s not really anything wild and crazy I can do in Azalea. I mean, nothing that I’d want to do. A lot of wild stuff that people end up doing isn’t what I’d consider fun. I’m not going to get drunk or go dancing and buy a motorcycle or hook up with a guy at a bar or anything. It’s just not me. Books and tea and staying in. That’s me.” Madeline sighed and rubbed her face. “God, I’m boring, aren’t I?”
“No, you’re not!” Ria immediately defended her. “There’s nothing boring about you. But you should let yourself have a little fun for once. You work really hard, and it hasn’t been that long since your breakup. You deserve a little indulgence. Why don’t you drive to Richmond and go to that bookstore you like? Let yourself buy anything that catches your eye, even if it’s an expensive first edition. We’ve been making good money lately, and I know for a fact that you haven’t spent much of it on yourself. You’ve probably been squirreling it away in a savings account. You deserve to do something nice just for yourself.”
Madeline’s chest hurt slightly, the way it always did when something rang deeply true to her. “Yeah. I guess.”
“No guess about it. You’ve got to do it. Buy something at the bookstore completely outrageous, just because you want it.” Skye looked more excited about the idea than Madeline. “Promise us you’ll do it.”
Madeline was usually strong willed in a quiet way. No one could talk her into doing something she didn’t already believe was right. But the fact was that right now she knew her friends had a point.
She’d had a hard year emotionally, and she’d also been working the equivalent of two full-time jobs. She was tired. Drained. Her friends had forced her to take the weekend off to rest and enjoy herself, and she hadn’t done much of that yet.
She loved the little store in Richmond full of used and rare books. She could spend hours in there, just browsing the shelves and stroking the old spines. She had more money in the bank than she’d ever believed she would earn because they’d had such good luck with the flower shop for the past couple of years. And she also didn’t have a demanding boyfriend dragging her down.
One day of bookish indulgence wasn’t out of line.
“Okay,” she said at last. “I’ll do it.”
Her friends cheered her decision, and Madeline had to wonder how boring she really was that her friends were so excited about her making a trip to a bookstore.
MADELINE ENDED UP HAVING a fabulous day. She got to Richmond around lunchtime, so she went to one of her favorite restaurants and had lunch before heading to the store. There, she spent two hours and ended up buying an armful of books. Only two were higher than her normal price range, so the purchases didn’t even make her feel too guilty.
She stopped for a frozen coffee drink for the drive home. The sun was out. The day was deliciously warm with a touch of autumn briskness in the air. She rolled down her windows and turned the music up loud, singing with some of her favorite songs on the drive home.
Most of the route was a two-lane country road without much traffic. It was mostly straight and mostly flat, so nothing slowed her down.
So, yes, she was driving too fast. She’d been having fun. Feeling as wild as it was possible for her to feel.
Free.
And it all came crashing down like a load of bricks when she saw flashing lights on the car behind her.
Damn it all to hell. She knew the car that belonged to those flashing lights. It was the county sheriff, and he was pulling her over for speeding.
She slowed down and pulled over onto the shoulder immediately, taking a few deep inhales and trying to control her suddenly ragged breathing. She was a rule follower by nature. She’d never gotten a speeding ticket before. And stupidly it was the idea of being caught doing something wrong that upset her a lot more than the fine she’d have to pay.
She should have known her one pitiful attempt at freedom would end like this.
With Ken Harley giving her a ticket.
Ken had been elected sheriff five years ago and reelected last year. She’d known him most of her life since he’d been a deputy with the sheriff’s office when she’d been a teenager. He was a nice-looking, easygoing man in his midthirties. Although he was older than them, he occasionally hung out with her social group since he was friends with Ria’s fiancé, Jacob.
It was pretty embarrassing that he’d just caught her speeding.
She looked back in her rearview mirror and saw he was getting out of the unmarked blue sedan he always drove.
He was a big man with broad shoulders, long legs, and thick thighs.
She gulped, looking at him approach in her side mirror. She wasn’t sure why she was thinking about the breadth of his thighs, but they looked very fine in the tan trousers.
The uniform also consisted of a brown button-down shirt and a jacket with a sheriff’s star on the chest. It wasn’t the most attractive of outfits, but he managed to wear it well. He had light brown hair that gleamed gold in the sun. It looked like he needed to shave.
She stared at him speechlessly as he approached her window.
When the holy hell had Ken Harley gotten
