But their time together wasn’t all incredible sex and lighthearted teasing. She woke in the middle of the night many times shaking and crying. He’d comforted her until she fell back asleep. When he’d tried to sit her down and talk about it on the seventh day, she’d made it clear that she had a job to begin and a new life that didn’t involve him.
He’d thought about her more times than he cared to admit in the past thirty-seven days. Her quick wit. Her soft curves. Those pink lips.
Hell, he had no business appreciating those anymore. She’d been real clear on where they stood. It was most likely his bruised ego that had him thinking about her more than he knew better than to allow. Usually he was the one walking out, not the other way around.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as she tried to look around his shoulder. Did she have a boyfriend? The only thing he’d known for certain about her during their fling was that she wasn’t married. He should’ve asked about a relationship but assumed she wouldn’t have spent the week in bed with him if she’d been dating someone else.
He’d also thought about that haunted look in her eyes when she first woke from a nightmare. That, he might never forget.
She was almost a foot shorter than his six feet three inches. She had to come in at five feet six, maybe seven. Her shiny auburn hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. She had just enough curves to be a real woman, and his fingers itched to get lost on that silky skin of hers again.
“Sorry. I was just watching someone, and...” Her face twisted, and she took a step to the right in order to get a clear view of the person.
Jordan had never felt awkward with a woman before. Normally, he spent time with people who didn’t expect much in return. After a few rounds of hot sex and mutual enjoyment, they’d part ways. Neither side tried to drag out the fling or make a big deal out of walking away.
He told himself that he felt a pang of jealousy with a strong dose of heartache seeing her again because he knew Courtney, but that wasn’t completely true. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly why this felt different from the many others he’d spent time with. It just did.
“Well, I should get out of your way, deputy,” he said to her. Her cheeks flushed, and her tongue darted across full pink lips. Jordan ignored the warning shot to his chest.
It didn’t matter. Courtney seemed to have no interest in him. But the week he’d spent with her had felt like a homecoming. Not since he’d lost his parents—and maybe even long before then—had Jordan felt like he belonged somewhere. Sure, he and his five siblings had taken over the family ranching business along with associated mineral rights. Their inheritance was spread across three states, with significant holdings in Texas.
No one in his family needed to work another day for a paycheck. They got up at 4:00 a.m. to face a long day of work because ranching was in their blood and they loved the land. Jordan was no different. But the ranch didn’t feel like home to him anymore.
He stepped aside.
Courtney grabbed his arm and motioned for him to scoot back over.
Well, he really was confused now. “What’s going on, Courtney?”
“I’m sorry. I was watching a possible suspect.” She glanced at Jordan, and those eyes with cinnamon-colored flecks sent a bolt of lightning straight to his heart. He needed to develop a thicker skin when it came to her, because right then he wanted to haul her against his chest and welcome her back home properly. But that ship had sailed when she’d refused to speak to him again.
Damned if she wasn’t distracted now. Sure, his ego took a hit. Most women made themselves a little too available for the youngest and only single Kent brother.
He told himself that was the reason he felt a sting in his chest and not because he had stronger feelings for Courtney.
“Don’t let me stand in the way of your job.” Hadn’t those been the words he’d used when she’d told him that their time together had been special, but she needed to focus on her work at his cousin’s office?
“I’m sorry, Jordan. It’s a case I’m working on. It’s getting inside my head a little bit,” she said by way of apology. “I should go.”
Courtney turned toward the front of the store. He should’ve walked away right then and there. It was his fool pride that had him standing his ground like it didn’t matter. His bruised ego wanted to say otherwise, but that’s all it was.
Jordan glanced down, and then he saw something in her basket that gave him pause.
Was this the reason she’d rejected him?
Evidence that she had been in another relationship stared back at him.
Copyright © 2020 by Barb Han
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ISBN: 9781488067419
Evasive Action
Copyright © 2020 by Carol Ericson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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