Try as he might, however, he couldn’t picture it in his head. When he did, the only face that popped into his brain was that of the woman who wanted an annulment from him.
His grizzly snorted smugly.
“I can’t,” he said aloud to no one in particular. Sarah was her own woman, and she deserved respect. He finished getting ready, slammed his locker shut and walked outside, determined to right this wrong and sign those papers.
That was the plan, anyway, but when he stepped out of the locker room and Sarah turned to face him, his resolve disappeared, only to be replaced by the desire to make this woman truly his.
That damned animal inside him chortled tauntingly as if saying I told you so.
“Are you done?” she asked, her tone irritated.
One hand planted on her cocked hip, he couldn’t help but trace the curves of her body with his gaze, his mind crying out how unfair it was that she could disarm him so just by standing there.
“Um, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Listen, I just got off a long shift.” His throat went dry at the lie, but then he reminded himself that long was a relative term. “I’m famished. How about we go for a meal somewhere first?”
“You’re hungry at a time like this? It’ll take two seconds for you to sign.” She waved the papers in his face. “I’ve been driving almost twelve hours, and all I wanna do is crash in my crappy motel room so I can drive back in the morning. I’m already missing a day of work.”
He pushed the feelings of guilt aside and pressed on. “So what’s another hour or two then? You’re probably staying somewhere in town and you have to drive back down anyway. We can stop on Main Street or the nearest restaurant to your motel and sit down and have a chat.”
Her plump lips pulled back into a thin line. “Chat? What do we have to chat about?”
God, she was feisty. And he found he liked it. His mate wasn’t a pushover. “You don’t expect me to sign those papers without reading them, do you? And take the word of a stranger that they’re what she says they are? Would you just sign a contract without reading it?”
“Apparently we both did,” she snapped back, but then her shoulders sank. “I’m sorry. I’m just stressed out.”
The vulnerability that passed over her face made his heart ache. She looked like she bore the weight of the world on her shoulders. He longed to reach out and comfort her, but clenched and unclenched his fingers instead. “I’m sorry for making this difficult. But I just need a couple minutes to sit down and read the papers. I should make my own copies, right? Why don’t I take pictures and send them to my dad so he could look it over?”
“Your dad?”
“Yeah, he’s a lawyer,” he said. “Retired now, but he’ll at least give me some advice. I’ll call him on the drive over.”
“I guess that’s okay,” she said. “I’m staying at the Blackstone Pines Motel.”
“There’s a place called Full Moon Diner not far from there. If we take Seventy-Five from the turnoff, we’ll pass right by it. C’mon, the least I can do is buy you a meal after you drove all the way here.”
There was hesitation in her face before she nodded. “All right.” She handed him the envelope. “Send it to your father so he can read it while we’re driving. My car’s in the parking lot outside.”
“Okay, let’s go.” Instinctively, he put a hand on her lower back to lead her toward the exit. Though she froze for a second, she didn’t shrug it off and allowed him to walk her toward the double doors. “We should—”
A bright flash blinded him, sending his instincts off. His grizzly didn’t like that, and it let its displeasure known with a deep roar rattling from its chest. Meanwhile, he tucked Sarah closer to him, his hand moving up to her shoulder.
“Daniel!” someone called. Various phones, recorders, and cameras were shoved in his face. “Daniel, are you going to put out a statement about how you saved Vice President Baker?”
“What’s going on?” Sarah asked as she steadied herself against him.
“Sorry, baby doll,” he said through gritted teeth. “I swear these sharks won’t leave me alone.”
“Daniel, is it true they’re inviting you to the White House?”
“Are you getting a medal, Daniel?”
“What can you say about the rumors that the assassination—”
“Daniel, who’s this lady with you?”
His protective instinct flared. “Guys, can you leave us alone, please? I told you, no comment.”
“She’s hot,” one of the male reporters said with a gleam in his eyes that Daniel did not care for. “Sister? Cousin?”
“Kissing cousins?” someone offered that made the crowd laugh.
“Miss, what’s your name?” The male reporter asked, inching closer to Sarah. “And what’s your relationship with America’s newest hero?”
“I—”
When Sarah didn’t continue her answer and snapped her mouth shut, the reporter shoved his camera closer to her face. “C’mon, sweetheart, give us a pretty smile and tell us—”
Daniel’s anger flared when he sensed Sarah’s discomfort. “Stay away from my wife!” he roared, pushing the nosy reporter away as pure possessive fury filled him.
Silence filled the air for a few seconds, but it took Daniel less time than that to realize he’d screwed up.
“What the hell?” Sarah hissed. “Why did you—”
“Wife?” another reported said. “You’re married?”
“That didn’t come up in my research.”
“When was the wedding?”
“Uh …” Daniel’s brain scrambled. “I—”
“What the hell is going on here?” a booming voice behind them shouted. “May I remind you this is private property? The Blackstone Rangers is not a government agency, and the mountains are
