The Bronco stopped suddenly, the tires screeching against the pavement. She was glad she’d slipped on the safety belt, or she might have flown through the window. “What does that mean?”
She shouldn’t have mentioned it. And why not? It wasn’t like he hadn’t made his displeasure of her services plain. She turned in her seat to look him in the eye. He was so gorgeous it hurt. She wondered what had happened to Zane. She’d asked the second day he’d worked there, but he’d refused to answer. She hadn’t brought it up again, but she thought of Zane often. She wondered if Zane would be as disappointed to see her again as Nate had been.
“It means I’ll be turning in my notice soon.” She’d promised Stefan she would stay for a while. A month seemed long enough. She’d give him two weeks to find someone else. It was time to move on. She just wasn’t sure where she was moving to.
“Why?” He asked the question softly, his eyes on her.
She softened slightly. “You know why. You’re not happy with me. I’ll find something new, and you can find an assistant you trust.”
She wondered if he wouldn’t give Laura Niles a call. Laura ran the cash register at the Stop ’n’ Shop, but Callie had heard talk of her working for the FBI before she came to Bliss. Maybe Nate would ask to try out the tall blonde. She was willowy with light blue eyes. Perhaps that was Nate’s type. Hell, Laura was pretty much every man’s type. There wasn’t much of a call for plump brunettes, no matter how comfy they were in their own skin.
“I trust you.”
She laughed but was well aware nothing about this mess was funny. “You can’t stand me, Sheriff. I’m not an idiot. You don’t want me around. I do get why Stef thought this was a good idea. I’ll be honest, I don’t understand why it isn’t working. We’re adults. We should be able to get along, but we don’t. So I’ll move on. I promise to make the transition as easy as possible.”
He swallowed before he opened his mouth to talk. “I don’t want a transition. I do want you around. I was just surprised to see you again.” He turned his attention back to the road and started driving toward Mel’s. “I’ll settle down. I need a little time. That’s all.”
It was the first opening she’d had since he came to town. It bugged her, his obvious displeasure at seeing her again. It didn’t make sense to her. It had been the best weekend of her life. She had no illusions that he felt the same way, but she had thought he’d enjoyed himself. “Why were you so angry to see me?”
“I wasn’t angry.”
He was going to be difficult. She wasn’t surprised. She decided to push it. She was leaving anyway. If he got really pissed, maybe he would fire her, and she wouldn’t have an excuse to hang around anymore. “You sure were. I don’t understand. I didn’t make a nuisance of myself. I didn’t call you or anything.”
Not that she could have. They hadn’t left a number. Only a note. Have a good life. It hadn’t been that great so far.
She watched as his hands tightened on the steering wheel. His eyes stared ahead, but she knew how uncomfortable this whole conversation was making him. If he’d been Zane, he would have turned to her by now and told her to stop asking him so many damn questions. But this was Nate, and he’d try to smooth things over. It was funny. She’d spent two days with them a long time ago, but she felt like she knew them so well.
It was an illusion.
His voice was soft now. “Callie, I wasn’t mad. I was surprised, that’s all. I don’t want you to leave. Where are you going to work? Logan is right about the diner.”
She hadn’t exactly figured that out yet, but she knew she had to make a change. Since her mom died the year before, she’d been in a bit of a fog. Five years of taking care of her had left Callie a bit dazed. She loved that her mother had managed to last so long before the cancer had come back and ravaged her body, but the long-term care had taken its toll. Her life had been on hold, but it was time to move forward. She owed it to her mom and herself. “Well, I was thinking about moving to Denver. I talked to Marie the other day. She knows how to sell property. I thought I’d put my cabin up for sale. There are plenty of people who would probably like to use it as a vacation property. I’ve got a nice view of the river.”
Marie had been really upset at the thought of her moving. She and Teeny, her life partner, ran the general store and had known Callie all of her life. It hurt Callie’s heart to think of leaving Bliss, but there was nothing for her here. She would never get married if she stayed. She would be surrounded by friends, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted what Max and Rye had found with Rachel. She wanted a family.
The Bronco turned up the steep road that led to Mel’s cabin. Nate was careful on the mountain passes, driving like a man who wasn’t used to them. If only he was as careful with the people around him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re a small-town girl. The big city would eat you up.”
She smiled at the thought. “At least somebody would.”
It had been so long since she had sex she couldn’t remember what it felt like.
Nate stopped the car again. “Are you telling me you’re leaving your home because you want to get laid?”
His voice held a hint of outrage, and Callie nearly laughed at the prim set of his mouth.
“Well, I’ve heard worse reasons.” She didn’t have to justify herself to Sheriff Wright, but she found it almost impossible not to explain. “There’s no one for me here in Bliss. Unless I want to sleep with Logan, I’m pretty much on my own. And I really don’t want to sleep with Logan, though he’s tried.” It had been sweet, but she’d had to turn him down.
“He did what?” Nate threw the car into park and was reaching for the radio.
She swatted his hand away. “What is your problem?”
“What’s my problem? How about the fact that my deputy is hitting on my…secretary? It’s wrong. It’s setting us all up for a lawsuit.” He reached for the radio again. Again she slapped his hand aside. He sat up and started the car moving again. “You’re right. I shouldn’t warn him that I fully intend to kick his ass. It might send him running.”
She could see Mel’s cabin in the distance. If she was leaving, she needed to use the time she had with Nate to try to get him to see reason. “You want some advice?”
“No.”
“Well, you’re getting it.” She might as well go out with a bang. “Stop being such a jerk. You’re getting a worse reputation than Max. If you don’t watch it, these people will vote you out of office next year.”
He snorted. “I’d like to see them try. Who are they going to elect? Logan? That boy can’t get his head out of a comic book long enough to put his name on the ballot.”
“Well, Nell said she might run.” It was exactly what Bliss needed, a pacifist sheriff.
Nate threw his head back and laughed. It was the first genuine laugh she’d heard out of him since he’d walked into town. It lit his face and made her wonder what happened to the sweet, funny man who’d taken her virginity with such care.
“Losing an election to Nell would be like losing to a Disney princess. I swear, I expect small woodland creatures to follow that one around. And she wouldn’t wear the uniform.”
Callie smiled. The idea really was funny. “She wouldn’t. Polyester isn’t natural, and the shoes don’t fit with the vegan lifestyle. But, seriously, Nate, if you don’t watch it, they could run a rubber duck against you and that duck would win.”
Nate turned up the long drive, the car tilting back as the four-wheel drive took over. “Good luck with the duck, then, baby.” He stopped as though startled he’d used the term of endearment. “Sorry. I’ll try to do the job to the best of my ability. But I don’t think a lot of the people around here will appreciate it.”
They were quiet the rest of the drive. She forced herself to turn away from the sheriff. He was too lovely, too remote. What had happened to him? Which man was the real Nate Wright? The playful, sweet lover she’d known years ago, or the hard, distant lawman
she’d had in her life for the past two weeks.
She’d asked Stefan, and all she could get out of him was that Nate had worked with the federal government, his last job had gone sideways, and now he wanted a quieter job. You didn’t get much quieter on the law enforcement front than Bliss. Of course, there were other things to consider.
“I got proof now.” Mel jogged down from his one-bedroom cabin, his eyes darting around, trying not to miss a thing. He held a shotgun in his hand.
Nate’s hand was immediately on the Colt in his hip holster as he got out of the Bronco and faced Mel. “You set that down now.”
Mel stopped in his tracks. He was a tall, angular man. Deep into his fifties, Mel still had a strange innocence about him even as he held a shotgun. “Set what down?”
“The gun that you better not point this direction,” Nate replied.
She glared his way. “You’re going to get someone shot one of these days. And no, I’m not talking about Mel.”
She walked up the trail and placed herself solidly between Mel and the sheriff.
“Goddamn it, Callie Sheppard, you get your ass back here. That man has a gun.” Nate’s bark cut through the peaceful afternoon with all the grace of a hacksaw. His face was red, and every muscle was at angry attention.
Callie sighed. Stef had been right to ask her to stay on. He’d simply been wrong about the timing. Nate hadn’t integrated in two weeks, and she was beginning to doubt he would ever feel comfortable. “Everyone has a gun here, Nate. Except Nell and Henry.”
“I told them they should, but they insist that the aliens are peaceful,” Mel said, looking over her shoulder. “I promised to protect them when the invasion starts. I think I found a camp for the first wave. It’s up here, Callie.” He stared back at Nate and lowered his voice. “I don’t trust that one. I think he might be one of them. Why did Rye have to quit?”
Because Rye wanted to be home doing what he loved. She didn’t blame him, but sometimes she wished he hadn’t quit, either. It left her in the unenviable position of protecting the town from the sheriff and vice versa. She turned back to Mel, who was fully dressed for war in his fatigues. It was always best to take Mel as seriously as possible. It settled his mind if he thought someone was working on the problem. “Why don’t you show me this encampment?”
Nate was frowning fiercely as Callie turned and started to follow Mel. His long legs ate up the distance between them, and his hand was on her arm before she knew what was happening.
He spun her around on the small dirt trail. She had to put a hand on his chest to steady herself.
He growled at her, as fierce as any bear in the mountains. “You ever do that again and I swear I’ll put you over my knee and spank you. And I won’t care who’s looking.”
Callie could see it. She would be naked, the air cool on her cheeks. His cock would be rock hard and pressed against her belly. He would take his time because the anticipation was part of the tease. And then, his hand would make contact. She would squeal a little, and when he was done with the spanking part, he would turn her around and she would suck that big cock of his.
“What the hell are you thinking?” Nate asked the question in a hurried, hushed tone.
Callie grinned as they walked behind Mel. Nate’s face was flushed as though he could tell what was going through her brain. When she glanced down, she realized at least one part of her fantasy had come true. The sheriff of Bliss sported an enormous erection in those khaki pants of his.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” She wasn’t about to tell him what she’d been thinking.
Nate swore behind her but followed anyway.
Chapter Five
Nate trudged down the path following in Callie’s wake. His temper was on edge. She was going to be the absolute death of him. He’d nearly had a heart attack when she put herself between him and that crazy with a shotgun. Did she think for a single second about what could happen? That gun could have gone off at any minute.
He had a sudden vision of Callie’s chest blooming with blood just like…
Nate shut that shit down. He wasn’t going to think about it. He also wasn’t going to think about the way Callie’s face had gone a little dreamy when he mentioned spanking that ass of hers. If, and it was a mighty big if, he ever got to date Callie Sheppard, he was going to treat her like a lady. He wasn’t going down that dark path. It had already cost him years of his life and had almost killed Zane. He wasn’t that man he’d become while working undercover.
Hell. He wasn’t sure who he was anymore.
“It’s right up here.” Crazy Mel was pointing to a spot past a cluster of aspens. The locals called them quakies because of the way the slender trees shook in the wind. They were all over the property he’d bought. He’d gone home yesterday to find Zane sitting among them, staring at the sky overhead. Zane didn’t talk much anymore. He seemed content to run around the woods, watch ESPN, and drink the occasional beer at the dive bar the next town over.
If he wasn’t careful, Zane would end up providing the town with more legends. He would be the crazy woodsman.
Callie started to stumble over a rock. Nate grabbed her waist and balanced her. She shouldn’t be running around the woods in leopard print heels. Her big brown eyes locked onto his, and he had to look away.
“Thanks.” She pulled away and straightened her skirt. With a brisk nod of her head, she pushed through some bushes and followed Mel.
“It looks like a campsite.”
Nate heard Callie’s calm voice as he slapped the brush away and joined them in the circle of trees and shrubbery. He shoved aside all the emotional crap that was threatening to take over his brain and went into cop mode. Every instinct in his body was on high alert. It wasn’t aliens, but Mel had found something.
“There’s plenty of legitimate campsites in the area. There are national parks all over southern Colorado.” Callie walked slowly around the small clearing.
The ground was hard, and it hadn’t rained in days, so there was very little chance of good tracks. Still, Nate would guess there were at least three people who had spent the night in this space, maybe more. The grass was dented in body-like outlines in several places. They hadn’t started a fire, but they left small clues that non-woodland creatures had visited.
The grass was disturbed, and the shrubs had broken branches. He quickly counted several cigarette stubs. It looked like this group rolled their own, and judging from the slight smell coming off one, it wasn’t merely tobacco they were smoking.
“I’m getting nothing, Mel.” Callie was pointing the Detector 4000 at the campsite. The device was humming, and a green light was blinking.
Mel scratched his head. “Really? You think it was some teens?”
She shrugged. “Guess so. Or people who didn’t want to pay to camp in the regular places.”
“Well, I shouldn’t be surprised. I should have guessed. Aliens are real health conscious, if you know what I mean,” Mel replied. “They don’t smoke much.”
Nate knelt down and used a pen to sort through the pile of butts. A few had red marks. Lipstick. He was doing a mental count when a smell hit him. His hands froze, and he turned to the left. That was where he saw it. On the ground before him, there were drops of black in the dirt, a pool of iridescent darkness. Motor oil.
He went cold at the sight.
“Mel, have you seen a bunch of motorcycles coming through recently?” He kept his voice even and calm when what he wanted to do was scream.
“Oh, sure, there was a bunch of them a couple days back.” Mel gestured toward the road. “They came through wearing all that crap they wear. Why do they wear so much leather? I would think it would get hot.”
They wore leather because it protected the skin better than anything else. They wore leather because it looked cool, and looking badass was necessary when running with the “one percenters.” Nate knew that if a biker looked weak, he didn’t last long with the Barbarians. He had the scars and the
tats to prove it.
“You get a look at their vests, Mel?” Outlaw bikers wore three-piece patches on their vests. It identified the gang they were with. Nate would know. He’d worn the Barbarian MC patch for almost four years. God help him if they had caught up to him. And God help Zane.
“I didn’t right notice, Sheriff. You see, I’m all about aliens, and these fellows were obviously human. They certainly smelled human, if you know what I mean. Those boys could use a bath.” Mel looked around. “Well, I guess I can get back to working on the bunker then. I was worried I might not have enough time.”
Nate stood, utterly frustrated. “Is there anything else you remember? How many of them were there? What kind of bikes were they riding? Did they have women with them?”
“Wow, that’s a lot of questions, Sheriff.” Mel seemed to consider the queries for a moment. “Now, as I remember it, there were a bunch of them, but not too many. They had a couple of women, but they were real tough looking. As for what they rode, well, they rode motorcycles. It was real loud, too. Hey, Callie, you think the loud motorcycles might have scared off the aliens?”
Callie opened her mouth to say something, but Nate had had enough.
“There are no aliens.” He gritted out the words as he yanked the Detector 4000 out of Callie’s hands. “This is a video game remote. They’ve been placating you for years, but I won’t do it. There’s too much serious shit going on to spend my afternoon traipsing through the woods to make you feel better.”
Mel frowned. “Well, I ain’t feeling better now.” Mel leaned over and talked behind his hand. “I think they got to the sheriff, Callie.”
“Something got to the sheriff.” She was shooting daggers his way.
Nate wasn’t taking it. He kicked at the dirt with his boot. What the hell was he doing? He was standing around with a kook when he should be…damn it. What was he going to do? Even if he could find the bikers who had spent the night here, he could write them a ticket, but that was about all. He wouldn’t be able to arrest them. If the Barbarians had come to Bliss, they would be careful to hide. They would be careful not to do anything that would put them at a disadvantage until they were ready to strike.