“Nope.”
She stepped away, but he reached out, pulling her close.
“Why does it bother you that I visited my brothers?” he asked softly, brushing a curl off her forehead.
She went very still.
“That’s not what I heard you do when you go to Denver, Mack. And I’m…” she tried to pull out of his arms, but he tightened his grip on her hips.
“What do you think I do when I go into the city?”
She huffed and shifted from one foot to another. “Word is that you hit the bars and pick up a woman. When you come back to town, you’re all relaxed and happy again.”
He searched her features carefully. “And you don’t like that?”
She pushed him away, putting several feet between them. “Mack! You kissed me in the woods a few days ago! You kissed me and then walked away as if that kiss meant nothing at all!”
He moved closer. “Are you implying that the kiss meant something to you?” he asked gently.
Eve shrugged and his eyes moved lower, watching the dark shadow between her breasts. An enticing shadow.
“It doesn’t matter. It didn’t mean anything to you. And I don’t date players.”
“Is that what we’re doing? Are we dating?”
“No!” she gasped. “It was one kiss! That’s it! And it meant nothing.”
He moved closer, taking her hand when she tried to slide sideways to avoid him. “More than one kiss. And they all meant something to me, Eve,” he told her softly.
She took a breath to argue with him, but let it out again, frowning up into his. “It did?” she asked, then shook her head. “Never mind. You’re a player. You do this to women all the time!”
“Do what?” he asked, kissing her fingers.
“You’re gorgeous and sexy. You play women and make us think that there’s something more serious going on when in reality, we’re just a game to you. Women are conquests.”
His smile was slow and sexy, making her stomach muscles tighten with awareness.
“You think I’m sexy?” he purred, leaning forward.
She rolled her eyes. “Out of everything I just said, that’s what you focus on?” Jerking her hand out of his grip, she stepped backwards. “I need to lock up and I’m sure that you have other things to…”
Before she could finish her sentence, his phone chirped, indicating that he had a message. From the sound of the persistent chirping, Eve suspected that it was urgent.
Mack lifted his cell phone to his ear, watching Eve the whole time. “Yeah?”
But as soon as the other person started talking, his attention shifted. “Say again?”
The dispatcher repeated the information and Mack still didn’t understand. “I’m sorry, you’re going to have to repeat that,” but he was moving out the door. “Hold on,” he paused and then turned around. With the cell phone pulled away for a moment, he wrapped a strong arm around Eve’s waist, pulling her in close. “We’re not finished with this conversation.” He kissed her. Another brief, unsatisfying kiss, but that was all he had time for. “More later.”
And then he hurried out the door. “Okay, one more time,” he said into the phone.
Eve stared at the door to the bar, wondering what just happened. He’d kissed her, promised more conversation and then…what in the world had that phone call been about?
Whatever it was, Eve told herself as she walked over to the door to lock it, “None of my business.” Turning off the lights, she moved around the bar, making sure everything was shut off and cleaned up, ready for business the following day.
It felt like a long walk up the stairs. But as she pulled a satin nightshirt on and padded barefoot into the bathroom to brush her teeth, she sent a prayer asking God to take care of whatever Mack had to rush out to take care of.
Chapter 8
“What the hell?”
Ryan shook his head back and forth. “No clue, my friend. Absolutely no clue.”
They stood away from the mountain lion that was jumping from one boulder to another, back and forth, stopping to roar a bit. Every few minutes, he’d stand back on his hind legs and roar, then do his rounds again. The big guy didn’t seem to be aware of the humans that were standing at a safe distance, watching and wondering.
Mack took the tranquilizer rifle from the back of his truck and loaded a heavy-duty tranquilizer dart. “Better take him to Annie’s,” he decided, referring to the vet in the next town. “She’ll be able to tell us what’s gotten into him.”
“He’s bigger than normal, isn’t he?”
Mack nodded, lifting the gun to aim. “Bigger and a bit crazier. I don’t recognize him either. He’s not one of our regulars.”
“He’s new to our area,” Ryan confirmed, stepping back and going silent while Mack took aim. “Good shot,” he said after Mack had fired the tranquilizer into the back hind leg of the mountain lion.
Mack lowered the rifle and waited. Thankfully, it was a weekday and it was late in the evening, so most people were already in bed, or at least, settled in for the night. Otherwise, the tourists who didn’t understand the ferocity of a mountain lion might try to get close to the animal and either harm themselves or the big cat. Very few tourists understood how far a mountain lion could leap.
Slowly….slowly…the big cat stopped pacing. After a few more moments, the lion dropped to the ground as if taking a sudden nap. “And he’s down,” Ryan said.
Mack agreed and turned to his deputy. “Keep everyone back.”
Louis immediately nodded and turned away from the scene unfolding in the woods and faced the curious onlookers.
Ryan deftly put a soft muzzle over the cat’s head and “mittens” on his paws to keep him from scratching if he woke up. Only then did they wrap the cat up in a sturdy blanket, then buckle some straps to keep the blanket in place, making sure that he could breathe and see. This would protect the cat if he woke up during transport.
Mack stepped up next to him, both men looking down at the lion now gently cocooned in the belted blanket. “You gonna bring him down to your truck?” Ryan asked, stepping back with a smirk.
Mack smirked at his friend. “Aren’t you the ranger here?”
“Yeah, but this guy is in your town.”
Mack looked around. “Only by about two feet!” he pointed out. “If he was right there,” he pointed to the rocky path leading into the woods, “he’d be in your area.”
Ryan picked up Mack’s rifle, pointing it safely over his shoulder into the air. “Exactly. He’s all yours.”
Mack sighed with resignation. “Fine. But…” he hefted the big guy carefully over his shoulder. “You’re going to pay for this. And payback is a bitch.”
Ryan chuckled as he followed Mack down the trail leading back into town. “I know. And I will enjoy your attempts at payback.”
Mack might have said something else if he hadn’t had a two hundred pound mountain lion on his shoulder. So instead of wasting time replying, he walked over to his Bronco. Ryan was there with the back already open and helped him carefully lay the big cat in the back. There was a wire mesh between the trunk area and the driver/passenger area, so if the tranquilizer wore off, Mack would be safe enough. Not that he wanted to be inside the vehicle if a two hundred pound mountain lion woke up, but still…
Locking the back door, Mack turned and shook his head. “This doesn’t feel right,” he muttered to the ranger.
Ryan nodded. “I’m with you. Let’s get this fella to Annie’s. Until we know more, we don’t know what to expect or where to look. But you’re right. This is strange.”
“And strange is bad.”
They dropped the mountain lion off at the vet. Mack hauled the thankfully still-sedated animal into the clinic and left, heading back to the bar. However, he noticed that all of the lights were off. Four hours had passed since he’d left for the cougar emergency.
Shaking his head, he drove back to his cabin, wondering what Eve wore to bed.
Chapter 9
Eve washed mushrooms at a furious pace before tossing them into the bin next to her. The appetizers tonight were going to be stuffed mushrooms and they’d be delicious, but she still hadn’t figured out what to call them. And it was all his fault! Mack had rushed out of here last night and she’d worried. Especially when she’d gotten a text from Cynthia asking about the mountain lion in town.
Mountain lion? In town? Eve didn’t even want to know. And yet, she probably should know. But she couldn’t ask anyone because if she asked, then that someone would know that she was curious. And asking about Mack wasn’t a good thing. It was a bad thing. A very bad thing!
Although, if she didn’t ask, wouldn’t that seem suspicious too? How many times did a mountain lion come through town? Not often, she suspected.
Eve wasn’t worried. Not about the mountain lion or the conversation. She was fine. Perfectly fine! And she’d call the stuffed mushrooms, mountain lion tracks. Although, what did a mountain lion’s paws look like? They were a cat, she knew that much. A big cat. Probably a really big cat!
What about Mountain Lion drool?
No, that was too gross.
What about…
“Are you trying to clean the mushrooms or punish them?” a deep voice asked.
Eve spun around, startled, to discover Mack in her kitchen doorway. Well, Cynthia’s kitchen. But her kitchen for the moment.
He literally filled the space with his broad shoulders, his sheriff’s hat just brushing the top of the doorframe. He must have sensed that there wasn’t a whole lot more space left because he took the hat and off tossed it onto the counter.
“We were interrupted last night. You were saying something about me being gorgeous and sexy.”
Eve frowned, annoyed that he remembered. And that he was bringing it up again. “Um…well, about that. I was tired last night and not careful about what I was saying. I may have exaggerated.”
“Did you?” he asked, wrapping his hands around her lush hips. “In the fresh light of the morning sunshine, do you find me sexy and gorgeous?”
Eve wasn’t sure what to say. She was still exhausted, not having slept much last night. And yes, he was still sexy. And gorgeous.
“What happened with the mountain lion last night?” she asked, changing the subject.
His soft chuckle told her that she hadn’t fooled him even a little. Darn it!
“No idea. The vet in Aton, the next town over, examined him last night.”
She tilted her head, fascinated. “How does one examine a mountain lion? Aren’t they predators?”
“Yes. Good ones, actually.”
“And you dropped off a massive predator to a place that probably had several dozen cats and dogs and other creatures?”
Mack thought for a moment, then nodded. “I see your point. But Annie’s good. She will know how to keep the guy sedated. I’m heading over there now.”
She stared up at him for a long moment, then shook her head. “No, you’re standing in my kitchen, bothering me.”
He chuckled and she couldn’t stop the shiver as the sound made her whole body ache.
“You mentioned that you don’t like it when I go to Denver.”
Oh. Right. His jaunts to visit other lady-friends. Damn it!
Pulling out of his arms and turning away, she busied herself with the mushrooms. “I don’t care,” she asserted, but wasn’t able to look him in the eye so she focused on cleaning mushrooms. “You can go to Denver whenever you want. It isn’t anything to me. None of my business.” At least, that’s how she wished she felt.
“Last weekend, I went to visit with my brothers. I didn’t pick up anybody and I haven’t for a long time.”
She froze in the process of grabbing more mushrooms. His words echoed through her mind over and over again. A long silence followed. Eve wasn’t sure what to think or what to say. “How long?” she blurted out, then wanted to bite her tongue. Shrugging, she went back to washing the stupid mushrooms. “I mean, like I said, it’s none of my business.”
He lifted a hand, one finger leaving a trail of fire down her neck. “A long time, Eve.”
And then he was gone. She wasn’t sure what to think. She liked that he hadn’t gone to another woman. But during their hike, he’d kissed her. And she’d definitely kissed him back. Why had he seemed so angry after that?
She didn’t know and she didn’t have time to figure it out. Turning around, she faced the huge pile of mushrooms. “I should have done a dip and chips instead!”
Mack drove to Annie’s clinic, but his mind lingered at Eve’s place. She’d looked so hurt until he’d said something about not having been with a woman in a long time. Had she been jealous? He wanted to think so, but he didn’t know Eve well enough to be sure. It certainly felt nice to think she’d been jealous of the thought of him with another woman. Hell, he was jealous every time a man approached her in the bar. But that was different and he damn well knew it.
Stepping into the clinic, Mack looked around. There were already several people waiting to see Annie, several pet owners hovering around their cats, cringing in their carriers or petting dogs on a leash right at their feet, drooling as they watched the cringing felines.
“Hi Sheriff!” the receptionist smiled in greeting. “Are you here about our famous resident?”
“Sure am, Jenny. Is Annie around? Does she have a moment to talk?”
Jenny nodded. “Absolutely. She said to send you back as soon as you arrived. She has some interesting information, apparently.”
Mack tipped his hat and headed through the swinging door to the examination rooms. Jenny must have called Annie to warn her that Mack was here, because the vet stepped out of one of the rooms and smiled.
“Jenny says you have something interesting to tell me.”
“Strange news,” the vet corrected, wiping her hands with a paper towel before tossing it into a trash bin. “And I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
Annie led him into the back where the mountain lion was still hooked up to an IV but had been rolled into a cell like area. That was much safer, Mack thought. If the huge kitty woke up, he’d have lots to say about his new environment.
“Here,” Annie handed him a report. “Look at this.”
Mack stared at the report, at the graph that showed a spike. “Does this mean…?”
“Yep. Your cougar was doped up on cocaine.”
Mack muttered a curse under his breath, smacking the report onto the metal counter. “This isn’t good, Annie. Where the hell did a mountain lion get cocaine?”
She lifted her hands in the air. “No idea. And thankfully, that’s not my area of expertise.”
Mack nodded. “Okay, well, thanks for the head’s up.” Turning to the cougar, he looked at the animal. “He looks so cute when he’s asleep.”
Annie laughed. “Yeah, well, I have him on some pretty heavy drugs to keep him that way until his body burns off the drug. I will wait until you have him out of here before I decrease the sedation.”
Mack shook his head. “I’m going to make Ryan come by and pick him up. He’ll have to be released into the woods and…” an idea occurred to him and he turned back to the vet. “Hey, if this guy got…” then he stopped, shaking his head. “Drug dealers in our area,” he growled. “How the hell had this happened and why? The mountains around here are tough to navigate. Why would anyone bring drugs in here?”
Annie once again lifted her hands in the air. “You’re the brilliant guy who solves the mysteries. I treat the little guys.”
Mack nodded his thanks to the vet, then headed out to his truck. There were several pieces to the puzzle that weren’t fitting together.
Chapter 10
Eve paced outside the sheriff’s office, back and forth in front of the door.
“Just go tell him,” she muttered. But she avoided the door and strolled all the way down the handicap ramp. “It isn’t like you’re tattling on someone.” She stopped and frowned u
p at the beautiful sky. “Okay, yes, I’m tattling on someone.”
She walked to the sidewalk then back, muttering to herself. “I just don’t want to talk to him!” she exclaimed, and looked around, hoping that she was alone. It would be awful if someone had witnessed her mutterings.
Thankfully, no one was around at this time of the morning. Still, she didn’t want to run into Mack. Her feelings for the man were all confused and he kept popping in and out of the bar. She didn’t understand but…darn it, he kept kissing her! Every time he showed up, he kissed her and threw her whole world out of whack!
“Think she’s going to actually come inside?” Dan asked curiously, watching Eve through the window.
Mack glanced up from the monitor, staring out at the front door. It took another second, but sure enough, Eve walked past once again.
“I have no idea what goes through that woman’s mind.”
But he certainly hoped she’d come inside. Hell, he’d been over to her bar several times this week. Every time he had a few spare minutes, he’d go in to talk with her and always ended up doing some chore. He’d actually learned to wash dishes in that huge industrial sized washer, he thought with disgust. She’d have him cooking those crazy appetizers soon if he wasn’t careful.
Of course, he didn’t have anything against cooking. He loved it actually, and found it relaxing. But not a thousand appetizers. And not for strangers. And he sure as hell would hate cooking things like Mountain Lion Porridge or Eagle Talons. How Eve came up with all of those ridiculous names for her food was beyond him. He liked that about her, though. Come to think of it, he’d been stopping by in the mornings just so he could hear what she’d named the appetizer that day.
And damn if he didn’t stop by every evening right before closing so he could try whatever she’d cooked up. She saved him some every night. They talked quietly as the rest of the patrons left. As soon as they were alone, he’d take her into his arms and kiss her until they were both hot and bothered.
Taming Mack (Sinful Nights Book 3) Page 7