A Trooper to Love: Steamy Small Town Romance (Officers to Love Book 1)

by Marie Carnay

  Tabitha smiled and reached for him. All muscle and strength. Smooth skin and sex. She let her eyes wander, taking in the ripples of muscle on his stomach, the expanse of his chest, the heft of his cock, hard and ready between his legs.

  Damn. They sure knew how to grow them right in Alaska. She reached between their bodies and found his cock. Thick and firm with a smooth velvet head she couldn’t wait to taste. Jake Wilcox didn’t know it yet, but she’d fallen head over heels for him.

  Good thing she had all night.

  6

  CLOUD NINE DIDN’T begin to describe Tabitha’s mood. Was there a cloud twenty-seven? If so, she was floating on it. It had been the best week of her life. Days at the office, nights wrapped up in Jake’s arms.

  They hadn’t talked about where their relationship was going or what it meant to either of them, but she didn’t care. She’d had enough orgasms to turn her brain to mush. If Jake wanted to take it one day at a time, she could handle it.

  She pulled open the door to Mabel’s Diner and stepped inside. With an hour to go before the vet clinic opened, she had time to relax with a cup of coffee and chat with some locals. Pinetree was her home now and she needed to act like it.

  Mabel greeted her with a smile. “If it isn’t the best veterinarian this town has ever seen. How are you, dear?”

  Tabitha smiled back. She’d never get sick of Mabel’s cheery face or the smell of hot coffee and bacon. “Great. Coffee, please.”

  As she slid onto a barstool, the man sitting one seat over stuck out his hand.

  “You must be Tabitha. Jake’s mentioned you around the station. Gabe Wilcox. Nice to meet you.”

  Tabitha shook his hand with a grin. “So you’re Mabel’s son. Jake mentioned he worked with you.” Gabe looked nothing like she’d expected. One glance at Jake and you thought law enforcement. The direct stare, the buzz cut, the gym body build. It all fit.

  But Gabe? He sported a scruffy, I haven’t shaved in a week beard, a rumpled sweatshirt and jeans that had been worn so many times, the back pocket showed the imprint of his wallet. Not the typical policeman style.

  Mabel appeared with the coffee pot and a clean mug. She set it in front of Tabitha and poured a steaming cup. “Can I get you some breakfast today?”

  Tabitha smiled. “Eggs and toast would be great. I’m starving.”

  Mabel nodded and walked back to the kitchen. A tasty breakfast, a chat with Mabel, and it’d be another great start to the day. With no patients until noon, Tabitha could relax and take it easy. Maybe she’d go for a walk through town and learn her way around.

  Gabe interrupted her thoughts. “So you and Jake have hit it off, huh?”

  Her cheeks heated. “I think so.”

  “Huh.” Gabe sipped at his coffee with furrowed brows. “I guess everyone can change.”

  Tabitha frowned. He had to be the fifth person in the last few days to say basically the same thing. She turned on her stool to face him. “Why is everyone so shocked we’re together? First his sister got on me about not breaking his heart, now you’re acting like us dating is impossible.”

  “Jake’s not the dating type, that’s all.”

  “Why not? He’s a good looking guy. He’s nice. Funny.” She palmed her hip. “What don’t I know?”

  Gabe scratched at his stubble. “It’s not my place.”

  Great. Tabitha swigged down a mouthful of coffee and set the cup on the counter with a thud. Coffee splashed over the rim but she ignored it. “This is ridiculous. You’re his friend. You can’t make comments like that and then tell me it’s not your place to say anything. That’s not fair.”

  He winced. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have said anything. Forget I did.”

  He turned back to his coffee and Tabitha’s mouth fell open. No way. When it had been a random pet owner in her clinic making a comment, she blew it off. The grocery store clerk? Fine. But a trooper who worked with Jake on a daily basis? No, sir.

  She opened her mouth to let him have it when Mabel appeared with a rag. She wiped up the coffee spill and refilled the cup. “So what’s my son said to ruffle your feathers this morning?”

  Gabe shot her a warning look. “Mom.”

  “Don’t you Mom, me,” Mabel tsk’ed him. “Tabitha’s been nothing but sweet since she got here. I go to the kitchen and give Henry her order, come back, and she’s looking at you like she wants to stab you with your own fork.”

  Tabitha held up her hands. “I wouldn’t stab him. At least not very hard.”

  Gabe’s mom turned to her with a smile. “I knew I liked you. So talk. What’s going on?”

  Tabitha glanced at Gabe, but he hunched over his coffee and refused to look her way. She shrugged it off. “It’s probably nothing. Everyone’s just so shocked Jake and I are…well, whatever we are. Dating, I guess. Is there something I should know?”

  Mabel pressed her lips together. “Did he tell you about April?”

  April…Tabitha searched her memory until it clicked. “His sister mentioned her name. Who is she?”

  Gabe interrupted. “Jake’s ex.”

  “What happened?”

  “She left him a month after their wedding.”

  What? That was worse than Will. “Why?”

  Gabe exhaled and swiveled toward Tabitha on his stool. “She couldn’t handle his job. Said she hated not knowing whether he’d come home that night or not. When they got married, he was in the middle of a huge case. He’d been profiling the hunters in the area and was about to set up a sting to put some of them away.”

  “What were they doing?”

  “Everything. Hunting on private land and in the preserve north of here. Killing animals as bait to lure grizzlies into populated areas to make hunting easier. Leaving carcasses to rot and only taking the trophy portion.”

  “I take it all of that’s illegal?”

  Gabe thumped the table. “You’re damn right it is. People in Alaska rely on big game for survival. A single moose can feed a family for a year. But if trophy hunters come in and kill the population, there won’t be enough left for the people who hunt to survive.”

  Tabitha nodded. From what she’d seen over the last few weeks, a lot of the local residents depended on the land for their livelihood. If tourists ruined hunting, Pinetree would suffer. People Jake and Gabe and Mabel cared about.

  “I don’t understand. Why would April have a problem with Jake doing his job? Hasn’t he always been a trooper?”

  Gabe glanced up at his mom.

  She nodded. “He has, but April was his high school sweetheart. After all his mom went through with his father, I guess she thought he’d grow out of it. That he’d change his mind and pick something less dangerous.”

  Tabitha’s head was swimming. He’d married his high school sweetheart? And hadn’t dated since? No wonder he was gun shy about shacking up with her. She rubbed her temples. Maybe she should have asked Jake about all of it. But hearing it from someone else gave her time to think. Process.

  She perked her head up. “What happened with his dad?”

  Gabe stiffened beside her, but his mom ignored it. “He was in a boating accident out on one of the rivers. Almost died. He was life-flighted to Anchorage, was in surgery for…what? Ten hours? They saved him, but he lost a leg.”

  Gabe nodded. “He took early retirement.”

  Wow. When Jake mentioned his dad, he’d left all of that out. Why? She shook her head. “But April had to know all about that.”

  Gabe shrugged. “I guess she thought it would shake some sense into Jake.”

  “It didn’t?”

  “Not according to her. They got married while his dad was recovering. He was back out in the field a week later.” Gabe drained his cup. “If she hadn’t left when she did, we’d have caught the bastards.”

  Tabitha was overwhelmed. She barely noticed Gabe stand up.

  He gave Tabitha a tight smile. “Gotta get to work. Thanks for breakfast, Mom.”

  “A
nytime, hon.”

  Tabitha watched Gabe walk out the door before turning back to his mom. “You have to tell me more. Please.”

  The nerve of those jerks. Tabitha paced outside of Mabel’s Diner trying in vain to calm down. She hadn’t been so mad in months. How could someone be so short sighted?

  She’d spent the last hour listening to Mabel talk about the hunters in the area. The locals who respected the animals and the land were one thing. The tourists from the lower forty-eight who only cared about what they could hang on their wall and brag about to their friends were another.

  It turned her stomach. She’d spent her entire career caring for animals. Some came to her hurt and wounded. In Seattle, it hadn’t been gunshot wounds and baby moose, but she’d seen her fair share of cruelty cases. This wasn’t any different.

  She glanced up at the signs plastered all over Dwayne Richards’ shop. Photos of trophy kills and expeditions out on the water. Pompous assholes from New York and Los Angeles holding up antlers and enormous fish. Tabitha fumed.

  She could understand making money running guided hunts and fishing trips. But breaking the law and disregarding the rules? Not a chance. When Mabel told her Jake had been so close to catching Dwayne but backed out when April told him it was over, she’d almost fallen off her stool.

  Fast forward five years and the man was still guiding tours and running hunts. Mabel said he’d cleaned up his act for a while, but that with the increases in illegal dumps lately, Gabe thought he was back to his old tricks.

  Tabitha thought about the moose Jake had rescued. If he hadn’t brought it to her, the poor little thing would have died on the spot. But it meant letting the hunters go. She clenched her fist. She might not be a Wildlife Trooper, but a vet was like a medical examiner. Sort-of.

  If there were illegal kills, she could examine the carcasses and find the bullets. She’d watched enough crime TV and done enough autopsies on all sorts of animals. She could help the troopers nail Dwayne’s ass to the wall.

  It was about time someone in town stood up to him. She tightened her ponytail and marched across the street. He wanted to be a jerk to her in the middle of Mabel’s? She could dish it right back.

  Tabitha yanked the door open and stepped inside. Whoa. That’s a lot of camouflage. A gaggle of men outfitted in more fake tree print than Tabitha had ever seen crowded in the tiny room. Each one had a rifle and a hungry expression that made her stomach flip.

  “I’m looking for Dwayne.”

  The crowd of mossy oak parted and he emerged. “Dr. Boone, did you lose your way? Last time I checked the trooper station’s that way.” He jerked his thumb toward the road and snickers erupted behind him.

  “I know exactly where I am, thank you.”

  He stood a bit taller. “Then what can I do for you?”

  “You could start by stopping all of your illegal activities.”

  A hush fell over the assembled group.

  “Excuse me?”

  Tabitha crossed her arms. “You heard me. I know all about how you run these hunting expeditions. One of these days you won’t be so lucky. A trooper will catch you.”

  “You can’t prove anything.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m the closest thing to a medical examiner in this town. Anytime there’s a kill left to rot out in the wilderness, I’ll be there. It might take a while, but I’ll find enough evidence to figure out who’s responsible. My bet’s on you.”

  Dwayne rolled his eyes. “Have you ever fired a rifle, city girl? Lead ammunition breaks into hundreds of pieces when it hits an animal. You’ll never pin a single kill on me or any of my hunting parties.”

  Damn it. No way in hell was Tabitha backing down. Not when he’d looked at her like she was a trifle to brush aside. She glanced up at the crowd. “Are you all from the lower forty-eight? I bet you paid big money to come out here and let Dwayne parade you around the wilderness. I’m from Seattle. I know it looks like there’s miles and miles of free land here and enough big game to satisfy the whole world, but there’s not.”

  A few of the hunters stiffened in the crowd.

  “Every time you go out there and hunt for a trophy, you’re causing problems. Can’t you see that?”

  “All I see is a woman who needs to mind her own business.”

  “Go back to Seattle and leave the moose and bears to us!”

  Murmurs echoed through the crowd. She hadn’t gotten through to them at all.

  Dwayne fixed a smug smile on his face. “Seems like you aren’t wanted here, Dr. Boone. Maybe you should pack up and go back to Seattle where you belong.”

  She threw up her hands. “This isn’t about some big city vet coming in and making a stink. Don’t you get it? You’re breaking the law.”

  “You think those idiots sitting at their desks in Anchorage know what’s best for us out here? The politicians aren’t looking out for places like Pinetree. They’re only interested in themselves.”

  “That doesn’t make it right.”

  Dwayne snorted. “Helps, though, don’t it?”

  Tabitha shook her head. This was getting her nowhere. If Dwayne didn’t want to listen to reason, then she’d have to prove it to him that he wasn’t above the law. She didn’t know how she could help Jake and Gabe and the other troopers put him away, but she’d figure it out.

  Jake was afraid she’d bolt when she found out how dangerous his job was? She’d show him how unafraid she was by helping him stop Dwayne. One look at his nasty, sneering face and she knew he was a liar. A lawbreaker.

  She exhaled in a huff and turned to leave.

  “Oh, Dr. Boone. I heard you saved some poor baby moose Officer Travers brought your way.”

  Tabitha paused. “I did, yes.”

  “Tell me, were you able to recover the bullet?”

  She frowned. “No. It was a through and through.”

  Dwayne smiled. “Too bad. I’m sure Officer Travers would have loved to collect that as evidence. Better luck next time.”

  A few of the hunters snorted in laughter and Tabitha fought the urge to smack the smirk off Dwayne’s face. He didn’t claim responsibility for the baby moose, but he might as well have. Bastard. Tabitha stomped to the door without another word.

  A fresh blast of cool air hit her face as she walked outside and she sucked in a giant breath. Jake would probably be furious with her for riling them up. But those jerks deserved it. She didn’t mind hunting. For some, it was necessary and for others it was a sport. Both were fine by her.

  What stuck in her craw was the reckless disregard for the law and for the other residents of the town. Dwayne was worse than the biggest jerks back in Seattle. No way was she going to step aside and let him get away with it.

  7

  “YOU NEED TO slow down and think about what you’re getting into. You don’t know anything about this woman.”

  “I know enough.”

  Wendy rolled her eyes and pulled a coffee cake out of the oven. “Don’t be ridiculous. You dated April for what? Almost ten years and she left you a month into your marriage. You’ve known Tabitha for a few weeks.”

  “It’s not the same.” Jake knew his sister meant well. Inviting him over for coffee cake and a little chat was her way of letting him know she cared. But this time, her concerns were misguided. “She’s a good woman, Wendy.”

  “April was too. What if you put yourself out there and she leaves? What will you do then?”

  “She won’t.”

  “You sound so certain.”

  “That’s because it’s the truth.” Jake was over this conversation. Wendy didn’t have to like his new girlfriend but she needed to stop questioning his decision. “I thought you’d be thrilled. You’ve been telling me to date for years.”

  Wendy plated the coffee cake and handed him a thick, steaming slice. “I meant someone in town. Someone we know. Not a stranger who breezes in with her high heels and fancy clothes. She’s not from here, Jake. You can’t trust h
er.”

  He shoved a bite of the cake in his mouth to keep from saying something he’d regret. It might burn his tongue, but at least his mouth would stay shut. Wendy pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail and poured herself a cup of coffee.

  “Where is all of this coming from? I thought she helped you with Dixie.”

  Wendy glanced at the cage and the furry little critter inside. “She did. But that doesn’t mean I think she’s right for you.” She frowned and sipped her coffee. Whenever his sister clammed up, it meant there was more to the story.

  “Out with it. What aren’t you saying?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “Not going to work with me, Gwendolyn. Spit it out.”

  She wrinkled her nose at the use of her full name. “There’s been talk.”

  “About what? Me and Tabitha?”

  “No. About the big city vet blowing into town and making changes. People say she’s not cut out for a little country town like this. They say she should go back to Seattle and leave us alone.”

  Jake squeezed his mug so hard it threatened to break. “Who’s saying these things?”

  Wendy shrugged. “I heard some whispers at the store, Mabel’s. Some of the hunters were spouting the worst of it.”

  Jake snorted. “Who gives a shit what they think? It’s probably Dwayne’s crew bitching because they don’t have a vet who will look the other way. How many hunting dogs did they bring old man Randall to patch up? I bet they won’t even try that with Tabitha.”

  “And that’s better? At least with Dr. Randall those dogs got some medical attention.”

  “Yeah, and those jerks got a pat on the back and a look the other way. It’s about time someone was on our side around here.”

  Wendy looked out the window. “It’s not about picking sides, Jake. It’s about you and your heart.”

  “She’s not going to cut and run because of petty town gossip.”