by Jaci Burton
“Maybe we can do pictures some other time,” she said, still smiling, though it was a bit more forced now. “I’m here to see Hank.”
“He’s trying to show his dad how to use the computer,” the man said with a grin. “New forms from the county, and everyone’s all thumbs trying to figure them out.”
She knew Hank wasn’t exactly a computer guru himself. She could only imagine how bad his father was if he was trying to show the man how to do something on the computer. “Thanks. Can I head back?” At the man’s nod, she slipped past the front desk and moved to the back desks where Hank and a tall, lanky man with a grizzled white beard both squinted and leaned over a computer.
“Go to the next field, Dad,” Hank murmured. “You have to fill out all the fields in red.”
The older Sharp frowned and moved the mouse a little, then clicked slowly. Then clicked very slowly again.
“No, Dad, when it says you double click, you have to click two times.”
“I did. You saw me.”
“You have to click two times fast.”
“That’s what I did.”
Hank sighed and glanced over at Luanne. “We might be a minute.”
“It’s okay,” she said, leaning over to glance at the computer screen. “Anything I can help with? It looks like a pretty simple Access database template.”
Both men turned to look at her.
“Database…template?” Hank said slowly.
“Yes,” she said, smiling. She gestured at one of the fields. “You enter in the information and I’m guessing you press this calculation button and it’ll pull in additional information from a database of some sort. Is that right?”
They continued to stare at her.
She laughed. “You don’t have to look at me like that. I was pretty good with computers in my former life.”
The elder man gestured at the computer and got out of his chair. “Be my guest.”
Luanne slid into the seat and took the scribbled notes that they handed her. Within a few minutes, she had the ticket logged into the county database, and showed them how to move around in the database itself. They nodded understanding, but she was pretty sure they’d forget as soon as they needed to enter something in again.
The older Sharp clapped a hand on her shoulder as she finished. “We should fire one of these boys and hire you here at the station.”
“Not funny, Dad,” Hank said in a low voice.
“I wasn’t being funny,” he said. “Stewart falls asleep on patrol all the time.”
“He’s seventy, dad.”
Just then, Luanne’s phone buzzed with an incoming text. She glanced at the screen and checked the message. Hi there. I got this number off of a flyer. Were you asking about a chupacabra?
Score! She pocketed the phone and smiled brightly at both men. “I don’t need a job. I have one. We ready to go, Hank?”
“Sure, give me just a second to wrap up here.”
She nodded and slipped away, pulling her phone back out to send a hasty text. She knew if Hank saw the message, he wouldn’t approve. Better not to share it with him. Instead, she headed out to the parking lot and leaned up against her car, thumbs flying over the keyboard of her phone.
Busy right now, but can I call you in a few hours? I really want to talk about the sighting.
Hank emerged a minute later, smiling down at her, and she hastily hid her phone, sliding it into her back pocket. “You’re my hero,” he said in a low voice, his hand sliding to her waist. “I might have been there for an hour trying to show my dad how to use the computer.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said in a husky voice, smoothing her hand over the tan collar of his uniform. “I’m always eager to be a help, Officer.”
A smile tugged at his mouth. “Now that doesn’t sound like the Luanne I know.”
For some reason, that hurt her feelings. He made it sound as if she was a nuisance. Worse, a menace. And she didn’t like that. So her job was a little off the rails. So what? A girl had to get paid. Luanne slipped out of his grip and opened her car door. She ignored his questioning look and sat down, closing the door and buckling her seat belt.
Before she could pull out, Hank folded his long body into the car in the passenger seat. Damn. She should have locked the door. Instead, she glared at him.
“What’d I say?”
She jammed the key into the ignition and stared out the windshield. It was still early, the sun barely shining from behind the trees in the distance. Hank had been up all night on an evening shift, but he’d wanted to spend time with her. She, on the other hand, was fully rested. So why was she so prickly?
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, reminding her.
She hated sneaking around. It made her feel like she was doing something wrong. She glanced sharply over at Hank, who was just as tall and physically attractive as could be. It was a shame he was Dudley Do-Right in the flesh and would disapprove of her job at all turns. And it made her somehow feel like she was embarrassing him. As if she were doing something wrong.
Which was stupid, really. It was a harmless, slightly off-the-wall job that just happened to bring in money.
Unless Emily was right and he was just spending time with her to keep her out of trouble. But that seemed silly. Didn’t it?
So she looked over at him. “If I’m such a pain in the ass, why are you dating me?”
He slid over, and for the first time, she wished her stupid sedan had bucket seats. His thigh pressed up against hers and there was a too-cocky grin on his mouth. “Did I hurt your feelings?”
“No one likes to be told that she’s a huge obnoxious pest, Hank Sharp.”
“You’re not a huge pest,” he told her in a soft, low voice. “You’re a pest that’s sized just right for me.”
She shoved at him. “That is not funny.”
He grabbed her hand, forcing it to remain against the center of his chest, and he grinned down at her scowl. “I was just teasing you, Luanne. You know I like you.”
“Yes, but you don’t like Jane. And Jane seems to be all that anyone remembers, so how do I know that you really do like me? What exactly is it about me that you like?”
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear—it had slipped out of her ponytail—and she shivered at the small touch. “You really want me to list it out?”
“Yup,” she said flatly.
“Well, you’re tall—” he began, and cut off with a chuckle when her glare intensified. “I’m kidding. I like a lot of things about you.”
“So many that you possibly can’t name them all, obviously.”
Hank ran a hand down his face and sighed. “Luanne, I’m not great with this sort of thing.”
“Which is ironic, because I am.”
“And that’s one of the things I like about you,” he told her quietly. “You’re fearless.”
That sounded like a compliment and not like Luanne, you are a scourge on mankind. “Go on.”
“You’re funny,” he said in a low voice, sliding a bit closer to her in the car. “You’re really smart and you know a lot about computers. You’re friendly and open to everyone. You’re always willing to try new things.” At her skeptical eyebrow lift, he grinned, his arm looping around her shoulders and tugging her close. “I might have watched a few videos of the Legend of Jane on my phone while I was on speed patrol late last night.”
She settled into his arms, feeling a little better about things and less like a leper. “Now you’re just trying to flatter me.”
He laughed. “I’m not. I promise I’m not. It’s just that…the things I like about you are the things that I wish I was more like. I wish I was smarter with computers. I wish I was fearless like you. I wish I was as outspoken and friendly and willing to be adventurous. I’m just a small-town cop who wouldn’t know how to be adventurous if it bit him in the ass. It’s not how I was raised.” He leaned in and pressed a feather-light kiss to her temple. “But it doesn’t mean that I can’
t appreciate it in you.”
Her breath caught in her throat at that faint graze of his lips against her skin. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, raising her mouth to him in a not-so-subtle gesture.
Hank’s lips grazed against hers. “Am I forgiven?” he whispered.
“You were never in trouble,” she said in a light voice, twisting so she could wrap her arms around his neck. “I just like hearing the compliments.”
“You’re pure evil, Luanne Allard.”
“You love it. You eat it up.”
“I think I just might.” Hank wrapped her hair around his big hand and tugged on her ponytail, tilting her head back, and he began to lightly feather kisses along her throat. “And I’d rather eat you up.”
A jolt of pleasure rocketed through her body at his words. They’d been dating for a week, but they’d done little more than kiss and flirt. To hear him be so brazen with a suggestion, well, it made her toes curl with anticipation. And then his tongue trailed a line from her chin to her ear, and she forgot just about everything.
A low moan rose in her throat when he took one of her earlobes between his teeth and nipped, then tongued it to take away the sting. Her fingers dug into the collar of his uniform. “My ears are really sensitive.”
“So I see,” he murmured. “I find that very interesting. Another thing I happen to like about you.” And he lightly bit down on her earlobe again.
Luanne whimpered, her hips rocking in reaction to the pulse of heat that flared once more. When he gently licked her earlobe again, she thought she’d go mad with the sensation. Of course, that was before he moved to the shell of her ear and began to trace it with the tip of his tongue. Her nipples were rock-hard in response to his touch, and she arched her back, pushing against his chest.
“Touch me, Hank. Touch me everywhere.”
His hand left her ponytail and she felt his tongue slide against her ear again just as his other hand slid under her tank top, resting on her belly.
That wasn’t good enough. Luanne moved a hand to rest over his and directed him to her breast, sighing with relief when he cupped her through her bra.
“You feel so good in my arms, Luanne,” he murmured into her ear, then sucked on her earlobe again. His thumb grazed over the tip of her breast, teasing her nipple. “Maybe you believe me when I say that I’m crazy about you.”
“I…might need more convincing.” The words gasped out of her as he pinched her nipple through the fabric, and she ruined her ballsy statement with another low moan. “Oh my god, Hank. You—”
Footsteps sounded on the pavement a few feet away. They broke apart like guilty teenagers, Hank quickly sliding over to the far side of the car just as Stewart knocked on the car window and peered down at them.
“Everything okay?”
Luanne gave him a thumbs-up, sure that her face was bright red, and hoping desperately that her nipples weren’t visible through her tank top.
He motioned for her to roll down the window, so she started the car and then jammed a finger on the button until the window went down. And then Stewart passed her a printout of a photo of her in her Jane gear. “Can you sign this for my grandkids?”
She took the Sharpie he offered her and quickly signed, handing it back to Stewart with a smile. The moment with Hank was gone, which made her sad. Now that the picture of Jane had come up, she didn’t know how he’d react. And she didn’t look over at him until Stewart was gone.
Hank’s ears were bright red. “I didn’t realize we were in front of the station house still.”
A distracted Hank was sexy. She grinned and ran a finger lightly under his collar. “You say you’re not adventurous, but you almost got to third base in front of the police station. I’d say that’s pretty adventurous.”
“Third base? Since when did third base become your breast?”
“Who said we were stopping at my breast?” She winked at him and put the car in reverse. “But I suppose you want to go fishing now, right?”
“Who the hell is thinking about fish at a time like this?”
She grinned.
* * *
They only fished for a few hours before Hank began to nod off, exhausted from his night of work. She drove him back to his house and tucked him into bed, tugging off his boots and turning off all the lights before she left. He’d tried to drag her down into bed with him for a cuddle, but she’d resisted, though it was sweet of him.
Truth was, she had too much to accomplish, the perfect time to do it was while Hank was asleep.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Thank you again, sir, for volunteering to be on camera.” Luanne wiped a stray bit of glitter out of one eye and adjusted one of her striped kneesocks, camera clutched firmly in hand. “You’ve been a great help.”
The kid—Bobby—pocketed the money she’d given him and smiled in a way that he probably thought was seductive, except for the fact that he was seventeen if he was a day. “I’m glad I can help. I’m a big fan of yours.”
“Thank you. That’s sweet.”
“I mean it. You ever need anything else done around here, you just call me. I’m happy to guest star.”
She paused, thinking. She was already all dressed up as Jane and had a willing volunteer. The sun was just now going down, and she had footage for her chupacabra episode that included a “trail” and sightings, and an in-depth interview with a kid who was clearly lying through his teeth but made for a good video segment. She could shoot a chupacabra “encounter” with her night-vision camera some other night.
But for tonight, if she had help, why not kill two birds with one stone? She checked the amount of battery life in her camera—still good. And she had the planks and rope in her car. Luanne glanced over at Bobby. “Don’t suppose you know anything about crop circles?”
“I don’t,” he said eagerly. “But I know a dude with a sorghum field just a few miles away that’s totally ready to be mowed down.”
Perfect. “Lead on, then.”
* * *
Hank was just getting out of the shower when his phone rang. He yawned and headed to the receiver, peering at the caller ID. The county sheriff’s office. Damn. What now? He picked up the phone. “This is Hank.”
“Hank? It’s me, Rick Brannan. Sorry to be bothering you.”
“It’s okay. It’s my day off.” He scratched his still-damp chest, yawning. Hell. Just the person he didn’t want to be talking to today. Rick sometimes called him to take a speed patrol shift on the highway when he was short a guy for the weekend, and Hank always covered for him. Except, tonight he didn’t want to. Tonight he wanted to see Luanne’s smiling face again. Maybe they’d go out for a late dinner—or an early breakfast. “Just woke up. You need me to take a shift or something? Because I don’t know—”
“Ain’t calling about that.”
“Oh?”
“Well, we had a weird incident tonight.”
His blood went cold. “What?”
“You ever heard of crop circles?”
He groaned. “Don’t tell me. There’s a tall woman with a pink shirt on and she’s in trouble.”
“We brought her and a boy into the station. She says she knows you.”
“She’s my girlfriend,” he said flatly. Who exactly was the kid she was with? What the hell was Luanne thinking, dragging in someone else? Damn it. He’d told her to knock the crazy shit off, and as soon as he went to sleep, she went ahead and did it anyhow?
The man on the other line chuckled. “That’s what she was saying. You—”
“I’ll be there in a half hour.” And he hung up before he could hear any more.
This was going to get around town. Hell, it was going to get around the entire county. And he liked Luanne, but this was thoughtless and foolhardy of her. He couldn’t have a girlfriend who was constantly getting into scrapes and then posting them online. Because then if she got away with something illegal, people would start to look at him and wonder what he was letting h
er get away with. It’s mighty convenient for a lawbreaker like Luanne Allard to have a cop for a boyfriend, they’d say. Probably turns a blind eye to everything she does.
And as much as he liked her, he couldn’t afford that in his life. If people thought he was just a bit crooked? In such a small town? He was done.
If she kept going with her career, she’d ruin his.
They’d have to break up, or she’d have to quit her job. There were no two ways about it. And he knew that wasn’t a conversation that would go down well.
Mouth grim with anger, Hank shoved his legs through a pair of jeans and dressed.
* * *
When he arrived at the sheriff’s office, Brannan was smirking at him knowingly. “You come to retrieve your girl?”
Of course that was why he was here. Like he’d be here for anything else. But he only glared at the man and gestured for him to lead on.
Brannan led him back to the holding cells, and opened the door to the first one.
There, sitting on a metal bench and looking very guilty, was Luanne, dressed in her Jane gear. There were grass stains on her kneesocks and her normally perky blonde ponytails were drooping. Glitter was smeared on her cheeks. And she looked up at him with a faint smile. “Surprise.”
He didn’t smile back. Instead, he glanced over at Brannan, waiting.
“The farmer decided not to press charges. The boy that was accompanying her was underage so he’s been sent home with his parents.”
Hank nodded, not looking at Luanne as she got to her feet and moved to his side. “I’ll drive her home. Thank you, Brannan. I appreciate it.”
“You sure I can’t do anything else for you?” Brannan said with a knowing smile.
“I’m sure.” His voice was flat and cold. He put a hand to the small of Luanne’s back, all but shoving her out of the station.
They didn’t speak until they got into the parking lot. Luanne put a hand to the door of his squad car and then gave him an impish look. “You want me to sit in the back because I’ve been naughty?”
He glared at her.