She’d severed the relationship immediately, never looking back. Unfortunately, they often ran in the same social and professional circles, and it was impossible to ignore him. She’d never forgiven him, and never would, and she disliked the man – but she could never seem to keep him away.
And, truth be told, she didn’t want to. Jonathan Hall was a protégé at what he did. He was a gifted real estate developer and somehow always had all of the information Angie needed to make a successful revitalization.
While Mayor Copeland had personally reached out to Angie to help with Charming, he’d first been in contact with Jonathan, who had then recommended Copeland talk to Angie. In a way, the only reason everything in Charming had happened was because of him. She didn’t know whether to thank or damn him.
He was already going to her cabinet and grabbing a glass for the wine. Without even asking, he poured himself a glass, drank deep, and then refilled his glass.
“What do you want, Jon?” she asked. She crossed her arms and stood close to the door, ready to usher him out when she found out what he truly wanted. She couldn’t even begin to count the amount of times he’d tried to win her back. She desperately hoped that now wasn’t one of those times.
“I’m sorry about what happened in Charmon.”
“Charming,” she corrected.
“Yes,” he nodded, as if he hadn’t even heard her. “That’s all my fault, I fear. I should never have put you in contact with that man. If I would have known…”
“It’s fine, Jon, really,” she said, exasperated. She didn’t blame him. She’d gone to Charming on her own free will, and if she hadn’t – well, she never would have almost died. Erica would still be alive.
But I never would have met Marcus, and how could I live my life without him?
“I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself, Ange,” he said, setting the glass down and looking serious for once. “When I heard what had happened, I almost flew out there myself.” She knew he was lying. He would say anything to get on her good side. “And when I heard you’d also been shot, well, my heart just broke.”
“Thanks for the concern,” she told him, her voice flat. “So, did you come all of this way just to apologize?”
He looked flustered for a moment but quickly recovered. “Not at all, my dear.” She gritted her teeth. She hated when he called her Ange. She hated dear. She hated anything he called her. “But I heard you were quitting your business. I couldn’t let you do that.”
“Well, no need to worry, then. I’m not quitting. Just relocating.”
He raised an eyebrow and asked, “To where? You can’t… You can’t mean you’re going back to that town?”
“I am,” she told him, smiling at the thought of meeting Marcus. He wouldn’t be able to meet her at the airport, and she knew the drive from Phoenix to Charming would be rife with anticipation – but knowing that he would be there waiting at the end of it was enough to see her through.
“But why?”
“That’s where I’m doing business.”
“You can certainly do business from here. There’s no need to risk yourself. What if you were hurt again?”
“I won’t be.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’m…” she said, hesitating. Her personal life wasn’t any of Jon’s business and she certainly didn’t think he needed to know, but she said, “I’m seeing someone now.” She hoped it would be enough to see Jon to the door.
But he just narrowed his eyes as if he couldn’t believe it. “Someone from… that place?”
“Yes,” she confirmed.
He didn’t answer.
“Is there anything else?” she prompted.
He looked angry for a split second. Jonathan Hall had been the last man she would dated, but that had been years and years ago. She wasn’t his.
She’d never been his.
“I need a partner,” he said.
“A partner?”
“In my firm,” he explained. “I’m expanding the business. And I need a partner. There’s no one else in the world I trust more than you. I need you.”
Angie hesitated a moment. Years ago, when she’d been under Jon’s spell – working with him was all she’d ever wanted to do. The deals he’d closed, the people he’d helped…
The idea of it had been intoxicating.
“I can’t, Jon,” she told him. “I’m going back home to Charming.”
“Home?”
She hadn’t even realized she’d said it. But she nodded just the same.
“Angie,” he whispered. She immediately focused on him. His tone was one she’d hardly ever heard, only used when he needed to get his way, and he’d called her Angie, something he never did. “Remember when you were first starting out? Growing your business?”
“Yes,” she said curtly. She remembered all too well. She remembered the help he’d given her and the consequences that it had brought along with it.
“You wouldn’t want how you got started to become public knowledge, would you?”
“You were involved in that. Just like me. If you try to hang me out to dry, I’ll take you down with me. You know that as well as I do.”
“You would never dare, darling.”
“Don’t push me, Jon,” she hissed. “And now, I want you to leave my apartment.”
He smoothed his blazer and nodded. “Consider my offer, Ange.”
She walked to the door, opened it, and watched him leave. He smiled at her as he did so, unfazed completely. “I’ll be in touch,” he said, smiling. And then she slammed the door behind him.
She’d made a mistake working for Jonathan Hall when she’d been younger. She’d made a mistake being with him. But she never would make those mistakes again.
Chapter 3
She’s supposed to be here today.
Marcus shook his head.
She’ll be here today. She’s coming back.
But how can you be so sure? Why would she come back?
Marcus growled and threw the covers off his body, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.
It was time to get ready for work, and way past time to quit worrying about Angie not coming back to Charming.
Marcus took his time. He showered, shaved, and ate a light breakfast. The sun was still coming up when he left his house and walked down his little sidewalk to his car, parked underneath the trees. He fired it up, instantly missing the familiar rumble of the Bronco. But the Bronco was in a scrapheap somewhere, destroyed – and he was thankful that he and Angie had lived through the wreck – and what came after it.
Charming should have been dead at this time in the morning but of course, it wasn’t. There were plenty of farmers going about their daily business. Marcus paid them little mind.
He unlocked the Sheriff’s Department and entered it. He normally didn’t spend much time here. The scent of blood was still faint but he hardly noticed.
He sat down at the desk and kicked his feet up on it, thinking hard. He hadn’t gotten much sleep. His thoughts had been torn between FBI Agent Augustus West and Angie Campbell.
Why are they here? In Charming? Who sends FBI agents to watch a small town Sheriff? Who sends wolf Shifters to watch me? Something doesn’t add up.
His increased senses detected someone coming up to the Sheriff’s Department, their scent blowing in on the warm wind through the open door.
“Miss Rivers,” he said, swinging his feet off of the desk and settling himself behind it. “What can I do you for?”
Joanna Rivers was the new de facto leader in Charming. After her family’s rivals, the Copelands, had revealed their true colors, Joanna Rivers had seized the opportunity to propel her family into a controlling position. Her late father had passed down a cattle empire, complete with thousands of acres of land all around Charming, all to Joanna.
Marcus didn’t want to deal with her. Their relationship – if Marcus could call it
that – was tumultuous. It had gone from her completely ignoring Marcus, to trying to sway him into helping her in a very suggestive manner, to her coming to his house for his helping.
Now he didn’t know what she wanted.
“My brother’s trial is coming up.”
Shit.
Marcus had completely forgotten. He hadn’t forgotten what had happened – not even close. But he’d been too focused on the FBI, too focused on Angie, and some of his other duties had fallen to the wayside.
“What’s your point?”
“You know what my point is, Marcus,” she told him. Joanna Rivers moved around the table, sitting on the corner of it, right next to Marcus. Her leg was touching his own. He turned just enough so they weren’t touching any longer.
“I can’t, Miss Rivers,” he told her as he leaned back in his seat and laced his fingers together.
“Jo, remember?” she asked, flashing him her most warming smile. Marcus gave her a smile back, though he wasn’t going to be fooled by her pretty looks and charming attitude. She wanted him to let her brother, Jimmy Rivers, off from his charges of attempted murder.
He understood why Jimmy had done what he had. Jimmy had been afraid he would be charged with a murder he didn’t commit, so he’d taken matters into his own hands, panicked, and attempted to rid himself of anyone that could tie him to the supposed murder scene.
Jimmy Rivers wasn’t malicious, not exactly. But he was an idiot and he had almost killed Angie. Marcus could forgive stupid, but he couldn’t forgive that.
“I can’t,” Marcus told her. He shook his head. “Not after what he did.”
“That’s bullshit!” Joanna Rivers said, getting up and huffing halfway across the small room they were in before turning around. “He didn’t kill anyone! He was afraid, Marcus! Afraid of what would happen if you knew he’d been here after there had been a murder. And it looks like he was right! You immediately suspected him for it, didn’t you?” Marcus couldn’t argue with that. “Exactly. That’s what I thought. He was afraid. He made a bad choice. But who hasn’t?”
Marcus just grunted a response. He’d made bad decisions in his life. More than he could ever forget, or forgive.
Lindsey… I’m still so sorry.
What would she say, knowing that Marcus was with someone else? The question was always in the back of his mind. He couldn’t shake it.
But Joanna Rivers was saying something. Marcus came out of his trance. She walked over to him, put her hand on top of his – and Marcus immediately pulled his hand back.
“You have to stop,” he growled, anger flashing in his golden eyes. Joanna Rivers seemed taken aback for a few moments, then she nodded.
“It’s that developer?”
“Angie,” Marcus said.
“And she’ll be at the trial, too?” Marcus inclined his head. “You know she’s bad for this town, Marcus,” Joanna said. Her voice was like a whisper. “She’s an outsider. She doesn’t understand us. She doesn’t understand you.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes and said, “Is that all?”
“Just make the right decision tomorrow, Marcus,” Joanna said, all warmth from minutes before gone. Then she was out the door, leaving Marcus leaning back in his chair, wondering just what the hell he was going to do.
The rest of his day was uneventful and he was back home before 5:00. He’d spent his day glancing at the door, hoping Angie would come strolling in – but she never did.
Once he was home, Marcus’s mood didn’t improve much. The sun was still high on the horizon and the day was warm, so Marcus sat out on his porch and waited with a glass of iced tea.
But as day turned to night, Angie still hadn’t shown up in Charming. Marcus pulled out his cell phone for what must have been the hundredth time and considered calling Angie, but then put it back in his pocket. He didn’t want to appear desperate, even if that was exactly what he was.
It was nearly 10:00 when he found himself sitting at his kitchen table, bright headlights streaming through the window. He shook himself out of his funk and looked outside. He saw the lights shut off, then heard a car door slam.
Marcus felt his heart leap in his chest. He was outside in an instant, heading down the sidewalk, and there she was, Angie Campbell, the woman he was completely and utterly falling for.
Falling? I’ve already fallen for her.
She was grabbing something out of her trunk but paused when she saw him coming. Even in the darkness, his golden eyes were able to see her face clearly, and she was smiling.
“Hello, Sheriff,” she said, her voice soft and light.
“Miss Campbell,” he replied with a nod.
There was a silence for a few moments and then they were laughing. Marcus was right next to her and his arms wrapped tightly around her small body and he was pulling her as close to him as possible. He felt her warmth, almost stifling in the hot Arizona night, but he hardly cared.
She was back and she was in his arms.
They hugged for a few moments and then he let her pull away, but only for the briefest of moments. She was already moving her face up towards his as he was moving his towards hers; their lips met and he kissed her like he’d never kissed anyone else before.
Her lips were soft and tender, perfect in their haste, not too fast and desperate, yet not too slow and uninterested. They worked in tandem with Marcus’s and he felt her tongue caress his lips ever so slightly. His hands were wandering over her body and he was grabbing her by her ass, lifting her up and pressing her against the side of the car.
Marcus felt Angie’s legs wrap tightly around his midsection and their kiss became much more passionate. Her hands were running through his hair, then one was moving underneath his shirt and sliding up along his chest. He found his hand doing the same. Her soft skin slid underneath his fingertips, then he was cupping one of her breasts, his fingers moving around the bra and dipping underneath it. He felt one of his fingertips brush her nipple and it was already hard.
He could feel himself stiffening through his jeans and if Angie’s demeanor was any indication, so could she. Marcus broke their kiss, running a hand through her hair and ravaging her neck with kisses. Her own hands were now starting to unbutton his belt…
And he let her down ever so slowly, pressing his lips against hers in a slow, passionate kiss.
“Let’s go inside,” he whispered. Angie nodded. Marcus took one step over to the back of the car and grabbed her suitcases, then slammed the trunk shut. He followed her into the house.
“Did you miss me?” she asked.
Marcus didn’t think he could put it in words. He hadn’t known Angie that long – but there was still something about her. Something he desired. Something he couldn’t ignore, or live without.
In answer, he grunted an affirmation.
She looked back at him and grinned.
“Did you miss me?” he asked.
“More than you could have imagined,” she told him, her grin growing even larger. “New York is great, but it’s no Charming. It doesn’t have a Sheriff Marcus Stone.”
“That’s good to hear,” he told her, his heart pumping in his chest. She was already going back to his room, pulling her shirt over her head and dropping it in the hallway. Marcus’s nostrils flared. He could smell her desire, her lust, her readiness and excitement. Her happiness, and somewhere down below, some kind of trouble. Discomfort.
She was worried.
“Angie?” he asked. “Is there something wrong?”
He saw her hesitate for the briefest of moments on her walk down the hallway. But she turned back to him and smiled again and his worries about her faded away. Her smile seemed to be able to do that.
He made a mental note to ask later. He didn’t want to ruin the moment. He’d been missing her so much, yearning for her, dreaming of this moment second after second – and he wasn’t going to let himself ruin it.
He dropped the suitcases in the kitchen and jogged down the hallway, rip
ping his own shirt off of his body and throwing it.
When he reached the bedroom, Angie was already in bed, stripped down to only her bra and panties, the rest of her clothes forgotten on the floor. Marcus stepped over them and started to undo his belt. He kicked off his boots. Pulled his belt out of his pants. Undid his pants.
He lowered himself over her half naked body, pressing his against hers. His lips found her neck. Then they were moving downward over her collarbone. Kissing downward even further still. The top of her breast. His tongue sliding underneath the fabric of her bra.
One of his fingers was undoing the clasp and then it was away. His lips found one of her nipples, sucking it into his mouth.
“I’ve missed you…” she breathed, moaning. “Marcus…”
He moved downward, a smile on his lips. He had missed her, too – probably more than she’d missed him.
Angie Campbell.
“Angie…” he breathed. His lips were all over her body. Her moans were filling the bedroom. His heart was still pounding in his chest, almost as if he was a little kid.
He slid downward.
Chapter 4
“I need you to not press charges against Jimmy Rivers.”
The look on Marcus’s face told Angie that he hadn’t been expecting that for their early morning talk. She’d tossed and turned all night long, unsure of how she was going to bring it up to him while he slumbered peacefully, just happy she was home.
“What?”
His voice was his signature growl that told her he was unhappy. She grimaced and stroked his cheek. They were lying in bed, face to face, naked, blankets pushed down onto the floor. There was a warm breeze blowing in through the open window.
“What?” he repeated.
“Don’t press charges against Jimmy Rivers today.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Then go easy on him. He was scared.”
Marcus was leaning on one elbow, his face stormy. His golden eyes were sharp on her own.
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