Her Colton Lawman

by Carla Cassidy

  “I admire your strength, Nina.” His gaze was warm and filled with respect.

  She offered him a small smile. “You might not have admired my strength so much this morning when I was on the bathroom floor sobbing and frozen with terror.”

  The mental vision he got of her so frightened, disturbed him. The fact that she’d gone through it all alone broke his heart. “You get that scared again you call me, no matter what time of the day it is,” he said firmly. “Nina, I don’t want you going through that all alone ever again.”

  “And it’s bad enough that you are feeding me frozen pizza, but I definitely refuse to eat burned frozen pizza,” she replied.

  He jumped up from the table, suddenly aware of the scent of the pizza that filled the kitchen. He hurried to the stove, where he grabbed a couple of hot pads and removed the perfectly cooked pie from the oven. “No worries, not a burned edge on it,” he said.

  He cut up the pizza and then carried it to the table. He grabbed a couple of plates and then sat back down. “Pizza, Flint style,” he announced.

  “I’m impressed. The slices are even cut almost perfectly,” she replied. She pulled a piece onto her plate to cool, and he did the same. “At least something good came out of today.”

  “And what’s that?” He didn’t want to dwell on the vision of Nina on that bathroom floor, stifling sobs as terror raced through her body. The vision ripped at him and made him wish he would have been there to protect her from her own fears, from the terrible memories that had plagued her mind. He wished he’d been there to wrap her in his arms and calm her fears.

  “I worked on the schedules, did some supply ordering and found the perfect centerpieces for the booths and tables for the Thanksgiving Day feast,” she replied.

  As they ate she explained the centerpieces she had found and how Charley got aggravated with her for changing the Thanksgiving Day menu each day. The sparkle was back in her eyes, and he was amazed by how easily her optimistic spirit had returned.

  He wished he were feeling as optimistic. It had been another frustrating day of dead ends and no leads where both Hank and Jimmy were concerned. Two of his officers had had to break up a fight on Main Street between two men because one of them had accused the other of having the virus and coughing without covering his mouth.

  Just another day in paradise, he thought as they began to eat. Still, he found Nina a balm to the long day. Despite her trauma that morning, as they shared the pizza, she talked about various members of her staff and how much she was looking forward to the coming holiday.

  “I’ll bet you had great holidays with your family,” she said.

  “We did. Gram Dottie went out of her way whenever there was a holiday. She arranged egg hunts at Easter, made us special Valentine cards and cupcakes, hand-sewed our Halloween costumes and fixed enough food to feed an army at Thanksgiving. Christmas was like every holiday all rolled into one, with more tinsel and toys than any one family should have.”

  He smiled at the pleasure of those memories, but his smile was fleeting as he thought of his grandmother now, clinging to life with an unknown, so far incurable virus. “What about you? How were your childhood holidays?”

  “Stressful. To be honest, since I left Casper, I haven’t celebrated any holidays. The Thanksgiving Day at the diner will be my first one in years, and I want to make it as joyous as possible.”

  She offered no more, and he was afraid to press her for details. He knew there were people who found the holidays intensely stressful. “Do you have siblings?” he asked.

  “No, I’m an only child. So, tell me how your day went?” She not-so-deftly changed the subject.

  He told her about the frustrations of his day, finding it cathartic to talk to somebody other than another officer, somebody who seemed to care more about his state of mind rather than what had or hadn’t happened through the long day.

  “Sooner or later one of them will make a mistake, and you’ll catch them,” she said as she reached for another piece of the pie. “As long as the quarantine stays in place, the odds are definitely in your favor.”

  “Are you always this good at shifting gears? Going from bad things to reach for the good?” he asked curiously.

  “I learned early in life to compartmentalize and rationalize. Bad things get quickly shoved away in my mind to make way for positive thoughts. Dwelling on the bad never fixes anything or makes things better. I just look for the sun and the rainbows instead of the storms.”

  “That’s a nice way to go through life if you can do it,” he replied.

  She eyed him intently. “It’s a conscious choice you make. Maybe you should try it more often. You told me all about your failures today, but you didn’t mention that every place you looked that Hank and Jimmy aren’t is a place you’ve cleared so you can look in other places. You act like each day is a failure, but it’s simply a matter of elimination, and each day you’re eliminating hidey-holes where Hank or Jimmy could be so that eventually, they’ll have no place else to hide.”

  He grinned at her. “I think you would be nice to have around all the time.”

  She laughed. “I’m not sure everyone would agree with that. I’m sure Charley thinks I’m a real pain sometimes. He not only thinks I am nauseatingly cheerful, but I also tend to be a bit controlling when it comes to everything at the diner.”

  “Because that’s your baby,” he replied.

  “That’s right.” She pushed her plate aside. “I have to confess that wasn’t the worst frozen pizza I’ve ever eaten.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t have any frozen dessert to offer you.”

  “I don’t need dessert. All I needed was to be here with you where I feel safe.” Her cheeks grew dusty with color. “Thank you, Flint, for everything you’re doing for me.”

  He held up a hand. “Please, don’t thank me. I’m doing my job, but more important, I like your company. I hadn’t realized how quiet and lonely this house was in the evenings before you came here.”

  “I like spending time with you, too.” She stood abruptly and grabbed her plate to carry to the sink. It was as if the conversation had taken a turn too personal, and that had made her uncomfortable.

  “Leave that,” he said. “I’ll take care of the cleanup. Are you a wine drinker? I think I’ve got some red wine if you’re interested.”

  “Actually, I’d love a glass of wine,” she replied.

  “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the living room and I’ll bring in the wine?”

  “It’s a deal.”

  She left the room, and he quickly attended to the dishes and then strapped on his holster and gun, poured the wine and joined her. She had turned on a lamp on the coffee table and sat in a chair next to the sofa with her legs curled up beneath her.

  “I didn’t want to sit on your bed,” she said and gestured toward the sofa where a sheet was neatly folded on top of a bed pillow on the end.

  She took the glass of wine he offered, and he sat on the sofa and placed his glass on the coffee table. “I still feel guilty that you’re sleeping there,” she said.

  “You shouldn’t. It’s my choice, and besides, it’s a comfortable sofa,” he assured her.

  As they drank their wine they talked about the coming of winter with its snow and ice, the hope that the quarantine would be lifted by Christmas and a variety of topics that were light and easy.

  Everything she said only made Flint more attracted to her. He liked the way she thought; he loved the way she smelled and looked. He found it difficult to forget those minutes in the diner when she’d been in his arms, plastered against him so intimately he could feel her every curve.

  Although he had been worried about her, he’d also felt a lick of lust rise up inside him, an emotion he’d quickly staunched because it had been so inappropriate under th
e circumstances.

  He felt it now, watching her drink her wine, noting the play of the table lamp glow in her hair. He knew it was equally as inappropriate now as it had been earlier, but it was there nevertheless. He had to admit that he had a healthy dose of lust where Nina Owens was concerned.

  By the time they’d drunk their second glass of wine, she was ready to call it a night. She got up from her chair, and he rose, as well.

  He walked her to the mouth of the hallway and took her by the arm. “Nina, I meant what I told you earlier. Day or night, if you are afraid, you call me, and I’ll come running. I don’t want you to ever be alone and afraid again.”

  She reached up and placed her palm against his cheek, her eyes filled with curiosity. “Are you really as nice as you seem, Flint Colton?”

  “What you see is what you get with me, Nina.”

  She dropped her hand to her side and gazed up at him, and he knew in that moment that he had to kiss her. It was impossible not to. She just looked incredibly kissable.

  He took a step toward her and was emboldened when she didn’t step away from him. He took her in his arms and leaned his head down to capture her mouth with his. Her lips were soft and yielding, and as he deepened the kiss, her mouth tasted of red wine and fiery heat.

  He’d intended it to be a simple, quick kiss, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, and the kiss continued, her lips as hungry against his as his were against hers. He could smell the heady peach-and-vanilla scent of her, taste the faint linger of wine, and his blood fired through all his veins, and he wanted to keep kissing her forever.

  He’d fantasized about tasting her lips for what felt like an eternity, and it was far better than any fantasy he’d ever entertained.

  It was only when he realized he was becoming embarrassingly aroused that he finally ended the kiss and stepped away from her. “Sorry about that,” he said. “You looked way too kissable, and I just couldn’t resist.”

  “Please, don’t apologize. There were two people involved in that, and I definitely wasn’t protesting,” she replied, her voice slightly husky.

  “Still, it probably wasn’t a good idea,” he said, even though he’d repeat it again in a nanosecond.

  “Probably not,” she agreed. “But it was nice...it was actually better than nice. Good night, Flint.” She turned and headed down the hallway and disappeared into her bedroom.

  Flint walked back into the living room and sank down on the sofa. Better than nice...as far as he was concerned, it had been nothing short of amazing.

  The kiss had definitely been a mistake because now he wanted more of her. He wanted her naked in his arms. He wanted her naked in his bed, and she’d already warned him she wasn’t interested in a relationship with anyone.

  He got ready for bed and stretched out on the sofa, then released a deep sigh and realized for the first time just how hungry he was to have a special somebody in his life forever.

  * * *

  It had been almost a week since the night that she’d shared that kiss with Flint, and since that time she hadn’t been able to get it out of her head.

  Worse was that the memory of his warm lips against hers had evoked the desire for more from him...far more. She was definitely working up a healthy dose of lust toward her lawman bodyguard.

  They had fallen into a comfortable routine over the past week, eating breakfast and dinner together and sharing the events of their days during the evenings with a glass of wine.

  The more time she spent with him, the more she wanted him. She wanted to soothe the lines of stress he so often wore when he came to the diner to pick her up. She found herself wanting to make his time at home away from work as pleasant as possible, to see the smiles he gave her that warmed her.

  She knew he wanted more than a kiss from her, too. His desire for her shone from his eyes when she caught him gazing at her. There was a crackling tension between them that she knew was suppressed desire. It was heady and exciting and made her feel like she’d never felt before.

  “You definitely look like protective custody is agreeing with you,” Grace said Sunday midmorning when the light breakfast rush was gone and the diner was empty of any other customers. “You’ve been sitting on that stool for the past fifteen minutes with a secretive little smile playing on your face. Tell me the truth, you and Flint are having hot, mad sex every night.”

  Nina laughed, but felt a guilty warmth fill her cheeks. “Absolutely not,” she replied. “I just really like him, and we’re getting along great.”

  “He’s a good man, Nina, and he seems to be good for you.”

  “He is a good man, but that doesn’t change my mind about living my life alone.”

  Grace eyed her curiously. “I’d like to know who broke your heart so badly in the past.”

  “No broken hearts,” Nina replied. She’d never allowed anyone to get close enough to break her heart. “I just know who I am and what’s best for me.”

  They both looked up as the front door opened and two young men from the Home and Hearth store carried in several boxes. “Where do you want us to put these?” one of the guys asked. “We have several more boxes to bring in.”

  Nina jumped off the stool with excitement. “Just set them here for now. These are the centerpieces for Thanksgiving,” she said to Grace. “We can move them to my office later, but I can’t wait to show you what I got.”

  The two men set down the first load of boxes and then disappeared outside to get the rest of the delivery. Nina pulled open the top of one of the boxes and lifted out something wrapped in brown packing paper. She quickly unwrapped it to reveal a red candle in a delicate gold glass holder surrounded by fall leaves in shades of bright red and orange and yellow.

  “These are for each table and booth,” she said and set the centerpiece on the counter.

  “Oh, they’re going to look so beautiful,” Grace exclaimed.

  “And then I have a huge one with five candles that will be on the counter with the food on either side.”

  The men returned with two more large boxes, and Nina’s excitement for the upcoming holiday buoyed up inside her. She got Charley and Abe to help her drag the boxes into her office, where they would remain until the night before the Thanksgiving Day celebration.

  She returned to the dining room and sat next to Grace at the counter, unable to contain her anticipation of the special event only eleven days away.

  “It’s going to be a great day,” she said. “Charley and I have finally finalized the menu, and I’ve promised him I won’t tinker with it anymore. It’s going to be a day of good food, good company and community spirit.”

  “I hope you aren’t disappointed,” Grace said. “We haven’t exactly had any full houses since the virus struck. In fact, I heard last night that Mildred Walker was taken sick and is now in isolation.”

  Nina frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that, but I just have to believe that the holiday will help people put their fears aside long enough to come in here and enjoy a free meal,” Nina replied. “It has to be a wonderful day. Everyone deserves a break from the fear and stress that’s gripped this town for too long.”

  Grace reached out and grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s a generous gesture, and I hope it’s everything you want it to be.”

  “I’m having fliers printed up and am going to have them posted all around town announcing the free meal,” Nina replied.

  “If anyone can bring the people in, it’s you, Nina.”

  The two women got up from the counter as two customers came through the door. Nina’s spirits remained positive until later that afternoon when the day turned from pleasant to unexpectedly unpleasant.

  With the Thanksgiving Day feast coming fast, she’d tried to line up the staffing for the day, only to discover that half o
f her waitresses didn’t want to work that day.

  “If most of the town shows up, we won’t know who might be sick and who might not be,” Amy Nettles, a young waitress, whined. “I’m just not going to come in that day.”

  “Neither am I,” Sonja Jenkins, another of the waitresses added. “It’s bad enough I take a chance catching the scourge every day that I come in here to work, but that day there will be tons of people, and I’m not putting my health at risk any more than I have to.”

  “But I was depending on you both being here. I’m already short staffed,” Nina protested.

  “You know I adore you, Nina, but I’m not working your feast,” Amy said firmly.

  “Ditto,” Sonja added.

  “Okay,” Nina replied in defeat. She should fire the two right on the spot for letting her down, but she was already so short staffed she couldn’t afford to let them go permanently.

  By the time the day was nearly over, one of the busboys and a prep cook had refused, as well, to work Thanksgiving Day, and Nina couldn’t seem to find the optimism that she could normally tap into.

  It was almost time for Flint to arrive when Nina sat at the end of the counter, discouraged beyond words. Grace sat down next to her. “We’ll make it work, Nina,” she said softly. “Even if we are short staffed, the people who are here that day won’t let you down. We’ll make sure the customers get the same great service they always do, and it will be easier since it’s going to be a buffet.”

  “It’s still going to be tough if we have a full house,” Nina replied, unable to be placated when she knew the special day might possibly already be compromised. “Aren’t you supposed to be off the clock for the day now?” she asked Grace.

  “Yes, but I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine,” Nina replied, but she felt a ridiculous burning at her eyes. “Take your sweet son and go home and enjoy the rest of the weekend.”

  Within minutes Grace had left, and Flint walked through the door. “What’s wrong?” he asked as if he could instantly read her mood.