by Lucy Score
“It was just a misunderstanding. No harm, no blood,” Eva assured her.
Layla cracked her gum. “Good. Good. We’re seeing a little too much action around here these days.”
“Donovan looks exhausted,” Eva said.
Layla rolled her eyes. “Guy’s been on for seventy-two hours straight. I think he’s worried me and Colby are going to end up joining the rest of these Mooner zombies and burning down the super market or something. Where is he anyway?”
Eva bit her lip and pointed. Donovan was leaning against a mailbox, his long legs stretched out in front of him, the container of ziti in his lap. He was sound asleep.
“Ah, hell. Knew that was coming.”
Layla pulled out her phone.
“Are you calling for backup?” Eva asked.
Layla snorted. “Nope. I’m taking video. This is the last time he makes fun of me for falling down the bleachers doing security at the field hockey game.”
Donovan let out a soft snore and Eva clamped a hand over her mouth to hold back the laughter.
Layla pocketed her phone. “Okay, Sheriff. Rise and shine,” she said, kicking his shoe.
He shot to attention. “Huh? Oh. Hey, Layla.”
“You’re officially relieved of duty,” she said.
“Huh? Oh, right. Yeah. I’ll take off as soon as I figure out how to get these kids out of the crosswalk.”
Layla peered over her shoulder. “You mean the kids that are warming up for the big game?”
Donovan rubbed his eyes and then looked at Eva. “How’d you do that?”
“Made out with the band director. I hope you don’t mind.”
“You got forty kids off the street, made all those teachers stop yelling at me, and you brought me ziti. I don’t mind. I’m in love.”
Layla and Eva each took an arm and hauled Donovan to his feet.
“Okay, big guy. Eva here’s gonna make sure you get home. I’m telling Minnie that under no circumstances are you to be called before 8 a.m. tomorrow. Now get your ass out of here.”
Donovan took a stumbling step off the curb, and Eva held him up. “I don’t think you’re driving, Donovan.”
“His keys are in the ignition,” Layla said, jerking her chin toward his cruiser.
“I can’t drive a police cruiser!”
Layla shrugged. “Desperate times. See ya tomorrow, Cardona.”
Eva poured Donovan into the passenger seat and hurried around to the other side. She had to move the seat all the way up to accommodate her short legs. Eva turned the key and then realized she didn’t know where he lived. And he was sound asleep already.
He’d professed his love for her, and she had no idea where he lived. Of course, it was Blue Moon. She could just roll down her window and ask literally anyone on the street. They’d be able to tell her what magazine subscriptions he had and where he hid his spare key. But maybe a change of scenery would do him some good.
She pointed the car in the direction of her place. “Guess we’re having our first sleep over before our first date,” she murmured under her breath.
Donovan snored in response.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Donovan woke in stages, easing into consciousness. He felt as if he was emerging from a coma, awareness slowly returning to his fingers and toes, his limbs. Before his eyes were open, he knew he wasn’t in his own bed. There were cushions beneath him and a fuzzy blanket draped over him.
He cracked an eye open and realized there was a redhead sound asleep on his chest. His mind may not have been fully awake, but his body more than made up for it. His dick went stone hard in the span of a breath. Her hair tickled his nose as his mind raced back over the previous night. He remembered the exhaustion, the marching band, the ziti. And then hardly anything at all.
Eva had driven him home. He recalled that vaguely. And then settled him on the couch with his leftovers. That was the last thing he could pull. Did they have sex? he wondered. God, he hoped not. His first time with Eva was supposed to memorable, monumental, for them both. Dammit.
He stroked a hand down her back and was relieved to find her wearing a tank top. He was shirtless, but a quick exploration beneath the blanket proved he was still wearing pants that covered his throbbing erection.
Blearily, he gazed around Eva’s living room. His duty belt was coiled on the coffee table next to his cell phone. His shoes were tucked neatly beneath. A dull, rosy glow peeked through her windows. The softly coming dawn.
“Mmmph,” Eva murmured, her lips moving against the skin of his shoulder.
Her mouth on him did nothing to dull the painful, voracious hunger he was feeling for her. He winced when the leg she’d tossed over his thighs inched higher.
“Eva,” he whispered.
“Mmm, Sheriff Sexy.” Her long-lashed eyes remained closed. He could see the faint freckles that danced across the bridge of her nose.
Despite the agony, he grinned. This was one hell of a way to wake up. The woman of his dreams wrapped in his arms while the rest of the world was quiet. Yeah, he could get used to this.
“Eva,” he said again.
She yawned and wiggled closer, incrementally increasing his torture.
“Baby. Wake up.”
Her eyes fluttered open and focused slowly on his face. She sighed happily. “Oh, good. It wasn’t a dream.”
The realization hit him like a cartoon anvil. Donovan bolted upright, nearly flinging her to the floor. He’d fallen asleep on his watch, leaving his town unprotected. “I shouldn’t have slept so long,” he cursed, scrambling out from under the blanket.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the sleepy Eva demanded, doing her best to shove him back down.
“Eva, I have an entire town collectively losing its damn mind. I don’t have time for sleep or… other distractions.”
She prodded him in the chest. “For your information, you fell asleep sitting against a mailbox last night. Layla and Colby took the shift that you were too big of a hero to give them.”
“I’m sheriff. I have a responsibility to these people,” he argued. The worry that he’d let everyone down circled through his gut. First, he’d dropped the ball with Jax’s hunt for the kids’ mom, and now he’d slept God knows how many hours while the town ran amuck.
“What is this?” Eva asked. Since he refused to lay back down, she slid into his lap. “What’s going on right now? You look like you’re panicking.”
“It’s not panic.” It totally was panic. He’d let people down, people who were counting on him.
“Take a breath and text Colby or Layla. Check in. Make sure all is well.” She handed him his phone and stayed put in his lap.
Grudgingly, he did as he was told and fired off a text demanding a status update from his deputies. He was scanning the room for his shoes when Colby responded.
Colby: Relax, boss. All is well. A relatively quiet night for the apocalypse.
Layla was more succinct.
Layla: Leave us alone. See you at 8.
Eva read the texts as they came in and smiled smugly. “Care to start the morning over, Sheriff Crabby Pants?”
A hot wave of relief coursed through him. He hadn’t let the entire town down, and he had a beautiful woman on his lap. He didn’t need any more coaxing than that. He lay back down, letting Eva sprawl out on top of him.
“Good morning,” he whispered, brushing a curl back from her face.
“Mmm, morning. Did you sleep well? I couldn’t get you upstairs, so I figured the couch would have to do.”
“This is good. Really good,” he said, brushing a kiss over her hair. “And you stayed with me, which is even better.”
She smiled shyly. “I hope you don’t mind. But I didn’t want you sneaking out in the middle of the night, second-guessing your deputies.”
“You were babysitting me.” The irony of Eva being responsible for him had Donovan shaking his head.
“Not that I heard.”
“It’s not even seven yet. That means you get breakfast.”
“This morning keeps getting better and better.”
She moved over his rigid length. “I’ll say.”
He pinched her and made her laugh.
“We’re doing this whole relationship backwards,” he lamented.
“We’ll get it figured out,” Eva promised. She buried her face into his neck and breathed in. “You know, I’ve never had a platonic sleepover before.”
“How much time do I have to make it un-platonic?” He groaned. “Scratch that. We’re taking things slow.” He just wished he could relay that message to his cock, which wasn’t interested in slow.
“Glacier-like,” Eva reminded him. Reluctantly, she sat up. “You go shower, and I’ll start breakfast.”
She directed him upstairs, and he performed some acrobatics to get himself under the showerhead that had to have been designed for dolls. After a shower with rose-scented shampoo, he felt better than he had in days. He had energy. His brain was fired up.
He’d cull out some time today to run follow-ups with the locals on Sheila Flinchy so Jax had more to give his P.I. Then he could make his rounds starting around the park and make sure peace was upheld. With some luck, he could get a head start on the tidal wave of paperwork that was swamping his desk before lunch. In the afternoon, he’d put his head together with Beckett and figure out what the hell they were going to do security-wise for the Halloween Carnival, the apex of the planetary bullshit.
He could use a shave, Donovan thought, staring in the mirror swiping a hand over the crop of stubble that had turned into the early stages of a beard. A shave and a haircut. Maybe he could squeeze a stop in at the Snip Shack tonight and take care of both and catch wind of any gossip that might need police attention.
With no spare toothbrush, he used Eva’s pink one and wondered how long he’d have to wait before he woke up next to her again.
When he returned downstairs, the smell of bacon and coffee were thick in the air.
She was still in her tank and pajama pants, looking entirely too enchanting. Her hair was loose and wild, framing her bare face.
“It should be illegal,” he decided.
“What?” she asked, handing over a mug of coffee.
“You looking like that after you wake up.”
“You know what else should be illegal?”
“What?”
“You being you. Charming, heroic, and sexy as hell? It’s just not fair to the rest of the male population.” She batted her lashes at him.
She plated two breakfast sandwiches and directed him to the table.
He sat, sipping the coffee.
“You wanna talk about why you still look like you’re worried?” she asked him.
Donovan sighed. “Are all writers as annoyingly observant?”
She grinned over the rim of her mug. “Probably.”
“I hate letting people down,” he admitted.
“Who did you let down?” She was asking out of curiosity and not to call him out on something, Donovan realized. She wanted to understand, and he liked that.
“When I woke up, I thought I’d destroyed an entire town with my selfish need for sleep.”
She nudged his plate toward him. “And now that those fears have been laid to rest, you still look guilty.”
“Jax and Beckett came to see me yesterday. Well, all of the Pierces and Niko came by.”
“What did they want?” Eva asked, biting into her sandwich.
Donovan took her cue and did the same. “We’ve been trying to track down Sheila Flinchy so Beckett can convince her to sign over her parental rights to Reva and Caleb. And I dropped the ball. I had a hit on her a week and a half ago, but with everything happening, I didn’t dig any deeper.”
Eva laid a hand on his arm. “You’ve been a little busy,” she reminded him.
“I know, but the Pierces are my best friends from birth. I should have made time.”
“Donovan,” she sighed. “You gave me a swift kick in the ass when I needed it. Now it’s my turn. You don’t have to do all this on your own. Your mom didn’t do it by herself. You have deputies and Minnie and your friends and me. You can lean on us. We don’t have to always be the ones leaning on you.”
“I like being in charge.”
“We’ll see about that once I get you naked,” Eva teased.
And just like that his blood left his head.
“But in the meantime,” she continued, “trust us to pick up the slack. When you run yourself into the ground you’re not helping anyone.”
“My mom dealt with this with one part-time deputy,” he argued.
“That was 1987. I bet the town has almost doubled in population since then. You’re not failing, and you’re not letting anyone down. Asking for help isn’t going to dull the shine on that armor.”
He grunted. “When did you get to be so wise?”
“When it’s someone else’s problem,” she laughed. “How about we make a deal. I’ll solve your problems if you solve mine?”
“Deal. Tell me all your problems,” he demanded.
She didn’t laugh, and Donovan was quick to pick up on the shadow in her eyes.
“Right now, my problem is that the conflict between my characters needs to bump up another notch to keep it exciting,” she said finally. But he knew there was something else nagging at her.
“Remember our deal, Eva,” he said quietly. “Honesty. No more secrets.”
“I remember,” she said, keeping her expression blank.
She could try to hide from him, but he’d figure out her secrets, and he’d fix whatever was scaring her.
“So how do you feel since everyone found out about your secret profession?” he asked, changing the subject. Patience was his strong suit.
She grinned, and his heart gave a lopsided thump. “I can’t believe everyone knows. It’s so wild and terrifying and freeing. Did I mention terrifying?” she sighed.
He took another bite of his breakfast. “It sounds like everyone in town is reading your books.” If she wasn’t ready to confess whatever she was hiding, he wasn’t ready to tell her he was a fan.
“Really?” She laughed.
“Everyone’s saying how good they are. You better get ready to be famous.”
“Thanks to living in a town of big mouths, I did see a nice uptick in sales,” she admitted, taking his coffee mug and wandering back into the kitchen to refill it. “But I’m not convinced it’s not Uranus at work.”
She put the mug down in front of him, and Donovan used the opportunity to snake an arm around her waist and pull her into his lap.
“Just because you’re not where you want to be yet doesn’t mean you aren’t who you need to be,” he said, cupping her face.
“Now who’s the wise one?” Eva asked softly. Eyes more yellow than green studying him.
“You’re amazing, Evangelina.”
“You’re not just saying that because of Uranus, are you?”
“Baby, I’m immune to Uranus,” he insisted. What he felt for her? It had started long before any planets crossed anything. This was real and good, and he wanted more of it.
Slowly, she wound her arms around his neck.
Yet again, his dick stirred to life against her. Eva gave a sexy little gasp when she felt him harden beneath her. She wet her lips. “I think I’m okay with going a little faster,” she said softly.
His hands clamped onto her hips as their mouths closed the distance.
Eva’s front door burst open, and Ellery stormed in. “There you are!” she said accusingly. “I’ve been all over this town looking for you.” She pointed at Donovan.
“I’m a little busy right now, El. Can’t you call Layla or Colby or literally anyone else in the world?” Donovan ask
ed without looking away from Eva’s flushed cheeks, the heat in her eyes.
“Donovan Cardona!” Ellery clapped her hands gaining his attention.
“What?” he demanded, exasperated.
“This!” Ellery shoved her phone in his face. “They put this sign in my lawn. That’s trespassing and vandalism. I know, I already checked with Beckett.”
“So is kicking in Eva’s front door,” he reminded her.
“Sorry, Eva,” Ellery said. “But technically, this is Beckett’s house, and he told me to drag you out of here if I had to.”
“Did he now?” Donovan added Beckett Pierce to his people to beat the hell out of list. He took the phone from Ellery and blew up the picture.
There on Ellery’s front lawn was a black sign post dug into the ground.
Match not approved by the Beautification Committee.
“Again, Ellery. Why don’t you talk to a deputy? Please.” He would beg if it got Eva naked underneath him.
“I tried! Colby said it wasn’t an emergency and that he’d ‘stop by sometime today’ if he had time! In the meantime, I can’t remove the evidence from my lawn and the wedding invitations already went out. They’re making everyone choose between me and them, and I’m not going to let them ruin my wedding day!”
“When are you getting married?” Eva cut in, slipping off Donovan’s lap.
Ellery pointed to the stack of mail on Eva’s table to a black envelope with silver ink. “You didn’t even open it yet? I worked so hard on my calligraphy!”
Eva dove for the envelope. “I’m sorry. There was this crisis and then—”
Ellery’s trembling lip cut Eva off.
“I’m opening! Here we go! Oh, what a beautiful invitation,” she said, showing off the silver cobweb design to Donovan. “It says here your big day is… Oh. Boy.”
Donovan took the card from her. “Halloween.” He swiped a hand over his face.
“What?” Ellery demanded. “It’s only my favorite day of the year.”