Cowboy Deputy

by Carla Cassidy

  “Unbelievable,” she replied. There was no way a man who looked like Benjamin Grayson could have gone through his life so far and not broken a heart or two.

  At that moment the waitress arrived with their orders and their conversation moved to more general things. He was pleasant to talk to and for a little while, she forgot all that was facing her. But she remained on edge, far too conscious of the allure of his flirtatious eyes and the warmth of his smile.

  When her plate was empty she was ready to run. He offered to pay for the meal and after some argument, she accepted.

  As they walked out of the café and into the deepening twilight of evening, he insisted he walk her to her car. “It’s really not necessary,” she protested. “I’m only parked down the street a little bit.”

  “I know, but it’s a gentleman’s duty to see a woman to her car,” he replied lightly.

  When they reached her vehicle, she pulled her keys from her purse, ready to bail and get away from Benjamin. “Thanks for dinner,” she said as she unlocked her car door and then turned back to face him. “I appreciate everything you’ve done, but I can handle things now and you can get back to your own life.”

  “You aren’t getting rid of me that easily,” he replied. “I’ll be over first thing in the morning to finish mowing the lawn. That was our deal.”

  She hesitated, not wanting to take anything more from him. He took a step closer to her. “Edie, you don’t have to be in this all alone.” He reached up and gently pushed one of her errant curls away from her forehead. “Walt is my friend and I’ll do whatever I can to support you.”

  He dropped his hand back to his side but didn’t move away from her. She felt as if she’d stopped breathing the moment he’d touched her and she forced herself to breathe now. “I appreciate that. Okay, then I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She’d let him finish the lawn and then she’d have nothing more to do with him. The last thing she needed in her life at the moment was another complication and Benjamin definitely felt as if he could be a big complication if she’d allow it.

  For a moment he stared at her lips, as if he wanted to kiss her, and for that same amount of time she almost wished he would. Instead she jerked open her car door and wondered when she’d lost her mind.

  “Edie, before you go take this.” He pulled out a card from his pocket. “This has my personal cell phone number on it. Don’t hesitate to use it if you need anything.”

  She took the card and dropped it into her purse and then slid in behind the steering wheel, eager to make her escape from this man who made her think about hot kisses and the sweet sensation of skin against skin.

  She drove away without looking back, knowing that it was going to take her all night long to forget the feel of his warm fingers against her forehead, to get the very scent of him out of her head.

  When she got back to Poppy’s place, she called to check in on her grandfather, who was as cranky as she’d ever heard him, then she decided to vacuum and dust the living room.

  She needed some sort of activity to occupy her and hopefully keep thoughts of Benjamin from her mind. But he was difficult to cast out of her head.

  He was nice. He was definitely sexually drawn to her. She knew it by the look in his eyes, by the fact that he seemed to have trouble keeping his hands off her. Was he only being nice to her because he wanted to get her into bed?

  Somehow he didn’t strike her as that type and that was what worried her. She reluctantly had to admit that she liked him and that was on top of the wild physical attraction she felt toward him.

  By the time she’d finished with the housework she was exhausted and she’d finally managed to banish thoughts of Benjamin from her mind.

  She locked the front door and then headed upstairs for bed. Tomorrow she intended to call Poppy’s doctor and get an update on the tests they had run on the old man. She prayed that Dr. Drake would be able to find an easy fix for Poppy’s obsession and that Benjamin and his brothers would find and arrest whoever assaulted her grandfather.

  Even though she was exhausted, once she was in bed her mind whirled with all the things waiting for her when she got back to Topeka. First and foremost on her list of things to do was find another job.

  She’d loved managing the restaurant, but wasn’t sure she wanted to go back into the same field. In truth she didn’t know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. A year ago she’d thought her future was all planned out. She’d marry Greg, be a wife and mother and decide on a career when their children went off to school.

  Greg was on board right up until the time he disappeared from her life. Just like her father. She punched the pillow and closed her eyes, determined to get a good night’s sleep without any more thoughts of betrayals from men.

  I deserve it, a little voice whispered in her head. I’m not good enough to be with anyone. Emotion swelled up inside her but she steadfastly shoved it back down and squeezed her eyes more tightly closed.

  She awoke suddenly, her heart pounding with unexpected adrenaline and her body tensed in a fight-or-flight response. Immediately she knew something had awakened her and as she remained frozen in place, she heard a faint noise coming from downstairs.

  Somebody was in the house. The thought thundered in her brain. She knew she’d locked the front door before she’d come upstairs. But as she heard more noise she knew with certainty that somebody was there.

  She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, then quietly crept to the top of the stairs. The noise was definitely coming from the direction of Poppy’s bedroom.

  Was it possible Poppy had somehow managed to talk the doctor into releasing him? She glanced at the clock on the nightstand, the luminous dial letting her know it was after one. Surely nobody would have released him in the middle of the night. It was more likely that Poppy had left on his own, slinking out like a thief in the dark. He could be so bullheaded at times.

  She ran lightly down the stairs, aided by the bright moonlight that flooded in the living room windows. As she gazed toward Poppy’s bedroom, she frowned in confusion. There were no lights on, but she saw the faint glow of a flashlight.

  “Poppy?” The single word fell from her lips.

  The flashlight whirled toward her, blinding her as it hit her eyes. She raised a hand in defense, but gasped as a big body collided with hers.

  The force of the collision lifted her off her feet and as she fell, the back of her head slammed into the floor and she knew no more.

  Chapter 4

  Benjamin sat in his easy chair in the living room and channel-surfed. It was late and he should be in bed, but he was too restless to sleep and it was all thanks to Edie Burnett. Something about the woman had him twisted in knots.

  He’d hated to tell her goodbye after dinner and was already eagerly anticipating going to Walt’s in the morning to see her again.

  It was a new feeling for him, this sweet anticipation, and one he’d never felt for a woman. It had heartbreak written all over it, but knowing that didn’t seem to make him cautious.

  He’d dated plenty over the past couple years but none of the women he’d seen had shot him full of the simmering excitement like Edie.

  But she claimed she wanted nothing to do with men. Or sex. He’d never met a candidate less likely for celibacy. Those lips of hers were made for kissing and her curves were meant to be stroked and loved.

  She definitely had some sharp edges that he guessed disillusionment had formed in her. It was that sharpness she used as a defense whenever he got too close.

  As they’d eaten dinner, more than once when she got uncomfortable with the conversation, she’d reached up and touched the charm hanging on a gold chain around her neck. The charm was a pair of angel wings that he guessed was a symbol of the mother she’d lost.

  He stroked Tiny’s soft fur as he changed the channel for the hundredth time and realized that television in the middle of the night sucked. Tiny released a long-su
ffering sigh, probably wondering why they were in the chair and not in bed.

  The ring of his cell phone jerked him upright. He fumbled in his pocket, pulled it out and answered.

  “Benjamin, can you come over here?”

  It took him a moment to recognize Edie’s voice. She sounded strange, stressed to the max and needy. “What’s wrong?”

  A small burst of laughter escaped her. “I think the aliens have landed.”

  His stomach clenched with nervous energy. “I’ll be right there.” He didn’t bother to ask her any more questions but instead hung up and was in his truck and headed to Walt’s within minutes.

  There was no question that something had happened, something that had her spooked enough to call him. He tightened his hands on the steering wheel as he sped down the dark deserted streets.

  At least he knew that whatever had happened, she was physically all right, at least enough to make the phone call to him. But emotionally she’d sounded fragile and he couldn’t get to her fast enough.

  When he pulled up the driveway, he saw her standing in the doorway. As he got out of his truck, she stepped on the porch. She was clad in a navy nightshirt that barely skimmed the tops of her thighs and her face was as pale as the moon overhead.

  “What happened?” he asked as he reached the porch.

  “Somebody was in the house, in Poppy’s bedroom. I was in bed asleep and I woke up when I heard the noise. I thought it was Poppy, that maybe he’d left the hospital.” She frowned and raised a hand to the back of her head.

  He took her by the arm and led her into the house and to the sofa. “Are you hurt?” he asked, a new knot in his chest growing bigger. Her skin was cool and her arm trembled beneath his hand.

  He wanted nothing more than to pull her against him and hold her tight until she was warm. But his first role was as a responding officer to a crime scene.

  “I hit my head,” she said. “He shoved past me and knocked me down and I hit my head on the floor.”

  He reached up and felt the back of her head and muttered a curse as he fingered the goose egg there. “We need to get you to the hospital and have that checked out,” he said as she waved him away from her.

  “It’s fine. I’m fine. I was just out for a minute or two.”

  “Out? You mean like unconscious?”

  She winced. “Stop shouting. I said I was okay.”

  Benjamin took a step backward, shocked as he realized he had been shouting and he’d never been a shouting kind of man in his life. He sat on the sofa next to her. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

  He listened and took notes as she told him about waking up and thinking Walt had come home. As she told him about seeing the intruder in Walt’s bedroom and that person slamming into her, his blood went cold.

  Thank God the intruder hadn’t used a gun. When he thought of all the horrible scenarios that might have occurred, he went weak in the knees with relief.

  “Did he take anything?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t go into the bedroom. When I came to, I just grabbed my purse from the kitchen counter and found your card.”

  He was grateful to see that some of the color was returning to her cheeks. “I’m going to call my brother and get him out here,” he said. “And I’ll see if I can rouse Dr. Drake to come over and examine you.”

  “That’s really not necessary,” she protested.

  “I think it is. It’s either see Dr. Drake here or head to the emergency room at the hospital. You were knocked unconscious. You need to be checked out.”

  She managed to glare at him. “You sound pretty bossy.”

  “At the moment I’m feeling pretty bossy.” As she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, he made his phone calls. When he was finished she raised her head once again to look at him.

  “Maybe it was somebody who heard through the grapevine that Poppy was in the hospital and decided to take advantage of the situation by robbing the place,” she said. “My car is in the garage. I don’t think the person knew I was here.”

  “That’s possible,” he agreed. “I’m going to check out Walt’s bedroom. I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll go with you.” She jumped up off the sofa and a flash of pain momentarily twisted her features.

  “Why don’t you sit and relax? It’s obvious you have a headache.” Once again he fought the impulse to take her into his arms.

  “I’d feel better staying with you.”

  Her words let him know just how spooked she still was. She followed close behind him and together they went into Walt’s room. “Don’t touch anything,” he cautioned as he used his elbow to turn on the light in the room.

  “Don’t worry,” she said drily.

  Two things struck Benjamin as he looked around the room. The first was that all the windows were still intact and locked, indicating the point of entry had been someplace else in the house. The second was that it was obvious somebody had been in the room. The papers that had been on top of the desk were now strewn across the floor. Drawers hung open with clothes spilling out and boxes had been pulled off the shelves in the closet.

  “If they were looking for something of value, they came to the wrong house,” Edie said.

  “Can you tell if anything is missing?” he asked.

  He watched as she gazed around the room and frowned. “Nothing that I can see. Wait…remember the camera that was on the desk? I don’t see it anywhere now.”

  He walked around the desk, checking the floor to see if perhaps the camera had fallen off, but it was nowhere to be seen.

  “What on earth has Poppy gotten himself involved in?” Edie asked softly.

  “I don’t know, but somehow we’re going to figure it out,” he replied.

  At that moment Tom arrived at the scene, followed closely by Dr. Drake. As the doctor examined Edie, Tom and Benjamin got to work processing the scene.

  The entry point was the front door, which held an old lock that had been jimmied open. Whoever had come in had apparently gone directly to Walt’s bedroom, for there was no indication that anything else had been disturbed.

  Dr. Drake pronounced that Edie probably had a mild concussion and would be fine and then he left. By that time Tom had dusted the front door for prints and Benjamin had dusted the bedroom. Benjamin had little hope of lifting anything. Whoever had broken in was probably smart enough to wear gloves.

  Edie had nothing to offer as far as what the person had looked like. It had been dark and everything had happened too fast. All she could be sure of was that he’d been big and dark and had hit her like an NFL tackle.

  It was after three when they had done all they could for the night and Tom left. Edie was curled up in one corner of the sofa, looking small and exhausted.

  Benjamin sat next to her. “How’s your head?”

  “Better than it was. At least now it’s down to a three-piece band instead of a full percussion orchestra.” She released a weary sigh.

  “You need to get a new lock on the front door. It probably wouldn’t hurt to put a new one on the back door, as well. I’ll get somebody to take care of it first thing in the morning.”

  “Thank you,” she replied. “I have to confess, I’m a little bit nervous about staying here all alone for the rest of the night without the locks fixed.”

  He knew better than to think she was issuing an invitation for him to spend the night with her, but he couldn’t stop the slight flush of heat that filled him at the very thought.

  “I guess you have two options,” he said, pleased that his voice sounded normal. “I can either take you to a motel for the rest of the night or I could stay here until morning.”

  She shot him a narrowed glance and he did everything possible to keep his features without any expression. The last thing he wanted her to think was that he was somehow taking advantage of the situation.

  Releasing another deep sigh, she sat up straighter. “I guess it would be stupid to go to a motel at th
is time of the night. I’ll get you some blankets and a pillow so you can bunk here on the sofa.”

  “Or, just for your information, I’ve been told I make a terrific snuggle buddy.”

  “Deputy Grayson, surely snuggle buddy isn’t in your job description,” she said as she rose to her feet.

  “It could be,” he replied as he also stood.

  “That’s so not happening,” she said. “But I might share a little conversation with you over a cup of tea before I turn in.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” he agreed easily. As he followed her into the kitchen, he admitted that he’d much prefer a place in her bed, but as she’d reminded him moments before—that was so not happening tonight.

  The hot tea didn’t quite banish the chill that had taken hold of Edie since the moment she’d come to on the living-room floor.

  “Talk to me, Benjamin, tell me more about the ranch where you live,” she said, needing something, anything to take her mind off the fact that somebody had been in the house while she’d been asleep and vulnerable.

  What might have happened if she hadn’t awakened when she did? Would the intruder have eventually crept up the stairs and found her? Would a simply robbery have escalated to something worse—her rape? Her murder?

  As Benjamin began to talk about his life at the ranch, his eyes took on the sparkle of a man who loved that life and his deep voice filled with a vibrancy that was vastly appealing.

  As he talked of cattle and horses and his daily routine when at home, she felt herself begin to finally relax. There was something solid about Benjamin and the life he led, something that reminded her of all the hopes she’d once possessed, all the dreams she’d once had for herself.

  She’d once wanted the kind of life he was describing, one of normal routine and peace, filled with the love of family and the kind of happiness that came from knowing where you belonged.

  It had been a long time since she’d felt as if she belonged anywhere. Looking back now, she recognized that there had always been a little part of her that had suspected Greg wasn’t the man for her. But she’d been desperate to be loved, tired of being alone and had clung to him despite her reservations.