“Why, are you planning on being wicked?” There was definitely a flirty look in his eyes.
“I might. There’s a field or two out there just dying for a crop circle.”
She said it in a playful way, but his face immediately changed. Gone was the frisky look. In its place was a grim, disapproving smile. She’d apparently said the wrong thing.
He glanced down the street, then back at her. “Luanne, you can’t be pulling those stunts around town.”
“Well, I wouldn’t do it in town,” she said lightly. “I’d have to do it in a field.”
“You know what I mean. If I catch you, I’d have to arrest you. These Jane stunts are dangerous and you shouldn’t be doing them.”
She rolled her eyes. They were not dangerous. “Remind me not to tell you about them, then.”
He looked like he wanted to protest, but bit it back.
They stared at each other for a long minute, and Luanne felt awkward. Man, mention one crop circle around a guy and he got all stiff and unhappy. It was like he hated her job. But if that was the case, then why was he going out with her? Did he even want to go out with her?
She had to know. “I had fun last night,” she said, drawing the conversation back to safer topics.
The smile returned to his mouth. “Me, too. We still on for dinner?”
“I thought you were working tonight?” She trailed a finger along the door of the squad car. “How come you’re working now?”
“Picking up an extra shift. I didn’t lie to you.”
She laughed. “Of course you didn’t lie to me, silly. I was just curious.”
His ears flushed a little, and her heart melted just a tiny bit. “Of course. I’m sorry. In my line of work it’s just…well, honesty is really important. That’s all.”
She winked at him. “I’ll keep that in mind. And I’ll see you tonight?”
“I’ll be there.”
One week later
As was her habit, Luanne woke up early, grabbed a coffee, and then opened her laptop. She went immediately to her web page to check her page hits. She scanned her traffic statistics—up from last week. That was good. She’d uploaded the first cow tipping video last night, and she scrolled through the comments. No surprise, it was a hit. It seemed the more ridiculous the situation she put herself into, the more popular the video was.
Check out the hottie in the uniform, one of the commenters said. What city is this in and can I get myself some of that man meat?
Sorry, ladies, she thought. Officer Man Meat is claimed. She sipped her coffee and then clicked on the video, fast-forwarding until Hank came into frame. She paused it and studied his intense frown and his big body for a long moment with pleasure.
They’d seen each other every day this past week. He’d moved a few shifts around so he could take her out for dinner, and when he hadn’t been able to do that, they’d met for breakfast instead. He had the day off today, so they were going fishing. Which sounded absurd to think about—one didn’t go fishing on a date, after all—but she was looking forward to it a bit too much for her own good. There was just something about Hank and his good-natured country boy attitude that appealed to the city girl in her.
Plus, she was pretty sure she could come up with some sort of fishing stunt to use for her video blog. Just what, she wasn’t exactly sure yet, but given time, she’d come up with a good concept that was sure to bring hits. She was good at that.
She hadn’t had much time to work on her blog this week, she realized with surprise. She set aside her coffee mug and picked up her favorite jeans from the floor, scrutinizing them for a moment. With a shrug, she slipped them on and reached for her favorite tank top. There hadn’t been one single call about chupacabra—which was unusual, given the small-town nature of this place and the two-hundred-dollar reward she was offering to talk to an eyewitness. Surely there had to be a town drunk somewhere who was willing to make up a good, credible story. She’d put out more flyers last night on a few telephone poles just in case. She could always hire an actor or pay someone, but she preferred “real” eyewitnesses. Mostly because they were much better liars on camera than a buddy who was reading woodenly from a script.
Luanne tugged her hair into a ponytail and checked her face. No makeup. Ah well. It was just fishing, and last night he’d kissed off all of her makeup when they’d made out in his truck, so this would do. Just thinking about kissing Hank made her flush with pleasure. For a tall, lanky country boy who modestly claimed he hadn’t dated much, the man could kiss like a fiend.
She really couldn’t object to a talent like that, especially when she benefited from it.
Sliding on a pair of sandals, she tucked her ID and a few bucks into her jeans pocket, along with her cellphone. As soon as she picked up her phone, however, it buzzed with an incoming text.
Gonna be late, Hank sent. Dad can’t figure out how to work one of the new computer programs again. I’m heading there first and I’ll be over in about a half hour.
A smile curved her mouth. Another station computer emergency? They seemed to have one daily. Luanne thought it was ironic that the police station employed five men, and not a single one seemed to know how to do a thing with a computer.
I’ll meet you there, she sent back, and headed down the stairs of the house.
Emily glanced up at her from a chair in the living room, still wearing her robe and fuzzy slippers. A large wallpaper sample book was perched in her lap, and she glanced at the clock when Luanne headed for the front door. “Where are you going so early?”
“Hank’s taking me fishing.”
Em snorted and flipped a page. “You sure have been seeing him a lot. Aren’t you supposed to be blogging? Doesn’t that take up all your spare time?”
Luanne looked at her sister guiltily. Okay, she might have mentioned that editing the video blogs was time-consuming (a lie) so she could get out of going tile shopping with her sister. But really, tile shopping? Boring. “I still have two weeks’ worth of videos to post before I run out. There’s plenty of time to edit up the next video.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Really. Plenty of time. I’m rounding up witnesses for my chupacabra segment as we speak.”
“Uh huh.”
She lifted her chin. “And if you know of someone that’s willing to shave his poodle and have it guest star on a grainy video as a chupacabra, you let me know. Tell him I’ll pay well.”
Em rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”
Luanne grinned at her sister. “What? It’s good money.”
“It sounds crazy. Your entire job is crazy, Luanne,” Emily said, an argument that Luanne had heard a jillion times before. “I’m surprised that police officer you’ve been dating approves of your stunts.”
She shrugged. “Hank hasn’t said that he minds them,” she lied. He just had an enormous, silent scowl on his face every time her job was brought up. That wasn’t exactly saying that he minded.
“Ha. Likely. Sharps are law-abiding citizens, through and through. That man probably goes the speed limit in school zones and has never met a red light he didn’t come to a complete stop at. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken it upon himself to keep you busy just so you can’t stir up the locals.” Emily waved her fingers at Luanne in a shooing motion. “Have fun and try to catch dinner.”
“Hope you’re hungry for minnow,” Luanne called as she opened the front door.
“Yum yum,” her sister called back before the door shut.
Luanne bounded down the porch, smiling at her sister’s teasing. Em came across as a cranky older sister, but the teasing was simply affection. Em was a motherer, and since she’d gotten divorced a while back, Luanne figured that she didn’t have anyone to mother but her. She began to walk to the police station.
And frowned to herself, just a little.
It seemed ludicrous that Hank would insist on taking her out every night just to keep her busy and out of trouble…didn’t
it?
* * *
“Lord ’a mercy,” one of the cops drawled as she walked through the door. “It’s the Legend of Jane.”
Hank’s head shot up over one of the computers in the back, a scowl on his face.
Luanne sighed. So not a good sign. But she pasted a bright smile to her face and greeted the cop at the front desk who was staring at her with obvious delight. “That’s me.”
“My kids love your blog!” The man took off his baseball cap, wiped his forehead, and then replaced his hat with a grin. “That time you went cliff diving to try and get a bald eagle egg? We all laughed our asses off. It was terrific. You’re one wild girl. Where’s your glitter makeup today?”
She smiled at him, feeling a bit weary of the attention. “I don’t wear it unless I’m filming.” Like she normally trotted around town in glittery pink eye makeup?
He looked crestfallen. “Oh. I’d love to get a picture with you for my kids, but I don’t know if they’ll recognize you without your getup. You’re a tall one, though.” He whistled and stared up at her. “Don’t look nearly so tall on camera.”
“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.
The Legend of Jane Page 4