Crime and Periodicals: Green Valley Library Book #2

by Romance, Smartypants

  She closed her eyes and rested her head against my chest.

  “Red velvet ladybug cupcakes,” Everett whispered. “This is so gross.” His hand got caught in his man-bun when he tried to run it through his hair, so he threw his arms out to the sides instead.

  “I called Wyatt,” Jackson said from the edge of the children’s area a safe distance away from the epicenter.

  “Red frosting makes Mel sick,” Mak informed me. She had found a book to read and sat down in Everett’s spot in the rocking chair. “She took them into the bathroom, Uncle Everett. I told you to check on her.”

  “I did check on her,” he argued. “She said she had to go potty real bad.”

  Mak looked at me, eyebrows up. “Mel is sneaky.”

  “Shut up, Mak,” Mel whispered. She wrapped her arms around my waist and snuggled closer, cuddling herself into me.

  “Are you sneaky, honey?” I grinned down at her upturned face.

  She scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

  Harry peered over my shoulder down at Mel. “She looks kind of sneaky, Riri.”

  Ruby picked up the garbage can. “I’ll hose this out. Can I go out the back, Aunt Sabrina?”

  “Yes, you can. Thank you, Ruby. My keys are on the counter up front.”

  “Men can’t handle it when it gets real.” She smirked at Everett as she passed him with the garbage can.

  “It’s probably because of the patriarchy,” Mak said without looking up from her book.

  Jackson barked out a laugh from behind us, just as Wyatt came running through the front door.

  “Where is she?” The concern in his voice touched my heart. What a good dad. What a good, hot, sexy dad.

  “I’ve got her. I think she’s okay now,” I called to him.

  I looked up as he sank to his knees across from Mel and me.

  “Thank you, Sabrina.” A small smile crossed his face as he reached for Mel and she pulled herself closer to me instead of going to him.

  “I like Sabrina,” she said.

  “I like you too, angel,” I told her and smoothed her bouncy curls back only to watch them spring forward again into her face. Adorable.

  “I’m sorry, Wyatt. I didn’t know she couldn’t eat red frosting. I feel terrible.” Everett knelt alongside Wyatt. “I’m sorry, Mel,” he added.

  “It’s okay, Uncle Everett. You told me not to, but they were pretty and delicious, and I love ladybugs. I think it was worth it,” she sighed.

  “Hey, Wyatt. Take the girls home,” Jackson said. “I’ll go into the station and cover the rest of your shift. Will you hold onto those books for me, Sabrina?”

  I nodded and Wyatt thanked Jackson as he left.

  “She needs Grandma Essie’s rainbow soup,” Harry declared. “Grandma said it will cure what ails you. Throwing up is very ailing. I always eat the soup after I barf. We should bring her some later.” He nodded sagely.

  “I want the soup. I need the soup. I am feeling very aily, and rainbows sound delicious.” Mel looked up over my shoulder and answered Harry.

  “I’ll bring you a Creeper plushie too,” Harry said decisively. “Don’t worry, they only explode in the game. Do you like Minecraft?”

  “Uh…maybe she just needs to go home and rest, Harry,” I protested.

  “We have soup in the freezer,” Ruby butted in as she entered with the hosed-out garbage can and a smug smile that she shot in my direction.

  Wyatt grinned at me, complete with the eye-crinkle and the dimple. “Would you like to come over later? Bring Harry and the soup and I’ll make grilled cheese to go with it? It looks like I won’t be able to take you to the Front Porch tonight. Not after this. Everett won’t be able to handle it if she blows again. And my mother is down with a migraine.”

  “Hey!” Everett looked offended for a minute. “Nah, you’re right. The sight of those cupcakes coming back up almost made me throw up too. Like the blueberry pie barf-o-rama in Stand by Me.”

  “Well…” I started, but Ruby cut me off.

  “She’ll be there, with the soup and Harry. I’ll go home and defrost it right now. Come on, Harry.” Ruby held out her hand.

  Harry rushed over and took her hand. “Bye, Mak and Mel. Bye, Sheriff Wyatt. Bye, Sheriff Wyatt’s brother Everett. Bye, Riri. I will see you tonight.”

  “Bye, Harry.” I waved as Ruby led him out of the library.

  I guess we were going to have dinner with Wyatt and his girls tonight.

  Our date was broken just like I thought it would be. Only I wasn’t sad about it at all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Wyatt

  Dinner at the Front Porch had turned into dinner at my place. I cringed when I remembered the mess I’d left the house in this morning. I had a few hours to straighten up. God, what did a sweet girl like her want with a guy like me? Divorced, raising two daughters alone in a house that I couldn’t even manage to keep clean. I was a deputy sheriff, not someone prestigious like her orthopedic surgeon father. I couldn’t give her the kinds of things she was probably used to having. The kinds of things my ex-wife had wanted so badly that she was willing to lie, cheat, and abandon our daughters to get.

  I glanced in the rearview mirror. Mel had fallen asleep in her booster seat with her head tipped back and mouth wide open and Mak was reading one of the books she’d just checked out. “Wait until we get home to read, ladybug, or you’ll end up getting carsick,” I told her. One barfing daughter was all I could handle at a time.

  “Okay, Daddy.” I heard the book snap shut. “I’ll help you clean up when we get home. I like Miss Sabrina. Can she be your girlfriend now?”

  I tried not to react in a way that would give her too much hope. But I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. I was thrilled that the girls seemed to like her so much. “I like her too, and I don’t know yet. How would you feel about that?”

  “I would like it. I think Mel would too. Miss Sabrina was nice when Mel threw up, not all grossed out like Mom gets.” My heart sank. My ex-wife was not a warm person. Even when they were babies, she was never the type of mother to cuddle and coo over the girls. I had done my best to give them all the hugs, encouragement, and love they needed but I always feared it wasn’t enough.

  What would it be like to have someone like Sabrina to come home to? Someone sweet like her, to warm my house and fill it with love. Someone to warm my bed at night. Someone who would let me love her.

  When I first saw her in the back of that Jeep I thought, that’s her. I thought I’d found the one for me. Crazy, right? To have such thoughts at first sight. Thoughts like that would get me into trouble if I wasn’t careful. I couldn’t let myself take a leap before I got a good look at what I was jumping into.

  I pulled into my garage and shut off the engine.

  Mel woke up when the truck stopped. “Daddy, I’m sleepy. Can I watch Fancy Nancy and wear your robe on the couch?” Mel loved to wrap up in the old flannel robe my mother had bought for me when I left for college.

  “Sure, you can.”

  I laughed as Mel unbuckled herself and ran to the door. “My tummy is empty. I need rainbow soup and Goldfish crackers.” She crossed her legs and bounced up and down in place, “Hurry, Daddy. I have to peeeeeeee.”

  I rushed to the door and threw it open in front of her after I unlocked it. She darted in and ran for the bathroom.

  “You shouldn’t let her watch Fancy Nancy. She tricked Uncle Everett and locked herself in the bathroom with, like, five cupcakes. I told her not to do it,” Mak informed me. She was like a little mother, more than a big sister. Guilt filled my mind when I thought of all the growing up she had to do after the divorce.

  I heaved out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll talk to her. Again.” Mel was a sneaky little thing and cupcakes were her kryptonite. She’d do anything to get her hands on one—or five, apparently. Even risk throwing up. Red food coloring was also her kryptonite.

  Mak entered the house, hung her backpack and jacket on the
hook, and immediately started filling the pink toy box with the toys that had not been put away last night…or the night before…or ever. “Thanks, Mak.”

  She turned and beamed at me. “We should make dessert, too. I want Miss Sabrina to like it here.”

  I want her to like it here too.

  “Sure, I think we have banana pudding stuff. How’s that?” I couldn’t bake for shit, but I could mix stuff in a bowl and assemble it.

  “Good. Everybody likes banana pudding,” she answered and stuck her hand out for a high-five. We smacked palms and I headed down the hall to change clothes.

  “I’ll be right back to help,” I called.

  Between Mak and me, we got the house picked up, the table set, and the banana pudding made. Mel lounged on the couch watching cartoons the whole time. Sometimes it was just easier to let her be. I tried to save taking the easy way with Mel for emergencies because it wasn’t fair to Mak. Having dinner guests was not exactly an emergency, but it was important. Plus, she did throw up today—even if it was her own fault.

  “How much longer?” Mak asked once we’d finished.

  “Any minute now.” We grinned at each other when we heard the knock at the door.

  “They’re here!” Mel screamed from the living room before running toward the front door and throwing it open.

  Sabrina stood there with Harry. She was in jeans and a snug red sweater. It took a lot for me to take my eyes off that sweater. Every other time I’d seen her she was in various skirts and loose cardigans, high-heeled shoes, and headbands. Her white Converse sneakers and softly tousled hair were… She was gorgeous, and I was struck dumb. Was this what she wore when she wasn’t at the library? Because, yes please. I wanted to get my hands in those black waves that flowed like a shiny midnight river over her shoulder. I wanted to feel those jeans-clad legs wrap around my waist as I kissed her. I wanted…too much, too soon. She was an irresistible mixture of sexy and sweet. But I sensed that she was still mostly sweet. I wanted to be the one to discover that sexy side and flip the balance. I just wanted her. Stop it, Monroe.

  “Harry! Come watch cartoons!” Mel yelled and tugged Harry into the house.

  “Maybe Harry doesn’t want to watch cartoons, Mel. Maybe he wants to play video games with me,” Mak said from the edge of the entryway.

  “I like cartoons and I like video games too,” he said with a huge smile lighting up his face. He turned and looked up at Sabrina. “They like cartoons and video games just like I do, Riri. What do I do?”

  She tousled his hair. “You can do both. Maybe cartoons first, since Mel asked first? Does that sound okay with you, Mak?”

  Mak nodded. She had grown shy at their arrival.

  I stepped back, reaching for the bag she was carrying. “Come on in. Let me take that for you.”

  “Thank you. We just need to heat it up.” She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

  “Follow me.” I grinned at her and headed into the kitchen to put the soup on. I opened the bag and pulled out a plush doll that was sitting on top. It looked like a green penis with a face. “What’s this? Did the Incredible Hulk lose something?”

  She blushed. “Oh, it’s for Mel. It’s from Minecraft. It’s a Creeper. Harry wanted to give it to her.” Sabrina called him over and handed him the Creeper.

  I was used to girly toys. Barbie dolls and Beanie Boos and Shopkins that hurt when you stepped on them with your bare feet. I found myself wondering what it would be like to have a little boy around. Would Harry be interested in things like tossing a ball out in the yard or catching fish at Sky Lake? I knew there were girls that liked that stuff too. I just had two girls that were not.

  “Oh, yeah. Mel, I brought you a present because you threw up in the garbage can. It’s a Creeper. It will blow up the barf germs.” Harry handed it to her and made explosion sounds.

  “Thanks.” Mel took it and examined it with a scrunched-up face. “Um, I don’t know if I can love it though, Harry. It’s not cute like my other plushies. It’s not even ugly-cute like my Ugly Doll.”

  “Just try your best,” Harry advised.

  Mel hugged it to her chest. “I will try so hard. I’ll put it with my Beanie Boos. They can help it be cute. Y’all, come on!” She ran off down the hall to her room. Harry and Mak followed her.

  “Hello.” I smiled at Sabrina. It felt like so long ago when I’d kissed her at Genie’s Bar. I wanted to do it again. I wanted to erase that awkwardness that had sprung up between us after that morning in the parking lot of the Dragon Biker Bar.

  “Hi,” she breathed. Her head tipped forward and her smile softened.

  I reached out for the curve of her waist and pulled her closer with both hands. Invisible strings pulled us closer until her palms met my chest and slid up and my lips met her lips to press down for a quick kiss. We closed the distance between us until I could feel her against me. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. I hoped I wasn’t being too forward, but I couldn’t help myself.

  She pulled back and stepped out of my arms. “I guess this means you aren’t mad at me?” She studied my face obviously waiting for me to answer.

  My eyebrows shot up. “I’m not mad at you. Why would you think that?”

  She turned red. “Um, we barely talked at Daisy’s and you said we had to talk when I saw you at Genie’s. And I went to the Dragon Bar and, uh…”

  “I’m sorry I made you think I was mad at you. My mother texted me when we were at Daisy’s to tell me she had a migraine. I had to get Everett to watch the girls—I should have just told you. And we do have to talk, it’s important. We have to talk about situational awareness and personal safety. I want to make sure you stay safe, Sabrina.”

  Her eyes got huge. “That’s it? That’s what you wanted to talk to me about?” Then she laughed and kept on laughing. She covered her mouth and looked away. “I drove myself crazy. I thought you…”

  I touched her cheek and gently turned her face to mine. “What did you think?”

  “Um, never mind what I thought,” she whispered. “I guess I was wrong.”

  “I’m sorry, darlin’.”

  “It’s okay. Now,” she murmured.

  “Good, because we have to reschedule our date. I owe you dinner at the Front Porch.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to take me there. Maybe we can go to Daisy’s or Genie’s. The Front Porch is so fancy it makes me kind of nervous.”

  I smiled at her. Huge. The Front Porch was too fancy for her? It was too fancy for me too. Maybe I didn’t have to worry about giving her what she was used to. Maybe she wanted something I could offer her. “We can go wherever you like. I just want to spend time with you.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sabrina

  I didn’t know what to think. So I decided to stop thinking. He wasn’t mad at me now and he never had been. That was what I decided to take away from our conversation in the kitchen. I’d take that and the kiss and hold on to the feelings they gave me to use whenever I doubted him. Or myself.

  Dinner went by just fine. We were eating food Harry was used to, so he didn’t have a problem with it. The girls were sweet and adorable and did their best to make Harry and me feel welcome. Now we were all in Wyatt’s living room watching The Princess Bride and I was about to combust with the lust that burned through my body like the fuse on a stick of dynamite. I was lusty and giddy and in danger of making a fool of myself.

  The kids were sprawled out on the floor, submerged in piles of pillows and blankets. Wyatt was next to me on the couch, his hard thigh close to mine and his arm draped across the back of the cushions. He wasn’t touching me with that arm or that thigh, but I could feel his warmth against my skin. It would take nothing at all for me to just lean to the side a bit and press myself against him. I wanted to so bad. I found myself wanting a lot of things right now. I wanted to be alone with him. I wanted to crawl into his lap and kiss him. I wanted all the things I’d been dreaming about and used to be so scare
d of. But I didn’t feel scared right now. I felt amazing. Something about Wyatt felt right. Something about him had unlocked something in me and made me feel free to be myself. Or maybe it was just the combination of me being ready for a change and running into the right person. I didn’t even care. I just wanted to hold on to this feeling. It felt a lot like hope.

  “Harry, don’t look.” Mel surged out of the blankets and covered Harry’s eyes as the rodents of unusual size appeared on the screen. “Oh, no, Mak! My hands are busy, cover my eyes!” she shrieked.

  Mak sighed and sat up to cover Mel’s eyes.

  “Do I need to cover your eyes?” Wyatt whispered to me with an adorable flirty sideways smile.

  I turned to him and nodded. Covering my eyes equaled touching and I was all for that.

  He chuckled and let that arm on the back of the couch drape over my shoulders as he placed his warm palm over my eyes. Thankfully, I was wearing my contacts. I took the opportunity to lean into his side. Now my thigh pressed against his, his arm was around me, and I was definitely going to combust because this was even awesomer than I thought it would be.

  He moved his hand from my eyes but didn’t move his body away from mine. We watched the rest of the movie like that. Until I grew used to being next to him, comfortable and warm. He reached over and took my hand. As he held it against his leg, I realized that I was no longer nervous around him. My heart pounded like crazy. My face flushed and I grew flustered, but it was not out of fear or embarrassment. It was out of anticipation and desire. I was both comfortable and exceedingly uncomfortable around him. I couldn’t help but think the uncomfortable part would go away once we knew each other better. Maybe after we spent more time alone.

  He lifted my hand to his mouth, turned it over, and kissed the inside of my wrist. I felt his lips linger on my pulse point. The little fluttering pulse in my wrist soon flooded my blood elsewhere and I squirmed in my seat. My eyes drifted shut and I wanted more. I wanted more of his mouth on my body and I was not particular about where he should put it.