“Yes!” he said, pumping his fist in the air. “The freshman and sophomore student council members had to sell these mugs with Jude Law’s face plastered all over them, and you could fill it with a small gift or whatever and send the cup to anyone in school. She sent one to me with an invitation to the dance, so I said yes. That doesn’t change that I had my sights set on someone else. But every time I saw you in the hall or the cafeteria and attempted eye contact, you’d look away or talk to someone else and pretend like you didn’t see me.” He paused for a moment, then added, “I’m not sure if you remember, but it was a small school. And I like to think I had a bit of a presence when I entered a room.”
She scoffed, but he continued.
“It was pretty obvious you wanted nothing to do with me, so after a while I stopped trying.”
She took the final step to close the distance between them, then exhaled a long breath.
“I looked away whenever you were nearby,” she said, “because I was afraid if I actually made eye contact that you’d know.”
“Know what?” he asked.
“That like almost every other girl in school, I had a crush on the golden boy, Peyton Cooper.” She shook her head and buried her face in her hands before setting her gaze on his again. “I swore that after…” She shook her head again. “Forget it. I’m not the same girl I was then.”
Peyton reached his hand toward her face, afraid he might spook her into leaving. But she didn’t move, so he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.
“And I’m not the same guy.”
She wrapped her palm around his wrist, lowering his hand.
Dammit. He’d spooked her.
“I still don’t agree with your views on the lights parade. Or what you think of Meadow Valley’s time and investment in its festivals in general,” she said.
He nodded. “Agree to disagree, then,” he replied. “I can live with that.”
“And whatever either of us felt in high school, that was then. Promise me you won’t bring it up again.”
He’d thought they’d made some sort of a breakthrough, realizing that their attraction had a history. For both of them. But the finality in her tone said otherwise.
He nodded once more. She hadn’t left yet. So he waited. He’d liked her then, even more so now, and hoped that he hadn’t blown it completely.
She let go of his wrist and blew out a breath before extending her right hand.
“So let’s start fresh. Hi. I’m Deputy Daniela Garcia. It’s nice to meet you.”
Peyton smiled and shook her hand. “Mayor Peyton Cooper,” he said. “But you can call me Coop. When it’s just you and me.”
She bit her bottom lip, and good lord, it made him want to do the exact same thing.
“Do you anticipate it being just you and me often?” she asked.
He shrugged, though his heart was beating a mile a minute. “I think that depends on how compatible we are when it comes to greetings other than shaking hands.”
She swallowed. “Are you going to kiss me, Mr. Mayor?”
“If you’ll let me, Deputy,” he said.
And she did.
Her arms wrapped around his torso, and he dipped his head. In the space of a breath, her lips were on his, and his hands were in her delicious-scented hair, cradling her head in his palms, and it was everything that had been missing from his hollow life for the past year.
Her lips parted in a smile against his as he savored the taste of her on his tongue, the cherry-almond air that enveloped them.
“Just for the record,” he whispered, barely taking his lips off hers. “You said I was cute before I said you were beautiful.”
She laughed softly. “Less talking and more kissing, please.”
He rested his forehead against hers, unable to erase his own smile from his lips. “Call me Coop again,” he said softly.
He liked his nickname when she said it. It made him feel like part of the old him was still there. It made him feel like he wasn’t alone, simply trying to get through what was once his favorite time of the year.
“Coop,” she said, then kissed him again.
“Dani,” he answered back, their kisses moving from sweet and patient to somewhere more urgent and full of a shared need.
“Coop, I…”
He waited for what came next, for her to kiss him again and again. Hell, he could kiss this woman until the sun came up if she’d let him.
But she let go of him and took a step away, her lips swollen and cheeks flushed.
“I can’t,” she said, and then grabbed her jacket from the back of one of his chairs, threw it on, and bolted through the door.
He stood there stunned, not moving for several long seconds.
She’d called him cute.
She’d initiated, so he knew she wanted to kiss him when they started.
She’d called him Coop. Twice.
He grabbed his phone from his desk, readying himself to call her—then realized he didn’t have her number. She’d said she lived with Casey over the tavern. He could show up at her apartment like some stalker. And then what?
You’ve been out of the game too long, Coop. You have no idea how to do this.
So he collapsed into one of the guest chairs facing his desk, in a room framed with bright white lights, and scrubbed a hand over his jaw.
What had he done wrong?
He had absolutely no clue. All he knew was that he had kissed Deputy Daniela Garcia, and he really wanted to do it again.
Chapter Five
Dani slapped the crisp twenty-dollar bill into Deputy Crawford’s palm.
“So, are we completely done with coin tosses?” he asked.
She nodded. “You keep winning. I’m just trying to keep things fair. Plus, I have better things to do when I’m off duty than work.”
Teddy laughed. “Like what? Your idea of enjoyment is working. Especially when it involves prepping for the lights parade. You love this stuff. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you live for it. So what’s the deal, Garcia? The sheriff and I got our lights up the first night, so all that leaves for you is—”
“A quiet night at home,” she interrupted. “Casey’s working, so I have the whole place to myself. And don’t you go thinking that a few lights mean the Sheriff’s Department is done. I have ideas. Things in the works. But tonight is all about me time, even if I have to pay for it.”
And since being on call rarely ever amounted to any sort of law enforcement activity, it also meant a hot bath, a cup of tea, and whatever was on Netflix that she hadn’t yet watched. “I can relax, you know,” she added. “Also, I may head out to the Everything Store in the morning and see if I can’t find something to make our little building stand out more this year.”
“It’s not a competition,” Teddy said.
“I know,” she replied. “But it still is. A little. And while I appreciate you and Sheriff Thompson hanging the same twinkling icicle lights we hang every year, it’s not enough. You and Sheriff Thompson fight me on this every year, but I’m tired of using the excuse that our building is literally crumbling to keep us from doing it up big like everyone else does. This year we’re upping the ante. If the Everything Store can transform its facade into a new Disney character every year, shouldn’t we be able to do more than generic twinkle lights?”
Teddy raised a brow. “Mayor Cooper got under your skin with the whole ‘The square’s not part of the parade’ bit, didn’t he?”
Dani huffed out a breath. Of course it had gotten to her. Sheriff Thompson had used the same reasoning last year. Sure, he’d thrown something in about the structural soundness—or the lack thereof—as far as keeping anything weight-bearing off the roof, but twinkle lights? Twinkle lights when the Everything Store would likely ignite with the likeness of Elsa or Anna? Not this year, folks.
“Mayor Cooper did no such thing,” she lied. And he certainly hadn’t gotten under her skin with that kiss either.
Tedd
y shrugged. “Suit yourself. But I’m guessing the store is cleaned out of holiday lights by now.” He folded the twenty and stuck it in the pocket of his jacket. “This is the second night in a row you’ve paid me off, and Mayor Cooper has stopped by the office twice in the past two days, which is two more times than he’s been here since he blew back into town. Are you sure there’s nothing else to this?”
Dani zipped up her jacket and put her hat on her head.
“Mayor Cooper was here? I didn’t realize,” she lied. Of course she knew he’d stopped by. She’d seen him through the window by her desk each time he strode down the town hall steps. And each time she’d found a reason to slip out the back door before he made it to their office.
I just saw Sam Everett outside with Scout. I’m going to go bring her a dog treat.
Casey just texted. Locked her keys in her truck. I’m going to go jimmy her out.
There’d been no dog, though Dani did love that pit bull. And—you guessed it—Casey had never texted. But Dani couldn’t face Coop—er, Mayor Cooper—after running out on him the other night. After kissing him. After he kissed her back.
That kiss was—wow.
She’d been kissed by men before. Some of them had even made her weak in the knees. But Peyton Cooper? In her wildest dreams—and she’d had a few—she couldn’t have imagined the electricity or the way her heart would pound. She couldn’t have known it would be everything she never knew she was missing.
Him saying he had a crush on her in high school was nothing more than a line. And it had worked—until his lips touched hers and everything came flooding back. The stupid Christmas Graham. The invitation to the dance. Dani putting her fragile teenage heart on the line and him being so sure it was anyone other than her.
It was silly. She was a grown woman now—a confident grown woman who knew what she had to offer. But when Peyton Cooper was nearby, it brought her straight back to that ego-shattering day.
“Hellooo? Garcia?”
She heard her partner’s voice like he was trying to speak underwater.
She blinked, and his words and her surroundings came back into focus.
“Huh?” she asked. “What was I saying?”
Teddy crossed his arms and leaned back in his desk chair with an accusatory grin.
“I don’t know, Deputy,” he said, then kicked his feet onto the top of his desk, crossing one steel-toed boot over the other. “You said Mayor Cooper’s name and then got all far off and dreamy-eyed.”
Dani glared at him. “I was not—I don’t get dreamy-eyed.”
Deputy Crawford glanced out the window. “Speak of the devil. Here comes Mr. Mayor right now.”
Dani gasped. “He’s what?” She slapped her palms down on her side of the desk so she could lean forward and get a better look. Her heart raced, and her stomach rose high into her throat.
But the square was vacant.
“You’re the worst,” she said through gritted teeth, straightening to her full height.
Teddy chuckled. “And you, my friend, are very concerned about Mayor Cooper’s whereabouts and making sure your whereabouts are, well, as far from his as possible.”
Before she could give him a piece of her mind, a loud thump sounded behind her. She spun, palm on the gun in her holster, then let out a breath when she saw the culprit—drywall from the water-damaged ceiling that had crashed to the floor.
Teddy was standing beside her, hand on his own weapon and ready to back up his partner if backup was needed.
“Everything all right out here?” Sheriff Thompson said as he poked his head out of his office.
Dani groaned. “Just another piece of the ceiling deciding it’s had enough.”
The sheriff pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m trying,” he said. “But the budget is tight.”
“What about the Everett brothers, Sam and Ben?” Teddy asked. “They built that whole ranch with their bare hands. I bet they wouldn’t charge you any more than the cost of materials and maybe their time.”
Sheriff Thompson sighed. “They’re good men,” he said. “And I’m sure you’re right. If I asked, they’d step up. But they’re running a twenty-four-hour business. They have their hands full with that. And after their father’s recent passing, the holidays are going to be hard enough. I don’t want to add to their burden.”
Dani’s heart squeezed. She couldn’t imagine losing a parent, not like that. Her father leaving her mother when she was a teen was devastating, and even though she still blamed him, was still so angry at him, he was alive. Maybe one day, when she was ready, things would be different. But the matter at hand right now was the Sheriff’s Department.
“Can I ask you something, Sheriff?” Dani asked.
The man let out a chuckle. “Would it matter if I said no?”
“No,” Dani said matter-of-factly. “Why is it that we get the short end of the stick? The fire department is state-of-the-art. They even have a gym out in back. And the town hall…Don’t even get me started on the over-the-top decor going on over there. But we sit here, day in and day out, with rusting cells and a falling ceiling.”
“Mayor Grady,” Teddy said from behind her. “May he rest in peace and all that, but we all know he was terrible with finances.”
“Which was pretty much his whole job,” Dani added. “Allocating tax dollars.”
The sheriff held up his hand. “Look, we’re not going to speak ill of the dead.” Dani opened her mouth to protest, but he continued, “Even if you’re both right. We just need to move forward. I’ve been meeting with Mayor Cooper this week—”
“What about?” Dani jumped in. “Unless…You were just about to tell us that, which you were. Of course you were. I’ll just zip it from here on out.” She mimed zipping her lips, then noticed her pulse quicken and her palms dampen at another mention of Mayor Cooper, and she decided her me time should really start now before her physiological reaction to the man in question gave her partner any more fuel with which to rib her about her two-year crush. “But actually,” she added, quick to ignore the zipping of said lips, “I’m officially off the clock and on call, so I am going to skedaddle and keep on keeping on, and I’ll see you two gentlemen tomorrow.”
She spun on her heel and headed toward the door before she could gauge either one’s reaction.
Skedaddle? Keep on keeping on?
What was the matter with her?
Mayor Peyton Cooper and his stupid kiss and his stupid I’m just doing this mayor thing until I figure out my next move attitude. Ugh. Dani wasn’t some consolation prize for a man who fell into a job he clearly didn’t intend to keep long-term. And she had no intention of letting him humiliate her again.
No thank you.
It was just a kiss. She’d get over it just like she’d gotten over her two-year crush on the guy. She wasn’t some head-in-the-clouds teen anymore. She was a grown woman. A practical, doesn’t-waste-time-on-unavailable-men-who-don’t-truly-value-her woman. And just like Peyton Cooper’s time in Meadow Valley would eventually pass, so, too, would whatever this was. Not that it was anything.
Just a kiss.
A ground-shaking, bone-melting, hot-as-hell kiss that she barely even remembered after two days.
She laughed as she strode out of the square and down First Street toward Midtown Tavern and her apartment. And she glanced back toward the town hall only once.
Okay, twice.
Fine. It was three times. Not that she’d admit that to anyone if they asked.
When Dani got there, she thought about stopping into Midtown to catch up with her roommate, but a hot bath and a cup of tea sounded much more appealing, so she headed straight upstairs and through her apartment door.
She dropped her hat and keys on the small table inside the entrance—their catchall for mail, flyers, and whatever else didn’t have a specific storage space—and hung her jacket in the front hall closet. Then she stepped into the small galley kitchen, grabbed the teakettle from the blu
e and white tile countertop, filled it with water, and plugged it in to heat up.
Next, she made her way to her bathroom. One of the perks of the apartment was its setup. To the right of the kitchen was Dani’s bedroom and bathroom. To the left, Casey’s. The only rooms they shared were the kitchen and the living room.
She turned on the water, closed the drain, and dropped a eucalyptus-spearmint bath bomb into the tub. She kicked off her work boots and stripped out of her clothes, leaving it all in a heap on the bathroom rug as the tub filled. Then she strode barefoot and, well, bare everything back into the kitchen just in time for the kettle to whistle that it was ready.
She rifled through her tea box, not for one second worried about anyone walking in on her naked in the kitchen. Another perk of the roommate setup and their alternating schedules.
Chai won the silent debate in her head. Only decaf for the evenings, or else she’d never sleep, which would make getting up for tomorrow’s run so much more painful than it should be. She knew it would be a quiet night. It always was. And she wanted to get in a good six hours of sleep before her 4:30 a.m. wake-up call.
Mug in hand, she padded back to the bathroom and set her tea on the side of the tub before climbing into the steaming, fragrant water.
She lowered herself into what could only be described as pure and utter bliss. When the water reached its optimum level—just covering her breasts—she used her toe to turn the faucet off, closed her eyes, and sighed.
This—this was better than decorating a town hall that didn’t want to be decorated with a mayor who likely saw her as a fun fling until he decided what to do next.
So why was she thinking about the Meadow Valley town hall and Mayor Peyton Cooper when she had eucalyptus, spearmint, and chai?
She took a sip of her tea, blew out a long breath, and closed her eyes.
Clear your head, Dani. This is your night. No work. No stress. The apartment to yourself.
But her head was full of noisy thoughts that wouldn’t leave her alone, so she submerged herself in the water, hoping the complete and utter quiet would silence it all.
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