Shadow Ridge (6 page)

She laughed. “No, why do they call you?”

“Some people take offense
and they call us. We know what goes on up here sometimes—especially on Valentine’s Night. We just look the other way most times.”

She smiled. “Why officer that is just so wrong.”

He shrugged. “Well you know we have other things to tend to.”

“Like what
?” She smiled causing her seriousness to falter.

“
Millie Tilden’s cat up a tree,” he laughed at his own words and that caused her to start laughing too. Oh yes, saving a cat up a tree was definitely more important than breaking up adults shagging in public.

“So
are you ready to head back to town?”

“Not yet,” she said as she moved out of her seat and joined him in his. She straddled his waist. Her legs positioned on either side of his body.

“Bethany,” he mumbled.

“I don’t think it’s fair that I’ve come all this way, to such a beautiful place, and you’re ready to send me back unsatisfied.” She leaned in and brushed her lips against his before pulling back enough to look in his eyes. “You started something last night that you didn’t finish. Finish it.” She went in for the kiss—the one she knew could take him from zero to a hundred in two seconds flat and she was right.
He opened his mouth and let her tongue in as one hand fisted her hair and the other went straight to her hip and started working its way down to her behind.

“Miles,” she moaned as his mouth left hers and went for her neck, kissing his way down to the
V in her knitted sweater. He grumbled. The fabric obviously covered what he wanted to get to because he pulled and tugged and tried to nearly rip it off her body.

“Wait,” she gasped. She was going to need that top to get home. She pulled back swiftly, fumbled with the buckle on the belt wrapped around her waist until it was undone and then she lifted the sweater over her head. Cool air assaulted her body, but the coolness didn’t last
long. Miles brought his mouth back to her skin and turned up the heat once again. Now, instead of her neck he was kissing her shoulder and then her chest and then tugging the bra strap down enough for him to reach his big hand inside and scoop out her breast. Once it was free of its cage his mouth came down on her. His tongue swirled around her nipple enticingly before his lips latched on with one firm suck.

“God!” She felt her body
moving on its own accord, rubbing against him near frantically. Clearly he understood her plight because his hand slipped between her legs and cupped her firmly as the other massaged the breast he was sucking on. His fingers deftly rubbed through the fabric of her jeans. It wasn’t enough. “More,” she moaned as her head fell backwards with the pleasure she felt from just his touch. “Please more,” she panted.

His mouth left her body only briefly. He took one look down to her fitted jeans and found the button before returning his attention to the obvious part of her body that he was most interested in touching. He pushed the button through the hole and then slipped the zipper down
. If this was going to go beyond where they were at she was going to have to get those jeans down because there was no way anybody’s finger would fit in the tight space. She lifted her behind from his lap and tried to push the jeans down.

Her but
t hit against the horn which set it off. He tried to help her get her balance and get the jeans down but the more they tried to find purchase the more one part of her body banged against the steering wheel. They were so far gone with lust and desire that coordination was not an option.

“Ouch!” she yelped when her back hit the edge of the ste
ering wheel. That one really did hurt. He stopped. She stopped. He pulled her flush against his body holding her, letting his hand smooth over the now sore parts that had probably gained a bruise from all that banging around she had done.

He chuckled softly. “I think we’re going to need more space for this.”

“Yeah,” she whispered with her face buried in the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry. You probably think I’m some easy slut, huh?”

“Not a chance.” He pushed her back enough to look in her eyes. “I’ve wanted to do that kind of bodily contact since the moment I saw you. I’m counting myself a lucky man right now. I just wish we could have made this happen.”

She kissed his lips softly. “Guess I should get dressed completely.” She fixed her bra and pulled herself off his lap so she could readjust her jeans and pull her sweater back on.

“Guess my gut is too big for that. A smaller man could have gotten you to glory right here,” he mumbled.

“A smaller man wouldn’t have gotten me that far,” she looked at him. “You’re fine, Miles. Don’t worry about it.”

“Fine?”

“Yes, fine. Trust me. You’re the first guy I’ve spent the day with that has made me want to break the law.” She pushed her disheveled hair out of her face. “But at least you couldn’t arrest me without incriminating yourself. You’re guilty of a little public sex too.”

“Public almost sex,” he mumbled.

“Public almost sex,” she agreed. He could not possibly start griping about his weight like some dysfunctional woman. Yes he was big. Yes there was more of him than she usually went for. But he was nice and funny and from the conversations they had she could see he was smart. So maybe they wouldn’t be able to pull off the two person front seat sex thing, but that was okay. There were other places they could explore each other. They just had to wait for it. Maybe waiting was good. The man just made her so hot sexually with his deep vibrating voice and that high level of confidence. But just like anybody else he had moments of weakness on the confidence front and she wouldn’t allow it, not because of this.

She took his hand in hers and laced her fingers closed over the back of his hand. “I had fun trying though,” she laughed. “We were like
impulsive kids.”

“Hmm,” he nodded without the smile.

“And while I wanted to wait until I knew you a little better you’re just…you have this way about you, Miles. You make me want to forget we haven’t known each other that long. I talk with you and I feel like I’ve known you forever, like you understand me better than anybody other than my mother has ever understood me—maybe better than my mother.” He looked at her with longing in his eyes. “So next time we’re feeling the need to go beyond a kiss we’ll find a place where we won’t get arrested and…”

“And we have space for me.”

“I’m sure there’s enough space for you,” she winked. “But if you need to test me out you can always do a hand test.”

He laughed heartedly which is what she wanted. “Woman you are amazing.”

She laughed. “Thanks. Can we do this again—dinner, dancing, you know…time together?”

“I should hope so since you’re supposed to come stay with me over
Christmas Eve and day.”

She held on to his hand still.
“I meant like tomorrow; that is if you’re not too busy. I have a video conference call at eight. Those usually go for a few hours unless somebody gets hostile and then I could be there all day. But I would like to come down and have lunch with you if I can.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. She shifted to move a little closer to him. The gear shift was in the way but because of her size she was able to tilt enough to fit comfortably. She laid her head on his shoulder.

“My mother has an attached suite. It’s kind of like a house all to herself the way the execs had it built. She lives there with my nephew. Steve, our resident horse caretaker, lives in an apartment some distance from the main house but still on the property. He’s still close, just not too close. Anyway, I guess I’m telling you this because if…you know…we head to my place sometime we would have some privacy. Donovan will be gone for the summer so I’d feel better with that. Wait, I’ll be gone for the summer.”

“Gone?”

“I have to fly back to L.A. and do my work from there for about a month or two. Do you like California?”

“Not really,” he mumbled.

“Would you come visit me anyway? I would be in a nice area. All of our spare homes, the ones where we keep the money making clients when they come, are nice and private.”

“You would want me to come visit you out there in the world of glitz?”

“Yes. I promise to try not to embarrass you.”

“Me? How could you
embarrass me? I would think I’d embarrass you.”

She slapped her free hand against his thigh. “Stop that.”

“Hitting a law officer is a punishable offense, Bethany.”

“Oh
Officer, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She laughed. “My hand just slipped.”

He laughed hard. His belly jiggled with his mirth.
“How could you embarrass me?”

“I figure we’ll be so close
by that point that I’ll miss you a lot. By the time I see you in baggage claim I’ll probably jump your bones right there in the lobby.”

“Well now I’ll definitely come to L.A. for that.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.

“You’ll wait for me right? You won’t see somebody else while I’m away will you? I mean my job involves a lot of travel and I’ll be here and then gone and then back. I need to know you’re not going to…you know, step out on me while I’m away.”

He released her hand and adjusted his arm so he could wrap it around her. “I won’t step out on you, Bethany. That’s not the kind of man I am. I’ll wait for you. I just hope you’ll wait for me too. Don’t go back to California and find some Adonis and run away with him.”

“I’ve seen several versions of Adonis, Miles. None of them have made me want to run away with them, after all this time I doubt highly anybody is going to do it now. But don’t worry. I won’t step out on you. In fact I’m thinking we can do some phone…um…you know.”

“Oh yeah, I know. And yes, I would definitely want to explore you by phone and in every other method too.”

She turned her head and reached up to put a kiss on his cheek. She scurried back to her own seat. “So tomorrow I’ll come down for lunch. Where do you want me to meet you?”

“The station’s fine. I’ll work until you get here and then I’ll take a break.”

“Okay. I’ll call you if I’m not going to be able to make lunch. If things get heated during the meeting I may have to make it dinner if you want that.”

“Either way is fine. I just want to see you.”

She smiled at him and leaned over enough to kiss his lips one more time before repositioning herself in her seat.

Chapter Four

M
iles had spent a great deal of time trying to find a way to explain to Hillary why he hadn’t told Bethany about his fortune. He wasn’t thinking that she needed his money because clearly she had enough money of her own not to need his. He couldn’t explain why he hadn’t told her about his good fortune other than the fact that it didn’t come up. She, unlike some of the other women he had dated, hadn’t asked how much he was worth. She hadn’t even cared. Clearly she thought he was devoid of some money because she thought his house was small. It most definitely wasn’t small. He had six acres of land and a house big enough to host parties and poker matches if he wanted to. He had what some people would probably refer to as an estate—a near Texas sized estate. He liked the place. He had privacy with the fully gated property and he had peace. But he hadn’t told her about his home, his bank account or anything. He hadn’t told her and she hadn’t cared to ask. That told him she wasn’t with him just because she saw a dollar sign over his head. She was with him even though she thought he had very little. She was with him even though she could be with a man who weighed less—a man with a healthy weight and a model type physique. She could be with any man she wanted and she had graced him with the pleasure of her company.

The more he thought about how she had been since he cornered her in the hallway at the poker match the more he realized that she had been ready to keep walking until he turned on his typical confident charm. It was the confidence that screamed I’m worth it and you better believe it. Because of that she had agreed to a date. And because that date had proved he could make her laugh, he could listen, he could warm
her heart and heat up her body she had wanted to know more. He had enticed her, not with his looks, but with his personality, to open the package and get to know more. Forget insecurities. The woman proved by how wild she was in the truck that she wanted him. Had he been thinking, and had the air not been so chilled outside, he should have let down the back gate, moved some of the police equipment out the way and got her naked back there.

Things had been going well. Maybe they were going too well to be true he decided. Maybe she was like a dream—there for a few minutes and gone forever once out of sight.

They had spent the greater part of the week and a half together, each time she had come down to Shadow Ridge to try to work things around his schedule. But then she had gotten a call that had her shoulders tense. He wanted to know what it was about and she just said it was work, that she had to go and that they needed her in L.A. today. It was nearly one o’clock at that time so he wasn’t sure how that would happen but apparently they got her on a private company jet and out to L.A. where she went to work despite the fact that it was nearly midnight.

Since then, he had only heard from her once and now it had been four days and he hadn’t heard from her at a
ll. He was worried. It was L.A. and she had probably found somebody else.

He walked into the station looking probably every bit of the sad
man he felt like. His deputies were treading lightly and Hillary had been trying to make sure he ate something. He didn’t want to eat. He did increase his morning runs. He wasn’t completely out of shape despite his size. He did jog in the mornings, for at least thirty minutes but as they said, part of weight loss had to do with diet too and while he didn’t eat junk for the sake of eating it, he wasn’t the most portion conscious eater either. Maybe he should change that.

“If she hasn’t called you then she doesn’t deserve you. Count your blessings.” Hillary stopped him on his way
in the door just to tell him those words.

He let the door close as he walked toward the front desk.
“Hard to do since I like her a lot. I could fall in love with this woman. I know that doesn’t make sense to any of you but I could.”

“Why? Because she’s thin and you had a chance with her.”

“No; because she’s genuine and my weight didn’t matter to her.”

“Didn’t it?” Hillary gave him a look that told him she believed Bethany hadn’t called because the weight did matter. He was starting to wonder the same thing.

His phone rang. He started not to answer it. He didn’t recognize the area code, but he answered it anyway. “Miles,” he drawled dryly.

“Hey,” he heard her sweet voice. He wasn’t sure if she was calling to say goodbye or what. She was supposed to spend Christmas with him. Maybe she was calling to say she changed her mind and would be spending it with somebody else.

“I was starting to worry about you,” he said but he hadn’t bothered to walk into his office. He stood at the counter still looking at the paperwork Hillary had pushed in front of him while she lectured him on letting Bethany go and moving onward without her.

“I won’t be back for Christmas,” she said.

“I figured you might change your mind.”

“Oh no, you don’t understand. Are you near a television?”

“Yeah, I’m near one.” He could hear anger and pain in his voice.

“Turn to any news station. It’s showing on almost all of them right now. GMA has it going for sure.”

He gestured to Hillary and told her to turn the TV on and put it on channel fifteen. He saw a picture of Bethany with the title injured exec clinging to life at USC Medical.”

“What happened?” He saw the worry on Hillary’s face
too. Perhaps she was starting to feel guilty about the words she had started uttering about Bethany, the words she had implied when she was ready to accuse her of ditching him because of his weight. He was starting to feel guilty. He should have kept his faith and not let it waver for even a second.

“Oh well they’re a bit overdramatic. I’m not clinging to life
.
I’m not an executive either, but whatever. This is Hollywood; very few things are completely factual here. It’s always over dramatized
.
I was out of it for a while so I couldn’t call you or my mom. Fortunately the studio picked up my mom and my nephew. You know this is hard for her because of my sister and all.”

“Bethany what happened?” He felt fear and worry taking over.

“Prop gun malfunction. The bullet ricocheted off a lighting stand and got me. Fortunately that stand slowed it down. The doctor told me better the stand than having it tear apart my insides. Basically, I got shot with a blank bullet that tore through my side and nearly launched into my kidney. I’m okay now…enough to call you but the doctors aren’t going to release me in time for Christmas. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry about missing Christmas with me. That’s not important. You’re important.” He felt his heart pounding. She could have died. He wanted to know what idiot misfired the gun in the first place. Jesus! There is no way she should have even been on set if it was that dangerous. And wasn’t the movie she was working on starting filming after the holiday? “What were you doing on set? I thought the movie was filming in Boston later in the year.”

She chuckled but he could hear the weakness in her voice. That worried him even more. “I do work more than one set you know. I’m in charge of eight right now. The others have already wrapped filming so I will be in charge of other things once the promotion time starts. I’m needed—that’s a good thing in my line of work. Anyway,” she panted and he could tell this conversation was costing her some strength. “The doctor is trying to take the phone from me so I have to go. I just wanted you to know I’m still here. I’ll miss Christmas with you, but I’ll be home as soon as I can…it might not be until February…if they ever let me out of here.” She mumbled indignantly. “I have to go. He keeps trying to steal the phone.”

He tried to rush a quick I love you in there when he heard the doctor chastising her about rest and time limits and then the phone went dead. How could he profess love this quickly? Maybe because his heart was still racing and he was thinking about the fact that he could have lost her. She could have been dead and he was throwing himself a
pity party because she hadn’t called.

“I’m going out there. Tell Cal he’s the second in command for a reason. He needs to take over.”

Hillary nodded. “Tell her we’re praying for her.” She had that stricken look of fear and guilt on her face. She was afraid for his girl, but she felt guilty for thinking the worst of her. He should have wallowed in guilt for suspecting it too, but right now he couldn’t focus on guilt. Right now he needed to book a flight and get to that hospital. He could find a room at a hotel once he got there. He just had to get there. He had to get to her.

He didn’t bother to stick around to hear the reporters bash the mishandling of the set, or throw the blame game around for why this happened to her and how it could have killed her. He didn’t have time to stick around and hear them talk about Brandon Lee because he didn’t want to think about her being another blank bullet casualty. He needed to get to her—now.