long.”
“The last time you said that, you came back with a million dollars.”
Skye just grinned. “Who knows what I’ll come back with this time?”
The August night was hot, the muggy air hitting the skin left bare by her blue crop-top and black cotton shorts. Like most of her wardrobe, she’d gotten the items from the thrift shop run by Sister Mary.
Rock Creek didn’t have a fancy town square like Serenity Falls did, so Skye couldn’t go jogging or strolling through some artistically arranged flower garden in the dark.
Instead, she skipped over the cracked sidewalk and did a sassy salsa dance with the paint-peeling lamppost on the corner. She had to celebrate. Do a happy Snoopy dance. A boogie. Some hip-hop. A waltz that would make Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers proud. Their movies had probably been shown at the Tivoli in the thirties. All glamour and glitz.
Skye twirled and swirled her way down the deserted street until . . . smack ! She was stopped midstep by a brick wall.
Wait, not brick. Human. Male. Smells good.
Strong hands. Broad chest.
Her nose was flattened against his shirt, her lips pressed against the warm cotton.
Her inner diva came to life. The one that missed having a man in her bed.
“You okay?”
His voice rumbled, reverberating through her body. Wait a second. This wasn’t a man. This was the cop! She quickly stepped back. Nathan wasn’t wearing his uniform. Jeans and a plain blue T-shirt made him look entirely too . . . good.
Better than good. Great enough to haul into bed.
Not that she’d ever do that. Not with an uptight lawman like him. She might be bad, but she wasn’t stupid.
“What are you doing?” Her voice sounded sharp.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.” He sounded entirely too laid-back.
“I was dancing. Some law against that?”
“I’m off duty.”
“I’m buying the Tivoli Theater.” She had no idea where the words came from or why she was blurting them out to him, of all people.
“Really.” His tone deleted any sign of a question mark at the end of the glaringly doubtful word.
“Yes, really.”
“I thought you didn’t have enough money to pay your outstanding tickets yourself.”
“I didn’t. But things change.”
“In a few hours?”
“Absolutely. They can change in the blink of an eye.”
Nathan knew that only too well. One minute he’d been happily married, the next he was listening to the call telling him that his wife had died at the scene of a car accident.
“Yeah, I know.”
Skye stared at him. Not the way she’d looked before, when he’d arrested her. Then those green eyes of hers had been full of fire and disdain. Now they were speculative. Thoughtful.
“Yeah, you do,” she said softly.
He stiffened. “Have people been talking?”
“Huh?”
“About me?”
“They tried,” she cheerfully acknowledged, “but I refused to listen to them.”
Nathan didn’t know what to say to that. This woman had a way of doing that to him. Knocking him off balance. Like the way she’d done when she’d smacked into him while waltzing down the street like some escapee from Singin’ in the Rain .
He had to admit she did look awesome in those shorts and cropped top. Her bare skin had been smooth and soft beneath his fingertips when he’d caught her.
He had to say something. He couldn’t just stand here with his jaw hanging open. And it had to be something coherent.
While he was trying to come up with a sentence that fit his criteria, she continued right on speaking. “Some things I prefer to discover for myself.”
“Huh?” Smooth, Thornton. Real smooth.
“You can’t take other people’s opinions about things. You have to form your own impressions. Like when I smacked into you. You want to know what my first impression was?” She didn’t bother pausing to wait for his answer. “That you smelled good. Well, first I thought you were a brick wall. But one that smelled good.”
“I took a shower.”
“The last time you said that, you came back with a million dollars.”
Skye just grinned. “Who knows what I’ll come back with this time?”
The August night was hot, the muggy air hitting the skin left bare by her blue crop-top and black cotton shorts. Like most of her wardrobe, she’d gotten the items from the thrift shop run by Sister Mary.
Rock Creek didn’t have a fancy town square like Serenity Falls did, so Skye couldn’t go jogging or strolling through some artistically arranged flower garden in the dark.
Instead, she skipped over the cracked sidewalk and did a sassy salsa dance with the paint-peeling lamppost on the corner. She had to celebrate. Do a happy Snoopy dance. A boogie. Some hip-hop. A waltz that would make Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers proud. Their movies had probably been shown at the Tivoli in the thirties. All glamour and glitz.
Skye twirled and swirled her way down the deserted street until . . . smack ! She was stopped midstep by a brick wall.
Wait, not brick. Human. Male. Smells good.
Strong hands. Broad chest.
Her nose was flattened against his shirt, her lips pressed against the warm cotton.
Her inner diva came to life. The one that missed having a man in her bed.
“You okay?”
His voice rumbled, reverberating through her body. Wait a second. This wasn’t a man. This was the cop! She quickly stepped back. Nathan wasn’t wearing his uniform. Jeans and a plain blue T-shirt made him look entirely too . . . good.
Better than good. Great enough to haul into bed.
Not that she’d ever do that. Not with an uptight lawman like him. She might be bad, but she wasn’t stupid.
“What are you doing?” Her voice sounded sharp.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.” He sounded entirely too laid-back.
“I was dancing. Some law against that?”
“I’m off duty.”
“I’m buying the Tivoli Theater.” She had no idea where the words came from or why she was blurting them out to him, of all people.
“Really.” His tone deleted any sign of a question mark at the end of the glaringly doubtful word.
“Yes, really.”
“I thought you didn’t have enough money to pay your outstanding tickets yourself.”
“I didn’t. But things change.”
“In a few hours?”
“Absolutely. They can change in the blink of an eye.”
Nathan knew that only too well. One minute he’d been happily married, the next he was listening to the call telling him that his wife had died at the scene of a car accident.
“Yeah, I know.”
Skye stared at him. Not the way she’d looked before, when he’d arrested her. Then those green eyes of hers had been full of fire and disdain. Now they were speculative. Thoughtful.
“Yeah, you do,” she said softly.
He stiffened. “Have people been talking?”
“Huh?”
“About me?”
“They tried,” she cheerfully acknowledged, “but I refused to listen to them.”
Nathan didn’t know what to say to that. This woman had a way of doing that to him. Knocking him off balance. Like the way she’d done when she’d smacked into him while waltzing down the street like some escapee from Singin’ in the Rain .
He had to admit she did look awesome in those shorts and cropped top. Her bare skin had been smooth and soft beneath his fingertips when he’d caught her.
He had to say something. He couldn’t just stand here with his jaw hanging open. And it had to be something coherent.
While he was trying to come up with a sentence that fit his criteria, she continued right on speaking. “Some things I prefer to discover for myself.”
“Huh?” Smooth, Thornton. Real smooth.
“You can’t take other people’s opinions about things. You have to form your own impressions. Like when I smacked into you. You want to know what my first impression was?” She didn’t bother pausing to wait for his answer. “That you smelled good. Well, first I thought you were a brick wall. But one that smelled good.”
“I took a shower.”
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