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paranoid?” she asked. “That this and everything else I’ve told you is all in my head?”
    A muscle flexed in his cheek, but he didn’t take the bait. “I’m only saying we don’t get a lot of home invasions around here.”
    Seeing the way this was going, Lily crossed her arms over her chest.
    “Did you even try to find out anything about Anthony? Or like everyone else, you flat out don’t believe me about Jerry?”
    “Lily,” he began.
    “Who told you, you could call me Lily?” she lashed out, stepping forward. “I don’t recall giving you permission to do that, Sheriff Walker.”
    An ominous silence followed. A moment later, Jet drew in a deep breath and then released it.
    “I’m on duty all night. I’ll keep an eye on your house, but call if you see or hear anything else.”
    He turned to leave, but the pacifying tone and dismissal hit a raw nerve in Lily.
    “You’re in the middle of a crime scene now and can’t find anything,” she said, her tone belligerent. “My guess is you couldn’t find something if it bit you in the ass.”
    His expression turned to granite. “Are we back to my detective skills again?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
    Lily didn’t heed the threat. “What detective skills?” she challenged.
    Steel blue eyes flashed with purpose. Lily swallowed, but didn’t back away until his menacing height towered in front of her. Too late, she retreated only to find herself stopped by the refrigerator. He placed a hand on each side of her head and leaned in mere inches from touching her.
    “You win, Dr. Delaney.” There was slow distinction on her last name. “I don’t have a clue on what you saw here today and whether it was real or Sylvester the Cat harassing that little Tweety Bird. But here’s what I do know.” He leaned in closer. “You wrecked my car and had the gall to blame someone else, including me, for the accident. Because of you, I’m delaying a report that should’ve been filed a week ago. Today, I received your distress call and when I make haste to get here, you throw yourself at me and nearly knock me over. Then you have the audacity to insult me once again over my law enforcement abilities. Now all this might conclude I’m not your BFF but at the very least, it entitles me to call you by your first name, don’t you think?”
    Speechless at the onslaught, Lily gaped at him. His rampage had brought him close enough that his duty-belt was pressing against her stomach. She moistened her lips at the proximity and the action dropped his gaze to her mouth. The impact leveraged the rapid pulsations in her chest, rendering all her vital organs motionless. Time remained suspended for several heart-halting moments.
    Then a blue flash of resentment glittered between his thick dark lashes before he pushed away with a muffled epithet. In suppressed violence, he crossed the room. He stopped in the doorway, but didn’t turn.
    “I’m on patrol until midnight,” he said and paused as if to add something else. He must have changed his mind, however, after a brusque, “Lock your doors,” he strode out of the room. Moments later, the tortured rev of the engine followed by angry tires on gravel signaled his departure. Lily slid to the floor, air breaking from her lungs.
    If she’d leaned forward the littlest bit, he would’ve kissed her. She knew it as sure as she was sitting right here. The tension between them had been palpable and although that hadn’t been his gun, he hadn’t been happy to see her. To the contrary, he thought she was nuts.
    Am I? It would explain a lot of things; this bizarre emotional pull to him for one, and their magnetic attraction, for another. But that man had been put together in so many right places, he would pull in any woman.
    What about this other thing? This cloud of protective aura she experienced around him. It could be a result of the accident followed by the subsequent encounter with those two weirdoes at the convenience