Read Online Run Wild by Lorie O'Clare - Free Book Online Page B

time couldn’t free herself from his grasp. He had her pinned against the cold metal of the Suburban as if she were a dangerous criminal. “What the hell are you doing?”
    “Enough, Natasha.” The sheriff’s voice was unnervingly calm. He pushed against her, his hot, rugged body burning against her backside while the brutally cold metal of his truck froze her front side. “Calm down,” he ordered. “Then you can tell me exactly what you think you were doing.”
    “I think I was turning on the headlights,” she said, speaking slowly through her teeth as she kept them pressed together so they wouldn’t chatter, between the cold Suburban, a vicious breeze picking up around them, and his incredibly warm body scorching more than her flesh as he used his body to imprison her. “Then I think I was going to tell you I could change my own tire,” she added.
    “Oh really.”
    “Yes. Really. Let go of my arm!” If he pulled her wrist much higher up her back he’d break her arm.
    Trent released her arm and backed away. But not far enough for her to get around him. Natasha edged away from the cold car and found herself trapped between the driver’s side door, Trent’s muscular body, and the heat rushing toward her from inside his Suburban. He took her arm, although gently this time, leaned into her, and turned on the headlights. Then, keeping his hold on her, he pulled her away from the warmth she was suddenly embracing.
    “Look here, Sheriff,” she said, unable to keep her teeth from chattering this time. “I’ve never liked being manhandled and I care for bullies even less.”
    “And this is supposed to hurt my feelings?” He sounded pissed.
    Natasha glanced up at his face. “For some reason, you’ve concocted this belief in your head that I’m going to be some great help in solving your murder case. You don’t want me as an enemy.”
    “I’ve had worse enemies.” He pushed her toward the flat tire.
    Natasha maintained her balance, but her fingers burned when she grabbed the cold tools. She was shaking from the cold and nerves. Getting pissed might help warm her up, but it wouldn’t get the tire changed any faster. So she bent down and put muscle into it, using her adrenaline to keep from freezing to death.
    Trent remained standing over her, although he did move to allow the passenger headlight to offer its maximum light. Her hand slipped a few times as she struggled to get the tire off, but she managed and finally slipped it off. Trent stepped out of her way so she could roll it to the rear of the truck. He didn’t help her when she rolled the spare tire from the back of the Avalanche and stood silently as she used all her strength to lift it into place, then began putting the lug nuts back on.
    Her hands were freezing and burning. She’d broken two fingernails, and her knees hurt from kneeling on the road. There weren’t any records broken, but she finally had the spare on and tools put away. Trent stayed within a foot or two of her the entire time. He didn’t trust her.
    “Are you going to give my gun back to me?” she asked.
    He still held it in his hand and looked down at it as if considering the idea.
    “It’s registered. I’m not breaking any law by having it and, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not be unarmed. After all, there is a murderer loose somewhere in your town.”
    Her last comment rubbed a raw nerve. She saw it in his eyes when he shot her a scathing look.
    “I know how to use it.”
    “That’s what has me worried.” He was reluctant when he handed it to her.
    She snorted and walked away from him, opening her driver’s side door and sliding inside the truck, immediately turning on the heat before returning the gun to the glove box.
    “What about the deer?”
    Trent frowned.
    “That’s why I had the blowout. I slammed on the brakes to avoid it and slid the truck sideways. If it weren’t for my GPS warning me I needed to turn and so slowing down, I would have run over