The Rebound - Noelle Adams Page 0,3
into the library.”
“I’ve got a bunch of old Westerns that belonged to my dad. I read those sometimes.”
“Really? Who wrote them? Louis L’Amour? Zane Grey?”
“Some of both, I think. I don’t pay much attention to authors. I like reading them though. Wish there were more.”
“We’ve got a pretty good collection at the library. You should stop by sometime and see if there are any that you haven’t read.”
“Maybe I’ll do that. What else did you get?”
“I got old editions of the entire Betsy-Tacy series. I love those. They weren’t even very expensive.” She patted the top book—Betsy’s Wedding—lovingly.
“And you were in a hurry to get back to read them?”
“No. I’ve read them dozens of times. I checked them out of the library for the first time when I was twelve or thirteen. I really was just having a good time and not paying attention to my speed. I felt...” She trailed off, realizing she was starting to ramble.
She never did that.
“You felt what?”
“I don’t know. Like I wanted to be a little bad for once. Like I wanted to be... free.” She stared at her steering wheel. She wasn’t sure what she expected. Some people weren’t built for being bad or having adventures. She was definitely one of those people. “You need my license and registration?”
“Nah.” He scrawled something on his little pad, tore off the sheet, and handed it to her. “I’ll give you a warning this time. Just watch your speed when you’re having fun. I know there’s not much traffic, but deer sometimes run across here, especially this time of year, and it just takes a distracted moment to run off the road. Don’t want to see you hurt.”
She swallowed, nodding and accepting the paper he handed her. “Thank you. I’ll be more careful. I appreciate your not giving me a ticket.”
“No problem, Ms. Jenkins. Glad you had a good day with your books.”
“See you later!” she called as he started to walk away. She watched him in her mirror. He had a really fine ass too. High and tight and nicely curved in his snug pants. It looked firm.
She kind of wanted to touch it.
Shit. Where did that idea come from? What had gotten into her?
Ken wasn’t on her radar of eligible men. He’d been married for most of the years she’d known him, although he’d been divorced now for more than two years. He had two little daughters. He was ten years older than her.
Plus he was the sheriff.
Clearly her mind had been affected in the aftermath of her breakup. Ken wasn’t the kind of man she should be lusting over.
It was nice of him to not make her pay a ticket even though she’d deserved it. She glanced down at the warning he’d written down. It took a while to decipher his writing, but when she did, it made her blush for no good reason.
Maybe you can find some other way to be free.
KEN HARLEY SPENT THE next two days thinking about Madeline.
It was ridiculous.
He’d always liked the girl, even back when she was a smart, quiet teenager who never drank or got in trouble or made problems for him. Yes, he was pretty sure she was the one who’d painted the mural of a goat who’d lost his pants on the side of one of the downtown buildings, with a matching limerick before the big homecoming football game one year, mocking the rival team, but it had been so funny and clever that he’d had trouble summoning any righteous indignation over the graffiti.
She’d been smart and talented even back then.
Other than that, Madeline had been nothing but a good citizen of the Azalea community, and the only thing that had bothered him about her was that she’d spent far too many years with that spoiled asshole, Josh Cantor.
She’d broken up with him now—at last—and hadn’t dated anyone since. He wasn’t sure why he was glad about that fact. She was young and pretty and smart and kindhearted. Guys should be falling all over themselves to get her.
They weren’t though. Maybe they still felt like she belonged to Josh. Or maybe they were all just clueless boys who couldn’t see what was right in front of them.
He wasn’t sure why pulling Madeline over for speeding had gotten her stuck in his mind the way it had. He’d always liked her. For the past year, he’d been thinking more than he should about how pretty she was. But he’d never once considered asking her out