police chief. And this...this thing between you and me is not like me. It’s not like me at all. And I don’t know what to do about that. Maybe it’s okay. Maybe...”
She looked at him full-on, her eyes meeting his. “Maybe I can just misbehave with you.”
The words hit him funny. Because he didn’t know how he felt about being a little something bad for this good girl. But then, he was who he was. It wasn’t set in stone, he supposed, but it was just the truth of it. The truth of him, the truth of her.
“What if what we’re doing isn’t so bad?” he asked.
He leaned down and he kissed her. Pressing his mouth gently to hers. He was used to things erupting between them. He was used to fire and passion and heat. But this was different. It was just a slow, sweet taste of her lips. And damn was she sweet.
She whimpered, and shifted against him, pressing her mouth harder to his, but he resisted. He kept it gentle, kept it soft.
“No,” she protested. “That’s not how I want it.”
“Too damned bad,” he said. “You’ll take it how I give it.”
“This is supposed to be my rebellion.”
“But it’s my redemption, baby,” he said. “My first woman since prison. Don’t I get what I want too?” He abandoned her mouth, peppering kisses over her jaw, down her neck. “I can’t stay,” he whispered.
“Then why did you do that?” she asked, shivering restlessly beneath his touch.
“Because I wanted you to know how beautiful I think you are. How hard it is for me to keep my hands off you. You should know that.”
“I don’t need to hear things like that,” she said, looking up at him with ferocity. “I’m tough. I’ve had to be. Don’t go getting all...sappy on me. Or gentle. Do you think it’s an accident that I wanted to have you in...those places?”
“Okay,” he said. “So what you’re saying is you don’t want a bed. You don’t want gentle. You want to be on couches and against walls. You want to be out in the barn. Surrounded by all the trappings of ranch life. Those riding crops. You know, I had a thought about one of those riding crops. And how I might use it on that ass of yours.”
The color in her cheeks went crimson, but to his surprise, she didn’t look disgusted so much as angrily intrigued.
“Whatever you dish out,” she said, “I can take it.”
Except he had a feeling that wasn’t true. He had a feeling that she was trying to make this affair into something very specific because she absolutely couldn’t handle everything. She had decided that he was a rebellion and she was comfortable with that in her way. But anything else? No, it was anything else that seemed to scare his stalwart officer.
“You don’t have to be tough all the time,” he said. “You don’t have to be brave.”
“Yes I do,” she said. “I absolutely do. Because the world is going to do what it does, and no one can go through it for me. It just...is. You know. That’s how it is.”
“You could let me,” he said. “You could let me share some of it.”
“We don’t have that kind of relationship.”
“Not in a romantic sense,” he said, “but we do have a relationship. You’ve helped me with Emmett. And I’m damned appreciative. If there’s something going on with you, if you feel stressed or anything like that about the police chief position...well, you can talk to me.”
She looked up at him like she would rather bite his face than take his comfort.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.
“Maybe I’ll be busy tomorrow,” she said.
She looked so resolute and stubborn, and he might have laughed if looking at her didn’t make his gut so tight. Didn’t make him hard.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m your rebellion. Because you’ve decided. And I don’t think you ever back down on what you’ve decided, Pansy Daniels.”
She gave him a look that seemed to grudgingly say that he was right.
“I’ve gotta go see to Emmett. You know, I had a thought,” he said. “What you were saying about deciding to be good even though it was hard for you. I think there’s some kids at the school that would maybe benefit from hearing your story.”
She huffed a laugh. “Except didn’t I also just make it clear I’m maybe not balanced in that regard?”
“Maybe. But neither are they. It might be inspiring to