The Rebound - Noelle Adams Page 0,2
the shoulder immediately, taking a few deep inhales and trying to control her suddenly ragged breathing. She was a rule follower by nature. She’d never gotten a speeding ticket before. And stupidly it was the idea of being caught doing something wrong that upset her a lot more than the fine she’d have to pay.
She should have known her one pitiful attempt at freedom would end like this.
With Ken Harley giving her a ticket.
Ken had been elected sheriff five years ago and reelected last year. She’d known him most of her life since he’d been a deputy with the sheriff’s office when she’d been a teenager. He was a nice-looking, easygoing man in his midthirties. Although he was older than them, he occasionally hung out with her social group since he was friends with Ria’s fiancé, Jacob.
It was pretty embarrassing that he’d just caught her speeding.
She looked back in her rearview mirror and saw he was getting out of the unmarked blue sedan he always drove.
He was a big man with broad shoulders, long legs, and thick thighs.
She gulped, looking at him approach in her side mirror. She wasn’t sure why she was thinking about the breadth of his thighs, but they looked very fine in the tan trousers.
The uniform also consisted of a brown button-down shirt and a jacket with a sheriff’s star on the chest. It wasn’t the most attractive of outfits, but he managed to wear it well. He had light brown hair that gleamed gold in the sun. It looked like he needed to shave.
She stared at him speechlessly as he approached her window.
When the holy hell had Ken Harley gotten so hot?
She was in such a jittery state that she didn’t realize her window was still rolled up until he leaned over and tapped on the glass.
Her cheeks burning, she rolled it down. “Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.”
Oh, she was brilliant when she was flustered. No doubt about that.
His expression was perfectly sober, but there was a clever gleam in his eyes as he bent over farther to talk to her through the window. “What’s going on here, Ms. Jenkins?”
He always called her that. He had since she was sixteen years old. Even though she was used to it, for some reason it bothered her today. As if he was treating her like a boring old spinster instead of an attractive young woman.
She wasn’t as pretty as Skye or Ria. At least she’d never believed herself to be. She had shoulder-length hair in a medium blond, steel-gray eyes, and a curvy figure. She wasn’t bad-looking, but she also wasn’t gorgeous.
But still... Ken didn’t have to treat her like he would his grandmother.
“Nothing’s going on.” Because she was off-balance, her tone was a bit more defiant than it normally would have been. “I was driving too fast. Go ahead and give me a ticket.”
Ken’s eyes were very blue. Much bluer than she’d realized before. They scanned her face with a close scrutiny that left her feeling confused and vulnerable. “It’s not like you to speed. So why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you so we can take care of it?”
Ken had always had a laid-back manner about him that made everything he said seem casual. Low stakes. It was usually comforting and reassuring—like he was never worried—but at the moment it bugged her.
Because ridiculously she wanted him to take care of it. Even though it wasn’t his business. Even though there was absolutely nothing he could do to mend her damaged heart.
“I was in Richmond at a bookstore,” she said, giving him the easiest explanation she could come up with. “I was having a good day and wasn’t paying attention to my speed. I’m sorry. Like I said, I’ll be happy to pay the ticket.”
“Did you get anything good at the bookstore?” His eyes had moved to the bag on the passenger seat.
“Yes.” She was surprised enough to answer honestly, opening the bag to show him the stack of books. “I got a lot of good books. Plus a first-edition Emily of New Moon.” The expensive books were carefully wrapped up, so she didn’t show him those.
“Is that a good book?”
“It’s one of my favorites. By the same author who wrote Anne of Green Gables. But I don’t think it’s your kind of book.”
“What do you know about my kind of books?” The corner of his mouth turned up just slightly. It was ridiculously appealing.
“Just a guess, but I bet I’m right. I’ve never seen you come