Chapter Two
Why she was running from him
? Ellie licked her lips, trying to slow the furious pounding of her heart and the trembling in her body.
Did he seriously not know? Or was this one of those cop mind tricks where he just wanted her to confess first? She stared up at him, her mind spinning with what to say.
She could barely even think, let alone talk, after nearly running full throttle off the edge of the cliff. How had she not noticed it was
a cliff
? She’d been aware of the ocean from the window of the house but assumed the land would have a gradual incline down to the beach. Not a freaking cliff!
He asked you a question, Eleanor, now think.
It didn’t help that the sheriff was ridiculously hot. Blond hair and blue eyes, with laugh lines around his eyes that made her guess the scowl on his face right now was abnormal.
And when he’d pulled her back from the cliff and she’d fallen on top of him…his face had been right against her breasts, and his breath a hot caress against her skin. The memory sent another shiver through her, but this one had little to do with fear. Her cheeks flushed with warm color, even as the heat spread to other areas of her body, creating a soft ache low in her belly and making her all too aware of her own femininity.
“Ma’am?” the sheriff’s tone sharpened.
He was still waiting for an answer. Then again, he was still leaning over her, keeping her firmly between his solid-looking chest and the hard ground. Shouldn’t he have pulled her up and handcuffed her or something?
“I don’t like law enforcement,” she blurted, the only response she could think of that wouldn’t give her away.
“You don’t like law enforcement?” he repeated, his eyes crinkling with amusement as a smile swept across his face.
The smile transformed him, made him even sexier. Her breath caught and her pulse quickened. She shifted beneath him and averted her gaze.
“No, I don’t,” she whispered.
“Really? Would you like to tell me why?”
“I don’t trust them.” She shrugged, knowing it was a safe answer, because it really wasn’t that far from the truth. “I saw you coming up the porch and just panicked.”
“So you
are
the tenant at the Bakemans’ place?”
“Yes.”
“All right.” He arched a brow. “A lot of people don’t trust law enforcement, that doesn’t mean they’re going to run like hell when they see one.”
He finally stood up, as if he’d just realized that almost straddling the woman you’d been chasing down wasn’t entirely appropriate.
When he stretched to his full height her mouth went dry and her heart tripped. Jeez, he was tall. And so strong. Not to mention sexy…
Stop thinking about how damn sexy he is!
Her gaze slid to his uniform, where the name Wyatt was sewn across the front. Wyatt? As in the town of Wyattville? Whoa. That
had
to be a coincidence.
“No answer?” he prodded and held out a hand to her.
She grudgingly took it, inhaling sharply at the slight tingle that raced up her arm as she allowed him to help her to her feet. Even standing next to him, she barely reached his shoulders, and she wouldn’t classify herself as short.
“Okay,” he said quietly, not releasing her hand. “Well then, why don’t you give me your name?”
He wanted her name? Did that mean he
didn’t
know who she was? Her heart thudded furiously and she silently cursed herself for panicking and fleeing the house. Of course she’d made him suspicious. Running from the police was like waving a red flag at a bull.
Maybe even more so here, being that he lived and worked in a small town. The most excitement he likely saw was responding to cow-tipping incidents. Still, she hesitated to give him her real name. Even if he
didn’t
know who she was, the moment she gave him her real name, it would be all too easy to find out.
Knowing it was her only option, she went for the backup plan.
“Elinamifia Owens.” She hoped her cousin Mimi would forgive her. But, it was the perfect solution. They were close in age, and she could answer any questions if he actually ran the name.
“Eli…” His brows drew together.
“Namifia.”
“That’s…a, ugh, great name.”
“Thank you.”
She tried not to let her lips quirk, because it was a bitch of a name and her cousin had threatened to have it legally changed more than once while growing up. They’d spent more than a few slumber parties mourning their parents’ penchants for nineteenth-century names.
“Where are you from originally?” he asked.
“Brooklyn.”
“And how old are you?”
“Does this matter really?”
“Could you just answer the question, Elin—Ms. Owens.”
Ellie ground her teeth together before answering. “Twenty-four. And why are you still holding my hand?”
He grinned again. “Maybe because I like holding your hand.”
“What?” Was he for real? She tried to tug free, but his grip tightened and his smile faded as he stared down at where their hands were joined.
“Did you cut yourself?”
“I don’t think so.” But she looked down and sure enough her palm was scraped and red with almost dry blood. “Oh…I didn’t even feel it.”
“We should go clean that up. Come on Elin—dammit, do you have a nickname or something?”
First he flirted and now he was swearing? Jeez, the cops in this town were a little…different.
“A nickname?” she hesitated, and thought about it for a second before saying, “My family calls me Ellie.”
Which was actually a perfect compromise. It was the nickname she went by instead of Eleanor, and it could work well with her cousin’s name.
“All right, Ellie. Let’s get you back to the house and clean that up.”
She followed him back through the trees with a scowl, trying not to notice whether his butt looked good beneath the uniform. Unfortunately, she did notice, and it indeed looked pretty nice.
“So, Ellie,” he began conversationally as he held the door to her house open. “If I go run your name right now, what am I going to find?”
Her stomach rolled and she tried to keep her expression neutral as she stepped past him.
“A twenty-four-year-old chick from Brooklyn with no record.”
Ellie bit her lip.
At least, you’d better still be keeping your nose clean, Mimi.
“Great. If you wouldn’t mind spelling out your name for me?”
She turned and found him behind her with a pen and small notebook in hand.
“Of course.” Forcing a smile, she rattled off the spelling then turned away again.
Eleanor made a beeline for the bathroom, grabbing a small towel and running it under the water. Before she could tend to the scratch, the sheriff was right behind her. He took the towel from her hand.
“Let me,” he said softly and caught her wrist, lifting her palm upward so he could dab it with the cloth.
Her pulse fluttered again as she watched him gently cleanse the small wound, his face crinkled with concentration.
She was way too attracted to him, Ellie realized with unease. Oh, this guy was trouble and in a big way. For the briefest second, she thought about packing up and fleeing town the moment he left—
if
he left and was convinced that she was some criminal.
But packing up and leaving just wasn’t an option, or would have to be a worst-case scenario one. She’d already paid rent for two months on this place. Cash. And she didn’t have bottomless funds.
“How’s that feel?”
She blinked out of her thoughts to discover he was watching her closely again instead of her wound.
“It’s fine,” she managed to reply huskily. “Thank you.”
He stepped closer, leaning forward to drop the washcloth in the sink, but not moving away after. Their chests almost touched and his face was just inches from hers.
Ellie’s body stirred with awareness at his proximity, her nipples tightening beneath her tank top. She licked her lips, acutely aware of the thin cotton covering her bare breasts.
“How long do you plan on being in town?” he asked softly, his gaze on her mouth.
Her heart thumped wildly and she had the craziest urge to lean forward and press her mouth against his.
“Probably just a couple of months. Getting out of the city for the summer…”
“Well then, Ellie,” he murmured. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other again real soon. So you’d better get over that distrust of law enforcement bit.”
Her knees almost buckled when he stepped away without touching her. Disappointment swept through her.
You’re an idiot. Being disappointed that a cop you don’t know didn’t kiss you?
“I’ll, um, work on it.” She cleared her throat. “Was there a reason you dropped by in the first place?”
“Just wanted to welcome you to Wyattville and introduce myself.” He laughed and shook his head. “Damn, guess I forgot to do both of those, now didn’t I? The name’s Tyson Wyatt and welcome to town.”
She followed him as he headed toward the front door. “So that Wyatt part. Umm, you’re not like named after the town or something, are you?”
“Descended from the original founders,” he called out as he stepped onto the porch. When he reached his squad car, he turned and glanced back up at her. “And there’s a good handful of us Wyatts, Ellie. Just to warn you.”
With a wink, he climbed into his car and backed away.
Ellie stood on the porch for a moment, wondering what the hell had just happened and what kind of crazy-ass town this was anyway.
Tyson steered his patrol car back onto Main Street, his brows once again drawn together in consternation.
Well, one thing was blatantly clear. Elina-however-the-hell-you-said-it was one desirable woman. But she was also hiding something, and he sure planned on getting to the bottom of just what that something was. Already he had a call in to Julianne at dispatch to do a check on her.
He hit the brakes as a familiar teenager darted into the empty road and came running up to the driver’s window of his vehicle.
He lowered the window and called, “How you doing, Amie?”
“I got into Stanford, Sheriff Wyatt! I’m not sure if you heard already, but I’m totally excited.”
“That’s great, Amie.” He patted her hand, genuinely happy for the shy and smart girl he’d watched grow up over the years. “I knew you’d get in. Congratulations.”
Amie’s smile widened. “Thanks! And, hey, your brothers are stirring up trouble down at Kate’s Cakes, you should totally go check on them.”
“I’ll drop by.” He reached for the wheel again and winked. “Congrats again on Stanford, Amie. Say hi to your folks.”
“Will do.”
A minute later, he parked the patrol car next to Kate’s shop, smiling fondly. God he loved this town. Sure, some of the folks had the urge to leave at some point, like Amie. Whether it was for school, to seek out a more exciting life, or whatever oats needed sowing, but most of them eventually came back. He was the perfect example.
After climbing out of the patrol car, Tyson headed to the shop and then ducked slightly to get his tall frame under the pink overhang that was supposed to resemble the frosting on a cupcake. He entered just in time to hear his brother begging for food.
“Come on, Kate, just one chocolate cupcake,” Todd pleaded with his most charming grin. “Besides, have you supported your local firefighter
today?”
Tyson rolled his eyes and approached the counter, wondering how many times his brother had used that line to get free food from Kate. Although, it probably didn’t help that Kate had been nursing a crush on the youngest Wyatt brother for years now.
And Kate’s scowl wasn’t convincing, because her cheeks were flushed as she muttered, “I
support my local firefighter
every day of the week! If I give you cupcakes all the time, Todd, I swear to God, I’ll be working for free.” Still, a moment later, she reached for one of the frosted treats.
“I’ll support the firefighters today,” Tyson intervened with a grimace. “Just put it on my tab, Kate.”
“Ty, when did you get here?” Todd turned away from the counter, cupcake in hand and flirting with Kate forgotten.
“Just dropping in for a few,” Tyson murmured, feeling a twinge of sympathy for Kate when disappointment flashed in her gaze. But then she lowered her head and busied herself with something behind the counter.
“Coming in for breakfast?” Trevor, the oldest Wyatt brother, called out from where he sat by the window, reading the paper. He’d driven down for the weekend from Fort Lewis in Washington State, where he was currently stationed in the Army.
“I would, but some of us work for a living.” Tyson grinned and scratched the back of his neck. “Got a question for you guys, though. Anyone know anything about the new gal renting the Bakemans’ place?”
Trevor shrugged, but didn’t lift his gaze from the paper. “Heard she’s hot.”
“Wait, what’s this about a new hot chick in town?” Todd asked, pulling out a chair at the table.