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Gray had omitted to mention that he ran abed-and-breakfast, and one that was located in a place like this.
Sergeant Williams circled my car. This time, she sized me up from head to toe. "Are you going to tell me what the newest troublemaker in town is called?"
I extended my hand to her.
"Amelia!" I heard a familiar, deep voice call out at the same moment. "Sinclair," I said, adding my last name.
She took my hand. "Nice to meet you."
Her words almost passed me by because there he was: Gray, striding across the parking lot toward me.
I caught my breath as Gray approached me, wearing a white shirt that already showed some stains in places. He paired it with jeans that fit perfectly on his hips and a pair of boots. He had looked good in a suit, but what my eyes were feasting on now was beyond my wildest dreams.
And he visited you in those dreams just last night.
This was the man I had kissed yesterday in a moment of courage and desperation, and whenever I thought about how his lips felt on mine, how the heat of his touch had seared into my body, I could also hear the harsh words he had spoken to me. He had no regrets.
Damn.
When he appeared next to me, he towered over me in a comforting way. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he placed his heavy arm around my shoulders.
The heat that had started in my toes and spread everywhere in his presence returned.
"Is there a problem, Sergeant?" It didn't sound like a question but more like he was demanding an answer.
Her gaze shifted back and forth between Gray and me before she slightly narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't mention that you also have a daughter, Fletcher."
The warmth drained from my body and her face in an instant. Gone was the friendly neighborhood cop.
"Because I'm not his daughter. I’m his… friend."
"Yes," she muttered with a snort. "I can see that."
I knew exactly why she looked at us that way—her expression filled with a mix of suspicion and contempt that caused my body to react defensively. Slowly, I lifted my hand so that I could slip my fingers between Gray's, which hung over my shoulder. He immediately grabbed them as if they were a lifeline from the uncomfortable situation.
I realized this was out of Gray’s comfort zone. He didn’t appear to be a man who looked for trouble or let things come to a head unnecessarily. Only time would tell.
I squared my shoulders a bit and leaned against his side, purely to give the height-challenged cop a little show for her journey up the mountain.
"I wasn't aware that the law now forbids adults from meeting. Or have I traveled back a few centuries on my drive to Wolf Creek? Although… no. Back then, no one cared if younger women met with older men." I let out a dramatic sigh before pressing my lips together. "I'm truly grateful you brought me here, Sergeant Williams, but I guess if you're not going to arrest me for visiting, we'll have to leave you now."
Waiting for her response would have been pointless as she was still staring at me just as dumbfounded as five seconds ago. So I tugged on Gray's hand, moving past her across the parking lot and toward the direction he had originally come from, even though I had no idea where it actually led.
Shortly after, I heard the car roll away.
Gray stopped. "Where do you want to go?"
"No idea. I just wanted to get away from that judgmental woman."
He nodded toward the dense forest a few yards ahead of us. "The hiking trails are over there. If you want to see where you'll be living from now on, we need to go in the opposite direction." He released me and started walking.
I followed him, but halfway back across the parking lot, he turned around to face me. His lips turned into a grin that reached all the way to his eyes.
It almost made me crack a smile too. My heart tightened.Oh yes, you are definitely in trouble.
"Do you realize that by tomorrow at the latest, everyone will know you've moved into theWildwood Hideaway?" His statement might as well have ended withthat a woman in her twenties has moved in with me.
"Thinking about backing out, Gray?" I challenged as I crossed my arms behind my back and looked up at him.
