Just This Once, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge #3) by J.H. Croix

but wonder if he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. He’d been quite successful at shutting down his desire for Becca. His years of military discipline had served him well in that vein. He needed to prepare himself for the reality that Becca might want nothing more than one night with him. He’d so thoroughly shut down any hope for more, he thought perhaps he could live with that. Yet, in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but hope for more.

    ***
    Becca walked briskly through the bustling waiting area at her office, flashed her badge at the scanner and pushed through the door when it buzzed her clear. Once the door clicked shut, the sounds from the waiting room were muffled. She leaned against the door with a sigh and closed her eyes.
    “Long day in court?”
    Aidan’s voice was unmistakable. It was as if a bell rang inside of her, her body instantly on notice. Her pulse quickened. She forced herself to take a breath before she opened her eyes. He stood at an angle from her, his shoulder against the wall, his hand tucked in his pocket with his suit jacket nudged out of the way. His blue gaze was steady and sharp. It was early evening and somehow Aidan managed to look as put together as he probably did first thing in the morning. On the other hand, she felt tired and rumpled and probably looked as such.
    She pushed away from the door and shrugged. “No more so than most days. What brings you here today?”
    She adjusted the armful of files she held when Aidan swiftly took two strides and deftly removed them before she had a chance to object. She opened her mouth to tell him not to, but she stopped herself. She didn’t feel like having a petty argument at the moment. When she glanced up, she caught the glint in his eyes. She shook her head and turned to walk down the hall toward her office, gesturing for him to follow.
    “Thank you. I keep meaning to get one of those file box carts, but I never get around to it.”
    She felt him shrug as he walked alongside her. Once they entered her office, he carefully set the stack of files on her desk.
    “Have a seat,” she said with a wave toward a small round table in the corner.
    He tugged a chair out and sat while she stepped to the bookshelf and prepped a coffee in the single cup server she kept. “Coffee?” she asked over her shoulder.
    “Just had a cup, but thanks for asking.”
    Moments later, she joined him at the table, cupping her hands around the paper cup of coffee. “You never said why you were here.”
    Aidan’s brows hitched. “Oh right. I’m covering this assignment for a bit.”
    Becca’s pulse jumped again, and she immediately tried to quell it. If Aidan were covering the courthouse, that meant she’d see him every day. Part of her thrilled to that, while another part of her dreaded it. Seeing him daily would mean she had to either shore up her defenses, or get over herself and follow through with her crazy proposal. She strove for a casual tone. “Oh. Anything going on I should know about?”
    “Not really, unless you count that Morris Connor got arrested again over the weekend, and he’s already back at it with his threats. Your colleague, Lloyd Russell, drew the lucky card. I gave your boss an update earlier. We’re beefing up the team here until further notice.” Aidan paused, his eyes assessing. He appeared to be considering his words. “If we hear any word about threats against you again, are you gonna be okay if I station someone to monitor your apartment building after office hours?”
    Becca recalled how annoyed she’d been with him when this came up before. Then, she’d heard a bit more about Morris’s history, which included attacking a prosecutor in court once upon a time in another state. She might be stubbornly independent at times, but she wasn’t stupid. She met Aidan’s gaze with a rueful smile. “I’ll be just fine. Do whatever you think needs to be done. How’s Lloyd handling all of it?”
    Aidan