of my bed. Marisa threw him out instead. She put his pillow in the guest room, and
when he sat outside my bedroom crying she took him to the guest room and locked him
in with her extra purses and her luggage.”
“While she occupied your bed,” she filled in, her jaw clenching as spikes of jealousy
raged through her again. “I’m sure Oscar appreciated your loyalty.”
Archer chuckled.
“Actually, I was called out that night.” Rubbing at the side of his face, his fingers
rasping over the closely cropped beard growing there, he glanced at her with devilish
amusement. “She didn’t spend the first night in my bed the whole month she was there.
Oscar would start squalling every time the bedroom door closed.”
She was in love with Oscar, that was simply all there was to it.
The remainder of the drive to his house was made in silence, and an uncomfortable
one at that. Anna could feel a tension rising between them now that hadn’t been there
in all the years he had vacationed with her family in the exotic locales they had
chosen.
Bermuda when she was sixteen. That was the first year he had flown in with her grandfather.
He had been twenty-six. He’d just been discharged from the Marines for medical reasons.
She remembered the cast he’d worn from his ankle to above his knee, and the jeans,
cut short on that one leg, revealing the bronzed, hair-spattered flesh that seemed
to fascinate her.
The next year, he’d sported a scar from his thigh to his ankle, thanks to the surgery
and the metal pins that had fused the shattered femur in his thigh, and the tibia
below his knee. The shattered bones, courtesy of an IED, had taken the military career
he had been working on, but, as her father had explained to him the summer he turned
twenty-seven, it didn’t have to destroy a very promising career in law enforcement.
Seven years later, he was on his second term in the sheriff’s office, and it didn’t
appear he would have much competition for a third term.
Unmarried and unattached, he was considered the most sought-after bachelor in Corbin
County and the counties surrounding it.
How often had she listened to her father and grandfather chuckle in amusement over
the number of women chasing after Archer? Marisa was merely one in a long line of
women who thought they could break Corbin County’s favorite stud, her grandfather
had drawled in amusement, unaware that Anna had been on the balcony above them, her
heart breaking at each amused observation made.
She’d loved him since she was a young girl. As a teenager, he’d been the man she measured
every boy against and, as her interest in the opposite sex began maturing, it had
been Archer she’d dreamed of kissing, touching, loving, and nothing over the years
had changed that. And now, here she was, uncertain in the face of the needs she couldn’t
seem to make sense of, the building pain of the desertion of her family, and the certainty
that what was left of her heart would be lying in tatters, just as it had been left
that morning.
“You’re too quiet,” Archer observed as he pulled into the sheltered parking pad next
to the house he’d inherited from his parents.
“What do you want me to say?” Shaking her head at the bitterness she couldn’t seem
to fight, she pushed open the vehicle’s door and jumped out.
“For starters? ‘I’m sorry, Archer, yes, I’ll let you practice all those manners your
momma beat into your brain before her death and sit nice and still while you open
my door and help me from the vehicle,’” he quoted with an edge of mocking censure.
Anna looked from the door to the seat as he rounded the front of the vehicle.
Drawing in a deep breath, she knew there was no way in hell to fight not just what
she felt for him, but also the physical need for him.
It was mixed up with her need for this county, the need for her family, and the need
to just
when he sat outside my bedroom crying she took him to the guest room and locked him
in with her extra purses and her luggage.”
“While she occupied your bed,” she filled in, her jaw clenching as spikes of jealousy
raged through her again. “I’m sure Oscar appreciated your loyalty.”
Archer chuckled.
“Actually, I was called out that night.” Rubbing at the side of his face, his fingers
rasping over the closely cropped beard growing there, he glanced at her with devilish
amusement. “She didn’t spend the first night in my bed the whole month she was there.
Oscar would start squalling every time the bedroom door closed.”
She was in love with Oscar, that was simply all there was to it.
The remainder of the drive to his house was made in silence, and an uncomfortable
one at that. Anna could feel a tension rising between them now that hadn’t been there
in all the years he had vacationed with her family in the exotic locales they had
chosen.
Bermuda when she was sixteen. That was the first year he had flown in with her grandfather.
He had been twenty-six. He’d just been discharged from the Marines for medical reasons.
She remembered the cast he’d worn from his ankle to above his knee, and the jeans,
cut short on that one leg, revealing the bronzed, hair-spattered flesh that seemed
to fascinate her.
The next year, he’d sported a scar from his thigh to his ankle, thanks to the surgery
and the metal pins that had fused the shattered femur in his thigh, and the tibia
below his knee. The shattered bones, courtesy of an IED, had taken the military career
he had been working on, but, as her father had explained to him the summer he turned
twenty-seven, it didn’t have to destroy a very promising career in law enforcement.
Seven years later, he was on his second term in the sheriff’s office, and it didn’t
appear he would have much competition for a third term.
Unmarried and unattached, he was considered the most sought-after bachelor in Corbin
County and the counties surrounding it.
How often had she listened to her father and grandfather chuckle in amusement over
the number of women chasing after Archer? Marisa was merely one in a long line of
women who thought they could break Corbin County’s favorite stud, her grandfather
had drawled in amusement, unaware that Anna had been on the balcony above them, her
heart breaking at each amused observation made.
She’d loved him since she was a young girl. As a teenager, he’d been the man she measured
every boy against and, as her interest in the opposite sex began maturing, it had
been Archer she’d dreamed of kissing, touching, loving, and nothing over the years
had changed that. And now, here she was, uncertain in the face of the needs she couldn’t
seem to make sense of, the building pain of the desertion of her family, and the certainty
that what was left of her heart would be lying in tatters, just as it had been left
that morning.
“You’re too quiet,” Archer observed as he pulled into the sheltered parking pad next
to the house he’d inherited from his parents.
“What do you want me to say?” Shaking her head at the bitterness she couldn’t seem
to fight, she pushed open the vehicle’s door and jumped out.
“For starters? ‘I’m sorry, Archer, yes, I’ll let you practice all those manners your
momma beat into your brain before her death and sit nice and still while you open
my door and help me from the vehicle,’” he quoted with an edge of mocking censure.
Anna looked from the door to the seat as he rounded the front of the vehicle.
Drawing in a deep breath, she knew there was no way in hell to fight not just what
she felt for him, but also the physical need for him.
It was mixed up with her need for this county, the need for her family, and the need
to just
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