Dead by Midnight - Beverly Barton [31]
“Is she staying with you again tonight?”
“No, I’m going home this evening, packing a few things, and moving in with Maleah until further notice.” Lorie wished Mike would stop looking right at her. His intense scrutiny unnerved her. “What is it? Do I have dirt on my face? A black hair growing out of my chin?”
“Huh?”
“You’re staring at me as if I’ve suddenly grown an extra head or something.”
“Sorry. I…uh…Why don’t I follow you home and then escort you over to Maleah’s after you pack a bag.”
Had she heard him correctly? Was Sheriff Birkett, the man who thought she was only one step above pond scum, actually worried about her?
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what?”
“Why the pretense of being concerned about my welfare?”
“I’m the sheriff. You’re a citizen of my county whose life has been threatened. I’m just doing my civic duty.”
“Bull. You could have sent a deputy to check on me.”
“You’ve been monitored all day today,” he told her. “Between my men and Chief Ballard’s police force, somebody’s been by here every hour since you arrived at Treasures this morning.”
“So to what do I owe the honor of your visit this evening? Why put yourself out for little old me?”
“Damn it, Lorie, that smart mouth of yours—” Grimacing, he clenched his teeth together and snorted. “I came by here to apologize.”
“What?”
Their gazes met and locked. For a split second, she thought she saw something achingly familiar in the way he looked at her. But the expression vanished so quickly that she realized she had probably imagined it.
“I let my personal feelings get in the way of doing my job,” he admitted. “I had no right to assume you were lying about being threatened and to dismiss your concerns as if they were nothing. I’m sorry.”
To say she was stunned was a gross understatement. She never thought she would live to see the day that Mike would ever again apologize to her for anything.
“I’m sorry, too,” she told him. “I’m sorry that I gave you reasons to believe I’d do anything to get back into your good graces. I should have accepted the fact, years ago, that you didn’t want to have anything to do with me…and with good reason.”
He shuffled uncomfortably. “Yeah, sure. Apology accepted. So, what about you?”
She forced a fragile smile. “Apology accepted.”
“Good. Why don’t I help you close up shop and then I’ll follow you home.”
“There’s nothing to do except turn out the lights, get my purse, and lock the back door on my way out.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said. “You’re parked in back, right?”
“Right.”
She glanced at him briefly. He smiled. Her nerves tingled with awareness. This was the first time since her return to Dunmore that Mike had smiled at her.
Don’t make too much of it. He’s just doing his best to be civil, to do his job, to prove to you and Maleah—and probably to Jack and Cathy—that he won’t allow his personal feelings to interfere with doing his duty.
Mike loaded Lorie’s suitcase into her Edge SUV and closed the hatch. “All set?”
“Yes, but it’s really not necessary for you to escort me to Maleah’s. I’m sure you’d rather be home having dinner with your children.”
“Hannah and M.J. are visiting Molly’s parents over in Muscle Shoals this weekend. Carl and Gail picked them up right after school today. They stay with them on average one weekend a month and they go over for a couple of weeks every summer.”
“I know your wife’s parents appreciate your being so generous with the kids.”
“It’s what Molly would have wanted.”
Lorie smiled and nodded before moving away from him and grasping the driver’s side door handle. “I’m ready to go.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
As soon as she pulled out of her driveway, he started the truck’s engine and fell in behind her. He really wasn’t sure why he was doing this.
Paying penance, maybe.
His feelings for Lorie hadn’t changed. He still hated her, still wished she would leave Dunmore and never come back, still wanted to drag her off to the nearest bed and fuck her like crazy.
But he owed her the common courtesy of showing her that the sheriff