The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [119]
“No blackmail, huh?”
“No. I just wanted to make sure we understood each other.”
For some reason, she’d never once doubted that. The way Morgan interacted with his family, treating Casey almost like a son, Honey like a sister, she knew he was too honorable to try forcing her hand. And he’d already proven that night in the gazebo that all it took was a soft, simple no to make him back off. She wasn’t afraid of him. She was only afraid of herself when she was with him.
She was still pondering that when Morgan opened the garage door and she got a good look at the official car he expected her to ride in.
She backed up two steps. Granted it wasn’t a typical law enforcement vehicle, but it had the lights on the roof and the word Sheriff emblazoned on the side in yellow and blue. Memories flooded back, and she winced.
To stall, she asked Morgan, “What type of sheriff are you?”
He looked up, saw her expression, then glanced at the shiny black four-wheel-drive Bronco. “Just a regular run-of-the-mill county sheriff, why? You don’t like my transportation?” He wore a devilish grin.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.” She walked around the truck, looking at it from all angles. “I thought officials drove sedans, not sport utility vehicles.”
“It’s for off-road driving, but there’s no sport to it. There’re a lot of hills in these parts. And though we don’t have much in the way of big crime, just about anything that happens involves those damn hills. Last fall, a little girl got lost and we spent two days on foot looking for her. A four-wheel-drive would have made all the difference on some of the off-road searches. After that, the townsfolk got together and donated the Bronco.”
Misty felt a little sick as she asked, “The child?”
“I found her curled up real tight under an outcropping of rock.” His hands curled into fists and his jaw locked. “Her father had given up looking and was back at the station, drinking coffee and letting people dote on him.”
He sounded thoroughly disgusted, not that Misty blamed him.
“Sawyer had rounded up about fifty people and we’d been at it all day and through the night. When I found her late the following afternoon, she was terrified, cold and crying for her daddy.”
Misty put her hand on his arm, aware of the bunched muscles and his tension. Knowing Morgan as well as she did now, she could imagine how difficult that would have been for him, trying to console a child, hurting when that wasn’t possible. “Her father should have been with you.”
“He was a damn fool, visiting these parts and camping out when he didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing. The weather was too cold for it and he didn’t exactly pick the best spot to pitch his tent. The little girl wandered off because he wasn’t watching her close enough.”
“But she was all right?”
“Other than being a little dehydrated and scared silly, she did great. Cutest little thing you’d ever seen. About five years old.” His eyes met hers, diamond bright, and he added, “I know if it had been my kid, I wouldn’t have quit looking until I found her.”
“I think,” Misty said, studying his intent expression, “you wouldn’t have let her out of your sight in the first place.”
Morgan kissed her nose. “No, I wouldn’t have.”
Misty wondered if he’d slept at all during those two days, and seriously doubted that he had. She gave him a tremulous smile. The man was proving to be entirely too easy to like.
Morgan stared at her mouth, groaned, then pulled the door of the Bronco open. “Let’s go, Malone, before I forget my good intentions.”
She clasped a hand to her heart. “You have good intentions? Toward me? I had no idea.”
Suddenly his eyes narrowed. “Why are you stalling? What’s up?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She eyed the truck again, then with a distinct feeling of dread, hefted herself into the seat. Morgan gave her a long look before he slammed the door.
When he climbed in on his own side, he said, “You wanna tell me about it?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She stared with feigned