Molly wasn’t restful. She was dynamite. And why am I even thinking this way about her? He wasn’t looking for another relationship.
He started walking towards the diner again. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since early that morning. The door opened, and he reached out to grab it, and out walked the redhead he’d just been thinking about.
“Thank y—” she started to say, dropping off as she caught sight of him. “Why, hello, Sheriff.”
“Molly,” he gritted out. His temper stirred as he glared down at her. She moved out onto the pavement. He let go of the door, letting it shut with a click.
“Seems we’re destined to keep meeting.” Her eyes danced with merriment as she stared up at him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were stalking me.”
“I’m not.”
“Aw, now that’s too bad.”
His eyes widened. “That’s not something to joke about.”
She immediately sobered. “You’re right. It’s not. I apologize.”
“You walked off again after I specifically told you to stay put.”
“You did. But I left a note at the nurses’ station for you. I had somewhere I had to be.”
“You didn’t tell me that before I left you.”
“Well, I didn’t know before you left me.” She smiled up at him, obviously enjoying herself while he was growing more and more frustrated.
“Can you ever give me a straight answer? Or do you enjoy talking in riddles?”
She seemed to ponder that. “No. Most people usually understand me quite easily. Perhaps the problem lies with you.”
“The problem does not lie with me.” He pointed at her. “And the next time I tell you to stay put, you damn well better.”
“You keep forgetting the ‘or else.’”
“What?”
“When you issue a threat, you’re supposed to say ‘or else.’ A deterrent to make me think twice before I disobey you again.”
“I should have just cuffed you to the chair. Then you wouldn’t have been able to disobey me.”
Fuck. Did I just say that? He had no grounds for cuffing her. And as a law officer he shouldn’t really joke around about such things. Not that it had actually been a joke . . . more of a threat, which was even worse.
“Oh, kinky.” She didn’t look the least bit intimidated. He supposed he should be relieved she wasn’t annoyed or insulted.
“Are you a Dom?”
“Wh-what?” Surely, he’d misheard her.
“Are you a Dominant? You know, do you enjoy tying submissives down and spanking their butts? Are you into leather and whips and handcuffs?” She glanced at the cuffs hanging from his belt. “Are those used for more than just arresting criminals?”
“What? No!”
“Ah, I suppose you can’t really mix work and pleasure, huh? Although I bet there’s plenty of submissives out there who have had one or two fantasies about you in that uniform.”
She gave him an admiring look.
Okay, when the hell had he lost control of this conversation? Had he even had control of it in the first place? He wasn’t so sure.
“What I am or am not is none of your business,” he told her stiffly.