“So,” she said. “What now?”
Ty remembered, suddenly, the conversation they’d been having at the top of the ridge, before their evening had been broken up by irresponsible teens. A solution to Misty’s loneliness. He grinned.
“Follow me,” Ty said, and led the way back out of the woods, into the parking lot, and over to his rental car.
He dug around inside until he found where he’d dropped his phone before they shifted, and thumbed it on. Sure enough, he had ten different texts from five different people, asking if he was ever coming back to the house, because everyone was waiting to hand out with him.
You can’t resist us forever, Ken had texted. We have beer.
Can I bring a friend? Ty texted the group thread.
You mean your sheriff? Nate texted back immediately. Sure.
Yes! Ken added, almost at the same time. Dying to see what she’s like when she’s not arresting fifteen violent criminal wolf shifters all at once.
Even given Ken’s general penchant for entertaining exaggeration, Ty had to take a moment to be impressed.
“...What?” Misty asked, catching his look.
“I’ve found your solution,” Ty said, mentally resolving to ask for the arrest story later. “Come with me back to where I’m staying.”
Then he realized how that sounded.
Misty’s mouth dropped open, and he had to backpedal.
“To meet my friends!” he added hastily. “That is—you know them already, but to meet them in a social setting, instead of at work.”
Well, that had been suitably awkward. But at least he’d hopefully dispelled the idea that he was inviting her back to his place for—
For something he wouldn’t mind doing at all, now that he thought about it.
Wouldn’t mind at all.
Until this moment, he’d mainly been caught up in admiration of Misty’s bravery and drive, her obvious intelligence, and that tantalizing sweetness she showed when she talked about her father or her desire for friends. He’d gotten caught up in the sparkling depths of her hazel eyes, and already started to memorize the set of her mouth when she felt determined.
But now he was noticing how curvy her body was, obvious even in the sensible khaki shirt and loose pants of the sheriff’s uniform. He wanted to see her without it, to strip off that shirt and those pants—what sort of underwear did she wear?
Focus. Now he was about to be really guilty of what he’d accidentally done, turning something that should be a nice, platonic social event into an opportunity for sexual innuendo.
Misty was thinking about it, her forehead wrinkling. “They’ve—invited me to things before,” she said slowly. “Or at least Pauline has. I think she’s grateful to me for helping them out with the wolves a couple of months ago. But I was just doing my job. Really, I’m grateful to her for giving me the opportunity to put them away.”
“Maybe she likes you,” Ty offered. “Maybe she wants to be friends.”
The face Misty made at that was so obviously disbelieving, Ty wasn’t sure if he was about to laugh or cry.
“It could happen,” he persisted. “You’re pretty likeable. I can tell that after only knowing you for...” He checked his phone. “Eight and a half hours.”
Had it really only been that long? He felt like he’d been getting to know Misty for days already.
“Most people don’t seem to like me very much,” Misty said. It sounded like the words hurt to get out, and Ty straightened, setting his phone down, coming forward a few steps.
“That doesn’t seem right,” he said gently.
Her mouth twisted, and Ty reached out, softly, to pull her forward. She went without resistance, and then he was cradling her against his chest.
Prot
ect her, his jaguar growled. No one hurts her!