“Hello?” she said with hesitation.
“It’s me, doll.” It was Matt. She exhaled slowly and put her hand over her beating heart.
“Yes. Is everything okay?” She knew her voice was shaky but she couldn’t help it.
“I just checked all around the house. It looks clear. Want me to camp out on your couch?” he suggested seriously.
She would never be able to sleep knowing he was in her house. Part of her wanted to say yes. “No, that’s above and beyond the call of duty, but thank you for offering.”
“I don’t mind,” he assured her.
“Thanks Matt. I mean that. I feel better now. I guess I was freaked out. Some guy at the pool hall said Gerald was out for blood. He was so drunk, but once I got the phone call, too, I got spooked,” she explained.
“Gerald needs another talking to.” He growled. “If you have any problems, call me right away,” he said seriously. “I know you hate me, Holly, but I care about you.”
“I don’t hate you Matt. It hurts to be without you,” she said honestly. “You can’t help that you didn’t return my feelings.”
“I did, Holly. I was just confused because these feelings are new.”
His voice sounded tired and her heart softened. She hated her weakness toward him. “You sound tired, Matt. Go home and rest. I will be fine.”
“Call me if you get scared. I’ll answer.”
/> “I will, and thanks for checking things out. I probably overreacted.” She lay down on her bed and covered herself with the blanket and yawned. “Night, Matt.”
“Night, doll,” he said softly. She loved the sound of his deep, sexy voice. She was tempted to keep him on the line but she was sleepy. She hung up and fell asleep with an image of a sexy deputy running through her dreams.
Chapter 7
“Pete was bailed out.”
Those were not the words she had been expecting to hear when she saw Matt waiting by her car a few days later. She actually dropped her car keys from the shock. Matt picked them up and unlocked her car door for her. She was tired after a ten-hour shift.
“But how? Noah said the bail was set high.” Holly finally found her voice. She had been feeling jumpy and nervous since the night at the bar and the phone call. She felt like someone was watching her, but when she looked, no one was around. She put it down to paranoia.
“Someone with money. I doubt it was his mom or brother. Maybe Gerald’s supplier.” Matt looked as upset as she felt. Holly threw her purse in the front seat of her car. She didn’t know what to say. Now she also had Pete to worry about? Why was her luck so bad?
“This is a disaster,” she snapped, overwhelmed with mixed emotions. “It is bad enough I have been worrying about Gerald, but now I have to be scared Pete will come after me, too.”
She felt Matt’s hand on her shoulder. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Holly.”
“That is a nice thing to say. I know you are just doing your job, Matt, but you can’t watch me all day and night,” she said, feeling drained. She just wanted to go home, shower and go to sleep.
“I am not just doing my job, Holly. I truly care about you,” he insisted.
She rubbed her forehead. She felt a headache coming on. “Yeah, right. Forgive me if I don’t believe you, Matt.”
“I know I was a scared fool last summer, but I never meant to hurt you. I knew your family didn’t approve, and I thought maybe they were right. I am not what you needed, but I missed you, Holly.” His green eyes glittered with emotion. “Please believe that.”
“So you want us to be friends now, just act like we never kissed or touched each other?” she asked him seriously. Having him near was playing havoc with both her body and her heart. Her body reminded her that she desired him, but her heart was too frightened to take another chance. “I’m sorry. I am not that strong, Matt. I can’t pretend it doesn’t hurt me to see you with that snob Linda, or all those other women you date, women who are obviously better than me, since you want them but you didn’t want me.”
She turned to get in her car and leave, but he grabbed her arm and turned her back toward him. He didn’t say a word. He pulled her close until their bodies were chest-to-chest. She let out a loud gasp of surprise. He bent and took her mouth in a deep, sensual kiss. His tongue demanded entrance into her mouth and she opened up to him. She wanted to experience his kiss again. She couldn’t lie to herself. Her body melted and she was glad his arms were around her waist, holding her up. She felt her breasts tingle with desire, and the most intimate part of her was getting moist. She wasn’t sure how long the kiss went on. She was lost in another world filled with heat and desire, and not time or good sense.
When he let her go, they were both breathing heavy. She was speechless and her mind was totally blank.
“I didn’t feel like that for the women I dated. They were pleasant company, but I never took them to my bed, including Linda,” he said through clenched teeth. “I was trying to make the loneliness go away, but it didn’t. I think about you all the time.”
She stood there and couldn’t think of one word to say. She blinked and came out of her trance.