Leigh moved out of the hug when Jeb came to the doorway, but she stayed close. Arm to arm with Cullen. And because they were still touching, he felt Leigh tense up a little. Probably because she didn’t know what she was about to face with her father. Jeb obviously hadn’t condoned Rocky’s actions, but then, he might not condone her kissing Cullen, either.
“The town council won’t have a leg to stand on if they try to dismiss you,” Jeb said. His voice, like the rest of him, was coated in weariness. A man who’d seen way too much. Maybe there was some guilt, too, because he hadn’t seen the dirty cop who’d worshiped him. “You held your ground and didn’t arrest an innocent man.”
“But I didn’t arrest the guilty one before he could kill again,” she muttered.
Jeb lifted his shoulder. “The town council, including me, gave Rocky the green light to go after you. We’ll be eating that particular dish of crow for a while.” He met her eye to eye. “Nobody’s going to challenge you...Sheriff.”
Leigh’s arm tightened again when Jeb stuck out his hand for her to shake. It was hardly a tender family gesture, but coming from Jeb, it was practically a blessing of his support. Maybe his love, too.
Leigh shook his hand. Then relaxed. “Thank you. You taught me well.”
Again, not especially tender, but Jeb blinked hard as if trying to keep his eyes dry. “What will you two do now?” he asked.
The timing was lousy, but Cullen decided to go ahead and declare his intentions. All of them. “I’m going to ask Leigh on a date. If she says yes, then I’ll ask her on a second date. Then, a third. Then, a—”
“Yes,” Leigh interrupted. And even though the timing was just as lousy for her, she smiled a little. “That’s yes to the first, second and third.”
“What about a fourth?” Cullen pressed.
She looked up at him. “Yes to that, too.”
Cullen smiled as well, and he would have kissed her long and hard if Jeb hadn’t cleared his throat.
“I’ll be going,” Jeb muttered. He turned to leave, then stopped, his gaze going to Leigh’s. “You probably don’t want my opinion, but I think yes is the right answer. You should go on those dates with Cullen.”
“She should,” Bowen said.
Cullen hadn’t realized his father was close enough to have heard their conversation, but obviously he had been.
“My son’s in love with your daughter,” Bowen added, sparing Jeb the briefest of glances.
Jeb nodded. “And she’s in love with him.” He lifted his hand in farewell and walked away.
Leigh stood there. Her eyes wide. Her body still.
“You look stunned,” Cullen said.
“I am,” she admitted.
“Because you didn’t know you were in love with me?” Cullen clarified, sliding his arm back around her.
“No, because our fathers didn’t take swipes at each other.” She looked up at him. “I’d already figured out I was in love with you.”
Now Cullen did kiss her, and he didn’t give a rat that his father and everybody else was watching.
“I know you’re about to get busy with reports and such, but I’ll want to hear more about how you figured out you were in love with me,” he said with his mouth against hers.
“We can get into that on our fifth date,” Leigh whispered, and she kissed him right back.