“Tristan?”
“Yeah?”
She pushed the pillow away, then frowned at him. “What are you doing in my bed?”
“Look around you, Goldilocks. You’re in the big bad wolf’s bed.” And the big bad wolf would very much like to crawl in there with her and remind her what she’d been missing the past year.
She slapped her head. “Right. The wine.” She lifted the cover and peeked down at herself. “Did you change my clothes?”
“No, you did that all by yourself in the privacy of my bathroom. Full disclosure, though. I slept with my body wrapped around yours. Before you slap me because that pisses you off, you snuggled into me and sighed when you felt my touch.”
To keep her from thinking too hard about that, he quickly said, “I’ve got your favorite breakfast.” He put his palm on her cheek and turned her face toward the small table he’d set up next to the window. “Except for the buttery biscuits you love so much. I tried. Even watched a YouTube video, but my biscuits could have been used as weapons.”
“How do you know my favorite breakfast?”
“Because I pay attention. Parker’s at the firehouse this morning, so I have to get Everly up and ready for school. Your clothes are on the end of the bed. Enjoy your omelet.”
The omelet wouldn’t be as good as the Kitchen’s, but he thought he’d done pretty well with it. He’d watched that on YouTube, too. He resisted the urge to stick around and see her reaction when she took her first bite.
Subtly romance her, he reminded himself as he walked away.
Chapter Twenty
“Sheriff?”
“Hmm?”
“I asked if you want me to cover for Mason until he shows up.”
“Sorry. I have some things on my mind.” Like Tristan. What was he up to? She’d made a friends-with-benefits offer, and all he’d done was sleep next to her...well, he’d said he’d held her all night. Too bad she’d slept through that.
This morning he’d made her an omelet almost as good as the Kitchen’s but hadn’t stayed to eat breakfast with her. He’d even set up a little table next to the window with a view of the mountains. It had been a romantic breakfast for one. After she ate, she’d dressed and gone looking for him. He’d been busy with Everly, so she’d told him she was leaving. All he’d said was that he would call her later. She glared at her phone, annoyed that she’d been waiting for it to ring all morning.
“Sheriff.”
“What?” She sighed. “Sorry, Johnny. What’s Mason’s excuse this time?” This wasn’t the first time he’d been late for jail duty. He could resent the assignment all he wanted.
“A flat tire.”
“Hasn’t he used that one before?” He’d been pushing his luck for months now, and she was done with him.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She glanced at her watch. “He’s over an hour late.” It didn’t take that long to change a tire. “I’ll go over and cover for him until he arrives.” She wanted to be there when he did. “I’m going to suspend him for a week, so stick around. After he’s gone, I’ll call you. You can come over and take his place for today. I’ll rework the schedule this afternoon.” If she was lucky, Mason would go ballistic, giving her grounds to fire him on the spot.
“He’s not going to react well to that.”
One hoped. “I want to talk to you about something. Stop by in the morning before you go out on patrol.”
“Will do. Good luck with Mason.”
As she pulled into a parking space at the county jail, her phone buzzed, Tristan’s name coming up on the SUV’s screen. “What can I do for you, Chief?” Her tone was sharper than she’d intended, but she wasn’t having a good morning.
He chuckled. “So many things, but we’ll save that conversation for some other time, Sheriff. Are you in your office?”
“Nope. I’m at the jail. I have to deal with Mason. Talk to you later.” She disconnected. As soon as she did, she regretted it, that and her irritation with him. He hadn’t done a thing wrong. She’d had too much to drink, and he could have taken advantage. Instead, he’d held her all night and then had made her breakfast. She’d call him later and apologize. Plus, she wanted to know what all the “so many things” were.
The first thing she heard when she walked inside was Earl singing. If Earl was here, so was Billy. The amusing part, when Earl went to jail, so did Billy. The story went that the first few times Earl was arrested drunk driving his lawnmower home from Beam Me Up, not only did Earl cry all night, asking for Billy, but that Billy somehow figured out where Earl was and showed up at the jail, butting anyone who got in his way of getting inside.