He gave her an aw-shucks grin. “That was me being all about me. I knew I was going to retire in a year, and I didn’t want to get on your bad side.”
“Well, whatever your nefarious reason, I appreciate it.” She handed him the gift bag. “This is just a little thank-you for not making my life on the job miserable, which you easily could have.” Her deputies had a going-away lunch planned for him on his last day, and she didn’t want to take away from their celebration—why she’d made a spur-of-the-moment decision to give him her gift today.
His gaze snapped to hers at seeing the diver’s watch she’d probably spent too much on, but what did she know about diver’s watches? Her retiring chief deputy sheriff planned to spend his days diving shipwrecks. She didn’t get how that was fun, but to each their own.
“Wow,” Randal said. “This is awesome.” He threw his arms around her. She froze for a few seconds—not a hugger, thank you very much—then she hugged him back. Hugging really wasn’t so bad.
When everyone surrounded Randal to check out his watch, she stepped back. These people were her family, more of a family than her real one was these days. She’d found a home, and some faceless jerk wasn’t going to run her off if that was the purpose of burning up her apartment.
Leaving the room, she’d taken a few steps into her office when her phone vibrated, an unknown number showing on the screen. “Sheriff Morgan here,” she said.
Heavy breathing answered her.
The hell? “Hello?” She disconnected.
Her phone vibrated again, the same number appearing. She noted that the area code was local. “Sheriff Morgan speaking.”
More heavy breathing.
“I’m tracing this call, so do me a favor and stay on the line.” The caller disconnected. She pulled up recent calls and wrote down the number.
Tristan met her at her apartment that afternoon. He’d called earlier and told her that he’d picked up boxes, which was sweet of him. After he brought them in, she handed him a sticky note. “Do me a favor and call this number from your phone. See if anyone answers.”
Without questioning her, he did as she asked. “Nothing’s happening.”
“It must have been a burner or a burner app. Someone called twice on my personal phone and just breathed in my ear. Do you think it’s whoever set my apartment on fire?”
“That’s certainly a possibility, especially if the call was from a burner phone.” He took out his cell and made a call. “Bentley, I have a number I want you to check out. It might be a burner.” He read off the phone number she’d given him. “Let me know what you find out.”
“I’m not happy someone is messing with me,” she said when he finished talking to Bentley.
“Understandable. I’m not happy about that either.” He taped the bottom of a box, then handed it to her. “We’ll figure it out, I promise. Let’s get this done so we can get out of here.”
“Yeah, the place stinks. I don’t think I’ll stay here.” She looked around. “Maybe I’ll look for a little cottage to buy now that I know I’m staying.”
“Was that in doubt?” He paused with a pot in his hand and looked at her as if her answer really mattered.
“Yeah. I wanted to be sure I’d be accepted as sheriff before I bought a place. It was a relief that my deputies seemed to accept not only a woman but an outsider...well, except for Mason.”
He set the pot on the counter, then stepped in front of her, invading her personal space. He slid his hand behind her neck and kissed her. It wasn’t a gentle kiss like the few they’d shared the past several days. It was a kiss that claimed her. Tongues and lips and teeth. As he kissed her, she realized she wanted to be claimed as long as it was him doing the claiming. She gripped his arms, digging her fingers into his skin.
Suddenly, he pulled away. “I need to stop.”
Disappointment cut its way through her. “I thought you wanted this. You changed your mind?”
“Believe me, I’m dying to get in your pants.”
She snorted.
“Too crass?”
“Puzzling, actually. What’s stopping you? I’ve already told you that I want this.”
“With conditions.”
“That you agreed to.” She thought he’d understood why she needed secrecy if anything happened between them. He was a man. He wouldn’t be talked about, but she would be. There would be gossip, snickers, snide comments—some to her face and some behind her back.
She couldn’t do it again.