1
Georgina James stared up at the building with trepidation.
What was wrong with her? All she had to do was walk in there. It wasn’t that hard. She was an FBI agent. She’d been in hundreds of high-stress, dangerous situations.
And yet, here was she, nervous to walk into a sheriff’s department.
Ridiculous.
If her family could see her now . . .
No. Don’t think about that.
Already, she could feel herself getting sweaty from nerves. Calm down.
A funny feeling ran through her, as though she was being watched but she shook it off. She was a stranger in a small town. Of course she was going to be stared at. And it was probably just her nerves making her feel self-conscious.
She’d never done anything like this before.
When was the last time she’d felt anything? Anything good? When he’d kissed her, it was like the whole world had woken up around her. There was color. Her life had been gray for so long, she’d forgotten what it was like to feel pleasure. Happiness.
Safe. She’d felt so safe. Safer than any security system or training or firearms could make her feel. Like nothing could harm her, physically or emotionally.
Georgina looked up at the door and shook the nerves out of her hands. She could do this.
And she took the first step that led up to the Wishingbone Sheriff’s Department.
And Sheriff Ed Granger.
Ed took a sip of coffee, then immediately spit it back out.
“Kiesha!” he roared, grabbing for a tissue to mop at the mess he’d made of the papers scattered across his desk.
“Yeah, boss man?” she yelled back.
He scowled. “Get in here.”
Normally, he wouldn’t talk to people he worked with like that . . . ahh, shit, who was he kidding?
But he’d known Kiesha since she was in diapers. Their mothers had been best friends. Mostly, he’d always felt like she was his younger sister. His bratty, annoying, should-have-been-spanked-more-often little sister.