Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“Ma’am?” I said as I skidded to a stop beside the woman. “I’m Officer Harlowe with the Sweet Water sheriff’s department. Are you injured?”
“I’m stuck!” The voice was somewhat familiar with an irritated southern drawl that had me arching an eyebrow.
“All right, I’m here to help you,” I said. “Do you have any weapons or sharp objects on you of any kind?”
“Not unless you count this blasted cat I’m holding!”
I bit back a laugh, shaking my head as I studied the array of wood tucked around her hips. Quickly and safely as possible, I shifted the fallen debris away until I could see her lower back. “I’m going to pull you out now,” I said. “Do I have permission to touch your body?”
“No, please find another way to get me out of here,” she snarked.
“Ma’am, I need your permission or I can’t help you.”
“For goodness’ sake of course you have my permission, just please get me out of here before I’m eaten alive by bugs!”
I reached down, gripping her hips and hauling her backward until her body came free of the hole beneath the porch. A wiggling black cat struggled in her arms, but the woman held tight to the thing as she clambered to her feet. She didn’t even bother looking at me, just examined the cat and then gently tugged at a jar that was apparently stuck over its head.
“There,” she said. “Are you happy now?”
The thing immediately stopped struggling once it was free of the jar, instead curling up in her arm like it was exhausted from the battle.
“Sure, you just rest while I deal with this mess,” she chided the cat.
A light breeze blew between us, and the strong scent of vodka hit my nose. “Ma’am, have you been drinking tonight?”
“No,” she said, finally turning to face me.
“I’m going to need you to be honest—” I froze, my mouth parted open, my next line of questioning dying on my tongue.
“Anne,” I whispered her name, my entire body reacting to the sight of her. Her long gold hair was mussed from being stuck under the dilapidated porch and had a few leaves sticking out of it, but her eyes were wide and blue and as beautiful as ever.
“Jim?” she asked, tilting her head like she didn’t quite recognize me.
I guess I looked a bit different since high school—I had a full beard that I kept neat along my jaw, and had traded our school uniforms for my police one.
My brain caught up with my body, and I cleared my throat. “How much have you had to drink tonight?”
She gaped up at me, blinking a few times like she was in shock. “I haven’t had a single drop.”
I arched a brow at her, and she glanced down at her clothes, which were visibly wet.
“I promise,” she said, shifting the sleeping cat in her arms. “I know it looks bad, but I swear I haven’t had anything to drink.”
“We got calls about an erratic driver—”
“Well, that’s his fault,” she cut me off, jarring the limp cat in her arms. “He ran out in front of me, and then I saw his head was stuck and I couldn’t leave him like that.”
I studied her for a few seconds. She definitely didn’t appear inebriated. Her eyes were clear and her movements were controlled.
“Jim,” she said, sighing. “Please. I can’t…If my father gets wind of this, I’ll be in so much trouble. I’m already in enough as it is.”
I tilted my head, wondering what she meant by that but it wasn’t exactly my place to ask now was it? It didn’t stop incessant urge to help her with whatever trouble she was in. Didn’t stop the flicker of anger at the mention of her father, either. That prick was the reason why Anne and I hadn’t built a life together, one filled with passion and laughter and fights and making up and all the things we once lived for.
Fuck me. It’d been years…how could I still think that way?
I leaned down so our faces were only inches apart. It’d been a decade since I’d last seen her and she still felt just as tiny compared to my six-foot-four frame.
Her eyes flared at my sudden nearness, and I couldn’t stop the heat streaking through my veins as they fluttered from my eyes to my lips and back again. Damn, did she think I was about to kiss her like no time had passed between us at all?
Shit, I wasn’t exactly against the idea.
“Breathe for me,” I finally said, remembering why the hell I was here in the first place. Two minutes with her and I was reduced to the need that had always been so intense between us.
“What?” she asked.
“Breathe on me,” I said, eyebrows raised while I waited.
“No,” she said, covering her mouth with her free hand. “What if I have bad breath? I haven’t had a sip of water since I got off work—”