Dangerous Secrets (Montana Men #6)
Author: Elizabeth Lennox
Chapter 1
"Pantyhose should be banned!" Halley grumbled as she drove reluctantly down the street to a place she didn't want to be, in clothes she didn't want to wear, while trying to avoid a man she didn't want to see. Not today, she thought with a mental sigh. Please … not today.
Halley wiggled slightly, trying to get comfortable while her eyes skimmed the area, looking for the man she didn't want to run into. Unfortunately, comfort was non-existent while wearing the horrible pantyhose. "I'm pretty sure they were created by Satan!" she mumbled under her breath as she turned her SUV into the church parking lot. She snapped the waistband before stepping out of vehicle, trying to make the stupid tourniquet contraption more comfortable. "Control top, even!" she grumbled.
The deep chuckle behind her was her first clue that her day was about to get worse. "Are you complaining about having to wear pantyhose again?" that sexy, deep voice teased a moment before a strong arm wrapped around her waist.
Mike. Ugh! She'd been so careful! He hadn't been there a moment ago … where had he come from?!
She took a precious moment to glare up at him before she pulled her eyes away from his handsome features. She looked at him enough and every time she saw him, that silly, ridiculous thrill shot through her whole body.
"Go away!" she urged, trying to pull his arm away from her waist. Not because she didn't like it. Or him. Rather, because she liked that arm, and him, way too much! He was a friend of her brothers' and father, was one of the good ole boys around town and, okay, so yeah, he was an excellent sheriff. Even she had to admit that. Not that she liked admitting it though. Nor would she say anything to him about what a good job he was doing. The man's ego was bigger than he was, and that was saying a lot. The man must be something like six feet, four inches tall, and annoyingly muscular.
Halley didn't like overly muscular men, or tall, overwhelmingly male men, who dripped testosterone and had an ego the size of the Grand Canyon.
Nope, she preferred a man she could look in the eyes, who was lean and lithe. Someone who didn't have an irritating sense of humor.
Someone who wasn't Mike!
She tried to walk faster, to get away from him, but his legs were long. No matter how fast she walked, he was right beside her. Darn it!
At the edge of the parking lot, she turned to confront him, trying to get away from him wasn't working, obviously. Never did work, she thought, as her temper started to simmer. Which was also normal. Just something about this guy made her nuts. With a huff, she confronted him. "Don't you have speeding tickets to write or kitties to extract from trees?" she demanded with an irritated growl since he'd just given her a speeding ticket yesterday. Again! Which begged the question, how in the world did he always know when she was coming into town? It was like the man had a radar! She'd gotten three speeding tickets in the past six months. All from him! His deputies let her off with a warning and a gentlemanly tip of their hats. But no! Not Mike The Annoying Officer! He had to throw his weight around and show that he was the big, bad, mean law officer!
It wasn't like she was going to hurt anyone with her speeding. Good grief, there weren't any other cars where she'd been pulled over! All three times had been out in the middle of nowhere, on gravel roads that she hadn't even known had speed limits!
Jerk!
Nope, she definitely didn't like Mike. If her heart sped up and her body got all tingly whenever she saw him, it was simply because she was afraid he was going to give her another speeding ticket.
Jerk!
"You look lovely," he said softly, his hand sliding along her back.
Halley froze, her back lighting on fire with his touch and she slipped furiously out of his arms and away from his enormous hands so that he wouldn't know that she was … no, she wasn't trembling, she thought firmly as she pulled her shoulders back, her chin jutting out and forcibly ignoring the wobbly knees as she turned to face him.
Then things got worse. He moved closer, giving her a look that caused her pulse to speed up even faster! "What are you doing?" she asked, feeling his big, heavy hands on her hips. He wasn't letting her step back either! Uh oh!
Mike looked down into her blue eyes and she had a bit of trouble breathing. It was only his intensity, she told herself. It had nothing to do with the way those forest green eyes seemed to see and know everything. Such as how her heart was racing and her breasts were tingling.