Grayslake: Furrever Yours(14)

“Well, I’d been saving up to go to nursing school, and then out of the blue I got a scholarship offer from the local community college here. It was amazing. Full scholarship for the entire program. I couldn’t turn it down.”

“So you had applied to Grayslake Community College?”

“No, it was pretty weird. The letter came out of nowhere. But when I checked with the college, they said that the scholarship offer was legitimate, and it was because I was the daughter of a nurse. My mother died of cancer when I was still in high school,” she added.

“My condolences.”

“Yep. It sucked. Hurts a lot. My dad died of a heart attack a year later. That double-sucked.”

He frowned. Something odd about her getting a letter like that. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that she’d ended up in the same area as him. There was no college in Sugar Creek, but it was so close to Grayslake that if she were here, it was pretty much guaranteed that the two of them would run into each other.

She sipped her coffee, and then glanced up at him. “Margaret did mention that humans occasionally marry shifters.”

He felt his breath catch in his throat. She’d brought it up first. He hadn’t even had to lead her to it. “Is that…is that something you’d consider?”

“I’d need to know more about the shifter world first. Like why you’re trying to hand Margaret back to whoever beat the crap out of her. Is domestic violence acceptable in some packs?”

He shook his head. “No, it is not. If her pack was genuinely abusive, I most certainly would not let them take her. I swear to you.”

“So why are you chasing after her? And why is she running from you?” She met his gaze. “I mean it, Knox. I could never, ever associate with people who did that to a girl, or who would put her in the hands of those who did that to her.”

“I need to find out what actually happened. I understand she probably told you her version of what happened to her.” At Heather’s angry indrawn breath, he said, “Come on, Heather, I’ve been in law enforcement for ten years. I’ve learned that more often than not, there are three sides to every story—”

“Yeah, yeah, his side, her side, and the truth.” She was pissed. And he hated the way she was looking at him right now. “Are you saying that battered women are liars?”

“Definitely not. And you’ve seen how I deal with batterers. But I’m saying that I at least need to talk to her to find out what happened. Her pack has told me that she signed a contract agreeing to marry Kevin in exchange for a sizeable payment for her and her pack, and then she not only ditched him, she stole money from her intended husband before she ran off.”

“That’s a load of horse pucky.” She glared at him. “How did they explain the injuries?”

“They downplayed them, and said that she was a drinker and that’s probably why she passed out. Like I said, Heather, I need to get her side of things. The people who are looking for her are reporting that she committed a crime, but I swear to you, if she is telling the truth, I won’t give her back to them.”

She looked away, drumming her fingers on the sofa arm. “So…you liked me all along.”

He stifled a rueful laugh. “More than liked you.”

“What if I asked you to prove it?”

She moved closer to him, and his heart beat faster.

“Anything in particular you had in mind?” Because he had lots of ideas.

“Kiss me.” She leaned up against him and brushed her lips against his.

He stifled a groan. Something felt strange about this, but he didn’t know what. Hot desire flooded his body and made him dizzy. He reached forward and kissed her passionately, his lips hungrily claiming her… He felt her hands moving on his belt, fumbling…

And then there was a click.

He sat bolt upright. “What the hell?” She’d snatched his handcuffs off his belt and handcuffed him to the solid frame of the sofa.

He reached for his keychain. Gone.

She held his keys up and hurled them across the room.

“I’m truly sorry, Knox, but my first duty is to my patients.”

“Uncuff me, now!” he growled at her.

She turned and ran out of the room, the front door slammed, and then he heard her driving off.

He yanked furiously at the cuffs. He didn’t want to have to shift again, because he didn’t have any more uniforms with him. He began dragging the couch across the living room towards where she’d thrown the keys.

Then he heard the familiar sound of a car pulling up. With his shifter hearing, once he’d heard a car engine, he recognized it.