The Heartbreak Sheriff. Elle Kennedy

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СКАЧАТЬ unable to get in touch with the judge and, in a rueful voice, he’d told her that she had no choice but to spend the weekend in lockup. After he left, Anna had taken her back to her cell. Dinner had consisted of sandwiches from the town deli, a luxury she doubted other prisoners got to experience. She’d fallen asleep at ten, though she’d spent most of the night tossing and turning on the thin, uncomfortable cot.

      Rubbing her tired eyes, she rose to her feet and stretched her legs, wondering when someone would come down to take her to the washroom. Just as she thought it, a door creaked open, and then Finn strode up to the cell.

      He looked exhausted, his blue eyes lined with red, and she noticed his clothes were rumpled, as if he’d slept in them. “Anna will be down in a second to take you to wash up,” he started roughly. “But first I wanted a moment alone with you.”

      Her heart did an unwitting flip. She knew she wasn’t allowed to feel anything for this man, but there was just something about him this morning that brought a rush of warmth to her stomach. Maybe it was the messy hair, or the hard glint in his eyes. He might be polite and pleasant when he was on duty, but Sarah had known him before he’d been elected sheriff, back when he’d had the whole bad-boy thing going on.

      She still remembered the day they’d bumped into each other at the lake. Finn had been a few years ahead of her in high school, but their paths had never crossed until that day. She’d been twenty-two, just back from college, and she’d been walking along the lakeshore, debating if she should use part of her inheritance to buy the art gallery that had recently come up for sale in town. So lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed Finn until she’d stumbled right into his hard, muscular chest. The attraction between them had been fast, primal. For a good girl like her, the pull of desire toward the rough and sensual deputy had been disconcerting. And Finn hadn’t been so diplomatic back then. He spoke what was on his mind, no matter how crude, and his bold, sexy words had thrilled her. She’d fallen head over heels for him, captivated by his gruff nature and magnetic sexuality, even though she knew her feelings for him were too damn dangerous.

      She caught a glimpse of that rough edge now, and those old feelings of desire rippled through her.

      Ignoring her body’s traitorous reaction, she met Finn’s gaze and said, “Do we have to do this first thing in the morning? I just woke up.”

      “And I never went to sleep,” he muttered back. “I was in the chair in my office all night, trying to figure out how to say this, so—”

      She wrinkled her brow. “You slept in your office?”

      He glanced at her as if he couldn’t believe she’d even ask. “You honestly thought I could go home and get into my big comfortable bed knowing that you were spending the night in a cell? Jesus, Sarah.”

      Her heart lurched again. Lord, why wouldn’t it quit doing that? And why did the image of Finn squished in his desk chair, as he sat awake all night, make her pulse speed up?

      “Anyway, I did some thinking,” he went on, awkwardly resting his hands on the bars, “and I realized the direct approach is the way to go.” Frowning, he held her gaze. “I am going to help you, Sarah, no matter how many times you tell me you don’t need my help. Because you know what? I don’t give a damn what you say—you do need me. And you have me, whether you like it or not.”

      She arched both eyebrows. “You haven’t changed at all, have you? Still get off on ordering people around.”

      A ferocious expression darkened his face. “I have changed. I’ve changed more than you know. In fact, that leads me to the other thing I wanted to say.”

      “I can’t wait to hear it.”

      “Drop the damn sarcasm and listen.” His tone was low, almost urgent. “You need to know something, Sarah.”

      “Yeah?” she said warily. “And what’s that?”

      “I’m sorry.”

      Those two words came out strained, and his chest heaved, as if the mere act of uttering them had taken a physical toll on him.

      Before she could reply, he hurried on. “I’m sorry for what happened between us. For the way I ended things. But you have to know that I didn’t do it out of malice.” He raked one hand through his tousled black hair. “I was young, Sarah. Young and scared and the situation was too familiar. It reminded me too much of what I went through with my …”

      Mother, she nearly finished. She’d heard it all before, in the parting speech he’d recited before walking—no, running—out of her life. Oh, he’d run, all right. As if he was being chased by the damn bogeyman, as if her depression could infect him like some airborne disease.

      Resentment prickled her skin. “I understand that the situation with your mom was messed up, Finn, but you weren’t the only one with parent issues.”

      The memory of her own parents filtered into her mind, bringing a rush of sorrow. She’d been orphaned at the age of four, after her parents died within months of each other, her mother in a car accident, her dad from a heart attack nobody saw coming. Her mother’s older sister had taken Sarah in, but Aunt Carol hadn’t been the most maternal woman. More like a hermit, locked away in her isolated house and painting dismal landscapes that usually featured black, ominous swamps or mountains shrouded by dark mist. Finn might have grown up with a mentally ill mother, but at least he’d had someone.

      “And your past doesn’t excuse the choices you made,” she finished.

      “It doesn’t,” he agreed, “but I’m trying to make amends for those choices now. I want to be here for you, Sarah. The way I wasn’t back then. I’m going to get you out of this mess.”

      A myriad of emotions spun through her body. Anger. Pain. Hope. The last one grated the most, because she didn’t want to hope. Didn’t want to believe Finn’s promise that he’d help her. He’d already proven that he couldn’t be counted on. What if she put her life in his hands, the way she’d put her heart there, only to have him let her down again?

      She couldn’t. But she couldn’t say no, either. Not when she had Lucy to think about. As much as it pained her to admit it, she did need him.

      Yesterday, when Finn had mentioned the possibility of a trial, fear had streaked through her like a bolt of lightning. She couldn’t go to trial. If she did, child welfare would snatch Lucy away faster than Sarah could say wrongfully accused. And there was no way she was giving up her baby. She’d waited two years for Lucy, and nobody was going to take her from Sarah.

      And so she managed a silent nod of acceptance, unable to look at him.

      He frowned again, sensing her reluctance, then released a humorless laugh. “You might not like it but I’m going to fix this, no matter what you say—or don’t say—sweetheart.”

      A spark of heat tickled her spine. She had to force herself to snuff it out. So what if he’d called her sweetheart. So what if those two husky syllables reminded her of all those lazy mornings in bed, when he’d used that same word to cajole her into opening the gallery late so they could indulge in another round of hot, sweaty sex.

      They were over. Done. And she refused to react to this man, no matter what he called her.

      “Can you just call Anna so I can use the restroom?” she said abruptly.

      His СКАЧАТЬ