Nate trudged down the path following in Callie’s wake. His temper was on edge. She was going to be the absolute death of him. He’d nearly had a heart attack when she put herself between him and that crazy with a shotgun. Did she think for a single second about what could happen? That gun could have gone off at any minute.

He had a sudden vision of Callie’s chest blooming with blood just like…

Nate shut that shit down. He wasn’t going to think about it. He also wasn’t going to think about the way Callie’s face had gone a little dreamy when he mentioned spanking that ass of hers. If, and it was a mighty big if, he ever got to date Callie Sheppard, he was going to treat her like a lady. He wasn’t going down that dark path. It had already cost him years of his life and had almost killed Zane. He wasn’t that man he’d become while working undercover.

Hell. He wasn’t sure who he was anymore.

“It’s right up here.” Crazy Mel was pointing to a spot past a cluster of aspens. The locals called them quakies because of the way the slender trees shook in the wind. They were all over the property he’d bought. He’d gone home yesterday to find Zane sitting among them, staring at the sky overhead. Zane didn’t talk much anymore. He seemed content to run around the woods, watch ESPN, and drink the occasional beer at the dive bar the next town over.

If he wasn’t careful, Zane would end up providing the town with more legends. He would be the crazy woodsman.

Callie started to stumble over a rock. Nate grabbed her waist and balanced her. She shouldn’t be running around the woods in leopard print heels. Her big brown eyes locked onto his, and he had to look away.

“Thanks.” She pulled away and straightened her skirt. With a brisk nod of her head, she pushed through some bushes and followed Mel.

“It looks like a campsite.”

Nate heard Callie’s calm voice as he slapped the brush away and joined them in the circle of trees and shrubbery. He shoved aside all the emotional crap that was threatening to take over his brain and went into cop mode. Every instinct in his body was on high alert. It wasn’t aliens, but Mel had found something.

“There’s plenty of legitimate campsites in the area. There are national parks all over southern Colorado.” Callie walked slowly around the small clearing.

The ground was hard, and it hadn’t rained in days, so there was very little chance of good tracks. Still, Nate would guess there were at least three people who had spent the night in this space, maybe more. The grass was dented in body-like outlines in several places. They hadn’t started a fire, but they left small clues that non-woodland creatures had visited.

The grass was disturbed, and the shrubs had broken branches. He quickly counted several cigarette stubs. It looked like this group rolled their own, and judging from the slight smell coming off one, it wasn’t merely tobacco they were smoking.

“I’m getting nothing, Mel.” Callie was pointing the Detector 4000 at the campsite. The device was humming, and a green light was blinking.

Mel scratched his head. “Really? You think it was some teens?”

She shrugged. “Guess so. Or people who didn’t want to pay to camp in the regular places.”

“Well, I shouldn’t be surprised. I should have guessed. Aliens are real health conscious, if you know what I mean,” Mel replied. “They don’t smoke much.”

Nate knelt down and used a pen to sort through the pile of butts. A few had red marks. Lipstick. He was doing a mental count when a smell hit him. His hands froze, and he turned to the left. That was where he saw it. On the ground before him, there were drops of black in the dirt, a pool of iridescent darkness. Motor oil.

He went cold at the sight.

“Mel, have you seen a bunch of motorcycles coming through recently?” He kept his voice even and calm when what he wanted to do was scream.

“Oh, sure, there was a bunch of them a couple days back.” Mel gestured toward the road. “They came through wearing all that crap they wear. Why do they wear so much leather? I would think it would get hot.”

They wore leather because it protected the skin better than anything else. They wore leather because it looked cool, and looking badass was necessary when running with the “one percenters.” Nate knew that if a biker looked weak, he didn’t last long with the Barbarians. He had the scars and the tats to prove it.

“You get a look at their vests, Mel?” Outlaw bikers wore three-piece patches on their vests. It identified the gang they were with. Nate would know. He’d worn the Barbarian MC patch for almost four years. God help him if they had caught up to him. And God help Zane.

“I didn’t right notice, Sheriff. You see, I’m all about aliens, and these fellows were obviously human. They certainly smelled human, if you know what I mean. Those boys could use a bath.” Mel looked around. “Well, I guess I can get back to working on the bunker then. I was worried I might not have enough time.”

Nate stood, utterly frustrated. “Is there anything else you remember? How many of them were there? What kind of bikes were they riding? Did they have women with them?”

“Wow, that’s a lot of questions, Sheriff.” Mel seemed to consider the queries for a moment. “Now, as I remember it, there were a bunch of them, but not too many. They had a couple of women, but they were real tough looking. As for what they rode, well, they rode motorcycles. It was real loud, too. Hey, Callie, you think the loud motorcycles might have scared off the aliens?”

Callie opened her mouth to say something, but Nate had had enough.

“There are no aliens.” He gritted out the words as he yanked the Detector 4000 out of Callie’s hands. “This is a video game remote. They’ve been placating you for years, but I won’t do it. There’s too much serious shit going on to spend my afternoon traipsing through the woods to make you feel better.”

Mel frowned. “Well, I ain’t feeling better now.” Mel leaned over and talked behind his hand. “I think they got to the sheriff, Callie.”

“Something got to the sheriff.” She was shooting daggers his way.

Nate wasn’t taking it. He kicked at the dirt with his boot. What the hell was he doing? He was standing around with a kook when he should be…damn it. What was he going to do? Even if he could find the bikers who had spent the night here, he could write them a ticket, but that was about all. He wouldn’t be able to arrest them. If the Barbarians had come to Bliss, they would be careful to hide. They would be careful not to do anything that would put them at a disadvantage until they were ready to strike.

“Sheriff?” Callie looked at him, her eyes worried. “Are you okay?”

Mel was shaking his head. “This is what they do. They probably probed him. He’ll have trouble going to the bathroom for a couple of days.”

“Damn it, there are no aliens.” Nate took a firm stance. “And don’t call the station again. The next time one of us gets called out here under false pretenses, I’m going to fine your ass. You understand? We can’t spend all our time on your nonsense. You call in again, and I’ll write you a big ticket.”

Mel took a step back. Nate could see the fine tremble in his hands. “That’s the next sign. The aliens will come after our currency. I knew it would happen.”

Nate tossed the Detector to the ground and walked out of the clearing. He could hear Callie talking to Mel, soothing him with that soft voice of hers. She assured Mel everything was going to be okay and she would make sure of it.

He could use some soothing. Callie smoothed things over for everyone. He couldn’t miss the way everyone in this crazy-ass town came to Callie Sheppard when they needed something. She spent most of her time building her friends up or talking them out of doing silly things. But did she have time for Nathan Wright? Hell, no. She would spend hours making sure that Mel felt secure, but could she spare a minute for her boss? Had she ever brought him cupcakes? She did it for Logan. Had she ever asked him out to lunch? Hell, no.

Nate was aware he was barreling through the woods with all the grace of a bear on a rampage. He hadn’t exactly invited friendly gestures from his secretary, but that didn’t matter now. He was fully in “woe is me” mode, and he didn’t really want to come out of it. It felt good. He’d spent so much time worrying about Zane that feeling bad for himself was freeing.

“Hey!”

He stopped in the middle of the path, aware of the thrill that went through him. Callie was yelling at him. Her voice was filled with fire and begging for a fight. Damn if he didn’t want to give her one. Nate whirled on her and was perfectly satisfied when she stopped in her tracks.

She stood stock still for a moment, holding that damn Detector in her hands again. He saw her take a deep breath before she got brave on him. “What the hell was that about, Nate? Do you really have to act like such a…a…jerk?”

He loved that hitch in her voice. She was so proper. “What’s wrong, baby? You can’t cuss? Say what you mean.” He invaded her space. He knew he was on the edge, but he couldn’t quite pull himself back. Those years he’d spent away from her weighed heavily on him. The very smell of motor oil had brought back too many bad memories, and he needed a way to burn them off.

He knew what he would pick if given a choice.

“I choose to keep my language free of rough words. And you were a jerk.” She held her ground. He was counting on that.

He towered over her. “I was an asshole, baby. I was a motherfucker. I was a dick. I was all of those things. I was also right. Things are gonna change around here.”

Her jaw set in a stubborn pout. “Oh, really? The great Nathan Wright is going to come in and teach all of us yokels how the world works?”

“Damn straight.” Somebody needed to. As far as he could tell, no one in this town ever bothered to take their head out of their ass. They were all worried about their art or hurting someone’s feelings. He’d heard an awful lot about karma since he started walking the streets of Bliss. And no one made him feel more like a dumbass than Callie Sheppard. She’d spent her time lecturing him on how Bliss worked. He wasn’t supposed to give tickets to Henry and Nell for not having the proper permits when they stopped traffic on Fridays with their silly mime project. He wasn’t allowed to arrest the nudists. He wasn’t supposed to “display a threatening presence,” and she’d told him to smile more. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She was trying to reduce his job to some sort of happy, glad-handing politician, and that wasn’t going to happen. “I’m going to force this backward-ass town to realize that it isn’t in a bubble. Bad shit happens, darlin’, and you can’t fight it with a poem or a goddamn piece of pottery. You sure aren’t going to keep this place safe by holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya.’”

She raised her stubborn chin up. “Maybe we don’t like the so-called outside world. Maybe we choose to behave in a fashion that all you realists look down on, but don’t think for a second that these people can’t handle themselves. And don’t think they haven’t faced hardships of their own.”

“Yeah, a lot of hardship here. I can see that plainly. What’s the worst thing that happened here lately? Stella run out of coffee?”

She pushed against his chest. “You’re hopeless. Please take me back to the station. I’m going home.”

She was so close he could smell her. He could smell the soap she’d used and the shampoo on her hair. Her small hand was on his chest, the heat of her body righteously close to his skin. Her upturned face was mere inches away, and suddenly Nate couldn’t stand it. He growled as every instinct in his body led him. His hands clamped on her hips, dragging her to him. He saw the surprise on her face just before he descended, taking advantage of her slightly open mouth. He slammed his mouth down on hers, forcing his way inside. She struggled for the barest of moments before she flowered beneath him. Her arms wound their way up and around his neck.

She was short. He solved the problem by dragging her up against his body and supporting her with his hands on that curvy ass he’d dreamed of. He was rock hard in an instant and ground himself against her pussy, resentful of his pants and her skirt. She was a sweet weight in his arms. His heart pounded in his chest, his cock full of blood. He needed her. God, he needed her more than he could ever remember needing anything before.

He started walking, moving toward the large pine tree behind them. That would do.

“Oh, Nate.” She moaned his name as he dragged his mouth from her lips across her cheek and jaw, settling into the soft valley of her neck. She didn’t complain as he planted her back against the tree. Her skirt hitched up as her legs came around to circle his hips. Fuck, she felt good.

Anchored against the trunk of the tree by his body weight, Callie clung to him. She let her head fall back, giving him the flesh he sought. He pushed up the denim of her skirt. Every inch of skin he captured felt like a victory. He pumped his hips against her pussy, unable to wait until he freed his cock to play with her. He was going to brand her. When he was done, Callie Sheppard would know who she belonged to. His hands were on the buckle of his belt when he realized Callie was fighting him.

“Stop.” She was pleading, tears running down her face. Her legs were on the ground again, and she pushed at his chest.

He stepped away from her like she was on fire. It took everything he had to stay on his feet. What had just happened? Had he dreamed she was responding?

“I’m sorry,” she said through her tears. “I can’t. I know I was…I know I led you on, Nate, but you don’t even like me. I can’t sleep with someone who doesn’t even like me.” The words came out in little hitches.

“Don’t like you?” What the hell was she talking about? Not like her? She was all he thought about.

She was making a pointed attempt to get herself under control. She smoothed down her skirt and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. Had he really been ready to toss up her skirt and fuck her right here in the middle of the woods? Yes. He had been this close to heaven, and it would have led him straight to hell. What had he planned to do after? Take her off to his shitty cabin and show her everything he had to offer, which was exactly nothing? Was he going to show her off to Zane like a prize he’d won?

It was all so fucked up.

“Yes, Sheriff, you’ve made it clear you don’t particularly care for me.” She slumped against the tree he’d tossed her against without any regard for her comfort. “You let me know on a daily basis how much you wish I wasn’t around.”

He shook his head at the thought. “I don’t know why you think that. God, Callie, I’ve been crazy about you since the day I met you.” There it was again. He didn’t fucking think anymore.

Her eyes widened behind her glasses. “But you left me.”

Take it back. Tell her you were joking. Tell her anything but the truth. “Zane loved you, too. We couldn’t choose who got to keep you.”

It had been much more complex than that, but he couldn’t think. His brain was stuck on the way she felt, smelled, sounded. He wanted to do anything that might make her change her mind, even though he knew what a mistake it would be.

She was staring at him, her jaw wide. After a moment of complete silence, her mouth closed and she leaned over, picking up the Detector 4000 that had dropped from her hands sometime during their tussle. She started to march straight past him. Nate reached out and grabbed her by the elbow, unwilling to pretend none of this had happened. He’d fucked up, but maybe it was for the best. Maybe they could work something out. If he could see her quietly, it wouldn’t hurt Zane. How much did he have to give up for his best friend?

“Did you hear what I said, Callie? I’m crazy about you.” He started to pull her into his arms. If he could get his mouth on her again, he could convince her. She was so responsive.

He dropped her arm when she slammed the remote over his head.

“Damn it.” He took a step back, but she was on the offensive now.

“You jerk! How dare you? You left a note. You left a stupid note. You say you were crazy about me, that Zane’s in love with me, and all you could manage was a note and not one phone call in six years.”

He backed up, arms over his head to ward off her blows. “Baby, there’s more to it.”

He’d had a job to do.

“Don’t call me baby.”

The blows didn’t hurt at all, but he let her push him back. She didn’t have it in her to really harm him, but she needed this. He’d pushed her over the last two weeks with his anger and complete indecision. He knew what he wanted. He simply didn’t think he deserved it.

“I’m sorry, Callie.” He was. He was sorry about all of it. He was sorry he’d left her, and he was sorry he’d just about assaulted her in the middle of the woods. And he was pretty damn sure it would happen again. Now that he’d touched her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave her alone. Damn it. What was he going to do? He had nothing to offer her, and it would break Zane if he waltzed off with the girl. A voice whispered in the back of his head. Max Harper didn’t lose his brother when they fell for the same girl. Why did he have to lose his best friend? Callie wanted them both once.

“You left me and I thought it was because…” She stopped and dropped the remote. She shook her head and turned on those little heels. Her hips swayed as she walked away from him, and Nate did what he’d wanted to do since she pushed at him. He let himself fall to the ground.

Holy shit, was he really thinking about it? Was he really thinking about sharing Callie Sheppard with his best friend on a permanent basis? How would it work? Who would marry her? Would either one of them marry her? Would Zane even think about going for it?

Then he just had one question running through his head as he heard tires screeching. How was he going to get back to the station? His honey had left him high and dry. The whole threesome thing might be a moot point since Callie didn’t seem like she wanted to talk to him, much less join him in an alternative lifestyle.

“You look like you have a headache, Sheriff.” Mel stood over him with a sympathetic nod. “That’s what happens when they probe you. That and the other stuff.”

This was his punishment. He was stuck relying on a man who thought the sky was falling. Nate got up as gracefully as he could manage with a raging hard-on. His erection hadn’t gone away. In fact, it was only worse now that he was thinking about the possibilities. He reached into his pocket to pull out his…damn it. He’d left his cell in the car that was currently flying down the mountain. They were going to have a talk about her reckless driving.

After he managed to get her in bed. That’s where he would do all his talking with Callie from now on. “Mel, do you think I could use your phone? Um, maybe I was a little hasty about the whole alien thing.” He picked up the only slightly destroyed Detector 4000. “I’ll get this fixed.”

Mel slapped him on the back and smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Sheriff. It was time to upgrade, anyway. Alien technology changes fast. We gotta keep up. Come on up to the house. I have a tonic that’ll help get rid of the aftereffects of the probe and a helmet to wear that’ll keep them from reading your thoughts.”

Nate shook his head. He was definitely going to pay for that note he’d left her all those years ago.

 

* * * *

 

The door to her cabin slammed behind her, and Callie immediately dragged the sweater over her head. She tossed it to the side and unhooked the hated bra. Her skirt was next, and then she kicked her shoes to the side. She sighed, feeling slightly free for the first time that day. The feeling was immediately overwhelmed with anxiety as her fight with Nate replayed itself in her head in brilliant 3-D, with the volume too loud.

She ignored the guilty whisper in the back of her head that told her stealing a county vehicle and leaving the town sheriff behind was a bad thing. She’d parked the Bronco at the station and hadn’t bothered to wake up Logan from his nap to go get Nate.

Jerk. Nate deserved a long walk back into town. She wasn’t going to feel bad. He had made it plain. He didn’t need help from a hick like her. He didn’t need anything from her, except maybe some cheap sex.

She couldn’t buy the whole “I’m crazy about you” thing. It wasn’t possible. He was just a man saying what he thought she wanted to hear to get what he wanted. Wasn’t he? She would have to be a fool to believe him.

She walked straight to the back porch and out into the warm afternoon. The sunlight and mountain breeze kissed her skin. It was quiet here. The cabin she’d shared with her mother was isolated from the rest of the valley. She walked down to the river. The Rio Grande ran through Bliss, splitting the town through the valley before it wound its way south and east. Callie sank onto the soft grass and stared at the water as it flowed.

If rumors were correct, the river flowed by the cabin Nate had bought, too. Not that he’d invited her there. Was Zane staying at the cabin? Was he staring at the same river she was? She smiled slightly. He probably wasn’t naked.

She had to face facts. Nate was right. She was a hick. She’d been born in Bliss, and she’d lived her whole life here. This was the only place where she felt at home. What was she going to do in an apartment in Denver? Fade. That’s what she’d do, and yet the thought of staying here when she could see the future so clearly seemed like a bad idea. She would end up being everyone’s favorite aunt. Max and Rye’s kids would run wild through town, and she’d wish her own were right there with them. Eventually Stef would get a clue and see what was right in front of him. He wouldn’t be able to ignore Jennifer Waters forever.

She’d be the one on the outside, but then she always had been. Everyone in town loved her, but she wasn’t an intimate member of any family. She could have a hot affair with the sheriff, but in the end, he would find something better and move on. As for Zane, well, he hadn’t even shown his face around town. That was how much he didn’t want to see her.

“Hey, anyone home?”

Callie turned and saw her friend Jen trudging down the small hill her cabin sat on. Jennifer was an artist who worked at the diner while she was trying to make a living off selling her work in the galleries. She was very good, and Callie had often thought she could be big if she went to New York. There was no denying what kept her in Bliss. She had come to convince Stefan Talbot to teach her and ended up falling in love with the man.

“I’m at the river,” she called out.

“Well, hello, nature girl. I stopped by the station but Logan was the only one there. I decided not to wake him up.” Jennifer was a cute brunette, her hair in a perpetual ponytail. She wore jeans and a T-shirt emblazoned with the logo from the diner she worked at. She plunked herself down beside Callie. It was only a minute before she’d shucked her clothes and lay back in the soft grass wearing only her undies. Jen might have been born in a conservative Southern town, but she fit right in here in Bliss. “I figured you would be here. Is the jerk giving you hell?”

She let her head find her knees, pulling her legs up as though the mere mention of Nate made her want to protect herself. “He’s decided to bring us all into the real world.”

Jen frowned. “The real world sucks. I grew up in it. I like it better here. What was Stef thinking? Why did he need to bring that guy in? Logan would have been fine. Or you. Why don’t you put on some polyester and take over? Everyone goes to you anyway.”

“Not going to happen.” Though the thought made her smile. She wasn’t much of an authority figure. Neither was Logan, for that matter. “And Stef was right. We do need someone who knows what they’re doing. Though maybe not someone as hard-core as Nate Wright.”

Hard. He’d been ridiculously hard when he shoved her up against that tree. Why had she pulled back? Oh yeah. A little thing called self-esteem. Did she really need that more than she needed an orgasm? And how long would she be able to hold out if he tried it again?

Jen came up on her elbows, her pretty face scrunched up in disgust. “Well, we’ll vote him out of office if he keeps it up. Did you know he warned me not to jaywalk? I was crossing Main Street to go from the diner to the Trading Post, and he stopped me. He told me next time I would get a ticket. I’m supposed to walk all the way to the gallery and then wait for the stoplight to turn red. Seriously? Doesn’t he have anything better to do?”

Yes, he did, and that was why Nathan Wright wouldn’t be here two years from now. He would get some time under his belt and move on. His family money might be gone, but she doubted his connections were. Nate would move on, and she would be alone again. She didn’t think she could handle it. Everywhere she looked, the road led out of Bliss.

She sat back up. If she was really leaving Bliss, maybe she should go out with a bang. Nathan Wright wasn’t the only one who could scratch an itch.

“I don’t like that look.” Jen stared at her. “I see that look a lot in the mirror, and it always gets me in trouble.”

Trouble sounded like fun. Maybe it was time for everyone’s favorite aunt, who never cursed or threw a fit, to cause a little scandal of her own. She’d spent thirty-one years easing the lives of the people around her, smoothing the way for temperamental Max, listening to Rye’s love problems, being the girl on Stefan’s arm at family events because he didn’t “do” long-term relationships. And that was just the boys she grew up with. She was the one Stella called when her fry cook decided French fries and burgers didn’t soothe the inner artist in his soul. She was the one who listened to Mel’s latest alien theories. She was the one who sat through the Repertory Theater’s dress rehearsals and gave notes and went to every artist in Bliss’s gallery show. And who listened to her? What would they listen to, even if they were willing?

She was Callie Sheppard, doormat of Bliss.

“Seriously, sweetie, whatever you’re thinking, don’t.” Jen got up, picking up her clothes as Callie rose to her feet. She followed behind her as Callie turned toward the cabin. “The naked thing is really a great way of thumbing your nose at society. You should stick to that.”

She glanced back. “I’m not thumbing my nose at society. I like the way it feels. And whatever I’m about to do tonight isn’t about society. It’s about me. It’s about…” It was time to be a little vulgar. “It’s about getting laid. Callie Sheppard is on the prowl. What do you know about that bar on the far side of the mountain?”

Jen turned a bit green. “Are you talking about Hell on Wheels? The biker bar? Tell me you’re talking about another bar. You want to know what I know about that bar? I know you shouldn’t go there because we’ll never come out alive. I say we because I can’t let you go alone.”

It would be nice to have company, but she didn’t want Jen to feel obligated. “Don’t be silly. How bad could it be?”

She walked into her cabin and hoped she could find some slutty clothes because she intended to find out.