CHAPTER 7
ALL IT TOOK, Morgan thought as he watched Misty’s eyes darken and her lips part, was a nice long look from him. She could deny it all she wanted, but her hunger was almost as bad as his own. When he felt it, she felt it, and right now was proof positive.
Well aware of Howard and Jesse closing in behind him, their curiosity caught, he leaned down and kissed her. It was a simple soft touch. He brushed his mouth over hers, once, twice. She drew a small shuddering breath, and her eyes slowly drifted shut, but she didn’t stop him. No, she’d raise hell with him after, he had no doubt of that, but for now, she was as warm and needy as he. Her small hand fisted in his shirt, trying to drag him closer, proved it.
“Misty?” He whispered her name, watching the way her eyelashes fluttered.
“Hmm?”
His own smile took him by surprise. All his life people had teased him about his ferocious frowns, but something about Misty made him feel lighthearted, joyful deep inside. He touched the tip of her nose. “Sweetheart, we have an audience, or I’d sure do better than one measly peck, I promise.”
Her eyes flew open, then widened. She peeked around his shoulder cautiously, saw the two men, and her own version of a fierce frown appeared. Her fisted hand released his shirt, and she thumped him in the chest. “Of all the—”
Morgan grabbed her hand, threw one arm around her shoulders and turned, taking her with him to face Howard and Jesse. “I thought I told you two not to work on the weekend.”
“Nothing better to do today. We figured we’d get it done and out of the way.”
Morgan gave Jesse a good frown to show him what he thought of that, but he knew better than to start debating with him now. “So how’s the work going?”
Jesse nodded quickly, a habit he had when he was nervous, and being around women always made him nervous, especially the really pretty ones. “It’s getting there. I’ll have the lot of it cleared out by midweek.” Though he spoke to Morgan, his eyes didn’t leave Misty’s face.
Howard scratched his chin, watching Misty with acute interest. “It’s looking real good.”
Amused by their preoccupation, Morgan nudged Misty slightly forward and said, “This is Honey’s sister, Misty Malone. She’s here for an extended visit and she’ll be helping out around the station. Misty, this is Jesse and Howard.”
Both men did a double take at that announcement, but Morgan ignored their reactions, knowing why they looked so shocked. They’d obviously jumped to the wrong conclusion. He hid his grin and decided to explain things to them later.
Jesse tipped a nonexistent hat and muttered, “Nice to meet you.”
Howard stuck out his hand, realized it was covered with dirt and pulled it back before Misty could accept it. With an apologetic shrug, he explained, “I’ve been digging out the weeds. Messy work, that. Nice to meet you, Miss Malone.”
Misty smiled. “Call me Misty, please. What exactly are you doing back there?”
It was Jesse who answered. “There’s been a ton of weeds growing in the gully out back for as long as the sheriff’s been stationed here. It draws mosquitoes and gnats and it’s just plain ugly. Morgan wants us to clear them out and plant a line of bushes instead. We don’t have the bushes in yet, but we will soon.”
“I love outdoor work.” Misty stepped away from Morgan and headed to the side of the house to check their progress. “I used to work with my father’s gardeners when I was younger. It’s hot work, especially on a day like today. But I always preferred that to being cooped up inside.”
Morgan could just picture her as a little girl, hanging out with the hired help because her daddy ignored her and she had nothing better to do. It made his stomach cramp.
Howard nodded. “Know what you mean. Fresh air is good for you. I used to farm in my younger days. There’s nothing like it.”
She went around the corner of the house, Howard and Jesse trailing her like she was the Pied Piper. She kept chatting and they continued to hang on her every word.
Morgan was left alone with his disgruntled feelings. Odds were, he told himself, Misty had been as endearing as a wide-eyed child as she was now. The gardeners had probably loved having her underfoot. He shook his head. Gardeners, for crying out loud.
She made one simple statement about her youth and he got melancholy. It wasn’t to be borne.
He heard Jesse’s cackling laugh from way out back and frowned. They’d only just met her and she already had them mesmerized. He considered waiting until they came back, then changed his mind. He unlocked the front door, which only he and the deputy used, closed and locked it, then went through the converted house to the back. In what used to be the dining room, a space now housing all his file cabinets, he stared out the large picture window.
He could see Misty standing just outside the line of displaced weeds and dirt, her hands on her rounded hips as she conversed with the men. Her dark shiny hair glinted in the sunlight, and her bare shoulders and thighs appeared sleek. She looked over the still-packaged bushes while the two old codgers looked her over, eyeing the long expanse of her legs. Morgan felt like growling.
He knew he was in a hell of a predicament when two elders made him jealous. What had happened to his acclaimed control?
He went to the soda machine in the hallway outside his office and fed in quarters. Seconds later he stepped into the yard with four icy cold cans numbing his fingers. Jesse and Howard accepted theirs with relish, popping the tops and guzzling the cola. Though he’d told the old men time and again to bring a cooler with drinks, they never remembered to do it.
Misty was more restrained, using the edge of her shorts to clean the top of the can then opening it cautiously and sipping. It was so hot and humid outside that the little wisps of her hair escaping her topknot had begun to curl around her face.
She squinted against the sun, wrinkling her small nose, and smiled at him. “The bushes will look great once they’re in. It’ll make the yard looked bigger, too, without the tall weeds breaking up the length.”
Morgan nodded, content just to look at her and drink his soda and enjoy the feel of the sunshine.
He loved the old farmhouse—and had since the moment he’d been elected and moved his things into the desk. He forced his gaze away from her and surveyed the back porch. “She’s a grand old lady, isn’t she?”
“She’s beautiful.” Misty, too, looked at the porch with the turned rails and ornate trim. “You don’t see that kind of detail very often any more.”
“It’s solid.” Morgan finished off his cola, then crushed the can in his fist. “This house is partly what inspired me to build my own home. I was forever doing improvements to the station and finally decided I needed my own place to work on. But even with my house almost complete, I still love it here.”
“Somehow, I think it suits you. Especially because you’re in charge.”
“It does,” he agreed, ignoring her teasing tone. “You want to see inside where you’ll be working?”
“Sure.” She turned to the men and smiled. “Howard, Jesse, it was nice meeting you.”
They each nodded, ridiculous smiles on their faces. Morgan could only shake his head in wonder. Was no man immune? As they walked through the back door, he saw her smile and raised a brow in question.
“They’re very sweet.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “Uh-huh. You go right on wearing those rose-colored glasses, sweetheart.”
She gasped at him in disapproval. “You’re such a cynic. They’re very nice men who are working hard for you. I’d think you’d appreciate that a little.”
Morgan led her into his office, which had once been the dining room. It had a large white stone fireplace, now filled with lush ferns instead of burning logs. He’d had the arched doorway framed and fitted so he could close the door for privacy. He’d never needed or wanted that privacy more than now.
He propped his shoulders against the mantel. “Jesse was picked up for fighting two weekends ago. He broke two pool sticks and several lights after a man accused him of cheating at a game. Jesse wouldn’t cheat, but he does have a terrible temper.”
Misty stared at him in blank surprise.
“Now Howard, he’s cooler than that. You won’t catch him causing a brawl.”
“You’re dying to tell me, so spit it out.” She mimicked his stance, leaning against the opposite wall.
Grinning, Morgan said, “He slipped into the theater without paying—five times in a row. He loves the movies, but says the prices have gotten too high. Arnold kept kicking him out and Howard kept creeping back in. No one would have known, but during the last movie, he tried stealing a bite of popcorn from the woman sitting next to him.”
“And she complained over that?”
Morgan winked at her. “The woman was Marsha Werner, and he’d recently broken off a relationship with her and was, I imagine, trying to worm his way back into her good graces. She wasn’t impressed, so she raised a ruckus and I finally had to arrest him. But it was Marsha who came and bailed him out, so who knows what’s happening there?”
Misty tried to stifle a smile. “It’s a little hard to imagine him in a relationship.”
“That’s only because you haven’t met Marsha. Things soured between them when she wanted to get married, but they were a good couple, like the best grandma and grandpa you’d ever met.” Morgan watched her smile widen and added, “Marsha’s real fond of the movies, too, but as she continually explains to me in rather loud tones, she’s an upstanding citizen and she pays for her entertainment.”
Misty lost control of her twitching smile and laughed out loud. Morgan watched her, seeing the way the heat and humidity outside had made her shirt stick to her breasts. She’d smell all warm and womanly now if he could just get close enough to her to nuzzle her soft skin.
“So what kind of sentence did each of them get?”
He held her gaze and murmured, “Community work. That’s why they’re fixing the yard. I bought the bushes and they agreed to do the work. In addition, of course, Jesse had to promise to stay out of the pool hall for a month, and Howard had to pay for the movies he’d seen.”
“Ah. They considered that a terrible punishment?”
“Not the yard work, but the other, yeah. With any luck, it’ll make an impression this time. But I hate to see them in any real trouble. They’re both pushing seventy, and even though they get around well enough to get into mischief, they don’t mean any real harm. I think they’re just lonely and a little bored, more than anything else.”
She twisted her mouth in a near grimace, then asked, “When you arrested them…”
“No, I didn’t handcuff them,” he answered gently, able to read her train of thought. It hurt him to see her so hesitant, to know that her own memories ate at her. He’d fix things for her one way or another, he vowed. “I didn’t stick them in back of the Bronco, either. They both rode up front with me. That way, I could give them a stern talking-to during the ride. They hate that.”
Misty smiled at him for a nearly endless moment, then turned up her can of soda and finished it off. She set the can on his desk. “I’m impressed, Morgan.”
“With what?”
“Your compassion. And the fact that you obviously have a soft side, which you hide pretty well, by the way.”
He wasn’t at all sure he wanted her noticing his soft side, not that he had one, anyway. He frowned at the mere thought.
Misty gave a loud sigh. “Now what are you scowling about? I insult you and you laugh, I compliment you and you start glowering at me.”
Morgan didn’t move. She had an impish look about her that intrigued him. “Come closer and I’ll tell you why I’m frowning.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.”
“Afraid of me, Malone?”
She made a rude sound, refusing to be drawn in by his obvious challenge. “Not likely. You’re as big as an ox and built like a ton of bricks, but you don’t beat up on women.”
He made his own rude sound. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” He lowered his voice to a suggestive rumble. “You’re afraid if you get too close, you won’t want to move away again. But this is my office and I don’t do hanky-panky here. At least, not any serious hanky-panky. So you’re safe enough.”
“And what constitutes the serious stuff?”
He looked at her breasts and felt his heartbeat accelerate. “Anything below the waist?”
She swallowed and he could see the thrumming pulse in her throat. “Howard and Jesse are right outside.”
“Not for much longer. I only let them work for a few hours a day, mostly in the morning because the afternoon heat is too much for them.”
“Then why have them doing that job at all?”
She was bound and determined to distract him, so Morgan let her. The last thing he wanted was for her to be wary of him. “Their pride is important to them, and to me. Already they’ve told anyone who’d listen that I’ve given them such a hard, impossible job, then they come here and have a great time futzing around, proving that they can do it. In fact, they complain about the short days I insist on, because Jesse used to be in construction and Howard was a farmer. They say they’re used to the heat, but—” He realized he was rambling and ground to a halt.
“You’re pretty wonderful sometimes, Sheriff, you know that?”
He unfolded his arms, letting them hang at his sides. In a rough whisper, he said again, “Come here.”
She took one step toward him, then halted. “This is crazy.”
Morgan nodded in agreement. Crazy didn’t even begin to describe the way she made him feel.
She looked undecided and he held his breath, but she turned away. She pretended an interest in the office. Her voice shook when she started talking again. “This is your desk?”
She picked up a framed school picture of Casey and studied it.
“You know it is. My office is the biggest room. The cells are in the basement, though they seldom get used—and yes, I’ll take you on a tour in a bit. The kitchen has been rearranged into a lobby of sorts, and there’s always coffee there for anyone who wants it. The family room faces the kitchen through open doorways across the hall, and that’ll be where you work. There’s a lot of office equipment in there. I’ll have my deputy, Nate Brewer, show you where he keeps things and how to use the file system. The upstairs has been turned into conference rooms for different community events.”
He watched her inch closer to him to look at a plaque hanging on the wall. Not wanting to scare her off now that she was almost within reach, he said, “That’s my mission statement.”
“Mission statement?”
“My intent for holding office as sheriff. The community got to read it prior to the election.” He was thankful she didn’t read the whole thing. His patience was about run out and he just wanted to taste her.
“You had the plaque made?”
“Nope. The advisory board did.” He saw her start to ask and said, “They’re a group of citizens that bring concerns to me. Sort of a community awareness system.”
She leaned closer to the plaque. “It says here that you founded the advisory board during your first term in office.”
He shook his head. “I was the one who suggested a voice in the community, so they’d all feel more involved in decisions. But they’re the ones who organized the board and set up the structure for it. Now they have these big elections to decide who gets to serve in the various advisory board positions.”
She moved closer still, examining a trophy on the mantel beside him. Morgan tried to block it with his shoulders, but she inched around him until she could see it clearly. “What’s this for?”
Feeling uncomfortable with her inquisition, Morgan cleared his throat. “That was given to me by the student council at the high school.”
“It says, outstanding community leadership.”
“I know what it says, Malone.” He glared, but she glared right back, and he gave up with a sigh. “I started a program where the students can interact with the elders in the community, helping out with chores and such. I’d hoped to give the kids some direction and the elders some company, that’s all. But now participation is recognized by the governor for qualifications to state scholarships.”
She looked at him. “That’s remarkable.”
Morgan shifted to face her, determined to satisfy her curiosity so he could get her mind on more pleasurable topics. “Naw. The students took it a lot further than I did, making it a hell of a program. That’s why I thought it deserved to be brought to the governor’s notice.”
She glanced at the writing on the base of the trophy. “It says here that you help supply scholarship funds, as well.”
Morgan rubbed his ear and bit back a curse. “Yeah, well, that’s just something I sort of thought would help….”
Misty reached up and took his hand, enfolding it in both of her own. Her blue eyes were filled with amusement and something else. He was almost afraid to figure out what. “Don’t be modest, now, Sheriff.”
“I’m not!”
“And don’t be embarrassed, either.”
He gave her his blackest scowl. “That’s just plain foolish. Of course I’m not embarrassed. No reason to be. It’s all just part and parcel of my job.”
Misty shook her head as if scolding him, and it rankled. “I can’t quite figure you out, Morgan.”
Slowly, so she wouldn’t bolt, he slipped his hand free and trailed his fingers up her bare arm to the back of her neck. He’d always loved the feel of women, the smoothness compared to a man’s rough angles. But for whatever reason, he loved the feel of Misty more.
Just touching her arm made his heart race, his groin throb. He could only imagine how it would be once he had her naked beneath him, able to touch and taste and investigate every small part of her. He shook with the thought.
Goose bumps appeared where he’d touched her, and she gave a small shiver. “I’m as clear as glass, sweetheart.” He was aware of how husky his voice had gone, but damn, he felt like he was burning up. Gently rubbing the back of her neck, he urged her a tiny bit closer, then closer still. He stared at her thick eyelashes, resting against her cheeks, at the warm flush of her skin. “I’m just a man who wants you.”
She answered in a similar husky whisper. “That part has been plain enough.” Staring at his throat, her small hands restless, she refused to meet his gaze. “It’s the rest that confounds me.”
“But anything else is unimportant.” And then he kissed her.
* * *
MISTY KNEW her joke about making Morgan miserable had backfired in a big way. She was the one suffering, not him. She realized she actually liked the big guy, and almost cursed. He was so cavalier about all he did, all the responsibility he accepted.
And she seemed to have no control around him at all. He was just so big and so strong and so incredibly handsome. But it was more than that.
Morgan was a nice man.
He was also an honorable man who took his job very seriously and cared about people, not just the people he called family, but all the people in his community. Like an overlord of old, he felt responsible for their safety and happiness. And that made him almost too appealing to resist.
A soft moan escaped her when Morgan touched his mouth to hers and she felt his tongue teasing her lips.
“Open up for me, Malone.”
Her hand fisted in his shirt over his hard chest. She felt the trembling of his muscles, the pounding of his heartbeat—and her lips parted.
Morgan let out his own groan only seconds before his tongue was in her mouth. She’d never known kissing like this, so hot and intimate and something more than just mouth on mouth. Maybe it was because Morgan was unique, but being kissed by him seemed more exciting than anything she’d ever done.
Beneath her fingers she could feel his labored breaths, and she opened her palm, amazed by the way his hard muscles shifted and moved in response to her touch. She felt powerful—no man had ever made her feel that way before.
As if he’d known her thoughts, he caught her other hand, which had been idly clasped at his waistband, and dragged it up to his chest. “Damn, I love it when you touch me.”
Misty tucked her face beneath his chin and tried to take a calming breath. Instead, she inhaled his hot male scent and renewed desire. Rather than pushing his advantage, Morgan looped both arms around her and rocked her gently.
“It’s almost too much, isn’t it?” he growled against her temple.
Words were too difficult, so she nodded, bumping his chin. She felt like crying and hated herself for it. She’d never been a woman who wept over every little thing, so she assumed it must be the pregnancy making her so weak.
Then again, Morgan wasn’t a little thing. He was a great big hulking gorgeous thing, and how he made her feel was enough to shake the earth.
His fingertips smoothed over her cheek. “I’m trying to give you time, sweetheart. I know you’ve been through a lot and until this morning, I’ve done nothing but push you away. But it’s not easy.” He gave a shaky laugh and admitted, “It’s damn near impossible, if you want the truth.”
His words prompted a new thought, but there was no way she could look him in the eyes right now. Morgan would see everything she felt and he’d stop trying to be so considerate. If he pushed even the tiniest bit, she’d give in to him and she knew it. As much as she wanted him, she didn’t know if it was the right thing to do. She needed more time.
Hiding her face close to his chest, she did her best to sound casual when she spoke. “It was a rather quick turnaround for you.”
“No.” He kissed her ear, then nipped her lobe, making her jump. “I wanted you something fierce the first second I saw you. I just figured it’d be too complicated if we got involved.”
“Because you’re looking for a wife?”
He stiffened slightly, then deliberately began rubbing her back. “Because you’re Honey’s sister, so you were off-limits for a fling.”
It felt like her heart broke, his honest words hurt so much. Her throat was constricted, and she swallowed hard so he wouldn’t know how strongly he’d affected her. “But now, since it’s obvious what type of woman I am, my relationship to Honey no longer matters?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Morgan tried to tip her back to see her face, but she held onto him like a clinging vine and he finally quit trying. His mouth pressed warmly to her temple and his arms tightened. “I don’t think you’re easy, Malone, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“No?” She forced herself to unclench his shirt. The man would wear wrinkles all day thanks to her. And his brothers would probably take one look at him and know why. “I’m pregnant, with no husband, no job. I’m a convict, for crying out loud. What’s your definition of easy?”
He took her off guard, thrusting her back a good foot with his hands wrapped securely around her upper arms. His scowl was enough to scare demons back to hell. Misty held her breath, not afraid of him physically, really, but very uncertain of his mood.
He started to say something, then paused. “Damn it,” he growled, “don’t look at me like that. I would never hurt you.”
She nodded. “I know it.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
“You’re shaking me.”
He looked poleaxed by that observation, then dropped his hands to shove them onto his hips in a thoroughly arrogant stance. Misty wrapped her arms around herself and watched him cautiously.
He didn’t apologize. “And you deserve it, too.”
“For asking a question?” Now that he wasn’t touching her, she could regain her edge.
“For suggesting something so stupid.” He took a quick step toward her, leaned down in a most unnerving way and practically shouted, “I do not think you’re easy!”
Misty blinked.
“Hell, woman, you’re about the most difficult female I’ve ever run across. You fight me at every damn turn.”
For some reason, Misty felt like smiling. She bit her lip, knowing Morgan wouldn’t appreciate it one bit. “That’s not true.”
“No? I go crazy for you, and you ignore me, then flirt outrageously with every other male in the county.”
That got her good and mad. “I did no such thing! And you ignored me first.” She hadn’t meant to bring that up; it made her sound spiteful, as if she’d ignored him to get even. She frowned at him for making her say too much.
“I tell you to leave, you argue about it. I all but beg you to stay, you argue about it.”
“I did not argue about leaving.”
“You got snide, I remember that well enough.” He rubbed his neck and groaned. “Hell, it was all I could do to keep my hands to myself, to put up with having you in the house until Sawyer’s wedding, and you just kept sniping at me, and for some fool reason that only made me want you more.”
“How could I have ignored you and sniped at you at the same time? That doesn’t make sense, Morgan.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’d snipe with silence, by being there, making me want you, then chatting with one of my disreputable brothers as if I wasn’t in the room when I knew damn good and well you were aware of me. Admit it, Malone.”
This time she gave in to the grin; she couldn’t help herself. “Admit I was aware of you? Sure. You’re a mite hard to miss, Morgan, being so big and all.”
He took another step toward her, and she backed up. In soft tones that sounded like threats rather than compliments, he said, “I admire your pride, sweetheart, I really do. But that pride is misplaced when you cut off your nose to spite your face.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you wanted to stay here, but stubbornly refused just because I’d been a pigheaded fool and asked you to go.”
“I agreed to stay, Morgan,” she said, feeling it necessary to point that out.
“And you refused a good job, just because you thought it was created for you.”
“Uh…I took the job, too, remember?”
“I remember that I had to practically get down on my hands and knees, as well as resort to every lamebrained scheme around, to get your agreement! And you dare to say I think you’re easy?”
“Will you stop shouting at me?”
He halted. Misty had her back to a bookcase, and Morgan was only a scant inch away. “Yeah, I’ll stop shouting. As long as you promise to never again put words in my mouth.”
Because he looked so sincerely put out over it, she agreed. “I’m sorry.”
With his hands on the bookshelf level with her head, he caged her in. “Listen good, Malone, because I don’t want to have to repeat this.” His gaze dipped to her mouth, then came back to her eyes, pinning her motionless. “I do not think you’re easy. I think you’re a beautiful woman who got involved with the wrong guy and ended up in some trouble because of it. And no, I’m not talking about the pregnancy, because you’re right, that’s not real trouble. If you want the baby, then everything else will work itself out. I was talking about being blamed for the theft.”
He drew a long breath, then squeezed his eyes shut. “And I’ll have you know that even arguing with you makes me hot. I’m so damn hard right now I could be considered lethal.”
A startled laugh burst out of her, making Morgan scowl all the more. She looked at his face, then doubled over in laughter, making an awful racket but unable to help herself.
Morgan waited patiently, crossing his arms over his chest and blocking her so she couldn’t move away. His reaction made her laugh harder, and she fell against him until he was forced to prop her up.
When she finally quieted, Morgan was rubbing her back and smiling at her. “You want to tell me what brought that on?”
“You’re priceless, Morgan.”
“How so?”
He was such a reprobate. She smiled at him as she explained, aware of his hands drifting lower, almost to her behind. “You have absolutely no consideration for my modesty or my sensibilities. You talk about the most personal things—”
“Like what?”
“Like the fact you seem to have a problem with control.”
He shook his head very slowly. “Not usually. Everyone will tell you I maintain absolute control.”
She quirked a brow and stared at his fly.
With a grin, Morgan said, “That’s an aberration, an involuntary reaction that can’t be controlled around you.”
She almost started laughing again. “Well, whatever it is, you show no hesitation in talking about it, shocking me all the time, embarrassing me.”
His hands slid over her bottom completely, and he lifted her to her tiptoes so she fit against him. She caught her breath as his voice went husky and deep. “I want you to know how much I want you, sweetheart.”
Contentment swelled inside her. She knew it was dangerous to make herself vulnerable to him, but at the moment, she was too touched to care. “That’s just it,” she said softly, “you show no hesitation about making me blush, but you’re so considerate of my feelings otherwise. Thank you.”
Morgan’s fingers contracted on her backside, caressing and exciting. “You want to know how you can thank me?”
Misty was ready to start laughing again when a tentative knock sounded on the door. She jumped, bumped her head on the bookcase, then shoved him away. “Good grief, my first time in your office and look what happens.”
With a wry look, Morgan turned and headed for the door. “Unfortunately, not a thing happened.” He stepped into the hallway. Misty went to the office door to peek out and see who it was. When she saw Howard and Jesse stomping to remove the dirt from their boots, she stepped out to greet them.
“Are you all done for the day?”
Jesse shook his head. “Just taking off for lunch. Is this your first day?”
“No, Morgan was just showing me around today. I’ll start tomorrow.”
Jesse frowned at Morgan. “How long does she have?”
Misty didn’t understand the question, and Morgan didn’t help by grinning at her. “I’m not sure yet. What do you think?”
“I think it’d be nice to keep her on for good, but I don’t suppose that’d be fair.”
Howard agreed. “Can’t imagine what she could’ve done—not that I’m prying, you understand. But to be here in the first place…”
Misty frowned in confusion. “I’m here because Morgan said he needed someone to answer the phone and take messages.”
Jesse nodded. “That’s a fact. Just about every day one woman or another comes here insisting just that. But I always wondered if it’s really work they have on their minds.” He gave her an exaggerated wink. “Ought to put an end to that now, what with Misty here, though.”
“That,” Misty said while trying to hide her annoyance at the thought, “is entirely up to Morgan.”
“Yes, it is,” Morgan agreed, smiling at her, “but it so happens I think Jesse is right. One female in the office is more than enough.”
Misty clamped her lips together to keep from replying.
Morgan looked disappointed at her restraint. He turned his attention to the men. “You both have lunch with you?”
“Naw, we’re going to the diner. Ceily promised me meat loaf today.”
He glanced at his watch. “Is the diner open yet?”
“She’ll slip us in through the kitchen.”
Howard added, “You take it easy on the little lady, now, you hear?”
“I should explain something, here, guys—” Morgan began, and Misty knew he was going to blurt out something stupid, about how they were involved.
She rushed to his side and nudged him playfully with her shoulder, trying to act like a pal instead of an almost lover. “Morgan is a big pushover. Don’t you worry, I can handle him.”
Both the men stared at her in awe. Morgan rumbled, a sound between a laugh and a growl. “Malone—”
“Behave, Morgan,” she snapped, giving him a telling look before forcing a smile on the men. “They’re hungry. Let them go eat.”
“But—”
Misty ignored him. “Run on, now. You both look famished to me. Everyone knows big healthy men need to eat a lot to keep up their strength. Especially when they’re working as hard as you two are.”
Jesse and Howard puffed up like proud roosters.
Misty waved them off, and after Morgan had shut the door, he said with amusement, “You certainly wrapped them around your little finger.”
She didn’t appreciate that comment at all, considering she’d barely managed to keep him from embarrassing her again. “They’re very sweet men.”
Morgan choked on a laugh. “They feel the same way about you. That’s why they were trying to find out why you’re here.”
She didn’t understand his humor at all. “Is it so uncommon for you to hire someone?”
Morgan pursed his mouth, but ended up chuckling anyway. “Actually, yeah, it is. And Malone, they don’t think you were hired.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Do they think I coerced the job out of you? I swear, Morgan, if people are going to talk because I’m working here…”
He leaned a shoulder against the wall, and even though his mouth wasn’t smiling, she saw the unholy glint in his blue eyes. “Oh, they’ll talk, all right. You see, at this moment Jesse and Howard are probably telling anyone they can find that you’re serving out your time working here—same as they are.”
She felt her eyes nearly cross. “That’s ridiculous!”
Shrugging, he said, “That’s usually why I bring someone in underfoot. Because they got into mischief and have to do community work.”
“But…” She couldn’t think of anything to say, then her temper flared. “You could have set them straight!”
“I believe I tried to. But you were too intent on telling them how you could handle me to let me finish.”
Misty moaned and covered her face. “So now, even though no one here knows I was actually arrested, they’re all going to think the same about me anyway.”
Morgan pulled her hands down and kissed the end of her nose. “Let me show you around the office, explain your duties, then we’ll go to the diner and set them straight.”
“We will?”
He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Believe me, Malone, no one is going to have any doubts as to why I’m keeping you close, I promise. So quit your worries.”
Misty followed him into the office, but his promise, and the way he’d given it, left an empty ache inside her.
Morgan was slowly getting under her skin, and that left her feeling far from reassured.