I was pleasantly surprised the next morning when the painters reappeared. Sam’s threats had not scared them off after all. I spoke briefly with Alex, and we looked over the work they’d done the day before. The primer was a brighter shade of white than the top coat would be, but I was seriously digging the general feel of the lightness. I left them to their work and went to run errands, choosing to skip my morning walk for a few days—for obvious reasons.

My last stop was the grocery store, where I told myself I would buy nothing but vegetables and healthy crap. I made it all the way to the freezer section where a fifty percent off sale on ice cream did me in. Midway through my dilemma between cookie dough and triple chocolate, I spotted my neighbor Posey coming down the aisle in my direction. She smiled when she saw me.

“I bet I know who put that smile on your face,” I teased, putting the ice cream back in the freezer. She was dating a guitar instructor about a decade younger than her, and she’d been unable to wipe that smile off her face for the last month. It looked good on her. She deserved happiness more than anyone I knew.

“Guilty,” she said, not bothering to deny it.

Posey had a super cute pixie cut I wish I had the nerve to try, and she was in way better shape than me. But, like Riya, I couldn’t hate her because she was a sweetheart.

“Good for you.” I waggled my eyebrows comically, making her laugh. “Hey, are you going to Phillip’s party tomorrow?” Our neighbor Jayne was throwing a surprise fiftieth birthday party for her husband. They had a gorgeous pool, and Jayne was going all out with a tropical theme.

Posey nodded. “Mitch is coming with me, so I’m sure he’ll get the neighborhood third degree.”

She was probably right. “Oh, good. I’ll get my questions ready tonight.”

Her expression turned speculative. “Hey, not to be nosy, but I saw a police officer at your house yesterday. Everything okay?”

I waved her off. “Oh, yeah. Just a guy I know.” I didn’t want to tell her about my close call, afraid it would make one or both of us uncomfortable. Posey was a widow, and her husband had been a police officer who was killed back when they lived in St. Louis. I didn’t know all the details. But there was no way I was risking dredging up thoughts of her husband in the middle of the freezer section.

“You’re a busy girl this week—the house is getting a facelift and you’ve got a new guy.” She bumped my shoulder playfully. “I’m happy for you.”

“Oh, no. Sam’s not … mine,” I uttered lamely.

“Why not? From what I saw, he’s cute.” It was her turn to tease me. I smiled politely and she immediately sensed my discomfort and shook her head. “Say no more. Believe me, I get it.” Her hand rested on my arm for a moment.

My smile turned more genuine and I almost sighed in relief.

“I gotta finish my shopping and get back home,” Posey continued. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Absolutely.” I waved goodbye. Then I reopened the freezer door and snatched both containers of ice cream before heading to the checkout.

When Sam called later that evening, I let it go to voicemail and made myself a cookie-dough-triple-chocolate sundae.

* * *

“Do I need to get waxed?”

“What?” Jill snorted over the phone line.

“You know, do I need to get my hair waxed … down there?”

“What in the everloving fuck brought that to mind?” She was still laughing.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Oh, I promise you I do.”

It was Saturday night and I’d just gotten home from Jayne and Phillip’s party. Suffice it to say, it was an eye-opening experience.

I toed my shoes off and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of pinot grigio. “Let’s just say there’s no need to wonder what Valley looks like naked. Not that I was wondering, mind you.”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. You have got to back up. I need to hear this from the beginning.”

I poured myself a large glass of wine and went to curl up on the couch. “You missed quite a party on the cul-de-sac tonight, sis.”

The party had been fun and Phillip had been completely surprised. Jayne even hired a deejay and some ridiculously good-looking girls in bikinis to bartend. I got to catch up with Erik and Kyle, who I learned were now an item, and I met a few people from Phillip’s office.

It had been just another fun night until Jayne accidentally spilled a drink on Erik’s shirt. When he removed the shirt so she could wash it, Valley took that as invitation to remove her bikini and start an adult skinny-dipping epidemic. Half the partygoers ended up naked.

“Oh my God, are you serious?!” Jill cackled over the phone once I told her the details. “I can only imagine the look on your face when they all dropped trou!”

“I think I’m scarred for life. How am I supposed to look these people in the face when I see them again?! I’m going to be imagining penises and boobs all over the place.” I’d also heard another tidbit about Valley and her husband, David, but I wasn’t sure I believed it, so I chose not to pass it along.

“I can’t believe I missed it.”

“You would have joined right in, no doubt.” I shook my head.

“Probably.”

“So, back to my original question. Do most women wax their hoohas these days, or was it just these few women? I have been out of the game for too long. Is a guy going to expect me to be … bare?”

“The naked beaver is pretty popular, sis, but you don’t have to go full Brazilian.” She covered the phone and I heard her mumble something. I hadn’t realized she was with Hank and he was hearing her end of the conversation. Oh well, better embrace this as part of the new Jenna—sharing waxing stories with other women’s boyfriends.

“Oh lord, that’s what I was afraid of.” I sighed.

“Well, surely you at least keep things tidy down there, right?”

My jaw dropped. “For the love of God, if you’re going to ask me questions like that, at least have the courtesy to step out of Hank’s earshot!” She did a terrible job of holding back her mirth, but I did hear a door shut and a shift in the noise level on her end. Only then did I answer her question. “I’m not growing a lush forest, if that’s what you’re asking, but I’ve never been waxed. Isn’t it embarrassing?”

“Not at all. The women who do it spend all day looking at one cooch after another. They’ll talk to you about their Great Aunt Penelope while they strip you like a hairless cat.”

I covered my eyes with my free hand, as if that could erase the mental image.

“So you go … all out?” I managed.

“No. I have before, but I prefer a nice little landing strip.”

“To wave your boyfriends in the right direction?” I rolled my eyes.

“Ha! Something like that. Do you want me to take you to get waxed?” Leave it to my sister to offer to hold my hand during a bikini wax.

“Let me think about it.” I looked down at my lap. I was still in my swimsuit and cover-up from the party so it wasn’t as if I could see anything. I wondered if Sam liked his women bare, and then I wanted to slap myself for letting my mind go there.

“How was work?” I asked Jill, needing a change of subject. We talked for another ten minutes and then I cozied up with my e-reader and finished my wine.

There was no missed call from Sam, and no voicemail from yesterday.

* * *

“We shouldn’t be doing this, Sam.”

“That’s Officer Hottie to you, and we absolutely should be doing this.” His lips traveled down the column of my throat and I held in a moan.

“Okay, but all I want is one night of sex.” His teeth grazed my shoulder as his hand slid up to cup my breast. “… or maybe two.”

“I can work with that. Now, strip.” He stood back abruptly and took me in from head to toe with smoky eyes.

As if he alone controlled my appendages, my hands moved to pull my shirt over my head and slide my shorts down. I was completely naked underneath. I watched his throat work as he swallowed thickly and drank in my nude form. His nostrils flared and I couldn’t help the small smile that formed on my lips.

The movement triggered him to approach, and before I knew it, he’d picked me up by the thighs and I was straddling him, my hands looped around his neck and my legs locked around his waist. The feel of his hardness through his pants caused wetness to gather between my legs as he strode toward my bedroom.

My back hit the bed and he fell on top of me, devouring my mouth with his own. His tongue stroked mine with urgency as he ground his erection against my center. He pulled back and looked at my swollen lips as I gasped for breath.

“I am going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before.”

My heart felt like it would beat straight out of my chest. I didn’t think I’d ever been “fucked” before in my life. But it sounded like an excellent idea.

“Yes, please.” I pulled his head back down for more drugging kisses and reached between us to undo his belt buckle. It didn’t take long before he brushed my hands aside and shucked his pants himself. He was going commando as well, a discovery that pleased me to no end.

He shifted my legs and his hard cock pressed against my folds, sliding along my wetness. I groaned at the contact against my sensitive skin.

“I need you to fuck me, Sam,” I pleaded as my hands roamed the warm skin of his back, coaxing his shirt up and over his head.

“I love how smooth you are down here.” His hand replaced his cock between my legs and he let his fingers explore my bare lips. His thumb moved in to circle my clit and provoked an involuntary spasm.

“More.” My voice was breathy and he didn’t hesitate to meet my request. His fingers expertly worked me until I was on the very edge of release.

“Sam,” I moaned, reaching for my climax.

His voice whispered in my ear. “Jenna, can I ask you a question?”

He wanted to chit-chat now? I was trying to have an orgasm, for God’s sake!

“What?” I didn’t know if I was okaying his request or delivering a polite version of what the fuck, dude?!

His breath caressed my ear as he continued, “Who did you see for your waxing?”

What in the actual fu—

I awoke suddenly, a surprised gasp on my lips. The room was dark and I was alone. Completely turned on and alone.

It was no wonder my quest for a fling hadn’t been working—I couldn’t even get it right in my dreams!

I sat up in bed and reached for my phone. Three-thirty-two. My head flopped back down onto my pillow. My nipples were rock hard and I could feel the moisture in my panties. Holy crap. I'd just had a sex dream about Sam Martinez. This was not good.

Rolling over onto my side, I contemplated the odd dream. It was obviously the result of him not calling yesterday and my late-night conversation with Jill about waxing. Why it bothered me that he hadn’t called was beyond me. Perhaps it was the old adage of only wanting what you have after it’s gone. Who knows?

After another thirty minutes of trying to fall back asleep, I finally gave up and padded to the kitchen for a cup of tea. By the time the kettle whistled, I figured out what was bothering me.

If Sam could lose interest so quickly, didn’t that essentially make him my ideal candidate for a brief summer hook-up? He wasn’t at all clingy like I’d assumed. Maybe he was just a guy who took his job seriously and also considered sex without at least a dinner date as bad form. I poured the hot water into my mug and added a tea bag, all the while thinking that maybe it was time to ask Sam Martinez out on a date.

After all, the girls would be home in two weeks and my time was running out. I dunked the teabag a few more times and then nodded to myself.

Shagged by the Sheriff: A Small-Town Affair was so on!