Chapter One
Kat
Winter in Vermont was cold, snowy, and ever so long, but, for me, it was the best time of year. The air was crisp, the nights filled with a thousand cold stars shining on black velvet that mirrored the flickering lights on the house. I always looked forward to decorating the large house for Christmas in time for my two sons to visit. My boys were grown now but they still joined me for a few days over the holidays—another reason for winter being my favorite season.
And why Christmas dinner was my favorite meal. I’d go all out with the cooking because I loved having Miles and William home. Miles, my eldest, would arrive a few days before Christmas with his beautiful wife, Jane, and their one-year-old daughter, Cecee. William had recently married his long-term girlfriend, Sam, so I would have a full house. They were happy and that was all I ever wanted for them. But, lately, I’d wanted something for myself...that little piece of happiness that came so easily to my children.
I shook the thought from my head and pulled my jacket around my body, feeling a sudden chill as I walked through the shopping mall with my best friend, Beth. I’d already purchased gifts for my granddaughter, and now we headed toward…my attention caught and held…it only half registered that Beth had carried on without me, but…but…the sleek line of perfection, the work it took to get them soft, round, and hard, the way they fit together was like a love affair…
“Kat?” Beth nudged my side.
“The length is long and thick,” I moaned, drooling over a new pair of Jimmy Choo shoes that were currently being placed in the center of the window display of the shoe store.
“Kat?” Beth cleared her throat. “You’re making the Sheriff, um, uncomfortable.”
Her comment snapped me out of the Jimmy Choo induced coma. “What?” I turned toward my friend and my heart sank before picking up speed when I saw Beth directed a grin over my shoulder. I felt a blush creep onto my face when I slowly turned and found the deliciously young sheriff. “Jesse,” I whispered.
His grin split his face at the sound of his name. “It took me a few minutes to decide what you were describing. Because I can think of something that’s long and thick…” he drawled, a sexy smirk on his lips.
“Oh!” I mumbled.
What was wrong with me?
He only had to open his mouth and he had me acting like a horny teenager, instead of the forty-four year old woman I was.
He chuckled. “I better get back to work…and thank you, for making my day a lot warmer.” He hesitated and, for once, looked unsure of himself before another smile split his face. “I’ll see you around, Kat.” With a wink, he sauntered off and I found my eyes dropping to his mighty fine ass. His pants fit him like a glove so the round firmness was clearly defined.
“He should be illegal,” Beth commented, her mouth hanging open.
I snapped my eyes to closely watch my friend, whose eyes were fixated on the sheriff’s bottom, but my gaze soon strayed back to the sheriff. Before he disappeared around the corner, he glanced over his shoulder and sent me a smoldering wink.
“That man wants you,” Beth offered a knowing smirk on her flushed face. “He wants inside those panties, and I bet he gets in them soon.”
“Oh please,” I rolled my eyes, flustered. “He is far too young for me.” My heart beat with a new life at the thought of the sheriff. No matter how much I protested to my friend, Jesse would only have to kiss me and I’d come. He was the things dreams were made of and his teasing only wound me up all the more.
Beth laughed. “Oh, I think we’re going to be seeing far more of the sheriff…and someone is going to be seeing so much more.”
I let Beth’s words go in one ear and out the other. The sheriff might be flirting with me but it was harmless fun. He could have anyone he wanted so there was no way he’d be seriously interested in me. Besides, I wouldn’t know how to handle a man like that…although one way came to mind…
On a heavy sigh, I linked my arm into Beth’s and tugged her back to the car. I’d finished my shopping, and while I was distracted enough with the sheriff, I wanted a quick exit before my bank balance went down by another thousand dollars on a pair of shoes I had nowhere to wear.
“That’s what you need,” Beth commented. “A fling with a hot younger guy to get the engine running again.”
“The sheriff is not someone you have a fling with,” I scoffed, lost in thought. “He’s a genuinely nice guy that someone would be lucky to settle down with. He’s a homebody at heart.”
I felt Beth’s gaze on me, but chose to ignore my best friend. No way did I want to talk about why I knew so much about the man who’d been in my thoughts a lot more than he should have. In the end, Beth drove me back to my house in silence, which I appreciated. My head was full of Jesse, and the pair of Jimmy Choo’s I couldn’t forget. I closed my eyes remembering the words Jesse had commented on, ‘hard and thick,’ my panties had nearly melted.
I needed to concentrate on something else before I became frustrated, which was a constant problem since I’d first met the man. My ex-husband, Mike, hadn’t gotten that reaction out of me in years. I’d surprised him, and myself, because I’d been totally okay with his infidelity and had even been relieved. I hadn’t even been bothered when he’d married someone else the day after the divorce was final.
The divorce had been good for us but not so good for our two sons...despite both of them being adults when we’d told them. Both of them had their own lives in Boston, but they were still furious with their father and frustrated with me. They couldn’t understand why I wasn’t bothered about him moving out or the subsequent divorce.
They’d visited during the summer and, after three years, the boys had finally started talking to their father again. It made me happy. Regardless of his faults, Mike had always been a good father. Nothing was ever inconvenient for him when they’d needed him.
But I hadn’t needed Mike and I don’t think I ever had. We’d been friends and we’d gone through marriage like we’d thought we had to. But there’d never been a spark between us...merely a companionship that wasn’t missed much when we were apart. Two people who coexisted with each other. Two people who did great as parents but once that parenting was done...had nothing left in common.
I hadn’t missed him when he was with me and I hadn’t missed him when he’d walked out the door. I wasn’t surprised that, after three years of being alone, my libido had started to sit up and take notice of Jesse Morales.
He was everything Mike wasn’t: tall, about six-five or so, broad shouldered, taut body and a twisted smile that caused my dormant libido to come roaring back to life. His hair was dark, and unruly for a sheriff, but it made him sexier. His face was strong, and so very handsome. His whisker covered jaw, and full lips sent my imagination into the gutter.
On the odd occasion, I’d noticed him limping, but had never acknowledged it whenever our paths had crossed. He’d almost looked embarrassed but it hadn’t stopped him from flirting with me. At first I’d thought I’d imagined it, but the more he did it, the more I realized he was serious. At least, I thought he was but I was so out of practice, it could have been my imagination.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, unless you plan on spending the night in my car,” Beth’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I realized she was parked outside of my home. “I know where your mind is.” Beth smirked. “If I had a hot young guy lusting after me, I’d be totally distracted too.”
“He isn’t lusting after me.” I climbed from my friends car. “He loves to tease.” Closing the door, the window went down so I added, “I’ll see you at lunch tomorrow.”
With a regal wave, I headed into my silent house.