LITMIR.BIZ

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      Mara spent the next few minutes painting a picture of the stranger named Beck until Billy was satisfied it was enough to try and look him up through the department’s database.

      Mara thought it curious that Billy never asked where she was currently living. It made her wonder if he’d looked her up at all in the last two years. She hadn’t gone far, but far enough that Riker County had been firmly in her rearview.

      “I want you to come to the station with me tomorrow,” Billy said, closing the notepad. “I’m going to see if the sketch artist from the state agency can come in and work with you. Maybe the new guy can draw us a good picture to work with if this Beck person isn’t on our list of people with warrants out on them.”

      “So, you think Beck was serious?”

      Mara sat straighter. The possibility of someone revitalizing Moxy, or any drug, within the community using the foundation her father had laid was finally sinking in. Just another reason for the residents of Riker County to despise her and her family. “You think he’s really going to try and start up where Dad left off?”

      Billy let out a long breath. He ran his hands through his hair. How attractive she still found him was not lost on Mara. Looking at him now, a well-built, fine-tuned man with miles and miles of goodwill and good intentions, she could feel the stirring of feelings she needed to stay still. Not to mention the heat of attraction that always lit within her when Billy was anywhere near. But now wasn’t the time or place. If there was a chance he could forgive her for leaving, she doubted he’d forgive her for keeping their daughter a secret—a topic of conversation she was sure would take place once the cop side of him was done flexing his professional muscles.

      The sheriff cleared his throat. His eyes hardened. He had something to say and she doubted she’d like it.

      “We found Bernie Lutz in a ditch tonight,” he started. Mara felt recognition flare but couldn’t keep it burning long enough to connect. Billy helped her out. “He was one of the drug dealers your dad used who escaped the serious charges after Bryan went to court.” There it was.

      “The one with the ex-wife tattoo,” she said. He nodded.

      “This was never confirmed, but the story his girlfriend spun was that two men came to their house looking for something the other day. Whatever it was, Bernie didn’t know or didn’t tell. This could all be a coincidence, but you know me, I don’t believe in those.” Billy put his finger on the paper he’d just written on. He jabbed it once. “Not only do I think this mystery man is going to try to start up your dad’s old business, but I think he might have already started.”

      * * *

      BILLY WAITED FOR Mara to process everything and then excused himself to go to his room. He slipped into his attached bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. The night had thrown him several curveballs and he hadn’t hit one of them.

      Even if he filtered out Mara’s sudden reappearance and the absolute bombshell that was their daughter, Billy still had Bryan Copeland’s legacy to worry about. Whoever this Beck person was, Billy would be damned if he was going to let him repeat what had caused Riker County so much pain years ago. Especially not during the holiday. That was no present any family should have to get.

      Billy splashed another wave of water on his face. He stayed hunched over, resting his elbows on the edge of the sink, and kept his eyes closed. There. He could feel the weight of Riker County’s newest burden settling against him. It pressed down on his shoulders and kept going until it hit his chest. No, he wasn’t going to stand by while the residents of his county endured another Bryan Copeland incident.

      Billy opened his eyes.

      Not while he was sheriff.

      He dried his face, and without changing out of his wet clothes, he walked out to find Mara, his mind already made up.

      She was standing in the living room, Alexa asleep in her arms. Her bag was thrown over her shoulder and her expression was already telling him goodbye.

      “You’re leaving.”

      Mara’s cheeks reddened but her answer came out clear, concrete.

      “Yes, but not town. To be honest, I don’t like Beck knowing where I live so I don’t want to go back there just yet,” she answered. “Plus, to be even more honest, I’m really tired. The faster we get to the hotel, the happier I’ll be.”

      Billy wasn’t a complicated man. At least, he didn’t think he was. Yet, standing there a few feet from a woman who had left him in the dust, he knew he shouldn’t have felt any joy at her admission that she was staying. Or an ounce of desire from looking at her hardened nipples through her light pink T-shirt—the result, he guessed, from the AC he had turned up despite the cool they were getting from the storm—or how her jeans hugged her legs just right. But he did.

      “Stay here instead,” Billy said before he realized he’d even thought it. Mara’s eyes widened a fraction. Her cheeks darkened slightly. “The guest bedroom is free, the sheets are clean and you don’t have to drive in the rain to get there. Plus, Miller’s parking lot looked pretty full. Probably lousy with in-laws and extended family members that no one wants in their house.”

      He grinned, trying to drive his point home. It didn’t work.

      “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Mara said, eyes straying from his. He wondered if she knew he was thinking about her naked and against him. It was a fleeting thought, but by God it was there. “I’ve already upset your life enough by coming here.”

      Billy cleared his throat and tried to clear the feelings of attraction he was currently wading through. He needed some space from her, but he wasn’t about to let her leave without a fight, either. Something he wished he could have done two years before.

      “Then stay in the guesthouse,” he offered.

      Mara met his gaze.

      “I finished it last summer,” he explained, remembering she hadn’t known he’d thrown all of his spare time into finishing the apartment that used to be the detached garage. It had been less for his mother when she came for long visits and more of a distraction. “Come on, Mara,” he continued when she still seemed to be weighing her options. He moved closer but stopped when the floorboard squeaked. It earned a small movement from Alexa. Billy let himself look at the little girl before fixing her mama with a look he hoped didn’t show how hard it was to just talk to her. “Please, Mara. Just stay.”

      Mara shifted Alexa so she was more firmly on her hip. A wisp of a smile pulled up her lips but it blew away before she answered.

      “Okay, we’ll stay in the guesthouse if it really doesn’t bother you.”

      Billy nodded and moved to grab her bag. His eyes lingered on Alexa but he didn’t ask to hold her. He couldn’t be a father right now. Not when things in Riker County were starting to heat up. Not when Mara had attracted the attention of a mysterious man who had no problem threatening children. Not when he’d been in contact with Mara for less than an hour and was already having trouble focusing on anything else. He shouldered the bag and led the two down the hall and to the back door, grabbing an umbrella in the process.

      It wasn’t raining as hard as it had been, but it was enough to warrant pulling Mara close to him to stay dry beneath the umbrella. She didn’t move away or argue as she folded into his left arm and against his side. The inner war he was fighting was downright impossible to ignore as they walked in silence along the stone path that led to the guesthouse door. Billy pulled the keys out of his pocket and unlocked it.

      “Here you go,” he said, voice low, even to his ears.

      He watched as she stepped inside and wordlessly looked around the living space. A kitchenette, three-piece bathroom and a small bedroom made up the rest of the apartment. He’d built on to expand it but everything was still small. At least it was private.

      And far enough away from him that he’d never know if she left.

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