Be Mine Read online

  “I haven’t.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  They raced through the snow to Jenny’s car, and Grace was laughing breathlessly by the time they ducked and slammed the doors. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to snow,” she gasped. “I feel like I’m on vacation every time a storm hits. Because this can’t be my real life. It’s like living in a nature documentary.”

  “It’s called winter, L.A. girl,” Jenny teased, but she was glad for Grace’s silly affection for snow. Grace’s smile was different than it had been when she’d first moved to Jackson. Everything about her was different, starting with her hair, which was only brown and black now, and missing the vivid purple that had once streaked through it.

  “So,” Grace said, tilting her chin toward Jenny. “Who are you doing?”

  Jenny took a deep breath. “You know that cute deputy I told you about? The one who keeps pulling me over?”

  “Holy crap. No. No! That’s like something out of a porn movie. Please tell me it was a frisk that went bad.”

  “Shut up. It wasn’t like that. Well, not really. He pulled me over again, because I’m an idiot, and I maybe mentioned something about buying him a beer, and...he actually showed up.”

  “What do you mean, ‘actually’?” Grace shook her head. “Of course he showed up. You’re cute and sexy. He’s probably been plotting a way to ask you out from day one.”

  “I don’t know. But it went well, even after my ex showed up and nearly ruined everything.”

  “Okay. So why do you look tortured?”

  Jenny rubbed the side of her neck that was slightly raw from such vigorous attention. “We had sex. It was... God, it was amazing. Spectacular. And then he started asking about my ex.”

  “What do you mean? Like he’s jealous?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe?”

  “Oh, that’s bad news, no matter how good the sex was. If he’s that controlling after one night, you need to think very carefully. No question.”

  “I don’t know. It didn’t seem that bad.”

  “Jenny. He’s a cop. And he’s already jealous. That could be a bad combination.”

  “Maybe,” Jenny conceded, but as she said goodbye to Grace and started the car, she shook her head. It hadn’t felt like jealousy or control. It had felt like genuine worry mixed with a little “Just doing my job, ma’am.”

  Had she overreacted? He’d been sweet. And so damn hot. And if she looked at it through his eyes... Heck, aside from all the cop stuff, she’d have been asking some very serious questions of Nate if an ex-wife had shown up in the middle of the night, causing trouble. Add to that the fact that Ellis definitely was acting a little strange, and Jenny lost a little of her hurt. Or a lot of it.

  She stared out at the snow racing past the path of her headlights, but she didn’t put the car in gear.

  Had Nate done anything so terrible? He’d been awkward, yes. His timing had been unfortunate. But maybe he really had been overwhelmed by...what? Lust? Need? Her?

  The snowflakes blurred into a solid white mass, and Jenny closed her eyes against tears. Pitiful to feel so moved to be wanted that way, but it wasn’t gratitude. It was more like an answer to the need she’d felt for him. It struck her, ringing a chord deep inside her body. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a comforting sound.

  Jenny pulled out of the parking lot and turned away from home. Storm or no storm, she needed to drive. And she needed to find out what the hell Ellis was up to. For Ellis’s sake, but more than that, for her own.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “SERGEANT, ARE YOU sure you want me here?” Nate asked.

  His sergeant shot him an impatient look. “It’s your bust, isn’t it?”

  “Well, I suppose, but the complicating factors make it—”

  “Look, we’ve got your eyewitness testimony and that of your cousin. This isn’t going to be a complex case. These guys aren’t usually careful. I’m sure there are fingerprints all over the place. They operate on the principle of nondiscovery, not CSI: Miami.”

  “I know, but I...further complicated things by—”

  His sergeant seemed to be fighting back a smile. “I’m sure we can try the case without bringing your extracurricular activities into it.”

  Jesus, now he wasn’t just a fool; he was a damned amusing one. “Fine.”

  “Just hang back, all right? I’ll call you in when it’s clear.”

  Nate paced deeper into the woods, following the path of an old camp road into silent trees. There was no wind this morning. The storm had settled all of that, blanketing Jackson in a foot of snow and stilling the bustle of the place.

  It hadn’t stilled his mind, though. That still raced and bucked. He tried to calm it. His sergeant seemed amused by any assertion that he’d compromised a drug case by sleeping with Jenny.

  “It wouldn’t be a case if you hadn’t brought it to us,” the sergeant had said, shoving aside Nate’s concerns. So why was he so tortured by it? He paced the road and waited.

  It was 8:00 a.m. Jenny probably wasn’t even up yet. Not that it mattered. She wouldn’t forgive him once he had her ex-husband thrown in prison. And he probably shouldn’t forgive her for lying. He definitely shouldn’t. But the thought of letting their connection die...

  He was thirty-five years old. He’d dated a lot of women, and slept with more than a few of them. There was lust. There was chemistry. And then there was something that went so deep it nearly hurt. He hadn’t known about that until yesterday, but now he couldn’t go on pretending he didn’t know.

  Still, it was more than the physical. It was her sunny smile. The easy way she worked hard and still had a friendly word for everyone around her. He’d already known about her positive attitude, after pulling her over six times. What had surprised him was the glimpse of something more. When she’d lost her temper and revealed too much about why she’d really left home so young. A shitty childhood, she’d said. He wouldn’t have guessed it; she was so carefree.

  But maybe that was what had attracted her to a man like Ellis. And maybe the drug stuff was just normal to her. No big deal. Hell, maybe it was a serious part of her life.

  He hoped not. Not just for himself, but for her, too.

  “Damn.” He tipped his head up to stare at the dove-gray clouds above him. It might snow again, but the storm was gone. Now it was just the sad cold that followed. And all he could do was wait.

  * * *

  JENNY JERKED AWAKE at a distant screech of metal on metal. Her car was cocooned in snow, completely cut off from everything, and for a moment, she had no idea where she was. The world was nothing but white and cold and the mist of her own startled breath. But a few heartbeats later, she remembered. She was parked in a camp parking lot, her car covered in snow.

  She’d driven last night. Through the snow and wind. She’d had to do it, to get enough air. Enough oxygen that she could think. She’d driven for miles and miles.

  Nate truly liked her. She knew he did. She could feel it. He liked her so much that even though she had the baggage of an ex-husband who was possibly an active criminal, he wanted to give her a chance. Or he had wanted to, until she’d lost her shit and thrown him out.

  As she’d driven deserted, icy roads, she’d told herself she was willing to answer his questions. But she couldn’t. She had no idea what Ellis was up to. She didn’t even know if she was involved. He’d used her property. She’d agreed. But to what?

  An urgency had overtaken her then. A need to resolve this. So she’d turned her car around and driven toward Hoback, where Ellis had rented a place. It was too far away for skiers to drive every day, so likely the only place he’d been able to find a bed.

  An hour later, she’d driven slowly through the scattered cabins of the ancient camp where he was staying. It had taken two passes before she’d spotted his van. She’d pulled into the one plowed parking area she could find and raced to his door to knock, but there’d been no answer. Either he was passed out or he wa