She thought about Caldwell and how she was supposed to meet him and his brothers at their house today. She didn’t think it was a good idea, but she could use the money. She had enough set aside to rent a new building on the site she stared at in front of her. If only she had the courage and drive. Where had that drive gone? That determination, that pride and self-confidence in her art and her own capabilities?
She knew the answer. She lost focus. She allowed the past to still hold power of her now and nothing seemed to help her get through those walls and fight. Nothing.
Feeling defeated and emotional, she took a deep breath and prepared to head back to reality. She was nervous. She didn’t know what to expect going to the home of three men who individually represented qualities, personalities, and abilities she feared. Why had she said yes to going? Why?
She stood up, stretched out her legs, and prepared for the run back home to her studio and two-bedroom loft above Dr. Anders’s garage. His wife, Lisa Marie, and his brothers, Mitchel and Troy, were friendly, likable people. They had the kind of relationship that ran rampant around Chance. Alicia was envious in many ways.
Alicia smiled to herself. It was amazing how many ménage relationships she had been exposed to coming to Chance. It seemed like those involved with them were so happy. Like they found their perfect matches and truly adored one another. That was something else she could never have. A relationship with a man or men where she felt she could trust them fully without constantly fearing and worrying about when they would hurt her or disappoint her, never mind leave her. Tony did some serious damage to her heart and her confidence. She knew that, but in a way it made her more aware, maybe even more analytical of men in general. She took them as she saw them, and if she got a funny sensation in her gut, she ran as far as she could.
She placed her earbuds back into her ears then pressed the button on her small clip on iPod. The pop music filled her ears and she prepared for the four-mile run back home. She thought about the construction site and picked up speed heading down toward the roadway. The trees lined the road and she would need to slow down to take the blacktop the rest of the way back toward Chance. She was running so fast, too absorbed in the loud music and not paying any attention to anything else. As she ran down the hill and toward the roadway, she never expected to see the sheriff’s patrol truck, and he apparently didn’t expect someone to come running from the trees and straight into the road in front of his truck.
The loud screeching sound pulled her from her daze and she jerked to the right at the same time then jumped and tumbled out of the way and down into the dirt.
She felt the sting to her thigh and the hard thump to the roadway as she cried out.
She knew she was cut and scraped up badly but she never expected a car or anyone to be on the road this early and on this side of town.
“Goddamn it! Are you out of your mind?” She heard the loud roar of anger and then glanced toward the street and the dark shadow of the sheriff strutting across the front of his truck toward her.
She cringed and turned away. She was embarrassed and hurt. As if he realized that she must be injured because she was crying, he ran to her immediately.
“Oh hell, Alicia. You’re hurt. Jesus, woman, you scared the crap out of me. I could have run you over. Hell, I could have killed you,” he said, still sounding like he was reprimanding her.
She didn’t know what scared her more—the aches and burning she felt as she wondered if something were broken and how screwed she would be considering she had no health insurance, or the intense electrifying feeling shooting through her skin as the sheriff’s large hands caressed her bare arms.
Sheriff Max Gordon scared her. He was older, intimidating, and so damn powerful around this town that she knew to stay clear of him. It was only a few months back that he and his brothers acted like guardians to her while Marlena was in danger.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry. I hadn’t expected anyone to be on the road. No one is usually on the road.”
She turned to move and attempted to get up then cringed and moaned.
His hand landed on her knee and the other on her hip.
“Don’t move. You have road burn, and dirt and scratches all over your upper thigh.”
She was lying on her hip and in a very sexy position, her breasts nearly flowing from her top and her running shorts high to her groin. Even she knew she was exposing more skin than she should be with a man as sexy and intimidating as the sheriff. She felt embarrassed.
“Ah hell, baby,” he said in a deep Southern tone that seemed to hit her directly in her pussy. She shivered as he held her gaze with those stunning deep brown eyes of his. The gruff on his face was even sexy and of course she was frozen in place with those big, hard, callused hands of his against her skin.
He was born and raised in South Carolina and came from a family of law enforcement officers. He had dark brown eyes that seemed to go from sweet to intense in a flash. His muscles were big, the gruff on his face an indication of how mature the man was and how masculine. Some men couldn’t wear a shadow of a beard and look so lethal. The sheriff sure could. That dark expression of his as he stared at her and looked her body over had her feeling naive and stupid for nearly getting hit and having to face him. He was someone that intimidated her big time. Sheriff Max Gordon was badass and then some.
“I’ll be fine. I just need to get up.”
“You’re not fine. I’m carrying you to the truck. I’ll give you a ride back.”
He went to lift her and she protested.
“No. Don’t be silly. You’re working, and it was partially my fault. I can get back fine.”
“It was your entire fault, not partially, and on the four-mile trek back I can explain to you a little about safety precautions so you don’t break your pretty little neck. Now let me get you into the truck.”
She was shocked and went to protest, to tell him off, but her mouth opened and no words came out. The stinker had a sparkle in his eyes but his expression remained hard and firm as he lifted her up into his great big strong arms and held her against his chest.
She froze, unable to move, to touch him as every fiber in her body felt hot and aroused. The she prayed she didn’t smell because she was so sweaty and now dirty too.
“Put your arm around my shoulder so I can get up this incline,” he said. The scent of his cologne attacked her senses. The feel of his hard body beneath hers and the way his forearms felt against her skin made her pussy burn with desire. The ache she felt in her thigh and the burning sensation now that she was moving didn’t seem to compare to the affect the sheriff had on her body. This wasn’t good.
She was shocked and she needed to speak in order to not come across as some damsel in distress or even weak. “I can take care of myself, sheriff. Really, I’ll be fine if you just set me down.”