“Logan, you scared the crap out of me,” Liz whispered back, still mad someone was messing with her store again but also relieved she and Lacy were no longer alone. “Someone broke in. I don’t know if they are still in there or not.”
Lacy smiled at Logan, putting her hand up to her rapidly beating heart. “Logan, my hero. I am so glad to see you!”
Logan grinned widely at Lacy, seeing the fear in her eyes and then at Liz who looked mad instead of scared. “Finally, someone who appreciates me.”
He hugged Lacy tightly.
“Quit flirting, Logan, and go get him before he steals something or breaks more of
my stuff,” Liz told him, pointing to the open door of her shop. “I have a lot to say to this jerk when you catch him. My insurance company is not going to be happy with me.”
Logan nodded. “I called it in as soon as I pulled up and saw you two ladies standing there. We wait for backup. I am not leaving you two unprotected,” he said firmly. “Ryan would kick my ass.”
Lacy knew her fiancé had probably panicked with Logan’s call. “Please tell me Ryan went home already.”
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Logan answered and was interrupted by the squealing of tires and doors slamming. “The cavalry has arrived.”
Ethan got out of the jeep with Ryan. Ryan ran frantically toward Lacy, pulling her out of Logan’s arms. “Darlin’, are you hurt?”
Liz envied the way Ryan looked Lacy over for injuries. He obviously loved his fiancé very much and had been worried. He took off his jacket and put it over her, noticing her silky pajama pants and camisole. “What in the hell are you wearing, Lacy? You can’t be walking around town half naked,” he said, outraged at her attire, looking around and blocking her as if a crowd of people was there staring at her.
Liz snickered quietly behind her hands but Lacy answered, rolling her eyes at Ryan. “I’m not walking around town half-naked. There is a thief in the store, Sheriff, so quit worrying about my wardrobe and go do something.”
Ethan, who had been standing quietly to the side, pulled out his revolver. “I’m going in through the front. Logan go in the back.”
Logan nodded and ran toward the back of the building while Ryan led the two girls to the side where Liz’s apartment stairs were. “Go wait inside, girls. I’ll go get you when it’s clear.”
Liz shook her head but before she could protest Ethan came out, putting his gun back in his holster. “It’s empty.”
Logan came around from the back of the building. “Back door was wide open. He must’ve heard us talking and we scared him off. I checked inside, Liz. Looks like he didn’t have time to touch anything.”
Now that the excitement was over, Lacy remembered that Ethan had hurt Liz’s feelings and looked angrily at Ryan, her hands on her hips. “Why did you bring him and not Gabe. You know Liz and I are mad at that snake, that—”
Ryan chuckled and covered her mouth. “Baby, you can’t go around insulting my deputies. I’m sure there’s a law against it.”
Lacy bit his hand and he let her go. “Watch me!”
“Ow! I can arrest you for assault, you little hell cat,” Ryan told her, shaking his hand in pain. Liz started laughing and ran over to Lacy, hugging her and loving her friend for defending her honor. But she didn’t want Lacy getting in trouble with Ryan.
“It’s okay, Lacy. I plan on ignoring Ethan,” Liz said, shivering with the cold now that the fear was over, and glared at Ethan furiously.
Ethan figured it was better to stay quiet and not antagonize the two drunken women in their present mood. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around Liz’s shoulders despite her protests without saying a word. This was becoming a habit.
Lacy interrupted them by groaning and holding her stomach. “Ryan?” she whispered. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She ran to the side of the building by some bushes and started throwing up.
“Jesus, Lacy, how much did you drink?” Ryan yelled but gently held her hair up for her.
Logan, Ethan, and Liz winced with the awful sounds Lacy was making.
Liz looked at Logan, avoiding Ethan’s gaze. She had to remember she was mad at him and not get lost staring into his sexy eyes. “Why is someone picking on me? This can’t be random, can it, Logan?”
“It looks like someone is targeting you, Liz. Who have you made mad lately?” Ethan answered even though she wasn’t talking to him.
“You,” she answered haughtily and turned back toward Logan who was laughing at Liz’s attitude toward Ethan. Logan was enjoying the byplay between his two friends and couldn’t wait to see the moment Ethan realized he had feelings for the petite beauty.
Ethan glared at Logan. He was so tempted to pick Liz up and take her upstairs to her bedroom. Her defiance and snappy remarks provoked and aroused him. He had plenty of ways to make her shut her sassy mouth.
“Listen, Deputy, my head hurts and I’m freezing. I think we are done here for the night. Just do your job and get this guy before he costs me a fortune in window repairs,” she said firmly, stomping off away from him. She was very upset with Ethan still and wasn’t in the mood to deal with his attitude.