Dangerous Deputy (8 page)

“Call her. I know she’s anxious.”

“She can wait a few minutes.”

“Go. I’ll be fine. I live with a cop, for goodness’ sake. The man has more security measures than Fort Knox.”

Finally he agreed to go, and she waved him off as he pulled away.

Julia turned and strolled up the walkway, looking for her keys in her purse as she walked. She reached the porch before she found the keys, and kept searching. She did not want to ring the doorbell to get in.

“If he was a true gentleman, he would have walked you to the door. Couldn’t get away from him fast enough either, huh?”

Julia’s heart jumped into her throat. She turned to face Dennis for the first time since Sunday. He sat on the swing hanging in the corner of the porch. She had been too busy messing with her purse to even notice him.

“I told him to go. He had to talk with his daughter.”

“And when were you going to talk with me?” He stood up slowly. Even half mad at him, and feeling guilty, she loved the way he moved.

“You’ve been working all week. I thought you were working tonight too.”

“Is that why you haven’t bothered contacting me?”

“You didn’t call me either.”

“I’m not the one that walked out without an explanation.” He strode toward her.

She stepped back.

“Afraid of me now?” She thought she detected a bit of hurt in his question.

Yes. No. Not really
. She knew he would never hurt her. At least not physically.

“What do you want, Dennis?”

“I wanted to talk. But you weren’t home.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t check with you before I made plans.” Her anger rose now. Who did he think he was, coming over here like this, scaring her half to death? If he’d wanted to talk, he could have called before tonight. She didn’t know if she was more angry or hurt at his lack of action.

“Julia, please—”

“Go away, Dennis. If you wanted to talk, you could have tried doing it anytime this week. You didn’t have to behave like a caveman and try to scare the shit out of me.”

“Caveman?”

She turned her back to him, keys finally in her hand. Before she could unlock the door, however, he was behind her and grabbing her wrist. She dropped purse and keys in surprise. Just as he’d done last week, he had the cuffs on her before she knew what was happening. When he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, she reacted with real anger. “Dennis! Put me down!”

He ignored her and strode down the stairs. He walked around the porch and continued.

“I said put me down, God dammit. What the fuck are you doing?”

“Watch your language. The girls might still be awake. They don’t need to hear that.”

Julia growled. “Dennis! I’m not playing with you.”

Dennis deposited her on her feet so quickly she lost her balance and fell against the car. “I’m not playing either.”

He pushed her into his car without a further word and slammed the door. She sat there, fuming, but waited until he got into the car before saying anything else.

“Dennis, please, come on. Be reasonable.”

“I tried that. It didn’t work. So now you get unreasonable.” He turned on the radio at a loud enough volume that she knew no matter what she yelled, he wouldn’t hear it.

She thought she had been angry before, but that was nothing to how she felt right now. Fear wasn’t part of the equation either. She knew he would never hurt her. He was angry, not homicidal. But knowing all that didn’t make her any less irritated. She had thought better of him than this. By the time he’d pulled into his driveway, she was ready for a fight. She’d been having doubts about leaving him Sunday without giving him the chance to explain, but now she didn’t care. She was sick and tired of his caveman antics.

Fine, carrying her once was understandable; the second time was funny. Tonight was unacceptable.
Damn man. Screw this shit
. She did not need a relationship of any kind with a man who thought he was above not only the law but the rules of common decency.

She gave serious thought to trying to kick him when he got her out, but she knew it would be pointless. Not only was the man bigger and quicker than her, he had experience with criminals who weren’t happy to be stuck in a backseat. There wasn’t anything she could do to him that would be a surprise.

He opened the door and stepped back. She assumed it was to see if she was going to fight him anymore.

Instead, she sat there, glaring at him. She let him help her out of the car but said nothing. Two could play at that game. He wanted to talk. Well, too bad. She didn’t. When he got tired of her silence, he could just take her home.

He walked her into the house, setting the alarm on the door before he led her into the living room. She guessed he wanted a warning if she left him this time. Not like she was going to get very far. She was wearing three-inch heels and had no car. And no purse.

The fucking bastard had left her purse on the damn porch when he’d kidnapped her. He’d better pray to whatever god he prayed to that her shit was still there when she got home, or there’d be real hell to pay.

She was kind of surprised he didn’t walk her straight upstairs, but she should have known better. Despite everything, he had a little more class than she’d been giving him credit for the last week.

He sat her down on the couch and unclasped her cuffs. She pulled her hands away from his. The shock that went through her body at his touch was the last thing she needed. She could already remember every second she’d spent in his company. She didn’t need the physical reminder as well.

“Do you want something to drink?”

She glared.

“Fine. Well I, for one, want something. I was waiting on that fucking porch for hours tonight.”

“Well that’s your own damn fault. If you’d called ahead of time, you’d have known I wasn’t home.”

He walked back in, a soda in his hand. “No, in fact I wouldn’t have. Your sister has been telling me all week you weren’t home when I knew damn well you were. I figured it wasn’t worth the hassle of calling. So I just went over.”

He’d been calling all week? Carrie hadn’t mentioned it. Her baby sister, trying to protect her. Although she probably should have left the decision whether or not to talk to him up to Julia.

“You have heard of things called cell phones, right?”

“Oh, yeah, and Carrie was going to give me that number, right? And I could just see your reaction if I either asked Jim for it or ran your name through the system. I may be slow sometimes, but I’m not stupid.”

Point for him. She would have never forgiven him if he had done either of those things.

He popped the tab of the can and took a sip. “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting you to be out on a date.”

She slid deeper into the couch, trying to look much more relaxed than she really felt. “So sorry I didn’t wait for you and another weekend of pity fucks.”

He hissed through his teeth. “That’s what you think last week was about?”

“Are you telling me Jim didn’t ask you to hook up with me? That Jim didn’t know you were going to be with me on Friday night?”

He put his drink on one of the side tables before answering her. “You got all that from one thirty-second answering-machine message?”

“What the fuck am I supposed to think?”

The pained look in his eyes hurt her more than she would have expected.

“God dammit, woman! I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want tonight to go this way.”

“What the hell did you expect after throwing me over your shoulder and kidnapping me? Declarations of love?”

He sighed heavily and sat in the chair opposite her. “I don’t know what I expected. Hell, I wasn’t even thinking when I did it. I just wanted to see you, to get a chance to explain.”

Part of her wanted to lash out at him. To tell him to go to hell. But another part, the more reasonable, and maybe the more hopeful part, wanted to let him tell her what had really happened. Tell her what she had missed.

“Fine. Explain.”

“When I met up with you Friday night, it was part circumstance, part planned.”

He really was gorgeous. She couldn’t help but admire him, even as pissed at him as she was.

“You never asked me what I was doing on the road to Jim’s. He’d asked me to check on you because he knew you weren’t used to being in the country. Believe it or not, the idiot cares for you and wanted to make sure you were feeling safe.

“When I saw Carrie’s car, my cop instincts kicked in. He hadn’t told me yours was in the shop, so when I saw it, I jumped. I knew you were home alone. Carrie couldn’t have been driving it. I assumed the worst.”

“Not the most brilliant of deductions, was it?” Despite wanting to hear what he had to say, she couldn’t let go of her anger. Striking out at his intelligence wasn’t exactly sensible, but there it was.

“Well, as you pointed out the other day, sometimes I can be rather dense, especially where you’re concerned. When I saw it was you, I didn’t have the chance to tell you Jim asked me to check up on you before I smelled your breath.”

“And like a good cop, you had to make sure I wasn’t drunk.” Her voice was much less surly now. She understood that urge.

“And, well, you know where it went from there.”

Julia’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. She had no one to blame but herself for what happened then. She was the one who had started it. “And after?”

Dennis sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “After, it was too late. After, well, I didn’t want to ruin it. I was enjoying the weekend. And I don’t mean just the sex.”

He sat beside her. He grabbed her hands between his. “I enjoyed being with you. Whether it was in bed, watching TV, eating breakfast, or even when we went shopping. I liked just being with you. I felt like I’d known you for years. I was comfortable with you.”

He looked down at their intertwined hands. “I’m a fucking sap, I know. Not to mention a lowlife for not telling you. But I didn’t want to risk it. I figured I’d tell you eventually, but not then.”

“And what about Jim’s statement about the weekend?”

“That was him being an ass. He’d made a comment about us shacking up to get you off his hands. Had even said he’d pay your rent. I don’t think he was serious. Just his twisted sense of humor.”

Unfortunately, Julia knew exactly what he was talking about. More than once she’d been the butt of one of Jim’s bad jokes or stupid comments. Sometimes she wondered how the man had managed to keep any friends. And then she would meet them and be reminded that the majority of them were as immature as he was.

“Why the hell
are
you his friend, anyway?”

Dennis snorted. “Coworker more than friend. Trust me.”

“Okay, well then, how about you explain your actions tonight?”

“Fuck.”

Julia waited.

“A combination of things. I’d been trying to talk to you all week, but every time I called, your sister blew me off. And Jim wasn’t any help, all he could do was complain about the fact his wife was being a bitch to him and he didn’t know why.”

He shook his head. “Hell, even if I’d gotten through to you, I don’t know what good it would have done. Our work schedules were completely at odds with each other. Every time you came off, I had to go to work an hour or so later, and the same for me. I wanted us to be able to actually have some time to talk. Then tonight, when I saw you pull up with Howie, I saw red.”

“You know Howard?”

“We all do. He does the work on the department cars.”

That would explain how Carrie and Jim knew him. Small town. She’d never get used to everyone being so closely connected. Forget six degrees; this town was closer to three.

“He hasn’t dated since Sarah died. So when I saw you with him, well, I guess I got a bit jealous. He’s an incredible guy and would be a great catch for any woman.”

“We only went out as friends. He said he wanted to placate his daughter.”

Dennis smiled. “That little thing is only twelve but you’d swear she was twenty. And she has Howie wrapped around her finger.”

“Yeah, well, that was it. He fixed my car. We went out to dinner.”

“I knew he wasn’t ready to date yet, but it was you in the car. I forgot everything I knew about him and thought I’d already lost you. When you took a step back from me, I was hurt. I didn’t understand why. Then when you got angry at me, I started to get angry, too. You wouldn’t even look at me, never mind talk to me.

“I didn’t think. Or maybe I did. This whole thing started with me pulling the stupid stunt of cuffing you and throwing you over my shoulder, so I guess instinct-stupidity kicked in.”

“You really don’t think before you act, do you?”

“Apparently not where you’re concerned. If you ever told my coworkers that, they’d never believe you. Normally I think everything through before I do it. With you, though, I lose all sense.” Dennis squeezed her hand. “When you stepped back, all I could think was that you were afraid I’d really hurt you. Like maybe I had already hurt you. And I have; I know that. Shit. Maybe I should just give it up. Apologize for hurting you and let you go.”

Julia sat there for a long moment, thinking about everything he’d said. It made sense. All of it. Just because Jim was an ass didn’t mean everyone around him was. Assuming the worst of Dennis because of Jim wasn’t fair. And tonight—well instead of acting like a reasonable adult, she hadn’t even given Dennis a chance.

He dropped her hands and stood up. He took a couple steps before stopping and turning back to her.

Julia waited only seconds before going to him. She placed her hands around his waist. “Is that what you want? Do you want me to leave?”

He turned around so quickly she almost lost her balance. “Hell no. I want you to stay here. Be with me. To hell with Jim and his stupid-ass ideas. Trust me. Believe me when I say that I hadn’t planned last weekend but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“I do trust you, Dennis. I know you would never hurt me. I stepped back in surprise. In embarrassment. Shame, even. I left you Sunday without any explanation.”

He opened his mouth, and she quickly covered it with her hand. “Yes, I heard the message Jim left. But I know Jim. And I’d like to think I know you. The man I was with all weekend wouldn’t agree to fuck someone’s sister-in-law to get her out of his friend’s hair. That man wouldn’t do any of the things the message made me think.” She pursed her lips. “I reacted too. Just as badly. And, unlike you, I didn’t try to fix it. I ran from it, avoided it. So which one of us is worse?”