Shane (10 page)

“Maybe by the time I’ve gone upstairs to get another
condom this cowboy will be ready to ride again,” he said.

****

Since she’d crossed the border into Big Sky Country,
Lacey had done lots of firsts. Been drunk in public, been carried out of the
bar by the town sheriff, made love with a cowboy, and now making love to him on
top of a pool table. His fingers certainly knew how to excite a girl before the
main act. He inserted a second finger deep inside her and tickled every wall of
her pussy.

She’d just thought of another first for her.
Having sex three times in less than an hour.
He rubbed his
nose against hers as he slid inside her. The felt under her ass was soft yet a
little rough, and it added to the pleasure as her body moved up and down with
Shane’s heavy thrusts.

She stretched her arms above her head melting into
his body as his dick drove harder and faster. The pool table creaked a little
and then stopped. She wrapped her legs around Shane’s hips, allowing him to
delve deeper. He groaned.

“Show me what you’ve got cowboy,” she said.

“Is that a challenge?”

“It sure is.”

He put his hands on her forearms and moved faster
than she’d ever known a man could in this position. Her toes curled, and her
calf muscles almost seized. She saw lights flash across the ceiling of his
basement as she enjoyed another orgasm.

The pool table creaked again, and as Shane found
release two of its legs gave way causing her and Shane to slide toward the
floor.

“You okay?” asked Shane as they sat on the floor.

“Sure am.”

Shane laughed. “I’m trying to think of what excuse
I’ll use when I take this in for repair.”

“Just tell them it was caused by a very rough game
of pool,” said Lacey.

****

Lacey snuggled up to Shane. They hadn’t discussed
her staying the night, but he’d automatically turned off all the lights in the
house, and they’d wandered into his room naked with their arms around one
another. He was already fast asleep. She watched his chest rise and fall and
snuggled into him some more.
 
Something
howled outside, and she strained her ears to listen.

Wolves.

It had to be wolves. She’d never heard them in
person before.
Only on the nature shows on TV.
She
wondered how close they actually were, and if they ever ventured into people’s
backyards.

Shane turned over, and Lacey pressed her body up
against his back. Wolves and stars you could actually see when you looked up
into the sky.
So many different things to get used to.
Sleeping with a cowboy was another. And that
definitely
had its pluses.

Lacey hadn’t remembered falling asleep until the
sound of a phone ringing woke her. Shane stirred, and she saw by the clock on
his side table said that it was just after one in the morning. Her first
thought was wrong number, but then she remembered he was the sheriff.

“Hello, Sheriff Malone speaking.”

Lacey heard a woman’s voice on the other end.

“Just calm down Sarah, okay?”

Who’s
Sarah?

A pang of jealousy hit her.

“Right now?
It
can’t wait until morning?” asked Shane.

Lacey distinctly heard the woman say no, she wanted
to see him right now.

“Okay, give me about thirty minutes, and I’ll be
right there.”

Lacey switched on the light, wondering if maybe it
wasn’t police business but an old girlfriend or some other woman he knew.

Shane ran his hands over his face and hair and got
out of bed. “Sorry if that call woke you.”

“No, I understand you’re the sheriff. Duty calls.”

“I won’t be long. Try and get back to sleep, okay?”

Lacey nodded. He hadn’t confirmed that it was sheriff’s
business. She watched him pull on his jeans and sweater and head out of the
bedroom. Next thing she heard was his truck backing out of the driveway.

She bit her fingernail. She was jealous. That meant
only one thing. She’d fallen hard for the cowboy.

Chapter
Eight

Shane wished he’d taken a mug of coffee along for
the ride. He yawned several times, even cranked open the window in his truck
hoping to let the cold Montana night air help keep him wide awake. Wouldn’t that
be embarrassing if the sheriff got into an accident and was found in a ditch?

Sarah
Halesby
had been
crying when she’d spoken to him on the phone. In fact, it sounded like she was
close to a total breakdown. Maybe it was because of her husband and the
accident with John. Maybe he was having problems coping with what he’d done,
and she was worried about him.

Guess he wouldn’t know for sure until he got to the
house. He turned onto Main and then onto Fifth Street, and pulled in the
driveway, noting that the light was on in the front of the house. He got out
and headed to the door. Sarah must have been watching and waiting because she
opened it before he even reached the first step.

“Thank you for coming all this way in the middle of
the night. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do, like sleep,” she said

And
snuggled up in my bed with a beautiful woman.

He stepped inside the house and took his hat off.

“Come through to the kitchen. I’ve made some
coffee.”

He sat down, set his hat on the stool beside him and
took the mug of coffee from Sarah. Her eyes were red. Bags hung under them, and
she looked like a woman fifteen years older than her true age. She sat down,
the contents of the mug spilling slightly onto the countertop where her hands
were shaking so much.

“I can’t keep this to myself any longer. I was
having
an affair with John.”

Well now, that admission had opened up a can of
worms for his investigation. Shane took a sip of coffee, almost scolding his
lips on it. He blew across the top of it before attempting another one. “How
long had this been going on?” he asked.

She drew what looked like scribbles with her nail on
the countertop.

“Since the beginning of summer, Memorial Day, I’d
say.”

“Todd
know
about it?
Did John’s wife?”

She shook her head. “Not while he was alive, but I
told Todd when...” she paused for a second, “…I told Todd right after the
accident.”

“You think maybe Todd knew and pretended he didn’t?”

A tear ran down her cheek. “We were as discreet as we
could be, but I guess not quite enough.”

“Being discreet in a town this size isn’t always
easy.” Shane finished the sentence for her. “Where’s Todd now?”

“Gone to a motel.
Shane, I never meant for anyone to get hurt.”

“Are you thinking that maybe your husband knew you
were sleeping with John and planned the whole thing, pretended to taking him
hunting and then shot him?”

She burst into tears. “God, no, I can’t imagine the
man I’ve been married to for ten years would be capable of something so cold-blooded.”

Shane reached across and took her hand. “Sarah, I
think you did the right thing by calling me and owning up to all this. You know
I’m going to need to bring both Todd and Richie in for questioning now?”

She nodded.

Shane dug into his pocket for his cell phone. He’d
have Mike pick up Richie, and he’d bring Todd to the office.
Looked
like he wouldn’t be snuggling back in bed with Lacey any time soon.

****

Lacey had tried to get back to sleep. She was tired,
but all she could think about was the woman’s voice and Shane going off in the
middle of the night. Giving up on the idea of getting any shut eye, she got out
of bed and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. Maybe Shane had some hot
chocolate she could make for herself.

She glanced at the fridge, seeing photos of him and
his brothers and Emily.
Looked like it had been taken at
Christmas because a large fir tree with decorations adorning it stood in the
background.

All the Malone brothers were good looking, but Shane
had the edge. Well, at least
she
thought
so. There was something about his eyes.
A little glint, and yeah,
a little bad boy.
Guess she’d always been attracted to bad boys, and
maybe that was her problem. Other women liked them too, and bad boys always
liked the attention.

She decided against the hot chocolate and instead
poured herself some milk. She sat at the table and found some paper and a pen.
She’d do some sketching. That usually took her mind off of things. She’d done
that very thing the night that had supposed to have been her wedding night.
Shane was different to her ex. She knew that much about him already. The way he
was around people. The way he’d taken care of her that night in the bar. He’d
gone well beyond his civic duty as a lawman.

Lacey began sketching, suddenly remembering that it
was Emily’s birthday and she’d been invited along to the meal. She couldn’t go
empty handed so maybe she’d offer to do a sketch for her. She threw the pen
down. Great idea, but in the back of her mind she was still thinking about
Shane.

Standing up, she made her way back to the bedroom
and crawled under the covers. She could smell his scent. She rubbed her nose
against his pillow, also detecting the lingering smell of their last round of
lovemaking.

“You better not break my heart, Shane Malone.”

Chapter
Nine

Shane put the key in the door, wondering if it was
really worth going back to bed. The sun was just peeking up behind the mountain
range to the east. There was a cold nip to the air, and he was glad to finally
be home. He hadn’t expected to be gone this long. He’d thought about calling
Lacey to tell her not to worry because he had to bring in a possible suspect,
but he didn’t want to wake her.

There was no sign that she was up and about, so he
guessed she was still asleep. He tiptoed into the living room. He took off his
hat and jacket and then walked slowly down the hallway to his bedroom. He
opened the door and sure enough she was fast asleep, snuggled under the quilt
that had once belonged to his grandmother.

He crept as softly as he could over to the bed and
sat his body down upon it, watching for signs of her stirring, and all the time
hoping he wouldn’t disturb her if he got into bed. She wrinkled her nose,
murmured something and turned, causing her arm to flop over his body.

He couldn’t help but look at her beautiful skin and hands
with pretty pink nails. He couldn’t help himself any longer.
 
He ran his hand over her arm, causing her to
stir.

That had been naughty of him, but after the night
he’d had, that had been his only option.
Finding solace with
Lacey.
Someone to come home to.
Shit, he hadn’t
realized how empty his life was until right this very second.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Is it morning already?”

“Yep, sun’s just coming up.”

He leaned over and kissed her.

“That was brave of you because I probably have
morning breath.”

“I thought I’d take my chances.”

He looked into her eyes. Like Sarah’s, they looked
red and slightly puffy.

“Have you been crying?”

She tried to turn away.

“Something happen while I was gone?”
She didn’t say anything, so he got hold of her arm and turned her to face him.

“You’ll be honest with me, right?” she asked him.

“Sure, but about what?”

She took a deep breath. “If there’s someone else,
you’re to tell me because I don’t want to get hurt all over again.”

“Someone else?
Last
time I went out on a date was,
wait
a minute, is this
about me going off to meet with Sarah
Halesby
?”

Lacey didn’t answer which told him it was about him
leaving so abruptly in the middle of the night.

“Sarah wanted to speak to me to tell me something
about, well, I’m not at liberty to say, but I guess I can tell you that cross
my heart, cowboy’s honor, it was a professional call and visit, and you’re the
only woman in my life right now.”

She smiled. “Guess you’re angry with me being so
possessive and jealous at this stage of our relationship.”

“Nope, I’m flattered because only someone who has
true feelings for me would be jealous. You’re the real deal.”

Shane rested his head back on the pillow. He smiled.
Guess the feelings between them were mutual.