Shane (4 page)

She tried to focus on the clock by the bedside table
but was still too sleepy or hung over to see clearly. “What time is it?”

“Almost seven.”

“At night?”

“Yes, at night.”

Lacey sat up some more and leaned her back against
the bedhead.
Every part of her hurt.

“I have a killer headache,” she said, rubbing her
temples.

“I’m not surprised,” he said closing the magazine.

“Yeah, I know, it was my own fault. Have you sat there
the whole time I’ve been sleeping?”

He put the magazine down on the bed and shifted his
feet, planting them on the floor as he looked across the bed at her. She
probably looked a mess.

“Yeah, all three and a half
hours.
And you snore big time.”

She was about to say she didn’t, but her ex had
always complained about it.

“My sinuses act up now and then.” See there was a medical
reason for it. You couldn’t tease a person for that sort of thing.

She’d love to know if Shane snored too. That would
mean maybe sleeping in the same room, possibly the same bed to find out.

He grinned. “I was going to add that I find it
kinda
cute.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Visitors to my county are my priority.”

“I’m not a visitor. I’m a new resident.”

“Then you’re even more a priority.”

Was that the only reason? Would he be sitting in the
room of a guy who’d drunk a little too much? She wasn’t going to worry about
that now because she felt like crap and needed to concentrate on recovering. Lacey
held her head. She was convinced there was a band warming up in there.

“I’m guessing you’ve got the mother of all
headaches. Can I get you something for it?”

A
gun.

“I have some tablets in my bag, which is on the
countertop in the bathroom.”

“I’ll be right back with them.”

Lacey watched as he headed in there. She heard him
open up the bottle. He walked back with the pills in his palm and a glass of
water in the other hand. He sat on the bed and handed them to her. She put them
on her tongue. Holy shit, her head even hurt when she swallowed. She was never
drinking like that ever again.

“I think you need something to eat to soak up all
that booze,” said Shane.

The thought of getting tidied up and going out
didn’t appeal to her.

“You’re probably right, but I don’t think I can drag
my body out the door.”

“No problem, I can bring you in something. In fact,
I know the perfect place to pick up some great sandwiches.”

She reached across for her purse. He must have
placed by the nightstand when he brought her inside because she had no
recollection of it being there. “I’ll pay you.”

“No need, just think of it as a welcome to Timber
Creek, courtesy of its sheriff.” He stood. “I’ll be back in about twenty
minutes. I’ll lock the door on my way out.” He walked toward it.

“Sheriff Malone,” she called out to him.

He turned to look at her.
Those
beautiful eyes looking more appealing with each passing second.

“I’m sorry for throwing up on you, but most of all
sorry for grabbing
your…
grabbing your penis.”

A grin broke out on his gorgeous face. “Like I said,
I’ll be back shortly.” He winked and was gone.

****

Once out of the door, and heading back to his truck,
he let out the laugh he’d been holding in. The word penis had always sounded so
clinical, but coming out of
Lacey’s
mouth it was
slightly risqué. And she didn’t have to be sorry because he’d loved it. He
wished she’d do it again, this time when he wasn’t wearing jeans and his
boxers.

He slid into the driver’s seat, started the ignition
and pulled out of the motel parking lot. He guessed he shouldn’t get any ideas
about the two of them getting physical because when he’d gone to get her the
pain relievers, he’d seen a round dispenser of birth control pills on the
counter.
 
She wasn’t wearing a wedding or
engagement ring, but he guessed she must be involved with someone.

Whoever he was, he was lucky. She was cute even if
she was a tad irritating.

He suddenly liked irritating.

Shane pulled the truck in front of his mom’s café,
got out, and then headed inside. He knew exactly what Lacey needed.

****

Lacey had splashed her face with cold water, brushed
her teeth, combed her hair and changed into her sweats, but she still looked
like a woman who less than five hours ago had consumed way too much alcohol.

She thought about taking a quick shower but then
heard a knock on the door. She walked toward it and looked through the
peephole. He even looked drop dead gorgeous through the fisheye that made most
people look like something from a Halloween party.

Giving her hair just one more tidy up by running her
fingers through it, she opened the door to him.

“You check the peephole?” he asked stepping inside.
“This is basically a safe community, but it still pays to be careful.”

“I sure did.”

Whatever he had in the brown paper sack smelled
delicious or maybe she was so damn hungry the paper bag itself might taste like
gourmet food.

“Shall we eat here?” he said pointing to the table
in front of the window.

“Sure.”

Now realizing he was going to be joining her for
supper, she pulled up two chairs as he sat the bag on the table and took out
two round containers, two items that looked like sandwiches wrapped in paper,
and two coffees.

“I know you’ll love this, it’s all homemade, and you
won’t find anything better for miles around here.”

Lacey
unwrapped
the paper
from the sandwich and saw that it was overflowing with slices of roast beef. “Sorry
to say that I’m a vegetarian.”

He looked at her like she’d just announced she had a
bomb or something.

“I’m only kidding,” she finally said.

“Glad to hear that because these things are too good
to be missed.”

She took a bite. He was right. The meat melted on
her tongue.

“Montana raised beef, the best in the world,” he
added before he took a bite.

“Don’t tell me these are some of the cattle I saw
you moving this morning on my drive into town.”

He leaned back and smiled. “So you did recognize
me?”

She nodded while taking the lid off the round
container in front of her. By the look of it, inside sat the most welcoming
mushroom soup she’d ever seen.

“So are you part-time sheriff and a part-time
cowboy?”

“Just helping out my brothers.
And
the café where this food came from belongs to my mom.”

Lacey took a spoonful of soup, suddenly remembering
her outburst when he’d mentioned the job there. She guessed she was blushing,
but maybe he’d think it was due to the heat from the soup.

“It’s great, thank her for me,” Lacey finally said.

“You can do that tomorrow when we have breakfast
there.”

“And what if I have other plans like looking for a
job?”

“Either way you’re going to need a good meal to
start your day.”

****

The next day Lacey was looking one hundred percent
better. Not that she’d looked bad yesterday, but at least today she had some
color back in her cheeks. This morning she’d put on black pants, and an off-white
sweater that she’d accentuated with a black suede belt. All she needed was some
cowboy boots, and she’d fit right in Timber Creek.

She glanced back at him and smiled as he waited in
the doorway for her to get her jacket, and his heart melted. He was here to
help her settle into his community, and nothing else.

Yeah,
you keep telling yourself that, buddy.

He leaned against the doorjamb as she fetched her
purse. He’d fallen for an out of
towner
once before,
and it hadn’t ended well. Besides, the birth control told him that she was
probably off-limits anyway.

Keep
reminding yourself of that, cowboy.

“You are in for a real treat,” he said, opening the
truck door for her.

“If it’s as good as the sandwiches and soup I’m sure
I am.”

He closed the door and then walked around to the
driver’s side and got in. He remembered the last time they’d been in the
vehicle together. She’d grabbed his crotch. He could still feel her hands on
him and just recalling it, almost gave him another hard on.

“I noticed on your resume that you’ve done some
graphic design and illustrating.”

That’s it. Keep the conversation neutral and your
thoughts away from hands on body parts.

“Yeah, and you probably saw that’s what I have a
degree in.”

He backed out of the lot and headed down the road.
And one of the reasons I didn’t think you
were right for the job.
“One of my brothers draws and paints. You’ll have
to check out his work some time.”

“I’d like that. So are you married?”

“Me, nope, well besides to my job.”

He looked at her and then she turned away quickly.

“So you don’t have a boyfriend back home or anyone
who’s going to miss you?”

“Nope, well, besides my parents and a brother and a
sister.”

He tapped the steering wheel. Maybe the birth
control pills weren’t for birth control after all, but a medical condition. Geez,
these female things were all too much to think about. However, it meant he was
back in the game. Shane turned into the parking lot of the café and turned off
the ignition.

“Timber Creek Café,” said Lacey glancing out the
window at the sign Rory had designed for their mother.

“Yeah, Mom’s owned it for the last ten years.”

They got out and walked toward the door which Shane
held open for her.

His mom was at the counter bagging two muffins for a
customer. She nodded to him. “I’ll be right with you.”

Shane waved to her. He put his hand on the small of
Lacey’s
back to encourage her to go ahead and sit in one of
the booths. He said hello to a few people he recognized, and then slid in
opposite Lacey.

“It smells wonderful in here, just like one of the
old homemade bakeries back in Boston,” said Lacey.

His mom headed their way with a coffee carafe in her
hand.

“Mom, this is Lacey Metcalfe. Lacey, this is Marie
Malone.”

She held out her hand to Lacey, and they shook.

“I have to thank you for the sandwiches and soup.”

“I hope they helped you feel better. Shane mentioned
you were coming down with a bug or something, and I thought the soup might be
just what you needed.”

Lacey glanced at him and he winked hopefully without
his mom seeing him. A woman had a right to be drunk without everyone knowing
it.

“I thought it might be a cold, but I guess your soup
stopped it in its tracks,” said Lacey.

She kicked him under the table.

“Coffee for both you?” asked his mom.

Shane turned over the mug on the table and let his
mom fill it and then Lacey did the same.

“Now do you want to see the menu or will you just go
with the usual special?”

“I will, how about you Lacey?” asked Shane.

“I don’t know what exactly the special is, but I’m
going to trust your son’s judgment and order it.”

“Two specials it is. And I’ll have Emily bring you
some biscuits and jam too.”

His mom walked away.

“The coffee is also perfect,” said Lacey taking a
sip.

His niece headed their way with a basket of biscuits
and a pot of jam.

“Emily, I’d like you to meet Lacey who’s new in town.
Lacey, this is my niece, Emily. She and her dad, Flynn, live on my parent’s old
property about a mile out of town. Flynn and my other brother, Rory work the
ranch together.”

“Hi,” said Emily putting everything on the table. “I
made this jam from the huckleberries in my gran’s yard.”

“Huckleberries as in Huckleberry Finn?”
asked
Lacey.

“Wait till you try it, right Emily?” said Shane.

Emily put her thumbs up.
 
“The bears love them too.”

Lacey smeared some on the biscuit she’d cut in half,
and took a bite. “Bears have good taste, this is delicious.”

“We sell it if you want some to take some home with
you,” said Emily. “I like it on toast too.”

Shane smiled. Flynn’s daughter was quite the
entrepreneur. And his mom had made a wise decision to let her help out in the
café because she loved chatting with everyone and they loved her.