Serving Pride Read online

  She smiled again thinking that soon they had to arrange a time to be alone.

  “When is your next day off?”

  He looked at her and smiled. “Next Tuesday.”

  “Hmm, maybe I can plan our outing next time.”

  “You didn’t like the dinner?” She watched his eyebrows crinkle.

  “Oh, no! I loved it. I especially enjoyed seeing the house. I was just thinking about maybe doing something special for you.”

  “Amelia, you don’t have to do anything special.” He pulled into her mother’s drive and when he cut the engine, he turned and looked at her and pulled her closer. “I just want to be with you.” He kissed her again and she knew she couldn’t get enough of him.

  Finally she pulled back and smiled up at him. “I still want to plan something. Make sure you dress warm and bring a jacket. I’ll pick you up around ten.” She started to get out of the car.

  “Wait,” he reached for his door handle.

  “No, you don’t have to walk me to the door. Besides, if my mother answered, how would you explain that?” She smiled and nodded towards his crotch and the bulge in his pants.

  He laughed. “Fair enough. Good night.”

  Amelia did everything she could to fill her time until she saw Robert again. She visited the Jordan’s at the hospital, where Iian had woken a few days earlier. When she walked into the room to visit, Lacey had informed her of his condition.

  “He’s having some difficulty hearing. They’re still running some tests, but it seems to be permanent.” She could see the struggle in her friend’s face. She sat with Lacey for a few hours while Iian rested. She remembered him as a scrawny kid who had always been underfoot when she had spent the night at her friends. But now his feet almost hung off the hospital bed. He still looked skinny and with all the injuries, he looked pale and weak.

  After a few hours of visiting with Lacey, a tall man with curly blonde hair and wire-rimmed glasses came in with Todd.

  “Amelia, this is Matthew Kimble. He’s our neighbor and friend.” She shook his hand and watched as he walked over to Iian’s bed and wrote something on the notepad they were using to communicate with him. She quietly excused herself and hugged Lacey, promising she’d be back later in the week to visit again.

  She had a few friends in Pride and had made a point to visit each of them, but felt closest to Lacey now, especially since they’d both just lost their fathers.

  On the short drive home, she couldn’t stop thinking about Robert and the anticipation for Tuesday would bubble up. When she hit the outskirts of town, she saw the lights behind her car and heard the siren. Smiling, she pulled over into a turnoff and stopped.

  She watched him walk up to the car in her side mirror. When he walked up to her window, she couldn’t stop thinking about getting him out of his uniform.

  “Mrs. Blake.” He nodded.

  “Good evening, Sheriff. Is there anything in particular I can do for you today?” His smile was fast and potent. He cleared his throat and leaned down and kissed her right through her car window. She grabbed a hold of his hair and kept him there until she had had her fill of his mouth. She thought she heard a car horn honk at them, but she didn’t care. She just enjoyed the feel of his hair in her hands and his lips on hers.

  “You’re going to get me fired if you keep that up.” He braced his hands on her car door and leaned towards her. His smile was infectious.

  “Is it Tuesday yet?” She smiled at him.

  “I wish. I get off around ten tonight. Any chance you’ll still be up? I can always swing by and we can neck on your front porch.”

  “I wish. I have an early interview tomorrow at the clinic. I think Tammy is going to hire me. She’s been trying to move some things around in her budget to make room for me. I think she wants to see what I’m made of.”

  “Wow, that would be great. I know you’ll get the job.” He waved at another car that passed them.

  “Damn, that was Mary. Now it will be all over town that we were talking.”

  “So, who cares? I don’t mind people knowing that I’m dating the sheriff.” When she said that, his smile got even wider.

  “Really? Dating, huh?”

  “Isn’t that what you’d call this?” He thought about it and smiled again.

  “Yeah, definitely dating.”

  “Good answer, Officer. I’d hate to have to get out of this car and kick your butt up and down Main Street.”

  He laughed. “Well, I better get back to patrolling,” Another car whizzed by. “Give me a call if you have a free night. And let me know how the interview goes.”

  “Okay.” She watched him walk back to his car and smiled when he honked two times and waited for her to pull out first.

  Tuesday morning came and he waited for her car to pull up in front of the grocery store. He tried to catch her before she walked up the stairs outside in full view of everyone at the checkout counter, but she’d already made it halfway up when he met her.

  “So, where are we going?” He asked.

  “You’ll see.” She leaned up and kissed him as they reached her car. He knew that Patty’s face would be plastered to the front windows. What the hell? he thought, then pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.

  When she pulled away smiling at him, he said, “I thought I’d give the old girls something to gossip about.”

  “Well, I should think that would keep them entertained for a while. I know I have no complaints.” He smiled at her and held her close and asked, “How did your interview go?”

  “It went great. She is going to let me know in the next few days.”

  They drove a short ways to the pier and when she parked, he smiled. He’d always enjoyed going out on a boat. His aunt had never had one, so he didn’t get to very often, though he did remember going out with Todd and his father once for a weekend trip.

  “Do you have a boat?”

  She nodded. “It’s my father’s. I’m thinking of selling it, but just haven’t decided. I’m hoping by the end of the day I’ll make up my mind.”

  “How good are you at being a captain?” He thought about it and tried not to show his worry.

  “Don’t worry, we won’t go that far off shore.” She took a small cooler from the trunk of her car. “Besides,” she said as she looked over her shoulder at him, “I’m an excellent captain.”

  An hour later, he had to agree with her. She maneuvered the tiny vessel like she had been born on the water.

  The weather was holding, and even though there was a chill in the air, the sun was still shining. She let him steer for a bit while she went below into the small cabin to prepare lunch. He enjoyed standing on the deck, watching the waves and the sky. He could get used to this. Maybe he’d try to save some money and buy one of these himself.

  They sat on the deck and ate lunch while watching the sea lions play and sunbathe on the rocks near the shore. After eating, she leaned back against him and they watched the water.

  “You know, I’ve had so much fun today, I don’t want to go back.”

  “Then don’t.” She reached up and pulled his head down towards hers. He couldn’t stop himself from taking the kiss deeper. He pulled her up into his lap as she ran her hands through his hair, over his shoulders, and down his chest.

  “Amelia, you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” He pulled back, breathless and loving it.

  “There is no need to be shy. I’ve learned that life is short and you need to grab what you want. And I want you, Robert.”

  “As long as you’ll still think the same about me in the morning,” he said as he pulled her back into a kiss. Then he was picking her up and trying to maneuver down the narrow stairs.

  “Wait, I’d better walk down myself or we might end up hurting ourselves.” She chuckled as he frowned at the small opening.

  “I hope there’s a bed down there.” She laughed as he set her on her feet.

  When he made it down the stairs behind her, he no
ticed a small kitchen area and in the back, to his relief, he saw a full size bed that took up the rest of the space. She turned towards him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she started kissing his neck and face. He walked her backwards towards the bed. When the back of her legs hit the thigh-high mattress, he stopped and pulled her close.

  The gentle sway of the water and the way the light seeped into the cabin made for an almost surreal moment. He pulled back and just looked at her, her face in his hands. Her green eyes looked like emeralds and her hair shined amber, and he felt his heart take the leap he’d waited for all his life.

  Amelia watched as Robert looked at her. She didn’t know what he was thinking, why he was taking so long when she was on fire herself. How could he have such control over his desires? She had never felt the urgency that she was feeling now. Arching up on her toes, she grabbed his hair and pulled him down to her mouth. His hands started moving over her, loosening buttons, pulling her clothes off. She pushed his shirt up and over his head and moaned when she saw the play of muscles there.

  “You’ve been hiding this under that uniform? Mmmm, had I know this is what you looked like, I would have gotten you here a lot faster.” She dipped her head and rained kisses along his collarbone. His skin stretched tight over a glorious display of pecs which rippled down to a complete and well-defined six-pack. She’d never seen a more awesome display of the male body than what was standing before her.

  He pulled out a small foil package from his pocket and set it on the edge of the bed for later. Then he slowly removed her shirt, exposing the new panties she’d bought for just this occasion. She knew the deep red color was his favorite and was satisfied when she heard him moan with delight.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said as he looked at her. Then she was pulling his jeans down off his narrow hips, and she moaned when she saw the size of him. He was magnificent. She wanted to lick every inch of his body, but she lost track of her thoughts when he pulled her jeans off and knelt before her, kissing from her breasts down her stomach to just above her red panties. Her hands went to his hair to hold him there as he rolled his tongue around her navel. His fingers rubbed circles on her bottom, lightly stroking each cheek. Then he pulled her panties off and just looked at her.

  “You are so beautiful,” he repeated. His fingers ran lightly over her hips, edging towards her heat, until finally he ran his fingers over her. The feather light contact was almost too much for her to bear.

  “Robert, I need you now, please.” She pulled him down on the bed and started kissing him as she wrapped her legs around his hips, pressing their cores together.

  “Amelia, god, how I need you.” He kissed her, then quickly pulled back as he ripped open the condom package and sheathed himself, then slowly entered her.

  She couldn’t breathe. How could she feel so much from just his slow movements? Maybe it was the look in his dark eyes that told her she was in trouble. Maybe it was the sweet things he whispered in her ear as he slowly made love to her. Whatever it was, by the time his hips started pumping faster, she knew there was no way she’d get away without losing her heart.

  Chapter Seven

  They lay there holding each other until the light changed, and when she started to move to get up, he pulled her back down and started the slow dance again. He’d always imagined making love could be something he would feel down to his core, but had never experienced it until today.

  He wondered if it was too soon to tell her how he felt. He wondered how she felt, if she felt the same way. Maybe he was crazy. After all, a person couldn’t fall in love this quickly, right?

  On the trip back to the docks, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He stood behind her and hugged her as she steered into port. The chilly wind was in their faces and the sun was sinking lower behind the clouds. It felt so good to hold her near and he hated for the day to end.

  When they docked, Robert jumped out and tied the boat off.

  “Listen, it’s still early, how about you come over and we can have some dinner and watch a movie?” He helped her onto the dock and kept hold of her hand after she landed next to him.

  “That sounds great.”

  He almost did another fist pump in excitement. When they pulled up in front of the store, he no longer cared who saw them together. He walked around and opened her door and pulled her into a deep kiss right there, for the whole town to see.

  He supposed he was laying claim to her, telling everyone that she was his. He didn’t care, it felt good holding her, and more importantly, it felt right.

  Taking the stairs to his place, he was shocked to find his door slightly open.

  “Hold on.” He grabbed her arm and stopped her on the stairs.

  “What is it?” She looked at him.

  “My door’s open. Head down to the store while I check it out.” He moved closer to the door, wishing he had his weapon in hand.

  “Robert? You can’t go in there alone.” She inched forward, trying to follow him.

  “Amelia, please, just go downstairs. I’m sure it’s nothing. I’ll just check it out then come down and get you. Besides, maybe you can buy us some of Patty’s rotisserie chicken for dinner while you’re down there.”

  “Oh, okay. But if you’re not down there in five minutes, we’re coming up after you. And I know for a fact that Patty still has a shotgun under her counter.”

  He smiled and kissed her nose. He watched her go down the stairs and when he was satisfied that she had made it into the store, he turned back to his door. On closer examination, he could see that the handle had been broken.

  Who would have done this? He looked around and saw plenty of people in the street. There is no way someone could have done this without being seen.

  When he stepped in, his kitchen light was on and he could see the mess. His television was still there so he immediately crossed burglary off the list. He slowly walked down the hall towards his bedroom and noticed there was more destruction there. Nothing seemed to be stolen—his safe and his television were in their place—but everything was trashed. After he double-checked everything, he walked down to the store and spent the next twenty minutes talking to Patty and a group of people at the store. He’d assured them that they had nothing to worry about and hinted that it was most likely kids who’d broken in and just trashed his place.

  Amelia helped him straighten up and after he’d fixed the front door lock, they sat down to eat. Whoever had broken in had shattered the last two plates he had, so they ate rotisserie chicken and potato salad on paper plates and drank cold beer as they watched an old movie.

  After they ate, they sat on the couch and he tried to figure out how to get her to spend the night, though he knew she probably had to get home to her mother. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy his time with her. They were halfway through another movie, his arm resting across the back of the couch, when he pulled her closer, smiling as she snuggled into his chest. Leaning his head down, he started running kisses over her ear and down her neck. She moaned and angled her head, giving him better access.

  She surprised him then by pulling away, but she quickly moved to straddle him. Her hips were in his hands, her mouth was on his, and he could have just stayed like that all night. But she started to move and he knew he didn’t just want her for that night, he wanted her every night.

  Their clothing hit the floor as their breathing quickened. He tried really hard to go slow like before, but her hands and mouth were everywhere. Before he knew it, she was sliding onto him and swaying her hips to an internal beat.