Page 8 of Sheriff's City Girl

Shit.

I cleared my throat and turned around in my chair. “Hello, Emma.”

She graced me with a sparkling smile, the string lights above appearing to shimmer across her creamy skin. “Hey, Sheriff. I thought that might be you. Mind if I sit here?” Emma gestured to the chair beside me, and I nodded, not wanting to be rude.

I pulled it out for her, eyeing the dark wash denim with the fading all in the right spots. She had more curves than I imagined, and I fought the masculine desire to picture her with nothing at all covering them. Her white tank top showing off her perky breasts wasn’t helping, either.

“This is such an authentic little get together,” she began as she leaned against the table on her elbow. It gave me a full view of her cleavage, and I had to force my eyes away—back to Lily…

Who was grinning from ear to ear.

Is my face red?

“There’s a good couple hundred people here tonight,” Lily said, and I let out an inward sigh, realizing that she was finding Emma’s words funny. “I know Austin is full of thousands—well maybe hundreds of thousands? I don’t know. But you get what I’m saying. This is a good turnout.”

She nodded. “Maybe next year I can make some food for it? I saw there’s a lot of entrees and not many desserts.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” I chimed in honestly. “Lucas doesn’t hire caterers, so it’s all based on donations. It’s just all done in good fun.”

“That’s so cool, really. I love the small-town dynamic.” Emma was beaming under the lights, and I could not take my eyes off her.

“It’s all fun until you start getting rumors floating around about you,” Lily snorted. “Then I started wishing that I lived in Austin. Speaking of, I really need to find Drew.”

“Ah yeah,” I said with a nod. “I saw him earlier talking with some guy way overdressed.” I thought back to the stranger in a suit and tie.

“That’s Graham—I don’t know his last name—or maybe that is his last name?” Lily ran her index finger along her bottom lip. “I don’t know. They just moved here though. He’s some kind of developer. He thinks that Drew can secure him a bunch of property, and I think he was disappointed when he told him that most of his real estate sales are out of town.”

“Better to keep the developers out of town, anyway,” I muttered, shaking my head.

“Why is that?” Emma tilted her head in my direction. “Wouldn’t that just bring more business to town?”

“We don’t want more business,” I shot back at her, and her eyebrows raised in response. “We like Millfield the way it is.”

“Hmm,” she shrugged. “I guess it could hamper the vibe.”

“Hamper the vibe?” I chuckled. “What kind of saying is that?”

“The kind I made up,” she teased back, her cheek flushing with a shade of crimson that made my stomach flip. “I happen to like my sayings.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “They’re intriguing.”

“Andddd… I think I’m going to go find Drew now,” Lily rose to her feet, giving us both a smirk. “You two have fun.”

Chapter Four

Emma

She totally just left me here.

I almost stood to my feet and excused myself, but… I was way too curious about this small-town sheriff, and so I stayed right where I was sitting—in a tank top that was way too tight. However, the look on his face when he saw me was worth it.

“So, this happens every year?” I asked, noting that the sheriff hadn’t touched his food since I sat down.

“Yeah, my buddy, Lucas, has been putting it on since his father passed away about ten years ago. His dad always wanted to do something like this, but he just didn’t have the time with running the ranch.”

“So how does Lucas manage to put it on?”

“He’s a lot more social than his dad, and just asked the town for help. It started out as like a memorial dinner, but then… turned into this,” he chuckled, dimples forming in his cheeks. It was adorable—in a sexy way. I hadn’t been so drawn to someone in years…

---