Page 26 of F Is for Honey Bee

An effective deputy couldn’t rely solely on a GPS. He needed to be able to navigate the area on foot while pursuing a suspect through backyards and alleyways.

As Burrows had proved this morning, a heightened sense of smell was useless when faced with difficult surroundings.

Another valuable asset was the local community. Up to this point, the townsfolk remained cautious around Kijani. That was the nature of small towns. You remained an outsider until they decided to accept you as one of their own.

Kijani’s preference for listening and observing more than he talked didn’t help, since it made him seem emotionless and detached.

Although Kijani didn’t like people looking at him that way, he’d been like that his entire life and found that it helped him gain deeper understanding and empathy.

It also helped him to detect someone’s bullshit or hidden motives more easily.

Hopefully, the town would come to accept Kijani because it sucked being an outsider. But what mattered most to him was Jonah’s acceptance. It seemed as if his mate was torn between drawing Kijani close and pushing him away. He couldn’t tell if this was typical behavior for Jonah or stemmed from the assault he’d endured.

After spending time together at the fair, Kijani hoped he had gained more of Jonah’s trust.

“Tenshi?” The sound of the sheriff’s voice snapped him out of his head.

“There’s no guarantee Flint will come back to Midnight Falls,” Sheriff Harper said. “And if he is that stupid, he was picked up from our station last night. Which means, even if he steals a car, it’ll take him until tonight to get here.”

Instead of trying to keep an eye on the many roads leading in and out of town, Kijani would keep an eye on his mate, Flint’s target.

“Now would be a good time to take your two-week honeymoon period,” the sheriff said.

Not until he told Jonah they were mates. Kijani wasn’t going to have sex with him, bite the guy to seal their bond, then try to explain things afterward.

The human had a right to fully understand things before anything went down between them.

“I’m gonna check on Jonah.” He eased out of his chair.

“Just don’t drag him into the station in handcuffs,” Sheriff Harper grumbled.

Kijani arched an eyebrow.

Sheriff Harper softly chuckled. “You’d be surprised how many of your fellow deputies have hauled their mates in with restraints on their wrists.”

With a shake of his head and a smirk on his face, Kijani walked out.

Chapter Eight

The moment Jonah spotted Kijani’s patrol car idling in the employee parking lot, his frustration level reached a boiling point. He marched over and glared at him. “You better have a damn good reason for waiting outside my job.”

Kijani looked at Jonah from the driver’s seat, those deep russet eyes piercing right through him. Jonah’s entire body flushed red-hot from that one glance.

He couldn’t deny how much he wanted Kijani, had craved him all day, but that didn’t mean he would tolerate the guy showing up unannounced like Flint used to do.

“I’m not here to spy on you, honey bee.” Kijani got out and shut the door then leaned against the front fender of his car. His legs were spread apart, and Jonah found himself moving closer like he wanted to fill that space between them. “I tried to find you on your route, but since I couldn’t, and was still on duty, I had to handle a few calls.”

Focus. Stop drooling over the slice of deliciousness in front of you.

That wasn’t going to happen. Not when all Jonah wanted was to sink into him.

The exhilarating moment popped like a delicate bubble when Arlo walked out of the building. Jonah deliberately avoided eye contact, not wanting to give any impression of encouraging Arlo’s harassing behavior.

When Jonah glanced at Kijani, he noticed the deputy was a little too observant. His gaze slid from Arlo to Jonah. “We need to talk. Is your shift over?”

The barely hidden bite in Kijani’s voice didn’t sit well with Jonah. “If you want to accuse me of messing around with Arlo, then forget it.”

Was Kijani just another Flint? Maybe it was better his true nature surfaced within days rather than taking two weeks like Flint’s had. Jonah hoped he was wrong. It would suck like hell considering he’d already become attached to Kijani.

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