Page 36 of Naughty by Nature

Cheyenne promised to send Payton notes about what needed checked on.

After she hung up, she just sat there for a moment, absorbing everything her best friend had said. Payton was pragmatic. She knew how to get things done. And she knew how to lay things out so that Cheyenne would come around to her way of thinking.

Cheyenne considered herself a smart woman, but Payton had shone a light on things from a totally different perspective.

Why hadn’t she talked to her sooner?

* * *

They settled into a schedule.Sheridan would take the Lowells to school, go do his work, then arrive back at the school to pick them up at three. He was lucky that his schedule allowed him to do that. Captain Patterson, one of his best friends, was just as able to run the department as well as Sheridan and understood the situation. He was more than happy to help Cheyenne out, whether she knew it or not.

With a little subtle surveillance, they’d confirmed what Wade was driving— the white, dark-windowed truck they’d seen the first day when they were leaving Cheyenne’s house, just as he’d suspected. Wade was staying with his parents on their farm and so far, hadn’t stepped out of line in anything. Even his license was up to date.

They were in a bit of a holding pattern, but he wouldn’t be good forever.

Sheridan didn’t mind the wait though. His house was more lived-in, warmer, louder and happier than it had ever been before. Some people would call it cluttered and too busy, but Cheyenne had a way of keeping everything organized that he hadn’t quite figured out yet. The girls were busy, but aware of other people. They were sweet. They kind of reminded him of Olivia before her mother died, open and curious about the world.

And it was a little flattering the way they reacted to him. He wouldn’t say that they were parched for male attention, but it kind of seemed that way. No matter where he was in the house, he usually had a shadow with him. Carolyn liked to talk about anything under the sun. Sheridan wondered if there wasn’t a boy she was interested in, because a few of her questions were a little pointed. ‘Sheriff, if you were in my grade do you think you would like this?’ and she pirouetted in a dark little skirt with a body-hugging shirt. Carolyn didn’t have much to show off yet in that department, but he felt like she was looking for some kind of approval. “I think you should wear what you’re comfortable in, not worry if some boy likes it. You’re the one wearing it.”

She’d made a face, her fine skin puckering between her eyes. Before he could respond, she’d leaned in and hugged him around the waist, making his heart swell.

Savannah challenged him. He was writing up a report at his desk one night when she wandered in to ask him about a problem in a puzzle book. It took Sheridan a few minutes to decipher what the problem needed. When he told Savannah, she gave him a distracted ‘oh’, then asked him about the report he was writing, which she’d been reading while he was distracted. Sheridan explained the situation and the actions he’d taken to cite the individual.

“But he was outside the vehicle,” Savannah said. “How do you charge him with DUI when he wasn’t even in the car?”

“Well, he’d broken down at the side of the road, and his keys were in the ignition. When he called for help because he broke down, he basically said his car broke down while he was driving it. He was drunk when I got there, so I arrested him.”

She still seemed like she wanted to argue.

“Look at it this way,” he said. “If we had put gas in his car for him and let him go while he was drunk, then he drove through a stop sign and killed someone, we would be responsible for that.”

She nodded her head, understanding in her eyes. “Interesting.”

That kind of became their thing, then. She would ask him what cases he was working on and she would puzzle out what she thought he needed to do, then he would explain to her what he was legally required to do. It turned into a good challenge for Sheridan as well as Savannah.

And Grace made him laugh until his gut hurt. When he got a late afternoon call for a fatal crash investigation on Friday, Cheyenne and the girls stayed at the house. When he returned, his normal parking spot on the driveway had been outlined in purple chalk. There were yellow stars all around the space, and a paper sign had been mounted on the exterior of the garage door. Sheriff Lane Parking ONLY. All others will be bit by the guard dog, Wulf! There was a big, slobbering dog mouth on one side of the paper. Then she’d drawn big footprints up the sidewalk. Apparently that was where he was supposed to walk. He was chuckling as he entered the house and it was exactly what he’d needed after that horrendous call.

Well, that and the aroma of Italian food he could smell on the air. He had to step over the vicious guard dog to get to the kitchen, but he managed it without waking Wulf. Cheyenne looked up from a sink of dishes and smiled at him, her beautiful hair curling in the steam of the water. She wore a casual t-shirt and shorts today, obviously ready for the weekend.

More than anything else, seeing her brought his mind right back to where he needed to be. If he’d felt more daring right then, he would walk across the expanse of tile and kiss her on the cheek, but he was too afraid of this perfect moment in time being shattered by her pulling away.

Sheridan knew he was possibly opening his heart to being irrevocably hurt, but he couldn’t help himself. He knew Cheyenne and the girls were only staying for as long as they needed to to get away from Wade, but it was hard to separate the fantasy from the reality. If he thought Cheyenne would be willing, he would move them in permanently, and he would marry her in a heartbeat. She was incredible.

“Oh, you look worn out,” she said, coming up to him. Then, shocking him completely, she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. Sheridan held completely still as her soft lips landed oh, so close to his own, but he didn’t dare move. She was like a doe in the woods. He didn’t want to spook her by reacting too fast.

Cheyenne brushed her hand down his chest. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up and I’ll set your dinner out?”

Sheridan blinked, wondering how the hell he could drag the world to a halt and just stay right in this moment. “Okay.”

But he didn’t move, his boots were planted. He just stood there looking down at her. Cheyenne’s creamy skin flushed, and he realized she hadn’t removed her hand from his front yet. Her fingers had curled around some of the slack in his shirt, at the buttons. Sheridan wished he could feel it, but he had a bulletproof vest on underneath, shielding him from her touch. Damn it.

“I like greeting you when you walk in the door,” she said softly.

Sheridan’s throat tightened, and he had to clear it before he could respond. “I do too. It’s been a long time since anyone cared to.”

Her big blue eyes turned luminous, but he didn’t want her feeling bad for him. He pulled back and forced a grin. “Did you see Grace’s welcome?”

She shook her head, curling her arms around herself.

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