Page 9 of The Sheriff & the Nurse

He leaped out of his truck, easing out his Glock 22. Cautiously moving around his truck, he catalogued how quiet everything was. It was only eight-thirty but a dark, late-August evening with only a sliver of moon. There was no visible movement inside the house. His eyes darted to the shadows beyond the porch. Nothing.

A cow mooed in the distance, crickets chirped, and a soft breeze stirred the tree leaves. No human sounds or out-of-place movement.

A car door opened and he spun, raising his pistol.

“Clint,” Lily said in a voice that made his body fill with warmth. That voice said she needed him.

She got out of her car, the interior vehicle lights revealing her beautiful face and her long honey-blonde hair. She was wearing pink scrubs as if she’d just been at the hospital.

“Lily.” He held the gun down, pointed at the ground, and hurried to her side.

She dodged around her open car door and crashed into him, wrapping her arms around his lower back and leaning her head into his chest. Clint had to stay present and aware of the dangerthat could be pressing in, but Lily in his arms blew everything but the threat out of his brain.

Lily was safe and in his embrace. She smelled like the flower she was named after. There was no world where he could resist cuddling her close with his left arm while keeping a firm grip on his weapon with his right.

He ushered her more fully into his side, his hand finding the smooth curve of her waist and hip. The feel of her against him threatened to pull him into a happy world that only existed for him with Lily. But he couldn’t go there right now, or ever. He forced himself to keep cataloguing the area. Where was the intruder?

“Did you see someone?” he asked her, not seeing even a blip of movement.

“No.” She peered up at him and he wanted to get lost in her brown-sugar eyes. Especially because she was gazing at him with a hero worship that made his chest expand. “I came home from a shift and when I got to the front door, I noticed it was slightly ajar. I know I locked it when I left yesterday morning for a back-to-back shift. I pushed it open and turned on the lights and saw the poster.”

“Poster?”

“Yes.” Her voice quavered and her body trembled against his. He swore to himself then and there that nobody would hurt this woman. He’d gone to battle for her in his mind last week, sparring with Miles and calling him out for hurting Lily and falling in love with the famous actress, Eva Chevron. From what Miles explained, Lily had agreed it was time for them to break up. That made his heart soar, but he couldn’t ask Lily about it. That was Walker’s place. This was the closest they’d been in two years, and she was only clinging to him now because she was terrified.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“No.” She buried her head deeper in his chest. “He’s so gross.”

“He?” His neck tightened. Some idiot was after Lily?

“I doubt we’ll be able to prove anything.” She sighed and glanced up at him. “Forget I said anything.”

Clint’s eyes widened. He was surprised by the defeat in her voice. “Lily. I’m not really in the business of forgetting little details.” He held her gaze, hoping she’d confide in him. “You need to tell me who you suspect. It will help as we move forward with the investigation.”

“Sheriff?” Lily’s dad, Klein, called to them. “Everything all right?”

“Please.” Lily released her hands from around his back and grasped his shirt in her hands. She lowered her voice, her eyes frantic. “Please, I’ll tell you the name later, but don’t say anything to my dad.”

Don’t say anything to her dad? Something was upside down with Lily. The Lillywhites were as strong and loving a family as the Colevilles. Why wouldn’t she want her dad to know?

She pulled from his arms and they both turned to face her dad.

“Evenin’, Klein,” Clint said evenly. “Lily’s had a little …” What was he supposed to say? “Trouble.”

“No.” Lily shook her head and hurried to her dad, giving him a hug. “No trouble. Some friends from the hospital played a prank on me.” She gave a forced smile that nobody was going to buy. “I shouldn’t have called Clint, but you know what a great guy he is.” She smiled sweetly at him and Clint wanted to agree to anything she said. He had to get to the bottom of why she was lying to her dad.

Mark raced up to them in his patrol SUV with no lights or sirens. Lily looked close to crumpling. Mark’s arrival wasn’t backing up her story. Clint was tempted to not back up her storyeither, but he’d known Lily since they were toddlers and she was as honest as she was beautiful. He had to get to the bottom of this. What if that required spending a lot of time with her? He wouldn’t complain about that, and if it was in the line of duty, he couldn’t feel guilty about swooping in on his brother’s girl.

“Why is Deputy Garrett here, then?” Her dad’s brow wrinkled.

The beseeching in Lily’s eyes was too much for him. Thankfully, he could tell the truth. “I called him,” he said. “When I didn’t know what we were up against.”

Her dad nodded.

Mark jumped out of his SUV, hurrying over to them.

“Sorry, false alarm,” Lily said brightly. “So sorry to pull you from your family. How is that adorable Asher doing?”

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