Page 13 of The Sheriff & the Nurse

Lily half-laughed. “I see.”

Clint gave her a reassuring smile, then refocused on Mark. “Size of the footprints?”

“Eleven. Male. Not too heavy, but definitely not a woman’s print.”

“Thanks.”

“’Course. I’ll test for fingerprints and bag the evidence while you … chat.” He nodded to her again and then set a kit on the entry table.

“Appreciate ya.” Clint walked back to her and settled down in the chair again. “Where were we?” he asked, but then his cheeks darkened and his eyes grew deeper blue. They both knew exactly where they’d been. He’d been touching her hand and giving her alonging look to beat the big screen. Eva Chevron’s co-stars in her romance movies had nothing on that look.

He cleared his throat, leaned back against the hard chair, and folded his arms across his chest. The muscles in his forearms and biceps popped. If she could take a picture of him looking so enticing, she’d blow it up to life size and kiss it every morning.

Lily needed another drink of water. She grasped the glass and chugged a mouthful. The cool liquid hit her throat as she took a breath. She coughed and sputtered, water spraying the table and him.

“Lily.” Clint’s voice was all concern, not annoyance. He leaned forward, reaching for her. “Are you all right?”

“No,” she shot at him, holding up her hands so he wouldn’t touch her and mess with her mind again. “I’m a hot mess.”

Clint studied her, dropped his hands, and then murmured, “Definitely hot.”

Her eyes widened and she heard Mark hide a laugh behind a cough in the adjoining living room. Her face flared hotter still. He thought she looked ‘hot’ after back-to-back shifts?

“Forgive me,” Clint said quickly. He pulled out his phone and started tapping on it. “I should take some notes. First of all, does anyone have a key to your front door or have you loaned your key to anyone who could’ve made a copy?”

“I didn’t lend it to anyone. Daisy has a copy.”

He jotted that down. “Can you tell me what happened when you got home tonight?”

She talked through walking up to the door, noticing it was open, pulling out her pepper spray, shoving it wide, turning on the lights and seeing the poster. Then running back to her car and calling 911. She got it all out without breaking down and was proud of herself for that.

“You didn’t call Bennett or your dad?”

“No.”

Clint studied her but thankfully moved on. “What’s the name of the doctor who threatened you?”

“Some idiot threatened our Lily?” Mark burst out, whirling from his task.

“Mark.” Clint gave him a pointed look.

“Please.” Lily looked between them, her voice and hands trembling. “This has to stay with us. My parents, Bennett, my sisters… Nobody can know.”

Clint’s gaze zeroed in on her. “You haven’t told your parents, Bennett, or your sisters about this guy who’s been threatening you for years?”

She could only shake her head no.

“That’s not the confident Lily we all know.” Clint’s voice was softer now, his gaze probing. “Why haven’t you reported him?”

She drew in a breath. Clint would never settle for half the story, but he couldn’t understand how it felt to be threatened and hit on by a man in a position of authority. She was ashamed she hadn’t broken out of the nightmare, but she’d been scared and alone, not wanting to upset her family or hurt her grandmother.

“He threatened my grandma,” she admitted.

“Pardon me?” Clint’s voice was a low growl now. Grandma hadn’t lived in Coleville for years, needing to be close to the hospital, but Clint would never stand for her grandmother or any grandmother to be threatened.

“It’s too much, too many interactions.” She sighed. Would he think she was exaggerating or being a wimp? “He has the power to hurt Grandma, to make a mess of my career, and nobody else sees what a manipulative slime he is.” She twisted her hands together, studying them. “I reported him multiple times when he first started flirting and refused to stop. I was asked every time to please bring irrefutable proof and to think very carefully about making accusations against one of the top cardiologists inthe West and the only cardiologist in our region.” She stopped talking. She’d just told both of them who it was. Not that they knew Dr. Hampshire personally, but they could figure it out now.

There was quiet for a beat.

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