Page 46 of Counting Quarters

Chapter Twenty One

Kyle

IfoundBlairelate in the night. The festival was still in full swing as the sounds of music and dancing in the town square echoed through the woods, where it was significantly quieter. She was by the cemetery, of all places.

Tabitha asked me to keep an eye on her after she wandered home for the night. I had no idea why she trusted me with her most prized possession when there were such threats looming around, but I still agreed. Something told me I would have kept an eye on her, anyway.

She disappeared over an hour ago. There one minute, gone the next. I was grabbing some punch from the tavern, but never allowed her to stray too far out of my sight.

Lisa Golden, the owner of the tavern, whispered something crude and unladylike in my ear, temporarily stealing my attention long enough to decline her offer politely. It was like I blinked and missed Blaire walking away. I spent the next hour panicking, slowly trekking through the woods in hopes I'd run into her.

Who knew what Tabitha would do to me if something had happened?

“There you are,” I greeted carefully, hoping not to startle her.

She was sitting on a cement bench positioned beside the Graves cemetery plots. Her shoulders lifted slightly in defense at the sound of my feet approaching her through the grass, then relaxed when she heard my voice.

I hated what that did to my heart. The fact that she trusted me so completely.

“What are you doing out here?” I asked in a quiet tone, stopping right in front of her.

I was still wearing my uniform, even though I'd been off duty for a couple of hours now. I hadn't wanted to leave the festival and change—my fear of something happening in my absence outweighing any desire for comfort. On instinct, my thumbs hooked onto my belt loops as I waited for her reply.

“It was getting a little heady over there,” she admitted with a teasing smile.

I knew what she meant. By this time of night, the lust in the air was so thick it was hard to breathe through. Fire Festival had to be one of the most inappropriate, primal events Beacon Grove celebrated.

But the poignancy followed me, I guess. Staring down at her from this angle, all I could see were those pouty lips jutting out as she looked up at me.

All I could think about was what they would feel like against mine. Against all of me.

Visions of us together, skin gliding against skin, flooded my mind at once. I almost had to take a step back, when she lightly chuckled.

Realization hit me all at once. Those were her thoughts.

“Don't do that,” I warned.

Why can't I block her out?

“Or else what?”

My brow lifted in challenge, and my pants were suddenly too tight.

She wanted to know the consequences?

“You're playing a dangerous game, Granger.”

Her smile broadened. God, this girl had no shame. “A little fun never hurt anybody. Why don't you loosen up, sheriff? You're off duty.”

I blew out a breath and looked up at the sky, begging the gods to send help. I wasn't going to last against her.

“Is it so bad?”

Her voice had dropped to a near-whisper. When I looked back down at her, she was shyly staring at her hands.

“What?”

“The thought of being with me,” she said into her lap.

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