Page 14 of After All

“You left that poor blind date sad and alone?”

“Well, he was with Heather.”

“But he got a good look at you? Talked to you for a little bit?” Scott asked.

“Yeah.”

“And he knows that you came rushing back here for me?” Okay, so he apparently had the capacity to be a jealous ass when it came to Peyton.

She lifted a brow but said, “Yes, he knows I came back here because you got yourself shot.”

“So he got to see and talk to this sexy, sassy, funny girl who then turned around and rushed to the airport to come home to another guy?” Scott summarized. He grinned. He shouldn’t feel smug about that. But he definitely felt smug. “That’s awesome.”

Peyton rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“And you brought me more clothes?”

“I did. Hope said you were in uniform and they had to cut your pants up anyway. And for the record, the town cop not locking his back door is kind of stupid.”

“It’s Sapphire Falls.” He didn’t need to lock his door. No one else did.

And he made sure that was okay. Nobody messed with his town.

He loved the place. He’d grown up there. He’d left for college and the academy and he’d worked in Omaha for a while, but he’d always wanted to come back. Especially after being a part of a multistate sex trafficking task force. He’d been gung-ho to get in there and bust up some bad guys and do the hero thing. He’d seen some shit and done the good-guy thing. And then when given the chance to settle down in his hometown and jump in on the task force only as needed for special operations along I-80, he’d taken it.

He was home now. He was taking care of his family, friends and neighbors.

And there was Peyton.

“What else did you bring me?” he asked.

She still had one hand behind her back, he noted. Holding something she didn’t want him to see.

“Nothing.” She frowned. “I came to check on you, I brought you clothes, and I gave blood.”

He wouldn’t have any of her blood. She hadn’t been here when he’d been hooked up to the pints to replace what he’d lost in the town square. But the fact that she’d shown up and donated, because of him, made him happy. It was a big deal that Peyton was here, bringing him things. Even if they were his own clothes. He wasn’t sure she’d ever given him anything before. Other than her sweet body and a few secrets…

He shut that down. He couldn’t get all stirred up here. St. Patrick’s Day had been a mistake and he wasn’t repeating that. He was not sleeping with Peyton again. Not unless she agreed they should have more than sex.

But this was the kind of everyday stuff he needed. Maybe this was a step in the direction he and Hope had talked about. Not the getting-shot part. But the part where he needed Peyton to help him out.

“You’re hiding something behind your back,” he said. “What is it?”

“None of your business.”

He wasn’t buying it. “You brought me something else but you were planning to stash it in the drawer with my clothes and have me never find out who it was really from.”

He saw the flicker in her eyes that said he was dead-oon. He grinned. “What is it?”

“Naked photos of me.”

Scott’s hand tightened around her wrist. “Don’t mess with me.”

She would absolutely give him naked pictures of herself. That was exactly the kind of thing she’d do to tempt him.

Scott completely believed that he was stronger and truer and more fucking noble than any other guy he knew because he’d been resistingthisfor the past almost two years.

Twenty months ago—not that he was keeping track— Peyton had started messing with him. He knew it had begun as a game to get the big, tough do-gooder cop to crack. Men always cracked when Peyton turned on her special smile, shortened her skirt, and batted her big blue eyes. But not Scott. By then, he knew her. She had plenty of attention, plenty of adoring male fans, plenty of fun. What she didn’t have were many people who really knew her and cared about her and wanted to protect her.

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