Page 4 of Break My Fall

Meredith was correct on all counts. Even the part about her not needing his assistance. They had an agreement that she wouldn’t do any clinics alone. She’d promised to take someone with law enforcement experience with her, and she’d stuck to that for the past six months without complaint. He’d gone several times during the fall. Donovan, one of his most trusted officers, had gone in December. Her brother, Mo, and cousin Cal, both of whom had military experience and were, technically, consultants for the Gossamer Falls Police Department, had gone with her in early January when she’d made a rare weekday trek to try to catch as many children as she could before they returned to school after the Christmas break.

“You still haven’t answered my question, Chief Ward.”

Uh-oh. When she started “Chief Ward-ing” him, it meant he’d lost control of the conversation. At this point, all he could do was institute emergency measures.

“I was on patrol.” True. “This”—he shifted—“entire”—he scooted again, and a piece of gravel dug into his back. A grunt escaped.

Meredith’s face appeared between the ground and the bottom of the van. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“It was a rock, Meredith. I’m lying in the gravel on the edge of the road looking at the bottom of a van. It’s not going to be comfortable.”

“Right. Sorry about that. Maybe I—”

“Don’t even think about it.” He had no idea what she might be thinking. But the last time she’d had a bright idea, she’d redecorated the break room at the police station. If she’d stopped there, it might have been okay. But she hadn’t. She’d redecorated his office and the locker room too.

It was still masculine. But now, each stall had little odor sprays and each shower had an array of soaps and lotions, which at times meant his officers walked around the station smelling like they were headed out on a date instead of on the way to keep the peace.

The towels, well, no, he couldn’t complain about the towels. The towels she’d brought were plush and large, and he had shamelessly checked the invoice and bought some to use at home.

But still. Meredith had no off button. Once she decided something needed to be done, there was no stopping her.

A lowhumphwas her only response to him shutting her down, but even without looking in her direction, he could picture her. Blue eyes flashing in outrage. Full lips pouting. There were curls in her brown hair today, and they were probably flying around her face in the wind.

“Don’t think I missed the fact that you have yet to explain what you’re doing here, Chief Ward.”

When Gray next glanced in her direction, all he could see was her feet as she paced beside the van. He smiled around the flashlight. Meredith was bighearted and bullheaded and the reason he walked around with a bruised heart. The blasted thing insisted on beating hard every time she was in the vicinity, and nothing his brain said could convince it to chill and accept the truth.

Meredith Quinn was his to protect, but she could never be his.

TWO

Meredith had a moment of startling clarity. Regardless of why he’d happened to be driving by—and she put mental quotes around “happened” because she had no doubt he’d either followed her, tracked her, or come looking for her—he was currently under her van, lying on a rough road, and doing it without any complaint.

And she had him all to herself for a few minutes.

Why was it that when that happened, and it happened rarely enough, she always seemed to find a reason to snap at him. She took a deep breath and made a heroic effort to rein in her sass. “Mrs. Frost is a sweet lady. I went to help her. I didn’t even think about her being in another county. And even if I had, I would have gone anyway. Because, again, Mrs. Frost is precious, but she’s also a menace on the road who shouldn’t be allowed to drive anywhere ever again. So I told her not to come to the office. I would bring the office to her.”

Her magnanimous explanation earned her a grunt. And then a low whistle. Well, that was a weird response.

“Meredith.”

She bent over so she could look under the van again. Not that she could see Gray’s face well, but it felt rude to continue talking into the air when he was just a few feet away. “Yes?”

“Could you hand me your phone? I need to take a few pictures.”

She pulled her phone from her pocket. “Pictures of?”

“The hole in your fuel line.”

She got down so she could reach under the van and handed the phone to Gray. A few clicks later, he held it out to her. “Can you take this? I’m coming out.”

She considered offering to pull him out by his legs but bit her tongue. That would probably hurt his back. And it would be awkward. And she wasn’t even sure if she could move him. The man was a wall of muscle.

But she did do what was clearly the only polite thing. She watched him like a hawk as he shimmied himself out from under the vehicle and then leaned over to rub his hands in the grass. Which might be the reason she was a little bit breathless when he finally got to his feet and asked to see the phone.

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