Page 6 of A Deceitful Pact

“I can tell you exactly where I was.” Straightening up, I move closer to her, so close that I can almost taste her skin again. I shouldn’t torture myself, but thinking that it might torture her too makes it worth my while. “I had my face buried between Beth Delaney’s thighs.” I allow my lips to brush against her ear as I whisper, “I’m sure she and her roommate can confirm that.” Taking a step back I watch the way she blushes and try to control my fuckin’ dick.

“Herandher roommate?” Sheriff Hale’s eyes widen as she clears her throat.

“She was in the next room, she’d have heard how much Beth was enjoying it.” I smile at her and watch her turn even pinker. She knows exactly how good my tongue feels, she came on it twice.

“And what about you?” Hale turns her attention to Jace, who does a real good job of looking confused.

“He was with me,” Maddison blurts out, shocking me and Jace at the same time. We both know it ain’t the truth, but she’s sure making it sound like it is.

“Is that correct, Mr. Sullivan?” Our sheriff waits for Jace to confirm.

“It’s correct.” He slides his arm protectively around Maddison’s shoulder.

“May I?” Hale must notice the sonogram picture that's in Maddison’s hand now, and when she reaches out to take it, Maddison looks reluctant to hand it over.

I watch the way Hale’s eyes soften as she looks it over, and for the first time since she came to town, the smile she makes seems genuine.

“Congratulations.” She smiles at them both before handing the picture back and marching out the door.

I breathe a sigh of relief for Jace, and I'm just about to offer him a drink when I notice Maddison storm out the door.

“I should…” Jace looks at me awkwardly before he quickly scurries after her.

“Never thought I’d see the day.” I shake my head and laugh as I get back to reading the paper and pretending that Hale acting as if we’re strangers don’t hurt.

The day drags all the way into night, and I find myself constantly looking out the window. I tell myself that I’m just being observant, but I know deep down that I’m waiting to catch a glimpse of her. I usually get to see her two or three times a day. First, when she drives past on her way to work, then when she heads into Jean’s for lunch, and lastly, around five, when she drives past on her way home.

Hale keeps herself to herself, Jace’s uncle can’t seem to find anything out, and even Jean and her posse don’t seem to know much about her. It frustrates me in a way that I don’t understand, and I hate the burden of it.

“Sawyer…you good, man?” Hayden checks, loosening his tie and looking at me strangely.

“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” I hit back defensively.

“You just looked a little out of it, something on your mind?”

“No, nothing on this mind,” I assure him

“You're sure lucky the boss took your word on that alibi you gave her. What would you have done if she’d called Beth Delaney?” he asks me under his breath.

“I had to come up with something quick and believable.” I wink, completely leaving out the part about wanting to make Hale feel jealous. Hell, right now, I’d be happy to make Hale feelanything. She’s so fuckin’ cold and closed off, but I guess that's what you should expect from an FBI agent.

“I’m warning you, Sawyer, she’s smart and she knows things. Maybe things that even we don’t know.” He keeps his voice low.

“Hale won’t be a problem,” I assure him, ignoring the fact that I’m not convincing myself at the same time.

I check the time, it’s only just past eight, and the place is starting to get busy. It doesn’t matter how busy we get, I know that the sheriff will be on my fuckin’ mind.

It’s been five weeks, and she hasn’t even acknowledged what happened between us. I keep wonderin’ if maybe she forgot. But it’s impossible. How do you forget a night like the one we shared? Never in my life had I felt so connected to a female. I’m not too proud to admit that I was scared, but at the same time, I wanted to hold on to it. I wanted to know why she was unhappy, and I wanted to fix it for her.

Then she ran out on me…

“Lenny, can you manage on your own for a while?” I look over to my bartender, who looks around the room before holding his thumb in the air.

“Thanks, I owe ya.” Grabbing my jacket and keys, I start heading for the door.

“Hey, where ya goin’?” Hayden looks confused by my sudden leap into action, “You ain’t on duty tonight, and there sure ain’t no fire.” It’s a sad reminder that the only time I ever leave the bar is when I’m fuckin’ someone's day up for Jamie, or doing my volunteer fire service duty. This town is too small to have its own department, so it relies on the men and women who volunteer until one of the units can get from a bigger station. Not that there are any women volunteers. Loretta Chambers enquired once at a town hall meeting, but her mother, Eleanor, told her to sit down and leave the men to their work. I might consider attending the next meeting to see how our new sheriff deals with Eleanor’s attitude toward the ‘modern-day woman.’

“I got something that needs dealing with,” I call over my shoulder as I head out the door toward my truck. That something is Hale. I need to find out what she’s doing here. I need to know if she’s a threat, and I need her to somehow acknowledge that night we shared together.

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