Page 55 of Stormswept Colorado

“Okay, honey, you remember me? Officer Nichols,” Susan said.

“Sure do. Thanks for coming to get us.”

“Chief would have my hide if I didn’t. He’s a tyrant.”

Ayla glanced back at me. “I know it.”

My heart hammered, remembering how she’d crawled across the bench seat toward me before straddling me and riding my lap like a horny cowgirl.

Had that actually happened?

Susan cackled. “Let’s get you up this slope, Ms. Maxwell. It’s not that steep, but it’s icy.”

“You can call me Ayla.”

“Then I certainly will. If you call me Susan.”

Outside, it was that uncanny twilight that happens at night during a snowstorm. The headlights from a couple of vehicles waiting on the road added to the brightness. Looked like Susan’s department SUV and a tow truck.

I greeted the tow driver, Earl, who offered to help get our bags from my trunk. By now, Ayla was already sitting in the front seatof Susan’s vehicle, hopefully toasty warm. The engine was running.

“Chief, I figured you could take my ride,” Susan explained. “So you can get safe and sound to Hartley. Just in case your vehicle got more banged up than you thought. We’ll tow it and I’ll ride with Earl back to Silver Ridge.”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “Good thinking.”

“I tried to radio on my way to see if that worked for you, but I dunno, maybe the satellite was squirrelly.”

“Could be.” Or maybe we’d been so distracted I completely ignored everything but the woman in the backseat with me.

“You’ll probably need a coat, though. Did something happen to Ayla’s?” Susan batted her eyelashes innocently. “She looked very cozy in yours.”

“Don’t start. Her coat got wet, and it’s drying off.”

“Seems youarea fan of hers after all.” Susan rested a hand on my shoulder. “Just don’t get your heart broke, Chief.”

Hell. Truer words. Susan had no idea how right she was.

Ayla looked so pretty sleeping. It was hard to wake her up. But we couldn’t sit in the SUV all night. It was late enough as it was.

“Wake up, Ayla. We’re here.” I leaned over to kiss her forehead, unable to resist.

“Hmmm?” Her eyes blinked open. “Crap. I fell asleep. We’re in Hartley?”

“Yep. The Last Refuge Inn. You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

“Yeah.” She yawned the word, and that was damn cute.

The last couple hours of the drive had passed uneventfully. While the snow continued to fall, there hadn’t been any more issues. No more elk in the road.

After we said goodbye to Susan and got moving again, I hadspent a good ten minutes on the radio checking in on things at the station. That big accident was cleared and things were calm back in Silver Ridge, even with the heavy snowfall. They had managed without me for a few hours, despite me going MIA on the radio while I was otherwise distracted. Not that I regretted a single moment I’d spent with Ayla so far today.

But by the time I was done checking in, she had drifted off. And after that, I kept glancing over at her, pleased that she was still wearing my coat and also clueless about where things stood between us.

We’d been extremely hot and heavy in that backseat. But had that been more about the emotion of the moment? All those things we’d confessed to each other. Being isolated together.

Obviously, we had chemistry. But that didn’t mean Ayla would want to finish what we’d started.

I mean, I sure as hell did. But we were back to civilization now. I couldn’t assume I knew what she wanted.

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