Page 17 of Jag

“Yes, she is. We,” I waved to include the others, “stopped by the station before we came here and saw her and him embracing on the sidewalk. She moved here to be close to him,” I said what I could without going into the sheriff’s business of wanting to make sure he provided for her.

“Okay, not sure how you see that as using the sheriff. I mean daughters hug their fathers, and some have been known to move closer to a parent,” Roscoe said and sat his hamburger down as if he hadn’t dropped a bomb, and not only on me, by the looks on everyone else’s faces.

“Daughter,” I whispered.

“Yeah, a daughter. When Will and Jillian divorced, Jillian moved back east and took River with her. I guess she was about five or so then. The girl looks just like her mo—”

“Sonofabitch!” I cut Roscoe off and stood so fast I knocked my chair over. I didn’t even bend to pick it up as I headed for the door. The others’ voices could be heard, but I couldn’t focus on what was said. I had to get to River.

When I hit the parking lot, I searched for her car, spotting it just as it started. I took off at a run, and as the car started to move backward, I had the passenger door open. River startled and slammed the brakes on, the abrupt stop had me grabbing ahold of the frame along with the door to keep me from being knocked to the pavement.

“Have you lost your damn mind!?”

I plopped down into the seat, which was a chore because the car wasn’t made for a man my size, and immediately reached to rub my knees after smacking them on the glovebox.

“Damn, they don’t give you much room in here,” I said as I reached for the lever to adjust the seat. Even sliding it all the way back, I wasn’t able to stretch out my legs.

“No one asked you to get in, so why don’t you get out.”

“No.”

“No?”

“At least not until we talk. And then you can come back in and eat your lunch.”

River stared at me, and I noticed for the first time a faint splatter of freckles across her nose along with how the green of her eyes darkened when she was irritated. And she was irritated with me. Which she had every right to be.

“Are you on medication?” The tone she asked in was flat, and it had my lips twitching. “There is nothing funny about this. You are arrogant, mean, and I refuse to let you continue to humiliate me! And if you think I would go back inside with you to eat after what you did to me in there already, then I suggest you tell your doctor you need an adjustment in your meds because they aren’t working.”

“There’s that snotty tone. It gets to me every time and leaves me irritated because I’m not sure which bothers me most—that you get under my skin or that it makes me hard and all I want to do is strip you down, spread you wide, and see if you taste as tart as your voice. Or is between your thighs and your mouth in contrast with each other: one bold and sharp while the other is sweet with just enough salty flavor to keep me wanting to come back for more,” I said in a low voice and watched River’s eyes deepen into the darkest green while her breathing picked up enough I could physically see her pulse beating on the side of her neck.

“What do you want from me, Dom?” River asked, her voice barely above a whisper. At least I knew I affected her as much as she affected me.

“I’m not sure, but let’s start with this.” Lost in her eyes, I moved and did what I had wanted from the first time I saw her.

I cupped her head with my hands, and my fingers weaved through her hair until the thing that held the mass unclipped and released the strands and cascaded down her shoulders. I was right, it was thick and soft to the touch. I pulled her forward as I leaned in and paused to give her the chance to pull away. When she didn’t move, I closed the remaining distance and touched my lips to hers.

The kiss was gentle until I ran my tongue over her lips and received the first small taste of her. Nipping her bottom lip, she opened, then I plunged. Nothing I dreamt, nothing I had ever experienced came close to actually having River. Every crevice brought more of her flavor, and when she moaned as her own tongue explored then melted into me as close as the console between us would allow, I knew nothing would keep me away from her. Whether she was meant to be mine or not, I wanted to explore whatever seemed to be between us to see if she was everything I ever wanted. The only obstacle I might face would be getting her to admit she felt the same way. Especially after how we’d started out.

Breaking the kiss, I leaned my forehead against hers and worked on leveling my own breath. When was the last time a woman had turned me inside out?

“So, the sheriff is your dad, huh?” River released the edges of my cut that she’d latched on to while we were kissing and pushed at my chest. I gave her the space she seemed to need and sat back in the car’s seat.

“Figured that out, did you?”

“Roscoe brought it to my attention. How long were you going to let me think you two were romantically involved?”

“Don’t blame me because you made assumptions.” I grinned, and she glared. “And stop grinning!”

“You’re going to keep me on my toes, aren’t you?” My grin grew when her eyes narrowed.

“I won’t keep you on anything. This...” River waved between us, “shouldn’t have happened, and I plan for it not to happen again.”

“Bullshit. If you ask me, everything between us led up to that kiss, and you enjoyed it just as much as I did.”

River huffed. “Who doesn’t enjoy a nice kiss?”

“Now you’re trying to piss me off. Nice my ass. Five more seconds and I could’ve had you across this console and riding me if I hadn’t broken the kiss.”

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