Lawman's Perfect Surrender (21 page)

Crushing disappointment made her withdraw. She moved away from him, leaning back but not getting up off the sofa.

Even if they decided to keep seeing each other, he wouldn’t be there for her. Jed hadn’t, either, in a different way, but he still hadn’t been there for her. She couldn’t do that again. She couldn’t let herself down like that. The next time she gave her heart to a man, she’d know he felt the same.

Add onto that the possibility that she was pregnant and things got really complicated.

Disturbed, now Gemma did get up off the sofa, unfolding her legs and standing. She rubbed her arms and moved to the edge of the living room.

Ford came up behind her, putting his hands over hers and stilling them. “What’s wrong, Gemma?”

She moved away from his touch and faced him. “Nothing.”

“You’ve been acting strange lately.”

“No, I haven’t.” She answered too quickly. “I haven’t.”

He scrutinized her in his cop way. “What’s wrong, then?”

“Nothing. I just…I don’t like hearing you say things like that.” That wasn’t completely true. She actually thought it was good he didn’t want to settle down any time soon. She didn’t, either. Well, not right away, anyway. Ten to fifteen years was too long for her, but two years seemed reasonable.

Running his hand through his thick blond hair, something she wished she had the liberty to do whenever the urge took her, he sighed and then looked at her in frustration. “I’m not planning anything, okay?”

His lack of resolve on the matter was palpable. He’d thought about this and he’d thought about it long and hard. He didn’t see himself married. And she couldn’t be more convinced of his fear.

“We shouldn’t even be having this conversation. I just got divorced from a monster. The last thing I need is another man.”

There he went again, scrutinizing her. “Then why are we?”

What could she say?
I might be pregnant, that’s why.
They could both be forced into a serious relationship before either of them was ready.

“I didn’t see myself having sex with the cop who questioned me about my violent ex-husband.”

His close scrutiny eased. “I didn’t, either.”

They shared a long look filled with knowing intimacy. Neither of them could deny the sex was good between them. That’s why they hadn’t been able to resist each other. She was also sure that’s why neither of them had thought about birth control, not in the heat of the moment.

“Was it like that with your wife?” The question popped out. She hadn’t intended to verbalize her curiosity. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“No. It wasn’t the way it is with you.”

That he answered surprised her. He hadn’t had with his wife what he had with Gemma. Did it mean anything more than sex?

Treading carefully, she asked, “How did you meet her?”

“We both went to the same college. I met her in a coffee shop. A year later she got pregnant and we married.”

Gemma hid the flash of alarm that rushed to her nerve endings.

“After she died, I came back here,” he continued. “It’s the only place that’s ever felt like home.”

“I know what you mean.”

“We do have that in common, don’t we? Cold Plains.” He grunted a cynical laugh.

They’d both come here seeking peace and ended up having to fight for it. She’d come to escape her ex-husband and he’d come to escape the darkness of his wife’s death, to his hometown, where his family had lived, where his memories were, both good and bad. In the short time she’d been here, it had become that to her, too. Something bad had brought them here, and now they were fighting to keep it from driving them away.

“Whatever happens, Ford, I’m really glad I met you. You’re the nicest cop I’ve ever met.”

Another laugh grunted out of him. “You’ve never met any other cops.”

She smiled big. “You’ve got me there. You’re the first.”

And what a first he was. She looked down at the badge clipped to his shirt. The mood shifted between them.

When she lifted her gaze, she saw the laughter in his eyes die away, to be replaced with fire. Licking flames ignited answering heat in her.

Before she could find the willpower to turn and bolt, he leaned down to kiss her. The soft touch stirred her desire. He moved over her mouth with only his lips at first, and then probed for more. She wrapped her arms over his shoulders, going up on her toes to accommodate him. He angled his head and delved into her, feeding her hunger and his own. She reveled in the sensations he elicited with the play of his tongue.

He withdrew and hovered over her. She touched his face and kissed his lips. His arms held her tighter. She dropped hers to his shoulders and let him kiss her deeply again. He lifted his head to look at her, and then kissed her yet again, endlessly making love to her with his mouth.

“Ford?” she breathed. This felt less urgent than the other times. But more intense.

In response, he lifted her, holding her rear on the strong curve of his arm. She wrapped her legs around him, aroused beyond comprehension as he carried her toward the stairs. Almost beyond comprehension.

“Not the stairs.” She had enough control to make the request this time.

“I know,” he rasped.

She kissed him all over his face as he climbed the stairs. In the hall, he stopped to press her against the wall. With her legs around him, she could feel the iron hardness of his erection. Flushed, she gripped his hair in her fist, breathing faster.

He reached for the hem of her top, pulling it up over her head and letting it fall to the floor. Lowering her legs, she tugged at his uniform pants while he opened her shorts.

“Your legs look really hot in these,” he said.

“Your badge makes me hot.” A symbol of what she loved about him, what she’d always love.

Lifting her again, he carried her into her bedroom and dropped her onto her fluffy comforter. She removed her bra and shimmied out of her underwear while he stood beside the bed and stripped off his uniform.

Then he was on the bed, between her legs and over her. He looked his fill at her body, as thrilling as an actual touch.

Then, slowly, savoring each second of this ecstasy, he lowered himself on top of her and kissed her with such meaning she lost herself to him.

She arched and opened her legs more.

“Gemma,” he breathed. “What are we doing?”

“Just let it happen, Ford.” She ran her hands over his shoulders, down his arms and back around to his butt.

He kissed her hard.

She expected him to do more, but he took his time. His kisses softened. He put his hands on each side of her face, caressed her with his thumbs.

After endless moments of excruciating anticipation, he rose up just enough to find her, sliding smoothly inside. He kept up his patient pace as he began to move back and forth. Riveting passion locked their gazes together. And then neither could stand it any longer. With a grunt, he moved faster, thrusting hard and sure. They came at the same time, an incredible peak rich with more than physical satisfaction.

As reason sank upon Gemma, she fought to pretend it didn’t mean as much as it did. What hurt the most was seeing the same reaction in Ford.

But he rolled to his back and pulled her toward him. For tonight they’d forget the obstacle that would be there in the morning. And in the morning, she’d go get a pregnancy test.

* * *

Gemma found Ford standing on her front porch, watching across the street. Curiosity replaced the anxiety of facing him after last night and figuring out a way to get to the store without him. She stepped outside and saw Dillon loading luggage into the bed of his truck.

“His mother’s home from the hospital,” Ford said without turning toward her.

“Are they leaving?”

“For a while. Dillon agreed to leave the investigation up to me. He did the rest.”

By convincing the three women to go with him. She searched for the car that had been parked in the street. It was gone. It hadn’t been there yesterday, either. She wondered if Curtis’s arrest had decided that tactic. Or had Samuel’s strategy changed? She didn’t like that option. What did he have up his cult-worshiped sleeve?

Hallie emerged with her grandmother, Martha, and Dillon rushed to his mother, who left the house after them.

“Let’s go say goodbye,” Ford said, stepping down the porch stairs.

“Why don’t you? I need to run to the store real quick.”

He stopped and turned. “What’s your hurry?”

She shrugged. “No hurry.”

“You’re not going to say goodbye to your neighbor?”

After all they’ve been through,
she could hear him thinking.

Damn.

Sighing, she hopped down the stairs and started walking.

“What do you need at the store?”

“Just some things.”

She felt him eye her a bit before Hallie saw them and went to help Dillon’s mother so that he could greet them. She took the injured woman to the truck while Dillon and Martha stepped up to Gemma and Ford.

Dillon extended his hand, and Ford shook it.

Gemma leaned to hug Martha. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Great goats, honey. I don’t think I’ll ever come back to this town.” They moved back from the embrace. “As long as my Felix’s murderer is caught, that will be all the memory I need of this place.”

“I’ll see to that,” Ford said.

And Martha smiled, moisture pooling in her old eyes.

“Thanks for everything,” Dillon said.

“I’ll call you when I know something,” Ford replied.

Dillon nodded.

Gemma walked toward the truck, giving Hallie a farewell hug before the girl went to stand beside Dillon and Ford.

Dillon’s mom sat with her head resting against the seat. Gemma felt a need to talk to her, to offer support and encouragement. The woman lifted her head off the seat back when she approached, battered and bruised.

Gemma took her hand. “You have a wonderful son.”

A smile glinted in her eyes. “Thank you. I know.”

“You’re lucky to have him, being married to someone abusive. If you ever need to talk, Martha has my number.”

“Dillon told me about your ex-husband,” she said.

“I’m sure the whole town knows about that.”

“One more thing I won’t miss about it.”

“Maybe you should consider taking up baseball,” Gemma quipped.

Dillon’s mother laughed and then winced when the skin stretched too much, touching the side of her head as though it pained her. “So I can imagine Curtis’s head is the ball.”

“I spend my ex-husband’s money on frivolous things because I know he would have hated it.”

The other woman gave Gemma’s hand a squeeze. “I’ll take up baseball.”

Stepping back, she waved and turned to see Ford saying goodbye to Hallie’s grandmother.

“Gemma.”

She turned to Dillon’s mother again. “Don’t let a good man pass you by because you made the mistake of marrying the wrong one.”

Gemma smiled, wishing it were that simple. “I won’t.”

“I agree with her.”

Pivoting, Gemma looked up at Dillon. “Take care of your mom.” She didn’t know what to say about Ford.

“Ford’s a good man.”

“I know.” But would he walk away from a good woman? She hugged him. “Thanks.”

“You, too.”

Gemma went to stand beside Ford, waving to the four as Dillon climbed into his truck and Hallie got behind the wheel of her grandmother’s car.

When the vehicles disappeared over a hill, quiet descended around them. Almost quiet. Birds chirped. Children laughed from some distant house. A dog barked.

And she was alone with Ford.

“I’ll drive you to the store,” he said, alarming her.

“Oh, you don’t have to.”

“I insist.”

Lovely. Now she’d have to find a way to sneak the test into the shopping cart and get through the checkout counter without him noticing. Him. A cop…

* * *

At the beautiful and well-maintained natural foods market, Gemma got a cart and pushed it toward the produce department. She put everything in the cart to make a salad, and added bananas and apples. She needed a lot of groceries to hide the test.

“We already have lettuce.”

“I like salad.”

Under his speculating gaze, she tossed another head of lettuce in the cart. In the meat section, she loaded up on crab legs and salmon and headed for the frozen-food aisle. Pizza. Burritos. Frozen dinners. The cart was a quarter full now. She headed down the snack aisle. Crackers. Chips. Dips.

“Hungry?”

She caught his now very intrigued look and went to the bakery and put in a few different kinds of bread. French. Onion rolls. Sandwich bread. Plenty of places to hide a pregnancy test now. She went down the canned food aisle for good measure.

“Are you going to fit all this in your kitchen?”

He was entertained by this. He probably thought she was on a spending spree again.

After the juice aisle, they turned down the personal hygiene aisle. Seeing the tests just beyond the pads and tampons, she stopped and looked at Ford.

“Could you give me some privacy here?”

He looked from her to the pads and tampons and in typical male fashion, experienced a moment of awkwardness before nodding. “Sure.” He turned. “Meet you in the next aisle.”

She smiled at his retreating back, rolling the cart to the tampons and then moving it to the pregnancy tests when he disappeared.

Grabbing one, she tucked it under a box of crackers and rolled the cart to the next aisle, where he looked at her from his study of toilet paper. She grabbed the most expensive package and put it on top of the crackers.

“Do you need anything?” she asked.

“No. I think you’ve got it covered.”

She had it covered all right.

He followed her to the checkout counter. Her heartbeat pecked away at her ribcage. Maybe it would be easier if she just told him she thought she was pregnant. The reminder that his wife had died during childbirth and the infant boy hadn’t survived quelled that idea.

The grocery clerk began checking out the contents of the cart. Ford stood beside her, watching. The clerk picked up the toilet paper. Next came the chips. A few cans of beans and tomatoes. Soup. Bread.