“One more thing,” he said with a serious look.
She gave a little sigh. “What’s that?”
“Were you planning on driving after having a few rum and Cokes?” he asked.
Her face burned and she looked at her hands that she’d dropped to her lap. “Once I got out here I realized that I shouldn’t be driving and I was going to go back in after the police cars left.” She looked out the passenger side window. “I was too embarrassed to go in right away.”
“I get that,” he said and sounded like he was choosing his words carefully. “Your stepbrothers are…not nice men.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” She felt absolutely miserable talking about them. “You can say what they really are. You won’t offend me.”
“Let’s not talk about those idiots.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “As far as we’re concerned, that trash will never come between us.”
“Okay.” Her lips trembled a little as she smiled. “That’s a deal.”
He gave her a grin. “Good. I’m going to hold you to that.”
She smiled and he kissed her again.
It was a long time later that they came up for air. The windows were steamed and her body felt warm and ready for him. But she knew he wouldn’t take advantage of her and she also knew she wouldn’t be ready for a sexual relationship with a man she barely knew. Still, that didn’t mean she didn’t want him.
“I’ll give you a ride home,” he said.
She sobered. “That’s the last place I want to be right now.”
John frowned. “Do your stepbrothers hurt you…in
any
way?”
She thought about some of the things they’d done to her, how their friend, Freddy, made her worry that he’d sexually assault her. She thought about lying and saying no, that her stepbrothers did not abuse her, but she settled for a shrug. “They are who they are. I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter.”
The flash of anger in John’s eyes startled her. His face looked tight. “I take that as a yes.”
“It’s verbal, John.” She realized she’d said his name for the first time, and it felt natural. “They’re just plain mean. They haven’t physically hurt me.”
“Verbal abuse is abuse, Hollie.” The anger in his eyes magnified. “You need to get away from them. They’re bad news.”
“I don’t have any choice.” She glanced away from him and stared out the window. “They live with me.”
“Who owns the house?” John asked.
“I do.” She looked back at him. “They never left after their mama died.”
“Then you do have a choice.” John’s voice was firm. “You can kick them out.”
“I—I can’t.” Hollie bit her lower lip and felt a sharp pain before she spoke. “They’ve made threats. To be honest, I’m afraid of them and what they can do.”
If she’d thought he’d looked angry before, it was nothing compared to the look on his face this moment. “My brother is the Yavapai County Sheriff,” John said. “He can go to your ranch and order your stepbrothers to clear out of your place and get off your property.”
Hollie felt miserable. “My stepbrothers are vindictive and they can get even with me. They have friends, ways of doing things that won’t come back on them.”
John sat for a long moment, clearly thinking over the situation. “Between you and me, I believe that they’re up to something. I’m going to find out what it is, and I’ll be the one to send them to prison for a good long time.”
“I can only hope.” She sighed. “In the meantime, I’ll have to deal with them.”
“Stay with me.” He stroked her hair from her face. “I promise to be a perfect gentleman. Or if you’d rather, stay with one of your friends. Get away from your stepbrothers.”
“I can’t.” She put her hand over his. “It’s my home. Everything I own is there. I can’t leave them to tear up the place or sell my things to get even with me for leaving.” She clenched her hands in her lap. “Carl ordered me to cook dinner tonight and I refused, so who knows if I’ll find my china shattered all over the house again.” She shook her head. “I knew that when I refused he’d figure out a way to make me pay. But I just couldn’t take seeing him or Floyd and Dickey. And if Freddy’s there it will make it even worse.” She shuddered. Truth was, Freddy scared the hell out of her.
John slammed his palm into the steering wheel. “I can’t watch you go through this.”
“It’s the only way.” She offered him a little smile. “I’ll make it through this. I’ve lived with them for a long time now. I don’t think it’s going to get any worse than it is.” At least she hoped not. And right now all she could do was hope.
John said nothing for a long moment. “We can’t let you drive home even slightly intoxicated. Do you want to go to my house for an hour or two?” He held his hands up. “Scouts’ honor that I’ll behave.”
“I’m not worried about that.” She gave him a shy smile. “I trust you.”
“On second thought, I don’t know if you should.” He brushed hair from the side of her face. “I’m more than attracted to you.”
She put her hand over his. “I do trust you.”
“Your car is warm,” he said, “so why don’t we leave my truck here and I’ll drive your car to my house?”
“Let’s go, Lieutenant,” she said.
His grin was quick and sexy. “Buckle in, Teacher.”
Hollie buckled her seatbelt as John put on his own. He shifted the car into gear and backed the vehicle out of the parking space and headed for the street. While he drove, he took her hand and held it on the console between them. She liked the feel of his hand wrapped around hers. How could she feel so unbelievably comfortable with him now? Her nervousness had ebbed with their conversation and his kisses.
She looked out the window at the Christmas decorations passing by in mostly red and green blurs. What a strange day. She’d gone through so many emotions and now she was with John. She’d had a mad crush on him and had admired him from afar and now he’d told her he wanted to date her…and they were on their way to his home until she was totally sober. It was strange how things could change in just a matter of hours.
It wasn’t far to his neighborhood on the outskirts of town. Homes along his street were decorated with Christmas lights and displays that glittered and shone in the night. When they pulled up to his house, she saw that he lived in a modest ranch-style home.
“I think I expected you to live on a ranch like most of the other McBrides,” she said before they got out of the car.
He shrugged. “I intend to go into ranching. I’ve just been waiting for the right time.”
She blinked with surprise. “So you don’t plan on staying on the police force?”
He opened the driver’s side door. “I guess you could say ranching is in my blood.”
She slipped on her jacket. Just as she grasped the door handle, John opened it for her. She grabbed her purse in one hand while he took her other and helped her out of the car. He locked the vehicle before wrapping her cold fingers in his warm ones and leading her to the front door of the house. Even though they would soon be inside his home, the biting cold had her wishing for gloves and a scarf.
It was too dark to get a good look at the outside of the house. When he let her inside, she breathed a sigh of relief as warm air met her. She liked this time of year, but it was good to get out of the cold.
When he closed the front door, he helped her remove her jacket and draped it over one arm of a chocolate brown leather sofa, and he set her purse next to it. He removed his own jacket that he must have put on after stopping the fight and arresting her stepbrothers and the other men involved. The thought of the fight and her stepbrothers soured her stomach so she shoved it away.
While he set his own jacket down, she took in his living room. It was done in warm colors with the brown leather sofa and loveseat, a caramel-colored recliner, and rugs of muted shades of browns and greens scattered on the hardwood floor. He had a built-in entertainment center with a flat screen TV and a stereo system. A few family photos were on the mantel of a fireplace that took up one corner.
“Give me a moment to make a fire.” John went to the stack of wood beside the fireplace and he used kindling and small sticks to start the fire before adding bigger pieces of wood and a log.
When John turned back to Hollie, he saw her still shivering and rubbing her hands together. In a few steps he reached her then took both her hands in his and massaged them until she began to feel warmth starting to work its way through her fingers.
He lowered his head and pressed his lips to her forehead. “How does that feel?”
She nodded. “Better.”
“But you’re still shivering.” He drew her into his arms. “Maybe I can help with that.”
His body felt so good against hers that she felt his heat seeping into her bones. She pressed the side of her face against his chest and breathed in the smell of fresh winter air and his spicy masculine scent. A soft sound escaped her, a sigh of pleasure at the feel of his arms embracing her and the feeling of security that wrapped around her like a blanket. With him she felt like she could never be hurt by anyone again.
A false sense of security, no doubt. His job might be to protect and serve the community but it wasn’t his job to babysit her and keep her stepbrothers and their friends from hurting her in any way.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and just let him hold her as he stroked her hair. “Feeling warmer now?”
“Yes.” She tipped her head back and smiled at him. “Much warmer.”
He studied her features so long that she felt her cheeks reddening. “You’re beautiful, Hollie.”
“You make me feel beautiful,” she said softly.
“That’s because you are.” Slowly he lowered his head so that his mouth barely hovered over hers. When he spoke again, his warm breath caused her to sigh. “I think I’ve wanted to kiss you since the first moment I ever saw you.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. She’d wanted that too, but she was too shy to say so.
His lips met hers and he kissed her gently, slowly. She gave a soft moan and slid her arms around his waist, burrowing into his warmth and the long muscular length of him. It was as if she couldn’t get close enough to him. She wanted to feel every part of him. To have his weight pinning her down, as if that might make them one.
He caressed her, sliding his palm over her figure as if he loved exploring her body. With him she didn’t feel embarrassed by her generous curves. He slipped his other hand into her hair, grabbing a fistful and holding her head still as his kiss intensified. She loved the feel of her hair tight against her scalp, loved the feel of him taking control.
His kiss was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. His taste, a heady aphrodisiac on her tongue.
When he raised his head, he gently pushed hair over her ear. “Would you like something to drink? A mug of hot chocolate will help warm you up.”
“You’ve warmed me up.” She smiled at how easy it was to flirt with him. “But a mug of hot chocolate sounds good. Got any of those little marshmallows?”
“Of course. They’re my favorite.” He gave her a quick grin. “Just bought a package when I picked up the hot chocolate.”
He took her hand and led her to a kitchen. It was a small, sparse kitchen with black speckled Corian countertops and black appliances. “Have a seat.” He gestured to a round kitchen table.
As she sat on the edge of a chair, his cell phone rang. He drew it out of the holster on his belt and looked at the screen. He pressed a button to silence the ring and put the phone back in its holster.
He went to a pantry and withdrew a box of hot chocolate packages and a bag of mini marshmallows. “You didn’t get a chance to eat those nachos,” he said as he put water into a polished copper teakettle. “You’ve got to be even hungrier now.”
She nodded, noticing for the first time since they’d ordered the nachos that she was lightheaded from being so hungry. “Yes. You could say that.”
“Let me see what I have.” He turned the heat on under the teakettle. “Can’t promise I have anything fancy.”
“I’ll eat anything.” She watched him as he went to the fridge and opened it. It did look pretty bare from where she was sitting.
He looked over his shoulder at her. “I’ve got hard salami, cheese, and crackers.”
“Sounds great.” She stood and rubbed her palms on her jeans. “I can help.”
He set the packages of cheese and salami on the counter and grabbed a box of crackers from the pantry, then brought out a cutting board, a knife, and a couple of plates. She took over slicing the meat and cheese while he brought out a pair of mismatched mugs from a cabinet.
The teakettle whistled, steam shooting through the spout. He turned the heat off from beneath the kettle and set it on a cool burner. While she arranged the food on the plates and added crackers, he tore open packages of hot chocolate mix and poured them into the mugs before adding water. He stirred the chocolate before plopping marshmallows into the mugs and stirring the chocolate again.
She carried the plates of cheese, salami, and crackers to the table and he followed with the hot chocolate as they settled in seats across from each other. She picked up her mug and blew on the hot contents, breathing in the warm scent of chocolate before sipping from it. She closed her eyes as she rolled the chocolate over her tongue. The taste was rich and sweet and felt good siding down her throat to her stomach.
She opened her eyes to find John watching her. He had the look of a man starved for something, but that look passed as their gazes met.
Heat from the mug warmed her fingers as she held it between her palms. “It’s good,” she said.
He drank from his own mug and set it aside before starting in on his plate of food. She watched him from beneath her lashes as he stacked cheese and meat on a cracker then put the whole thing into his mouth in one bite. She smiled as she took a small bite of the stack she’d made on her own plate.
It was quiet for a while as they ate. For a few moments she couldn’t think of anything to say. When she finally did, she cleared her throat. “All of your brothers are in some form of law enforcement.”
He nodded. “My stepbrother, Garrett, is a private investigator and my other stepbrother, Reese, is a detective. And I mentioned to you before that my blood brother, Mike, is the county sheriff.”