Daniel checked his watch. Ten minutes after ten. He’d been told she would arrive around ten. He was probably the only one in the building who couldn’t wait for her to arrive.
He leaned forward in the chair, unfastened the sheriff badge from his shirt and placed it on the top of the desk. He whirled it like a top. The spinning motion mirrored the dizzying chaos the drug scandal and the near murder of Savannah Sinclair and Daniel’s best friend, Deputy Josh Griffin, had unleashed inside his head for the past month.
The newly discovered tunnels that ran beneath the entire town were still being mapped and explored by a team of volunteers under the supervision of Frank Kean, a former mayor who had stepped back into the official position when Jim Burns had been arrested. Eventually a special election would vote in a new mayor and sheriff, but not until Sheriff Olivia Bradford conducted a full investigation.
Daniel stared down at the sheriff badge. He’d be glad to give up his position of authority and return to the squad room as just another deputy. He much preferred being in the field rather than stuck behind a desk.
He became aware of the absence of conversation through the closed office door. The men in the squad room had apparently fallen silent and that could only mean one thing. Sheriff Olivia Bradford had arrived.
A firm knock fell on the office door and then it opened and she stepped in. His mind refused to work properly as he got his first look at the woman.
Lily. His head exploded with memories of a woman he’d met five years ago at a crime conference in New Orleans, a woman he’d wound up in bed with for a single night of explosive sex.
Her dark chocolate eyes widened as she gazed at him. She froze, as still as a sleeping gator on a log. It was obvious she recognized him, too.
She cleared her throat, turned and closed the door behind her and when she faced him again, her pretty features were schooled in a business-like coolness. “Sheriff Daniel Carson?” she asked.
“Former sheriff now that you’ve arrived,” he replied and got up from the desk. Okay, so they were going to pretend that they didn’t know each other. They were going to act as if that night five years ago hadn’t happened.
“I’m Sheriff Olivia Bradford,” she replied, a statement that was unnecessary.
“And you’re here to take over for me.” He pointed to the badge on the desk. He walked around the desk and she made her way behind it and sank down.
She hadn’t changed much in the time since he’d last seen her. Her dark brown eyes were still pools of mystery and her long black hair was caught in a low ponytail at the nape of her neck.
That night it had been loose and silky in his fingers and her eyes had glowed with desire. The khaki uniform she wore couldn’t hide the thrust of her breasts, her slender waist or her long shapely legs.
Tangled sheets, soft skin against his and low, husky moans, the memories tumbled over themselves in his brain and he desperately tried to shove them away.
She sat down and motioned him into one of the two straight-backed chairs in front of the desk. As he sat, she grabbed the badge from the top of the desk and pinned it onto her breast pocket.
When she looked at him once again her eyes were flat and cool. She appeared the consummate professional. “I’ve been filled in about the issues with the former sheriff and mayor. I’m sure you have heard that my job here is to clean up any further corruption that might linger in the department. I also would like to go through any crime records for the past five years or so, since Trey Walker was sheriff.”
“I’ll see to it that you get whatever you need,” he replied. It was as if he was having a little bit of an out-of-body experience as he tried to process the woman he’d known intimately and briefly before and the woman who now sat across from him.
“I hope my taking over doesn’t stir up any resentment with you.”
He laughed drily. “Trust me, I couldn’t wait to get rid of this position. I never had any desire to be sheriff. It was just something that got thrust on me due to unforeseen circumstances.”
“Good, although my job here isn’t to make friends with anyone.” She spoke the words with a slight upthrust of her chin. “I don’t know how long I’ll be here, but my basic job is an internal investigation into both the way crimes were handled under Sheriff Walker and to look at the current employees and see if there are more bad players in the department.”
“I’m sure you’ll find that most of us are all working on the same page,” he replied. Throughout the years, had she ever thought about that night with him? He’d certainly been haunted off and on with memories and wondering whatever happened to the passionate woman he’d met in a bar.
He noticed the gold wedding band on her finger. So, she was married. A faint disappointment winged through him, surprising him. He had no interest in marriage, and certainly that single night they had shared hadn’t grown into any kind of a relationship with her.
She was his boss now, and both the wedding ring on her finger and the coolness in her eyes let him know the brief encounter he’d shared with her wouldn’t absolve him from intense scrutiny in her investigation. Not that he would ever mess around with a married woman and not that he expected to be treated any differently from any of the other men.
They’d had a one-night hookup years ago and hadn’t seen each other again. Hell, he hadn’t even known her real full name. He’d only known her as Lily.
“I’d like to have a meeting with all the deputies at two this afternoon. Could you arrange that for me?” she asked, breaking into his wayward thoughts.
“Yes, I’ll see to it that all of the men are here at that time. We have a nineteen-man work force. In the meantime, do you want me to start gathering the crime files? I’m assuming the employment records are in there.” He gestured to a nearby file cabinet.
“Yes, please get me the files. I don’t want to waste any time.” She stood and walked to the file cabinet and Daniel took that as a dismissal.
He left the office and closed the door behind him. Half a dozen pairs of eyes were staring at him. He ignored them all and walked over to the desk where he had sat a month ago as a deputy.
As he eased down in his chair, several of the other deputies surrounded him. “What’s she like?” Deputy Josh Griffin asked.
“She looked like a mean witch when she walked in,” Ray McClure exclaimed. “A great-looking mean witch,” he added with a smirk.
Daniel held up a hand to silence any further questioning from any of them. “If you thought she was going to be a soft touch because she’s a woman, get that thought right out of your head. I suggest you all be on your toes and conduct yourselves as professionals. My gut feeling is that she’s going to be tough as nails and none of us are secure in our jobs.”
It was a sober group of men who returned to their desks. Daniel stared down at his blotter, still trying to process that Olivia Bradford was the young woman he’d known for a night as hot, sexy Lily.
He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He had calls to make to the men who weren’t in to let them know a full staff meeting had been called for two that afternoon.
After that he would be busy pulling files from the small room dedicated to files and evidence in the back of the building.
While he was completing these tasks, he had to figure out a way to forget that he’d ever known, even briefly, a sexy, passionate woman named Lily.
* * *
OLIVIA GRABBED THE employment files for the men on the force and then sank back down at the desk. She’d nearly lost it when she’d walked into the office and seen that man again.
Daniel. She’d never expected