Chapter Fifteen

Sasha pulled the covers around her as she waited for Remy to come back. That was amazing.

“It was,” he drawled from the doorway to the bathroom.

She groaned and wanted to hide under the sheets when she realized she’d said that out loud. He must think her incredibly naive. Here she was hiding under the blankets, and he was standing there stark naked. But she had to admit it made for a nice view.

He came back and climbed into bed next to her, pulling the covers around them both.

She sighed and snuggled next to him, not wanting to let what they’d shared go yet. “So it was okay for you?”

“Okay? Okay?” He leaned on his elbow and brushed the hair off her face. “I’d say more like incredible. Amazing.”

“Well, it’s been a long time and I’m—”

“Stop right there. What we just shared wasn’t one-sided, cher.” He leaned over and kissed her.

Her gaze met his. He was going to think her very brazen, but she inhaled and asked anyway. “Do you have any more condoms?”

“No.” He heaved a sigh and hung his head. “A definite lack of foresight on my part.”

“Do you usually carry one in your wallet?” Did she really want to know? She doubted he’d been celibate since his divorce. She had no right to her jealousy. “I mean, is that a single guy thing?”

He laughed. “If I admit something, you have to promise not to get mad at me. At the truck stop—”

She burst out laughing before he got the confession out. “They had that same machine in the ladies room.”

His eyes widened. “And you didn’t take advantage?”

“I thought about it.” It was her turn to heave a regretful sigh, but it was more relief than regret. He didn’t go around with condoms in his wallet.

He toyed with her hair. “Oh? That sounds interesting. Tell me more.”

“There isn’t more to tell. I paused and stared at it for a moment.” But she’d chickened out. If she had known then that they would be stopping for the night, she might have looked at it differently.

He made a noise with his tongue and shook his head.

She blushed. “I didn’t have any change.”

“So three quarters stands between me and—”

She leaned over and kissed him. He put his arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. “Why would I have gotten mad?”

“Huh?”

“You said don’t get mad before you told me you bought the condom when we stopped for gas.”

“Oh.” He chuckled. “I didn’t want you to think I’d planned any of this.”

“So still not using those powers for good,” she teased, and ran her fingers over the light sprinkling of dark hair on his chest. “I wondered whether or not you had chest hair.”

“You could’ve asked.” He captured her hand and brought it to his lips.

“That wouldn’t have been appropriate,” she said and laughed at how prim she sounded. If Karen and Denise or anyone else in Dannemora could see her now, they’d be calling her “the wild widow.”

“Ha!” He nibbled on her fingers before releasing her hand. “Talk about inappropriate. That day in the classroom…”

Curious, she lifted her head. “Yes? Go on.”

“When you picked up that ruler. I was a goner.” He shook his head. “If you’d known what was going on in my head.”

She scowled. He had referred to a ruler the day of the auction date. Her chest tightened. Did he miss that daring woman in New Orleans? “What ruler?”

“You mean that wasn’t on purpose?” He lifted his eyebrows. “And here I thought you were trying to torture me.”

“Not with a ruler.” Oh dear. Would she ever be able to look at her ruler again without her head filling with images of Remy? Maybe there was more of that woman in her than she thought, because she couldn’t blame rum punch on what happened tonight.

“That chair was definitely torture.”

She laughed. Yeah, that had been her power play. And if she were forced to tell the truth, she’d enjoyed getting back at him for calling her “teachery.” “It’s usually mothers who come, and I guess they fit better in those chairs. Besides, I didn’t know the dad I was waiting for was you.”

“And if you had known?”

“You want the truth?” She met his gaze, and her pulse began to race. “I probably would have canceled the meeting.”

“Why?”

“Because I wouldn’t have wanted to meet you again wearing…uh…wearing what I was.” Heat rose in her face at admitting her vanity.

“I knew it!” His lips curved into that wicked oh-so-sexy grin. “Even you think that vest is hideous.”

Damn. Why did she confess? “It’s not that ugly. The kids like it.”

“Sorry to tell you, but yes, it’s that ugly—now wait, let me finish before you get all pouty.” He dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. “Even in that getup, you—the you I just experienced—shines through.”

She huffed out a breath but loved the fact he seemed so satisfied. “You’re just happy because we…because we…”

“Because we what?” He ran his finger down her cheek.

“You know.”

“Ah, darlin’, you’re not going to go all prude on me, are you?”

She stiffened. “I am not.”

“Then say it.” He gave her a challenging look.

“Okay, you’re happy because you got laid. There.” She waved her hand as if it hadn’t cost her to say it.

“No.” He captured her hand and twined his fingers through hers. “I’m happy because we shared something special.”

“So sex makes you all gooey?”

He shifted to lean over her and growled. “I’m not all gooey…just stating facts.”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded, enjoying having power over this gorgeous man.

He growled again and pulled her on top of him. “Too bad this motel isn’t one of those no-tells you told me about.”

“Why?” She rested her chin on his chest.

“Because they probably have in-room condom machines.” He gave her hair a playful tug. “Do they?”

“You’re asking me?” She reveled in his open admiration of her. “Why am I the expert all of a sudden?”

“Because you’ve led me astray, Miss Honeycutt.”

“Me?”

“You and that ruler of yours.”

She shifted her weight on top of him. “I think you have a ruler of your own, Sheriff Fontenot.”

He groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

She gave him what she hoped was a wicked grin. “I think I have a solution.”

…

“Hey, sleepyhead, wake up.”

Remy’s coaxing intruded on her sleep, and Sasha yawned and stretched before opening her eyes. He was standing over the bed, dressed in yesterday’s—now dry—clothes.

She glanced around at the sun streaming in through the window. “What time is it?”

“A little after nine.”

“Omigod, why didn’t you wake me earlier?” She scrambled to sit up and realized she was still naked under the covers.

He chuckled and handed her the uniform shirt she’d worn—for all of five minutes—last night. She managed to get the shirt on without revealing too much.

He’d wandered over to the table while she was dressing. “I got some breakfast while the clothes were drying.”

“You did all that while I was sleeping?” Boy, she must’ve really been out of it. Shows you what a night of sex can do, said a mocking voice in her head. “You should’ve woken me. I would have helped.”

He shook his head and took the lid off a coffee, the steam rising. So he’d just gotten back. She still couldn’t believe she hadn’t heard him. He shook the sugar packets and dumped the crystals into his cup and stirred.

“If you’d been awake I would’ve wanted to do other things, and we’d never have gotten out of here.” He put the small plastic coffee stirrer in his mouth and pulled it back out.

She groaned. Evil man.

“Better shower and get dressed or we’ll have to explain to my sister and my daughter why we stayed two nights.”

She took a quick shower and put on yesterday’s clothes, but at least they were dry, including her underwear. Her body was sore in places that hadn’t been sore since her honeymoon. She pushed that thought aside. It had no place here.

After a breakfast of pastries and coffee, they were back on the road.

He entered the highway and merged into traffic, then reached for her hand. “Just so you know, I would have liked spending another day and night in that motel with you, but I have a task force meeting this afternoon.”

“No, you’re right about having to explain why we stayed an extra day.” She sucked on her lower lip, as a heaviness settled into her chest. Last night’s playful teasing and pillow talk had disappeared with the dawn. Had last night meant as much to him as it did to her?

He glanced at her. “You’re not still worried about the school rules thing, are you?”

“No, that’s not it.” She was still torn about getting in deeper with Remy. How well did she know him? “I…I want you to know I normally don’t act like this, although I probably can’t prove it by you. First New Orleans and now last night.”

“Lighten up, cher. We had some fun. No harm, no foul.”

Her throat closed up. For her, last night had been special. Did Remy see it as just a bit of fun?

“Is…is that all it was?” It was hard to speak around the lump in her throat, but she managed.

He reached for her hand. “Whatever you’re thinking, Sasha, stop right now.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Her breakfast sat like a stone in her stomach.

He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on it. “You have an expressive face.”

Great. He could read her thoughts.

When she didn’t respond, he said, “Last night was special. I swear.”

“When I came here, I decided to loosen up a little, not turn myself into someone unrecognizable.” She knew what they’d done wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about breaking her no-lawmen promise.

“Why did you come?”

“I wanted a new start. Somewhere no one knew me.” And she’d found the “no one knew me” part at least.

He glanced over at her. “What kind of a new start? Certainly you didn’t do anything that required moving halfway across the country.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Nothing like that. I want to get married again, have a family someday.”

“You couldn’t do that in Dannemora?”

“I couldn’t shake my past. As long as I stayed there I was Jimmy’s widow. It’s hard to start a new life when the old one won’t let you go.” Moving hadn’t been easy, but she knew it was the right decision.

“Couldn’t anyone get past your widow status?” He checked the mirrors and changed lanes.

She lifted her hands off her lap in a helpless gesture. “As long as I was ‘that poor widow’ no one was going to come along and sweep me off my feet.”

He turned his head and gave her a sharp look. “And you need to be swept off your feet?”

“I wouldn’t marry for anything less than love.” She wasn’t taking another chance on a lawman for anything less than all-consuming love.

He raised an eyebrow. “Even if you found someone with the same wants and needs as you?”

She shook her head. He sounded so…so dispassionate. After last night she knew he wasn’t cold and calculating. “You make it sound like an arrangement.”

“Isn’t that what marriage is?”

“What? No. Absolutely not. What about love?” His opinion of marriage made her stomach churn.

“If that’s the only reason for getting married, then what happens when the love ends?”

She swallowed the bile rising in her throat. “You make it sound like love doesn’t last.”

“And you sound like you believe in fairy tales,” he said, his tone sounding more derisive than teasing.

She picked at a loose thread. “Why do you think people should marry?”

He sighed. “Like I said…mutual wants and needs.”

“What does that mean?” Maybe she was blowing this all out of proportion. She rubbed her fingers across her thigh.

“You said you wanted a family. Isn’t that a good reason to marry?”

“So…” She blew out a breath. “No love, just mutual desires.”

He glanced at her with a gleam in his dark eyes. “I’m not discounting good chemistry.”

“Of course not.” She turned her head to watch the passing scenery. This discussion was too depressing. How could she have allowed herself to fall in love with someone who didn’t even believe in love? Even worse…when had attraction turned into love?