A Most Shocking Revelation (7 page)

Her gaze slid away. “I've been busy.”

Now that she'd lost the mayor's race, Gavin couldn't imagine what was keeping her so busy. He guessed shopping and extolling the virtues of a stellar bloodline were time-consuming. Right then, he had a prime opportunity to ask a few questions in an informal setting. “I don't think I've told you that I'm sorry about your friend's death.”

She raised one thin eyebrow. “Friend?”

“Malcolm Durmorr.”

After pulling off her leather gloves, she rifled through her purse, avoiding his scrutiny. “I wouldn't exactly call him a friend.”

Gavin leaned back against the counter. “From what I hear, you two were pretty tight at one time.”

She withdrew a stack of envelopes and clutched them in her fists. “You can't always believe what you hear in this town, Sheriff.”

And he didn't believe her for one minute. “I guess that's true. By the way, where exactly were you the night that he died?”

Her expression turned to steel. “As I told one of your deputies, I was at home. You can ask the pizza delivery man.”

“Anyone else see you after he left?”

A flash of hostility clouded her eyes, but she kept her tone even when she said, “Why? Am I a suspect?”

The number-one suspect, as far as Gavin was concerned. “When it comes to a murder case, everyone's a suspect.”

“Does that include Valerie Raines?”

Now where in the hell had that come from? “You know I can't reveal any details, but is there any reason why she would be?”

“Because Malcolm told me she threatened him once in the diner.”

“Threatened him?”

“Yes, with a fork. I believe he might have asked her out on a date. I told him he should steer clear of her, but for some reason she fascinated him. There is absolutely no accounting for taste.”

“Are you sure he didn't do more than ask her out?”

She shrugged. “I'm not sure, but I doubt whatever he might have done warranted a threat. However, I suspect Ms. Raines has quite a temper. She just manages to hide it well.”

Gavin had seen a hint of that temper, but he honestly didn't believe she would take someone's life. “I think you have her pegged wrong.”

She sent him a devious smile. “Why don't you question her about it? It's my understanding she's living with you.”

Damn the small-town grapevine. “Well, Gretchen, like you said, you can't always believe everything you hear.”

“Here you go, Sheriff,” Abe said, prompting Gavin to turn.

“Only a couple of pieces, but you might have Miss Raines come down and put in a forwarding address so nothing gets lost. Or you could do it since it's your address.”

Damn. “Thanks, Abe. I'm in a hurry right now.”

“I suppose you
can
believe what you hear,” Gretchen said from behind him.

Talk about bad timing, Gavin thought as he faced her again. “Just helping out a friend, Gretchen. That's all.”

Her eyes went as cold as the ice forming on the window. “Of
course. Whatever you say. But I wouldn't trust that waitress any farther than I could toss her.”

And Gavin didn't trust Gretchen Halifax any farther than he could hurl his thousand-acre spread. “Have a nice evening, Gretchen. And one more thing.”

She cocked her head and leveled a hard stare on him. “What would that be?”

“Don't leave town anytime soon.”

Without waiting for a response, Gavin pushed out the door and back into the frigid conditions. The sound of a revving engine turned his focus to the street and an approaching car. His dad's car, to be exact. And behind the wheel, a waving waitress who obviously possessed a lead foot. At least she'd slowed when she passed.

Tonight he would have to give Val a mild scolding for speeding, if only for the sake of her safety. And no doubt about it, he planned to give her a long, long kiss.

 

“Something smells real good.”

Valerie looked up from the stove to discover Gavin hanging his hat and his coat on the hook by the back door. Her heart immediately started the confounded fluttering, as if she'd consumed several shots of potent espresso or Manny's morning coffee.

She gave the pot a stir, then covered it again without turning around. “It's chicken and dumplings, my grandmother's recipe. I went to the store today and picked up a few things after you left.”

“So that's where you'd been when you came flying into town.”

She looked back to catch his grin. “I wasn't flying.” Just speeding a little. After pulling the hot pads from her hands, she faced him. “I wanted to get home to start dinner so you wouldn't have to wait. Plus, the weather was starting to look kind of shaky. I didn't want to get caught out in it.” And luckily he hadn't caught her after she'd left town for wide-open spaces. She hadn't topped ninety, but boy had she wanted to.

He pulled back a chair at the dinette, turned it around and straddled it. “It's more than shaky outside right now. It's snowing.”

Valerie headed for the window and pulled back the curtain. A thickening blanket of white covered the pasturelands, reminding her of one bitter winter when she'd been colder than she'd ever been in her life. The same winter she'd made a terrible mistake that had almost cost her dearly.

Pushing those recollections away, she stared at the flurry of fat flakes. “Wow. It's beautiful. I love snow.” As long as she had some place warm to go. In this instance, that place was in Gavin's house. In Gavin's arms.

“They've forecasted six to eight inches,” he said.

“Six inches would be good, but eight's even better.” When she heard Gavin's low chuckle, she turned and pointed at him. “Don't even say it.”

He put his hands up, palms forward. “I didn't say a thing.”

“But you were thinking it.”

He leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him on the table. “Actually I'm thinking I'm about to starve. When's dinner going to be ready?”

She checked the clock on the wall. “In about ten minutes. And after dinner I want to play.”

He held her completely captive with his sultry smile. “I wouldn't mind that one bit, playing after dinner.”

She couldn't suppress her own smile. “I meant in the snow. We can build a snowman.”

“We could sit by the fire.”

“
After
we build the snowman.”

“Okay. I can wait that long.”

If Valerie knew what was good for her, she'd hightail it to her room after dinner and avoid him. But she only knew that Gavin O'Neal had enough heat in his brown eyes to melt what snow had already fallen—and all of her arguments to stay away from him.

As well as she knew her feelings for the sheriff were steadily growing, she also knew that if he found out about her previous mistakes, he might not give her another look or another chance, just like the other man in her life. Her legacy would be laid bare for everyone's judgment and she would be labeled a fortune
hunter, even if she wanted answers, not riches. Again she would be forced to face the shame. No one would see her in the same light. The townspeople would no longer respect her as they did now—Valerie, the friendly waitress who had no past as far as they were concerned. No one would understand, especially not Gavin. Or would he?

Later tonight she might put him to the test by revealing she descended from a line of lawless women, even if she couldn't quite tell him that many years ago she'd crossed the line herself. And depending on how that went, maybe she would confess her real reasons for being in Royal.

Yes, Gavin would understand. He had to, otherwise her heart would surely shatter.

 

“Are you sure you want to do this, Val?”

“Yes, as soon as I'm ready.”

Gavin was ready—to dispense with all formality and grab her. He'd sat across from her at dinner, concentrating on her mouth while he'd watched her eat. He'd helped her clean up, brushing against her every chance he got. Now he had a great view of her butt as she bent over a box she'd shoved into the closet.

Val still insisted on playing in the snow, when he had a different kind of play in mind. Foreplay.

“I found it,” she announced as she straightened, clutching a pink knit cap that matched a pair of pink knit gloves.

She tossed the winter wear onto the bed before righting the mess she had made while rifling through the box. Gavin caught sight of a black baseball cap, and for a split second he was struck by a familiarity that he didn't understand. Then he remembered. The culprit they'd caught on the surveillance camera at the museum had been wearing a black cap. And a ponytail.

Not Valerie. He couldn't imagine her pilfering a map. Besides, what would she want with that? Unless she was also searching for the gold.

Nah. If that were true, she would've been out looking instead of working in the diner. She wouldn't be in his house, cooking
him dinner and keeping him highly entertained. But then again, she had been out today, in his dad's car. She would've had the opportunity….

Gavin shoved those thoughts from his mind, hating that his friends had unintentionally planted them there. Val was a good woman. He knew that just as he knew every back road in the county.

Finally she stood and took the down coat he'd offered her. “You don't need this jacket?”

“Nope. It's a spare.”

“Great.” She piled her ponytail beneath the cap, wriggled her fingers into the gloves, then put on his jacket that practically swallowed her whole. “All right. Let's go have some fun.”

Tromping around in below-freezing weather in several inches of snow that had yet to let up wasn't necessarily Gavin's idea of a good time. But he'd never seen Val quite this enthusiastic before and he wouldn't dare do anything to quell that right now. After all was said and done and she'd had her fill of the brutal conditions, he planned to warm her up and hopefully generate some heat and a little more excitement.

He followed her down the hall, watching every step she made as she swayed into the kitchen. He grabbed his own coat off the hook by the back door and barely had it on before she was sprinting down the steps and out into the yard.

He found her twirling around, flakes raining down on her upturned face. “I love this!”

Gavin loved the way she looked at the moment, with her cheeks flushed and her eyes alight with pure joy. Her carefree pleasure was contagious. But he didn't care too much for her sudden need to fling a few snowballs at his unprotected head. He went to grab her, but she was too quick, and he ended up flat on his ass in a mound of slush.

“You're going to pay for this,” he shouted. And she would, provided he could catch her.

Finally he did, but he soon recognized she'd wanted to be caught. She didn't put up much of a fight when he tugged her
against him and held her tight. She didn't complain when he kissed her, her lips cool against his but quickly warming as he took her mouth in earnest.

Only the sound of the whistling wind interrupted the stillness of the night, and as far as Gavin was concerned, nothing could stop him from laying claim to her lips for the rest of the evening, provided Val agreed. She was certainly being agreeable now.

When he felt his hands numbing beneath his leather gloves, Gavin finally pulled away. “Have you had enough yet?”

She sent him a coy look. “Of the snow or your mouth?”

“Definitely the snow.”

“I guess it is a little chilly out tonight. But I didn't notice it too much a few seconds ago.”

“Neither did I.” He brushed some frozen powder off her face and kissed the tip of her nose. “But I'm about to freeze where I stand, so why don't we take this inside?”

She pretended to pout. “No snowman?”

“Tomorrow, if it sticks.”

“It will.” Then she reached down to scoop up more snow, formed another frozen missile and tossed it at his chest before she rushed inside the house. He found her in the kitchen, winded with laughter and shaking out her hair. She didn't only look cute at the moment. She looked beautiful.

“I'm going to put on some dry clothes now,” she said as she took a few steps backward.

He wanted to offer to remove her clothes and keep her warm. Real warm. “I'll meet you in front of the fire.”

She shimmied out of the jacket. “Good. Then maybe I'll finally get warm.”

“I'll warm you up. I guarantee it.”

“I'm counting on it.” Smiling, she turned toward the hall while Gavin pulled off his own jacket. He needed to change, too, and he could very well change into a raving lunatic if she didn't quit tempting him. As he passed her bedroom, he heard whistling from behind the closed door, followed by the sound of laughter.

Gavin knocked and called, “You need something, Val?”

She cracked the door open just enough to give him a glimpse of bare shoulder. “I just might, but I guess you'll have to wait and see, won't you?”

After she shut the door in his face, Gavin shook his head and leaned back against the opposite wall. She was the damnedest thing he'd ever seen and the most incredible woman he'd ever met. Instinctively he'd known that about her since they'd met and he couldn't imagine ever getting tired of being around her. In fact, he needed to be around her about as much as he needed his morning cup of coffee.

He could only hope that someday she might begin to trust him. Need him as much as he was beginning to need her. Maybe even tonight.

“T
he fire looks great, Sheriff.”

Crouched before the hearth, Gavin glanced back to see Valerie standing behind him, wearing the oversize shirt covering some sort of skin-hugging top and a pair of loose-fitting blue-striped pajama bottoms. Her hair hung down around her shoulders, reflecting the fire and making it look like a fall of gold. Although he should take this slowly, slowly didn't seem at all interesting. In fact, he could have her on the floor in two seconds flat and her clothes off her in about five.

Get a grip, O'Neal.

He straightened and faced her, keeping a safe distance—for the time being. “It took a while, but now it's going full force.” So was he.

She clasped her fingers together and straightened her arms before her. “I love a good fire.”

He loved the way she looked right then, all soft and feminine. But she also looked a little worried. “Why don't we have a seat and enjoy it for a while?”

“Sure,” she said, surprising Gavin with the ease of her agreement.

“Over here.” He moved the coffee table aside to allow a full view of the hearth, then sat on the rug with his legs stretched out before him and his back to the couch.

She hovered over him, sporting a severe stare. “Do you have an aversion to sofas?”

“Nope. I just happen to like sitting on the floor.” He patted the space beside him. “Try it. You might like it.”

“Okay.” She lowered herself beside him, keeping a moderate berth between them, and hugged her knees to her chest. “You know what you need?”

Oh, yeah, he did. But he decided not to voice that right now. “What do I need?”

She surveyed the room for a minute. “You need a Christmas tree.” She pointed to the window that faced the front yard. “Right there. A big tree with lots of lights and ornaments.”

A host of bittersweet recollections flooded Gavin's mind, followed by those so tragic that he'd made a concerted effort not to think about them too often. “I'm not one to decorate.”

“Why not? It's a wonderful tradition. Some of my best memories are holiday memories.”

Some of Gavin's were his worst. “Do you prefer real or artificial trees?”

“Definitely real ones, although I learned a long time ago that you can improvise if you need to.” She curled her legs to one side and shifted to face him, one arm resting on the sofa's cushions.

“When I was little, we didn't have much money, so we never had a real tree. But when I was about nine, I talked one of my teachers into letting me make my own tree out of construction paper and poster board. From that point forward it became a tradition. My grandmother made sure that tree was on the wall every year, right after Thanksgiving.”

Finally he knew a little about her life, and that drove him to want to know more. “What about your mom and dad?”

She studied her sock-covered feet, avoiding his gaze. “My
mother and I are estranged. I haven't seen her for years. My father's never been involved in my life.”

At least Gavin had known the love of two parents, even if they'd been torn from his life all too soon. “Where's your grandmother now?”

He noted an immediate sadness in her expression. “She passed away last year. That's one of the reasons I set out on my own.”

He was curious about the other reasons, but decided not to push her. “I'm sorry, Val. It's tough losing family.”

“Yes, it is.” She looked up and gave him a soft smile. “Did you have traditional holidays when you were growing up?”

“Yeah, we did. My mom was really into tradition before she passed away.”

“How long ago was that?” Val asked.

“In two weeks, it will be seventeen years since they died.”

“Your parents died at the same time?” Her tone reflected her shock. “How?”

Gavin had two options—to change the subject or to tell her the details behind his parents' deaths. Normally he would shut down about now, but for some reason, he thought she might understand. Maybe he could release some of the burden that this time of the year always brought him. “They came home from a Christmas party and surprised two intruders. They didn't survive.”

Val released a slight gasp. “They were—”

“Murdered.” Saying it still didn't make it any easier for Gavin to accept. “Both shot, all because of greed.”

“Did they catch the killers?”

“No.” He released a long sigh and stared straight ahead. “I was in college in East Texas at the time. I stayed on campus for a function, otherwise I would have been home that night. For years I wondered that if I had been home, would things have turned out differently.”

“Or you could have been a victim, too,” she said. “Sometimes it's best not to question those things, the whys and hows, especially if we can't change anything.”

How many times had he told himself that very thing? To this
point, it hadn't worked. “I guess you're right, but it's tough to forget.”

“I'm sure it is. And something tells me that's why you went into law enforcement.”

Val's speculation didn't surprise Gavin. He'd sensed her intuitiveness from the beginning. “Yeah. I changed my major from business to criminal justice. I went to work for the Dallas PD and made detective in a relatively short time. I worked the worst cases, mostly homicides, until I finally got tired of fighting a battle that I couldn't win.” And searching for his parents' killers in his spare time, without success.

“But you couldn't stay away from it, could you?”

Gavin glanced Val's way to find her staring at him. He focused on the fire to avoid her assessment. “Initially I wanted to give it up, so I bought this place and moved here. I intended to ranch, but they needed deputies, so I signed on to do that part-time. A few months later the sheriff decided to retire. He convinced me I needed to replace him, so I threw my name into the hat thinking someone else with more tenure who liked politics would run against me. Didn't happen, so back in May I became the sheriff of Royal by default, I guess you could say.”

“You don't sound that happy about it,” she said.

She could read him well. Too well. “I'm not unhappy. Just frustrated that I'm knee-deep in serious crime again with the second murder investigation in six months. But I'm going to solve this case. I don't have a damn bit of tolerance for criminals of any kind.”

Val folded the hem of her shirt back and forth. “What about crime because of necessity?”

“I don't see the necessity in any kind of crime.” His tone was adamant, almost angry. But lawlessness generally pissed him off.

“Even if someone was, say, stealing food because they had no money?” she asked. “I've seen kids who've gotten into trouble because they were simply hungry.”

He'd seen much worse than that. “No excuse. If parents cared more about keeping their kids in line, crime would go down. But
then you also have to consider that it's common for criminals to produce criminals, and that's a real problem.”

She stared at him long and hard, a hint of anger in her eyes. “Then you honestly believe it has to do with genetics instead of nurturing?”

He didn't like the course of this conversation one whit, but he had to stand his ground. “I think it's a combination of both. But I've seen it too many times, kids who follow in their parents' footsteps. Fourteen-year-old kids who learn to steal and even some who kill. It makes me sick inside. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anything that works to stop it.”

She lifted her chin a notch. “I think you're wrong about that. I believe people can change if they have the proper guidance.”

He shrugged. “Maybe so, but I'm jaded because of everything I've witnessed as a cop.” Something he wouldn't wish on anyone, especially Val. “And I don't expect you to understand because you're such a good woman.”

She remained quiet for a long moment before she said, “I'm not perfect, Gavin. I've made my share of mistakes.”

“Haven't we all?” He took her hand into his. “Whatever mistakes you've made—and I doubt they amount to much—don't matter to me. In fact, I don't even care to know about them. As far as I'm concerned, no good comes from rehashing the past.”

She raised her gaze from their joined hands to his eyes. “Then you're saying you're wiping my slate clean of all mistakes?”

“That's exactly what I'm saying.”

Her smile arrived slowly, melting the last of his latent anger.

“You're pretty tough, Sheriff. But in a way I can understand why you feel the way you do. If I'd lost someone I'd loved in such a horrible way, I'd probably feel the same way, too.”

He saw sincere understanding in her eyes and he knew he hadn't been wrong in sharing his past with her. “I've never told one soul in Royal about my parents' deaths, aside from you. I've never wanted to tell anyone before you.”

“And you can trust me not to repeat it,” she said. “But I am surprised you haven't confided in your friends. They seem trustworthy.”

“They are, but it's not something I like to discuss.”

“Because it still hurts,” she said in a simple statement of fact.

“I understand.” She sounded as though she truly did.

“How about we talk about something else?” Anything else would do, as far as Gavin was concerned.

She stretched her legs out before her. “Okay. I have a question for you. Exactly what do you and your friends talk about in that corner booth at the diner? The way you all huddle together, one might think you're plotting and planning something.”

She was definitely close to the truth. Many a member of the Cattleman's Club, both past and present, had done that very thing in that very booth, or so he'd been told when they'd asked him to join their elite club. But they'd all been sworn to secrecy when it came to their missions. “Basically we shoot the breeze. Talk about our jobs and pastimes, that sort of thing.”

Val sent him a full-fledged grin that would have knocked the floor out from under his feet if he hadn't already been sitting on it. “Maybe plotting the seduction of unsuspecting women?”

“Yeah, that has come up in the past, but not for a while now. All of the guys in the group are presently attached. Except for me.”

She pulled a throw pillow from the sofa and circled her arms around it. “I still have a hard time believing you haven't found the right woman.”

He hadn't really been looking. Until now. “A lot of women are turned off by the demands of my job, or so I've been told.”

“Your merciless teasing could also be a deterrent.”

He tugged the pillow from her clutches and tossed it back on the couch. “I reserve that behavior only for you.”

“Should I be flattered?”

He pushed her hair away from her shoulders and nuzzled his face in her neck. “Yes, you should definitely be flattered, darlin'.”

“You're a class-A scoundrel.”

He brought his lips to her ear. “I try, sweetheart.”

“The consummate bad boy.”

“But I can be real good.”

“Bi—” She glanced away. “Never mind.”

“Okay.” Gavin took her earlobe between his teeth, applying only light pressure. When she shivered and sighed, he wrapped an arm around her and asked, “Are you cold, Val?”

“No.”

“Neither am I.” He cupped her jaw in his palm. “In fact, I'm downright hot.”

He proved that to her with a hot kiss, taking her mouth without pause, all the while warning himself to take it easy. But
easy
wouldn't adequately describe the way she responded to him, meeting his tongue with sultry strokes that threatened his declining control.

For a time he was content with just having one arm wrapped around her, his hand tangled in her hair. But that was short-lived when she leaned closer and rested her arm across his belly. He slid his palm up her arm and tugged the baggy shirt down her shoulder to give him better access. Leaving her mouth, he worked his way along her neck, then back up again. He wanted that damn shirt gone. He wanted a lot more than he probably should.

Good sense told him to back off, but he couldn't lay claim to any sense at the moment. He made his way back to her mouth, wanting her closer. Needing her closer. With little effort he lifted her onto his lap to straddle his thighs. He broke the kiss to look at her—hair mussed and flowing around her face, eyes hazy. She locked her gaze firmly into his when he slid the shirt off her shoulders and down her arms, leaving her wearing only the tight knit top. He saw no signs of protest in her expression, no fear or hesitation. Against better judgment, he scooted down and bent his knees, sending her directly against his erection. Right now he didn't care. He wanted to be that close to her even if clothing provided a barrier he preferred to be gone.

With one hand on her nape, he brought her lips back to his and kissed her while he worked his hands beneath the back of the skimpy tank. No bra as an obstacle, only the smooth texture of bare flesh against his palms. He curled his hands around her sides and moved them up then down. He broke the kiss to watch her face as he grew bolder, using his thumbs to stroke the sides of her breasts.

She didn't tell him to stop, didn't push him away, and that gave him the courage to say, “I need to see you.”

Gavin pulled his hands from beneath the top and clasped the thin straps. He slid them down slowly, giving her another chance to stop him, but she didn't. She did keep her arms at her sides until Gavin lifted them, one at a time, to remove the straps completely. With his gaze firmly locked with hers, he lowered the top to her waist, baring her to his eyes and then to his hands.

He kept his strokes light, playing her pale pink nipples gently between his thumb and forefingers. Val still hadn't said a word, but the broken quality of her breathing, the pleasure in her eyes, told Gavin all he needed to know. She was enjoying this, and so was he. But when her hips began to move in an erotic rhythm against his groin, that was just about more than he could stand.