E.A. Price - Valentine's Wolf (Grey Wolf Pack #11) (5 page)

Dragging her feet, Val went to look out the window beside Shannon, furiously ignoring just how tall and skinny the younger woman happened to be.

“That’s the sheriff?” Val eyed an enormous man in uniform getting out of a patrol car. The car almost sprung up a couple of feet when relieved from what was undoubtedly his monumental weight. He wasn’t fat; there was just a lot of him.
Damn, the guy looked like Herman Munster’s love child.

Shannon clucked her tongue. “No, he’s a deputy. The sheriff’s the black guy over there.”

She pointed in his direction and Val almost gasped when she caught sight of him. “Yeah, he’s not bad looking,” she breathed.

Freaking understatement of the century
. Val felt her mouth go dry, her innards turn to mush and her sex wake up and virtually wink at just the sight of him.
Jeez Louise, where had this come from?
She prided herself on keeping it together in front of men, and yet this one had slain her at twenty paces and with a window separating them. If this was the reaction he elicited from far away, how would she cope if she saw him up close?

“He’s a walking wet dream, alright, and a wolf shifter to boot. I hear they’re fantastic in the sack,” murmured Shannon. “It’s a shame he always seems to be pissed every time he comes here.”

Val watched him avidly. “Why is he always… Wait, what’s happening?”

The sheriff seemed to be roughly pushing one of their construction workers to his patrol car. She was annoyed to realize that her heart fluttered a little to see him acting so dominant, and even more so when she tried to rationalize his behavior and determined that the guy probably deserved it. Thoroughly disappointed in herself for thinking like a southern belle, logic took over, and all she could see was the local police officer trying to arrest one of her employees.

Fueled by her own irritation, she barreled out of the trailer and marched right over to him. Damn, why hadn’t she taken the time to get a manicure and her hair cut before now? Plus a bikini wax couldn’t have hurt.
No, bad thoughts – bad, silly thoughts.

The other workers had stopped what they were doing and were shouting insults at the sheriff, who steadfastly ignored them. His huge deputy, however, cracked his knuckles and eyeballed them all menacingly. They didn’t shut up, but they weren’t quite so vociferous as before.

Val planted herself in front of the sheriff and put her hands on her hips. She must have looked like a poor imitation of Wonder Woman, but she didn’t care.

“What’s going on here?” she demanded in her bossiest voice.

The sheriff stopped but kept a hold on the man jerking in his grasp. The sheriff barely moved a muscle, and it didn’t seem to take any effort at all to restrain him, even though the man was struggling for all he was worth. The tall, dark wolf shifter raked his eyes over her body, appraising her and making her wish that she could freeze the moment and run off to the gym to lose, oh, say about, twenty pounds.
Oh, well…

Unexpectedly, the sheriff’s lips curled up slightly into a smile – a half-smile that almost had her go weak at the knees. Plus the uniform that did nothing to hide his perfect body didn’t help. It clung to him so tightly, she almost expected him to be a stripper.
She almost asked him how much it would cost to hire him…

She’d seen men who could have been called prettier than him, but his almost hard face and chiseled features made him downright smoldering. Added to that, his broad shoulders, long muscled legs, bulging biceps and that tight, tight stomach – lord, they grew them well out in Virginia!
And oh, those eyes….

Val stared into his remorseless dark eyes. It was like getting sucked into a deep, dark chocolate pool. She could happily swim in that darn pool all day! But, lord, it felt like he was seeing into her very soul. She shivered; she was dressed for the cool weather, but she felt naked under that look. That look that could see everything, that look that made her want to tell him everything tiny detail of her life:
the good, the bad and the downright embarrassing.

Oh, the moment was so perfect, and then he had to go ahead and ruin it by bringing her crashing back to reality.

“Ma’am, please step back; this doesn’t concern you.”

His deep voice was so sinfully smooth that she almost missed those words. Thank heavens her common sense started prevailing again, instead of her suddenly raging libido.

“This does concern me, he is one of my employees,” she snapped. Although, for some reason, it felt really wrong to speak to him that way. To be fair, her only urge was to leap over to him and shower him with kisses.
That probably wouldn’t go down well.

The sheriff looked at her mildly. “A complaint has been made against your employee.”

Val looked down at the struggling man. She thought his name was Trip or something like that. He was the site foreman, and she’d met him earlier. Her first impression of him had not been favorable, but he did work for her now, so maybe she should show a little solidarity.

She jutted her chin. “Who made a complaint?”

“A female said he was aggressive with her, and when she turned him down, he tried to grab her, so she hit him.”

Val frowned.
A female… that was an odd way of saying it.
As for the rest, as bad as it sounded, yeah, she had no trouble imagining it.

“Fucking wolf,” gasped the red-faced Trip, “I told you I was out drinking with my buddies. They’ll all tell you the same thing.”

The sheriff’s face tightened slightly, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he tried to maneuver his way around Val. He was ignoring her! How dare he?
She deserved to be noticed!

“Where are you taking him?”

The sheriff blinked at her, almost like he was seeing her for the first time. “We still need to talk to him,” he said gruffly.

“He should have a lawyer.”

Yeesh, the gruffer he was, the more hostile she was, all the while her temperature was skyrocketing.

“We’re not arresting him,” he muttered almost sullenly.

“Then he doesn’t have to go with you.”

Okay, dial it back Val, you’re turning into a shrew.

“Then I will arrest him, and he’ll be able to call a lawyer,” he ground out.

Val threw up her hands melodramatically. “This is ridiculous; he said he has an alibi. Maybe she’s just pissed that he rejected her.”

Oh, she hated herself for thinking that and seriously doubted that any woman would want to get herself a piece of Trip so badly that she would lie about this.

The sheriff breathed in and out a couple of times, and Val was a little cowed, and a lot turned on, by the storminess of his dark eyes.

“I don’t believe the woman in question would make a false statement.”

“So, she’s a friend of yours?”

His nostrils flared. “She’s a member of my pack and a valued member of the community.”

Val, for some reason, felt a huge rush of jealousy over this. What was so great about this woman? Whatever it was, it pissed her off even more, and worsened her already irrational state. Vaguely, she was aware of her common sense trying to pipe up, but it was being far too quiet to be heard.

“Oh, I see, so because she’s your friend you believe her word over his?”

“I need to get both sides of the story!”

She was starting to rile him; she could tell.

“That’s very unprofessional,” she sniffed.

His jaw ticked. “Ma’am, I have to do my duty, and a complaint has been made…”

Oh, being called Ma’am made her feel so old!

“So you’re saying you’d behave this way if I made this complaint?”

“Of course!” He was taken aback by that, and actually looked worried at the prospect.

Maybe worried that he’d have to deal with a crazy
female
like her for longer than necessary.

“I don’t believe you,” she said stubbornly.

Okay, now he looked downright murderous, but still he maintained his cool politeness. “Ma’am, what you believe is not my concern.”

Ma’am again! Her blood boiled, and her sex fluttered.

“Stop calling me Ma’am, you butthole!”

Val slapped her hands over her mouth. She couldn’t believe she’d just lost control like that! She could hardly be called a delicate flower, but she wasn’t ever so openly brash or rude.

The sheriff stared at her for a couple of beats, before hauling Trip into the waiting meaty hands of his deputy. He nodded, and the huge deputy pushed him into the patrol car. The sheriff turned back to her, and if she didn’t know any better, she’d think he had a gleam in his eye.

“I’m sorry…” she started.

“Ma’am, you’ve just verbally abused an officer of the law, and you are standing in the way of me doing my duty, I am going to have to arrest you.”

“What?!”

He wrapped a hand around her arm, and she shivered as pleasurable jolts of electricity pulsed through her body. He stilled for a second, and she wondered if he felt it too. She sought out his molten eyes and she thought she saw something flicker in his gaze before he had to go ahead and ruin it.

He started gently leading her toward his car and then she came to her senses and remembered just what the heck was happening.
Dang, he really was arresting her! The nerve!

Chapter Five

Deanna tentatively knocked on the sheriff’s door, and he called for her to come in.

Jake sat behind his desk; both palms resting on top, and he was staring at the wall in front of him.

“Gabe’s interviewing that construction worker, and I put your guest in cell number one,” Deanna told him.

“My guest,” repeated Jake slowly.

Deanna pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. “Yes, the irate redhead who was practically spitting when you brought her in.”

Jake winced. What the hell had he been thinking?

“I wouldn’t say she was a guest – I arrested her. And I wouldn’t call her irate, she was just being feisty, and I’d say her hair was burnished gold…”

He stopped as Deanna let out a giggle and looked at her sharply.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just that when people call my mate wild, I always get all defensive and say that he’s just fun-loving. When you were talking about her, you just reminded me of me, to be honest.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. “Did you want something else?”

“How long are you planning on keeping her here?”

“She verbally abused me,” he said hotly.

“She called you butthole – yeah, Cain already told us everything.”

Jake rolled his eyes.
Mouthy bear
. He could tell that she was forcing herself not to laugh, for which he was thankful. His wolf was already on edge.

Deanna watched him carefully. “It’s just that I’ve heard people call you worse, and you never said a word. Jeez, Hans Lucas has called you worse, and he’s a friend of yours.”

“Friend might be a bit strong,” he muttered thinking of the aggressive wolf.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else going on here? She looked all hot and bothered when you brought her in, but not exactly in an I’m-being-held-against-my-will kind of way. I mean, there are easier ways to get to know a woman other than arresting them.”

It went against the instincts of his wolf, but Jake said, “I’ll give her an hour to cool off, and then I’ll let her go.”

Deanna nodded and turned to leave.

“Does everyone think I brought her in because I… uh…”

She turned back and smiled warmly. “Who cares what other people think?” She was halfway out the door before she added, “but yes, they do.”

Quickly, she shut the door and made her escape.
Wily bobcat
.

Jake leaned back in his chair and replayed the day’s events. It was pretty normal right up until he got floored by a fiery, five-foot-five bundle of gorgeousness. His wolf yipped happily as a vision of her flashed in front of him. He had to admit it; he’d never had such a strong reaction to a woman. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, but she had something more that other women didn’t.

It wasn’t just her sinful curves, the luscious outline of her breasts, her long, silken, golden red hair, her pretty heart-shaped face.
No, it was more than that.
It was her, the way she moved, the way she talked, the way her forehead creased when she was mad, the way she pouted when she was mad, the way she balled up her fists when she was mad –
okay, she was just adorable when she was mad
. It made him want to fall to the ground and bear his soul to her. It made him want to tell her everything about himself and beg her to accept him. His wolf was all for that; he could feel the beast already circling the word mate and that, quite frankly, freaked him out.
He had no idea who this woman was!

But, he knew he wanted her. And her eyes… they were
unusual
. Dark brown that illuminated against her pale skin, but they shimmered with flecks of green and yellow. They were…
mesmerizing
. For a moment, he’d forgotten why he’d bothered to go to that godforsaken construction site.
It certainly wasn’t for the warm welcome!

She wasn’t his true mate. No, he would have been able to scent her if she were. In fact, her scent seemed to be obscured from him. It was strange; maybe it was her perfume, but if he had scented her without seeing her first, he would have sworn she wasn’t human. The problem was; if she wasn’t human, what was she? No, of course, she was human, if she were anything else he would be able to tell. But, he had to admit, she appealed to him more than anyone ever had, and there was definitely something about her that called to him on a primal level. He didn’t need to guess how his wolf felt on the matter; the dopey creature practically started doing back flips when he saw her stalking towards them.

She’d been sullen and quiet on the way over, only telling them her name. Val Daniels. Jake scratched his chin. He guessed this was Glenn’s replacement, and she was a lot more welcome than the weasel-like man had been.

Of course, he had to ruin things by making her hate him. His wolf snarled at him, and for once, Jake didn’t hush him. Yeah, he screwed up by arresting her. It was hardly the best course of action he could have taken. But, in truth, he panicked.

Seeing her being all feisty, and cute made him quiver inside; it made him feel helpless and pissed that he couldn’t stop the desire for this woman coursing through him. He’d never lacked for control with other women; no, he could always take them or leave them. But with this one, he felt his control pack its bags and run off on vacation.
And he didn’t like that.

He was a self-confessed control freak and suddenly not having control over himself and definitely not having control over the fiery woman in front of him infuriated him. So he did the only thing he could to regain some control over the situation. Yep, he did the worst thing possible and arrested her. His wolf had howled at him in objection, but, regretfully, he hadn’t listened.

Would she forgive him?
Probably not
. But darn she had looked cute when she was all spitting mad, and he had to admit that seeing her in the handcuffs had awakened something hungry inside him.

Was she interested in him? The asshole sheriff who arrested her the first time he met her? He had actually scented arousal coming from her, but he couldn’t exactly be certain that it was for him.

His wolf roared in outrage at the thought of her lusting after any other man.
No, she was his damnit!

Maybe he should go and see her. His wolf perked up at the thought. Yes, he could go and apologize and make amends, and show her that, occasionally, he could be a reasonable guy. Yes, he and his beast were itching to see her again, and letting her go might actually repair some of the damage.
Yes, he had to go do that right now!

He got up and almost ran to his door only to have it swing open in his face. With irritation, Jake saw that Cain was filling the doorframe. Ugh, what the hell did he want?

“What?” barked Jake, trying to dodge round him.

The huge bear shifter remained still. “Mrs. Martin called.”

Jake tried not to groan too loudly. Mrs. Martin was the town busybody. He wouldn’t mind her daily calls if she were actually just a harmless old woman, but no, she was malicious and spread gossip in the hope of creating mischief. And she was convinced that numerous pack mates were out to get her.

“What does she want today?” asked Jake in resignation.

You ignored Mrs. Martin’s calls at your peril.

Cain huffed; he was one of many people in town who’d had a run-in with the older woman. Of course that might have been Cain’s fault, he did barge into her house when he was searching for his mate… “She says her car’s been stolen.”

Jake raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Did she check her garage?”

Yep, last time they’d rushed over to her house it was to find her ‘stolen car’ parked in the garage. She’d put it in there because she thought it might snow, and then had promptly forgotten. They wouldn’t have minded so much if Mrs. Martin had actually just apologized for wasting their time, but no, she was remorseless to the end and blamed them for not suggesting she look in her garage when she first called the station.

“She says she did.”

“Can you…”

Cain smirked. “She’s demanding that the sheriff himself come out and investigate.”

Of course she was.
Jake would expect nothing less. He’d say no, but it really wasn’t worth the complaint she would make to the Mayor. They really didn’t need to give the guy another excuse to hate them.

“Fine, but you’re coming with me.”

Ha, that knocked the smug look off the bear’s face. The huge guy nodded but started grumbling.
Yeah, big guy, that’s how we all feel about Mrs. Martin.

Knowing Mrs. Martin, this would take a few hours. Ms. Daniels would have to be released in his absence. His wolf didn’t like that, but Jake tried to soothe him. Maybe it would be better if he allowed the woman time to cool off. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere; she was going to be in town for a while. He had plenty of time to make a better impression. Yeah, he had plenty of time to wow her… now he just had to figure out how to wow a woman. Usually he just took his shirt off, and mumbled a couple of words about her being attractive, but perhaps he needed to be a bit subtler and a bit more romantic.
Ugh, romance, not his forte…

*

Val paced up and down in her cell.
Yes, her cell!
She couldn’t believe that the infuriatingly sexy sheriff had actually put her in a cell. Well, actually, he hadn’t even bothered to put her in himself, no, he’d passed her off to a small, blonde deputy. That had been disappointing; part of her really wanted him to associate her with being locked up and restrained…
jeez, why did that turn her on?

In her other sexual encounters, hadn’t she been the one who was in control? Hadn’t she liked it that way, and the men she was with, hadn’t they always enjoyed laying back and letting her have her bossy little way with them? So why was she more turned on than ever at the thought of the gruff sheriff dominating her? She felt something stir deep down inside her, and instinctively she traced her mother’s ring.

No, it didn’t matter how attracted she was to him, she was angry with him. Yes, first and foremost she was angry, there was no getting past that.

Even if he came in there and gave her that smoldering look and captured her with those dark eyes…
wait, what was her point?

She jumped as a tall, lithe, dark-haired deputy came in. Oh, she was so fresh faced and young, damn her, she didn’t even need to wear make-up! Val guessed she was a shifter too; her perfect toned body suggested she was, however, was that the beginnings of a baby bump?
Good, she was soon going to get fat!

Oh lord, maybe it was the sheriff’s baby!

The young deputy gave her a dazzling smile. “Hi, I’m Delilah.”

“Are you a wolf?” blurted Val.

Delilah giggled. “Sure am.”

Val pointlessly tried to finger comb her hair, to try and make herself a little more presentable. “Like the sheriff?”

“Yeah, we’re both part of the pack.”

“Hmmm, so you know each other well?”

Val was sure Delilah could tell she was fishing, but she didn’t care. What could she do? Arrest her for being nosy?
Ha! Too late.

Delilah nodded. “Yes, we’re friends. I’m mated to a black bear, though.”

“Oh!”

Val felt a rush of relief
. Good, good. One woman down
. Now she just had to go around town and check that every other woman wasn’t sleeping with her sheriff. No,
the
sheriff, not
her
sheriff. Not yet, a small voice added.

Val blushed at her thoughts but was soon distracted as she realized that Delilah was opening her cell.

“You’re letting me go?” she asked incredulously.

Delilah giggled sweetly again. “Of course, the sheriff was never going to charge you. I think he just wanted you to cool down. We’re a small town, but we don’t hang people just for calling people buttholes.”

Val cringed. Why had the word butthole sprung to mind? Could she not have thought of something better, something wittier? Or better yet, could she not have kept her big mouth shut?

She covered her embarrassment quickly with bravado. “Oh, was the sheriff too scared to come and let me out himself?”

The young wolf shifter smirked and winked disconcertingly. “Oh, he wanted to be here, believe me, but he got called away.”

Val didn’t know why she was actually a little happy about that, or what the woman actually meant. Was she suggesting that the sheriff wanted to see her again? Was she suggesting that he threw her in jail as some kind of flirty gesture? Should she be ashamed that the thought of that aroused her? Best not to dwell too much on those thoughts right at that second.

“We’ve finished interviewing your worker,” Delilah’s voice became a little cold and Val wondered if Delilah had been the one to make the complaint against Trip. “My colleague, Gabe, will drive you both back to the construction site.”

“Thanks, nice to meet you,” muttered Val.