Lily and the Lawman Read online

  She was a grown woman and capable of entertaining herself.

  The first thing she wanted to do was to sleep in. But the inner clock that was set to getting up early enough to make the rounds on the docks for the best fish, the choicest shellfish, refused to shut down.

  After tossing and turning for almost an hour, Lily gave up and got up.

  The house was so quiet, she could hear the wood creaking as the early morning sun intensified, warming the boards and drying any moisture that still clung from the night before. She showered and went downstairs to make her own breakfast.

  Alison had been insisting on feeding her and, while Alison was trying hard, she still had a long way to go to be considered a good cook.

  After breakfast, Lily kicked back for all of thirty-five minutes. Unable to just sit around and do nothing, she decided to do a little sight-seeing on her own. She commandeered a map and Alison’s SUV, which was parked in the garage. Since Luc’s was gone, she assumed that they had gone in to work together. Luc had said something about going over the General Store’s books.

  It pleased Lily no end that the young man Alison had nursed back from amnesia had turned out to be such an entrepreneur.

  At least one of the Quintano sisters had found a good man to share her life with, she thought.

  Feeling a little like a kid playing hooky from school, Lily took care to not attract any undue attention as she backed Alison’s car out of the garage. She could have spared herself the worry. There was no one else around.

  Driving away from the small pocket of streets that comprised the town proper, Lily decided to head for the heart of the wilderness that surrounded Hades. There was a lake that she remembered had looked invitingly peaceful to her, and she really did need a little solitude.

  Armed with the map, she drove toward the lake.

  She had to admit that the majesty of the Alaskan terrain was something to behold. The city girl in her felt obligated to add grudgingly, “If you liked that sort of thing.”

  She wasn’t sure if she did. Oh, it was fine in small amounts, but as far as living here day in, day out, she knew she would probably go crazy. She liked to work, to be busy, to have life, not wildflowers, bustling around her.

  As she brought the vehicle to a halt several yards from the edge of the water, she was struck by the breathtaking, picturesque beauty of it all. The mountain in the background was resplendent with trees lush with greenery. The lake was a crystal blue, reflecting the sun and filling her with a sense of peace.

  To make it even better, there wasn’t a single soul around to interrupt her. Not even Arthur. Taking Max’s advice—she would have died before admitting it—she’d shut off the phone before starting out.

  For once in her life, she wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

  Getting out of the vehicle, she made sure the brake was on. The last thing in the world she wanted was to have Alison’s SUV slide into the lake. Anticipate the worst, she’d always told herself, that way anything less was a pleasant surprise.

  She should have anticipated the worst with Allen, she thought, then instantly upbraided herself. No, no more thoughts of Allen. That was in her past. The only thing she wanted to do was to learn from the experience. No more romance for her.

  Walking to the water’s edge, she let the vibrant colors of the area fill her senses. The fragrances swirled around her head.

  Feeling lazy for perhaps one of the few times in her life, she sat on the bank and just gazed at the water. The day was already getting hot. The water began to look better and better to her.

  Pressing her lips together, Lily looked around. What was to stop her from going in and enjoying the water? There was no one around to see her.

  In a moment of daring, she decided to do it, to indulge herself and for once do something wild and reckless. Shedding her clothes, leaving them on a nearby bush, she slipped into the water.

  The cold was a surprise, but not entirely unwelcome. Within a few minutes she’d acclimated completely.

  Lily swam for a little bit, taking care never to go too far or to lose sight of the bank or her clothes. The last thing she wanted to be was lost and naked.

  Before long, a tranquillity found her, enveloping her slowly and seeping into her system. She supposed she could see the allure of a place such as this—to visit, not to live. The fast-paced world she usually dearly loved seemed a million miles away.

  And then she heard it.

  A deep rumbling noise, a little like an approaching train. Except that this was not coming from a steel-and-metal thing, this noise was coming from a bear. A large black bear not too far from her, intent on fishing for its noonday meal.

  The scream escaped her lips before she could think to stop it. As she held her breath, she saw that the worst had happened. She’d drawn the bear’s attention to herself.

  The almost docile, lumbering creature became a two-ton threat. The fish he’d just been after was abandoned as he clambered back onto the bank and headed in her direction.

  Already swimming madly for the bank, Lily soon shot out of the water and ran past the bushes where she’d left her clothes. She made a grab for the long blouse. With effort she managed to pull it on as her legs pumped madly.

  Stones cut her feet. She ran into the woods, hoping she still remembered how to climb a tree, hoping she would make it up one before the bear got to her.

  She could hear the animal behind her, crushing everything in its path beneath its heavy weight as it came after her. Lily ran deeper into the woods, more terrified than she had been the time she had eluded a mugger on the darkened streets of Seattle. Thanks to Kevin’s insistence, she knew enough martial arts to defend herself if it came to that, as long as the mugger wasn’t carrying a knife.

  But a bear, there was no defending herself against a bear.

  Damn it, why had she come out here? Why had she let someone like Allen scramble her thinking, undermine her self-esteem to this extent, forcing her to go somewhere to pull herself together? She should have given him his traveling papers a long time ago.

  The thoughts, seemingly complex, shot through her brain in an instant as she leaped up for a branch, grabbed it and then scrambled up the tree. The bark cut into her flesh as she made her way up.

  Finding a perch, Lily held on, waiting, listening. Holding her breath until the bear appeared.

  But he didn’t.

  The shot that rang out a few minutes later had her jerking spasmodically.

  And then there was nothing.

  She remained where she was, not convinced that she was out of danger or that the bear was gone. These animals were much more clever than they were given credit for. She watched the Discovery channel; she knew.

  Trembling, she realized that that heaviness she felt against her was the cell phone. She’d left it in her shirt pocket instead of in her jeans. Hands shaking, she reached for the phone, her pride completely gone. She was going to call Luc and ask him to come get her.

  But the phone tumbled from her fingers and landed on the ground. She cursed her clumsiness and her idiocy for coming out here alone in the first place.

  “Won’t do you any good around here. There’s no signal in the woods.”

  Startled, she nearly lost her hold on the branch, making a grab for it at the last moment. Her heart pounding just as hard as when she’d first seen the bear coming toward her, Lily twisted around in her perch to look down at the base of the tree. Instead of the bear, she saw Max looking up at her.

  For a second she remembered hearing of legends about men who were half animal, half wolf and could change at will, materializing wherever they wished. She wasn’t sure if the origin of the legend was in Native American lore, something that arose out of Irish myths, or even perhaps something Alison had passed on to her from the local Inuit tales.

  All she knew was that if there was such a thing, Max Yearling would have made a perfect candidate.

  She clutched at the trunk of the tree, even as sh
e tried to keep the hem of her blouse down as low as possible. “What are you doing here?”

  He forced himself to stand where he wasn’t looking directly up her long blouse, although he had to admit it wasn’t easy. The woman’s body was pretty near perfect. “I patrol this area, remember?”

  She tugged at the hem of her blouse, wishing it was longer. Wishing she had never gone for that swim and had clothes on. Wishing she was home in Seattle in her own bed. “Like a mountie.”

  “Like a sheriff,” he clarified.

  She couldn’t swallow. There was no saliva in her mouth.

  “And you just happened to be here,” she mocked.

  “Not exactly,” he admitted. If he kept on talking to her like this, he was going to get a crick in his neck. “I was following you.”

  “Follow—following me?” she demanded, stunned. Furious. Had he been watching her this whole time? Hidden like some voyeur while she’d taken off her clothes? Had he stood there, ogling her? “Why?”

  “Because I saw you take off by yourself. Not really a good thing for a tenderfoot to do around here, even in the summertime.”

  She frowned, knowing she should be grateful to him, unwilling to give him any credit at all. It was easier being angry. “It’s not exactly my foot that’s tender,” she snapped. “Were you watching me the whole time?” The thought aroused heat that covered her in the form of an intensifying blush.

  “The whole time,” he allowed. “At a discreet distance, of course. And before you ask, I did turn away when you started peeling off your clothes.”

  Right. She just bet he did. For her own sake she pretended to believe him. The bark was digging into her feet and they were beginning to ache.

  She looked out, but saw little except trees. “Where’s the bear?”

  He glanced over his shoulder just to make sure he was right. “I don’t think you have to worry about him anymore.”

  She thought of the shot she’d heard. “Did you shoot him?”

  “No. That was probably Victor.”

  “Victor?” She didn’t remember meeting anyone by that name at the Salty.

  “He’s a local around here. Keeps pretty much to himself. He probably saw you and fired to scare the bear away.”

  That didn’t exactly reassure her. “Then he’s still out there? The bear, I mean.”

  “Nothing for you to worry about right now,” he told her. Humor tugged at his lips as he saw her mentally consider her options. “Are you planning on setting up housekeeping up there?”

  “Don’t rush me,” she snapped. “And don’t look.” Extending a leg, she tried to reach the next branch down. She pulled her foot back when no contact was made. Somehow, it had been a lot easier to scramble up when fear was choking her than to get down with embarrassment as her only companion.

  Looking up at her, Max pushed back his hat. “You know, I’m not sure how long that bear’s going to be gone. You might want to think about getting down soon.”

  “I’m trying,” she told him through gritted teeth. “But somebody went and moved the branches.”

  “Always easier to get up than to get down.” It wasn’t a consolation. “Don’t worry, if you fall, I’ll catch you.”

  That wasn’t a consolation, either. “I’m—” She was afraid, she realized. Genuinely afraid. The next moment she heard rustling directly below her and stiffened. “What are you doing?”

  He was coming up to help her climb down. It was either that, or wait until she fell out. “Ever hear that thing about Mohammed and the mountain?”

  “Does that make me the mountain?”

  “We’ll discuss that after I get you down.” He was just below her. “All right, start climbing down. I’ll ease you onto this branch here. C’mon,” he coaxed.

  When she didn’t move, he shook his head, second-guessing why she was hesitating. “Lily, you haven’t got anything any other woman doesn’t have and I’ve seen it all before, so stop being shy and let’s get you out of this tree before we both get old.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t look.”

  “I’m making an educated guess,” he replied. “Now let’s get out of here before that bear decides to come looking for you. Next time, Victor might not be around.”

  Faced with two evils, she picked the lesser and very slowly began to extend her leg.

  Chapter Seven

  Lily had never felt so compromised in her entire life. With every move she made, the edge of her blouse would ride up. This was absolutely unacceptable.

  She tried to make her way the short distance to Max, tugging at the hem of her blouse almost constantly.

  Watching her non-progress, Max shook his head. “You need both hands.”

  “I know,” she growled between clenched teeth, “but then I’d fall out of the tree.”

  He laughed. “I mean, to hold on with while you’re climbing down.”

  She stopped tugging and moving, fixing him with a look that would have sent a lesser man running for the hills. “And create a sideshow? I don’t think so.”

  He let out a sigh. The woman was definitely a challenge. Thinking a minute, he came up with a possible solution. At least it was worth a try.

  “Okay, hold on.” Wrapping one arm around the trunk of the tree for balance, Max unnotched his belt and started pulling it through the loops.

  Watching him, Lily’s jaw slackened. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

  Was he getting undressed, too? Why? Just what did the natives do around here to while away the long hours?

  Ignoring the sharp edge in her voice, Max said, “Coming up with a way to hold down your dignity while you climb out of the tree.” From his present position, Max could just about reach her thighs. He took aim. “Hold still.”

  Easier said than done. Lily felt a fresh flood of warmth shoot through her as Max encircled her thighs with his belt. His hands brushed her flesh, creating havoc within her.

  This shouldn’t be happening, she told herself. And she shouldn’t be reacting this way.

  But she was and there didn’t seem to be much she could do to block out the feeling.

  As Max worked to cinch the belt, Lily held her breath, waiting for him to do something that she could hit him for—not entirely sure she would if the occasion arose.

  He looked up at her, taking care to keep his eyes on her face and not on her hips or thighs as he slipped the metal catch through the last hole in his belt, although it wasn’t as easy as he made it look. He was more than a little aroused.

  Finished, he finally removed his hands.

  “All right, I’ve got it just tight enough to keep your blouse from rising up to your waist. You can still move your legs.” Seeing as how she wasn’t about to make any great leaps, he didn’t think that her slightly limited movement would be a problem. “Now we’re going to get down inch by inch,” he instructed. “Just follow my lead. I won’t let you fall.”

  It was a promise, said without fanfare, without emotion. It was a given.

  And she believed him.

  Very carefully, Lily did as he told her, cautiously making her way down, acutely aware that Max’s hands were hovering just around her legs, ready to steady her if the need arose.

  They worked it slowly, with Max descending a foot at a time and then waiting until Lily joined him. Each time she made it down a little farther, she was vividly aware of her body sliding against his. Vividly aware of the way she felt at the moment of contact. At the promise of contact.

  “Almost there,” Max told her, his voice unusually gruff as she once again reached his level, her body all but fitting into his.

  It was at times such as this that he found it difficult to think like a law-enforcement agent and not a man. There was just so much teasing a man could take, even if it was completely unintentional.

  Not trusting himself to look anywhere else, his eyes held hers. “Ready?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, although she wasn’t altogeth
er certain if she meant that she was ready to go the final distance, or if she meant that she was ready for something else entirely.

  The bear, the danger that had sent her up to heights she’d never even considered before, was momentarily all forgotten as she stared into the greenest eyes she’d ever seen, felt her pulse accelerating to a rate she’d never achieved without benefit of breath-stealing aerobics.

  It occurred to her in that flash of an eternal second that what she might really be ready for, what she might really need, was a fling. A toe-curling, teeth-rattling, mind-blowing, body-numbing, no-holds-barred fling. And this backwoodsman with a badge might just be the one to give it to her.

  No, there was no “might” about it. She was certain of it. What she wasn’t certain of was how she’d handle it once she was in the middle of it.

  On paper, she knew exactly how she should handle it. As though it was just one of those things. A vacation of the spirit, with no strings, no regrets and no payments when the end finally came.

  But in reality, she didn’t know if that was possible.

  What she did know was that there was something going on here between her and the Lawman. Temporary to be sure, but very, very exciting.

  She had to be crazy, thinking this way.

  And yet…

  Max let go of her waist, although he really didn’t want to. It was nice having a reason to hold her. He was coming to her rescue, so she couldn’t take him to task…too much.

  But they were almost there and the ground was waiting for them just below.

  He looked down, judging the distance. Couldn’t be more than six feet. He turned back to look at Lily. There was fear in her eyes, even though she tried to hide it.

  “All right, I’ll jump down out of the tree first, then you.”

  Lily pressed her lips together and nodded nervously. “All right.” Lily took a deep breath, as if bracing herself for him. “Go ahead.”