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were imperious and commanding. She stiffened. "This isn't
your jurisdiction any more." Breanna tilted her head at Marcy
who had spun on her heel and now flounced away. "Your
jurisdiction is leaving."
"I'm serious, Breanna."
Recognizing the dangerous glint in Troy's eyes, Breanna
put her arm on Gregg's and squeezed reassuringly. "It's okay,
Gregg. Really. I'll dance with the sheriff if that makes him
happy. I'll catch up to you in a bit."
"You sure? Looks like you might need protection from the
law tonight." Gregg backed away slowly.
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"I'll be fine. I can handle the sheriff." If only that was true!
No one could handle Youngwolf. He was a law unto himself.
Fortunately for the rest of society, he chose to be on the
same side as the law or heaven help them. For her, they were
destined to be sworn enemies.
Her curiosity pushed her to ask him what he wanted to talk
about. They had closed the books on their business. But she
wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Rigid, she held herself
aloof from him.
Troy tented his brow. "Was that show for me?"
The gall of the man! Show? "Be careful, sheriff. Your vanity
is showing again. I kiss whom I please, when I please,
without thought to you or anyone else."
"Since when do you and the quarterback have a thing
going?"
She lifted her brow and cocked her chin. "That's none of
your business." For a moment, she was proud of the way she
sounded detached, until she blurted out, "So you and Marcy
have a thing going?"
A small smile played around his chiseled lips. "What if we
do?"
She back peddled. "It'd be none of my business, Sheriff. I
never had claim to you."
"Yes, you did."
He spoke the surprising words with such intensity, she
stopped dead. Her parched lips were about to turn to dust so
she ran the tip of her tongue over the bottom one. Looking
everywhere but at him, noting to her horror that they were
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by Elaine Hopper
the center of attention, she spoke low so that only he could
hear her. "You had the strangest way of showing it."
"Then that makes two of us."
Visions of being video taped for posterity and watching the
rerun at their twentieth reunion tortured her, so she hissed
through clenched teeth, "We're attracting attention. Besides,
we've already held this discussion."
"An unfinished discussion." Without warning, he grasped
her elbow and propelled her across the dance floor, pushing
his way through the stilled dancers and out the door into the
sultry Florida night.
His husky voice raked across her nerve endings.
"I thought you said you were never coming back."
"Obviously not. I'm back...again. This is my home. No one
will keep me away, not even you. I don't know why you think
you should. You don't have a deed to the town. I'll come back
if and when I want to. I just might stay forever and there's
nothing you can do about it." Every few words, she shook her
head as if to punctuate her rights.
Shadows flitted over his dark eyes. "I never wanted you to
stay away."
"Right...you really wanted me here in your life. Getting my
best friend preg...." She cut off her speech, wanting to move
past the old hurts. Still, she had to turn away before he saw
the sheen of tears in her eyes. Moonlight couldn't hide
everything. In fact, it highlighted some things such as his
strong jaw line, the darkness of his raven locks, his hulking
form. Unfortunately, the light did nothing to reveal his
expression since it silhouetted his head.
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"You're wrong. I wanted you here very badly." His voice
caught.
If she didn't know him to be a very good actor, she might
think he meant it. "You had me convinced. Especially how
hard you searched for me in the past five years since Meg's
death." She laughed without mirth and shook her head. Her
throat constricted on so much sarcasm.
"Something's puzzling me."
She wasn't going to rise to the bait. As the night breeze
wafted over her, she waited for him to voice his question. The
air was cooler here than in Fort Lauderdale, perhaps without
skyscrapers the sea breeze could blow unimpeded over the
land. Yet her cheeks burned. She hoped he couldn't see her
blush in the dark.
"How can you still be friends with Tim when he got another
woman pregnant and married her? How can you befriend his
wife and turn your back on your best friend from childhood?"
The same questions. Her heart was still raw with the scars
from their last confrontation. It beat heavily and she feared
old wounds would start bleeding if they hashed through this
again. "We've been through this. I lost our baby..."
"Our baby." He jumped on her admission. "It was my
baby, too. Don't you think it cuts me as much as you?"
She bristled and thrust up her jaw. Her shoulders squared
and her fists balled at her side. With great force of will, she
calmed her hands. Would they argue about this every time
they came face to face? "Yes, if you'd been there at the time.
You were gone, physically and emotionally. It's a lot different
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eight years after the fact than feeling the child moving inside
you, going through the labor pains..."
He towered over her, eclipsing the moonlight. The shadows
made him appear to be the wolf she'd always known him to
be. If she believed in the paranormal, she'd expect him to
shape shift into his animal form, start baying at the full moon
and unsheathing his long claws. "I still feel it as deeply. You
should have come to me."
Unbelieving, her eyes widened so much her cheeks ached.
"How could I tell a married man, or his wife, that I was
carrying his child? Or that I had lost his baby? What good
would that have done either one of us?" Her body tensed and
she shook her head. "All I had left was my pride."
He faced her and spat on the ground beside her feet.
Ebony orbs glowed where his eyes had been. "Christ,
Breanna! Is this all about your pride?"
Was it? No! How could he believe that's all he'd meant to
her? All their relationship had meant to her? His words
infuriated her more. "You should be happy that I was
protecting your marriage, being considerate of your family.
What would Meg have done if she learned I was pregnant
with your child or thought I was trying to steal you back? Not
that you seemed particularly worried about my heart or my
wellbeing, were you? When a woman loses a baby, she loses
her heart and soul. When she loses the ability to have an..."
She recoiled. She hadn't meant to divulge the last tiny
vestige of her secret, but it had very nearly slipped out. He
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