bun and a light application of makeup accentuating her golden-brown eyes. She’d had her hair in a ponytail earlier. The black sleeveless jersey dress flared from the waist down and swayed as she walked toward him in spiky ankle boots. The modest bodice covered her chest to the rounded neckline. A simple silver cuff bracelet and silver hoop earrings finished the outfit. But he didn’t pay much heed to that. He’d like to get her hair down and see her only in those boots. He might let her wear the bracelet.
She stopped before him with a coquettish look.
“You look beautiful.” He had to say it. She did. And he was glad he’d worn a suit and tie.
Her luscious mouth curved in a smile. “I went shopping. I didn’t pack for a date.”
He offered his elbow, unable to stop looking at her.
She slipped into her jacket and then slid her hand under his elbow and onto his forearm.
Jamie’s blood heated as he walked with her across the street to the steak house. He couldn’t tell if his eagerness to start fresh with a normal life overshadowed his attraction to her. The first encounter with her had sizzled with chemistry. She’d felt it, too. He had seen it in her eyes. But he’d be making a mistake if he grabbed the first beautiful woman to step into his life if it turned out later she wasn’t The One.
With Dexter Watts dead, Jamie had no further obligation to Stankovich—the terms of his service were complete. Valdemar may not see it the same way, but Jamie had done all he’d asked, and Jamie had ensured his nemesis had nothing more to hold over him. That part of his life was over. He looked forward to the next part, the best part, but he intended to get it right this time.
His days of pushing the envelope and working for the wrong people were over. He’d take his life back working for Kadin, a good man with an honorable cause. He could still travel and see the world the way he loved, but he’d have his integrity intact. And a family with the right woman.
He didn’t know if Reese would be part of that journey. It sure felt promising, though.
“How does a town get the name Never Summer?” he asked as he opened the door for her.
“It’s surrounded by fourteen-thousand-foot mountains.” She stopped inside the restaurant lobby. “And ten thousand feet above sea level doesn’t allow for a lot of warming.”
“Why would anyone want to live in a freezer like that?” he asked while they waited for the hostess to greet them.
“The beauty. The silence.” She sounded matter-of-fact. But then she softened as she thought further. “The smell of snow falling through a forest of coniferous trees, the wildflowers in summer and that first dampening of mountain soil.” Her eyes raised heavenward as she drifted, inhaling as though smelling the mountain air right now. “The air is so cool and crisp and fresh after a big snow.” She breathed in again, eyes closed.
He couldn’t stop an erotic image of her.
At last, she lowered her gaze to look at him. “Cities are stressful.”
He grunted because he had the exact opposite feeling toward cities. Cities comforted him the way her chilly, remote mountain hideaway did her. “I still don’t see the reason for the name Never Summer.”
“We have a summer but it never really gets hot. Mid-July to maybe early September are the warmest.”
That sounded more stressful to him than cities.
“Right this way,” the hostess said.
At their table, Jamie pulled out the chair for Reese, unable to recall the last time he’d done this for a woman. Long before the military. The girl after high school. He’d broken up with her to join the Army.
She smiled up at him, seeming to enjoy this as much as he was. The first date. The excitement of meeting someone who hit the mark. Or maybe he misread her. She did live in Colorado and his office was here in Wyoming. If she was all he felt she could be, then she was worth risking a long-distance affair for a while. He’d worry about logistics later.
He sat across from her. They spent the first few minutes in small talk, reading the menu, giving the waiter their order. The wine came and they sipped.
The air between them hummed electrically whenever their eyes met, as they connected on a subliminal level. He almost couldn’t bare the intense physical attraction and suspected she struggled with the same affliction. While he knew what he’d do with that magic, he didn’t think she’d be ready this fast. Besides, creating his new life would take time. He wouldn’t rush into it like he did his job with Aesir.
“So...deputy sheriff, huh?” he asked, breaking the silence. Just how serious was she about devoting a lifetime to Never Summer?
She rubbed her hand up her arm, forearms resting on the table, a slow, comforting caress that made him wish he could rub it himself. “There’s not much crime in Never Summer. Nothing compared to what your company sees.” Except the Neville cold case. That definitely compared.
“How did you get into law enforcement?”
She looked away in consideration. Had no one ever asked her that before?
Finally she met his eyes again. “I’ve always had an interest in law enforcement. As a kid I loved cop cars and uniforms and watched shows about good guys catching the bad guys. Now I have a degree in criminal justice and passed the police academy at the top of my class.” She smiled genuinely. “I love it. I can’t tell you why. I’ve served as deputy in Ute County for four years now.”
“You plan on staying there?” he asked.
“Why would I leave? My family is there.” She sipped her wine.
He didn’t like how certain she sounded, but her commitment to family counted as a plus. “Would you move somewhere else if an opportunity arose?”
“I’ve never considered that, other than leaving to go to college. Never Summer is a close-knit community.” She paused in thought. “There’s really nowhere else I belong. Besides, ‘Sheriff Harlow’ kind of has a nice ring to it.”
She had aspirations of becoming sheriff. He liked ambitious women.
“Sheriff Knox does, too.” He didn’t stop himself in time. “Sorry. That just came out.” He didn’t mean he’d propose marriage, only tested out the sound in anticipation of being married—someday.
Would she be ready to settle down? She looked young. Twenty-five or twenty-six. He kept that question to himself. Don’t move too fast.
He’d met women like her before, career-driven, tenacious, independent. They didn’t pick controlling men. He wasn’t looking for a woman to control. He was looking for a woman who meshed with him, a friend and a lover, someone who’d spend the rest of her life with him.
He must have looked at her in an intense way, as the passion he felt for his goal came out strong and freely. She fell into a long gaze with him, as they had several times now.
Then she seemed to jar herself back to the date, sitting straighter and putting her hands on the table. “Tell me your story. How’d you end up working for Kadin?”
“After the military, I went to work for a private company, but that ended up not being good for me.”
“Who did you work for? Why did it turn out not good?”
“I don’t want to talk about that now. The important thing is, now I work for Kadin.”
“All right.” She smiled.
Instead of pushing her away, his preference of remaining a mystery appealed to her. He found that a little suspicious. Did she like to avoid serious subjects? Would she not share her story to keep things casual? Her beauty and lively energy made him discard the flash of warning that this woman may not be in line with his vision of a future.
* * *
Except