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“No! No, we are not. I’m here to take care of my aunt, not date the local fuzz.”

He snorted. “Did you really just call me the fuzz? Ha! Haven’t heard that in a long time. An oldie but goodie, and far better than most of the insults sent my way lately.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, then tried again. “Who are you? You’re acting like a frat boy. Where’s the growly, pissed-off hard-ass who dragged me in front of a judge?”

“Oh, he’s still here, but you looked sad, and I wanted to cheer you up.” He shrugged. “I do the same thing to Rissa, my daughter—I pick on her and act like an ass until she laughs. It usually works. And I didn’t drag you up to court. You walked in on your own two feet.”

“You’re... just... ugh!” Exasperated, she threw her hands into the air and returned to her perusal of the local landscape speeding by.

Cow. Cow. Small tree. Big field. Tractor. Dude on a horse. Another cow.

Christ, she missed L.A.

Once he pulled into her aunt’s driveway, Amanda was out of the SUV almost before it had fully stopped, slamming the passenger door as hard as she could. As she stomped toward the front porch, he rolled down the window and shouted after her, “Not even a thank you? Come on!”

She flipped him the bird over her shoulder and ignored his booming laughter, which threatened to tug an unwanted smile at the edge of her lips. She refused to let him see it.

Damn him to cowboy hell and back.

Chapter Nine

Grady headed back to the station, a grin stretching nearly to his ears. He hadn’t had that much fun in longer than he could remember. Verbally sparring and bickering with Amanda had gotten his blood pumping. He hadn’t known he’d ask her to lunch until the words were already out of his mouth, surprising the hell out of them both. Even though he’d met her twice and arrested her once, he felt bold and young around her—a dangerous combination, for sure.

It’d been a long time since he’d felt such a visceral attraction to anyone—not since Leah. He’d only been with a few women since his wife passed away, all one-night stands, and mostly at law enforcement conventions or other times he’d been out of town. He’d often heard through the grapevine that he was one of the Rock’s most eligible bachelors, which always annoyed him and made him feel like prime beef up for auction. Numerous women had pursued him over the years. One had gotten so relentless that he’d finally threatened to arrest her when her behavior started bordering on stalking. Thankfully, she’d gotten the message.

His job and raising Rissa had always taken precedence, so his lack of a dating life had never bothered him. But for some reason, he couldn’t get the beautiful Ms. Amanda Sparks out of his mind. She wouldn’t be in the Rock long—she’d said she was leaving as soon as Edith could handle things on her own again—so maybe there was no harm in enjoying the flirting while it lasted. He knew she was attracted to him despite her denials, but she’d also made it pretty damn clear she wasn’t interested in going out with him.

Imagining her across from him at a secluded table for two, candlelight making her auburn hair shimmer like a glass of fine wine, was enticing.

“Damn, Grady, now you’re waxing poetic. Pathetic. Leave the woman alone. She said no, and that means no.”

Talking to himself didn’t help. He hadn’t had a crush on anyone since his wife, and it was invigorating.

“Yeah, Leah, I’m attracted to her. She’s sarcastic as hell, but I like that about her. I think you two would’ve been friends.”

He often spoke to his wife while driving. It kept her close to him. He’d always thought opening his heart to someone else would somehow betray Leah, although that certainly wasn’t what was happening right now. With Rissa getting ready to graduate and hopefully go to college, maybe it was time for him to entertain at least the idea of having a relationship again.

Amanda would be leaving in a few weeks, so he wouldn’t have to worry about anything serious developing between them. Hell, she might never agree to have dinner with him in the first place. Maybe this attraction was reminding him that part of his life wasn’t necessarily over. That he could get his feet wet in the dating world again someday. And if nothing happened with Amanda, no harm, no foul.

She engaged him mentally, a feat he relished. A woman could stop traffic with her beauty, but Grady wasn’t interested if her head was empty. To him, intelligence and wit were sexier than anything else. Add that to images of Amanda’s long legs wrapped around his waist or propped against his shoulders, and she was exactly the type to get his engine revving.

“Shit,” he muttered, shifting his hips and trying to give his half-hard dick more room. That certainly hadn’t happened in far too long, just from thinking about someone.

He decided right then and there that he’d enjoy whatever verbal sparring Amanda tossed his way and throw it right back. If she eventually changed her mind about dinner, great. If she didn’t, he’d respect that too.

Humming, he drove on. For the first time in a long while, the prospect of whatever came next felt pretty damn good.

Amanda stalked into the house, her long-ingrained manners the only thing keeping her from slamming the door behind her. She found Aunt Edith in the living room, absorbed in Game of Thrones—the woman never ceased to amaze and amuse her. When her aunt saw her, however, she paused the TV and waited expectantly.

Amanda paced back and forth, trying to keep her anger at a low simmer so she didn’t let loose a string of curses that would make a sailor blush. She threw her hands in the air and growled in frustration. “You were right. I had to pay the fines for the tickets.”

Her face flamed. She really didn’t want to admit that her reckless driving had also caused her to crash her beloved car and get arrested.

Edith’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been gone longer than I expected. The home nurse has already come and gone. What else happened?”

“I, ugh...” The words stuck in her throat.

“Out with it, Mandy. No sense in hiding anything. The Rock is a very small town, and I’ll find out eventually anyway.”