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Thankfully Seth had two men who worked for him who could take care of the daily chores around the farm, allowing Seth to have a more flexible schedule. Thank goodness he didn’t have any animals that needed daily care.

“I’m sorry I have to go,” he said as she walked him to the front door.

“You need to go. You need to go take care of your son,” she replied. “Besides, I’ve taken up more than enough of your time today.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Seth, I can’t thank you enough for being here for me today. I’m really not sure what I would have done without you.”

“I was glad to be here for you,” he replied. “What about your car? It’s still at the school. Do you want me to swing by later and take you to get it?”

“No, I’ll call a friend to take me to get it later on, or one of the other teachers can swing by and pick me up and take me to it,” she replied. She opened the door and then turned back to him. “Thank you again, Seth.”

“Suzanna, any time you need me, I’m just a phone call and about ten minutes away.”

“I appreciate that,” she replied. She stood so close to him, and despite the circumstances, in spite of what had brought him here in the first place, he wanted to kiss her again. He’d thought about it off and on throughout the entire day he had spent with her.

“Suzanna, can I kiss you before I leave?”

The tip of her tongue dipped out and moistened her lower lip, and she nodded her head. He pulled her into his arms and took her mouth with his. He’d intended it to be a soft, tender and brief kiss. However, the minute she opened her mouth to him and their tongues swirled with each other the kiss became something hot and slightly wild.

He pulled her closer against him, her slender body molding against his as if they were made for each other. The kiss continued for several long moments, until he was fully aroused, and only then did she finally step back from him.

Her eyes blazed with what appeared to be sweet, hot desire as she drew in several long, deep breaths. “We can’t kiss anymore, Seth,” she said, completely surprising him.

“Why? Because I have to tell you, Suzanna, I do like kissing you a lot,” he replied.

“I’ll admit there is some kind of crazy energy between us, but it’s not something we should allow.” Her gaze didn’t quite meet his. “I don’t want things to get out of hand, Seth, so we can’t kiss anymore.”

“Whatever you want, Suzanna,” he replied. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable around him. “But I still want you to consider me as a good friend and somebody you can depend on no matter what you need.”

Her gaze met his, and she smiled in obvious relief. “I do consider you a friend, Seth…a close friend, and I do enjoy spending time with you. Now, get out of here and go get to your son.”

“Okay, okay… I’m going,” he said with a laugh, and with that he walked out of her door and headed toward his car in her driveway.

She was probably right that there should be no more kissing between them. Kissing her made him want more…far more, and it was obvious she didn’t want that. He had to respect her wishes. He reminded himself that he didn’t want a woman in his life, and while he knew he’d enjoy making love to Suzanna, it wouldn’t be fair to her. However, he did greatly value her friendship.

He had nothing to offer her when it came to any kind of a real relationship, so ignoring his physical attraction toward her was probably the best thing to do. Besides, she hadn’t indicated that she wanted any kind of real relationship with him, either. It was all slightly confusing to him.

Still, that didn’t stop him from thinking about the two very hot kisses he had shared with her and wishing for things to somehow be different.

However, one thing was perfectly clear: he was adamant he would never invite any woman back into his life. He wasn’t willing to chance any more hurt to his son. So for Sammy’s sake he would remain a single and celibate man.

Chapter 4

Suzanna drew in a deep breath and slowly walked into her classroom. A little over a week had passed since the scarecrow had been left in here, and today was the first day she would be back to teaching her students as usual.

The day after the scarecrow had been found, Ray had taken her to get her car. So, she had it to use even though the only place she had gone was to Seth’s and then back home.

Behind the desk, a new wooden swivel chair awaited her, and she focused on the cheerful walls with the children’s artwork to center herself. The students would be arriving soon, and a new day would begin.

She had dreaded coming back into the classroom again, but now that she was in and had faced the memory of what had been here, she felt a little better.

Over the past week she had tutored Sammy twice and he had asked her why she wasn’t teaching her class. Not wanting to share with him about the scarecrow, she had told him she’d taken some time off so she could be an even better teacher. Although she had shared a cup of coffee with Seth each time, she hadn’t stayed for too long. She was set to tutor again tonight and planned to do the same thing…a quick cup of coffee and then exit. She felt it was necessary to cool things off between herself and the handsome farmer.

The police had released the scarecrow victim’s name and information. She was Sabrina Yellin, a single twenty-five-year-old who had worked in the office at O’Brian’s Garage and Car Sales. She was blond-haired with blue eyes, just like all the other victims had been. Suzanna hadn’t known her, but that didn’t stop her from deeply grieving for the woman whose life had come to such a horrible end.

The whole town was in an uproar over the fact that the victim had been left in the school. What kind of a monster would put a dead woman where young children could possibly see her? Thank God, the students had been protected from the crime scene.

Dallas and the entire police force had remained tight-lipped about any clues they might have gained. Suzanna could only hope they had gotten something to find the killer and put him away forever.

Dallas had called for a town meeting on the following Wednesday night. She suspected he was going to reiterate his warnings about women being out alone. They still didn’t know how the killer actually got the women in his grasp. It had to be somebody the victims had known and had trusted.