The Sheriff and the Innocent Housekeeper Read Online Free PDF Page A

She had been thinking about it, at night in her bed for so long.
     
    His fingers bit into her and he gave her a slight shake. "Answer me. Did he touch you?"
     
     
     
Chapter Two
     
    She knew he was asking her something, but Becky kept thinking about the details she had learned from Miranda about marital relationships. Miranda called it 'trying to make a baby,' but Becky knew that the same procedure happened when the men went to visit the girls at the saloon.
     
    Waco was a growing town, and prostitution was now legally recognized. It was licensed and regulated by the city.
     
    She knew that the sheriff went to the saloon twice a week, like clockwork. Miranda had told her where he was on those nights, when his supper would grow cold. Becky always went home, with her emotions in a mess and feeling more than a little put out.
     
    And now he held her and demanded an answer.
     
    His grasp became even more possessive at her hesitation. "Becky." He growled her name in impatience as he waited for her response, tension coiling through him.
     
    "Y-yes, he's touched me." Her answer provoked him. Rage like he had never known engulfed him. A dark red mist rose up over him.
     
    "How?" he bit the word out. "How has he touched you? Where? Where did he touch you?"
     
    Becky was riveted by the incensed madman in front of her. He held her in a grip that was uncompromising, and his eyes turned feral.
     
    "He touched me on the boardwalk, in front of my aunt's boardinghouse."
     
    "Where on your body did he touch you? Did he hurt you?" Jake was maddened by the thought of that kid coming anywhere near her, let alone putting his hands on her. Or hurting her. Touching what was his .
     
    "Sh--Sheriff, pl-please calm down. He didn't hurt me at all. He just keeps coming around, when my aunt isn't home, and he pesters me. He thinks he likes me and he tried to--he's tried to kiss me. I don't l-like it." She reached out and put her hand on his chest, next to his badge. She patted him, trying to calm him down. "It's nothing bad. It's nothing to worry about or to get upset about."
     
    He looked down at her hand on his body. Her movements stilled.
     
    Heat flooded through him and he took deep breaths as he tried to regain a modicum of control. His hands gentled and enfolded her, rocking her against him. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll take care of him. Goddammit ! I should have realized this morning that he's been bothering you. If he wants to continue to live in this town, he won't do it anymore. He damn sure won't try to kiss you again. Nobody should be trying to kiss you, ever ." His voice was adamant.
     
    She pushed against him as she realized the sheriff didn't want to marry her, but evidently, he didn't want anyone else to have her, either. Hurt and despair made steel run up her spine and her voice held a sarcastic tone. "Thank you, Sheriff. It's true that I don't want to marry Kyle, but that's not to say that I don't want anyone to ever kiss me again."
     
    "What do you mean you don't want to marry him ?"
     
    Jake stiffened and ice ran through his veins at the thought of the topic of her marriage with another man even coming up.
     
    "He keeps asking me to marry him. Repeatedly. I don't want to at all. It scares me to think of tying myself to him for life."
     
    She looked up at him. Jake was entranced with the beauty of her face. She was lushly exotic, provocatively so. Her eyes were slanted, like a cat's. Jake felt their effect blaze through him. His body hardened against her. He was beginning to crave her sweetness continually. Her softness tantalized him. This goddamn need for her wasn't going away. He put his hands on her face and lifted. She raised her arms and grasped his wrists as their eyes tangled. He tried to fight it, but his head slowly lowered and he tasted her lips.
     
    Becky hung in fascinated suspension as his lips touched hers. Pleasure, unlike anything she had ever felt rushed through her veins. Her world spun. Her