“Sheriff?” Callie looked at him, her mouth a little surprised O. “Are you okay?”

Mel was shaking his head. “This is what they do, Cal. They probably probed him. He’ll have trouble going to the bathroom for a couple of days.”

“Damn it, there are no aliens.” Nate took a firm stance. “And don’t call the station again. The next time one of us gets called out here under false pretenses, I’m going to fine your ass. You understand? You call in again, and I’ll write you a big ticket.”

Mel took a step back. Nate could see the fine tremble in his hands. “That’s the next sign. The aliens will come after our currency. I knew it would happen.”

Nate tossed the Detector to the ground and walked out of the clearing. He could hear Callie talking to Mel, soothing him with that soft voice of hers.

He could use some soothing. Callie smoothed things over for everyone. He couldn’t miss the way everyone in this crazy-ass town came to Callie Sheppard when they needed something. She spent most of her time building her friends up or talking them out of doing silly things. But did she have time for Nathan Wright? Hell, no. She would spend hours making sure that Mel felt secure, but could she spare a minute for her boss? Had she ever brought him cupcakes? She did it for Logan. Had she ever asked him out to lunch? Hell, no.

Nate was aware he was barreling through the woods with all the grace of a bear on a rampage. He hadn’t exactly invited friendly gestures from his secretary, but that didn’t matter now. He was fully in “woe is me” mode, and he didn’t really want to come out of it. It felt good. He’d spent so much time worrying about Zane that feeling bad for himself was freeing.

“Hey!”

He stopped in the middle of the path, aware of the thrill that went through him. Callie was yelling at him. Her voice was filled with fire and begging for a fight. Damn if he didn’t want to give her one. Nate whirled on her and was perfectly satisfied when she stopped in her tracks.

Callie stood stock still for a moment. He saw her take a deep breath before she got brave on him. “What the hell was that about, Nate? Do you really have to act like such a…a…jerk?”

He loved that little hitch in her voice. She was so proper. “What’s wrong, baby? You can’t cuss? Say what you mean.” He invaded her space. He knew he was on the edge, but he couldn’t quite pull himself back. Those years were weighing heavily on him. The very smell of motor oil had brought back too many bad memories.

“I choose to keep my language free of dirty words. And you were a jerk.” She held her ground. He was counting on that.

He towered over her. “I was an asshole, baby. I was a motherfucker. I was a dick. I was all of those things. I was also right. Things are gonna change around here.”

Her jaw set in a stubborn pout. “Oh, really? The great Nathan Wright is going to come in and teach all of us yokels how the world works?”

“Damn straight.” Somebody needed to. As far as he could tell, no one in this town ever bothered to take their head out of their ass. They were all worried about their art or hurting someone’s feelings. He’d heard an awful lot about karma since he started walking the streets of Bliss. And no one made him feel more like a dumbass than Callie Sheppard. She’d spent her time lecturing him on how Bliss worked. He wasn’t supposed to give tickets to Henry and Nell for not having the proper permits when they stopped traffic on Fridays with their silly mime project. He wasn’t allowed to arrest the nudists. He wasn’t supposed to “display a threatening presence,” and she’d told him to smile more. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She was trying to reduce his job to some sort of happy, glad-handing politician, and that wasn’t going to happen. “I’m going to force this backward ass town to realize that it isn’t in a bubble. Bad shit happens, darlin’, and you can’t fight it with a poem or a goddamn piece of pottery. You sure aren’t going to keep this place safe by holding hands and singing ‘Kumbayah.’”

She raised her stubborn little chin up. “Maybe we don’t like the so-called outside world. Maybe we choose to behave in a fashion that all you realists look down on, but don’t think for a second that these people can’t handle themselves. And don’t think they haven’t faced hardships of their own.”

“Yeah, a lot of hardship here. I can see that plainly. What’s the worst thing that happened here lately? Stella run out of coffee?”

She pushed against his chest. “You’re hopeless. Just take me back to the station. I’m going home.”

She was so close he could smell her. He could smell the soap she’d used and the shampoo on her hair. Her small hand was on his chest, the heat of her body righteously close to his skin. Her upturned face was just inches away, and suddenly Nate couldn’t stand it. He growled as every instinct in his body led him. His hands clamped on her hips, dragging her to him. He saw the surprise on her face just before he descended, taking advantage of her slightly open mouth. He slammed his mouth down on hers, forcing his way inside. She struggled for the barest of moments before she flowered beneath him. Her arms wound their way up and around his neck.

Callie was short. Nate solved the problem by dragging her up against his body and supporting her with his hands on that curvy ass he’d dreamed of. He was rock hard in an instant and ground himself against her pussy, resentful of his pants and her skirt. She was a sweet weight in his arms. Nate was aware of his heart pounding in his chest, his cock full of blood. He needed her. God, he needed her more than he could ever remember needing anything before.

He started walking, moving toward the large pine tree behind them. That would do.

“Oh, Nate,” she moaned his name as he dragged his mouth from her lips across her cheek and jaw, settling into the soft valley of neck. She didn’t complain as he planted her back against the tree. Her legs came around to circle his hips. Fuck, she felt good.

Anchored against the trunk of the tree by his body weight, Callie clung to him. She let her head fall back, giving him the flesh he sought. He pushed up the denim of her skirt. Every inch of skin he captured felt like a victory. He pumped his hips against her pussy, unable to wait until he freed his cock to play with her. He was going to brand her. When he was done, Callie Sheppard would know who she belonged to. His hands were on the buckle of his belt when he realized Callie was fighting him.

“Stop.” She was pleading, tears running down her face. Her legs were on the ground again, and she pushed at his chest.

Nate stepped away from her like she was on fire. It took everything he had to stay on his feet. What had just happened? Had he dreamed she was responding?

“I’m sorry,” she said through her tears. “I just can’t. I know I was…I know I led you on, Nate, but you don’t even like me. I can’t sleep with someone who doesn’t even like me.” The words came out in little hitches.

“Don’t like you?” What the hell was she talking about? Not like her? She was all he thought about.

She was making a pointed attempt to get herself under control. She smoothed down her skirt and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. Had he really been ready to toss up her skirt and fuck her right here in the middle of the woods? Yes. He had been this close to heaven, and it would have led him straight to hell. What had he planned to do after? Take her off to his shitty cabin and show her everything he had to offer, which was exactly nothing?

“Yes, Sheriff, you’ve made it very clear you don’t particularly care for me.” She slumped against the tree he’d tossed her against without any regard for her comfort. “You let me know on a daily basis how much you wish I wasn’t around.”

He shook his head at the thought. “I don’t know why you think that. God, Callie, I’ve been crazy about you since the day I met you.” There it was again. He didn’t fucking think anymore.

Her eyes widened behind her glasses. “But you left me.”

Take it back. Tell her you were joking. Tell her anything but the truth. “Zane loved you, too. We couldn’t choose who got to keep you.” It had been much more complex than that, but he couldn’t think. His brain was stuck on the way she felt, smelled, sounded.

She was staring at him, her jaw wide. After a moment of complete silence, her mouth closed and she leaned over, picking up the Detector 4000 that had dropped from her hands sometime during their little tussle. She started to march straight past him. Nate reached out and grabbed her by the elbow, unwilling to pretend none of this had happened. He’d fucked up, but maybe it was for the best. Maybe they could work something out. If he could see her quietly, it wouldn’t hurt Zane. How much did he have to give up for his partner?

“Did you hear what I said, Callie? I’m crazy about you.” He started to pull her into his arms. If he could just get his mouth on her again, he could convince her. She was so responsive.

He dropped her arm when she slammed the Wii remote over his head.

“Damn it.” Nate took a step back, but Callie was on the offensive now.

“You jerk! How dare you? You left a note. You left a stupid note. You say you were crazy about me, that Zane’s in love with me, and all you could manage was a note and not one phone call in six years.”

Nate backed up, arms over his head to ward off her blows. “Baby, there’s more to it.” He’d had a job to do.

“Don’t call me baby.”

The blows didn’t hurt at all, but he let her push him back. She didn’t have it in her to really harm him, but she needed this. He’d pushed her over the last two weeks with his anger and complete indecision. He knew what he wanted. He just didn’t think he deserved it.