Loving a Lawman by Amy Lillard

through the windshield without removinghis hand from the steering wheel. “I’m pretty sure, yeah,” he said with a nod. “Hopefully it won’t take long for it to cool down, but—” He peered out the windshield at the cloudless Texas sky. Today’s high was supposed to be near one hundred. “In this heat it might take a little longer.”
    â€œHow convenient.” Jessie sat back and crossed her arms.
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?”
    â€œNothing really.” She shrugged. “It’s just that when a boy—”
    He cleared his throat.
    â€œâ€”
man
runs out of gas—”
    â€œI didn’t run out of gas. The truck overheated.”
    â€œâ€”it’s usually,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “just a way to be alone with the girl he has in the poor old broken-down truck.”
    â€œIt’s a great truck.”
    â€œIn 1973 maybe.” She couldn’t help teasing him.
    â€œThose are fighting words,” he growled. “If you insult a man’s truck, then you need to be aware of the consequences.”
    â€œOh, yeah? Like what?”
    â€œLike—” He leaned toward her, but then seemed to think better of it, or maybe he remembered who he was with. He shrugged, turning to face the front.
    Jessie stared at him, perplexed by this sudden change. For once she felt as if she were seeing the real Seth, the man behind the badge. The man behind the mask. She hadn’t been aware that he wore a mask until he let it slip, and now that it was firmly back in place, she was curious—no, more than curious—about who Seth became when it was gone.
    â€œDid you do this with Millie?”
    â€œHmmm?” He turned back to face her, but his eyes were focused on a point just above her left ear.
    â€œMillie. Did you ever tell Millie that you had run out of gas just so you could, uh . . .”
    Seth nodded, then ducked his head looking almost chagrined. Almost.
    â€œMen are skunks,” she said with a laugh.
    â€œNot all of us.” He chuckled.
    â€œMight as well be.” She sat back in her seat as smoke continued to roll out from under the hood.
    But instead of thinking about the trickery of men, she remembered the time she had accidentally run across Seth kissing Millie in the game room at the ranch. She couldn’t have been more than ten, but she could tell that it was a good kiss, like the kind in the R-rated movie she had snuck in to see. They had thought they were alone, and Jessie had been nearly paralyzed with something she couldn’t name as she watched them. Now she knew it was merely curiosity, but that kiss had stayed with her all these years.
    Did he kiss the same now? Did he cup his hands around the girl’s face, treasure her as he had Millie? Would Millie be the next girl he kissed?
    Why did she even care?
    Suddenly she wanted to know what it felt like to be kissed that way, with that all-consuming need. Cherished, desired, loved.
    She scooted across the seat toward Seth, not giving a second thought to anything but him. And that kiss.
    He didn’t speak as she tipped back his hat and pressed her lips to his.
    *   *   *
    H e was on fire.
    Or maybe he was dreaming.
    How else could he explain the fact that he had Jessie next to him? Sweet Jessie with her lips hovering over his. Their breath mingling. She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue.
    Seth groaned and pulled her to him again.
    Never before. Only in his wildest fantasies had he imagined that Jessie would come to him like this. She smelled like sunscreen and strawberries and tasted like the last hot day of summer. She tasted so good and yet he was mad ather for the way she made him feel, the way she made him forget all about the fact that she had been with Chase first. Mad about the fact that despite everything, he still wanted her.
    Not so gently he ran his fingers into her hair,