her eyes to the low light coming from the stars and half-moon, Lacie bent at the waist to make herself a smaller target and started through the sage and brush surrounding the building. She heard a slight rustling, and then footsteps against the hard, packed ground. Finally she saw the silhouette of a man, creeping along the edge of the building.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Guess the perpetrator took that as a rhetorical question, because he took off running as if he’d been shot.
Ah, hell. After a day of physical strain doing her job, now she was forced to chase down an intruder?
From what she could see, he was a big guy. But with a lean build. Just her luck, he’d probably be a runner.
“Stop!” Another seemingly useless statement, as he never slowed down. So she set off to catch him across the darkened fields.
Praying to be spared the ankle sprain that could come from accidently stepping into a prairie-dog hole in the dark, she ran full-out. She pumped air into her lungs as a cool night breeze stirred her hair. She pounded across the arid soil.
Soon she was gaining ground on him. But catching up this fast seemed rather odd considering the differences in height and stride. As she closed in, she realized the man had a decided limp to his gait. Thank heaven, or she might have had to face a lot of ribbing from the male deputies when she came up empty-handed.
When she looked up, the guy had disappeared in the darkness. What the heck was he up to?
Just then, she lost her footing and stumbled down an embankment that had appeared out of nowhere. The surprise brought a high-pitched squeal from her mouth and a certainty that her man would be long gone by the time she stopped.
Swallowing her frustration, she tried digging in her heels to stem the fall—without much luck. Then suddenly her forward momentum stopped abruptly. She’d run right into a broad chest and muscled arms.
“Whoa,” a deep voice said out of the night. Was this the same guy she’d been chasing?
Whoever her savior was, he grabbed her upper arms and held her close to stop her from sliding farther down the embankment. “Are you all right?”
In seconds she had her body under control and found purchase in the slippery dust. She pushed back from him, checked the weapon in her holster and then went for the flashlight attached to her belt.
Who was this character? “I’m uninjured,” she mumbled. “I’m the sheriff’s deputy. Identify yourself. Now.”
“Sheriff’s deputy?” The deep voice sounded vaguely familiar, like something out of a dream.
She clicked on the light and shined it up into his face. Gasping at the sight of him, she then found her voice had deserted her.
When she forced enough air back into her lungs to speak, she squeaked, “Colt? Colt Chance, is that you?”
Colt’s voice, the warm, strong voice she’d sworn to always remember, sounded unsure. “Lacie? It can’t be. Did you say sheriff’s deputy?”
His question brought her mind back in focus as she reached for her weapon. “Yes. And you have a lot of questions to answer. You are under arrest.”
Chapter 2
Colt slowly raised his hands above his head. “Whatever you say, Lace.”
But he couldn’t keep the smile off his face as she pointed her big ole six-shooter in his direction. Of all the people to run into after breaking into the sheriff’s office. The only non–family member in Chance, Texas, that he’d ever cared about, Lacie McCord was the last person he’d expected to see.
When he’d heard her yelling and realized his pursuer was a woman, he’d dropped into this dry resaca to hide. But when she’d come tumbling after him, he’d had no choice but to stop her fall. Now he was glad he had.
“Stop grinning, Chance. This is not funny.” But she lowered her gun barrel. “Are you armed?”
“No, ma’am.” The easy grin kept creeping across his face no matter what he did. “I’m not crazy about guns.”
“Hmm. Just keep your hands where I can see them for the time being.”
“Sure thing, Lace.”
She cleared her throat but kept her distance. “What are you doing here at this hour? I didn’t even know you were back in town.”
Lacie McCord. One of the biggest mysteries of his entire life. Hell. Every cell in his body yearned to drag her close and put an end to the distance all their lost years had created between them. When his eyes finally got used to the low night light and he could see her better, he found himself braced against a dry north wind, utterly speechless and staring.
They’d been close once. At least he’d thought so. The best friend he’d had in high school. But right before graduation he had decided to make them more than friends—to take their relationship to another level. He’d kissed her—a lot. As he recalled, both of them had liked where their new status was headed.
But before he’d had a chance to suggest more, she’d disappeared. Up and left town without a word. He’d always wondered if it had been something he’d done—or not done.
Tonight’s dark and moonless sky made it difficult to see her expression. To judge her thoughts. But it was not so dark that he couldn’t see how her body had turned out after ten years. Even in the stiff long-sleeved uniform shirt and heavy khaki pants, it was clear she’d filled out nicely.
The womanly curves that had been only hinted at as a teenager were now vividly apparent. He had dreamed of her, what she might look like all grown up. So her curvy female form didn’t feel like much of a surprise. He’d known in his gut she would turn out to be a beautiful woman.
But that she stood there in a deputy’s uniform and holding a gun on him was another matter. The sight of her uniform, knowing she was working for her stepfather, triggered a cold shudder inside him. The questions he’d always had about her disappearance were suddenly magnified by brand-new questions.
He cleared his throat and straightened up. “I’ve been in Chance for about a month. Came home to heal.”
“I noticed the limp—when you were running the other direction. What happened to you?”
“It’s a long story. But the injuries have put my career on hold, so...I decided to find out what’s new in Chance, Texas.” He took a breath, giving himself a moment to get his head back in the game.
Lacie—in league with Sheriff McCord? That came as a bigger shock than discovering she’d become a deputy sheriff. His first impulse upon seeing her had been to skip all the questions and to jump ahead and ask for her help. But maybe that idea would need some revision.
The brisk late-winter winds whirled dust and dirt around them. “Could we take this reunion somewhere else?” He forced another half smile, trying to make her feel more at ease.
It seemed to work.
She holstered her gun. “Back to the office. We can talk there and you can convince me not to throw you
