who was strung out on drugs and apparently incapable of raising her children.
He took a sip of his coffee. “At least you know who your mother is. When I was two weeks old I was found in a cardboard box in front of a Philly police station and I immediately went into the foster care system.”
Sheri’s eyes widened and he noticed for the first time the sinfully long length of her brown eyelashes. “And nobody ever found out who your parents were?” He shook his head and she continued, “Then how did you get the last name of Carmani?”
“The police station was located in a heavily populated Italian neighborhood and the cop who found me said I looked like an Italian. His name was Jim Carmani, so he named me Jimmy Carmani and that’s been my name since.”
She stared at him thoughtfully. “I’ve heard the foster care system can be brutal.”
He took another sip of coffee before answering. “I had some great experiences and I had some bad ones, but that was then and this is now. So how is business at the store?”
The last thing he wanted to do was journey back into his past where pain resided and faint memories of love lost stirred. He’d survived and ultimately made the right decisions that had led him to a job he loved in a town that finally felt like home.
As Sheri talked about the store, he enjoyed the emotions that played across her face. It was obvious she loved interacting with the people who visited there and shared a close relationship with the Amish from the settlement.
He liked looking at her and he’d discovered that the lilac scent came from her, not from the open window in the bedroom. When was the last time he’d enjoyed the scent of a woman? The pleasure of sitting and listening to a woman talk about what she liked?
Certainly the last time had been long before he’d come to Wolf Creek three years ago. Since coming to the small town he’d focused solely on work, knowing that as a twenty-eight-year-old detective he had a lot to prove to everyone, not just his co-workers, but the people of the small town, as well.
Now he felt solid in his position as the youngest detective of three and suddenly realized his desire to be more sociable, but he knew this was not the time and Sheri was not the woman.
As she poured him a second cup of coffee he told himself he was just doing her a favor. It was obvious she wasn’t yet ready for him to leave and if he looked deep within himself, prince or not, he definitely wasn’t ready to call it a night.
* * *
“So, you spent your whole childhood in Philly?” Sheri asked. She’d never noticed before that Jimmy’s eyes weren’t just a plain chocolate-brown but rather like caramel swirled chocolates that might have pulled her into places she’d never been if she allowed them.
“What brought you to Wolf Creek?” She sat back in her chair as if unconsciously needing some distance from him. He smelled like clean male and a woodsy cologne that appealed to her senses.
“The job. I saw an advertisement for a deputy for Wolf Creek and decided to apply. I was tired of the city and ready for a different experience.” He grinned at her and the warmth of his smile filled her stomach.
“I never dreamed that my different experiences would include checking out reports of wolves eating small children, hunting down a woman throwing knives at your sister and disarming an unarmed woman holding a shotgun on a clueless man chasing a pig.”
She felt the warmth that swept into her cheeks. “You aren’t going to let me forget that, are you?”
“Probably not,” he replied easily.
“So, you like it here?”
“I feel like I’ve finally found home. Eventually I’d like to build a house in the woods, maybe get a dog for company and spend my days crime-fighting and my nights relaxing in a big recliner.” He nodded, his black hair shining in the overhead light. “Yeah, I definitely like it here.”
She cupped her hands around her half-empty mug, knowing that the two cups of coffee would probably have her awake half the night. “It’s funny, I’ve never been anywhere else but here and Hershey, but I’ve never had any desire to go anywhere else. The minute I saw this cottage and the surrounding forest, I knew I was home.”
“And from the looks of your backyard you have a lot of creatures depending on you.”
“The store is my job, but this place and those creatures are my passion.” Her eyes sparkled brightly with that passion. “There’s nothing more peaceful than seeing a deer walk without fear across the backyard. The raccoons and squirrels can be as entertaining as any movie playing on television and the birds add the music to my life.”
“It sounds nice, but a little bit lonely.”
“It is,” she agreed. “Especially since Steve and Roxy and Marlene and Frank have hooked up. With them so busy with their own lives and Aunt Liz still missing, there are definitely moments when I feel a touch of loneliness.”
She fought back the grief that always threatened to grab her by the throat when she thought of her missing aunt. Besides, the last thing she wanted to do was get upset because then she might start to stutter, an affliction she’d had since she’d been a young girl but had almost mastered now.
She couldn’t get emotional and start stuttering in front of Jimmy. She’d be mortified. She’d spent a lifetime of torture being bullied by peers and most recently by the man she’d thought she loved, who had obviously not been the prince of her dreams.
Jimmy finished the last of his coffee and stared down into his empty cup. “You know, I was just thinking about that song by Air Supply, the one where there are two less lonely people in the world.”
He looked up at her, his eyes dark and soulful and once again beckoning her to fall into their depths. “Since I’ve been in town I really don’t hang out much with people other than other cops. I haven’t made a lot of friends and I was just thinking maybe you and I could hang out...just while you wait for your prince...you know as friends.”
He gave her an awkward smile. “Or maybe it’s just a dumb idea.”
She studied him intently, noting the faint hint of color that filled his lean cheeks, the insane length of his dark lashes as he cast his gaze back down into his empty cup.
She wasn’t sure if it was her own loneliness she felt or his, but a hollowness welled up inside her. “I think that would be nice...as friends,” she quickly added.
She wanted to make certain that he understood that she wasn’t agreeing to actually date him. Heck, she wasn’t even sure that’s what he intended anyway.
“Great, then maybe some night we could get a drink at the tavern or see a movie or something.”
“I’d like that, and now I know I’ve kept you here too long.” She rose from the table as he did the same.
“Are you sure you feel all right about being here alone now?” he asked as she walked him to the front door.
“I’m fine. Maybe with Aunt Liz’s situation I just overreacted to normal circumstances.” She frowned thoughtfully as she thought of Highway’s frantic barks in the backyard. “Still,
