Free Lawman's Perfect Surrender by Jennifer Morey Page B

past was concerned. She’d also sensed how peaceful he’d gotten after he realized she wasn’t going to prod him with questions. Maybe sex on the stairs had meant more than it seemed.
    Remembering the feel of his uniform and the way he’d looked making love to her with his shirt and badge still on made her tingle everywhere. Her face grew warm thinking about that.
    Entering the shop, she glanced back and saw him still watching and she hoped he watched for reasons other than duty. Inside the shop, the plush interior was full of people. Chatter and the smell of coffee filled the air. She brushed some wayward dark brown hair away from her eye and sight of her bare wrist reminded her that she’d lost her dangling bracelet last night. She normally left it in her jewelry case but it wasn’t there when she’d looked for it. What had she done with it? After having such unbelievable sex with Ford, she couldn’t recall.
    “Gemma!” Lacy walked along the counter toward the end where it opened to the rest of the shop. Her vibrancy befitted the owner of a successful business, so did her love of mornings. Lacy had a special kind of magic with people. Her sunny personality would brighten anyone’s day. It certainly had for Gemma the first time she’d met the woman.
    Coming around the counter, past a line of three women dressed to the nines and chattering busily, Lacy hooked her arm with Gemma’s and whisked her toward a booth. On their way, they saw a tall, thick-muscled man dressed in tan slacks and a sharp-looking black shirt swagger into the shop. He flashed straight, healthy teeth when he saw Lacy. He also checked the entire coffee shop like a celebrity expecting a grand welcome. The man was full of himself.
    “Alan? I wasn’t expecting you.” Lacy leaned in for an intimate hug, the man dwarfing her.
    “Samuel is having a fundraiser over at the community center this Saturday. Are you free?”
    “For you, I’m always free.”
    Her infatuation and ego-stroking reply made him smile with masculine satisfaction and glance around the coffee shop to see if anyone had heard how special he was.
    Gemma would rather not witness this. “If you two want to talk…”
    “I only have a minute,” Alan said. “I need to get back to work.”
    “You could have just called to see if I was free this Saturday.”
    He lifted her hand and kissed the top, his movements lacking grace due to his bulk. “I had to see your pretty face.”
    “Oh, Alan. You do know how to make my day.”
    “Then I’ll have to be sure and do that more often.” He glanced around again. “And let other men know you’re mine.”
    Gemma searched for somewhere to go. Empty booth, restroom…
    Lacy giggled as Alan looped an arm around her waist and tried to pull her against him, an entirely inappropriate thing to do in her place of business.
    Gemma was too amazed at his display to move.
    “Not here, Alan.” Lacy eased away from him and looked for anyone who’d noticed.
    Plenty had.
    Alan stepped back, loving the attention. “Working here, you must see every single man in town.”
    “As long as they buy my coffee, who am I to complain? I have two three-year-olds to feed.”
    Alan seemed to brush over her mention of the children and instead seemed more concerned with marking her as his. Would he prefer she didn’t have kids? Three-year-olds could be a lot to take on, twins were even more work.
    Gemma wondered if Lacy had picked up on that. She didn’t seem to. In fact, she seemed so taken by Alan, this brute-slash-greaser and aristocrat all in one.
    Alan pointed at Lacy with both forefingers, nauseating Gemma. “Be good now.”
    Lacy gave him a coy little wave.
    He finally turned to go.
    Watching him swagger out of the shop the same way he’d come in, Gemma felt her brow lift. She turned to Lacy, whose face still glowed with delight.
    Baffling.
    Rehooking her arm with Gemma’s, Lacy tugged her toward the booth again.
    “How did you meet that guy?”