Free Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis Page A

saloon. The walls were a sinful bordello red and lined with old mining tools. Exposed wooden beams high above supported lanterns, which hung over the scarred bench-style tables, now filled with the rowdy weekend crowd.
    Sawyer walked straight through the bar to Ford’s office in the back. He’d changed out of his dirty uniform at the station and was in plainclothes now, but still armed. He locked his utility belt and the majority of his weapons into an empty locker that the guys kept for him and moved back out to the bar.
    “Well, if it isn’t the local hero,” Ford noted when Sawyer sat at the bar. “Change any smoke alarm batteries lately?”
    “Shut up.” Sawyer watched him pour his usual soda. “Make that a beer.”
    Ford raised a brow as he hit the tap. “Fucked-up day?”
    “Fucked-up day.” Sawyer took a long pull from the beer, still seeing the kid’s sightless eyes as he lay forever still on the asphalt forty-five feet from where he’d been flung from his car.
    Not five minutes later, Maddie waltzed out from the storage room looking a little tousled, which meant Jax was undoubtedly close by. She smiled at Sawyer and helped herself to an ice water while Ford called out to one of his servers, “An order of fish and chips for the sheriff,” he said. “Double the chips.” He looked at Sawyer. “Anything else?”
    It was a well-known fact that Sawyer ate like a truck driver. He shrugged. “I’m not real hungry.”
    Ford’s brow rose again. “Should I hold the fries?”
    “Just the double part.”
    Maddie and Ford exchanged a worried look, and then Maddie slipped onto the stool next to Sawyer. “You okay?”
    It used to be that no one ever asked him that. People just assumed that he was, or at least that he would be. Then the three sisters had come to town. Two of them had snagged his best friends, and now one or another sister was forever asking him if he was okay. “Just not that hungry is all.”
    Jax came out of the storage room. He pulled Maddie off her stool, sat in her place, then tugged her into his lap, nuzzling at her hair, one hand sliding to her ass. “Hey, babe. Feeling a little better now?”
    Jesus, Sawyer thought. They even had Jax asking about feelings.
    But Maddie melted against her man. “Much. Sawyer’s had a bad day, though. He says he’s not hungry.”
    Jax looked at Sawyer, brows up.
    Sawyer ignored him, and when his food came, hunkered in to eat to prove he was fine. Jax leaned close to help himself to a fry. “Since you’re not hungry— Hey ,” he grumbled when Sawyer stabbed him with his fork. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with your reflexes anyway.” Giving Maddie a smacking kiss, Jax went back to work.
    Maddie watched him go with a dreamy sigh. “I’m going to marry him.”
    “God knows why.” Sawyer reached for the ketchup, and Maddie laughed.
    “He makes me happy,” she said. “He makes me…everything. You know?”
    Sawyer looked into her warm eyes and nodded, not wanting to disappoint her. She smiled and hugged him, then kissed his cheek. “You’re sweet to humor me.”
    He nearly choked on a fry. There was the sweet again. He should have killed someone this week; that would have taken care of that.
    A few minutes later, Chloe came in. Sawyer took a deep breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Forget killing someone. He wanted…her.
    He’d been thinking about that ever since she’d surprised him at the hospital. Dreaming about it, too. Dreams hot enough to singe his sheets.
    She pulled off a black leather jacket, revealing an eye-popping red sweater, a tiny denim skirt, tights, and knee-high boots. And Christ, the boots gave him ideas. Not that he needed more. Her glossy, dark red hair was wind tousled and cascading over her shoulders, making him think of those dreams he’d had. In detail.
    Or maybe that was just her. She made him think of sex. Hot, wild, no-holds-barred sex…
    Chloe came up to the bar and met his gaze for a