Free Candy for Christmas: Hockey Player vs Ice Skater by Novalee Swan

who was so hot and dominant that he turned her into
goo, grabbed her leather portfolio and stood.
    Cage rose at almost
the same time.
    “I’m sorry,” she
stammered, “I don’t think—” and sidestepped away from the chair she
had been occupying in front of his rosewood desk, then took a
hesitant step backwards. “This isn’t going to—” Oh for god’s
sake woman. Finish at least one complete sentence.
    Instead, she kept
stepping backwards until she was in the doorway, careful not to
make direct eye contact lest her resolve weaken.
    Why did she want to
move home anyway? Work at the sheriff’s department as office
manager? She’d just stay in Nashville. And the hell with needing a
challenging, engaging job.
    Sheriff Alpha Hotness
could hire one of the other two applicants he’d interviewed before
her. Both were non-shifters and had been friendly enough while they
were each waiting their turn to be interviewed.
    “Why don’t we grab a
cup of coffee in the break room? Take a breather then come back and
finish the interview?” Cage said, tone neutral.
    Why the hell did he
have to be nice? She was about to refuse and cement her escape
when she heard a scuffle behind her.
    Ash turned her
head.
    Rosewood, or Shifter
Town, as everyone called it, had the biggest shifter population in
the state. Which included a large number of predatory species who
were not known for being passive. As such, the sheriff’s
department, which occupied a three storey red brick building on
Main Street, had a few more deputies than average for a town their
size.
    The room behind Ash
held about a dozen desks. About half that many officers had been
present when she’d walked in for her interview an hour before,
crossing paths with two female deputies who’d been leaving.
    While chatting with
the other candidates, she had discreetly observed the remaining
officers. The first five minutes she’d spent imagining them as a
male shifter revue.
    The job might have
been worth it for the eye candy alone.
    When the scuffle
devolved and the unmistakable crack of a gunshot deafened her, Ash
ducked instinctively.
    “Nobody fuckin’ move.”
The words were almost as loud as the shot had been and were layered
with panic.
    Ash registered Cage’s
presence beside her. A strong arm wrapped around her waist and drew
her back into the office, behind the solidness of the wall. She
barely had a chance to glimpse a big male whose grip was locked
around the stock of a nine millimetre as tightly as his arm was
wrapped around the throat of a young deputy with an empty
holster.
    The remaining officers
had their weapons drawn and levelled on the shifter.
    “You aren’t puttin’ me
in a fuckin’ cage,” the shifter screamed.
    Ash’s lioness scented
Bengal Tiger and a whole lot of alcohol.
    And blood.
    She smelled blood.
That shot had hit someone.
    “Stay in here,” Cage
muttered subvocally. Then he drew his nine mil as he eased out into
the bullpen.
    “Put it down,” he
ordered, voice granite, when he was in position.
    Ash’s heart raced.
Already, adrenaline shot through her limbs.
    She listened, hidden
from view, while Cage tried to talk the shifter down.
    But the Bengal only
became more agitated.
    She took a chance and
peeked through the window in the wall, between the slats of the
venetian blinds.
    Cage had moved further
out, drawing the shifter’s attention away from his office. He and
the rest of the deputies had their weapons locked on the tiger.
Except the one on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the
chest.
    Oh god.
    A leopard shifter
slowly holstered his gun, showed his empty hands to the tiger, and
eased towards to the wounded man.
    “Don’t move!”
    “ Easy . I’m just
trying to help my buddy. You don’t want him to bleed out.”
    “I said don’t fuckin’
move!” The tiger pushed the gun more tightly against his hostage’s
head.
    “He’s dyin’ man.”
    “I don’t fuckin’ care.
You’re not lockin’ me