Free Can't Fight This Feeling by Christie Ridgway

own lousy instincts, Lorraine Kushi’s face appeared on the screen. She’d worked for years at an LA news affiliate, and when she came on he always switched the channel to avoid the sight of her sharp beauty and the memories it dredged up. He stood now, bent on doing just that, when a name flashed on the screen. Ralph Rodriguez.
    Ralph Rodriguez was the name of Angelica’s father.
    Brett sank back in his seat as Lorraine reported the latest financial scandal. Angelica’s father had stolen millions of his investors’ dollars in a Ponzi scheme that had finally gone bust. The Feds had kept him in custody—for several days now—and the news had finally leaked.
    His personal accounts and property had been frozen or put under the government’s control. Rumor was he’d even robbed his own daughter while trying to cover up the crisis.
    Angelica. Her father jailed. Her money gone...or at least inaccessible.
    Did she know?
    Of course she knew. It all made sense now. The darkened house. Her creeping around inside it. He’d suspected something was off. Then there was the job at Hallett Hardware.
    In this very coffee shop, she’d told him she’d once wanted to work with her father but she hadn’t been welcomed.
All for the best
, she’d said.
I’m not suited for that kind of risk.
    Not suited for the things her father did. Breaking the law. Cheating other people. Betraying family.
    “Where are you going?”
    He glanced at his companions, realizing he’d jumped up from his chair and was heading for the door. The two men were staring at him. “Where are you going?” Ryan repeated.
    “I’ve got to go check on someone—I mean something.” He needed to see her. To make sure that she was okay. While he cursed this drive to protect her, he couldn’t deny it, either.
    The morning air, as crisp as a pippin apple, didn’t cool the heated urge. But as he unlocked his truck, he realized he had no idea where to find her. Where was she living now that the mansion on the lake was in government hands?
    He slid inside, trying to think it through. Hallett Hardware. It was his best bet.
    But a dumb idea, he realized, as he pulled into its small parking lot. The place was dark. It wouldn’t open for another couple of hours. Frustrated, he banged on the steering wheel with the heel of his hands. Did she know the story was out?
    If so, would she look for a new place to go?
    Maybe she’d run from the mountains and he’d never see her again. She’d banish herself. That made sense, didn’t it?
    His hands thumped the steering wheel again. Then he cursed, because there was no reason for that idea to bother him so. It was what he wanted. Distance from gorgeous Angelica Rodriguez who fascinated him in a way he was sure would only lead to disaster.
    A knock on the driver’s side window caused him to jump. His head whipped around to see Vaughn Elliott, dressed in dark jeans and a wool coat. Brett had never warmed to the guy, but then again he had a knee-jerk distrust of Richie Rich types. Vaughn was certainly that. As far as Brett knew, he lived off family money and got off by playing cop. The sheriff’s volunteer patrol car that he so often cruised around in was parked beside the truck.
    Vaughn knocked again on the glass.
    Brett unrolled the window. “Yeah?”
    “Good morning.”
    “Uh-huh.” Brett stared at a shiny piece of metal that was pinned to Vaughn’s lapel. “You wear a badge now?”
    The other man shifted on his feet and looked a little embarrassed. “The sheriff thought it was a good idea.”
    “Right.” Wrong. Brett would bet this particular volunteer liked the—fake—authority the emblem conferred upon him. Everything about the arrogant jerk rubbed him the wrong way. “You here to arrest me?”
    Vaughn looked back coolly. “Have you done something wrong?”
    An image of Angelica popped into Brett’s mind again. That kiss in the shadowy hallway at Mr. Frank’s. What he’d been on the brink of doing. Sex in a