Free Granted: A Family for Baby by Grace Carol Page B

man Suzy was looking for, who would one day be sitting where he was sitting, eating what he was eating, but unlike him, would not be spending the night on the couch.
    “Who?”
    “You know, the guy you’re going to marry.”
    “Just because I can put a pot roast in the crock pot before work? Come on, Brady, anybody can do that.” She gathered the empty plates in her arms.
    “Oh, sure. Right.” Maybe anybody could put a roast
     in a pot, but not anybody could look like Suzy when they took it out. Blond and beautiful. Not anybody could make him feel like he did, relaxed yet stimulated. Not anybody could manage a one-year-old boy, a thirty-four-year-old sheriff and his campaign and make him believe he could do anything, even win an election.
    Suzy smiled modestly, her face flushed as if he’d embarrassed her with his compliments, and took the plates to the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with a blanket and a pillow in her arms to ask, “How do you feel?”
    He glanced up and his gaze locked onto hers. Her hair was curling around her flushed face. Her eyes were bright. Was there a hint of desire there, or did he only imagine it because it was what he wanted to see?
    She’d asked him how he felt. If she only knew, she would run out of the room as fast as she could. He felt like hauling her down on that couch and tearing her clothes off and making passionate love to her all night long. Because he knew how she’d feel, all soft and warm and—He wasn’t going to do it. They had to work together a little longer still. And he respected her too much. And he was her guest, in her house. Which made his look like a barn. Which it was.
    “Fme,” he said.
    She leaned over the couch to give him a blanket and pillow. As she did, he noticed that the soft material of the T-shirt brushed against her breasts indicating that she wasn’t wearing anything under her Brady Wilson for Sheriff T-shirt. He clenched his teeth to keep from groaning. So she’d ditched her bra along with her work clothes. He pictured her satin-smooth skin, full breasts unrestrained by a bra and rosy nipples brushing the thin fabric of the shirt. If he lifted the hem, he could reach
     up and slide his hands to cup her breasts. Brush his fingers against her firm budding peaks. Swift, hot desire hit him right in the groin like a bolt of lightning.
    “Anything else?” she asked with a catch in her voice and a look in her eyes that made him wonder...did she feel the way he did? Did she want what he wanted? To let go of their previous identities for one evening? To forget he was her boss and she was his hostess? To explore the possibilities? To experience a once-in-a-lifetime roller-coaster ride? Anything else? Oh, if she only knew he wanted everything else.
    He considered telling her. He considered showing her. She was so close, the blanket and the pillow still in her arms. All he had to do was to reach out and take her, blanket and pillow and all, in his arms. Pull her down on top of him, bury his face in her silky blond hair, breathe in the scent of her. For a long moment time stood still. Tension hung in the air. Who would make the first move? Or would they stay like that, locked there for eternity, each afraid to give in to desire? Each afraid to take a chance on happiness? If the doorbell hadn’t rung he would have let her know what else he wanted. Or better yet, shown her.
    He strained to hear the voice of the person at the door. But all he could hear was Suzy.
    “Yes, I know.... You are? How interesting... No, I don’t think I could do that. You see, I work for the sheriff.”
    Who could it be that didn’t know Suzy worked for him? He soon found out.

Chapter Five
    A moment later his opponent, Darryl Staples, the man who didn’t belong on a ranch, or in Harmony and most of all, the man who didn’t belong running for sheriff, poked his head in the door and, after raising his eyebrows in surprise, greeted Brady like a long-lost friend.