Chapter 4

SETH

Seth wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his glove and looked at the full dumpster in Signora Bianchi’s driveway.

Half of it was filled with the shit that he’d had to clear to make space for the large vessel. It had taken him four hours of intensive labor to do that.

The cold breeze of the day did nothing to cool him down as he thought about the last few days. He wasn’t sure if he was mad or disappointed.

And he wasn’t sure what caused him the most irritation—the fact that he missed a woman he barely knew.

Or that he couldn’t stop dreaming about her in ~very~ compromising positions. Or that she wasn’t interested.

He shook his head as he bit back a self-deprecating smile. ~Why should she be interested in him~?

He was a deputy with the sheriff’s department; predictable; some would even suggest he was boring, stuck to the rule book and ~never~ deviated.

He loved sports and was a third baseman for the department’s baseball team and center for their ice hockey team.

He took care of himself, but he wouldn’t say that he was trophy-worthy, though women had done some crazy things to have him respond to their calls.

And the dispatchers were childish enough to have some fun with him on those calls. Like the seventy-year-old woman who kept locking herself in the bathroom.

Or the one whose vehicle kept having engine problems on his patrol routes. Felicity called them the ~Sethgems~.

He frowned at the patrol car that stopped at the end of the driveway and lifted the heavy black bag over the edge of the skip as he waited for the police officer to approach him.

“Hey, deputy,” the officer greeted.

“Officer.” He nodded in response “I’m off-duty, so it’s Seth.”

“Dane.” The other man smiled in acknowledgment as he looked around the yard. “You working alone?”

“Yeah,” Seth shrugged. “Had some time on my hands and energy to spend.”

“I have a buddy who can hook these things up and get them emptied. My shift finishes in a couple of hours, so if all goes well, I’ll see you after?”

Seth tilted his head as he looked at the young officer. “Sure.”

“Great.” Dane flashed a brilliant smile. “I’ll have my fiancée bring us something to eat.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Seth watched Dane drive away, wondering why on earth the guy would want to help. He wasn’t going to turn down the offer of free help, though.

He was a stick in the mud but he wasn’t stupid.

INDIE

Indie ducked behind the display case as she spotted ~the daughter~.

The little girl was warmly dressed in a bright green wool cap that Indie could see matched her huge green eyes. Her mittened hand was held firmly by a tall woman.

Indie peeked over the top of the counter, watching them stop at the stalls across from her own booth. The little girl was chatting nonstop as she pointed out different toys.

She really was a pretty child, and the way she made her mom laugh said a lot about her personality.

They crossed the walkway to the hot chocolate booth as the little girl skipped over the cobbled path, making Indie smile as her boots lit up with a loud squeak.

“Why are we hiding?” Grace asked softly, making Indie gasp.

~Why indeed was she hiding? ~It wasn’t like she was having an actual affair with the man!

Indie drew a deep breath as her body tightened, reminding her of the dream she had woken up from that morning.

~He ~had been so real that she could smell the fresh citrus on his skin and the warmth of his breath on her neck as he—

“You called him!” Grace accused.

Indie jumped to her feet as she spun to face her friend. “I did not!”

“Then what’s with the guilty flushes?”

Indie sighed, not willing to admit the truth but unable to deny it either.

“Mommy, that’s the lady me and Pops bought your gift from!” Indie spun to see ~the daughter~ now standing in front of her booth.

“~Pops and I~, Amelia,” the woman corrected automatically as she frowned at Indie before looking at her daughter.

They had the same face with the same green eyes. “What gift?”

Amelia’s eyes widened in horror as she looked at her mom.

Indie swallowed the knot in her throat and smiled at the little girl. “They were just ~looking~ at gifts for your birthday, intending to buy them.”

“Oh, okay. What were they looking at?” the woman asked, her eyes narrowed.

Indie bit her lip to stop the smile as she looked at the woman and winked. “I would show you, but someone already bought it.”

“What a pity!” she moaned. “I would have loved to see it!”

“Maybe you could take a look at something else, and Amelia could tell her…~pops~…what you preferred…,” Indie suggested, hesitating over the special word Amelia used.

“That's a great idea!” the woman gushed. “I'm Sarah, by the way.”

“Indigo…Indie…” She bit back a grimace, annoyed with herself as she made the introduction. Now she had a name for the wife.

And all she knew about the man was his surname! And yet, those dreams!

Indie couldn't stop the shiver that raced down her spine at the memory of the silky feel of the deputy’s hair between her fingers.

“I can make them disappear,” Grace whispered close to her shoulder.

Indie bit back a laugh before responding softly, “The~ family~?”

“No, ~burro hembra~.” Indie gasped at Grace’s insult. “The memories!”

Indie arched an eyebrow at her friend and had to concede that Grace knew her exceptionally well. “How on earth are you going to do that?”

“By helping you find someone else.”

Indie gaped at Grace as she casually walked to the next booth for hot chocolate. Sarah laughed as she watched the interaction between Indie and Grace.

“You guys are really close,” Sarah said as she sipped her hot chocolate.

“We’ve known each other since kindergarten. She used to go on vacation with my sister and me when we visited my dad on his assignments.”

Indie bit her lip, berating herself for divulging so much information to a stranger. To ~this ~stranger!

“I am so envious! I never got to stay in one place long enough to make connections like that.”

Indie found herself drawn to Sarah, although she was also drawn to the woman’s husband. “Our mom was a naval commander who raised us on different bases around the country.”

“Wow,” Indie sighed. “At least my sister and I stayed at the same schools after our parents divorced.”

“Mommy! There’s Pops!” Amelia called as she ran toward the tall figure of Deputy Marshall.

He caught her in his strong arms and blew into her neck, making her giggles ring out across the park.

He accidentally knocked Amelia’s hat askew, and their identical blond hair glinted almost gold in the soft winter sun.

“They seem close,” Indie said, watching as the pair spoke to each other with their heads close together.

“They are inseparable,” Sarah agreed with a fond smile.

“You needed to collect those bracelets at the shop,” Grace said as she placed a cup in front of Indie. “For Levy.”

“Oh, yes,” Indie nodded as she took Grace’s lead to escape before ~he ~approached. “Thanks for the reminder. Excuse me, Sarah.”

“It was nice meeting you, Indie,” Sarah said with a smile as she turned to her family. Indie felt her heart drop as she watched them, not understanding the feeling why she felt so down.

SETH

Seth hugged Elli close as she flung her arms around his neck. He tried to keep track of her babbling as he watched Miss Dawson walk to her car.

She glanced at him, and he felt a jolt of ~something ~as their eyes connected across the space.

The brightness of her daffodil-yellow coat was a stark contrast to the dark waves of hair cascading down her back.

He envied the black pants hugging her shapely long legs and cleared his throat at the memory of waking up from a dream of those limbs wrapped around his waist.

He was at the park as part of his patrol duty for the day and he’d hoped she would be there, but also hoped that she wouldn’t.

He shifted Amelia against his shoulder as he adjusted his Kevlar. He greeted Sarah with a kiss on her cheek, but he was unable to keep his eyes from straying to Miss Dawson.

His dreams had become more vivid since he had met her, and he often wondered if her voice was as husky as he imagined it or her eyes were really as golden as he thought.

“It seems that you are screwed, little brother,” Sarah whispered into his ear.

“I’m only little by four minutes,” he retorted absently to her lifelong teasing, his eyes still fixed on the turquoise VW T-Cross as it pulled out of the parking lot.