Read an excerpt:
“Ryan, there’s a Miss Marsh to see you.”
“Gracie, it’s such an honor that you strive to give me as little information as possible about
my guests. But, hell, you screwed up this time and let me know it was a woman. You want to harder next time?”
Sheriff Ryan Abrams really didn’t have time for this. Irondale may not have mass murders to solve, but he did
have a couple spray-paint happy teenagers to set straight.
“Ryan, she’s a reporter” came the whisper. “And she wants to see you about
you-know-what.” His eyes rolled back into his head. Some days he wondered if the sheriff’s office
really needed an executive assistant. Then he remembered that Gracie was old enough to tell the town about his diaper
days and figured he might as well keep her happy. It didn’t hurt that rumor had it she carried a piece.
“Gracie, no reporters, remember? We’ve gone over and over this. Did she bring you
cookies?” Gracie could always be counted on to take a bribe.
“Not funny, young man.” His office door swung open and in walked five feet of trouble,
plus the reporter. He smiled at his own little joke, but wiped it away when he noticed Grace’s scowl.
“Be civil. She’s here to talk to you. She’s respectable, she wrote ‘Sexless
in the City’, you know”. He gave her a questioning glance. “Ryan it’s just one of the
most scandalous little romances I ever read. Men!” She huffed as she stomped out of the door, calling back “Be
nice! Or I’ll tell your mama.”
“She will too.” Ryan rose and extended his hand. “Ma’am I imagine you
know who I am, but despite Sexless in the City, I’ve yet to place you.”
She had to smile at his simple charm. Living in urban Seattle she really didn’t meet many country
boys anymore. It made her miss her own small town. “Sorry about that, I’m Veronica Marsh, uh, Ronnie.
I’m actually a writer, not really a journalist. And, can I please sit down? I hate heels.”
Ryan nodded and took the opportunity to stare. The petite blond had great legs, solid legs, legs that,
well, legs he shouldn’t be noticing since they were attached to hands that probably wielded a nasty pen.
“Miss Marsh, I’m sorry you’ve made the trip from…”
“Seattle, and don’t be sorry, we’re going to work well together.” Right, confidence,
if she believed hard enough, he just might agree.
“No, we won’t, ma’am. I’m sorry, I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“It?”
“Oh, come on Miss Marsh, surely you didn’t fly all the way to Ohio just to ask me about bein’
a sheriff. We both know what you want to talk about and I’m all talked out.” Dammit, he was starting to
slur his words. Ryan had spent enough time outside of Irondale to control his slight Southeastern Ohio drawl, but whenever
he was irritated it got the best of him. He seemed to be ‘hick-talkin’ a lot lately.
“Well, you’re right and you’re wrong. I do want to talk about Face Factory, but
you haven’t even begun to talk about it.” Her words were coming fast, either she was trying to con him,
or herself, he figured. “ I gotta wonder, a man dumps a woman on national TV, either he’s just a jack-ass
or she really deserved it. Right now, I’m thinking jackass. And probably so is the rest of America.
Now, you probably don’t care about that and honestly, neither do I. What I care about is my book. I spent
a healthy chunk of my advance to come interview you. Why? Because you wouldn’t talk to me over the phone.
‘ No reporters!’” She dropped her voice to a gravelly tone that amused him despite the subject matter.
“Now you could’ve saved me a lot of time and money, but no, we had to do it the hard way! So, let’s
do it already! Just give me the damn interview, I’ll include a few lines about it in my book, people won’t
think you’re an ass and life will go on.” She raised her chin and stared him directly in the eye.
He reached down and rifled through a desk drawer. Oh, god, rifled. He was gonna shoot her.
“You’re not reaching for a gun are you?”
His curly brown hair shook as he succumbed to the laughter bubbling inside. “Nope, not yet.”
He handed her a card. “Here, you want an interview, I hear Jill’s doing them. Good luck. And
lady? Maybe I am an asshole.” With that, he picked up his phone, swiveled around in his chair and proceeded
to ignore her.
