A Hero for Tonight Read Free Page A

Krista turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling in such a way that, for some reason, he wanted to smile back, even as she mocked him.
    “What is it you’re afraid they’re saying to your mother that makes you feel so threatened?”
    He straightened against the back of his seat. “I don’t feel threatened. I don’t like it. No one would.”
    “I think you have some kinky little sex secrets that you don’t want your mother to find out.”
    “Yeah, that’s it.” He nodded and let out a disgusted snort. “I’m a closet pervert, and I think the women I’ve dated are going to spill all to my mother.”
    “It is odd that you rarely date any of them longer than a few months before you run them off.”
    “Just for the record, I don’t run them off. Most of the time, I’m the one who makes the break.”
    She nodded. “True. I did hear you have real commitment issues.”
    He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “I don’t have commitment issues! Who are you to talk? No job, no boyfriend—what does that say about commitment issues.”
    She shook her head. “Poor Shane, always have to try to make me look bad when you get nervous.” She slid out of the car and turned to lean back in. “Don’t worry, Deputy Donovan, no matter what those women say about you, your mama still loves you.” She shut the door and scampered up the sidewalk to her house.
    Shane watched her push the door open. He rolled his eyes unable to remember how many times he’d lectured her on keeping it locked. She lived alone, and while their town was as safe as could be, it was still not good for a single woman to leave the place unlocked. Some day he was going to hide out inside and give her the scare of her life.
    That would teach her. Or not. You never know with her.
    Krista slipped inside the house and stepped out of her sneakers. She could have easily walked home, and would have preferred it, but the temptation of irritating Shane, as always, was too much to resist. Walking through to the kitchen, she smirked, replaying the conversation in his parents’ kitchen. She’d warned Mary time and again that if Shane ever caught her little lunch group, he was going to be furious. Deep down—although she’d never admit it to him—she had to take Shane’s side on this. It was hard living in a small town and running into people you’d had a relationship with. She’d often wondered what it must be like to live in a big city where, when you broke up with someone, you probably never saw them again in your life.
    Like her and Shane. They’d always rubbed each other the wrong way, but even now, they were thrust together due to her relationship with his family. People used to say they fought like siblings, but even growing up, she’d never once thought of Shane Donovan as her brother or even a cousin. He was Shane; half jerk and half hero. Although she would admit to having a bit of a crush on him in her early teens, never, not even one time in all those years did he even once show any sign of noticing her as a woman.
    She furrowed her brow. Until today . Twice she’d caught him staring at her butt. Twisting around, she tried to view her backside. Had she gained weight? Her jeans still fit just fine. She shook her head.
    Shane would definitely have delighted in telling her she was splitting her seams.
    They’d had this weird adversarial relationship their entire lives. Ever since their mothers plopped them down on the floor together and she’d grabbed his hair, making him cry. In school, if they were in the same class, they ignored each other. Since then, the only time they had any contact was with his family—and that unfortunate incident when he arrested her boyfriend. Not one of her best moments, but she couldn’t even say she regretted it. Bruce had a good heart under all that stupidity.
    So then, what was up with the gawking today? Weird . Although, she hated to admit, her heart always did do a weird flip-flop thing when he walked in