Caught by Surprise Read Free Page B

love!”
    She rubbed her temples wearily.
Bonzer
. She didn’t intend to learn a new language from an Australian country-western singer, no matter how virile and intriguingand … lord, how her mind wandered when she was around Brig McKay—and he’d only been in Paradise Springs for two hours.
    “Bonzer?” she asked.
    “It means ‘good’. We’re a good pair.”
    She subdued the tingling sensation that remark created. “How do you survive in Nashville with a vocabulary that nobody can understand?”
    “They make fun of me, and I make fun of them. It’s good sport. And you Yanks love Aussie accents. It’s a plus.”
    “McKay, I’m a sixth-generation Florida native, and most of my relatives fought on the Confederate side of the Civil War. ’Round these parts, you better be careful who you call ‘Yank’.”
    “Oh. Gotcha. I love your accent, Scarlett.”
    “I love yours—” She stopped as a warning bell went off in her mind. She hadn’t intended to get friendly with him, but his eyes stayed on her in a disarming fashion and made her forget her purposes. Millie pointed toward the cell door. “Snap to, McKay.”
    He ambled toward her, hands on hips, and halted inches from her flushed, stern face. “Where’d you learn to boss people?” he inquired much too politely.
    “The navy,” she retorted.
    Brig gave her a stunned look. “Nah,” he said finally. “You’re pullin’ my leg.”
    “No, McKay, I was in the navy for several years. Navy police. I’ve been around. I’m older than I look—I’m twenty-nine.”
    He was now irrevocably enthralled with Deputy Surprise. She was a buttercup with steel in her blossoms.
    Millie gazed up at him grimly. His eyes gleamed with an emotion she couldn’t quite analyze, and it made her heart race. She knew that she didn’t present the most traditional female image in the world, and some men were put off by it.
    Ordinarily she didn’t give two hoots what anyone thought of her, but right now she was growing desperately angry because she just
knew
that Brig McKay,Mr. Aussie Macho, didn’t find her background appealing. Her reaction didn’t make a damned bit of sense.
    “You know, Deputy, I never kissed a navy veteran before,” he murmured.
    “You never
what—
” she began, just as he bent down and gave her a firm, fast, incredibly skillful kiss on the mouth. He kissed her just long enough to imprint her senses with his taste and scent, drawing her lower lip between his teeth for a nibble. She felt branded.
    Millie took a weak step back, gasping for breath and words. By the time she found both necessities, he was already out the cell door, chuckling, his hands in his trouser pockets.
    It was going to be an interesting two months.

Two
    Millie walked him to the recreation room without another word. She was still stunned.
    “A real country club place, this is,” he announced with great innocence as he surveyed the big, pleasantly lit room. It was best to act as if nothing had happened, he decided.
    “But it’s still a jail, Mr. McKay, and there are rules you better follow or you’ll be here a lot longer than two months.”
    He turned to gaze down at her with a contrite expression. His wavy golden brown hair was a little disheveled, and Millie noted that he looked even sexier when he was rumpled.
    “I shouldn’t have done it, eh?” he admitted. “I know, I shouldn’t have kissed you. Now you’ve got to report me. The sheriff’ll probably make me wear a ball and chain around my ankle from now on.” His voice rose melodramatically. “It’s a price worth payin’. And at least …” He sighed grandly. “My lips’ll still be free.”
    “I’m not going to report it,” she answered in a cold tone. “I don’t want to be laughed at behind my back—and that’s exactly what would happen. But if you try it again, I’ll defend myself.”
    “Which means?” he asked.
    “Which means, pal, that I’d be perfectly justified to use physical force