Lone Star Burn: Taken by Surprise (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Free

Jessie Coford. Make a fresh start, that’s what he needed. He figured, at thirty-five, it was a good time to make the switch.
    He hadn’t grown up in the city, but in West Texas. While he’d advanced well in the Houston Police Department, he realized the place he wanted to be was home, or as close to it as he could get. He had an itch to get back to what he thought of as the “real” Texas—small towns, big ranches, rodeos, the whole thing.
    By accident, he heard about the opening in the Fort Mavis Sheriff’s Department. Before he could change his mind, he’d gotten in his car and driven all the way there to meet with Dean Carlton. An hour later, he had the job, and he’d never looked back. It startled him to realize he did not miss the frantic pace of a metropolitan police department. The only thing he did miss was Jessie, and, damn, he missed her so much it was painful. But she’d made her situation perfectly clear.
    He’d gone over it in his mind so many times that now it played like an old movie. He was mad at her yet, at the same time, he missed her. The silky feel of her skin when she cuddled next to him. The scent of flowers in her hair. The satiny smoothness of her mouth when he kissed her. The wet heat of her cunt when he buried himself deep inside her.
    Damn it!
    He’d never felt about a woman the way he felt about her. Maybe never would again. Why hadn’t she even been willing to talk it out with him? Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been so great about expressing his feelings for her. He should have handled things a lot differently. Way differently. Not let his pride get in the way. He wouldn’t have been such an angry asshole, that was for sure. He might have tried to look at things from her point of view. Insisted they talk about it and try to find a way to work things out. He knew how important her goal was to her, but all he’d been able to think about was himself.
    He’d thought about contacting her, telling her about his job change. Lifestyle change, actually. And do what? Beg her to come see him? Ask her to give up her fancy job in that fancy restaurant? Her dreams of the future? He couldn’t do that. No, he’d just do his job here, build a new life, albeit a lonely one, and hope one of these days he could find a way to bring them back together.
    If she hadn’t found someone else by that time.
    Suck it up, Jack. No looking back.
    He was a big boy. He’d just get over it. Eventually. He hoped putting this much distance between them would help him get past that.
    Meanwhile, he was in a good place here. Dean Carlton was an incredible man to work for. A solid member of the community, liked and respected by everyone. He’d gone out of his way to make Jack feel comfortable both in his job and in Fort Mavis. Even helped him find the small house to rent. And hadn’t that taken some getting used to, for a man who’d been living in an apartment for the past ten years.
    He was even seeing someone, the woman who managed the real estate office. Lynne Robbins. She wasn’t Jessie by a long shot, but she was smart and sexy and they enjoyed each other’s company. If the sex wasn’t spectacular, he at least made sure she was always satisfied. He knew she wanted to take their arrangement to the next level, but he wasn’t ready for that. Not yet. Maybe never. But he was doing his best.
    A rap on the window startled him. When he looked, he saw his boss standing there watching him. He pressed the button to lower the window.
    Carlton grinned at him. “You do know you have a desk inside, right?”
    Jack gave him an answering smile. “Yup. Just sitting here pondering the state of the universe.”
    “If you find any answers, be sure to let me know.” The sheriff rapped his knuckles on the roof. “Come on in. We need to powwow about what’s going on around here.”
    “Something new I don’t know about?” Jack followed his boss inside.
    “Not at the moment, but there will be.” As Dean walked through the