Falling Hard and Fast by Kylie Brant Read Free Book Online

Had never been one to fall, let alone leap, into unfamiliar, uncharted waters.
    She took a step back, and then another. She wasn’t about to begin now.
    â€œI told you before, no thanks are necessary. If we waste any more time on this porch, I’m going to think that all it takes to cow the mighty sheriff of St. Augustine parish is an irritable M.D. with a wicked-looking needle.”
    He heard the thin layer of desperation beneath her words, so he smiled easily and backed down the steps. “Sounds like you’re beginning to know me too well.”
    She followed him to the car, already mentally estimating the time before she could drop him back off at home, and return to her house, alone. Away from Cage Gauthier and his troubles. Away from his persuasive lips and coaxing hands. The breath that had been stopped up in her lungs shuddered out of her.
    Alone. There was promise in the word, in the thought. She’d cling to that promise in the minutes or hours ahead. Her hand was poised on the door handle when she heard his voice.
    â€œZoey.”
    She looked across the top of the car to see him leaning on his folded arms, regarding her steadily.
    â€œIt was just a kiss. Nothing too dangerous.”
    Their gazes meshed for a heartbeat, two, three. Then he opened the door and slid into the car. She didn’t immediately follow suit. His words were echoing in her head.
    â€œNothing too dangerous.”
    She released a quick, shaky breath. Yeah, right. That’s probably the last thing the snake said to Eve before she took a bite of that Granny Smith.

Chapter 3
    â€œW ell, it looks like we got us a full house, Tommy Lee.” With his hands in his pockets, Cage surveyed the occupants of the three cells like a genial host.
    â€œI reckon these boys come down to see us cuz they heard you was in the mood for company, sir.” Tommy Lee Hatcher watched the sheriff with something akin to hero worship in his eyes. Cage Gauthier was the biggest man in the parish, or at least it seemed so to Tommy Lee. And he didn’t owe it to who his mama and daddy were, either, nor to the fact that the Gauthiers had always had more money than anyone else in these parts. No, sirree, Cage Gauthier could have stayed in Charity and lived off that money, and no one would have thought the less of him. Instead, he’d gone to some special academy and worked as a detective for the New Orleans Police Department. And come home a hero, no less.
    Some might have wondered what had caused Cage to resign his job and come back to Charity to run for sheriff. But it was the best thing that had ever happened to TommyLee. Here he was, twenty years old, and already a part-time jailer for the sheriff’s department. He squinted at the cells full of Rutherfords and hitched up his pants in an absent gesture of pride. The only thing that would have made him prouder was if he were allowed to carry a gun. But one of these days he was fixin’ to make deputy, and then he’d get a gun for sure. And wouldn’t that make Becky Hawkins at the Stew ’N Brew sit up and take notice?
    â€œWe got our rights, Gauthier.” Lonny Rutherford, the oldest, was spokesman for the clan. “We ain’t no dumb homeboys like you used to roust in New Orleans. We each get us a phone call and a lawyer.”
    â€œSeems to me, when it comes to brains, you don’t have a thimbleful between the lot of you.” Cage strolled to the far cell and surveyed Lonny, who, like his four brothers, regarded him sullenly. “Otherwise you’d never have been stupid enough to think I was going to let you get away with shooting up my house. The property damage alone is enough to buy you some jail time, and when we add the attempted murder charge, well…” He shook his head.
    â€œYou can’t make that stick, Gauthier!” shouted Carver. He wrapped his hands around the cell bars, and didn’t seem to notice that his older