Page 36 of Blue Norther
Once I had two feet firmly on the pavement, I grabbed my bag, threw it over my shoulder and marched into the station with my head held high and the biggest scowl I could manage.
Of course, Colt wasn’t milling about. I had figured with whatever investigation he was working on he wouldn’t just be standing around, staring at the front door.
“Mrs. Ford, is everything okay?” Nate smiled from behind the glass partition.
I sighed, and for a moment let the title wash over me. It had been so long since someone had called me that.
“No sassy nickname for me today, Nate?”
“Didn’t want to step on toes,” he admitted.
“She’s here to see Ford.” John cleared his throat, a smile dancing across his face.
Deputy Jones nodded, pressing whatever magic button he had back behind the glass to open the door for us.
I fully planned to keep walking until I made it to Colt’s office, but just as I stepped over the threshold, Colt came walking out of a different room. His eyes scanned over us, recognition flaring in an instant.
He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes tracing over me. Searing heat lit up my body as he lingered on my torso. A smirk kicked up in the corner of his mouth, and I realized he recognized I was wearing his clothes.
I crossed my arms and stared back at him.Holy hot sauce! His sleeves were rolled up, exposing several of his intricatetattoos. His forearms had always been one of my favorite features of his. Strong from working on the ranch, but still soft enough that they felt so safe each time they wrapped around me.
And how had I not realized he was wearing glasses? I mean, yeah, he looked shocked to see me, and that shock morphed into worry as he walked closer to us, but my God. I couldnotstop looking at this man and his glasses. The salt and pepper edges of his temples were enough to make my knees weak, but pair them with an ocular accessory and I was downright almost panting!
They were hot. He was hot in them.
“Vi?”
Yeah, my hot and bothered self was too hot and bothered to reply. All sense of indignation went right out the window. I couldn’t remember what I was doing there.
“Come on.” His hand went to my elbow, and before I knew it, John’s chuckles were just a distant sound as Colt shuffled me into his office and shut the door.
I set my bag on the chair, fully intent on sitting in the other, but as I turned, my head swam.
Shit. I hadn’t had breakfast. A cold sweat hit the small of my back and I closed my eyes, willing away the flood of saliva and roll of nausea that hit me like a tsunami.
“Colt,” I whispered as I reached out to steady myself.
“Whoa. What’s wrong?”
I swallowed, breathing in his scent. I couldn’t believe I’d been so wrapped up in my nerves that I hadn’t recognized it last night. That scent took me right back to the first Christmas we lived together. The first year we were renovating the house. God, we barely had any money, but I’d gotten him the nicest smelling cologne at a fancy shop I’d found in Dallas. He wore it all the time. Even now. My heart galloped, the dizziness coming back in full force. Only this time, I didn’t think it was because of my blood sugar.
“Vi? Hey, I’m going to help you sit down, okay?”
I nodded, letting him guide my body back into the chair that sat in front of his desk. The same one I’d sat in the day before, telling him about my stalker. So much had changed in so little time.
His thumbs traced steady circles over the back of my hands. “I don’t like how pale you are right now. What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” I whispered. Hating how unsure that sounded, I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry. I was about to make breakfast when I saw Deputy Boone sitting in your driveway and made him drive me over here. The baby doesn’t like when I forget to eat.”
His thumbs stopped moving as he shook his head, his jaw ticking once before he swallowed. “I’ll be right back. Donotmove.”
Colt
“Christ,” I groaned, watching Violet sip on a glass of orange juice as the bagel I made her sat on the corner of my desk. I’d bitten the nail on my thumb right down to the raw, tender flesh, watching every move she made to see if she was still feeling dizzy.
“I’m fine. I told you I just didn’t eat before I came down here. Stupid move on my part, butnothingto worry about. Especially now that you’ve fed me enough to put me into a coma.”
“You’re lucky I haven’t cuffed us together and thrown away the key.”
