Olivia sucked in a deep breath and wiped her face. No. She refused to be a victim. She tightened her hold on the knife. Let him come, whoever he was. She’d handle this on her own. However, her head and heart were telling her to call Granger. Granger would keep her safe.
“No!” Olivia pushed up from the table. She tossed the box in the trash. “I can take care of myself. I will handle this like I have everything else. On my own and with calm, precise action.”
Taking a deep breath, Olivia began to feel better. She’d had a great night out with her friends and she wouldn’t let some asshole ruin it. Now, she was going to take a special bath and think of Granger while doing so, and then go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be epic and she didn’t want to miss a moment of it.
Granger groaned as Olivia’s tongue danced with his. He held her tight against him as they battled in their race for pleasure. Her lips were on his. His hands were on her ass and pressing her forward to urge her to ride him. Her hands were on his shoulder, running down his chest, and then to his scars.
“Granger?” Olivia’s beautiful face changed from drunk with pleasure to horrified. Those perfect lips that had once been kissing his turned into a sneer. “You’re grotesque!”
Granger’s eyes shot open. His heart was still racing from first the pleasure and then the agony of the dream. He groaned as he kicked the sheets off the bed and strode to the bathroom. He didn’t look down as he washed his body. His soapy hands ran over the puckered, jagged scars as the images of previous supposed girlfriends ran through his mind. The look they gave when they saw his scars or when they asked for him to wear a shirt while he screwed them. That’s all it had turned out to be in the end—a long string of quick hookups that involved nothing more than physical gratification for both parties.
That had been enough until his friends all started to fall in love. And then Granger met Olivia Townsend. He saw what was possible, at least until Olivia barged into his hospital room, her eyes widening as she caught a small glimpse of his scars. In that one moment, Granger knew he couldn’t have what his friends did. They weren’t damaged. He was.
Ryker had understood him the most, having gone through a horrendous experience with his high school girlfriend and then discovering women only cared about his money. But even Ryker had found love with his ER nurse, Kenzie. That left Granger on the outside of life once again. He was used to it, though. Always in the shadows looking out for those he cared about. It was his way of thanking them for all they did when he returned to Shadows Landing after college graduation. They gave him a home, friendship, and a career he loved.
Granger stepped from the shower and got ready for the Shadows Landing Pirate Festival, which was held every year on the day their town was founded. It was going to be warm, but Granger didn’t do shorts. Instead, he pulled on his jeans and the black athletic performance shirt for first responders to wear when it was hot out. Sheriff was emblazoned across the back in big silver block letters and a small sheriff’s star with Sheriff once again in caps was positioned on his left chest.
His whole department was on duty today. He, Kord, and one other would be wearing the official department shirts, but the other part-time deputies would be mingling with the town and tourists as they kept an eye on things.
Granger slipped on his aviator glasses and placed the black cowboy hat on his head before shaking off the last shreds of his dream and getting to work.
“You were an accessory to this.”
Granger smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the enormous banner over Miss Ruby and Miss Winnie’s pie table. A prince, a billionaire, an assassin, and two Special Forces badasses were all lined up. Naked. Except for Miss Winnie and Miss Ruby’s apple pie placed strategically over each man’s midsection.
“Yeah, I was,” Granger replied proudly.
“I should kill you for this. Look how they updated it after using it at the state fair. Now Prince Zain has an eye patch and someone put a parrot on my shoulder,” Tristan Durand complained. Most of the men in the photo actually lived in Keeneston, Kentucky, where the Faulkners had family. However, Tristan was a local now and quite recognizable.
“What’s the matter, Assassin Boy? Can’t handle a little birdie on your shoulder?” Granger teased his new friend. The government assassin from Europe had married Granger’s childhood friend, Edie, recently. “Personally, I like the wooden peg leg they gave Dylan Davies.”
Tristan smirked. “Yeah, that is pretty funny.”
“I almost forgot.” Granger leaned into the window of his department SUV and picked up a shirt. “This is for you.”
Tristan caught it when Granger tossed it at him and held it up. It was identical to the shirt Granger was wearing.
“New uni?” Tristan asked with a big grin.
“You’re on duty out here today so you need this. Your regular uniforms have finally come in and are at the station. You start the normal shift rotation on Monday.”
Granger shook Tristan’s hand and watched as Tristan navigated around everyone setting up their booths to tell his wife.
“It’ll be nice having a third full-time deputy,” Kord said, joining him as they watched people setting out arts, crafts, and baked goods.
“Yes, it will. It’s been a bit busy recently. Hopefully, now that all the Faulkners are married, we’ll see some peace.”
“Edie wasn’t a Faulkner and she brought a freaking assassin to town,” Kord pointed out.
“True,” Granger said, scanning the crowd until he found where Edie was kissing her husband. The young widow deserved this happiness and he was happy for her. “But that’s only a very small technicality. Realistically, she already was a Faulkner or at least related to them by marriage. Either way, I’m ready for some peace and quiet.”
“Peace and quiet will have to wait,” Kord said as the first tour bus arrived.
The street was filled with tourists and townspeople. Granger, Tristan, and Kord started walking their beats to make sure the tourists behaved. He wasn’t worried about the large man in nothing but overalls and packing a massive hunting knife. He wasn’t worried about the scrawny guy talking to the air. He also wasn’t worried about a short man with a knife so big it looked as if he was compensating for his lack of height. No, those were just the locals. Gator, in his customary overalls, removed alligators that wandered into town. Skeeter conversed with the pirate ghosts and ran a ghost tour company. Then Turtle was, well, he was just Turtle, and if you talked to him for more than two minutes, he’d tell you about his pecker being bitten by a snapper turtle and how it made his pecker bigger.
“Sheriff!” Granger turned to see Landry Jr. racing toward him with half of his siblings trailing behind. “Bubba has one of the Townsend brothers trapped. I told him I’d come get you but he told me not to. He tried kicking out at Bubba and, well, you know Bubba doesn’t take kindly to that.”
“He’s ornery,” little Lindsey said as she bit into a pink cotton candy that was bigger than her head.
“Which one? Bubba the alligator or Mr. Townsend?” Granger asked as he waved down Gator through the crowd.
Lindsey frowned as she thought very seriously about the question before turning to Lacy, her older sister. “Which one is ornery and which one is horny?”