Need You for Keeps (Heroes of St. Helena, #1)(65)

“The difference between you and me is that I’m trying to do what’s right for this town and you’re only trying to do what’s right for you.”

“Last I heard, a sheriff hopeful backing a charity event where the benefactor has been convicted of grand theft charges isn’t the best thing for this town.” Jonah’s silence must have set off an alarm with Warren because he laughed like he’d just won this battle. “You’re even stupider than I thought. You haven’t even taken the time to read her file, have you?”

He should have. The information was available through the police database. All Jonah had to do was pull it up. But something had held him back. He knew there was more to Shay than what was on those pages. Sure, he wanted to know the truth—who wouldn’t?—but his gut kept telling him to hold off, that asking Shay was the right thing.

Only his gut had been wrong before, and no matter how much he didn’t want it to be wrong this time, facts were facts. And after reading the article, he wasn’t sure what the right thing was. Shay wasn’t returning his calls, Warren looked way too cocky for this to be some simple explanation, and he had a note waiting on his desk telling him to get his ass in the mayor’s office ASAP.

“Yeah, that screams sheriff to me.” Warren clapped Jonah on the shoulder. “Didn’t they teach you at the academy? The first rule in hooking up: always do a background check so you don’t get f*cked when you’re getting f*cked.”





Warren was right.

Jonah sat in his recliner, sipping a beer and staring down at the still-closed file in his hands, wondering when his life had spun so far from center. A few months ago, he’d been sharing his bed with a cute EMT from Sonoma, riding the high that he was the frontrunner for sheriff, and running his life much like he did his career—by the books.

Now he slept with a cat that hogged the pillow, he was going to lose the election to a guy who had to go through the academy three times before barely graduating, and he was throwing the whole f*cking book out the window for a woman who drove him crazy. And the worst part was, no matter how he handled things now, he was f*cked.

No doubt about it.

Which was why, instead of picking up the file and reading about Shay’s transgressions, he’d spent the last hour of the workday staring at it. There was no point now. He’d already delivered his answer hours ago—to a shocked mayor and amused sheriff.

It was official, the first annual Prance for Paws Charity Pet Walk was a go. And Jonah was no longer pulling a side job. He was on the books—and the record—representing the sheriff’s department as an on-duty deputy. He was also to kick off the event on behalf of the city, since the mayor had a “previous engagement.” If anything went wrong during his watch, the mayor had been more than clear the blame would lie solely on Jonah’s shoulders.

Meaning if this went south, he’d lose a whole lot more than the election.

Yet every time he looked at the file, all he could think about was the look on Shay’s face the other day at the hospital when she’d given him the out. She was certain he was going to take it. And he could have. But he didn’t.

He’d meant what he said. Jonah knew exactly what he was getting into with Shay. Which was why he’d gone down to pick up the permit himself. Oddly, it was delayed, he’d been told, because of a hold placed on it from Judge Pricket’s office. Something that only cemented his decision to stand behind her. He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened two years ago in Monterey, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to stand by and watch Shay get shafted because an old lady formed a grudge.

Tossing the file on the table, he glanced at his phone, checking to make sure he hadn’t somehow missed a call in the past thirty seconds. Nope. It was after seven and still no word from Shay. She hadn’t come home yet either. In fact, he’d called around town looking for her and she was MIA.

What that meant he had no clue, only that his head ached from trying to figure it out. He was equal parts concerned and irritated over her lack of communication.

“Jesus, let it go,” he mumbled, leaning back and taking a long pull of beer. One night. They’d had one insanely hot night and he was waiting by the phone and whining that she hadn’t called him back. Granted, he had something really important to discuss with her, like why she’d been convicted of grand theft, but he didn’t sit around whining about his other cases not calling him back.

If Adam saw him like this, he’d bust his balls.

Mew.

Speaking of busting balls. His ungrateful roommate hopped up on the arm of the chair and started kneading the crap out of the leather. Too tired to reach for the water bottle, Jonah petted him instead. The clawing halted and a low motor started in the cat’s belly, which seemed to piss the guy off. He even lay completely flat, not happy about it in the slightest, his eyes somewhere between I’m going to pee on you when you’re asleep and don’t ever stop.

The motor revved and the cat flopped onto his side, his eyes sliding shut as he rolled off the chair and onto Jonah’s lap with his legs in the bicycle position, making air muffins, which was better than the alternative.

Jonah kept up the attention, noticing that with every scratch he was getting closer and closer to feeling relaxed. Kitty Fantastic was getting closer and closer to the drooling level of ecstasy. Jonah felt his breathing become lighter and let his eyes slide shut.