Hostile Desires Read online

  “Hey, Chief, about time you got here,” Dillon Sanderson said as he sauntered around the counter. “We already have someone in to talk to you this morning.”

  Tall, well over six feet, with a lean, athletic build that all of the Sandersons had, Dillon was an attractive man, and unfortunately he knew it. Tawny hair, golden green eyes, and a poet’s mouth, he tended to talk just about every good-looking woman under the age of forty into his bed. Alex hadn’t even ranked a flirtation. He’d been ticked when she’d gotten the job over him, but with her time in at SAPD and being seven years his senior, she’d edged him out. The fact that his cousin was mayor apparently hadn’t helped him. And wasn’t that just a bitch.

  “Gee, Sanderson, I was under the impression that I worked Saturday night for someone who had a hot date with the new waitress at the truck stop out on Highway 82.”

  Because he was still too young to hide his feelings, his face flushed with embarrassment. “Uh…yeah, about that—”

  “Give it up. Just remember not to piss on the people who watch your back,” she cautioned.

  He gave her an odd look and nodded.

  “So, who’s up to bat first?”

  He smiled. “Well, Drunk Wilbur’s wife is here. She says she wants to speak only to you.”

  “Aw, damn.” Mondays truly sucked.

  “Yeah, and this time, she’s pressing charges.”

  Alex rolled her eyes and grabbed up a report that Dee Dee had been waving in the air. A week had not gone by in the three months Alex had been there that Mildred Foster didn’t attempt to press charges. Alex figured it was Mildred’s way of dealing with the embarrassment of being married to the town drunk.

  “What’s it about this time?” She motioned with her head to her office and started off, knowing Dillon would follow. When he didn’t say anything, she glanced over her shoulder to find him just a step behind her with a smirk on his face.

  “She claims that you detained Wilbur because of your fixation on his manly person.”

  She stopped so abruptly that Dillon ran into her back. As she turned around, she noticed that most everyone in the office was smiling. Well, shit. Most of the town, including the mayor, would know about it before lunch. Just what she needed.

  “So, let me get this straight. I arrested Wilbur, like you all do each weekend, but this time, it’s because of my lusting after him?” He opened his mouth to answer but she didn’t let him. “Wilbur, who is sixty-four and weighs over three hundred pounds? Never met a bottle of whiskey he didn’t like or a bar of soap he used properly?”

  “That’s right. Apparently, she had some worries about your…sexual preference—”

  “She thinks I’m a lesbian?” She shouted the question before she could stop herself. It had been years since she had faced that absurdity, and that was only from a few guys she’d gone to the academy with who couldn’t talk her into bed. A lot of women had to deal with that when they had a career in law enforcement. She had ignored it for the most part, giving as good as she got to some of her fellow cadets and later to her coworkers. Once she was working on the force, no one cared. Her reputation had been stellar. Now, though, dealing with hearing it from her deputy was a little too much to take for a Monday—before she had any coffee.

  Jed, the other deputy, snickered. One steely-eyed look from her had him ducking his head. When she turned her attention back to Dillon, he had no problem making eye contact. In fact, the bastard was grinning at her.

  “She’s worried. A woman like you, taking a job like this…” He motioned with his hand to indicate the miniscule office. “That just doesn’t seem right.”

  She snorted. “And, what would the illustrious Mildred Foster think I should do?”

  “Marriage was mentioned, but she would feel better if you would at least date a man.”

  “Date a…” She threw her arms up in the air in exasperation. “Who the hell does she think I’ve been seeing?”

  “You haven’t been dating anyone, and that seems just a might strange,” he said in a perfect imitation of Mildred’s condescending voice.

  “I’m gonna show her strange.”

  Dillon laughed. Placing his hand on the doorframe behind her, he leaned in. “I could help you change the misconception, being friendly and all. We could drive into Marble Falls, take in a movie.”

  Okay, she could take nightmares, Drunk Wilbur, his wife calling her a lesbian and accusing her of making Wilbur her jail bitch, but she could not handle twenty-three year old egos. Not on a Monday morning and without any caffeine. Why did God feel he need to test her? Although Dillon was not the root cause of her anger, he was enjoying himself a little too much at her expense, and it was time to teach the little butthead a thing or two.

  “Really,” she said, deepening her voice and moving closer to him. Apparently, his hormones still hadn’t settled down since puberty, because his eyes widened then darkened with interest. This was almost too easy. He licked his lips, and she could have sworn he sniffed at her.

  “Tell you what. I’ll let you know my answer, right after I fire you.”

  He jerked his head back and all the color on his face drained. It was sad she felt so much satisfaction out of doing that, but she did. Alex figured after being called a lesbian, she deserved it.

  “What the hell are you going to fire me for?”

  “Sexual harassment.”

  “Dillon.” The sharp reprimand had Dillon turning on his heel; almost hitting her in his bid to face his cousin, the mayor. One look at Jacob Sanderson’s face, the chilling look from his golden hazel eyes, told her he had heard the whole conversation.

  Aw, damn, Mondays really did suck.

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  From an early age, USA Today Bestselling author Melissa Schroeder loved to read. First, it was the books her mother read to her including her two favorites, Winnie the Pooh and the Beatrix Potter books. She cut her preteen teeth on Trixie Belden and read and reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird in middle school. It wasn’t until she was in college that she tried to write her first stories, which were full of angst and pain, and really not that fun to read or write. After trying several different genres, she found romance in a Linda Howard book.

  Since the publication of her first book in 2004, Melissa has had close to fifty romances published. She writes in genres from historical suspense to modern day erotic romance to futuristics and paranormals. Included in those releases is the bestselling Harmless series. In 2011, Melissa branched out into self-publishing with A Little Harmless Submission and the popular military spinoff, Infatuation: A Little Harmless Military Romance. Along the way she has garnered an epic nomination, a multitude of reviewer’s recommended reads, over five Capa nods from TRS, three nominations for AAD Bookies and regularly tops the bestseller lists on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She made the USA Today Bestseller list for the first time with her anthology The Santinis.

  Since she was a military brat, she vowed never to marry military. Alas, fate always has her way with mortals. Her husband just retired from the AF after 20 years, and together they have their own military brats, two girls, and two adopted dog daughters, and is happy she picks where they live now.

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