Sheriff Daddy’s Dreamy Little by Jess Winters

CHAPTER TWO

 

 

 

 

 

JOSH

It was chilly that August evening, and I went outside briefly to start my car. Glancing back at the restaurant, I saw Eva looking around and realized she probably thought I had left her.

“Damn,” I muttered, leaving my car running.

It was unlikely that someone would steal a sheriff’s car, even one who was off-duty, but one could never be too sure around town. The whole reason I had even taken a job at this precinct was because I knew it was always busy and I’d never be out of work.

Thus far, this was proving to be true. I’d only been in town a few days and had already been invited to multiple parties, and that evening I’d witnessed some scumbag dump a drink on his ex.

I jogged back into the bar, hoping to scoop Eva up and bring her home, but she was gone.

“Where did she—” I started to ask.

The bartender pointed towards the back door.

“Probably walking home,” she told me.

I slid through the back door and wove my way through the crowd of guests who were toasting each other, smoking cigarettes, and eating fried bar food. I spotted Eva at the very edge of the porch, unhooking the back door and practically escaping into the night.

“Hey!” I said, jogging towards her.

“What?” she asked, a bite in her voice until she turned around.

Upon finding me standing there, she softened.

“Oh, it’s you. I thought you left.”

“Let me give you a ride home. Evelyn, right?”

“It’s Eva, actually—my nickname. I should probably toss this into the trash, I got fired just now,” she said, laughing sheepishly.

“Eva, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”

She shook her head.

“I’ve already gotten emotional in front of you once today and we don’t even know each other. I’m just going to walk home.”

“Let me give you a ride,” I protested.

“Really, it’s just down the street.”

“I insist.”

She nodded and followed me towards my car.

I had never met someone as stubborn as Eva. She was headstrong, but had clearly had her heart broken. She wasn’t all fragile, though.

“I have to say, watching you dump fries on that girl was really something,” I told her.

“Really? You don’t think I’m a dramatic mess who brings ire wherever I go?”

“Is that what your manager said to you?”

She nodded.

“He said I was the reason we weren’t getting enough business lately, because I have so much drama in my life. But Steve, he cheated on me—” her voice started to crack. “It wasn’t my fault, I didn’t do anything.”

I nodded.

“Sometimes people are unnecessarily cruel. Steve is a jerk, you don’t need him in your life.”

We rode the next few minutes in silence.

Eva settled into the leather of the seat. I’d flicked on the heated seat button, since it was getting to below outside, almost in the sixties.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as she fidgeted, crossing and uncrossing her legs.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I guess,” she said.

“Now Eva, nothing is going to get better unless you talk about it. Do you want to share with me? I’m all ears.”

“You’re sweet,” she said, voice small. “You don’t have to be nice to me. You probably have to get home to your girlfriend and I’m taking up too much space.”

I laughed. Was Eva attracted to me? I could only hope so.

She was one of the most gorgeous people I’d ever met—perhaps he was the most gorgeous.

She had long hair, raven-black, and deep green eyes. I could tell she had a bit of a bratty mean streak to her, but that wasn’t anything we couldn’t work out.

We approached Eva’s house, though it would have been more appropriate to call it a mansion. Upon pulling up to the gate, I let out a low whistle.

“Whoa,” I said.

“I know,” she sighed. “It’s my parent’s house. They’re not here, in case you were wondering. They’re in Paris until November, or December, I can’t remember which one.”

“So they just leave you all alone to…”

“House sit? Yeah. They don’t really care about whether or not I live or die, so to speak.”

She keyed in a code on a faded keypad and the iron wrought gates swung open.

We slid up the driveway, which seemed to be newly painted. My car glided with such ease over its surface that I couldn’t help but envy the amount of old money this family had.

I’d had my fair share of success, though it had taken a while. Working as a sheriff for the first few years was difficult, to say the least.

“Do you want to come in?” she asked.

I swallowed once. Yes, I did, badly.

“Yes,” I said. “That would be lovely.”

I parked my car out front, which was actually more of a roundabout with a fountain in the middle.

I followed Eva up the front steps and waited while she unlocked the door.

“Feels a little bit like that first date moment,” I joked.

She giggled. “It does, doesn’t it?”

Once inside, we were met with glossy hardwood floors and golden chandeliers. There seemed to be dozens of pieces of art their parents had purchased, pieces of expensive furniture, but no traces of Eva could be found anywhere.

Even when she had me follow her up to her room, the only flair I saw that might have been within her control was the fact that she had a princess canopy over her bed.

She was definitely a Little. The question was, was I man enough to be her knight in shining armor?

I watched as she flounced towards the bed, tossing herself onto the bright pink comforter.

“This is the only room in the house that’s really…mine,” she trailed off. “The rest of it my parents decorate. They don’t really like when I put my stuff up.”

“And you wish your room looked different?”

“Of course I do! I know I’m eighteen, but I want posters of princesses. And I want glitter, and flowers. I want…someone to take care of me.”

I took a seat next to her not he bed.

“I’d be willing to take care of you.”

“But?”

“But nothing,” I said, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “No conditions. I like you, Eva.”

She gazed up at me, deep green eyes barely visible given how enormous her pupils were. I was about to lean in for a kiss when we heard a banging come from downstairs.