Page 32 of The Claiming Series: Collection 1

Daisy

“Sheriff’s office has put out an instruction for all businesses to shut up shop on account of the storm coming in,” Danny says as I polish glasses behind the bar.

It’s been dead for the last few hours, and I’m not surprised to hear that the town is battening down the hatches.

“Grab your coat, and I’ll take you home. No arguments,” he says as I open my mouth to object.

“I’ll take Daisy home,” a familiar voice growls from the door, and I look up to see Drayton standing there, brushing snow off his hat.

Oh, hell, no !

“It’s fine. I can walk. The storm won’t be here for another hour,” I say stubbornly.

“Not happening,” Drayton shakes his head. “It’s well below freezing out there. You’ll have hypothermia before you get halfway home, and I won’t have the death of one of my residents on my conscience.”

“Danny offered to give me a ride,” I try again, sending Danny a pleading look. The last thing I want to do is spend any alone time with his grumpy son. I might forget I’m angry with him and do something I’ll regret, like crawl into his lap and rub myself all over him.

“Makes sense for Drayton to take you, honey. You got the snow chains on, Son?” Danny asks.

“Few hours ago,” Drayton nods.

Ah, crap. There goes my last argument. I’m making it obvious that I don’t want to ride with him, but what can I do? It would be suicide to walk home in brutal weather like this. Looks like I’m going to have to suck it up and spend ten more minutes in the company of Mr. Sexy Grumpy Pants.

“I’ll grab my things,” I sigh in defeat.

I bundle myself up in my coat, hat, and scarf and grab my purse.

Waving goodbye to Danny, I follow Drayton to the cruiser parked outside.

He’s right—it’s freezing out here. Much colder than it was a few hours ago.

I can smell the threat of snow in the air, and I’m suddenly grateful I didn’t attempt to walk—no point in risking becoming a human popsicle for the sake of my pride.

Drayton crosses to the passenger side, holding the door open for me in an unexpectedly sweet gesture.

Don’t crumble, Jenkins. You’re angry with him, remember?

“Am I allowed to sit in the front of a police vehicle?” I ask, looking up at him in surprise.

“Sure. Unless you want me to handcuff you and put you in the back,” he replies, his blue eyes twinkling.

I’m suddenly assaulted by images of me handcuffed to his bed while he licks and nibbles his way down my naked body, and I squeeze my thighs together on the needy throb that blooms there.

I duck inside the car before he sees the fiery blush heating my cheeks, sure he’ll somehow know it’s not only from the cold. Those piercing blue eyes of his don’t seem to miss a trick.

Drayton slides in behind the wheel, and the interior of the cruiser suddenly seems to shrink.

He has a presence that’s overwhelming but not in a scary way.

He oozes an air of authority and protectiveness that appeals to me on some elemental level.

I have no doubt that he’d go above and beyond to keep me safe. I don’t know how I know that, but I do.

“I owe you an apology,” Drayton says unexpectedly as he guides the cruiser onto the main road. “The woman who worked for Pa before you took advantage of him, but that doesn’t excuse what I said to you earlier. I’m sorry.”

His apology takes me completely by surprise. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who does it often, and my opinion of him rises several notches. It’s kind of hot that he can admit when he’s wrong.

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” I reply softly. “Danny’s been great to me. I’d never take advantage of him.”

“I know,” he says, glancing across at me.

“Ah, I see. Went back to the station and did a little digging, huh?” I ask, tongue in cheek.

“Guilty,” Drayton replies sheepishly.

“Oh, crap. You found out about my double life as an undercover agent, didn’t you?” I ask with a straight face.

Drayton’s eyes shoot to mine, and he bursts out laughing. “Knew it. Had a feeling Pa hired a spy.”

“Fully trained in origami and cartography,” I say in a conspiratorial whisper.

“Impressive. Paper folding and map-making are underrated in this day and age.” He chuckles, playing along. His laughter is deep and rich—something else I’ll bet he hasn’t done much of lately.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but in reality, I lead a very dull and boring life,” I say wryly.

“‘Dull’ and ‘boring’ are not words I would ever use to describe you, Daisy,” Drayton says as he stops for a red light.

“No? What…what words would you use?” I find myself asking, suddenly very interested in his reply.

Drayton turns to look at me with those intense blue eyes. “Bright. Interesting. Beautiful,” he says softly, reaching out to tuck a blonde curl behind my ear.

I shiver at the light touch, and goosebumps erupt all over my body, tightening my nipples into stiff peaks.

Holy crap, I’m so out of my league here.

The light turns green, and Drayton drags his eyes back to the road, guiding the cruiser toward the outskirts of town.

“Dad mentioned your mom is sick. What’s wrong with her?”

I bite my lip, wondering how best to answer that question. Drayton may not be the asshole I first thought him, but he’s still the sheriff. Probably not the best idea to tell him that my mom is a raging alcoholic. “She’s, uh, she has a few mental health issues.”

“Is she responsible for the marks on your wrist?” he asks bluntly.

I close my eyes, knowing he’s uncovered my secret. Like I thought, he doesn’t miss a thing. “She doesn’t mean it. She gets aggravated when I won’t let her have a—when I don’t let her have something she wants,” I quickly correct.

“You shouldn’t be dealing with that on your own, Daisy. There’s help out there for people like her. And for people like you, the ones doing the caring.”

“I know. I’ve tried,” I say softly, feeling the guilt and helplessness that always accompanies thoughts of my mom.

“Is she the reason you came back?” he asks gently.

I nod, clenching my hands together in my lap.

“Dad left when I was sixteen. He was having an affair with another woman. He left and never looked back. I was angry and hurt, but it destroyed Mom. There was a succession of men after he left. Mom used them to bury the pain of my father’s desertion, I think.

The day one of her boyfriends tried to touch me up, I told Mom either he left or I would.

Two days later, I moved to Houston. I’d been saving the money from a part-time job all through college and had enough for a hostel until I found a full-time position. ”

“Fuck,” Drayton growls, his knuckles white as he grips the steering wheel. “She chose that asshole over you?”

I nod sadly. “I had little to no contact with her for almost three years until she called me out of the blue a few months ago. She was desperate, penniless, and about to be homeless.”

“So, you came back,” Drayton says softly.

“More out of a sense of obligation than anything else. I love my mom, but I don’t like her very much.

I know that sounds awful, but I can’t forget that she chose a man she barely knew over me.

But I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t at least try to help her.

When I got here, I found her practically living in squalor—no heating, no food in the cupboards, garbage strewn everywhere.

She hadn’t bathed for weeks. Her hair was a matted mess, and she’d aged twenty years.

It’s taken me weeks to get the house cleaned up.

I paid the overdue bills to get the services switched back on, and I’ve been trying to make ends meet ever since.

I’ve kept a low profile since I came back.

I didn’t want to draw attention to our situation.

Despite my misgivings, I don’t want my mother and her issues to be the talking point of the town.

But then the money ran out, and I needed a job, which is where Danny came in.

I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise.

Jobs aren’t exactly thick on the ground here. ”

Drayton is silent as I finish my story, and I mistake his stern expression for disgust.

“Ah, shit, I’m sorry. I don’t usually vomit a huge pile of overshare in stranger’s laps,” I sigh, embarrassed.

“We’re not strangers, Daisy,” Drayton replies, shaking his head. “And don’t ever apologize for letting your defenses down with me. You’re going to be doing a lot more of it if I have my way.”

“If you have your way?” I whisper, wondering if ‘his way’ involves him and me rolling around naked in a huge king-size bed.

Drayton doesn’t answer, but a smile pulls at his mouth, making his beard twitch. And that makes me wonder what it would feel like against my skin if he kissed me.

“Looks like my address was in your database, at least,” I say with a smile as he pulls up outside the rambling two-story house. It’s seen better days, with its tired exterior and flaking paint, but it’s a roof over our heads.

He shrugs, cutting the engine and turning to face me. “Pa told me where you live.”

“Oh. Of course, he did,” I reply, feeling stupid.

Drayton’s gaze falls to my mouth as my tongue darts out to wet my suddenly dry lips. His proximity is doing all kinds of crazy things to my rebellious body. It’s unnerving. And exciting.

Drayton leans forward, sliding a hand through my hair and dislodging my woolly hat.

“I know we didn’t get off to the best of starts, and that’s on me, but there’s something about you, Daisy Jenkins.

The second I saw you, I knew you were going to be mine.

I’ve wanted a taste of these lips all day,” he says, pressing his thumb against my bottom lip .