Page 9 of The Deputy's Secret Double

She would accept Winnie’s dad’s help, make small talk about the teen and then send him on his way. No muss, no fuss.

Perfect plan.

A knock sounded on the front door.

JJ hid her pain once again and hurried to answer it.

She must have been faster than the man thought she would be. When she opened the door, his head was still turned toward the car in the driveway.

It was the only reason JJ was able to hide the absolute shock that must have gone across her face.

It was clearly the man from Josiah’s, even still wearing his baseball shirt.

Had her identity been discovered? Was he there to finish their fight?

But no. His body language was lax, and his attention was clearly on her car.

So, he was Winnie’s dad?

But wasn’t Winnie’s dad a sheriff’s deputy?

A cold feeling of unease settled in JJ’s gut.

Since coming to Seven Roads, she had been careful not to make any mistakes.

Today, she had not only been caught, she’d been caught by the law.

And now that law was standing in front of her, looking just as good as he had before their fight.

Today really wasn’t JJ’s day after all.

CHAPTER THREE

Price couldn’t say with confidence that he was all that great at understanding the subtleties of women. He didn’t have much experience in that department, if he was being honest. Sure, he’d gone on a few dates in the last several years but none of them had exactly panned out.

For one, he wasn’t good at being quiet. He was a talker. Had been since he was a kid, would be until he was old and gray. He could probably trace the reason why he loved to chat back to his mother, queen of the talkers. Rest her soul—she wasn’t gone but she was constantly driving her second husband up the wall in their home in Las Vegas—she filled every space in a conversation to the brim.

“It’s amazing what you end up hearing when you talk too much,” she’d always say. “Shows you who people really are when they realize they can’t keep you quiet too.”

Price had thought the sentiment was ridiculous. Still, he’d managed to pick up the trait.

He listened, sure, but talking was his bread and butter.

That hadn’t always been appreciated. Especially on his dates. Though, that also could have had less to do with him dominating the conversation and more that he was dating in Seven Roads. The same place he’d been born. The same place his dates had also been born.

It was hard to connect with someone who knew every little thing about you. From knowing about the unfortunate peeing incident in kindergarten to Jimmy Johnson pantsing you in eighth grade to your grades, fashion choices and tripping during high school graduation. Then there was the fact of holding the single father title at the age of nineteen.

Price was never, not even for one second, ashamed of being a dad. He had never said one bad word about Winnie’s mother, and he had never regretted his choices about either one. But he had another rule: if someone spoke about either with any negativity, they were out.

That was why, now in his thirties, he was still single.

It was also why he wasn’t as confident as he normally would have been, standing across from JJ Shaw.

First, he didn’t know her. A rare occurrence in town.

Second, she did that thing that he believed women had a special power over.

She smiled.