Big Daddy Sheriff (Big Cedar Daddies #1)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief when Quinn came through the front door.

She ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. She hoped she wasn’t being too forward. Surely she wasn’t, she figured. They’d slept in the same bed last night. True, nothing had happened. But she’d been tangled in his arms. What was a tight hug now in the light of day?

“Are you okay? I was so worried!” she cried.

“I’m just fine,” he reassured her, rubbing her back.

“Were they bad men, Uncle Quinn?” Mindy asked.

“Yeah. Did you have to beat ‘em up?” Janie added.

Little Belinda just kept sucking on her binky, but her eyes were wide with wonder, and she was clearly both nervous and riveted.

Quinn chuckled. “I didn’t have to beat anyone up, girls. Those guys didn’t do anything illegal. Y’all go run along and play. I need to talk to Alyssa.”

Alyssa was nervous as the women gave her silent nods of solidarity and then filed out of the house. Was she in trouble? Or did Quinn have bad news?

It turned out to be the latter rather than the former. And that bad news came in the form of a picture.

“Do you recognize this guy?” Quinn thrust his cell forward, revealing the image of a driver’s license.

“Oh my gosh! That’s Bruce! He works for my… for Lana.” She began sobbing.

Quinn instantly wrapped her up in another powerful hug. He swayed gently, resting his chin on the top of her head.

His presence calmed her and a few moments later, she was able to speak again.

“How did they find me?”

“I don’t know,” he answered contemplatively. “Have you talked to anyone since you’ve been here? Like a friend or relative back in Little Rock?”

“No one,” she said.

“Could they be tracking your phone?”

“No. They’ve never had access to it.”

Quinn let go of her and then paced for a few moments as he thought it over. “The car.”

“What?”

“They found you from the car. You said this Lana lady sold it to you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then there must be some sort of GPS in it or something. They were looking in the shop. They would have come here if they were tracking you .”

“Maybe they saw my car in the garage, so they knew I was in town,” she said. “Though I don’t know how’d they even know to come to Big Cedar in the first place.”

“The garage is closed, too. Your car isn’t visible right now. A tracker of some sort is the only thing that makes sense,” Quinn said. He stopped pacing and leveled his gaze at her. “I want you to stay with me. You need around-the-clock protection.”

The words shocked her. Despite his overwhelming hospitality—and the closeness they’d come to know in such a short time—she’d figured he was ready to have her out of his hair. She’d brought trouble from Arkansas right to his front door.

“I don’t want to impose, Quinn.”

“You’re not. You’re in Big Cedar. I’m the marshal. It’s my job to protect any and all citizens in my town.”

“But I’m just a visitor,” she countered.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “Besides, it goes beyond all that.” He stepped toward her once again and took her hands in his. There was an intimacy in the way he held them. “I would protect you no matter what. It’s the right thing to do. But I’m sure as hell not going to let anything happen to the Little girl of my dreams.” He grinned. “Darlin’, I’ve been waiting my whole life for you. I’m not about to lose you now.”

Alyssa’s words and breath caught in her throat as Quinn’s lips moved to hers.

The kiss started slow and light, but soon, urgency and passion overtook them. Even when it had ended, they stood there in the living room as he held her tightly.

She had found her Daddy.

He had found his Little.

Neither wanted to ever let go.