Sheriff Daddy (Montana Daddies Book 10) by Laylah Roberts (good book club books txt) 📗

searching for her. She took off running about an hour and a half ago.”

“Running? In this weather? It’s dark. Why didn’t you stop her?”

Remy raised his eyebrows. “Not in the habit of telling women I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, if you’re going to work on Sanctuary Ranch, you best get used to the way the ranch and this town operate. We take care of women around here.”

Red filled Remy’s face. “Really? Does this Loki know that? Seeing as he goes around kidnapping women.”

“He doesn’t kidnap . . . fuck, whatever. I don’t have time to explain what happened. You see which direction she took?”

“Yeah, that way.” Remy pointed off to his right. “I’ll grab my jacket and take my truck, help you look.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll alert my deputies to keep an eye out and go searching for her.”

Remy shrugged. “Got nothing better to do. Besides, I’m worried about her too.”

Fuck. Where was she? He’d been searching for fifteen minutes without spotting her. What would possess her to go running at this time? Not only was it dark, but there was a cold front coming in. Spits of rain landed on his windscreen as he drove slowly down the streets. He’d swapped phone numbers with Remy, so they could check in if either of them found her. He’d also put an alert out to his deputies on duty tonight.

He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. Arnie, the motel manager, was also keeping an eye out in case she arrived back at her room. Fuck, why hadn’t he come to check on her earlier?

Because your feelings were hurt. He’d let his personal feelings interfere with his professional responsibilities. Kiesha had been worried about her. And he should know that Kiesha had good instincts. For all her pranks and bratty behavior, she was smart and insightful. And he’d just brushed off her concerns. He’d been so certain that Georgina would have taken off.

And now she was out here, somewhere.

He’d tried her phone several times, but it went straight to voicemail.

When he found her he was going to . . . what?

What do you think you can do? Lecture her? Scold her? Spank her?

Damn, it was so tempting. She deserved a spanking. Maybe it would help break through those shields she kept up. Last night, he’d seen cracks in them. Just like the night he’d kissed her.

He headed down one of the roads leading out of town. Surely, she couldn’t have gone this far? And at night? There weren't any footpaths or street lighting. Just a gravel road and endless paddocks. No, he should turn around. She would have been smart and stuck to the town roads. After all, she didn’t know her way around that well.

Just five more minutes then he’d turn around.

What had she been thinking?

Well, it was more like that she hadn’t wanted to think anymore. She’d wanted to chase her thoughts away, and there was only one way she knew of doing that. And that was to run until the point of exhaustion. Until her body burned, her lungs heaved, and she was so absolutely depleted that her brain couldn’t think.

Normally, she ran the same track through the park so she could just close off her mind and run. When she’d taken off from the motel, she hadn’t paid much attention to where she was going. And now . . . she was in the middle of freaking nowhere. It was dark. And cold.

A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. Shoot. She wasn’t scared of thunder, but she didn’t want to be caught in a rainstorm.

She stumbled, her legs nearly collapsing beneath her. How long had she been running for? She was coated in sweat and her heart was racing. It skipped a beat, making her feel nauseous. She hated when it did that. She placed a hand on her chest.

Turning around, she spotted the lights of Wishingbone in the distance. She set off again, her body protesting loudly. Her legs were noodles, she stumbled again and fell, scraping her hands and knees on the gravel.

Ouch. Ouch.

Tears threatened but she forced them down. A James didn’t cry over a few scratches. Actually, she didn’t think a James was allowed to cry at all. Her mother had told her off for crying at her father’s funeral.

She’d been twelve.

Not the time to think about that, Georgina.

Somehow, she got back up. She took another stumbling step. A few more. She managed to pick up the pace a bit. Then a wave of dizziness hit her. At the same time, a flash of light assaulted her eyes, making her flinch and cry out. Darkness flooded her vision.

Then she knew no more.

Fuck!

Ed barely got his truck into park before he was jumping out and racing over to where he’d seen her fall.

What the fuck had happened? Had she twisted her foot? Injured herself?

“Georgie! Georgie, are you all right?”

She didn’t move. She was so still, slumped on her stomach on the ground. He slammed onto his knees, ignoring the pain as he reached over and felt for her pulse. There it was. Thank God!

It was a bit erratic and too fast for his liking. He leaned down, his face close to her mouth to check her breathing. Okay. So what happened? Had she fainted? Possibly. She’d been out running for a long time.

“Georgina, can you hear me? Come on, honey, wake up for me.”

He heard a groan and gently ran his hands over her body, searching for injury. A cold wind whipped around him. Fuck, she was dressed just in some lycra and a windbreaker. It wasn’t enough for this weather, especially with sweat drying on her skin.

Rain started bucketing down. Perfect.

He had to get her out of this downpour. He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her, hoping it gave her some protection from the rain. Then he picked her up, bridal style, and stood.

Fuck. She was way too light.