Cold Hearted Love: A Small Town Sheriff Romance Read online

  Cold Hearted Love

  A Small Town Sheriff Romance

  Piper Sullivan

  Copyright © 2020 by Piper Sullivan

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Also by Piper Sullivan

  Small Town Protectors

  Hero Boss: An Office Romance

  “There is something sexy about a woman with a man’s name.”

  Stevie Maddox was the last person I would have hired.

  Or kissed.

  Or slept with.

  Somehow, I managed to do all three despite her being all wrong for me.

  But she’s funny.

  Sweet.

  Sexy as hell.

  And I can’t stop thinking about her…

  I just have to convince her this is more than just an office romance.

  Dr's Orders, Book 8: A Single Mom Romance

  Mastering Her Curves, Book 7: A Curvy Girl Romance

  Kissing My Best Friend, Book 6: A Fake Relationship Romance

  Undesired, Book 5: A Best Friend's Brother Romance

  Wanting Ms Wrong, Book 4: A Second Chance Baby Romance

  Loving My Enemy, Book 3: An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Bad Boy Benefits, Book 2: A Roommate Hero Romance

  Hero In My Bed, Book 1: A Roommate Hero Romance

  Accidental Hookups

  Accidentally Hitched: An Accidental Marriage Romance (Accidental Hookups Book 1)

  Accidentally Wed: An Accidental Marriage Romance (Accidental Hookups Book 2)

  Accidentally Bound: An Accidental Marriage Romance (Accidental Hookups Book 3)

  Accidentally Wifed: An Accidental Marriage Romance (Accidental Hookups Book 4)

  Boardroom Games

  His Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games Book 1)

  Sinful Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games Book 2)

  Naughty Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games 3)

  Standalones

  Stranded: A Mountain Man Romance

  Dating the Doctor: A Single Dad Romance

  Dr. Daddy Next Door: A Single Dad Romance

  Cowboy's Fake Fiancée: A Single Dad & A Virgin Romance

  Cowboy's Barmaid: A Small Town Military Romance

  Let's Pretend : A Fake Fiancée Romance

  I’ll Pretend : A Fake Fiancée Romance

  Boxsets & Collections

  Misters of Pleasure: A Small Town Protectors Boxset

  Daddies & Nannies: A Contemporary Romance Boxset

  Cowboys & Bosses: A Contemporary Romance Boxset

  Kiss Me, Love Me: An Alpha Male Romance Boxset

  Accidentally On Purpose:An Accidental Marriage Boxset

  Small Town Misters: A Small Town Protectors Boxset

  Contents

  1. Ginger

  2. Tyson

  3. Ginger

  4. Tyson

  5. Ginger

  6. Tyson

  7. Ginger

  8. Tyson

  9. Ginger

  10. Tyson

  11. Ginger

  12. Tyson

  13. Ginger

  14. Tyson

  15. Ginger

  16. Tyson

  17. Ginger

  18. Tyson

  19. Ginger

  20. Tyson

  21. Ginger

  22. Tyson

  23. Ginger

  24. Tyson

  25. Ginger

  26. Tyson

  27. Ginger

  28. Tyson

  29. Ginger

  30. Tyson

  31. Ginger

  32. Tyson

  33. Ginger

  Excerpt: Misters of Pleasure

  Also by Piper Sullivan

  About the Author

  Ginger

  One of the best things about having a hands off boss is that there was no constant presence hovering over you as you completed every single task assigned to you. One of the worst things, was when said boss never slept and communicated exclusively by email. Every single day. All day long. Some days I logged into the Tulip Gazette email system to find a dozen messages from the man who signed my direct deposit paychecks.

  He was always respectful, mostly stern and usually redundant.

  In conclusion Ginger, I am finding the Tulip Gazette a waste of resources. It turns a profit, but I feel it could b bigger. It should be bigger. Get those numbers up so we don’t have to talk about things like shutting down the paper and unemployment claims. Greg T.

  That’s how he signed every message. Which didn’t leave much of an impact on me, but the people of Tulip were utterly fascinated by him. His holiday cards and charitable donations have given him quite a reputation in Tulip, despite the fact he’d never set foot in this town. Ever.

  Still, his message to me was crystal clear. Do better, or lose my job. Which basically meant, do better, because I couldn’t lose my job. Decent paying positions were difficult to come across in this economy, and one with the flexibility to work another job was almost impossible. It’s how I landed in this teensy town in the first place. The paper needed a journalist, and I was in need of a job in the field of journalism. It wasn’t the best paying position, but now a few months later, I practically ran the place as a one woman operation for a slightly higher salary, which went to the pricey care home that treated my mom’s Alzheimer’s. It all worked out perfectly, because my part time job at Big Mama’s diner paid my own living expenses. I had to stay on here.

  No matter what.

  I read Greg’s email at least three more times, just in case the words shifted into something else that didn’t threaten my employment status. Then I stared at the yellow notebook beside my tablet on the small wooden desk that counted as half of the Tulip Gazette offices. I had to come up with at least a hundred ideas if there was as chance in hell I found a dozen that could help drive more traffic, because more subscriptions were pretty much out of the question.

  Tulip was a small town, I knew that when I packed up my apartment in Minneapolis, but that didn’t bother me. It was certainly one of the smallest, with fewer than ten thousand people, but it wasn’t my first small town. In my eagerness to earn more money, I hadn’t stopped to figure out how I would keep up with the digital Joneses.

  “I’ll find a way.” Mostly because I had to. It was just us, me and my mom. The Scanlan girls. She took care of me and put me through school, and now it was my turn the return the favor. Even if she had no idea what I was doing. Or for whom. That didn’t matter, I wasn’t doing it for the recognition or the gratitude, I was doing it for her.

  Which meant I needed ideas. Lots and lots of ideas.

  And I would come up with them. Soon.

  For now, I had to get over to the diner before my shift began. The breakfast rush was crazy busy, and it was the best time of day to get good tips. Keep shift workers and retirees in steady cups of coffee and they were very generous before they headed off for another day of punching a clock. I had a few minutes before Big Mama expected me, so I took my time and enjoyed the scenery which included the infamous Tulip’s Tribute, which is probably the sole reason the paper was still in operation.

  “Morning Ginger.” The sound of Rafe Montgomery’s voice pulled me from my own thoughts an
d I smiled up at the too good looking fire chief.

  “Good morning, Rafe. Fighting fires before the sun comes up?”

  “Something like that,” he grinned with twitching lips. “Breaking bad news to firefighters is best done with coffee and sugar.”

  “And don’t forget carbs. Loads and loads of carbs.” It didn’t do a thing to take the sting off bad news, but pastries were a special kind of miracle.

  “Of course.” His lips twitched again and I was never really sure if he was laughing at me or with me. “How are you settling into Tulip?”

  “It’s great,” I told him honestly. “It’s small and safe and weird as hell. What’s not to like?”

  “Maybe we ought to put that on the welcome sign. Welcome to Tulip. Where it’s small, safe and weird as hell.”

  “Why not? We still have twelve hot hometown heroes to fall back on if that doesn’t work.” If possible, Rafe’s cheeks turned an alarming shade of hot pink that teased a laugh out of me. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I should be used to it by now, but it’s odd having your elementary art teacher ogling your ass.”

  “It’d be weirder if you were still in elementary art class.” My words stopped him in his tracks, Rafe stared at me for a long moment and then he laughed. “Don’t let it be weird, just flirt with her and move on.”

  “You don’t know Mrs. Kendall.”

  I didn’t, but the idea of another eighty year old with roaming hands was more entertaining than it had any right to be.

  “Since you’re already doing your part for charity, care to do a little more?”

  He groaned and his broad shoulders fell. “How much of my precious free time is it gonna cost me?”

  “Less than an hour, I promise!” His almost agreement had me feeling giddy as we neared the diner. “It’s just a few paragraphs on fire safety during times of the year you think it’s needed. Camping and hiking and skiing, all the activities that bring people here.”

  “That’s a great idea. Count me in.”

  “Really? That’s great Rafe, thanks!”

  He held up his hand with a rueful smile. “Don’t thank me yet, because I need you to remind me at least a week before you need it.”

  “Done!” I was so happy I practically vibrated with excitement. One agreement down, and it was just by accident. “Come on, let me buy you a cup of coffee and a sweet potato pecan muffin.”

  “Sounds like my lucky morning.” He held the diner door open and I went in first, inhaling the scent of the first pot of coffee of the day and buttery biscuits already baking in the oven.

  “Morning Big Mama!”

  She grunted and flashed a beaming smile. “It is morning, ain’t it? But that’s not why you’re smilin’ so bright, is it?”

  “No Ma’am it’s not. Rafe has agreed to help me keep my job with some fire safety tips for the paper.”

  “He has, has he?” She wore a skeptical look and an arched brow. “Wonder what brought that on.”

  “I don’t know, but I hope it means you’ll agree to offer up some cooking tips to those not as capable as you are in the kitchen. No family secrets or anything, just how to properly coat chicken for frying, or the key to a moist cake. What do you think?”

  “I guess it’s my duty to pass my gifts on to the less fortunate.”

  “It would be what a good southern woman would do,” I added because it was fun to banter back and forth with Big Mama.

  “I knew I liked you for a reason.” She pointed at me with a smile. “That coffee ain’t gonna refill itself.”

  “No ma’am it won’t,” I shot back and strapped on a pink and yellow apron before grabbing a fresh pot of coffee and making the rounds as the diner filled up.

  I spent most of the shift with a smile plastered on my face as I took orders, fed customers and cleaned tables. Pretty much I did whatever needed to be done to get the tables moving and new diners in their seats. But it was easy, I’d been waiting tables in one form or another since I was old enough to work. So what I spent my shift really doing was brainstorming. Thinking of all the ways I could recruit the townspeople to help drive traffic to the website and get them invested in it too, while making a list of who else I could ask.

  By the time I untied the straps on my apron and left the diner for the Gazette offices, I felt a renewed sense of energy. A sense of hope.

  I just hoped it worked out.

  Tyson

  “She’s missing, Sheriff! My Marguerite is missing and I want her back!” Karl Gentry stood right outside the door of my cruiser with both hands flung high in the air and a wild look in his dark brown eyes. “Marguerite!”

  I stepped from the cruiser slowly, giving myself plenty of time to stifle the laughter that threatened to build. Karl’s pain was as real as any other citizen of Tulip, and I owed him my respect.

  “Where did Marguerite get off to this time?” Every few weeks Marguerite, an eight hundred pound heifer, liked to go on a walkabout. Sometimes she was found lounging on another stretch of property, belly full with grass and a bovine grin on her face. Last year she managed to make it clear across town.

  “Hell if I know, Sheriff. I woke up and she was gone. Just gone without a trace.” Karl looked so bereft that I almost felt bad for the man, or I would if he ever bothered to repair his damn fence. “I’ll bet, and you’ll have to excuse me for sayin’ so, but I’ll bet it was your brother. He’s always going on about how I treat my animals like he has any damn right…sorry, Sheriff.”

  “It’s all right, Karl.” I held up my hands to let him know I wasn’t offended. Scott could be a little high and mighty when it came to his animals, it was a hazard of being a vet. “I doubt it was Scott, mostly because he doesn’t have a place to keep your Marguerite.”

  “Then I don’t understand where the hell she is, Sheriff!” The man was really flummoxed, and Marguerite was nowhere in sight, not in all four directions. “She’s a damn cow, where could she be?”

  It was a good question, but one I had no desire to debate over when lunch was close to an hour away, and my stomach was growling like a cave monster. “Let’s give her some time to come home before we start to panic.” I didn’t bother telling him that a lost cow was no reason to call the Sheriff’s Department, because I knew we’d still be back here again next month. Maybe sooner, if Marguerite got struck with cabin fever again.

  Karl was getting ready to get himself worked up good and proper when we heard the telltale moo of his Marguerite. “You hear that?”

  “Sounds like she just forgot to leave a note for you Karl.”

  His grin turned into a laugh and he shook his head. “I suppose you’re right Sheriff. Thanks for your help.”

  “Anytime. Maybe consider getting a security camera so you know where she gets off to?”

  Karl nodded, but I knew when I was being blown off. “Yeah, sure Sheriff. I’ll look into it, and don’t you worry, you’ve got my vote next election.”

  I guess that was that, then. “All right Karl, you and Marguerite have a good one.”

  I left Karl and Marguerite behind, and got on with the rest of the day, which meant doing a slow drive through town so I always knew what was going on. It didn’t matter if it was domestic problems, hunger, drinking, drugs, whatever it was, I liked to know. Knowing meant I could head off situations before they became real problems. That’s how you kept a town like Tulip from becoming like so many other small towns when factories fled the country and tech took over everything that was left standing.

  Up and down the streets of Tulip I drove, in a grid pattern to take note of changes to neighborhoods and put a name to any new faces I saw, which weren’t that many. Most of the newcomers to Tulip lately had, oddly, been female. None of them had caused much trouble, aside for the falling in love kind.

  That was a kind of trouble I didn’t need. The military and law enforcement was plenty of drama, I didn’t need to deal with the drama of a woman in my off hours. No thanks. I wasn’t interest
ed. Which meant the matchmakers in town were as dangerous to me as any criminal. And when I saw them lately I went in the opposite direction, thank you very much.

  Nothing looked out of the ordinary, and my stomach was growling like that was its primary function, so I headed back to the office where hopefully, someone had lunch waiting for me.

  “Afternoon Brenda. Any messages?”

  The middle-aged assistant I inherited from the last sheriff looked up at me through emerald green bifocals and a toothy grin. “None I couldn’t handle. You do have a visitor though. In your office,” she pointed with a mischievous smile that didn’t sit well with me.

  “Think you can rustle up some lunch for me?” I hated asking, but dammit this job required so much paperwork and so many meetings that I didn’t have enough storage space to remember small things like eating and sleeping.

  “Sure thing, Sheriff. The usual?”

  I gave a short nod. “Onion rings and fries, thanks. And here some cash. Thanks Brenda.”

  “My pleasure. Enjoy your…meeting.” I was already halfway down the hall when the oddness in her tone struck me again, and I made it two steps into my office when I figured it out.

  “Ms. Scanlan, what can I do for you?” Ginger Scanlan was one of the female newcomers to Tulip. Though unlike the rest, she hadn’t yet succumbed to love.