“Kiesha,” Ed said with surprise. “What are you still doing here? Where’s Steven?”
She pulled out the sucker. “He popped down to the diner to get some dinner. I said I would stay until he got back.” Kiesha gave her an interested gaze. She was a stunning woman with black, straight hair that she had tied back in a ponytail and brown skin. Curves in all the right places.
Ed sighed. “You were supposed to be gone over an hour ago. If Steven wanted to leave, he should have waited for me. Get going home.”
“Sure thing, boss.” She snapped a salute at him.
Marisol’s eyes widened and she looked up at Ed to see how he was taking the other woman’s sarcasm. He just shook his head, the look on his face stern. Just that look alone would have had Marisol scrambling to obey him.
But then, she wasn’t very brave. Not like this woman. Maybe if she were braver, she would have left her aunt a long time ago.
“Kiesha, can you stay with Marisol a moment while I check on Jace and Ranger?”
“Sure thing, boss man. I live to serve.”
Ed gave the other woman an exasperated look then walked off, disappearing into a room that she figured was his office.
“Hi, I’m Kiesha.” The other woman stepped up to her, holding her hand out.
Marisol shook it. “Marisol. Nice to meet you.”
“Get you a drink or anything?” Kiesha asked. “Got a stash of cookies I keep hidden from the boys. Working with five guys, you learn to hide food quick.”
“You work at that new spa in town, huh?”
“Oh. Yes.” How did she know that?
“Gossip runs rampant in this town,” Kiesha told her. “Not much happens that I don’t know about.”
“You know how I feel about gossip, Kiesha,” Ed told her sternly as he returned.
Kiesha rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, boss man. Heard it all before. Nice to meet you, Marisol. I’ll come get my nails done on my next day off and we can have a proper chat without the boss man listening in.”
Marisol watched her saunter away, confidence in her every step. What it must be like to be so sure of yourself, to not be afraid or measure each word. “Wow, she’s . . .”
“A brat,” Ed told her.
“Um, are you allowed to say that about an employee?”
He snorted. “I’ve known her for years. Our mothers were friends. She’s never forgiven me for spanking her when she was sixteen and I caught her at a party, drinking.”
“You . . . you spanked her?”
“Sure did. She deserved it. She was hanging with the wrong crowd, getting into trouble, worrying her parents. So I stepped in and got her attention. Unfortunately, she’s been pissed at me ever since.”
Marisol took a step back, away from the sheriff. Just when she was starting to let her guard down with him, he went and said something like that.
Ed narrowed his gaze and held up his hands. “Whoa, sweetheart. Don’t give me that look. I’m not about to start accosting you. Or anyone else for that matter. I apologize for scaring you. I’ve known Kiesha a long time and people around here know that the two of us can be like oil and water. I would never hit her or abuse her. This happened a long time ago, remember.”
She swallowed heavily. “So you wouldn’t spank her now?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” He eyed her curiously. “Being with Linc, I didn’t think hearing about a spanking would worry you.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, confused.
He ran his hand over his face. “I’m talking out of turn and you’ve been through enough tonight. Why don’t you come sit down in my office and you can tell me what happened tonight to send you running in the dark and cold?”
She shook her head. “I want to go.”