One Good Man. Charlotte Douglas

drew another deep breath. He’d taken her by surprise, that was all. Next time she’d be prepared to resist his good looks and charismatic charm. Such attributes could only lead to trouble. She wouldn’t trade Brittany for anything, but Jodie had promised herself when her baby was born that she’d never, ever let her senses override her reason again.

      Plenty of men had expressed an interest over the years. Jodie had briefly dated a few. But all had fallen short of the high standards she’d set after her first and only disastrous sexual experience. No one in Pleasant Valley had measured up to the qualities she admired in men, with the exception of her dad and her brother Grant, of course.

      And none of the men she’d dated had exhibited the least interest in Brittany. Some had stated outright that the child was a deal-breaker in a relationship. So Jodie had remained single and happy. Men were definitely off her diet.

      Her reaction to Jeff had been a fluke. It wouldn’t happen again.

      She pushed to her feet, dismayed to find her legs still shaky, grabbed the coffee mugs from the tabletop and headed for the counter. While tucking his check into the cash register, she glimpsed Jeff out front astride his vintage Harley and talking to a policewoman. A satisfied smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She hoped Officer Brynn Sawyer was giving him a ticket. Serve the handsome devil right.

      She had stowed the mugs in the dishwasher when the bell over the door tinkled. Afraid Jeff had come back, she felt her pulse rev and her face flush. When she turned, however, it was only Brynn.

      “You’re still in uniform.” Jodie hoped Brynn wouldn’t notice her reddened face, although the officer, trained to observe, never missed much. “Didn’t your shift end hours ago?”

      Brynn perched on a stool at the counter. “I’ve been catching up on paperwork.”

      “Want coffee?”

      Brynn nodded. Even in her severely cut blue uniform, the tall, shapely woman with dark auburn hair was a knockout. Men had been known to exceed speed limits merely for the pleasure of being pulled over by Pleasant Valley’s gorgeous cop. Brynn, however, remained unaware of her beauty. She was too married to her job to pay attention to much else, especially the gaggle of admiring guys who often hovered around her. Totally focused, she performed her duties with above-and-beyond devotion. Everyone in town felt safer with Brynn on patrol.

      “I’ve got some new material,” Brynn said, a twinkle lighting her midnight-blue eyes.

      “Not more lawyer jokes, please,” Jodie said with a fake groan and filled her coffee mug.

      Brynn had a thing about lawyers. And Yankees. Otherwise generous and open-minded to a fault, Jodie’s friend couldn’t tolerate either as a group. But if an individual attorney or Northerner needed help, Brynn was there in a New York minute.

      “How many of those lawyer jokes do you know?” Jodie said.

      “Only three.” Brynn’s grin was wicked. “The rest are true stories.”

      Jodie couldn’t help laughing. Brynn always cheered her up, even after her worst rows with Brittany.

      Brynn dumped artificial sweetener and cream in her coffee and stirred. “How does a pregnant woman know she’s carrying a future lawyer?”

      “There’s no stopping you, is there?”

      Her friend’s grin widened. “She has an uncontrollable craving for baloney. What does a lawyer use for birth control?”

      “I give up.”

      “His personality.” She barely paused for breath. “What happens when you cross a pig with a lawyer?”

      Jodie laughed. “I’m afraid to ask.”

      “Nothing. There’re some things even a pig won’t do. What do you call—”

      “Stop, please.” Jodie struggled to speak through her laughter. “Is this how you interrogate suspects? Lawyer-joke them until they crack?”

      “Now there’s a thought.” Brynn cut her a probing glance. “Guess you saw Jeff Davidson.”

      “He has a catering job for me.” Jodie worked to keep her tone casual.

      “You don’t do catering.”

      Jodie shrugged. “I do now.”

      “For the dorm raising?”

      “How’d you know?”

      “I’m invited.”

      “You? You’re more tool challenged than I am. Unless we’re talking guns, of course.” Brynn was a crack shot who’d won several competitions. But, as far as Jodie knew, the officer had never fired her weapon on the job.

      “I don’t have to work Saturday,” Brynn said. “And Jeff thinks my presence will lend respectability to his project. If I witness what’s happening, I can combat rumors.”

      “So he worked his devilish charm on you, too?”

      “Devilish charm?” Brynn gave her a blank look.

      Being a cop must have inoculated her friend against male charisma, especially since so many men Brynn encountered were felons. Jeff had come close to that category in high school, Jodie remembered.

      Brynn’s face lit with sudden comprehension. “Charm? Sister Jodie, our resident nun, found Jeff charming?”

      “Of course not, but he tried to use his wiles with me.”

      “If you didn’t find him charming, why are you catering for him?” Brynn, an expert at gauging reactions, was watching her every move.

      Jodie was determined to appear unaffected by the Marine’s appeal. “Because he agreed to pay the outrageous price I quoted.”

      Brynn wrinkled her nose. “Why do you suppose he did that?”

      “Because he’s desperate?”

      “He could feed his crew of Marines beef jerky and water and they wouldn’t complain. Maybe he fell for your charms.”

      “Don’t be silly.” Jodie picked up a cloth, scrubbed a non-existent stain on the spotless counter and changed the subject. “I had another row with Brittany.”

      Brynn sighed. “What’s she done now?”

      “Wants her navel pierced.”

      “Best place. Least defacing. Least visible.”

      Jodie snorted. “Not the way she dresses. Besides, it’s a precedent. First the navel, then an eyebrow, then...” She stopped and shuddered. “I don’t know what to do, Brynn. She’s slipping away from me, becoming more rebellious and angry each day. And with her wild, out-of-control friends, she’s headed for more trouble.”

      “I checked out the names you gave me. None of these kids have been arrested. Not like the last group.”

      Jodie shook her head. “Maybe they just haven’t been caught.”

      “Maybe you should get married.”

      Jodie had taken a sip of coffee and almost spewed it. “What?”

      “Brittany needs a father figure.” Brynn said matter-of-factly. “And you could use a husband.”

      “She has father figures. Her grandpa Nathan and her uncle Grant.”

      “And you have?”

      The perfect comeback. “I have my job. Just like you.”

      “Touché.” Brynn chugged her coffee. “I’ll give you a hand Saturday, since I’ll be at the dorm raising anyway.”

      “Want to ride with Brittany and me?”

      “You’re taking Brit?”

      “She’s been working Saturdays