Victoria Chancellor - The Bachelor Project

She needed something more substantial to wear. There was no way she’d be able to continue a conversation—even one based on the flora and fauna of the Texas Hill Country—in this robe. Not when the chief looked so darn good in his crisp uniform and sexy, reluctant smile.

Robin paused, her smile fading as she pulled a T-shirt on over a sports bra and donned a pair of running shorts. She hadn’t looked at the chief’s hands. She hadn’t noticed if he was wearing a wedding band. He might be married. There might be a Mrs. Parker waiting for her husband to come home.

He didn’t seem in any hurry to get home to the missus. When Robin strolled into the kitchen a few minutes later, he was making coffee as if he owned the place. The distinctive aroma filled the room as the sputtering, hissing water filtered through the grounds.

“Find everything you need?” she asked, making more noise than necessary as she removed two mugs from the cabinet. Favorite mugs she’d placed there just hours before, as she’d unpacked the necessities she’d brought with her from her Houston condo.

“I hope you don’t mind. I found some decaf. I didn’t think you needed caffeine after what you’ve been through tonight.”

“Decaf’s fine. But like I said earlier, I don’t want to keep you. Your…family might be expecting you home.”

He turned his head to the side and smiled in a knowing way. “Is that the polite way to ask if I’m married?”

Robin stood straight, surprised she was so transparent. She really was rusty at this man-woman thing. Dating one man for two years would do that to a person. “I—”

“That’s okay. You probably should have questions. Believe me, I don’t usually…Well, let’s just say that I haven’t needed to comfort an upset woman in a long, long time.”

“Is that your way of saying that you were just doing your job?” She placed the mugs on the counter next to the coffeemaker, then rested her hands on her hips. For some reason she didn’t want to explore, she felt extraordinarily irritated by his remark.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” He rotated his neck, then ran a hand through his short, dark brown hair. His sheepish smile was totally different from the falsely charming one he’d given her on the porch, when he’d tried to convince her that strange noises in the night were nothing to worry about. “Look, I’ve never hugged a 9-1-1 caller before.”

“Oh.” She let her hands fall to her sides and concentrated on not smiling with feminine confidence. Perhaps she was still giddy with relief, but her reaction to Chief Parker was as out of character for her as he claimed his earlier behavior was for him. In a tiny corner of her mind, she knew being attracted to a man so quickly after her botched near-wedding was not smart, but for the moment she chose to ignore the warning.

“I’m flattered I was your first 9-1-1 hug, then,” she replied as casually as possible. “And to put my thinly veiled question another way, I hope your wife doesn’t mind that you go around comforting hysterical women in the middle of the night.”

Parker laughed. “I don’t have a wife. Never have had one, although I have been close a time or two.”

“Really? There’s a story there, I’m sure, but I’m not bold enough to ask.”

“Good, because I wouldn’t answer. At least, not over a first cup of coffee when we’re supposed to be talking about getting you acclimated to country living.”

“Oh, yes. I almost forgot.” She probably shouldn’t have admitted that, she realized as she turned around and poured the coffee. Pasting a confident smile on her face, she walked the few steps to the table and placed the cup before him. “Cream or sugar?”

“No, thank you. I’ve learned to drink it black.”

“You obviously have a tougher stomach than I do,” she said as she helped herself to sweetener and powdered creamer. Thank goodness she’d remembered to pack the basics, since the grocery in Ranger Springs had closed before she’d had a chance to go shopping.

“It’s a prerequisite for law enforcement work.”

“I thought the dietary requirements included the ability to consume endless doughnuts.” She took a sip of coffee, hoping he didn’t take offense over her attempt at cop humor.

“Enough with the clichés,” he said with a short chuckle. “We have to stay a bit more healthy than a steady diet of doughnuts would allow.”

And he certainly did look healthy…and fit. She squirmed a bit in her seat, deciding she’d better change the subject quickly. “So, what animals should I expect?”

He gave her a speculative look, but didn’t pursue the personal remarks. Leaning back in his chair, he took a tentative sip of the hot coffee. “The common ones are squirrels, raccoons, opossums, rabbits and deer. You’ll probably have some foxes and coyotes visit, too, but you may never see them. They’re pretty shy of humans. We’ve even had some cougars sighted, so be careful if you’re out at night.”

“Cougars?” She barely suppressed a shudder. “I didn’t realize I was that far out in the wild.”

“Actually, we keep intruding into their territory. San Antonio has spread pretty far north, and Austin is spreading south and west. We’ve built new roads and vacation homes through the Hill Country. The animals migrate where they can find food, which is often around humans.”

“I’ll make sure they’re not finding it at my back door.”

“That’s the best thing you can do. Of course, the deer will eat anything in the yard—grass, trees, shrubs, flowers. It’s hard to discourage them. The feed store has a few solutions, but a hungry deer is more persistent than anything I’ve seen so far.”

“I didn’t know house-sitting was going to be so challenging,” she said, shaking her head.

“You’ll get used to it.” He looked at her over the rim of his mug, his expression unreadable. The unspoken part of his remark echoed between them—if you’re going to be here that long.

She didn’t know the answer to that question.

“I’ll try my best, especially the part about staying away from the meat-eaters.”

Parker leaned forward. “Don’t make the mistake of treating any of the wild animals like house pets. Opossums have more teeth than any mammal in North America, and even a squirrel can seriously injure you by biting your finger instead of whatever you’re trying to feed it. What appears cute and cuddly can quickly become dangerous.”

She wondered if his warning applied to off-duty police chiefs. “Don’t worry. I’ll limit my feeding to putting out seed for some nice, safe birds.”

“You’d be better off not putting anything out at all.”

“I like birds. I never get to feed them from my condo balcony.”

“Then you’ll also get squirrels and the rest. They like seed, too.”

“You’re not exactly a walking, talking advertisement for rural life, you know,” she complained halfheartedly, unable to suppress a smile.

Parker chuckled. “No, I suppose I’m not. As a police officer, I tend to focus on prevention. If I can’t prevent, I apprehend.”

“And answer calls from hysterical women with a raccoon problem.”

“That,” he said, placing his empty mug on the table, “was a very rare event. I doubt I’ll need to modify my job description, unless you’re planning on calling in regularly.”

She traced a cross over her heart. “I promise I’ll look for four-legged visitors first.”

He looked at her speculatively. “Will you?”

“Of course.”

His expression grew more serious, more inquisitive, reminding Robin that he was, as a law enforcement officer, a trained interrogator. “You were pretty upset—maybe not a hundred percent from the raccoons.”