Heat of the Moment by Lori Handeland

night.”
    â€œWhat’s the ton ?”
    â€œOld-time British word for the aristocracy. It’s what I call Emerson’s herd since he named them after the peers of the realm.”
    Owen continued to look confused.
    â€œDuchess, Lady, Countess.”
    â€œThat’s weird.”
    â€œWeird is what you make it.” I was weird, but I’d done my best to make sure no one knew it but me. “You didn’t have to stay.”
    â€œI had no place to be.”
    â€œYou could have slept in a bed.”
    â€œMaybe,” he said. “But probably not.”
    Before I could follow up on that statement he blurted, “People are treating me differently.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œChief Deb didn’t accuse me of animal mutilation.”
    â€œNo, she accused your mother.”
    â€œActually she accused my mother’s imaginary friends.”
    â€œShe accused your mother’s coven.”
    â€œMy mother isn’t a witch, so she doesn’t have a coven any more than she has friends.”
    Poor woman. She’d been a miserable mother but not on purpose. I’d always hoped that someone could help her, but apparently crazy like that was beyond help.
    â€œEmerson shook my hand,” Owen continued. “The last time I saw him he shot me.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo?” he echoed. “Once someone shoots at me, they don’t come back later and shake my hand.”
    â€œWhat do they do?”
    He didn’t answer, and I didn’t press. I probably didn’t want to know. The very idea of someone shooting at Owen made me twitchy.
    â€œI doubt it’ll be the last time someone shakes your hand around here.”
    â€œWhy?” He seemed horrified.
    â€œHeroes get their hands shaken.”
    â€œReggie’s the hero, not me. I just hold his leash.”
    â€œI highly doubt that’s all you do. But you can always have them shake Reggie’s paw if you want to.” Owen cast me an exasperated glance, which I ignored. “Why do you downplay what you’ve accomplished?”
    â€œYou have no idea what I’ve accomplished.”
    â€œYou’ve been in the service for ten years, Owen. I doubt you had your thumb up your ass.”
    He choked.
    â€œIf it bothers you to have your hand shaken, get over it. It’s going to happen a lot.”
    â€œNot if I hide.”
    â€œGood luck with that.” Once people knew he was in town, and why, they were going to come searching for him. And a guy of his size, with a dog of Reggie’s size, in a town of this size?
    He wasn’t going to be able to hide for long.
    *   *   *
    â€œI didn’t join the corps to be a hero,” Owen said.
    â€œWhy did you?”
    He cast her a quick glance. “You know why.”
    â€œI know what you told me.” Her mouth tightened. “You had to make something of yourself. But to me, Owen, you were everything.”
    She’d been everything to him too, which was why he’d had to go. This place had made him feel like nothing, like no one, and even her love couldn’t change that. But how could he tell her that she wasn’t enough?
    â€œI didn’t mean to lie.” Which was a great, big lie. He hadn’t wanted to lie, but he had meant to.
    â€œYou lied?”
    â€œI said I’d write.”
    â€œYou were going to leave and never write?” Her face crumpled, confused, in the soft, early morning light.
    He’d also said he’d come back. But one lie at a time.
    â€œI should have told you, but I…”
    He had a sudden memory of her eyes—stricken. Her tears—salty. Her kiss—desperate. Her touch …
    Everything.
    How could he tell her it was over when all he’d wanted was for it not to be? Then he’d made love to her and …
    He certainly couldn’t tell her then.
    â€œI didn’t want to hurt you,” he finished.
    She