Read Own the Night for Free Online Page B

wasn’t impressed with his fan club.
    He focused on the piece of paper in front of him. “Alana Richardson. She hasn’t checked in yet, but—” He frowned at Alana, repeated her name into the receiver, then fell silent.
    She leaned forward. “What?”
    “There’s no reservation under that name.”
    “Yes, there is. I made it yesterday. I have a confirmation number right here…” No, she didn’t. She had no purse, no nothing. “Dammit.” She took a deep, shuddering breath and held out her hand. “May I speak with her?”
    He listened intently for a minute, now holding up one finger instead of his hand, his impassive gaze flickering over her face. “She remembers now. You made a reservation for two, but that was for yesterday. You didn’t show up so she sold the room to someone else.”
    “Because I missed my flight. But I gave her a credit card to guarantee the reservation.” This was a nightmare. A complete and utter nightmare.
    He held his palm over the phone. “Where’s your companion?”
    “What companion?”
    “You booked the reservation for two.”
    “No, I didn’t. She has me confused with someone else. I came alone. I’d like to talk to her.” Alana still had her hand out, and through gritted teeth, added, “Please.”
    “That’s okay,” he said to Rachel. “I’ll take care of it. I’m sure.”
    Alana watched him hang up the phone, her temper near boiling. “I asked to speak with her.”
    “I’m sorry, in the middle of the conversation something came up on her end. But she told me that she’s completely booked. She has no rooms at all.”
    “What am I supposed to do? Sleep in the alley?”
    He smiled. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”
    “You think this is funny, Sheriff?”
    “No, ma’am, I don’t.” He didn’t seem the slightest bit chastened as he pushed away from the desk and started to stand. But the office door opened, and he stayed right where he was.
    Alana turned to see who’d just wiped the faint smirk off his face. Two of the blondes she’d seen earlier walked in, very perky blondes in their early twenties. They were certainly full of smiles for the sheriff.
    No cheery welcome from him, Alana noticed when she turned back to follow his reaction.
    His mouth was a narrow line, thin and unsmiling. “Yes, ladies, what can I do for you?”
    “We were hoping you’d be getting off work about now,” one of them said. “Doesn’t Roy or Gus have the second shift?”
    He scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “I’m still on duty.”
    “Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “When do you get off, Noah?”
    His gaze flickered to Alana, who wouldn’t give up her front-row seat for anything. She didn’t even turn to check out the woman who was talking. Much more informative to watch him trying not to squirm. Oh, he was good at hiding his reaction, but Alana had no doubt he was not happy with the attention.
    “Is there sheriff’s business I can help you with, ma’am?” he asked evenly, getting up and grabbing his hat off the scarred wooden table that seemed to serve as a credenza.
    “I told you already, you can call me Cindy,” she said with a hint of frustration in her voice.
    Alana pressed her lips together and watched him lazily set the Stetson on his head. She was pretty sure his actions were meant as a dismissal, but the way he looked settling that cowboy hat on his head was not going to get any woman with a pulse to turn around and leave.
    While his attention was directed elsewhere, Alana studied his fancy belt buckle and wondered if he’d won it in a rodeo competition. That would make him very popular in the New York print market. She could see him as the face of one of Ralph Lauren’s colognes. She knew next to nothing about real rodeos or cowboys, only what she’d gleaned from movies she’d watched as a kid. These days, who had time for movies? Certainly not her, though she knew how to appreciate a fine male specimen. But then, that was a