She slammed her truck door, knowing that was just an excuse.

Truth was, she was a little intrigued by Morgan. The woman was full of questions but had divulged little about her own life. There had to be a reason she stayed in Lake City. And as far as she could tell, Morgan was very single, so it wasn't a woman who kept her here. Because frankly, she couldn't imagine anyone staying in this tiny town willingly. No, when her year was up, she'd be gone the next day.

Morgan was where she thought she'd be-sitting at the bar chatting with Tracy. She walked over casually, ignoring the stares of the other patrons. Those who knew her routine knew she never went to the bar.

"Evening, ladies," she said as she sat on the high-backed barstool beside Morgan.

Morgan smiled easily at her. "You're able to walk?"

Reese laughed. "So far. Tomorrow might be another story."

"Excuse me, Chief Daniels, but did you want your usual?"

"Tracy, you know it's okay to call me Reese." She glanced at Morgan, noting her amused expression at Tracy's formality.

Then again, Tracy was probably in shock that Reese could speak in complete sentences. "And Eloise tells me I need to try the double battered chicken. What do you think?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am, it's delicious. Comes with a side salad and some steak fries."

"Sounds great. And I'll have a beer while I'm waiting." She turned in her barstool and met Morgan's eyes, giving her a subtle wink as Tracy hurried to fill a mug.

"A month of burgers is enough for you?"

Reese shrugged. "When you don't cook, it's hard to be choosy.

Especially in this town."

"I've found that when people say they don't cook, it means they don't like to cook, not that they can't."

Reese nodded at Tracy who disappeared after sliding a beer in front of her. "I suppose you cook?"

Morgan laughed. "Not really, no. I mean, I wouldn't starve to death or anything. Actually, I know how to cook. I just hate doing it."

Reese sipped from her beer, watching Morgan do the same.

"Why are you here?"

Morgan raised her eyebrows. "Here?"

"In Lake City," she clarified. "I mean, you asked me that question once."

"Oh, I see. You view it as being stuck here. And I guess maybe that first winter, I did too. I was supposed to be a.s.signed to Gunnison and Blue Mesa. But on the very day I got there, they said I'd been transferred. And when I saw this town and realized how remote it would be, especially during the winter, I panicked.

I was going to transfer out the next season."

"Yet here you are."

"Yeah. I fell in love with the place, the people. So I thought, well, I'll do another year, then transfer out." She laughed. "Seven years ago."

"Don't you miss having a relations.h.i.+p?"

"You mean s.e.x? Don't I miss having s.e.x?"

Reese smiled. "Yeah."

"Of course. Why do you think I let Moaning Mona come home with me?"

Reese coughed and nearly spit her beer out. "Moaning Mona?"

"Sorry."

Reese shook her head. "I don't want to know."

"But I told you she was a biter, right?"

"No. Again, I don't want to know."

Morgan laughed. "You see, this is why it's nice to have another lesbian in town. I can't talk about my s.e.x life-or lack of-with the girls. Tracy wants to lecture me about settling down and Tina just wants more details."

"So we're really the only two around, huh?"

"No. Actually, there's a couple that live up the mountain, past Charlie's place. But they're either very closeted or they live like hermits intentionally. They're pretty self-sufficient, from what I hear. They have a big greenhouse to grow vegetables and they have solar panels for their power. They come into town some during the summer, but winter, no, we don't see them until spring thaw."

"How long have they been here?"

"They came the year after me. So six years."

Reese rested her elbows on the bar, nodding at Tracy to refill her mug. "So again, why are you here?"

"Are you saying I should base my whole existence on the possibility of romance? I have little shot of it here, so I should move?" Morgan shrugged. "If I were younger, maybe. But I'll turn thirty-six this spring, I love it here, I love the people, I'm content with my life. I don't want to move somewhere just to increase my chances of meeting someone I might possibly have a relations.h.i.+p with. I guess what I'm saying is, at this point in my life, it's not that big a deal, as long as I'm happy with everything else." She paused. "And I am."

"And you get by with the occasional dalliance with someone like Mona?"

Morgan laughed again, an easy laugh that Reese found enjoyable.

"Dalliance? Is that what it was?" Morgan leaned closer and playfully b.u.mped her arm. "Is that what you called it? You and the mayor's wife?"

"Even though Winter Park is a h.e.l.l of a lot more glamorous than Lake City, it wasn't exactly crawling with single gay women."

"I'm a.s.suming the mayor's wife is straight?"

0.

Reese smiled. "Oh, yes. Very straight. And I'm afraid I ruined it for her."

"Rocked her world, did you?"

"She's fifty-one and had never had oral s.e.x."

"Oh, my."

"Yeah, it was quite fun." Not enough fun to get booted out of town though. She looked up as Tracy placed her bag on the bar.

"Thanks, Tracy."

"Or did you want to eat here tonight, Chief?"

"No. I should get going." She glanced at Morgan. "What are you having?"

"Oh, I'll probably get a burger to take home." She slid her beer mug over to Tracy. "But I'll have one more."

Reese took her bag and moved the barstool back, then tossed a ten-dollar bill on the bar. "Beer's on me, Zula," she teased quietly, barely moving fast enough to miss the punch Morgan threw at her.

"I will so kill you."

"Now, now. Don't cause a scene." Reese bowed politely.

"Goodnight, Morgan. See you around." She nodded at Tracy before escaping out the door, realizing that she was still smiling.

Yeah, she liked Morgan. It'd be nice to have someone to talk to, a friend.

But later, as she sat alone at her table in her quiet little cabin, finis.h.i.+ng off the last of the steak fries, she wondered if she could go the whole year with Morgan as a friend. Truth was, she found her attractive. They had easy conversations. Nothing was ever strained or forced. But she couldn't actually see herself asking Morgan out on a date. For one thing, what would they do?

Where would they go? Sloan's Bar was the only entertainment in the county.

"Forget it," she murmured, gathering the remains of her dinner and tossing it in the trash.

She went into the living room, bored out of her mind, knowing it was too early for bed. She turned a circle, looking around the small cabin. When she'd agreed to take this job, it was one of the things she insisted on-a place to live that wasn't in town. And a place she didn't have to pay for.

They came up with this little jewel. It belonged to Ronald Brightmen, one of the county commissioners. It was a vacation and hunting cabin that seldom got used, he'd told her. And it suited her perfectly. Six miles out of town, at the edge of the National Forest, no nosy neighbors and absolutely no traffic.

And she was bored and lonely and starting to think crazy thoughts.

Like wondering if Morgan was as feisty in bed as she was out of it.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

Morgan glanced up as the door opened, smiling when Tina stuck her head inside.

"Hey, guys," she said as she came in carrying a picnic basket.

"I brought lunch."

"Bored, are you?"

"Totally." Tina plopped down beside Morgan's desk and winked at Berta. "Besides, I've been hearing all sorts of rumors. I came to check them out."

Morgan eyed Berta suspiciously. "What kind of rumors?"

"You and Chief Daniels spending time together."

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Good grief. We went skiing."

"That in itself is big news. You hate to ski."

"Yes, I know. Charlie made me."

"And dinner?"

"Dinner? We didn't have dinner."

"My source tells me you were seen at Sloan's together."

"I know your source is Tracy, and she knows perfectly well that Reese just stopped by and chatted while she was waiting for her dinner."

"Reese? That's kind of familiar, isn't it?"

"Tina, quit trying to read something into it." She pointed her finger at her. "And do not try to play matchmaker." Morgan looked at Berta. "And you, I know you're the one who told her about skiing. And you know very well I didn't want to do it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Berta said as she stood. "But it is lunchtime. I'm meeting Eloise at the cafe."

"I swear, I can't take a c.r.a.p without half the town knowing about it," she said when Berta closed the door.

Tina laughed. "It's winter. There's nothing going on. Your love life gets top billing, I'm afraid."

"Love life? I don't have a love life."

"Not yet, no, but we're working on it."

"Seriously, you have got to stop it. So we went skiing. No big deal. So we saw each other at Sloan's. Again, not unusual. She eats there nearly every night. It wasn't like it was a date or anything."

She pulled the basket closer. "What'd you bring, anyway?"

"Venison stew."

Morgan grinned. "How sweet. My favorite." She pulled out the two covered bowls and placed them on her desk, then put the basket aside. "I love when you bring me your leftovers."

"You can't make just a little when you're making stew or soup.

Besides, you know how my kids are when it comes to leftovers."

"Yes. That's one thing I miss when you don't work during the winter, I don't eat as well."