Falling for the Sheriff: Grand Lake Colorado Series, #3

Falling for the Sheriff

A SMALL TOWN, MAN IN UNIFORM ROMANCE

GRAND LAKE COLORADO

BOOK THREE

ALEXIS WINTER

Thank you!

A heartfelt thank you to my amazing readers for continuing to support my dream of bringing sexy, naughty, delicious little morsels of fun in the form of romance novels.

A special thank you to my incredible editor, Kimberly Stripling, without whom I would be completely lost!

Thank you to my fantastic cover designer, Sarah Kil, who always brings my visions to life in the most outstanding ways.

And lastly, to my ARC team and beta readers—you are wonderful, and I couldn’t do this without you.

I came to Grand Lake looking for a fresh start, not a scandal.

But one wrong turn (and one very right kiss) later, I found myself pressed against Sheriff Blake Mitchell's patrol car—and that was just the beginning of my trouble.

Now my days are spent trying to act professional at the station while his heated stares make my uniform feel two sizes too small.

Our stolen moments in supply closets and back alleys are getting harder to hide, and in a town where everyone knows everyone's business, we're one whispered rumor away from disaster.

I tell myself it's just physical—the way his hands feel on my skin, how his kiss tastes like a habit I don’t want to break.

But when a job transfer threatens to tear us apart, I'm forced to face the truth: what started as a mistake might be the one thing I can't live without.

Copyright © 2025 by Alexis Winter - All rights reserved.

In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

Contents

1. Nina

2. Bryce

3. Nina

4. Bryce

5. Nina

6. Bryce

7. Nina

8. Bryce

9. Nina

10. Bryce

11. Nina

12. Bryce

13. Nina

14. Bryce

15. Nina

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. They never mentioned anything about an unexpected bun in the oven...

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Read the entire Grand Lake Colorado Series

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A little bit about Alexis

Also by Alexis Winter

ONE

Nina

My alarm goes off precisely at six a.m. I’ve been lying here with my eyes open for the last hour, willing myself to sleep the remainder of the time. However, all I did was daydream about my future. I silence the alarm and push back my blankets. I move to sit on the edge of the bed and turn on the bedside lamp. The room fills with a soft light that doesn’t even bother my eyes. Getting up, I make my bed before leaving the room.

I walk into the living room and stoke the wood-burning stove—my only source of heat in this dream cabin of mine. I add in the wood, close the front, and start toward the kitchen to make some tea. I turn on the gas stove and pick up the kettle. I fill it with water and place it back on the burner. While I wait for it to boil, I prepare my breakfast of oatmeal with sliced strawberry, banana, and blueberries.

By the time the oatmeal is ready, the kettle is whistling at me. I turn off the burner and pour the hot water over the teabag already in my mug. I take both my tea and oatmeal to the living room to eat by the heater. The sounds of the wood popping and cracking as it burns relaxes me. In one way, it almost centers me, gets me ready to take on the day. I love having the wood-burning stove. However, I could do without chopping the wood.

I sit in my brown leather lounge chair, taking in the dark cabin. The walls are made up of rough-cut logs, along with the ceiling. The floors are good old-fashioned hardwood. Someone put a lot of work into this cabin. When I saw it, I couldn’t turn it down. Sure, I miss some of the fancier things, like central air in the summer, heated toilet seats, and a whole-home vacuum system, but this is so much simpler. I was told when I bought this place that it didn’t even have an indoor bathroom or power since it was just being used as a hunting cabin. I’m lucky the people I bought it from decided to add those things in order to make it a home instead of just a man cave.

When I’ve had my fill of oatmeal, I take the dishes to the kitchen and wash them before going for a shower. The bathroom in the cabin is rather small, with only enough room for a tub and shower combo, a sink, and a toilet. There’s just enough room for one person to move about. But I’m not complaining. At least I don’t have to walk through the dense forest to use the bathroom. I turn the shower on as I unbutton my red and black flannel top. I check myself over in the mirror. My long blond hair is starting to look stringy, and I make a mental note to get it trimmed soon. My blue eyes are bright and shining, but my pale skin looks nearly transparent—the typical cry from a nerd who spends more time in front of a computer instead of being out in the sun like normal people. Maybe I’ll even tan at the salon while I’m there getting my haircut.

I pull my eyes away from the mirror in an attempt to save my sanity. I know if I just stare at myself, I’ll fixate on everything I find wrong, like my stringy hair and vampirish complexion. I step into the hot flow of water and make quick work of washing and shaving. When I get out, the mirror is covered in steam. I tie my towel around myself as I brush my teeth and hair.

Thirty minutes later, my hair is dried and pulled back into a tight bun. The little makeup I wear is applied perfectly, a pearl-colored eyeshadow, brown mascara, a touch of blush, and a little shimmery lip gloss. I tuck my white dress shirt into my black pants and pull on the blazer that matches the dress suit. Walking back into my room for my shoes, I scrutinize myself in the mirror and see that despite picking at myself earlier, I look nice and put together.

I slide my feet into a nice pair of black flats and gather up the rest of the things I’ll need for the day. It’s going on seven-thirty when I step out of the cabin. The sun is just rising over the horizon, painting the sky with yellows, oranges, and pinks. The birds are flying around looking for their breakfast, and it’s warm already with just the slightest breeze. I take a deep breath, taking in the crisp mountain air, with traces of a hint of wet earth and the moss growing up on the rocks by the small pond next to the cabin.

I climb behind the wheel and look up at my property. Most would probably see it as rustic or maybe even run-down. But that’s not what I see. I see a beautiful escape settled right into the side of the mountain. There’s silence, relaxation, and, best of all, home.

It takes me twenty minutes to drive into town. I park my car in the parking lot of the police station before grabbing my things and climbing out.

Morning, Nina, Nate my coworker says, shooting me his toothy grin.

I return his smile. Morning. How’s that baby of yours doing?

He lets out a deep chuckle. Getting big. She said her first words last night.

I can’t help but laugh at his excitement. And it was?

Dada, he replies, his grin only spreading wider.

Daddy’s girl already, huh?

That she is, he says, opening the door to the precinct and allowing me to walk through ahead of him.

Thank you. I turn to see him pull on his police hat.

He sends me a nod and heads toward his desk while I make my way back to my small, dark office in the back.

Nina, did you hear? Claire, a fellow officer asks as I’m walking past the break room.

I decide to dip in and pour a cup of coffee. I drop my things onto the round table in the center of the room as I reach for a paper cup. Hear what?

She smiles wide. The new sheriff arrives today. I hear he’s just dreamy, she says all breathlessly and schoolgirl-like.

I laugh as I pour my coffee. Still very single, are you, Claire?

Her smile falls as she rolls her head to the side to look at me with a bored expression. Is it that obvious?

I giggle. It is when you talk like that. You know, even if this guy is dreamy, you still can’t go after him. He’ll be your boss.

Way to ruin my daydream, Nina. She rolls her eyes but smiles, telling me she’s quite aware. That won’t stop them, though, she says with a laugh as she takes off out of the break room.

I shake my head as I take my coffee and things to my office.

I set my things down and start up my computer before taking a sip of my coffee. I look at the sketch I left laying on my desk from yesterday. It’s a part of the presentation I plan on taking to the city council in the next month or so. There’s a meeting once a month, so if I don’t have this done in three weeks, I’ll have to wait another month before I can propose my idea. I thought I had it ready to go last week. I thought it would be done for this month’s meeting. However, I decided to add some outside features like, basketball courts, skate ramps, and a pool.

It’s my dream to open a youth center for the kids in town. This is a very small community, and there really aren’t many things for the kids. Sure, there’s a park, the school playground, and the lake, but most of those places don’t have a chaperone, leaving plenty of kids to get into trouble or be picked on. The rise in teen misdemeanors has gone up in the last few months. Someone needs to intervene.

When the computer comes on, I type in my login info and