Taming a Texas Devil (Bad Boy Ranch Book 5), стр. 50

Dixie would have argued if what he said didn’t make sense. Calling in favors was something her father did all the time. After she mentioned working on a murder case, Daddy would’ve been worried enough to want someone watching out for her. And the Texas Ranger she claimed she was working with would’ve been a perfect choice for a bodyguard.

There was just one thing that didn’t fit.

Lincoln.

He was too much of an honorable man to lie. If her father had hired him, he would’ve told her. Especially after they made love.

She smiled. “Sorry, Sheriff. Whatever game you’re playing, isn’t going to work. I wasn’t trying to get your badge taken away, but I am now. You don’t deserve the star you’re wearing and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you don’t get to keep it for long. You are a petty man and I didn’t realize how petty until Officer Lincoln Hayes showed me how a true officer of the law should act. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go on patrol.”

But she didn’t go out on patrol. She headed straight to her apartment. She didn’t believe for a second that Lincoln would lie to her, but she needed to tell him the sheriff was back and spreading rumors. She couldn’t stand the thought of Lincoln losing the job he loved because of her. Which meant they would have to be a lot more careful.

She expected to find him still in bed when she got to her apartment and was disappointed he was fully dressed and standing in the kitchen. She never tired of seeing him naked. But he was pretty hot fully clothed too. As soon as she walked in the door, he gave her a stern look of warning. But if she had paid attention to his warnings, they never would’ve ended up in bed together. So she ignored the look and walked straight over and slid her arms around his waist. He stiffened, but he always took a while to warm up.

“I thought you were supposed to be waiting naked for me.” She lowered her hands and squeezed his fine butt. “When I give an order, Officer Hayes, I expect it to be carried out.”

He cringed. She didn’t understand why he was acting so weird until she heard her father’s voice.

“Just what the hell has been going on here?”

Dixie turned to see her daddy standing there, looking like he was about to bust a blood vessel. Behind him, her mama looked as unruffled as ever. In fact, a slight smile tipped up the corners of Winona’s perfectly painted lips.

Dixie dropped her hands from Lincoln’s butt and tried to act like she hadn’t just molested a man in front of her parents. “Daddy! Mama! What a surprise.” She hurried over and gave them each a big hug. Her mama squeezed back. Her daddy only growled.

“Don’t you try to act like everything is just fine and dandy, Sugar Squirt. I want to know what’s going on and I want to know now.”

A few months ago, she would’ve lied through her teeth. But a few months ago, she was still an immature woman trying to get her way with her daddy. She wasn’t that immature woman anymore. She had finally grown up and knew what she wanted. It wasn’t to follow in her father’s footsteps. Nor was it to follow in her mother’s. She was forging her own life path and it felt damned good.

“I don’t know what you mean, Daddy. Nothing is going on here that’s out of the ordinary. I’m a twenty-eight-year-old woman living on my own and paying my own way. If I should decide to have a man stay over, then that’s my business. Not my daddy’s. Or my mama’s. Now if you’d called to let me know you were coming, this little scene you just witnessed wouldn’t have happened.” She turned to Lincoln. “I’m sorry if my parents surprised you, Lincoln. This is my Daddy, Senator Grant Meriwether and my mama, Winona Meriwether. Daddy and Mama, this is Lincoln Hayes, the Texas Ranger I’ve been working with.”

“I know who he is,” her daddy snapped. He pointed a finger at Lincoln. “And if I have anything to do with it, you won’t be a Texas Ranger for much longer. When you agreed to keep an eye out for my daughter, I meant for you to keep her safe. I did not mean for you to . . . to be doing what you’re doing.”

Her father’s words took a moment to sink in. When they did, she still couldn’t quite believe she’d heard him right. The sheriff she could ignore, but she couldn’t ignore her daddy. “Lincoln agreed to keep an eye on me?”

His father continued to glare at Lincoln. “He sure did. I think he was hoping to get a promotion out of it. But if you think you’re getting that promotion now, you can think again.”

Dixie turned to Lincoln. She wanted him to look shocked by her father’s complete misunderstanding of what had happened. But he didn’t look shocked. Nor did he look repentant. His face was devoid of all emotion.

She turned to her parents. “I need a few minutes alone with Lincoln.”

“What you need is to get your butt back home, baby girl,” her daddy said. “This little game of deputy you’ve been playing is—”

“That’s enough, Grant,” her mama said. Her mother rarely interrupted her father so he looked more than a little stunned. Before he could argue, she hooked an arm through his and gave him a kiss. “Let’s go get a Coke float at that cute little soda fountain we passed on our way into town.” She kept talking as she led him to the door. “It reminds me of that soda fountain you took me to on our first date. Do you remember? I was so star struck by your good looks I poked myself in the eye with the straw and