Jessica's Cowboy Daddy - Melinda Barron Page 0,35

but she knew she’d done wrong earlier, and that would cost her now.

Despite the fact she knew she wouldn’t come, it was still exciting to have him fuck her so slowly, so deeply. She wanted more, true, but it was her own fault, she knew, but that didn’t make her happy. It took her a few moments to realize Hawk had stopped moving. He’d collapsed on top of her, his breathing low and even. He lifted up enough to kiss her.

“Can this be my punishment for going to Amarillo Saturday?”

“No.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “This is your punishment for playing with yourself when you didn’t have permission. I’m still thinking on the other one.”

“Meanie.”

“You got that right.” His phone buzzed, and he said, “Shit.”

“Leave it,” she said.

“Can’t, you know that.” He got up gingerly and retrieved his phone from his pants’ pocket. She watched as he read it.

“What?”

“It’s Willis,” he said. “He says, he hopes we’re decent.”

A loud knock on the door made her gasp.

“Stay there,” he said as he quickly pulled on his pants. She wanted to remind him there was no way she was going to move, since her arms were still tethered to the bed. She heard the front door open, and then male voices.

“Hold on, hold on,” Hawk said. “You’ve caught us at a bad time. Can I at least let my lady get dressed?”

“Of course,” said a male, whose voice she didn’t recognize. “Then she’ll need to come with us. And this is a search warrant for her house , yours, and every gun the two of you own.”

Chapter 11

“Tell me once again where you were Monday night.”

Jessica sighed and rolled her water bottle between her hands. “You think it’s going to change from the last eleven times I’ve told you, Ranger Jackson?”

She wished Nate Willis was here, asking her these questions. Something told her he would take her at her word. This man, who looked like a high school principal with his constant frown and steely-eyed glare, didn’t. They were sitting in the county sheriff’s office, and she had no idea how long she’d been there. Long enough for her to tell her story eleven times.

“One more time please, Miss Barker.”

“I worked at the bakery, I went home, I had sex with Hawk, we went to dinner with his family at the ranch, we left and had sex, and then we went to sleep.”

“And Tuesday?”

She wanted to slap the man. “Work, sex, home. The days sort of blend in together, you know, in a good way.”

“And Wednesday?”

Jessica stared at him. “Do you remember exactly what you did on Wednesday? I don’t really know. We played, we talked, I baked all week because we had a cake tasting on Friday to figure out what sort of cake Holt and Aurora want for the wedding.”

“What did they order?” he asked.

“I don’t exactly remember. I made nine cakes that week, in addition to cookies, cakes, sweet loaves, and donuts. If you want to know exactly what they ordered I’ll need to see my order pad.”

“When Mrs. Dobbs came in to see you Monday, what did the two of you talk about?”

“For the twelfth time, the bitch accused me of being a thief, which I’m not. She said she’d give me until Tuesday, that she’d be back and expected me to give her the ring.”

“Did you not wonder why she didn’t come back?” Jackson asked.

“I didn’t care,” she said.

“You were glad she didn’t come back because you wanted to keep the ring? You’d already killed her, hadn’t you? That’s why she didn’t come back.

Jessica laughed. “I’m done talking to you.”

At that exact moment, the door opened and a woman walked in.

“And you are?” Jackson asked.

“I’m Leslie Turner, Miss Barker’s attorney.” She offered her hand and Jackson stood up. Jessica stared at the woman, whom she’d never seen in her life. But she wasn’t going to argue with her. If she was an attorney, more’s the better. If she could get Jessica out of here, Jessica would do a jig.

“Have you charged my client?” Leslie asked.

“Not at the moment,” Jackson said. “But I can hold her for up to ninety-six hours, as you know.”

“You can,” Leslie said. She moved to the side of the table where Jessica sat, pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. “I’d like a moment with my client, alone.”

“I’ll be back in five minutes,” Jackson said.

“You’ll be back when I knock on the door,” Leslie said. She batted her