Texas Proud and Circle of Gold (Long, Tall Texans #52) - Diana Palmer Page 0,18
he asked with a grin at both women. “I don’t really know anybody else in here, and I’m shy.”
“Oh, sure you are,” Olivia said with a wry smile. She wiped her mouth. “I have to get back before Jessie turns purple and says we’re starving her. You stay and finish your salad, Bernie,” she added as she stood up. “You have a half hour before you have to come back.”
“Jessie. That the underdressed brunette who works in your office?” he asked.
They nodded.
“Don’t tell her I’m here, okay?” he asked Olivia. He shook his head. “I know how deer feel in hunting season.”
They both laughed.
“I won’t. I promise,” Olivia said. She winked at Bernie and went to carry her tray back.
Mikey looked at Bernie slowly, taking in the blond braid and the nice gray suit she was wearing with a pink camisole. “You look pretty,” he said softly.
She flushed and laughed self-consciously. “Thanks.”
“You’re a breath of spring compared to the women I know,” he added quietly, watching her. “Brassy, overbearing women don’t do a thing for me these days. I guess I’m jaded.”
She smiled shyly. “You’re very handsome and you’re wealthy. I guess women do chase you. Even movie stars and rich women.”
He pursed his lips. “They used to. It’s the other stuff that puts them off.”
Her thin eyebrows lifted. “The other stuff?” she asked.
He shrugged. “My connections.”
She still wasn’t getting it. While she tried to, Barbara brought his steak and salad and black coffee, and put it down in front of him.
“I hope it’s done right,” she told Mikey. “My cook tends to get meat a little overdone. One of our customers actually carried his back into the kitchen and proceeded to show him how to cook it properly.”
“Jon Blackhawk,” Bernie guessed.
“How did you know?” Barbara asked.
“He’s the only gourmet chef I know, and he’s Paul’s boss at the FBI office in San Antonio. They were both down here recently on a case. And nobody eats anywhere else in Jacobsville except here,” she teased.
Barbara chuckled. “Exactly. It didn’t come to blows, but it was close. My temporary cook’s from New Jersey,” she added.
Mikey’s ears perked up. He glanced at Barbara.
She made a face. “His people are heavily federal, if you get my meaning. His brother works for the US Marshals Service in San Antonio, and he’s a former policeman where he came from. He’s retired.”
“Oh.” Mikey relaxed, just a little.
“I was going to add... Goodness, excuse me,” she said, suddenly flustered as she went back to the counter.
Bernie’s eyes followed her, and she grinned to herself as she watched a husky man in a police uniform smile at Barbara as she went to wait on him.
“Okay, what’s that little smirk all about?” Mikey teased.
“That guy at the counter. That’s Fred Baldwin. He worked as a policeman here for a while, then at a local ranch. Now he’s back on the police force. He’s sweet on Barbara and vice versa.”
Mikey glanced in that direction and laughed softly. “I can see what you mean.”
“Her son’s a lieutenant of detectives with San Antonio PD,” Bernie added.
He nodded. “I met him, last time I was here. Nice guy.”
“Her daughter-in-law’s father is the head of the CIA,” she added.
“I heard that, too. Her son’s dad is a head of state, down in South America.”
“He does have some interesting connections,” Bernie agreed.
* * *
Mikey finished his steak. “What’s there to do around here at night?” he asked.
She pursed her lips. “Well, people go to concerts at the local high school on the weekends sometimes. Other people drive in the Line.”
“What the hell...heck’s the Line?” he amended.
“A bunch of people drive around in a line. Teenagers, married people, even old people sometimes. They have a leader, and they go all around the county, one after the other, sometimes even up to San Antonio and back.”
He shook his head. “The things I miss, living in a city.” His dark eyes met hers. “How about movies?”
“Jack Morris and his son just opened a drive-in theater outside town,” she said. “He even built a snack bar with restrooms. He says he’s bringing back the 1950s all by himself. It’s pretty successful, too.”
“What’s playing right now?”
She named the movie, an action one about commandoes.
He smiled. “You like movies like that?” he asked.
“Well, yes,” she confessed.
He chuckled. “I thought you had an adventurous nature. Mrs. Brown told me about those books you read in bed. She said you have some on outfits like the British SAS and the French Foreign Legion.”