Taming a Texas Devil - Katie Lane Page 0,30

dropped her off with her father. He couldn’t help wondering what the deputy was up to.

He didn’t have long to wonder. Not more than fifteen minutes later, he was enjoying his cheeseburger when he saw the deputy walking down the street. She was in her usual uniform of a khaki sheriff’s shirt, too tight jeans, and designer cowboy boots. Her tan cowboy hat was set at a jaunty angle and she looked like she was walking a fashion runway rather than down a small-town street. Every man she passed, whether with a woman or not, turned his head to get another look.

He wasn’t surprised she headed into the hair salon. He figured she’d be there for a while getting her hair and nails done. But he’d only been able to eat one more French fry before she came back out with a woman and pointed to the sign sitting in the middle of the sidewalk advertising a sale on perms. The woman nodded and moved the sign closer to the salon.

Lincoln was thoroughly confused. Had the deputy just done her job and asked the owner of the salon to move the sign so no pedestrian would trip on it? He shook his head. It was more likely she had been asking about the price of a perm and the woman had noticed the sign was in a bad spot. Except further down the street, Deputy Meriwether was having another discussion with the owner of the Seed and Feed, who had a bush growing out onto the sidewalk.

As Lincoln watched, Deputy Meriwether chatted away to the man, who seemed to be so starstruck he could only stare and nod. By the time the deputy moved back down the street, the man had retrieved a pair of hedge trimmers and was giving the bush a cut.

Lincoln craned his neck trying to see what the deputy would do next, but the edge of the window blocked his view.

“You might want to be careful or you’ll strain your neck.”

He turned to see Maisy standing there holding a double-decker ice cream cone. Without waiting for an invitation, she took off her brown felt cowboy hat that looked like it had been stomped by a bull and slid into the seat across from him.

“How’s it goin’, Linc? It’s okay if I call you Linc, isn’t it? After you so graciously took me home the other night, I feel like we’re friends.” She snagged a French fry and ate it in two bites, then held out her ice cream cone. “Lick?”

“No, thank you.”

She shrugged. “Not a fan of chocolate fudge swirl? Suit yourself.” She licked her ice cream and watched him with her brown eyes. “So, you have a thing for her?”

“Who?”

She rolled her eyes. “Dixie. The entire town is gossiping about you tossing her over your shoulder the other night at Cotton-Eyed Joe’s. But since Dixie didn’t mention anything about you two dating when we were getting drunk on margaritas the other night, I’m going to assume she isn’t as interested in you as you are in her.”

“I’m not interested in her.”

She glanced out the window and grinned her gap-toothed grin. “Uh-huh.” She stole another of his French fries and nibbled on it while she studied him. “And seeing as how you’re as sinfully handsome as the devil himself, maybe Dixie is just keeping her cards close to her vest like you are.” She tipped her head. “Isn’t that the nickname for the Texas Rangers? Texan Devils? Although you’re a little too straight laced to be called a devil. Or a bad boy for that matter. How did a Double Diamond bad boy become a Texas Ranger?”

“With a lot of hard work. And speaking of work . . .” He pushed his plate toward her. “Help yourself to the rest of my fries. I need to be going.” He started to get to his feet, but she stopped him.

“Are you working on my father’s missing person’s case?”

“No.” It was the truth. All his research so far had just been freelance. “I’ve talked to the sheriff about it, but it’s not really my case.”

“So whose is it?”

“You’ll have to talk to your friend, the deputy.”

“I’ll do that.” She studied him. “I get the distinct feeling you don’t like me, Linc. In fact, I get the feeling that none of the Double Diamond boys do. And I can’t figure out why.” She licked her ice cream a couple times before she spoke again. “Unless you boys are hiding