Taming a Texas Devil - Katie Lane Page 0,72

didn’t want you hearing us fight. And with a stubborn, controlling man like your father, I had to fight to get anything through his thick skull. But eventually, he saw things my way.”

Dixie’s eyes widened. “So when he acted like he’d changed his mind about something it was you who had changed it.”

Winona smiled. “I didn’t care if I got the credit. I just wanted the results. Just this morning, we had a doozy of a fight because I had to convince him that we’re not taking you home. This is your home now.”

“But I can’t stay here with Lincoln.”

“He’s exactly why you should stay here. He might have lied to you about being your bodyguard. But he’d been given an order, and as a deputy, you should know all about carrying out orders. You think he wanted to spend his days making sure some spoiled senator’s daughter stayed out of trouble?”

All kinds of images popped into Dixie’s head. Lincoln taking her off the mechanical bull. Helping her stumble drunk to her door. Carrying her to bed. Staying the night when her deadbolt was broken. Shooting the snake. Teaching her to become the best deputy she could be so she wouldn’t get hurt. So she would be able to take care of herself. She wanted to put him in the same category as her controlling father, but Lincoln hadn’t tried to control her at all. He’d taught her that she could accomplish anything she put her mind to. He had made her believe in herself.

“No,” she said. “Taking care of me wasn’t an easy job. In fact, he probably hated it.”

“I doubt that. The man I saw walk out of this apartment yesterday didn’t look like he was happy to be released from his duties. He looked exactly how you look now. He looked like he’d just lost the only thing he ever wanted.” Winona took her hand and squeezed it. “Do you love him, Dixie Leigh?”

It was time to quit lying to herself and accept the truth. “I do.”

“Then go get what you want.”

“But what if I can’t get him? He’s pretty afraid of love.”

Winona’s perfectly plucked eyebrows lifted. “Can’t? What did I teach you about the word can’t?”

Dixie didn’t even have to think. “’Can’t is just a word people use when they’re too scared to try.’”

“Exactly. Now are you telling me that you’re too scared to try?”

Dixie was scared. She didn’t like being laughed at. And there was a very good possibly that if she declared her love to Lincoln she would end up looking like a fool. But she didn’t like losing either. If she lost Lincoln, it wouldn’t be like losing to her daddy. This wasn’t about her ego. This was about her heart. Her mama was right. If she lost Lincoln, she would lose the one thing she wanted most in the whole wide world. He’d lied to her, but maybe he hadn’t lied about everything. He couldn’t have faked the way he made love to her. That had been real.

Dixie got out of bed. “I’m going after him.”

“That’s my girl.” Winona stood and walked to the closet. “You’ll need to look your best.” Dixie expected her to pull out some slinky dress. Instead, she pulled out Dixie’s deputy shirt.

“Mama, I can’t wear that. I need something sexy.”

“What’s sexier than a woman in uniform? Now go take a shower and put this on along with the tightest jeans you have and the highest boots.”

“But I’m not a deputy anymore.”

Winona tossed her the shirt. “Then I guess you’ll need to fix that too.”

Since the sheriff’s office was on the way to the Double Diamond, Dixie stopped there first. She hoped the sheriff hadn’t arrived yet. If she could get to the computer before he did, she could erase her email with her resignation letter and no one would be the wiser. His truck was parked in the same spot it had been in the day before, but his sheriff’s vehicle was gone.

She pulled in next to his truck and quickly got out, hoping to erase the email and get out of there before the sheriff showed up. But as she was closing her car door, she dropped her keys. She bent over to pick them up, but they slid so far under the sheriff’s truck that she had to get on her hands and knees to retrieve them. Even then she couldn’t reach them, so she got on her stomach and wiggled beneath. So much for