Justice for Boone: Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes, Book 6 (6 page)

H
ayden sat back
in the booth and clutched her stomach. “Oh my God, I don’t think I could eat another bite.”

“You only got a taco!”

“Yeah, but I ate about a pound and a half of chips and salsa.”

Boone laughed. “That you did.”

“Hey!”

They both laughed this time.

Hayden bit her lip. “Thanks for this.”

“For what?”

Hayden gestured to the table and the restaurant. “This. Taking me to lunch.”

“You’re welcome. You’re fun to be around.”

Hayden’s smile stuttered a bit, but she forced it back. “Fun. Yup, that’s me.”

Boone reached across the table and snagged the hand she’d put around her water glass. “Hey. What’d I say?”

“Nothing, Boone. Seriously. I’ve had a good time today. I have to get going, though.”

Boone held on to her hand tightly, not letting go. “Hayden. What’d I say? And don’t say nothing. It was something. I can tell when you’re fake smiling. Now what was it?”

“You can tell when I’m fake smiling?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“So you admit you were fake smiling at me?”

“Boone, seriously.”

“See? Now
that’s
a real smile.”

Hayden couldn’t help but laugh. She simply couldn’t hold it inside. Boone just made her happy. He made her feel like a completely different person…a sexy female person not the competent, kick-ass sheriff’s deputy.

Boone continued, “Now, what’d I say to make you lose that gorgeous smile of yours?”

Hayden looked at Boone. He was leaning toward her; she could feel his thumb brushing against the back of her hand. His eyebrows were drawn down in concern. If he was faking being interested in what she had to say, in why she didn’t like what he’d said, he was a damn good actor. She decided to just be honest with him.

“I’m fun to be around. I’m the fun one. The life of the party. All the guys say that.”

“All the guys.”

He hadn’t stated it as a question, but it was a question nevertheless.

Hayden continued. In for a penny, in for a pound. “Yeah. All the guys. Throughout high school. In college. Even now when I go out with everyone at the station. I’m the fun one.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being fun, Hayden.”

She immediately nodded, agreeing with him. “I know.”

“But it bothers you.”

“Can we drop this?”

“No.”

“Boone.”

“Hayden.”

She sighed. She hated having to spell it out to him. She felt like a dork. “I’m the friend. The good-time girl. The happy-go-lucky Hayden Yates. Not a woman. Not a date.”

Boone didn’t say anything, simply dropped her hand and scooted out from his seat in the booth. Hayden didn’t have time to do anything before Boone had dropped himself onto the seat next to her. She scooted over in surprise, giving him room.

He put one hand on the back of the booth behind her head and the other on her upper thigh. His thumb rested on the hem of her shorts. Hayden felt the heat from his hand seep into her skin and she resisted the urge to squirm in her seat. She should’ve smacked his hand away, or rebuked him for being too forward, but the truth was, she liked his hand on her.

“Look at me, Hayden.”

Hayden looked up into Boone’s eyes. She felt surrounded by him. He was leaning into her and she had to tilt her head up to be able to see his eyes.

“You’re funny, but that doesn’t take anything away from your femininity. I don’t know why none of those guys see you like I do, but I can’t say I’m sorry about it, because it leaves things in the free and clear for me. I think you’re funny. And compassionate. And you know how that guy responded when he saw you in the lobby of the station today?”

When Hayden nodded reluctantly, he continued, “He made an ass out of himself because of how hot you look.”

At the look of blatant disbelief on her face, he lifted the hand that had been resting on the plastic behind her head and brought it to her face. He ran his knuckles down her cheek, then smoothed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “You’re beautiful, Hayden. Your legs are long and sleek, your curvy little body in this tank top had every man in this restaurant taking a second look as we walked in. And I’ll tell you this right now, I can’t wait to see if the freckles you have right here,” he ran his fingertip over her nose, “are all over your body.”

“Boone—”

He talked over her. “Even sitting close to you in this booth is making me have an embarrassingly masculine reaction to you,” he nodded down to his lap, and the erection that strained against his jeans. He saw her glance down, then quickly bring her eyes back up to his in embarrassment. “So me telling you that you’re funny takes nothing away from how pretty you are. Pretty seems like too tame of a word, but it’ll do for now. Don’t doubt yourself, Hayden. You might work with men, and they might see you in that light because of how competent you are at what you do, but trust me when I say they’re seeing you through a whole different lens than I am.”

Hayden knew her face was aflame. Lord. No man had ever spoken to her like this before. She wasn’t sure she could believe Boone, even though he hadn’t lied about having an erection. He was very healthily endowed if her quick glance was anything to go by. Embarrassed, she tried to deflect. “How can you tell if I’m smiling for real?”

Realizing he needed to give her some space, Boone leaned back and shook his head. “I don’t think I’m going to tell you. I like having one up on you. I have a feeling I’ll need it.”

“Boone!”

“Hayden!”

She shook her head in exasperation.

The waiter came up at that moment and left the bill on the table, telling them he’d be back for it whenever they were ready to pay. Hayden leaned over and picked it up to see what her half of the meal came to.

“What are you doing?” Boone growled.

“Seeing what I owe,” Hayden said, studying the bill and not looking up.

Boone snatched the small piece of paper out of her hand. “You are not paying.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because I asked you to lunch.”

“So?”

“What do you mean, so?”

“Just that. So what if you asked me to lunch? I can pay my way, Boone. It’s not a big deal.”

“Hayden, I asked you to lunch. If I asked you to lunch, that means you aren’t paying.”

“So, if I asked
you
to lunch, I could pay?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Boone, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Hasn’t anyone taken you out on a date before?”

“A date?”

“Yeah. What do you think this is, Hayden?”

“A thank you lunch?” Her words were soft and confused.

Boone rolled his eyes and sighed. Under his breath, he told the ceiling, “I’m obviously losing my touch.” Then he looked back at Hayden and said in a normal voice, “Hayden, I asked you to lunch because I like you. Because the first time you touched my hand over a week ago I got a jolt so strong, I felt it in my toes. I came into the station today in the hopes I’d get to see you. I’m forty years old and I resorted to a lame excuse to come into your workplace to see you and ask you out.”

Hayden smiled at him. “What would you have done if I’d said I was working, or if I’d turned you down?”

“I would’ve made up another reason to see you. I wouldn’t have given up that easily, not when taking you out on a date was something I really wanted. But, Hayden, the point is, this
is
a date. And because it’s a date, you’re not paying.”

“So if it
wasn’t
a date I could pay?”

“No. Whenever we go out, I pay. Period.”

“That’s pretty cavemanish.”

“Yup.”

“Honestly, Boone, I can pay for myself.”

“Give it up, Hay. Let me do this.”

“Oh, all right.”

Boone laughed out loud at her disgruntled capitulation. “You make it really hard to do something nice for you. Hasn’t anyone taken you out before?”

“Not really, no.”

Boone sobered. “I have no idea how that’s even possible, but it’s their loss, Hay. Their loss.”

Hayden shrugged, but held the way he made her feel close to her heart. She’d been honest with Boone. She was always one of the guys. No one thought to pay for her. And no one, not ever, had given her a nickname. She liked it.

“Okay, Mr. Moneybags, can you pay then? I have to get going.” She hid the warm and fuzzy feelings Boone put inside her and tried to play it off.

“Yes, ma’am.” Boone smiled at her. He gestured to the waiter and he came right over and took Boone’s credit card and hurried away.

“So, when are we going out again?” he asked with a smile.

“That sure I want to go out with you again, are you?”

“Yup.”

Hayden couldn’t hold back her smile. “Well, the guys and I are going out tomorrow night…wanna come?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t even know where we’re going.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“And if I said we were going to a strip club?”

“No problem.”

“And if we were going shooting?”

“I’d bring my gun.”

Hayden rolled her eyes. She should’ve figured a Texas cowboy like him would be comfortable around firearms and would have his own. “Fine. We’re just going to this bar we always go to for some beers.”

“Great. You want me to meet you there, or will you let me pick you up?”

Hayden considered it for a second. “I live in the opposite direction from your ranch.” She tried to give him an out in case he’d only asked to be polite.

“Hay, I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to pick you up.”

She nodded and said softly, “Okay, you can come and get me beforehand. But don’t be late. It’s a pet peeve of mine.”

Boone brushed her hair behind her ear once more. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

The waiter came back and Boone signed the receipt. He scooted out of the seat and held out his hand to Hayden. She put her hand in his and he helped her stand up. He put his hand on the small of her back as they walked to the front door. Hayden had never understood why the women in her romance books always gushed when a man did that to them. But she got it now. She always thought it would feel controlling in some way, and maybe with another man, it would’ve. But with Boone, it felt comforting. He rested his fingertips against her back and applied just a bit of pressure. Enough for her to know he was there, but not enough so it felt like he was pushing her along. Hayden swore she could feel the heat from his hand soak through her tank top into her bones.

They stopped outside the restaurant and she gave him her address. “I just have to say this one thing.”

“Sure.”

“If you’re planning on stalking me, taking me out, trying to get me drunk, then taking me home to tie me up, throw me into a dungeon under your barn, and rape me then kill me…it’ll never work. I’ll take you down before you know what happened.”

Boone threw his head back and laughed. Hayden stood there with her arms over her chest, smiling, waiting for him to get control over himself. Finally, he put both hands on her shoulders and leaned in.

“Hay, I have no doubt if I moved even an inch in the wrong direction, you’d have me on the ground with your knee on my throat before I could even think about getting out of your way. And as sick as it makes me, the thought of you overpowering me makes me hard. I don’t have a dungeon under my barn, and I have no plans to stalk you. But we can negotiate the taking-you-out, getting-you-drunk, and tying-you-up thing.”

Hayden’s smile died and she looked at him in confusion.

He took pity on her. He linked his hand with hers and tugged her toward their cars. “Come on, you have stuff to do. Let’s get you home.”

Hayden stumbled alongside Boone for a couple of steps before getting her stride back. She shook her head. He was such a goof. She’d never have thought it of him. For such a large manly man, he sure acted like a big clown sometimes. But she couldn’t forget his serious side when he’d told her how much he liked her looks and when he said he’d always pay when they were together. He was absolutely fascinating.

“What time should I pick you up tomorrow?”

Boone had walked her to her car and they were standing by her driver’s side door. “Around eight?”

“Eight it is.”

“Just to warn you, it’s going to mostly be the guys I work with there tomorrow night. I’ll also invite some of my friends who are in other departments as well. Will it bother you to be around a bunch of cops?”

“No, Hay. As long as it’s okay with you.”

“It’s good. But they’ll probably give you shit.”

“I’d expect nothing less. I’m looking forward to meeting your friends.”

“Okay. Then I’ll see you at eight.”

Boone leaned down and Hayden held her breath. He kissed her cheek and straightened. “See you tomorrow, Hayden. I had a good time today. Thanks.”

“Yeah, me too. ‘Bye.”

“‘Bye. Drive safe.”

Hayden didn’t answer, but simply started her car and pulled out of the restaurant. Her last view was of Boone sitting in his truck staring after her as she pulled away.

H
ayden wanted to call someone
…but she had no idea who would be able to help her.

She was freaking out about her date that night with Boone. As she worked throughout the day, she tried to think about who might help her figure out what she should wear. She could call Corrie, Quint’s girlfriend—she’d gotten to know her pretty well after helping her climb out of the biggest tree Hayden had ever seen—but Corrie was blind. She wouldn’t be able to see her clothing choices to help her make a decision.

She liked Beth, Cade’s girlfriend, but she didn’t think the other woman would know anything about what she should wear on a date. Beth was a “computer geek,” her words, and spent most of her time in sweats and T-shirts. She was fun to be around, and Hayden liked her, but she wouldn’t be of much help in this case.

Dax and Cruz’s girlfriends had said she could call them anytime, but Mackenzie and Mickie were so far out of her league, it wasn’t even funny. Besides, Hayden didn’t want to give the Texas Ranger or FBI agent anything to hold over her head in the future. They’d make fun of her for years if they knew she’d never been on a real date before and had no idea what to wear.

Hayden fit in better with the male deputies than the females, so she didn’t feel comfortable asking them either. She sighed and finally decided not to worry about it. It was drinks at the same bar they always went to. She shouldn’t be freaking out about it. She’d wear what she normally did…and if Boone didn’t like it, it was his problem, not hers. She tried to tell herself that, but deep down she knew she was lying to herself.

The day went by surprisingly fast, especially because she hadn’t slept that well the night before.

She hadn’t had the nightmare for years, but last night it’d come back with a vengeance.

It was more of a memory than an actual nightmare. She was no more than four years old, sitting on a couch watching her father pace back and forth in front of her. She was wearing a ridiculously ruffled and frilly pink dress. It’d been a hand-me-down dress from a neighbor who had a little girl. They were moving and the family was trying to get rid of as much extra stuff as they could.

The dress had been worn by the woman’s daughter when she was a flower girl in a relative’s wedding. Hayden had seen it sitting on top of the box of clothes when the neighbor had dropped it off. She’d grabbed it and immediately taken it to her room to put on. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen and Hayden had loved twirling and dancing around her room in the princess dress.

Her dad had caught her though. He’d hauled her into the living room, made her sit, and was yelling at her as he paced. She was a disgrace to the family. If she wanted to be a prissy wuss, she had no place in his house.

Hayden always knew what was coming in the dream, but she never managed to wake up before it happened.

Her father hauled her up and roughly stripped the dress off of her. He made her stand there while he took out a giant pair of scissors and cut the beautiful fairy dress to shreds…all the while, telling her how pathetic and what a loser she was.

She’d woken up from the dream sweating and could feel the tears drying on her face.

Hayden knew her parents hadn’t wanted a girl, and that she’d been disappointing them her entire life, but it was that one incident that made her realize at a young age that her father didn’t really like her…not even a little bit.

Hayden had tried to be what her parents wanted after that. She played sports instead of going into dance. She wore jeans and T-shirts, instead of pretty girly dresses and blouses. She got straight As in high school in the hopes that her grades would make her dad proud of her. Nothing had worked. He’d treated her with the same disdain throughout her teen years as he had that one day when she’d sat on the couch as he’d harangued her.

It’d been an early morning for her, and she knew she’d never get back to sleep after waking up shaking and crying from the dream. So she’d gotten up, gone for a three mile run, did the pushups and sit-ups that she tried to make time for every day, had a large cup of coffee, then headed to the station to prepare for her shift.

Hayden was busy all day at work with calls, investigations, and paperwork. She made it home with plenty of time to stand in her closet, staring aimlessly at the clothes within. She’d made an effort after moving out of her childhood home, and getting away from her father, to try to purchase clothes that were more feminine, but most days, she simply felt more comfortable in what was familiar…jeans and T-shirts.

Finally, Hayden shook her head and grabbed a jade-green shirt that she hadn’t worn in forever. It was more feminine than she usually went for, but Hayden figured being out with Boone warranted it. She wanted to make the effort. It was cut deep in both front and back with a wide scoop neck. The sleeves were three-quarter length and while it wasn’t skin tight, it wasn’t loose either. She paired it with a pair of low-cut jeans and her favorite cowboy boots. The boots were a bit too beat up to really match, but they were comfortable, and were the only type of heel Hayden was comfortable wearing.

She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror and tried to decide what to do with her hair. She should probably put it up. She always wore it up. Hayden didn’t think the guys at work had ever seen her with her hair down. But Boone made her want to put in more effort than she usually did. She brushed out the thick strands until they were relatively tamed after being confined in her usual bun all day, and smoothed it behind her ears. She scowled at the ends, which curled up no matter what she did to try to make them lay flat. Shrugging, Hayden grabbed a scrunchie and put it around her wrist; she’d most likely put it up by the end of the night anyway.

She went into the other room of her apartment and paced. She wasn’t one to be able to sit still very well, so she stalked back and forth from her small kitchen into the family room, then back into the kitchen.

What if Boone stood her up? What if she’d misunderstood what he’d wanted when he said this was a date? Shit. She probably shouldn’t even really be going out with him since she’d investigated his case. It wasn’t like her to ever want to date anyone she’d met during the course of her job. She should call him to…dammit. She didn’t have his number.

Hayden looked at the clock. Seven forty-five. Crud. Fifteen more minutes. She paced back and forth and generally worked herself into a frenzy before the bell rang about ten minutes later.

Hayden stalked to the door, ready and worked up to tell Boone that there was no way they could go out tonight—or any night.

Boone could tell the second he saw Hayden that she’d talked herself out of wanting to go to the bar with him. He had no idea if it was him, having him meet her friends, or something more, but there was no way, after getting a look at her, he was going to let her back out now.

He knew her hair would probably be amazing, but he was so far off the mark as to what he’d imagined, it was laughable. She’d left it down, and the ends brushed the tops of her breasts. It was wavy and looked utterly unmanageable at the moment. Boone wanted nothing more than to shove his hands in it, tilt her head back, hold her still, and devour her mouth.

“Boone, I—”

He didn’t let her get anything else out. He took a step closer and put one hand on her waist, and the other he rested on the side of her head, barely resisting the urge to tangle his fingers in her tresses and slam his mouth over hers. Instead, he leaned in and brushed his lips against her cheek then looked down into her eyes. “Good evening, Hay. You look beautiful.”

“Uh…hi, Boone. Thanks. Um, so do you.”

He smiled. She hadn’t really even looked at him. She’d been looking at his feet when she opened the door, and when he’d kissed her, she’d brought her eyes up to his.

“Ready to go?”

“Well…uh…yeah. I guess so.”

“Do you need a jacket or a purse?”

Hayden shook her head. “I have my money, ID, and cell in my pockets. I’m good.”

Boone put a bit of pressure on her waist with the hand he still had resting there. “Great. Let’s get going then.”

“Okay. Yeah. I do need to grab my keys though.”

Boone let go of Hayden enough so she could reach over to a key rack hanging over the small table inside the doorway. He backed up to give her room. She closed her apartment door and locked it. She pocketed her keys and turned to him, putting both hands in the back pockets of her jeans.

It was obvious she was uncomfortable, but Boone knew she had no idea by putting her arms behind her, she was thrusting her gorgeous tits toward him. He took a deep breath. Her absolutely unconscious sexuality was breathtaking. He held out his hand. “Come on, Hay. Let’s get going. I believe I remember you saying you hated to be late.”

He was pleased to see no hesitation in her actions when she put her hand in his. He led her to his pickup and opened the passenger door. “Need help inside?”

She looked at him as if he was crazy. “No.” Hayden then proceeded to hop into the truck as if she’d been doing it her entire life. Boone would’ve complimented her, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her ass in the tight jeans she was wearing. He shut the door behind her and walked around the back of the truck to the driver’s side, taking the time to adjust himself inside his pants as soon as he was out of Hayden’s view. Jesus, she was going to be the death of him.

He climbed into the truck and Hayden told him where the bar was that they were meeting all her friends.

“Did you get your truck fixed already?”

“No. The insurance company is covering a loaner until mine has been detailed and repainted. I refused to accept one of those small foreign jobs, and insisted on a black truck just like mine.”

“And they agreed?”

“Well, since I work on a farm, I might have stretched the truth a bit and told them that I had to have the truck for work.”

Hayden laughed. It made sense and she knew Boone could be charming when he wanted to. She changed the subject. “Any more trouble with Dana?”

The question wasn’t unexpected. She was an officer after all. “No. I haven’t seen or heard from her since last week.”

“The restraining order was probably delivered today. Keep on your toes, Boone. You never know what she’s going to do.”

“I will. Now…tell me who will be here tonight.”

“Well, there will be a bunch of guys from the station. Brandon, of course, since he invited me, and you’ve met Jimmy and Troy…they were at your house last week. I think Juan said he was going to try to get there tonight as well. You haven’t met him yet, I don’t think. I’m also close friends with a bunch of guys from different law enforcement agencies across the city. We met at a conference and now we collaborate on cases when the need arises. Dax Chambers is a Ranger and Cruz is with the FBI office here in San Antonio. Quint Axton is with the SAPD. Those three will most likely bring their girlfriends, so I won’t be the only woman there.”

“Are you usually the only woman there?”

She shrugged, unconcerned. “Yeah. The other female deputies don’t like to hang out on their time off. Two are married with kids and the other is…well, she’s more of a girly girl…not like me.”

Boone let that go for now. “Anyone else?”

“I invited Calder and Conor as well. Calder is a medical examiner for the city and Conor is with the game warden’s office. The only one of our crew who can’t be here tonight is TJ. He’s with the highway patrol. I shot him a quick email this morning and he said he’d be out of town. He has friends up in the Fort Hood area who are in the Army, who he used to know when he was in. I think he visits them on his time off.”

“And you guys get together every week?”

“No, not really. And it’s actually unusual that all of us can get off at the same time. Typically, it’s only like three or four of us that end up hanging out. Having six out of the seven of us free on the same night is practically a miracle.”

“I’m glad I’ll get to meet them.”

Hayden simply nodded as they pulled into the packed parking lot of the small bar. They had to park in a back corner of the lot, it was so full.

“Why’s it so packed?” Boone asked as they got out of the truck.

“It’s always like this. It’s the best kept non-secret in San Antonio.”

They laughed and Boone once again put his hand on the small of her back as they walked toward the front door.

As soon as they entered the dark, smoky bar, Hayden’s name was called out from somewhere in the mass of people. Hayden waved airily in the direction of the voice and turned to Boone. “What do you want to drink?”

“Oh no, Hay. You will not be buying me anything to drink. Haven’t we already had this conversation?”

“But Boone, it’s just a beer.”

“Nope. It’s just nothing. You tell me what you want, I’ll bring it to the table. Just show me where you’ll be and I’ll be right there.”

Boone smiled as Hayden rolled her eyes at him. “Fine. I’ll take whatever’s on tap. And we usually sit over in the corner, there…” She pointed toward a large window at the opposite side of the bar.

Boone couldn’t keep his hands off her. He smoothed her hair behind her ear, enjoying the way she licked her lips nervously at his action. “Okay, I’ll be there in a second.”

Hayden headed off toward her friends and Boone watched for a moment as she greeted them. She fist-bumped a few of the men, and one slapped her on the shoulder as she sat down. He shook his head as he turned to the bar to get their drinks. How none of the men she worked with saw her as a desirable female was beyond him. But their loss was his gain, so he wouldn’t complain.

Boone carried two pints of beer to the table and was glad to see nothing but welcoming smiles from the men and women around the table. He took a seat next to Hayden in the empty chair and put her beer on the table in front of her.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” She turned to the table and announced in general, “Everyone, this is Boone. Boone, this is everyone.”

He gave a chin lift to the group and most of the men did the same. One of the women leaned across the table and held out her hand.