Justice for Boone: Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes, Book 6 (9 page)

“Okay, awesome. I’ll swing by the station tomorrow and drop them off for you.”

Hayden turned to Mack, who was still kneeling on the floor. The feelings of gratitude and appreciation welling up inside her. She’d never had a friend to sit around with and try on clothes. “Thank you, Mackenzie. I appreciate this more than you know.”

Mack stood up gracefully and hugged Hayden. “Me too. Seriously. This was fun. I hope we can do it again…and we will, once we go shopping and get you a shit ton of new girly clothes to wear that’ll drive Boone out of his mind. I know this. Not with Boone, but with Dax. It’s ridiculous how the man sees me naked every day. He knows what I look like, but the second I put on a sexy dress, he can’t seem to control himself…and wants to take it off as soon as he can. So while men might like what we look like without clothes on, they love when we cover up our bits and tease them. Boone is gonna lose his mind when he sees you, just as every man at that bar tomorrow night will.”

Hayden laughed, glad Mack had broken the intense atmosphere. “I still think you’re wrong. You can dress me up, but I’m still me.”

Mack didn’t even hesitate. “And the
you
you are is gonna knock Boone’s socks off. He’ll be fighting off those cowboys tomorrow night.”

Hayden rolled her eyes. “Whatever.

“Okay, take it all off and let’s go and drink ourselves silly until Dax comes to get me.”

“I have to work tomorrow.”

“Yeah, shit. Me too. Okay, well, we’ll just talk then.”

Hayden nodded and carefully took off her clothes and put them on her dresser, ready for the next night. She put back on her sweats and a T-shirt, threw her hair back up into a ponytail, and the two women went back down to the living room. Before Hayden knew it, it was time for Mack to go.

Dax knocked on the door and Hayden let him in. He gave Hayden a chin lift before smiling lovingly at Mack as she scurried around the house, making sure she had all her stuff. Mack reminded Hayden she’d drop off the earrings and she left, Dax’s arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist.

Hayden watched as Dax opened his car door for Mack, then bent her back over his arm and kissed the stuffing out of her. It was as if they hadn’t seen each other in months, rather than just a few hours. Hayden closed her door, giving them privacy—well, as much privacy as they could get in the middle of a busy parking lot.

She sighed and turned off the television. She made sure the doors were locked and headed down the hallway to her bedroom. She got ready for bed and checked that her service weapon was loaded and sitting on the bedside table. She snuggled under the covers with Ellie the Elephant and buried her face into the scruffy stuffed animal’s belly.

She’d be going on a date with Boone tomorrow. A real date. She’d been out with men before, but they weren’t what she’d really call dates…just precursors to sex. Hayden had known going in what the men wanted, and she’d wanted the same thing.

But Boone was different. Hayden really liked him, and that scared the shit out of her. So far it seemed he saw more than the tomboy cop, but only time would tell. Wearing the feminine, sexy outfit Mack had picked out for her was so far outside her comfort zone it wasn’t funny, but at least she wouldn’t run into any of her coworkers. The last thing she wanted was for them to catch sight of her all gussied up. She’d fought long and hard for them to see her as a competent police officer, and somehow she knew her short shorts, and backless shirt, would make them feel weird around her and possibly make them act differently.

Hayden fell asleep dreaming of the kisses she’d shared with Boone, and hoping she’d get more tomorrow night—and woke up with thoughts of Boone. The day was going to drag on, she knew it.

T
he day had sucked
. Hayden had been called as backup for a drunk and disorderly man. When she’d gotten there, the man, in his mid-twenties, was resisting arrest. Hayden hadn’t missed a beat and had entered the fray. Three minutes later, and after getting kicked in the face by the man’s flailing foot, he’d been subdued and stuffed in the back of Juan’s patrol car.

Juan had thanked her for her help and had driven off with the protesting, swearing man.

The rest of the shift hadn’t been any better. Some days were like that, more pissed-off people than ones who were thankful for a deputy’s protection.

To top it off, Hayden was later than usual getting home because of a report she’d had to redo, which she’d somehow deleted entirely after finishing it. It was pushing eight-thirty and she’d just gotten out of the shower and dried her hair when her doorbell rang.

She threw on the ratty robe she hardly ever wore and rushed to the front door. After verifying it was Boone, she wrenched open the door, apologizing before it was open all the way.

“I’m so sorry, Boone. I’m not ready yet. Work was a bitch today and I just got home about thirty minutes ago. Come in and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be out in just a bit, just give me about ten or fifteen minutes, okay?”

“What the hell, Hay?”

Hayden looked up at Boone in surprise. “Huh?”

He put a finger under her chin and lifted her head. “What happened to your face?”

“Oh.” Hayden shrugged. “Part of the job.”

“Have you put ice on it?”

“Ice?”

“Yeah, Hay. Ice.”

“No. I haven’t had time. It’s fine. I’ll just go and—” She didn’t finish her thought before Boone moved.

He removed his hand from her chin and reached down for her hand. He grasped it in his own and towed her toward her kitchen.

“Boone, seriously. It’s fine. This happens all the time. I have to finish getting ready.”

Hayden bounced off of Boone’s back as he stopped their progress toward her kitchen suddenly and without warning. “It happens all the time?”

Shit. Hayden nodded, but lowered her voice and tried to soothe him. “Yeah, but I’m fine. It’s not a big deal. I bruise easily. It’ll be better in the morning.”

Boone started walking again until he got to the kitchen. He pulled out a stool. “Sit.”

Hayden didn’t say anything, but sat on the stool he’d indicated. She could’ve wrenched her hand out of his grasp at any point, but she didn’t feel like Boone was any danger to her, and she’d been bemused. Hayden put her elbows on the counter and leaned on them as she watched him open her freezer, get out a tray of ice cubes, put a few into a dishcloth that was hanging on her fridge and twist it up. He walked over and sat on a stool next to her. He put his free hand to the side of her head and turned it toward him.

When she didn’t balk or do anything to stop him, he held the makeshift ice pack to her face gently. When Hayden put her hand up to hold the cloth, he brushed it aside. “I got it.”

Hayden wasn’t sure what to say. She felt awkward and uneasy. This was so outside her comfort zone, she might as well be on another planet.

“How did it happen?”

Knowing what he meant, Hayden gave him a rundown of the encounter with the drunk man that day.

He didn’t immediately say anything when she was done, but finally he nodded. “Does it hurt?”

Hayden shook her head and knew she had to change the subject. “How’re
you
? Any more drama with Dana?”

“No. I think she finally got the hint.”

Hayden didn’t disagree with him outwardly, even though she doubted the crazy lady had indeed given up. She’d looked into her eyes that day at Boone’s house…Dana wasn’t going to let Boone go without a fight. Hayden had seen it too many times. She let it drop.

Loving the feel of his hand on her waist as the other held the ice pack to her face, she asked, “So, who will I be meeting tonight?”

“My best friend, Tucker, should be there. He’s a firefighter on the west side of the city. We went to high school together. He’s a couple years younger than me. I think two of my employees will also be there, and we’ll probably see some of the men I do business with and some casual acquaintances as well.”

“Okay.”

Boone, obviously reading her nervousness, reassured her. “They’re going to love you, Hayden. Don’t worry.”

“Uh huh.”

Boone smiled at her. He lifted the ice and leaned toward her to peer closer at her bruised cheek.

Hayden took in a breath. He was so close, all it would take would be for her to lean forward two inches and their lips would be touching.

“It looks better. I don’t like it at all, but hopefully the ice will keep it from turning too purple.” He ran his fingers lightly over her slightly discolored cheek.

Hayden caught her breath at his touch. His hands weren’t smooth. They were rough from working on the farm all day, but somehow the callouses on his finger sent heat straight down between her legs. She shifted on the chair. “I should probably go and finish getting ready,” she said breathlessly.

“Yeah.” But Boone didn’t move.

“Boone?”

He didn’t say anything, but leaned toward her again and kissed her bruised cheek, right where she’d been kicked in the face. But he didn’t stop there. He absently put the ice pack on the counter and took her head in both of his hands. He kissed her forehead, her other eye, her nose, and finally, Boone settled his lips over her own.

Hayden couldn’t stop the small, needy sound that escaped her as she immediately opened her mouth to take him in. She leaned forward and put her hands on his thighs as they explored each other’s mouths. She vaguely felt Boone shift under her a second before he lifted his head from hers.

“God, woman. You make me want to forget taking you anywhere tonight…except to your bed.”

Hayden was still lost in the kiss, otherwise she probably would’ve thought more before she spoke. “Sounds good to me.”

Boone chuckled. “Oh no. I’m taking you out. I want to show you off. But I’m not going to forget your fingernails digging into my thighs anytime soon.”

“Oh!” Hayden shook her head, realizing suddenly where she was and what she’d just been doing. She lifted her hands from his lap, realizing she
had
been flexing her fingers against him.

Boone put one hand over hers and brought it back down to his thigh. “I like it. I like knowing I can affect you like that.” Seeing her blush, and more than charmed by it, Boone chuckled and took pity on her. “Go get ready, Hay. I was telling the truth about wanting to take you to bed, but I want to show you off more…at least right now. If you ask me later, I’ll probably want to kick my own ass for taking you to the meat market tonight. I’ll be fighting to keep you to myself the second we walk in.”

Hayden dropped her hands from Boone and shook her head. “I don’t know why you and Mack keep saying that. I’m just me. No one has taken a second glance at me before. Tonight’s not going to be any different, no matter what clothes I put on to spruce myself up with.”

Boone stood up from his seat and kissed Hayden on the forehead. “I’ll enjoy watching you discover how many people find ‘just you’ irresistible.”

Hayden rolled her eyes and got up, smoothing her robe over her legs, making sure she was covered. “Give me ten or so minutes?”

“Take as long as you need, Hay. We’re in no hurry.”

“Okay, thanks. I won’t make you wait too long.”

Boone nodded and watched as Hayden hurried down the hall, enjoying the sight of her backside as she disappeared.

Twenty minutes later, which was honestly about ten minutes before he expected to see her, Boone watched, speechless, as Hayden came out of her room.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take so long. I couldn’t get my hair right, and then I couldn’t find the earrings Mack gave me just this afternoon.” She stopped at the entrance to the main room and looked at Boone, who was staring wordlessly at her. “What? Do I look okay?”

Boone slowly walked toward Hayden, almost not believing he was seeing the same person he’d just been sitting with twenty minutes earlier. She was wearing shorts that showed off her muscular and toned legs. He’d seen her legs before, but her shorts tonight were shorter than when they’d gone out to lunch. He could see the definition in her thighs, and the vision of those same muscles flexing as she rode him flashed through his lust-filled brain.

The slight heels she was wearing only accentuated how long and sexy her legs were. He couldn’t help but imagine what her legs would feel like wrapped around his hips as he pumped into her warm, willing body. He could even almost feel the heels she’d leave on her feet digging into his ass as he took her. It was inappropriate, but he couldn’t stop the thought. Boone’s gaze ran up Hayden’s body to her hair. She’d left it down, mostly. It was pulled away from her face with a barrette that held some of the strands at the back of her head. There were large curls resting on her chest under her collarbone and he just knew it’d be flowing down her back as well. The green of her shirt looked fucking phenomenal with her red hair. His mouth actually watered at the vision standing in front of him. Suddenly he realized what she asked.

“Do you look okay?” Boone repeated, unbelievingly.

Hayden nodded, unsure.

Boone could tell she hated not feeling secure, but he was about two seconds away from hauling her into his arms and following through with his earlier threat to carry her down the hall and to her bed. His cock was so hard he was surprised Hayden didn’t back away from him in disgust and call him a pervert. He licked his lips and said, “Yeah, Hay. You look great.” The words were inadequate, but the blood in his dick was obviously making it hard for him to think straight.

Hayden turned away from him, saying, “Okay, Good. Let me grab my ID out of my wallet. Mack gave me a little purse thing, she called it a wristlet, to use tonight. I’ll put my ID and some money in there and then I’ll be ready to— Boone!”

Her words were cut off as Boone wrapped a hand around her waist and hauled her into him. He turned her so they were facing each other. He was taller than she was, even with the two-inch heels she was wearing. She looked up at him in surprise.

“Do you look okay? Jesus, Hay. I thought you looked absolutely stunning…then you turned around.”

Boone ran one hand over her bare spine, and the other dipped dangerously low. Hayden could feel the pinky finger of his hand stop just below the waistband of her jean shorts. She inwardly cursed when she felt a blush bloom over her face. She’d actually forgotten how little material there was on the back of her shirt, but Boone’s hands caressing her bare skin was a sure-fire reminder.

“You aren’t leaving my side tonight. This is the sexiest fucking shirt I’ve ever seen. Demure and polite from the front, covering you from neck to waist, but pure sin from the back.” His hands continued to roam up and down her bare back. He smiled when she broke out in goosebumps at his touch.

He moved one hand from her upper back, leaving the other low on her spine, skimming his fingers farther under her waistband. He put his knuckle under her chin and raised it. “Forgive me for my lame compliment earlier. You don’t look great, you look absolutely stunning, Hayden. But it’s not your clothes…it’s you.”

“Boone—”

“Yes, your hair is beautiful, and this is the sexiest shirt I’ve ever seen and it makes me think of nothing else but taking you out of it, but honestly? It’s
you
I’m most attracted to. Your toughness, your loyalty to your friends and your job, and your determination. But I see more. I see the soft, squishy part of you that you try to hide from the world.” Boone moved his hand from her chin and down the front of her shirt and rested it on the top swell of her left breast. “I sense a great hurt in you, here, deep in your heart. But it’s that hurt that’s made you who you are today…a woman full of contradictions who I want to get to know better.”

Boone watched as her eyes filled with tears. “Don’t cry, Hay. I’m not saying this to make you cry. I’m obviously bungling it. But yes, you look ‘okay.’ You look more than fucking okay.”

She sniffed and pulled herself together before finally nodding and saying simply, “Good.”

Boone smiled. She was so freaking cute. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah.”

Boone didn’t let go, but continued to look down at her.

“Boone? You have to let go of me if we’re going to leave.”

“This is a bad idea.”

“What is?”

“Taking you to the bar tonight.”

Hayden’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “Why? I thought you wanted to go there.”

“Because every man in there is going to take one look at you and want to see you sprawled on his sheets.”

“Boone,” Hayden protested. “That’s not true!”

“It is. But you’re with me.”

Hayden started getting pissed now. She’d been feeling all soft and feminine, but now she was irritated. She forcefully stepped away from his embrace. “Boone Hatcher, this isn’t cool. Seriously? You want to put a leash on me and parade me through the bar? Better yet, maybe you can just pee on me to make sure other guys know I’m your property.”

“Hayden—”

“Maybe I should go back to my room and put on my uniform. Would that make you feel better? Wait, I have it: I’ll just put on some sweats and an old ratty T-shirt and—” Hayden squealed as she suddenly found herself hanging off of Boone’s shoulder as he strode into the living room. “Boone!”

Hayden knew she could get out of his hold, but shit, he was six-three and it’d hurt if she hit the ground from this high up. Besides that, she knew Boone wouldn’t drop her. She decided to save her law enforcement tricks for a different time.

He got to the couch and leaned over, dumping her on her back with her knees hanging over the arm of the sofa, so her lower body was tilted up. He immediately crouched over her.

Hayden put both hands on his chest and pushed. “Jeez, Boone, was that necessary?”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to show you off, but I’m finding it hard to believe you’re with
me
, Hayden. You’re amazing. Not only because of your looks, but your personality. I’m a simple farmer. I’m comfortable with my ranch and my life. I know I’m not bad to look at, but I also know there are plenty of other men out there who are irresistible to women. I find myself wanting to punch any guy who even
looks
at you…and we haven’t even left your house yet. I’m sorry for putting this badly, but I’m attracted to you. I want you. I want to bury myself so deep inside you, you don’t know where I end and you begin. I’ve lusted after women before, but this feels like more. Much more. I know it’s too early, but I want you to know. I need you to understand that I don’t think this is a passing thing. At least not for me.”