A Match Made in Texas (33 page)

The sheriff rested his hand on his empty holster. “Your mind on something else, was it? Or would that be someone else?”

Before Bri could figure out what he was talking about, another sheriff’s car pulled in front of the Smart Car. Her heart kicked into overdrive as her worst fear got out.

“Thanks for the call, Sam,” Dusty said as he strode toward the car, not a twinge of a smile on his face. “I’ll take things from here.”

“Anytime, Sheriff.” Sheriff Winslow winked at Bri before he turned and headed back to his car.

Finally snapping out of her daze, Bri reached for the gearshift with every intention of driving off. Unfortunately, Dusty put a stop to her escape by reaching in the window and taking the keys out of the ignition.

“Get out of the car, ma’am.”

“No.” Bri crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the windshield. She heard an exasperated sigh before her door was jerked open, and she found herself pressed against a tall, hard body and staring up into a pair of mirrored sunglasses.

“You just have to push the limits, don’t you?” he said. And although there wasn’t a lick of smile on his lips, there was definitely a smile in his voice. He turned her around and bent her over the front of the car. “Now, we can do it the easy way.” He pulled her hands behind her back, and cold steel slipped around her wrists. “Or we can do it the hard way.” His thighs pressed against her as he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You want it hard, ma’am?”

Just that quickly, Bri’s libido went from zero to sixty, leaving her panties moist and her brain empty. His hands curled around her hips, and she was pulled back against a hard-on that had her knees giving out.

“Hmm?” He hummed against her ear. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” Then he gently lifted her up in his arms and carried her back to his squad car. It wasn’t until he had her in the backseat with the door locked that she found her voice.

“What are you doing?” She searched for a door handle, but there wasn’t one. So she pounded on the Plexiglas that separated the backseat from the front. “You let me out of here! I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Now I wouldn’t say that.” Dusty started the car and pulled back onto the highway. “I have a piece of paper that says I was supposed to get a slave for two weeks. With my calculations, I figure you did about a week’s worth of work—give or take. Which means you owe me at least a week more.”

Bri yelled in the hole in the Plexiglas right next to his ear. “You released me from that agreement!”

“Which I had no authority to do. Only a judge can make that decision. And since Judge Seeley has gone fishin’ for the weekend, I’ll have to detain you until he gets back.”

“Detain me? What do you mean detain me? Detain me where?”

“In jail, of course. Where else would you detain a criminal who was trying to get out of her probation?”

If Bri had been in possession of Minnie’s derringer, she would’ve blown a hole right through the partition so she could reach through and wrap her hands around Dusty’s throat. Instead, she did the next best thing. She threatened him with her brothers.

“You just wait, Dusty Hicks. As soon as my brothers find out about this ridiculous farce, there will be no place for you to hide. And this time, I won’t lift a finger to stop them from whupping your butt for abusing me.” She sat back against the seat with a humph.

“Abusing?” Dusty glanced over his shoulder at her. “Now, sweetheart, who said anything about abuse? I said I was planning on detaining you until you fulfilled your part of our agreement.”

“We have no agreement!”

His lips curled into the biggest smile she’d ever seen on the man. “Well, we’ll just have to see about that, now won’t we?” Then he turned back around and started whistling.

Since her Granny Lou had the entire DVD collection of the television show, Bri recognized it immediately. She snorted. As if the ornery man sitting in front of her was even close to being as kindhearted and gentle as Sheriff Andy Taylor. Andy would never manhandle a woman. He would never “detain” her. And certainly would never break her heart.

Bri fumed all the way into Bramble. And was still fuming when Dusty opened the back door.

“Easy or hard?”

She smiled sweetly as she got out. “Hard, of course.” She head-butted him in the chin.

“Dammit, woman!”

Bri would’ve done it again if he hadn’t leaned down and flipped her over his shoulder, leaving her looking at the finest buns this side of the Pecos. He started up the path that led to the jail, when Mayor Sutter called out.

“Hey there, Sheriff! You got yourself a criminal?”

Bri tried to lift her head, but it was hard with her hands behind her. So instead she just yelled at the top of her lungs. “He’s abducting me, Mayor Sutter! And someone needs to stop him.”

The mayor’s lizard-skin cowboy boots joined Dusty’s scuffed ones.

“Is that true, Sheriff?” the mayor asked.

Dusty kept walking. “It does appear that way.”

Another pair of boots joined them. “You gonna interrogate the criminal, Sheriff?” Kenny Gene asked. “You need some help?”

“I think I can handle it, Kenny,” Dusty said. “But I’d sure appreciate it if you made sure we weren’t interrupted.”

“Shore thang, Sheriff. No one will get past me.”

Another pair of boots appeared. These female and familiar.

“Just what in tarnation is goin’ on here?” Twyla asked. “Is that you underneath all that hair, Willie?”

“Yes,” Bri said, hoping someone sane had finally shown up. “Could you please call my brothers and tell them that the sheriff has abducted me?”

“Now why would I call your brothers, Brianne, when there isn’t a woman alive who wouldn’t want to be abducted by a hot cowboy?” Twyla sighed. “It’s just so romantic. Kenny Gene, how come you’ve never handcuffed and abducted me?”

While Bri rolled her eyes, Dusty kept right on walking as another pair of shoes joined the others. These were black lace-up oxfords with a spot of ketchup on one toe.

“Hush up, Twyla,” Rachel Dean said. “Can’t you see that the sheriff is a man on a mission? Here, let me get that for you, Sheriff.” She pulled open the glass door and held it. Before the door whooshed closed, Bri heard the last of the conversation.

“I guess the sheriff didn’t like the haircut Willie gave him,” Twyla said.

Rachel Dean laughed. “I think he liked it just fine.”

Since there would be no help from the townsfolk, Bri gave up the fight and allowed Dusty to take her where he would. He took her to a jail cell. One very different from the Culver jail. Despite the bars, this cell looked like her Granny Lou’s bedroom. There was a large bed with a brass headboard and a homemade quilt. A pretty rag rug and a picture of the Texas state flag.

Bri might’ve commented on the décor when Dusty dumped her onto the bed if he hadn’t rolled her over so her mouth was pressed into a pillow. She felt one handcuff being removed, but instead of removing the other, he rolled her back over, pulled her hands over her head, and handcuffed them to the bed. Then, with a very evil look in his eyes, he jerked open the snaps of his shirt.

Her eyes widened as the shirt dropped to the floor, followed by his gun belt. “What are planning on doing?” she croaked.

Without answering, he sat down on the edge of the bed and removed first one boot and then the other.

“Oh, no,” she said. “If you think we’re going to have sex, you’ve got another thing coming, Sheriff Dusty Hicks.” She tried to make her voice stern, but it was hard when adrenaline and desire pumped through her body at just the thought of what he had planned. “I mean, I might’ve shown some interest in your handcuffs, but that was when I liked you.”

He removed his sunglasses and set them on the sink, his eyes holding a look that had her tummy trembling. “You don’t like me anymore, Brianne?” He stood up and unbuttoned his jeans. “Because I like you.” His gaze swept over her. “I like everything about you. Including your need for a little danger.” He unzipped his jeans with a zing that took all the moisture right out of Bri’s mouth.

What it didn’t do was stop her brain from working. And it only took a second to figure out why the man who had broken it off with her was now telling her how much he liked her.

“Ahh, I get it,” she said. “Minnie must’ve explained about the picture in Mexico and the guy in my room the night of Starlet’s going-away party. And now that you think I’m not a slut, you’re willing to resume our relationship.”

The teasing light died out of his eyes. “Is that what you think?” When she only glared at him, he released his breath and his shoulders slumped. “Of course it’s what you think. Why wouldn’t it be?” He snorted and turned away from the bed. “Some grand plan. I never should’ve let you leave the courtroom without explaining things.” He turned back around. “Minnie didn’t tell me anything about the picture or the escort, Brianne. And you don’t need to explain, either. I won’t deny that I’m jealous of any man who gets to be near you, but jealousy wasn’t the reason I broke it off with you. The real reason I broke it off was because I was terrified. Terrified of falling head over heels in love with the beautiful woman in the picture. A woman who I thought could no more fall in love with a simple sheriff from west Texas than a princess could fall in love with a beggar.”

He swallowed hard and looked down at his bare feet. “Of course, it was too late by then. I was already in love with you. I was just too stupid to figure it out.” He hesitated for only a moment before he reached into his front pocket and pulled out a small set of keys. With sad eyes, he walked over to the bed.

“I’m sorry, Brianne.” He leaned down and gave her the kind of kiss that touches a girl’s soul. “Sorry I didn’t figure it out sooner.” He went to unlock the handcuffs, but Bri pulled her hands away.

“That’s it?” she said. It was difficult to talk around the tears that had welled up in her throat. “You’ve gone to all this trouble to get me here and you’re just going to give up that easily?” She sent him her most snooty look. “Well, I certainly expected more from the big, bad sheriff of Culver County.”

Dusty looked confused for only a second before he smiled his crooked smile that always brightened her world. “You did, did ya?” He flung the keys over his shoulder and joined her on the bed. “And just what did you expect, ma’am?” He started unbuttoning her blouse, placing a kiss on each section of skin he exposed. “A little strip search, perhaps? A little corporal punishment?”

“As your prisoner, I’ll leave that up to you,” she whispered breathlessly. She started to close her eyes, when a thought struck her. “You locked the door, right? Because if word gets back to my brothers—”

He used his teeth to pull down the cup of her bra. “I wouldn’t worry about your brothers. Not when your parents have given me their blessing.” With his heated lips inching toward her nipple, it took her a moment to process his words.

“Their blessing? Their blessing for what?”

He lifted his head. “For your hand in marriage, of course. You don’t think I’d ask you to marry me without first talking to your parents?”

“Marriage? You want to marry me?”

“Yes.” He smiled wickedly. “And I’m prepared to torture you until I get the right answer.”

“In that case”—Bri sent him her own wicked smile—“my lips are sealed.”

Epilogue

“Y
OU LOOK A LITTLE PALE,
S
HERIFF,”
Bri said as she studied her soon-to-be husband. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“Hell, yeah, I’m having second thoughts. And third. And fourth.” He looked out the window. “I should’ve known that marriage to you would be a dangerous undertaking.”

“Now, sweetheart.” Bri slid closer to him, the material of the dress that she’d had specially made for the occasion rustling. “If anyone should be nervous, it should be me. Now that Heather has agreed to joint custody, I’m going to become a stepmother. And thanks to all those fairy tales, Emmie is convinced that all stepmothers are wicked.”

Just as Bri had hoped, the fear left Dusty’s face to be replaced with a twinkle of humor. “And she would be right. You have a wicked streak a mile long.”

She swatted at his arm. “That’s not funny. I’m really worried about Emmie accepting me.”

Dusty tucked a strand of hair back into her helmet. “Accepting you? After she came here for a visit, you two have become as thick as thieves. Not only did she love the room you decorated for her, but also she can’t stop talking about you and her “styling” all her dolls’ hair. And your bizarre choice of honeymoons clinched her devotion.”

Bri smiled. “You mean, you don’t want to spend the night in Cinderella’s castle and have breakfast with the Disney princesses?”

A look of contentment settled over Dusty’s face. “Actually, I can’t think of anything I’d rather do. Having two princesses of my own, I’ve grown kinda partial to royalty.” He leaned over and kissed her. Bri had just melted into the kiss when her big brother peeked his head in.

“It’s time.” Billy winked at her before he walked over and pushed open the door.

Wind whistled in, and Dusty tensed. Knowing from experience that the longer you waited the harder it became, Bri stood and tugged him to his feet.