The Cowboy Way

by Linda Lael Miller

  “Yeah, maybe. I think... I probably won’t get to plant these until tomorrow. But if you’re around, maybe we could work on it together?”

  Kate brightened. “Sure! And actually, if you don’t need them now, if you want I could put them in the bed of my truck and bring them home tonight. Then you wouldn’t get dirt in your car.”

  Kate’s offer gave Sadie serious feelings in the region of her heart. She wasn’t sure she deserved the other woman’s friendliness. But she wanted it. She wanted a friend, darn it. “Thanks. I’ll take the apology azalea, though, since I need to talk to Eli and I’m not doing it without reinforcement.”

  Kate grabbed the largish potted plant from the cart and handed it to Sadie. “Here you go.”

  Sadie wrapped her arms around it, holding both her coffee and the bag of knickknacks she’d purchased earlier. “Great. Well. See you later.” She turned and headed toward the door, pausing when she realized she had no available hands.

  “Sorry!” She heard Kate scurry around the counter, rushing to hold the door for her.

  “No problem,” Sadie said. “I’ll see you.”

  She walked out into the warm afternoon, wind kicking up from the ocean, blowing her hair across her face and into her mouth as she walked back up the sidewalk toward where she’d parked her car. She did a little cursory scan for Eli’s patrol car but didn’t see it.

  And she tried not to think too much about the sinking, vague sense of disappointment she felt over that.

  CHAPTER SIX

  BY THE TIME Eli clocked out, he was ready to sink onto the couch and zone out. Maybe watch whatever sport was on. He wasn’t picky. Hell, he’d take tennis at this point. Just something that didn’t require thought.

  But when he pulled his car into the dirt drive that led up to his house, it didn’t take long for him to see that was not going to be in his future. There was a shiny black sedan in his space. Which meant there was a person here. Which meant he had to be on still. Which had him cursing internally in a variety of interesting combinations.

  He groaned and pulled his car to the side, so that whoever owned the sedan could easily get out again once their business with him was done.

  He put the car in Park and killed the engine, unbuckling and getting out, letting out a long-suffering breath as he did.

  He took a few steps toward the house and saw the back of a dark-haired woman, long hair, shiny and curly, swinging down to a slim waist. She was facing...well, off into the vague distance as far as he could see.

  He frowned and moved closer, then he noticed that there was another woman kneeling down in the dirt, her face partly blocked by a curtain of blond, straggly hair. He could see one pale, dirt-splattered arm. And for some reason, the sight of the bedraggled woman on her hands and knees gave him a jolt that the back of the glossy brunette hadn’t.

  Then the brunette turned, and revealed both her identity and that of the blonde. And suddenly everything, including his reaction, made very irritating sense.

  Because Lydia Carpenter belonged to the glossy dark hair, and the gritty mess in his dirt was, of course, Sadie Miller. Of. Course.

  He and his dick needed to have a very serious conversation about appropriate reactions to women who were very annoying.

  “What’s going on here?” he asked, realizing, in some dim part of his brain, that this was not a socially acceptable way to greet people.

  “Eli!” Lydia said, smiling broadly, taking a few steps toward him, her tan legs on display in a very short summer dress she had not been wearing earlier. She was also wearing red lipstick, which he didn’t remember from earlier, either.

  Sadie looked decidedly less happy to see him from her position on the ground. She looked up, squinting against the sun, offering an approximation of a smile that looked a little bit like she was baring her teeth at him.

  “Hi. Did we have a...meeting I forgot about?” he asked, looking from Lydia to Sadie.

  Lydia’s smile suddenly went a little snarly. “Uh. No. Great minds, I guess. Though I feel like I should have brought a plant.”

  “What?” He took that moment to look a little more specifically at what Sadie was doing.

  There was a mound of fresh dirt around an azalea plant, bright pink buds mocking him with their cheeriness on the ends of the branches.

  “Surprise!” Sadie said weakly.

  “Uh...” And he had nothing to say after that, so he just let it hang there.

  “Eli,” Lydia said, and he wondered, yet again, how they’d gotten all first-name basis all of a sudden, “I wanted to let you know that I ran the barbecue idea past everyone on the board and the response was massive. We’re so thankful to have someone running for Logan County Sheriff who has such a vested interest in the well-being of Copper Ridge’s economy.”

  Oh, dammit. This was like his worst nightmare come true. He was being railroaded. By two petite, smiling, evil women.

  “Well... I... Of course I care,” he said, and Lydia’s expression changed to something else entirely. Something that he couldn’t quite identify, but that terrified him down to his soul.

  “I knew you did,” she said, walking toward him and putting her hand over his. “And it’s so greatly appreciated. By me. And...of course, the whole town. And county.”

  “Of course,” he said, drawing back slowly. He looked down at Sadie, who seemed frozen, her eyes wide with a combination of amusement and horror.

  “Well, I have to go,” Lydia said, “but we should discuss this further. Over coffee.” She reached into her purse and dug a card out, pressing it into his hand.

  “Okay,” he said, curling his fingers around it.

  Lydia turned and smiled at Sadie, and again, he had a feeling it was a smile meant to convey something other than happiness. There was a lot of strange emotional subtlety happening here, and he basically needed to be bludgeoned over the head with feelings to have any idea of what was going on, so he resigned himself to confusion, and relief when Lydia walked back to her car and started the engine.

  He turned back to Sadie, who was still on the ground. “What is happening here?”

  “I brought you an azalea.”

  “Why?”

  “To apologize,” she said, blinking as if she was suddenly realizing that her idea might not have been the best. “And to extend...goodwill.”

  “Some people just say they’re sorry. They don’t go planting unsolicited shrubbery in front of someone else’s house.”

  “Yeah, well, some people lack imagination.” She straightened and brushed her hands off on her jeans, leaving a trail of light dust streaked over the dark denim.

  “Or have a greater grasp of social boundaries.”

  She made an indignant sound in the back of her throat. “That’s also a possibility. I mean, maybe. But your sister assured me this was a manly plant. And also didn’t seem to think it was a terrible idea.”

  “It has pink flowers.”

  “Honestly, the whole gendered colors thing is extremely ridiculous to me. Colors are colors. How can one be masculine and one be feminine?”

  “I’m going to skip over this part of the conversation if it’s all the same to you.”

  “It is.”

  “Great. What was Lydia doing here? Was she part of the plant installation?”

  “No. Our missions were separate and coincidentally intertwined with each other.”

  “She’s really into your barbecue idea. Congratulations on your evil plan working, by the way.”

  “I don’t think it’s the barbecue she’s into.”

  “Are you still gnawing on that bone?”

  “You don’t need to whip out that much leg to talk community barbecue. Also, she was a little chilly to me.”

  “Why?”

  Sadie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “She’s threatened by me. Me and my azalea.”

  “She has no reason to be,” he said.

  “You like her that much?”

  “I like you
and your azalea that little.”

  “Dammit, Sheriff, right in my soft white underbelly. I’m trying to be nice to you.”

  “You’ve put me in a position I don’t want to be in. Now I’m going to have to advocate for your little circus.”

  “Why?”

  “Because. You heard her. The whole Chamber of Commerce is really excited, and it’s an indicator of my commitment to the community. And my votes are riding on this stupid crap that I don’t want to do.”

  “Oh. Ouch. Public opinion is a new concern for you, isn’t it?” She didn’t look at all sorry. She looked downright gleeful.

  “Not exactly,” he said.

  “You have to join forces with me,” she said. “Assimilate or die.”

  “You don’t have to enjoy this so much.”

  “But I do!” she crowed. “I really do. And anyway, it’s not going to be that bad. No one’s going to make you participate or smile.”

  “I need boundaries,” he said. “And a plan. If it’s going to happen, I’m going to oversee it.”

  “Control freak much?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Much. And I’m fine with it. Now, if you’re going to do something on my property you have to be okay with it, too. You don’t have to like it, but the bottom line is, you will do as I say, or it doesn’t happen at all.”

  “Oh, really? I thought you acknowledged that I had you over a barrel.” She tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear and arched her brow as if to say, Gotcha.

  No. Way.

  “Oh, no, baby,” he said, not sure where the endearment had come from or why it had rolled off his tongue, but he didn’t stop to try to figure it out. “You may have me in a position where I have to be willing to consider your idea, but make no mistake, it’s you who has the most to lose. I don’t have to do a damn thing, and I’m the one with his name on the title for this chunk of earth. So if you want to play, you’ll play my way.”

  * * *

  SADIE FELT AN unfamiliar surge of raw, unmitigated anger course through her veins. This was not her style. It was not her game. She didn’t do toe-to-toe shouting matches. Not with men, not with anyone. No. She did yoga. She meditated. She had a pottery wheel somewhere. That she never used, but still, she had outlets. Outlets that were not screaming like a child. Or hitting people with your fists until the anger beast cooled in your chest.

  She didn’t believe in giving free rein to negative emotions. It was healthy to acknowledge feelings, yes, and to talk about them in a safe space. But to let them explode out of your mouth and through your chest and let them take over all of everything? Which was what was happening right now, whether she wanted it to be happening or not.

  She was...seething. And it was overflowing. Onto her, onto him, onto everything. And sure, maybe planting the azalea had been a step too far. But Lydia had shown up when she was dropping it off. And something about the other woman made her feel...competitive. Which was annoying.

  But somehow she’d told Lydia that she was supposed to be there. Planting the azalea. And Lydia had lingered. Her mere presence a challenge. So plant it Sadie had.

  And he was rejecting it. Honestly, even if her gesture was weird, it was nice. And he was being an ass.

  “I bought you a motherfucking azalea!” she said, the words shooting out hard and short, intense like gunfire.

  “And I didn’t want it,” he said, taking a step toward her. “I don’t want it here. I don’t want you here.”

  “Why?” she asked, moving nearer to him, compelled forward by the kind of deep, negative emotion she hadn’t even known she possessed. “Because I’m getting my dirty, been-arrested, other-side-of-the-tracks, poor-girl filth all over your hallowed Garrett walkways?”

  “Because,” he said, “you are a mess. And I spent most of my life managing a giant-ass mess, and I don’t see any reason why I should willingly subject myself to another one. I have things just the way I want them.” He moved closer, a muscle in his square jaw ticking, the cords on his neck standing out. “And I do not need you coming in and ruining anything.”

  “Oh, really?” She moved nearer to him, so close she could feel the heat of his breath on her face. “I guess you are awfully neat and tidy,” she said, her gaze flickering over his uniform, so perfectly pressed and...sexy, in spite of everything that was going on between them. “It would be a shame if I got my mess on you.” And before she could police herself, she’d reached out and grabbed his tie, her dirt-encrusted hands sliding over the fabric, leaving a pale dust streak and tugging his face down closer to hers.

  Her heart was pounding so hard it was making her light-headed. Her blood pumped to parts...more southerly. She had no idea what was happening to her. This was no sexual attraction as she knew it. It wasn’t anything as she knew it. She was angrier than she’d been in recent memory, and a hell of a lot more turned on, and she genuinely didn’t know how to process the two together.

  She also didn’t know how to process that she was inches from his face, his tie clutched tight in her hand, as his dark eyes blazed rage into hers. Rage and something else. Something hotter. Something that looked a lot like the fire burning in her belly felt.

  And then...and then he dipped his head, his lips crashing into hers. And that’s what it was. A collision. It wasn’t a testing, or a tasting, or anything tentative at all. It wasn’t nice, or fun, or easy. It was gasoline on a lit match. An instant conflagration that had gone from spark to out of control at the moment of contact.

  She had no idea what was happening, only that she didn’t want it to stop.

  She tugged tighter on his tie and angled her head, parting his lips beneath hers and slipping her tongue into his mouth. He groaned, rough and raw and not anything like the good guy he seemed to want the world to think he was.

  He locked one arm around her waist, drawing her tightly against his hard body. His lips were firm and sure. And everything about him, about this, was so much more intense than she’d imagined it could be.

  She released her hold on his tie and cupped the back of his neck with her hands, holding him to her. She shifted, breaking some of the contact, and he growled—an honestly feral growl—and bit her lip, drawing her back in close.

  Pleasure rocketed through her, her nipples tightening into hard points, desire settling low in her stomach, an iron fist gripping her inside and tugging hard, sending a shock wave of need straight down to her core.

  She wanted... She wanted it to go on forever. This need that wrapped her up in a cocoon and held her to him. That blocked out everything. All the worry, all the anxiety, all the anger, and turned it into something... Good seemed too insipid a word. And she wasn’t sure if this was good at all.

  But it was necessary.

  Suddenly, it was so very necessary.

  She arched her hips against his and felt the very hard, irrefutable evidence of his own investment in this explosion of need. She wanted everything all at once with an intensity that defied anything she’d ever experienced. And she wanted it with all of herself.

  Her heart seized tight, a painful spasm, and suddenly she felt herself move away from him, jumping back like a startled cat.

  She was shaking. Her hands, her knees and everywhere in between. And kisses did not make her shake. And she didn’t kiss men she didn’t like. She didn’t kiss men in uniforms who had a fetish for order and cleanliness.

  She didn’t yell at people, either, but right now the yelling was lower on her list of sins than the kissing.

  “What did you... I don’t even... I’m going to go.” She turned, her shoulders stiff, her heart hammering in her ears.

  “If I’d known a kiss would have gotten rid of you, I would have kissed you the moment I saw your car sitting on the side of the road.”

  Oh. That. Did it.

  She whirled back around, anger gaining traction in her again. “Well, sure, your kiss got rid of me. Congratulations. Now who’s going to help you get rid of the hard-on it gave you? Your right ha
nd?”

  He lifted a shoulder, his expression stone, the dull red color on his cheekbones the only indicator that he was affected at all. That the casual manner was a lie. “My right hand suits me just fine. And it’s a hell of a lot quieter than you.”

  “Oh, sure, the masturbation reference you get. You must spend a lot of time alone.”

  A muscle in his jaw ticked, the color in his face deepening. Embarrassment or anger? For some reason, she felt compelled to find out.

  “No comment on that?” she asked. “Hugely shocking to me that women aren’t flocking to you.” But honestly, his body was stupid sexy and there were, in fact, women who seemed to flock to him. Or at least, one woman. That she’d seen. But, whatever, she was trying to make him mad, so truth didn’t have to come into it. Petty meanness was the only thing that mattered. “I mean, you’re a jerk. And you don’t like anyone in or around your house. You don’t even like flowers.”

  He crossed his arms over his broad chest, and she had to fight to keep herself from looking below his thick utility belt down to where she was sure she would be able to see evidence of his arousal. She was so, so tempted. Because she’d felt it, and it had felt so good. And she was curious beyond reason about how it looked. How he would feel in her palm...

  No. Stop it.

  “I’m not fighting with you,” he said. “But I’m not changing my stance. My way, or no way. It’s up to you.”

  So he wasn’t even going to acknowledge the kiss? He wasn’t going to fight back and feed her anger and make her feel justified and...and... That bastard.

  “Fine,” she bit out. “I’ll work with you. But if you kiss me again, I’ll bite your tongue off.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll be tempted again.”

  That stung. And she had no idea why. Because they shouldn’t kiss again. They shouldn’t have kissed once. So that meant there was no reason for her to feel upset about him not wanting to kiss her again.

  But she was.

  “We’ll discuss this more tomorrow,” she said, straightening her shoulders, trying to maintain dignity she knew she no longer had. “And if I come back tomorrow and my azalea is maimed, uprooted or otherwise denigrated I will vandalize something on your porch.”