Taken by the Lawman (Lawmen of Wyoming Book 6) Read online

  *

  What the hell was she doing? That was Kiersten’s thoughts as she pecked on the passenger window of Deegan’s truck. He gave her one of his appealing smiles and reached over to open the door for her. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” he said in a thick tone.

  She climbed in and sighed. “Is that you being charming?”

  He laughed. “Not working?”

  “Don’t be too cocky, Bronx. I’m just curious, that’s all.” She closed the door and dropped her shoulder bag at her feet on the floor. “This better not be a waste of my time.”

  He steered the vehicle out of the garage. The sun was shining brightly although it was a bit cool out and she wished she’d grabbed a jacket.

  “Cold?”

  “Some.” She watched him flip on a switch. Warm air flowed from the vent and, within several minutes, she was no longer chilled. Sitting next to Deegan contributed to warming her blood.

  “I won’t make any promises, but I have a feeling the roommate will tell us something useful.”

  “Like what? How Annie liked her toast and if she was a messy roommate?”

  He gave her a side glance across the bucket seat. “You really do enjoy busting my balls, don’t you?”

  “I’m not a ball-buster. Just a realist. We have a few suspicions, but nothing concrete—especially nothing that should have us traipsing all over Wyoming.”

  “Then why come along? I can drop you off at the corner here and you can be back in the office in fifteen minutes.”

  Kiersten shifted in the leather seat to look at his profile. “I can’t tell you why I’m doing this because I have no clue.”

  “Admit it, you sense the suspense in this case. You feel it in your bones.” He stopped at the red light and turned his chin to look at her.

  She swallowed hard. Deegan Bronx might be her subordinate and that meant he was off limits, but he did something to her that she couldn’t quite understand. She wouldn’t fall for it, not this time. Her moment of weakness had passed and now he just infuriated her. He might be able to kill a man ten different ways, have the tracking skills of a human GPS, and look like a bad ass warrior, all things she admired, but he also had an ego the size of Mt. Rushmore. Nope. She wasn’t interested. “Do you have the video of the girl? The one you said proved she didn’t kill herself?”

  He reached for his phone in the console, clicked a couple of buttons, then he handed her the cell. Kiersten watched the video, then replaced the phone in the cup holder. “Okay, I admit she said she was going to bed, but—.”

  “Yeah, I know that there are holes.”

  They crossed the city limits and everything became greener and spread further apart. She turned to look at the passing scenery as she cleared her mind. “Fill me in on where we’re going and what you know about the roommate.”

  “Folklore is a small town about two hours from here. From what I can gather, RayAnn Mont grew up there and went back when she moved out of the apartment she shared with Annie.”

  “Did she and Annie have a falling out?”

  He shrugged and the arm of the T-shirt tightened on his bicep. Her eyes naturally fell to the toned, thick muscle and she quickly removed her gaze. “Could have been a falling out or could have been that Annie wanted her privacy.”

  “This is ridiculous, you do know that, right?” Feeling a little unsettled, she reached into her bag for a stick of gum. The peppermint eased her queasiness. The doctor said the fertility drug could make her feel this way.

  Deegan gave her what she gathered was his face of displeasure. His eyes were narrowed and his lips slanted. “It’s not and that’s why you came along. Have a little faith.”

  “I was referring to it being ridiculous that both of us have other cases that need our attention, but here we are on a Monday morning heading away from the office and toward some town called Folklore. Let’s face it, you’re not doing this to find out if Annie overdosed. You’re doing this to help your friend.”

  “Pfft. You don’t know me very well.”

  She turned slightly to look at him. “Well, isn’t it?”

  “Helping a friend out is offering him a place to stay or loaning him money. If I didn’t feel like this girl was murdered, I wouldn’t be investigating this case, and I certainly wouldn’t be searching for some roommate who probably won’t be the star witness to anything.”

  “Sure, but Kline should be very grateful. From what I hear, he has his fans squirming.” Bracing her foot on the edge of the seat and propping her chin on her knee, she watched his profile. He had a nice face with high cheekbones, but the layer of whiskers that covered his jaw wasn’t regulatory, but a man like him didn’t follow rules.

  The moment she met him she thought he was cocky.

  And sexy.

  She’d done her best to dodge him, but on those rare occasions that seeing him couldn’t be helped, she’d suffered through awkwardness and keeping her expression blank. Things had been extremely awkward between them, mostly because there was still a sexual chemistry that couldn’t be explained. She could handle this though. She’d reassured herself she could handle being near him, ignore him, and stay focused. They’d find this roommate chick, then head back home. Plain and simple.

  “You don’t like Max, do you?”

  “I don’t know Senator Kline.”

  “If we’re going to work together, maybe we should clear the air.”

  “Clear the air?” She picked at a loose thread on her shirt.

  “Don’t beat around the bush, Kiersten. We slept together, but we can be mature adults about this,” Deegan said bluntly.

  “Let’s not talk about this—”

  “And ignore the elephant in the room?”

  Kiersten swallowed, feeling her stomach in knots. This was a conversation she wasn’t prepared to have, and yet didn’t she expect that one day this would happen? She simply didn’t have a clue what to say that wasn’t obvious already. Reminding herself that she needed to stay cool, she sucked in a deep breath. He was right, they were mature adults. They fought the worst of the worst criminals, so talking about an impulsive night some two years ago should be a cake-walk. Yet why were her palms sweaty and her heartbeat racing?

  Some of her concern must have shown in her expression because he shrugged and said, “Fine, but let’s at least agree to let the black cloud pass so that we can concentrate on solving the case.”

  “You even saying that tells me you think it’s not possible for me to focus on the investigation,” she said a bit bitterly, but his words had caught her off guard.

  He looked at her for a long beat, then turned back to stare at the road ahead. “Don’t take it personal but I’d like to think that every time we’re together you’d stop shooting me with invisible bullets.”

  She laughed. “That’s not true. I think you’re imagining things.”

  “Am I really?” was his simple response.

  “We made a mistake and there’s no way I’ll allow any mistake to detour me from a case. If you had your feelings hurt…”

  “My feelings aren’t hurt.” Deegan jerked the steering wheel and pulled over on the side of the highway. Cars buzzed by and all she could do was stare at him with curiosity.

  “What are you doing? Let’s get back on the road,”’ she huffed.

  “Not until you lose the attitude.”

  “Me? I don’t have an attitude. Have you looked at yourself lately?” She snapped up a brow. He really was good looking. Dark hair and eyes that always stared at her as if he could see straight into her soul. The intensity made her want to take a cold shower.

  “I don’t get it. You say that you want to forget that one night we shared, but then why can’t you get over it? Admit it, you still think about it,” he whispered.

  And there was that same reaction. Her nipples tightened and her inner thighs quivered. How could he have such control over her body? She couldn’t remember ever being affected the same way by any other man, which
angered her. Frustrated her. Interested her. “There’s that ego. You’re so full of yourself that you think that one night is something more than a blip in space. Rest assured, I don’t think about that night. If you think I’m awkward around you, it’s because I think you take too many risks and put other people’s lives in danger. So let’s not mix personal and professional, okay?”

  He leaned in, so close that she caught his scent—sandalwood and leather—and could see a small white scar on his forehead. The brown freckle in his right eye. The thick, masculine curve of his bottom lip. Her breath caught in her lungs and her heart beat so fast and hard. Would he kiss her? Would he touch her? No, he couldn’t. They shouldn’t, but why did her stomach twist and turn? Why did she ache to be near him? Her eyes floated shut until she felt the strap of the seatbelt come around her body and she brought her eyes open at the same time he locked it into place. Her cheeks heated from embarrassment…and something far more dangerous.

  One corner of his beautiful mouth danced with a smile. “Now that we have that worked out.” He sat up, shifted the truck into drive and weaved back onto the highway. “Safety first, that includes seatbelts. But again, you should know all about risks.”

  Kiersten searched her brain for a snarky comeback, but her mind drew a blank so she stared through the window and concentrated on the scenery and not the sparks flying between them.

  Two sticks of gum and an hour later, she was finally feeling the Deegan-effects calming some. If it was the last thing she did, she’d prove to him, and herself, that she didn’t want him…that much. She didn’t think he was the sexiest man that walked the earth or had incredibly strong hands and perfect lips. Or eyes that had the intensity of a laser. No…he was just a man with a badge who would be a lethal injection to her career.

  4

  Deegan tried his best to keep his eyes off Kiersten’s ass as they climbed the stairs of the B&B in Folklore, after all he was a red-blooded man who knew exactly what she looked like under those slacks. She intrigued and frustrated him all at the same time. Made him feel incompetent. Made him want her so damn bad that he couldn’t think clearly.

  From the second he was introduced to her he’d wanted her. He’d tried without success to not want her, to keep their relationship in the work zone, but every time she walked into the room his gaze naturally found her. From the way her dark hair fell to her shoulders in large waves, her fascinating smile or the way she worked her bottom lip when she was concerned or thoughtful. She’d always been professional, almost snooty, until the New Year’s Eve party when he’d been floored when things had taken a turn. They’d ended up down a dark, empty hallway, going at each other like two raving lunatics, tearing at each other’s clothes until he’d finally dragged her into a shadowed conference room and bent her over the table where he took her fast and hard. What probably should have been the hottest five-minute encounter of his lifetime turned into an all-nighter back at his place that left an impression in him that would last years.

  Up until earlier when he’d pulled off the highway, he’d believed that she didn’t think of that night and didn’t want more too until he saw that look in her eyes. Like the look on New Year’s Eve. The one that lured him in and crushed all his defenses.

  Unfortunately, no woman made him feel these same things. He’d tried to get her out of his brain, her scent off his skin, but no other woman came close. He was left semi-satisfied with the others. Left wanting more than just a sexual encounter. He needed all his molecules enlightened. There came a point in a man’s life when he needed to look at his future with a skeptical eye and where he wanted to be. Deegan had been doing a lot of thinking lately and there was a huge void in front of him that he needed to fill.

  Once they were inside the room with the door closed, she turned on him and crossed her arms, tapping the toe of her boot. “Now tell me why you made out to the woman at the desk that we’re a couple?”

  “I booked the room before I knew you were coming with me and we both know how small towns are.”

  “And how are small towns?”

  “We have to fit in. They won’t give us any information about Mont if they think we’re Feds. That’s where my plan comes into play.”

  “Plan?” She tilted her head in question.

  “Maybe we should grab something to eat. I’m hungry. I wonder if they have room service here.” He dropped his bag on the bed and searched around for a menu.

  “Don’t try to change the subject. Food can wait. I cannot.”

  “Why are you so uptight?”

  She pursed pink, glossy lips. “What you call uptight, I call mindful.”

  He blew out a long breath. “We’re a couple visiting this amazing town. No one will be suspicious. Come on, it’s not like you haven’t worked undercover before.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I didn’t agree to this.”

  The room contained a queen-sized bed, dresser, and a TV. He finally found the menu on the nightstand and busied himself reading through the list. “With any luck we’ll only have to play these roles for a few hours and we can head back home.” He flashed what he hoped was a bright, good-natured smile when inside he was thinking about how good she looked and the one bed in the center of the room. That would give her all the reason she needed to stay clear of him, and that wasn’t what he wanted.

  She dropped her arms to her sides. “Don’t get any ideas that this is anything more than an assignment.”

  “A man and woman can be in the same room, alone, and not have thoughts of depraved sex, but maybe you’re worried that you can’t control yourself.”

  Her lashes fluttered lower. “Trust me, I can handle myself. I was just simply making the rules clear.”

  “Do you like grilled cheese?” He looked at her above the menu. “Or a BLT? Those are basically your two choices.”

  She was still looking at him in confusion and working that lower lip like it was candy. When she shoved her hands into her back pockets and shifted her feet, he realized her agitation had come back. “You had this planned all along, didn’t you?”

  “No.” Her gaze penetrated him. He should feel mortification that all he wanted to do was dive into her cleavage, but he didn’t. A man could want what he couldn’t have. “I had no clue you’d come with me. We’ll fit in better as a couple. You even have that expression that my mom gives to my dad when she’s upset. You’re good at this.”

  Her hands came up in frustration. “I’m catching the next bus home.” She swiveled and started for the door, but he was quicker and blocked her path. “Get out of my way! I’m not staying in this room and pretending we’re a couple.”

  “Why are you afraid of me?” he asked in a lowered voice.

  She blinked. “I’m not afraid of you.” Her irises widened, betraying her words.

  “I’d never do anything to put you at risk or pressure you into something you don’t want to do.” He reached up to brush away a strand of hair latched onto her cheek, but he caught himself and dropped his hand to his side, clenching it into a fist. “It’s like any assignment. Sometimes we do things we don’t want to do…or things we secretly wish we could do. If you really want to go home, I’ll give you the keys to my truck.”

  She brought her chin up. He could practically see her thoughts turning through her eyes. “I’m hoping you didn’t bring me here under false pretenses.”

  He swiped a hand down his jaw, grinning. “Now who has the ego? I’m not desperate, sweetheart. I get it. We had one night together that meant nothing more than a blip in space. For someone who preaches professionalism, you should try acting upon it. You want to keep accusing me of being stuck on that night when I think we both know you’re the one who can’t get over it but can’t admit it.”

  “Wouldn’t you like to think so. I mean, sure, it was a good time, but I’ve moved on. In fact, I moved on with the man you saw me with at the restaurant.” She shrugged.

  “The yuppie? The one who didn’t stay to eat his pizza? He lo
oked like he’d just lost his puppy when he walked away. Yeah, some relationship.” He chuckled. “Admit it. You broke it off with him.”

  “This isn’t any of your business. I’m just trying to prove that you’re wrong. I’m capable of keeping my head in the assignment.”

  He took a step back, reeling from the emotions she erupted in him. “We’re here now. Let’s do this. How about we get out of this room, grab lunch because I need more substance than bread with cheese. We can ask around, and with any luck, we’ll be heading back to Cheyenne by evening with some clues to this case.”

  “Fine, Deegan. If we’re working this case together though, then we need to decide ‘together’ how we’re doing this. That’s not too much to ask.”

  “I forgot. You always like to be in control.” He dropped down on the bed and the mattress springs squeaked loudly which received a look of disapproval from her. He leaned against the headboard and stretched his legs, crossing his ankles. “Okay then, how do you think we should handle this?”

  Several seconds floated by. “Fine, you’re right that we will fit in better as a couple. We’re getting out there and finding this woman, and the second we have our questions answered we’re getting out of Folklore. Not a second later. Got it?”

  “Then let’s not waste any time.” He climbed from the bed, opened the door and ushered her out. When they took the last step of the stairs onto the first floor, he placed his hand on the small of her back and they headed for the desk. He bent and said close to her ear, “Put a smile on your face, Cade. At least pretend you like my touch a little.”

  “Stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, Bronx,” she seethed.

  “Now that’s a thought.”

  *

  As they approached the customer service desk, Kiersten had to work hard to keep a smile on her face while Deegan’s hand stayed pressed on the small of her back. She wanted to swat it away, but the pert, blue-eyed blonde desk worker lifted her head, watching them.