Don't Mess With Texas (11 page)

Not that Nikki had caused problems. She hadn’t wanted to risk being given away again. And Nana never made her feel she’d do it. As a matter of fact, when Nikki had been seventeen and asked permission to skip school, Nana had rolled her eyes and suggested Nikki try just once to be a normal kid and do something rebellious without asking permission.

“Actually,” Dallas said, “I’d like to introduce myself first. Name’s Dallas O’Connor, I’m a private investigator and Nikki has enlisted my help with this case.”

Nana cut her gaze to Nikki and then back to Dallas. “She’s innocent, so why would she need your help?”

Funny how she and Nana thought alike. “Because…” Nikki’s own words faltered. She remembered Dallas explaining those reasons—something about how she was the perfect suspect right now—and it had made perfect sense then, but now she couldn’t recall exactly what he said. The fact that anyone would believe she would kill someone was… farfetched.

Dallas moved in a step. “Because sometimes even the innocent need someone in their corner.”

“And you’re in her corner?” Nana didn’t sound convinced.

“Yes, ma’am.” His gaze shifted to Nikki. “I’ll do everything I can to prove she’s not guilty.”

“That O’Connor cop—is he your brother?” Nana asked.

Dallas nodded.

“He’s an asshole.”

“Nana,” Nikki intervened. “Remember us talking
about you working on tact?” Nikki normally wouldn’t call Nana on her bluntness. It was just part of who Nana was. But when Nana’s lawyer called Nikki a couple of months ago and suggested she have a chat with her grandmother about being polite to the judge on court day, Nikki hadn’t seen any alternatives.

“No,” Dallas held up his hand to Nikki. “It’s okay.” Dallas’s lips twitched as if he wanted to smile, but he held it back. “To be honest, I’ve called him that more times than I can count. However, of all the cops out there, we’re lucky he’s on the case.”

“Then why does she need you?” Nana asked.

“Because his job is to find the evidence. Evidence can often be misconstrued. And his job demands he turn over the evidence to the DA—misconstrued or not. Then he has to listen to higher-ups, and they’ll expect him to follow the political bull crap they call rules.”

“And whose crap do you listen to?” Nana asked.

“You’re looking at him.”

Nana gave him another once-over. “Do you poach all his cases to see if you can get work?”

Dallas’s eyes flinched at the insult.

“Nana,” Nikki said. “It wasn’t like that.” At least she didn’t think it was like it. But hadn’t she asked almost the same question?

“It’s good,” Dallas said. “It’s a valid question. I was with my brother when he got the call about the body being found. I sort of got caught up in the mess.” He looked at Nikki, his eyes smiling, and she knew the mess he was referring to was her getting sick on him. “I offered my assistance. And no, I’ve never worked on one of my brother’s cases.”

For a minute, Nikki feared he would tell Nana he’d
agreed to barter with her because Nikki was broke… a fact she hadn’t yet shared with her grandma. She relaxed when Dallas didn’t seem ready to mention it.

Nana leaned back on the heels of her cowboy boots and held out her hand. “My name’s Beatrice Littlemore. And to give you fair warning, I’ll be in that corner with you.”

Dallas smiled. “Fair enough. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Littlemore.”

Nikki watched the tough-looking PI shake hands with Annie Oakley, and her respect for him inched up a notch. Then for some reason, emotion tightened her chest.

As soon as Nana pulled away, she waved toward the exit. “Now skedaddle so I can talk with my granddaughter.”

He looked at Nikki. “The nurse told me earlier that as soon as the doctor sees you, you’ll probably be released. I’ll see if I can find out how long it will be.” He walked away.

Nana looked back at Nikki, crossed her arms over her chest and said, “I could be wrong, but I think I might like him.”

And that, Nikki realized, was the problem. Even with her whole world shaken, her heart breaking for Ellen, Nikki thought she might like him, too. Too much.

“Now, young lady,” Nana said. “What happened?”

An hour later, Dallas watched Nikki sitting in the waiting room to hear about Ellen’s surgery. The dusty blue color of the scrubs made her eyes look bluer. And below those baby blues were dark circles, evidence of what she had been put through today. He’d heard the doctor tell her to go home and rest, that between the stress she’d suffered
and what they thought was a dose of some strong ipecac, some kind of vomit-inducing medicine, she really needed to take it easy for a day or so.

Sitting in the operating waiting room wasn’t taking it easy. Not that it was Dallas’s place to say anything. His job was to prove her innocent, not to worry about those damn shadows under her eyes, or to dwell on the fact that she didn’t have any underwear on under those cotton scrubs. And if he kept telling himself that, he might believe it. Running a hand through his hair, he couldn’t explain the antsy feeling stirring in his gut.

Oh, hell, yes he could.

He’d already told himself to tread carefully. Nikki Hunt with her innocent blue eyes, soft skin and killer body, tempted him. And it wasn’t just the temptation to strip her naked and screw her brains out. Not that he wouldn’t like to do that, too. But he also wanted to be her hero. Hell, if there was anything his relationship with his ex had taught him, it was that heroes ended up with their pictures hung in the hall of fools. Serena had personally gotten his mug nailed on that wall.

His job was to prove Nikki didn’t kill her husband by proving someone else did it. His job wasn’t to take care of her. Staring at the door, he considered heading home. He could call Nikki tomorrow, set up a meeting to go over things. That fit the definition of his job.

“Hey.” Tony stepped into the waiting room and they moved to the other side of the room to chat. “I think we should have this crowd moved up to the psych unit,” he muttered.

Dallas frowned. “They were at a dress rehearsal for a play.”

“It’s not just the clothes. They just seem a little… over the top for senior citizens.”

“Because they were in a play? Shit, I wish our old man would do something beside read the paper, watch the news, and call me up damning every politician to hell and back.”

“He does do something else.” Tony’s tone changed. “He goes to the cemetery every day. Which reminds me—he wanted me to tell you that he wants us to—”

“He needs to stop doing that, too,” Dallas interrupted. He knew what his dad wanted. And damn it, he didn’t want to do it. Didn’t see why he had to do it. His mom wasn’t in that grave. He looked again at Nikki’s grandma and, hoping to change the subject, he added, “Hell, maybe we ought to introduce them.”

“God, no. The old woman reminds me of that ol’ bitty on the greeting cards Mom liked so much—what’s her name? Maxie or something?”

“Maxine,” Dallas said. “I like her. She speaks her mind.”

“Which one? The greeting card woman or Annie Oakley over there?” Tony motioned to Nikki’s grandmother.

“Both.” Dallas recalled his conversation with Nikki earlier when he’d had to twist her arm to get her to agree to accept his help. Nikki must have inherited some of her grandmother’s “Maxine” gutsiness. Perhaps a little lower voltage of that personality trait, but it was there. Which explained the reason he found Nikki so damn attractive. Beautiful faces and sexy bodies were a dime a dozen. Spunk wrapped up in a beautiful package, however, was a rare find. He didn’t just lust after Nikki—he liked her.

And wasn’t that what had happened with his ex-wife?
Sexy, sultry, and sassy, Serena stole his heart on their first date. Yup, he really needed to tread lightly where Nikki was concerned.

“She called me a bastard,” Tony said.

“You are.” Dallas glanced at his brother’s pinched expression. “Not that it’s always your fault. It comes with the job.” Looking back at the crowd, Dallas noticed the way Mrs. Littlemore kept glancing over at Nikki. “Besides, she’s just looking out for her granddaughter.”

Another frown pulled at Dallas’s lips when he saw Nikki lean back in her chair as if exhausted. He wished her grandmother would do more than visually check in. Nikki needed to be carted off and tucked into bed. And before Dallas was tempted to do it himself.

The memory of picking her up and carrying her back to her hospital bed in the ER filled his head—again. He sure as hell hadn’t meant to cop a feel of her bare ass. It didn’t stop him from remembering how it had felt—round, soft—a perfect fit into his palm. If that made him a lowlife piece of shit, stamp the label on him now. Because about every two minutes he found himself savoring the memory.

“Don’t let looks fool you,” Tony said under his breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dallas’s gaze lingered on Nikki.

“She has a record.”

Dallas’s attention shot to his brother and then ricocheted back to Nikki, sitting in the hard hospital chair, looking as innocent as a newly hatched butterfly. “Nikki Hunt has a record?”

D
ALLAS STARED AT
his brother. “What did Nikki do?”

Tony shook his head. “Not Nikki,” he whispered. “She came back clean. Annie Oakley has a record.”

Dallas relaxed. Okay… he could almost believe that. Almost. “For what, calling a cop a bastard?”

“Nope. Arrested for possession of an illegal substance. Caught trying to buy some pot.”

Dallas studied Mrs. Littlemore. “Okay, I’ll admit that’s surprising. But I still like her.”

Tony frowned. “I don’t think she’s the one you like, brother. And I’m not sure you want to go there.”

His brother’s attitude scraped across Dallas’s last nerve. “You really think Nikki had something to do with her husband’s murder?”

“If I
really
thought that, she’d be accessorizing those blue scrubs with a pair of handcuffs.”

“Then what’s your point?” Hell, Dallas already knew Nikki was hands-off for him, but he didn’t like anyone telling him what he could or couldn’t do. Especially his big brother, who always thought he knew best.

“My point is, where there’s smoke there’s fire. And right now there’s a lot of smoke blowing around Nikki Hunt. She may not be responsible for her husband’s death, but before this thing’s over with, I have a feeling she’s not going to come out of it looking as innocent as she is going in. Plus…” Tony motioned to the grandmother again and chuckled. “I hear the crazy gene is hereditary.”

It was the chuckle that pushed Dallas over the edge. He spoke low, but the hard edge of his voice rang out. “Guess what else is hereditary? The judgmental stick-up-your-ass gene that you got from our ol’ man. You’re forgetting there was a hell a lot of smoke around me not too long ago.”

Tony flinched. “I never doubted your innocence. I fought tooth and nail to—”

“I know that. But it’s the same attitude you’re using now that had my ass locked up for sixteen months.”

His brother frowned. “Look, you and I both know that every cop who ever got involved with a woman from a case… well, it never ended well.”

“Is that so?” Dallas almost asked how his brother’s non-case-related relationship with LeAnn had turned out, but at the last minute he realized he wasn’t that angry or that much of an insensitive asshole. “You’re forgetting I’m not a cop anymore.”

“Fine.” Tony held up his hand. “I’m sorry I said anything.”

“Yeah.” Dallas looked away.

“Really,” Tony nudged him with his elbow, “I’m sorry. It’s just… seeing LeAnn has me tied in knots.”

“I get it,” Dallas said. And he did. He could still remember how knotted up he’d felt when he laid eyes on Serena
for the first time after he’d gotten released. And he didn’t even love her anymore—that much he was damn sure of—but seeing her still took him to an emotional place he didn’t like. A place he didn’t ever want to return to.

“To be honest…” Tony stepped closer. “She’s hot. I don’t blame you for going for her.”

“I’m not going for her,” Dallas snapped.

Tony’s cell rang. As he reached for it, he said, “Then I can tell the guys who had the hots for her that she’s free game, huh? Because several of them are interested.”

Dallas shot his brother a go-to-hell look.

Tony laughed. “Not going for her, my ass. The only other time I’ve seen that look was when I told you I was going to ask out Jamie Wentworth in high school.” Tony took the call. “O’Connor.”

Dallas frowned at his brother. Yeah, but this wasn’t high school. And no matter how much he might be tempted, he wasn’t going after Nikki.

“Yes,” Tony said to the caller. Then he turned his back to Dallas. “What did you get?” Pause. “You’re shitting me. Okay, call me if you get anything else.”

“What did they find?” Dallas asked as soon as his brother turned around.

Tony hesitated. His gaze shot to Nikki, then back to Dallas.

“Come on,” Dallas said. “We’ve agreed we’re on the same side.”

Tony let go of a breath. “Only because I’m probably going to have to talk to her about it.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “They checked Jack Leon’s cell. Earlier today, he got two calls from a cell phone that belonged to an Ellen Wise.”