Justice for Boone: Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes, Book 6 (12 page)

“It’s just that I—”

“I know what it’s ‘just.’ You aren’t used to anyone taking care of you. Well, I’m here to tell you, I’m going to take care of you whether you want it or not.”

“I—”

“And another thing. I’m not happy you didn’t tell me about seeing Dana in the bathroom.”

He was on a roll, and while a part of her liked that he wanted to take care of her she couldn’t let the last accusation go unchallenged. “Boone, I don’t remember seeing her, but I probably had plans to tell you. I wouldn’t keep something like that from you. Shit, if nothing else, you’d need to know she was lurking around. But, I’d probably do it the same way again. I’m assuming we were having a good night?” At his nod, she continued, “Right, so even though I can’t remember, and that pisses me off because I
do
remember you looking really good last night and it was my first time on a date at a country bar, I was probably going to continue letting us have a good night and planned on telling you when we left.”

Boone shook his head, his ire disappearing as if it hadn’t been there in the first place. “You’re always thinking about others, aren’t you?” He got up and sat next to Hayden on the couch. He put his hand on her leg and leaned in. “I can see I’ll have to make sure I keep watch on you to ensure you take care of yourself. And if you don’t, I’ll have to do it for you.”

Hayden decided to move on from the conversation. He wasn’t serious. He’d get sick of her soon enough. She was too self-reliant for a nurturing man like him. “So Mack packed stuff for me?”

“Yeah.” He let her change the subject.

“How’d she get in?”

“Dax talked to your landlord.”

“Ah.” Hayden didn’t know what else to say. She was sure her landlord hadn’t been happy about being woken up in the middle of the night, but a badge, especially a Texas Ranger badge, would’ve been plenty of motivation.

Boone leaned in and whispered into her ear, “And I have to say, I hadn’t thought about it much, but if I had, there’s no way we would’ve left your place last night. We never would’ve made it to the bar in the first place.”

“What? Why?” Hayden tipped her head to the side to give Boone more room.

He kissed the sensitive skin under her ear. “I didn’t realize you were bare under that shirt. I should’ve, since I had my hands all over your back, but I didn’t notice you weren’t wearing a bra. I was enjoying the feeling of your warm skin too much. Until I got you comfortable in my bed, I had no idea.”

Hayden inhaled and tried to shift away from Boone. He brought one hand up and held her in place with the simple act of putting it behind her neck and holding her still. They both knew she could break his hold in a second, but she didn’t.

“And to answer the earlier question you didn’t quite ask, Hay—nothing happened. There’s no way I’d take advantage of you when you were as helpless as you were last night. When we make love for the first time, you’re going to be completely aware of what’s going on and you’re going to participate fully. I want to see those beautiful green eyes looking up at me with passion and feel your legs tighten around me as I push you over the edge. You have no idea how badly I want to feel those long beautiful legs around me.”

“Boone.” Hayden’s voice came out in a whisper.

“I was a gentleman last night as I helped you get comfortable, but I’ll tell you, you are absolutely fucking beautiful, Hayden. Every inch of you is perfection. From your sculpted abs, to your perfectly sized tits, to your mile-long legs. ”

“Uh, thank you.”

“And I know there’s a story behind Ellie…and I want to hear it. I want to know everything about you.”

“Oh my God. Kill me now.” Hayden refused to meet his eyes. How the hell Mack had known to throw her stuffed elephant into her overnight bag was beyond her. But she was mortified. What other thirty-three-year-old still slept with a stuffed animal?

Boone turned Hayden’s head until she had no choice but to look at him. He kissed her briefly, then said, “I know you’re embarrassed, but you shouldn’t be. It’s cute as all fuck that you sleep with Ellie. You’re full of contradictions. Tough as nails on the outside, and an adorable, begging-to-be-taken-care-of little girl on the inside.”

“I don’t need to be taken care of.”

“Um hmmm.”

“Boone! I don’t. I’m an adult woman who happens to be able to kick anyone’s ass.”

“Are you ready to face the cops?”

He changed the subject, but Hayden could tell he hadn’t dropped it forever. Whatever. As long as he was moving on now. She was able to kick almost anyone’s ass…as long as she wasn’t drugged to her eyeballs, that is. Besides, she had no desire to talk about Ellie at the moment on top of everything else. “Yeah, no problem.”

“They wanted to talk to you as soon as you woke up, but I wanted to make sure you had something in your belly first.”

Hayden was still amazed Boone wanted to take care of her. It was a weird feeling. She nodded. She’d always been expected to take care of herself…even from a very young age. Her dad made sure she could do her own laundry and look after herself by the time she was seven or eight. The fact that he’d purposely put off the police until he’d fed her made her feel weird inside. A good weird, but weird nonetheless. “I’m ready. I need to talk to them as well. I want to know what they’ve found out and what the next step is in making sure Dana doesn’t do something like this again.”

“Great. I’ll take you over there, then bring you back to your place when you’re done. I think I remember you telling me you were off for the next day or so, right?”

Hayden tried to remember what her schedule was. She nodded. “Yeah, but I’ll need to call the sheriff and let him know what’s up.”

“That’s smart.”

She smirked at him, feeling a little more like herself. “That’s me. Miss Smarty-Pants.”

Boone pulled Hayden toward him and kissed her forehead again. “As much as I love seeing your smile, I have to say, you scared me, Hay.”

Hayden shifted until she could lean her forehead against his chest. It didn’t feel weird…and that freaked her out. She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day snuggled up with Boone…where she could be just Hay. Not Hayden Yates, bad-ass cop.

“Don’t do it again,” Boone breathed out softly.

They both knew she couldn’t guarantee anything of the sort, since it wasn’t her fault in the first place, but she nodded against him anyway. They sat there together for a long while, each reveling in the feel of the other.

H
ayden collapsed
on her couch and shut her eyes. Damn she was tired. She’d just worked a twelve-hour shift where she’d had to deal with two car accidents—one with a fatality—two disturbance calls, two public intoxication calls,
and
she’d had to endure the teasing of Jimmy, Troy, and Brandon throughout the day about Boone. It was all too much.

She hadn’t even bothered to remove her gear when she got home. She’d walked straight to her couch and crashed. She was dozing when her cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hayden, this is your mother.”

“Oh. Hey, Mom.”

“I’m just calling to remind you that you’re expected at the house for dinner tomorrow night.”

Hayden repressed a sigh. She hadn’t forgotten, but she’d pushed it to the back of her mind with everything else that had been going on. “I know, Mom. I’ll be there.”

“Good.”

Hayden spoke before she really thought about it. “I’d like to bring someone with me…a man…if that’s all right?”

There was a shocked pause before her mom responded. “I’ll ask your father, but yes, I think that will be acceptable.”

“Thanks. So…same time?”

“Yes, we’ll expect you and your friend at seven.”

“Okay, see you then.”

“Goodbye.”

“‘Bye, Mom.”

Hayden clicked off her cell and let her hand collapse to the couch, the phone still clutched in her fingers. She shut her eyes, trying to work up the energy and desire to get up and make something to eat. Knowing the monthly dinner with her parents was tomorrow just made her all the more tired. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, it was never enough for her father. She couldn’t live up to his expectations; she’d been disappointing him from the second she’d emerged from her mother’s womb.

Her phone vibrated in her hand again. Without looking at it, Hayden wearily brought it up to her ear, not even lifting her head from where it rested against the back of the couch.

“Hello?”

“Hi. It’s Boone.”

“Hey. Everything all right?”

“Why do you always assume something’s wrong when I call?”

His words were unexpected, but true. “I don’t know,” she admitted a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

“I know how we met, Hay, but I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can. But it’s been two weeks and Dana’s been quiet. It’s freaking me out. I keep expecting her to do something…grand, any day now.”

“And drugging you wasn’t grand?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, Hay, actually I don’t.”

Hayden sighed. She lowered her voice and shut her eyes as she tried to explain. “Boone, I’ve seen this before, okay? The abuser lays low for a while, letting his victim relax and think things are good. Then he strikes when she least expects it. Sometimes she gets away with just being beaten up again. Other times she has to be hospitalized. Still others, she doesn’t get away at all and is killed.”

“She’s not going to kill me.” Boone’s voice was firm.

Hayden’s was sad when she responded. “I’ve heard that before too. Then I have to watch as a battered and broken body is loaded into the coroner’s van to be taken to the morgue.”

Boone didn’t say anything for a beat. Then, surprising her, he said, “You’re tired. Have you eaten?”

Hayden sighed. “I
am
tired. It’s been a hell of a day. I’m too exhausted to eat. I’m going to go to bed as soon as I hang up and work up the energy to get my butt off the couch.”

“You hungry?”

“Yeah., but I’m more tired than hungry, and my bed is calling my name.”

“I’ll be over in a bit.”

“Boone, seriously. I’m good. I’m just going to crash.”

“Chinese or pizza?”

“What?”

“Do you want Chinese or pizza?”

Hayden could tell from his tone that he wasn’t going to back down. Shit, she didn’t fight it because she wanted to see him. “Pizza.”

“Pepperoni?”

“No way. That’s for wussies. Supreme meat lovers.”

Boone chuckled and Hayden swore she felt it between her legs.

“My kind of woman. I’ll be over in about thirty minutes. That enough time for you to unwind and get showered and changed before I get there?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Yeah. Depends on if my butt has fused to the couch or not. I think my bones have melted into the cushions.”

Hayden loved the sound of Boone’s laugh. “Okay, well, if you’ve disappeared into the couch when I get there, I’ll come in after you.”

“Thanks, Boone.” Hayden’s voice was quiet and earnest and she wasn’t talking about him pulling her melted body out of her cushions.

“My pleasure, sweetheart. Go get changed and comfy. I’ll be by with the food before you know it.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“Soon.”

“‘Bye.”

“‘Bye.”

Hayden clicked off the phone for the second time that night and tried to muster the energy to stand. Finally, after almost dozing off again, she forced herself to move. She headed to her bedroom and stripped off her utility belt, her uniform pants and shirt, her bulletproof vest, and finally her bra and panties, leaving them in a heap on her bedroom floor as was her usual. She staggered into the bathroom and turned on the water, letting it warm as she used the toilet and brushed her teeth.

Stepping into the hot shower felt heavenly, and Hayden almost felt normal again after she was done. She wandered into her bedroom and pulled a huge sleep shirt over her head, and a pair of what she called “fat pants.” They were elasticized cotton pants that hung loose on her legs. She pulled on a pair of fluffy socks and wandered back down the hall to wait for Boone.

She was sitting at her small table when her doorbell rang. Making sure it was Boone before she opened the door, Hayden smiled at him standing on her doorstep holding two large pizza boxes and a six pack of the brand of bottled mixed drinks she liked.

“Hi. Come on in.”

Boone smiled at her and stepped into her apartment as Hayden closed the door behind him.

“God, Hayden, you look exhausted,” Boone said looking concerned.

“I told you, it’s been a hell of a day.”

“Come on, sit. I’ll get the plates.”

“Screw the plates. Just put the boxes on the table, we can eat out of them.”

Hayden missed the gentle smile Boone gave her as she turned into the room and headed toward her table.

“If I have to wait any longer I might start gnawing my hand off, so it’s better to just let me dig in.”

“Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself,” Boone said, chuckling.

Hayden loved how comfortable she felt with Boone. It was sort of like how she felt with the men she worked with…but not.

She nearly snorted. Of course it wasn’t. She didn’t want to jump any of the guys at the station and tear their clothes off, and that was really what she wanted to do with Boone. But she was following his lead. While she might outwardly portray a self-confident, assured, independent woman who wasn’t interested in the opposite sex—she’d been called a dyke on more than one occasion—the reality was that she’d simply repressed her sexual feelings because she was scared of rejection.

It’d become second nature to act macho and tough, but deep down she yearned for a true relationship just like the next woman. The vibrator in her bedside drawer got quite the hefty workout, not that she’d ever admit it to anyone.

Hayden watched as Boone put the pizza boxes down on the table and twisted off the cap to one of the drinks and placed it in front of her. He took the rest into her kitchen and put them in her fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water for himself and came back over the table. As he sat, he said, “Go on, dig in. Thought you were hungry?”

Hayden concentrated on the food and did as he requested. She picked up a piece of pizza that was loaded with sausage, bacon, hamburger, pepperoni, and enough cheese to feed a small third world country, and bit into it.

“Mmmmm,” she moaned. “Jesus, this is so good.” She glanced at Boone. He’d frozen with a piece of pizza held up near his mouth and was just staring at her. “What?”

“Uh, nothing.” He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Hayden shrugged, and continued to eat her dinner. She knew she’d have to bring up dinner with her folks. She’d told her mom she was bringing someone with her, and by God, she’d better have someone with her when she went over there tomorrow night, or there’d be hell to pay. But now that she was sitting with Boone, she didn’t know exactly how to bring it up.

Finally, Hayden leaned against the back of the chair and groaned. “
Why
do I stuff myself every time we eat together?”

“Because you always wait too long to eat and you’re starved?”

Hayden glared at Boone. “That was a rhetorical question, Boone.”

He laughed and patted her knee. “Come on, you’re dead on your feet. Finish your drink and go to bed.”

“But you just got here.”

“Yeah, and I brought you dinner. You don’t have to entertain me, Hay.”

“But I want to.”

Boone smiled hugely. “And I appreciate that, but you’re exhausted. There’ll be other times you can entertain me. Come on.”

It was one more thing, in a long list of things, that made her like him even more. He’d left his house, gotten her food, gone out of his way to bring it to her, just to make sure she ate something. He wasn’t expecting anything in return. He’d done it because he knew she was hungry and was going to skip dinner. No one made her feel as cherished as Boone did.

He stood then held out a hand and Hayden took it. He helped her up and Hayden realized once again how small he made her feel. He really was a huge man. At six-three, he towered over almost everyone, her included.

“Can we talk for a sec before you go?” she blurted out.

They stood next to the kitchen table, Boone still held her hand in his. He examined her for a moment before nodding. “Sure.”

They went over to her couch and Hayden sat and Boone settled himself down next to her. Before she knew what was happening, he’d turned her until her feet rested in his lap and her back was to the cushions of her couch. She tried to sit up, but he gently pushed her back. “Relax, Hay. Let me do this.”

Hayden lay back on her couch and moaned as Boone started to rub her feet. “Good Lord, I had no idea this would feel so good. Is there anything you can’t do?”

She hadn’t meant him to really hear her question, but he answered anyway. “I can’t believe you’ve never had a foot massage. It’s my pleasure to be your first.” His voice was low and teasing, but the look in his eyes was scorching hot. “And to answer your question, I can do a lot of things, but successfully break up with Dana isn’t one of them.”

Hayden chuckled, even though it wasn’t really funny. She lay on the couch, enjoying being able to zone out and feel taken care of for just a moment. Just a moment, then she’d go back to being super-Hayden. Finally, without looking at him, she blurted out what she needed to ask. “Every month or so I go over to my parents’ house for dinner. It’s expected of me. I know we haven’t known each other very long…only about a month…and there’s no pressure, but I asked my mom if I could bring someone with me tomorrow night, and she said yes. It’s not going to be fun; my parents are…difficult at the best of times. I don’t really get along with my dad and we don’t have to stay very long and I’ll owe you big, but—”

“Of course.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re asking me if I’d like to go with you to your parents’ for dinner, the answer is, of course. I’d love to.”

“Oh, okay. Great.” Hayden inwardly sighed in relief. She knew she’d bungled asking, but thank goodness he’d agreed anyway.

“And, Hayden, we
are
dating.”

She opened her eyes at that. Boone had stopped rubbing her feet and was merely holding them gently in his big hands. She could feel the warmth in his hands seeping into her bones and up her legs. It felt heavenly. “Oh, uh…we are? I didn’t want to presume in case this was…a friends thing.”

Boone smiled at her with a patient look on his face. “Yeah, we’re dating. And while we are friends, I’m hoping we’re more. I don’t text women every day to see how they’re doing if I’m not dating them. I don’t drop everything with a flimsy excuse of bringing over dinner when I know full well my girlfriend is capable of making herself something to eat. I don’t sit on a couch rubbing a woman’s feet if I’m not dating her. And I certainly don’t get a hard-on for a woman I want more than I’ve wanted any woman before in my life if I’m not dating her.”

“Oh.” Hayden felt stupid. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she could feel his hard length under her feet for the first time. How she’d missed it before, she had no idea…except she was an idiot. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“Come here, Hay.” Boone pulled her upright and Hayden shifted around until she was nestled into him. She carefully put one arm around his stomach and curled the other in front of her against his hard side.

“You haven’t dated much, have you?” Boone asked carefully.

Hayden tried to sound mature. “Of course I have.”

“Then you’ve been dating idiots.”

Hayden had no comeback for that one, because he was probably right.

Boone continued, running one palm up and down her forearm resting across his abs, while the other played with her hair at her back. “I like everything about you, Hay. Your tough-as-nails spirit, your friendship with the men you work with, the way you melt into me like you’re doing right now, how your voice drops when you realize it’s me on the phone, how you let me take care of you when I know full well you can take care of yourself, how I know when you’re honestly smiling and when you’re fake smiling, how you worry about me, how you want to kick Dana’s ass for me, how you sleep with the cutest stuffed animal I’ve ever seen, how sexy you look in both your uniform and in those short shorts, and even in what you’re wearing right now. Seriously, I find you’re full of contradictions and every single time I’m with you, I see a little bit more into what makes you, you. And I like what I see, Hayden.”

“I like you too, Boone,” Hayden said, not really knowing what to do with everything he’d just told her.