Justice Inked (Cowboy Justice Association 7) (24 page)

She’d actually thought the bastard was a nice guy. She’d fallen for the grouchy, emotional cripple bullshit and now look where she was. Hurting because she’d actually allowed herself to start to care for the jerk. It wasn’t her usual modus operandi. Wise for her years, she rarely fell for a guy and ended up with a broken heart. Not since she turned thirty, anyway. But he’d been so sneaky and unassuming. Smug asshole probably planned this all along.

But something funny happened when she cursed at him. His entire demeanor shifted into something she’d never seen on him before. His shoulders slumped, his lips turned down, and she could swear his hands shook when he shoved them in his pockets. For a guy who had hit and run, he didn’t look nearly as jubilant about it as he should. He looked incredibly miserable.

More than usual.

“I never meant to hurt you and please don’t consider this as me dumping you. You’re a wonderful woman and any man would be lucky to have you.”

“Except you,” Rayne shot back, still hurting although much less. He wasn’t swaggering around like a conquering hero, which made the entire situation much more bearable. “And let me tell you it sure feels like I’m being dumped. What would you call it?”

Looking down at his boots for the longest time, she heard him take a deep breath before answering. “I think we both know this wasn’t going to end with us pledging undying love to one another and then driving off into the sunset to live happily ever after. All I’m doing is moving the logical conclusion forward.”

“The logical conclusion? Fucking and running was the logical conclusion? If it was so logical why am I questioning it?”

They’d had this great night together and now he was bailing. It didn’t make any sense. Except…that perhaps the night hadn’t been that great for Dare. Had he been pretending to enjoy the sex?

Hell, he was a guy so of course he enjoyed it, but maybe he was put off by her request for it rough and dirty. Maybe he thought she was slutty and unladylike.

Dammit, this was why she didn’t date. Relationships sucked and love hurt.

Love? No! It was lust. Plain old lust. Infatuation. Love this quickly was out of the question.

“Rayne, I’m not exactly the kind of guy women fantasize about spending their lives with. Do you honestly think I could make you happy?”

This might be his way of saying he didn’t want to fulfill her sexual proclivities. He must think she was a big ho-bag, and that pissed her off again. If a guy liked it rough everyone thought that was okay, but if a female did? There must be something wrong with her.

Damned if she would beg any man. She had more than her share of pride and she would be fine with or without the sexy lawman. There would be a lot less orgasms but life wasn’t perfect.

“I haven’t been unhappy, Dare, but I can see you’ve made up your mind. If you think this isn’t working then obviously it’s not. So let’s just wave a wand over whatever it was between us and call it quits. No hard feelings.”

She’d try. Eventually she wouldn’t want to knee him in the balls, she was almost sure of it. But he should probably keep his distance for awhile. A week or two. She didn’t hold a grudge long.

His brows pulled down and his lips twisted in something that resembled a grimace. “I still want to be your friend, Rayne.”

She had to blink back the tears that sprang to her eyes upon hearing those words. They were the kiss of death and her chest squeezed tightly as she pondered the implications, none of them happy.

“We were never friends. Now we’re not friends again. It’s okay, though. I know that you’ll do your duty as a police officer, which is actually why I’m here today.” She dug the design out of her pocket and slapped it down on his desk, the sharp pain that ran up her arm easing the matching one in her heart. “This is a design Patrick Moulson brought into the shop. I found it in my gym bag so I assume he slipped it in there for whatever reason. This could be what they’re looking for.”

*   *   *   *

Dare picked up the drawing, studying it although he wasn’t sure what he was looking for. It was hard to concentrate on the case when he couldn’t get the conversation with Rayne out of his head. He’d assumed she wouldn’t be all that upset.

He sure as hell didn’t want her to think he’d simply been using her, as it was the furthest thing from the truth. He liked her. Too much, really. But they were heading for a crash if they stayed together. He didn’t know how to be in a relationship and make a woman happy other than between the sheets.

He rounded the desk and sat down in his chair to give the design his full attention but one question in his head wouldn’t leave him alone.

“How did you find this?”

“It was stuffed in my gym bag which was stuffed in my trunk. I’ve been…bad about going to the gym lately. Sue me.”

“And you don’t remember him putting this into your bag? That’s a big thing to forget. It’s been there this whole time while we’ve been wandering around in the dark.”

“I did remember my dealings with him. I remembered he brought in the sketch. I remembered he was going to come back for a quote. I do not remember him stuffing the drawing into my gym bag when I wasn’t looking, so needless to say I didn’t know to look for it.”

This case was going to be the death of him. He didn’t want to yell but it was difficult to control the frustration he felt. “So you left him alone long enough to hide it in your gym bag. This is news, Rayne. Where the hell was your gym bag? You said he never left the front of the shop.”

Rayne leaned forward, her hands planted on the desk and her jaw tight. “He didn’t. I was getting ready for my next appointment and he came in. My gym bag was sitting on the counter. The only time I turned my back was for about thirty seconds when the phone rang and I needed the appointment book. It must have been then that he put it there. He never moved from where he was standing. Not once. Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am that he managed to do this.”

Scraping his fingers through his hair, Dare sighed in resignation. “I’m sorry, I’m just frustrated. This whole case has been a clusterfuck from the beginning and I wish we would have had this a long time ago.”

Turning on her heel, Rayne walked over to the window, her back to Dare. “And you think I don’t? If I’d known it was there my house might not have been trashed and I might not have been mugged. This hasn’t exactly been a picnic with rainbows and unicorns for me either, Sheriff, so fuck you and the horse you rode in on. I’ve about had it with you today and honestly, I think it would be best if I left. See you later.”

Grabbing her jacket from the chair, Rayne marched toward his office door but he couldn’t let her leave like this. He’d been a jerk – more than once in the last fifteen minutes – and he needed to fix this fast. “Rayne, wait. Please. Stay.” She halted but didn’t turn around. “I understand you being mad at me but what do you have against my horse?”

Reluctantly she looked up at him, a smile tugging at her lips. “You don’t have a horse.”

“That didn’t stop you from telling him to go fuck himself. And I did have a horse when I was a kid. His name was Galahad and he was the best horse ever and not worthy of your anger.”

She walked away from the doors and leaned against the edge of the desk, her posture still defensive. “You’re pissed at me and I didn’t do shit. I won’t be your punching bag.”

“You’re right and I’m sorry. I jumped down your throat and made this about you when I should be thanking you for finding it at all. Most people never go to the gym.”

It was his second lame attempt at a joke and she was slowly softening toward him.

“God, you’re such an asshole.”

“I am,” he quickly agreed, noting that she didn’t look all that upset with him anymore. “Have been all my life. No one could put up with me for long and this is proof.”

“Is that why you did it? To prove that dumping me was for my own good? You really are a bastard.”

She was tensing up again and he didn’t want that. They had work to do on this drawing and he needed her relaxed and receptive. He needed her to remember every word that Patrick Moulson had said about this design. Obviously there was something important about it, although what it was wasn’t as clear.

“Acting like an asshole just comes naturally to me. I don’t have to try or plan it. It’s a superpower sort of thing. And I apparently need to say it again. You weren’t dumped. A man like me would never dump a woman like you. That would be crazy.”

Tilting her head, Rayne’s gaze ran him up and down, appraising him like a prize bull. His cock twitched in his pants and he had to remind himself that he’d ended things minutes earlier. There would be no naked fun between the two of them no matter how much he wished it were different.

“Does insanity run in your family?”

“Sadly we’re sober as judges. And no fun. Isn’t that what everyone says about me? That I’m no fun?”

Dare had long since grown accustomed to his reputation in town as a surly son of a bitch…as long as he was a bastard who got things done.

“Actually they whisper outlandish stories about how you got the nickname Dare. I heard you were a daredevil that likes to live on the edge. They say you had a death wish when you were younger.”

“You shouldn’t listen to the town busybodies. They embellish every little thing until it’s unrecognizable.”

She’d never know about his past and that’s the way it would stay.

Rayne pointed to the drawing. “So now what do we do?”

Dare had been thinking about that and he had an idea. “This drawing has two symbols, and I know a guy who used to work for the government who might know what they mean. This could be some kind of code.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

C
amy slapped a bottle of wine between Rayne and herself, placing two glasses next to it as they sat at the kitchen table. Camy’s husband and baby had gone to bed and it was just the two of them in the quiet house. Pouring two generous glasses, she handed one to Rayne, giving her an encouraging smile.

“So tell me everything. No detail is too small. Spill.”

It was difficult at first. The story came in fits and starts but as the wine began to take effect, Rayne found the words flowing as easily as the libation.

“So he dumped me,” Rayne sighed, taking another gulp of her drink. “Needless to say I couldn’t stay at his place anymore so here I am. We had a one-night stand—or one-morning stand is more accurate after dating for a few weeks, then he pulls the plug. I must have disgusted him or something. Maybe I’m too fat or I’m not blonde. Whatever it was, he couldn’t wait to end it. Now he’s meeting up with some ex-government guy to talk about the drawing while I fight with insurance companies and the DMV.”

Camy frowned, her brow wrinkled. “Why are you fighting with the DMV? What do they have to do with this?”

Rayne rolled her eyes and groaned at all the work there was still left to be done. Being the victim of a crime sucked in more ways than one. “My purse was stolen so I need a new license. Dealing with the credit card companies wasn’t too bad but the DMV has been a real pain in the ass.”

“I’m so sorry all of this happened to you.” Camy leaned forward, wagging her finger in front of Rayne’s nose. “But you should have called me, sis. I’ve been worried sick since I heard about the break-in at your house. Then I find out all of the other things that have been happening in your life. Maybe you should have stayed in San Francisco. Valley Station hasn’t been all that kind to you and it’s all my fault. Are you mad at me?”

Rayne wasn’t angry; she was exhausted. She wanted to crawl away and sleep for a week, forgetting about all the crap going on in her life.

“No, I am not mad at you. And I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you earlier today. Honestly, I could only handle one thing at a time. I knew you’d be upset and I was already upset enough for both of us.”

Camy refilled their glasses but didn’t put the bottle down, instead shifting her gaze to the front door. “Should we take some of this to Deputy Billy? I hate to think of him sitting out there all night in the cold. Did he piss off the sheriff to get this assignment?”

Rayne plucked the bottle from her sister’s fingers and set it down on the table. “I don’t think he’s allowed to drink on duty. As for sitting out in the cold, he’s in his cruiser and it has heat. We invited him in and he said he was supposed to stay out there. Dare also said that another deputy would be coming by at midnight so he won’t be alone the whole time.”