Stripped Naked (Naked Cowboys) (13 page)

Jinx looked at her friend. “Don’t tell me you thought he cheated on you.”

Amy shook her head. “Worse than that. But that story’s for another day. Tonight we’re talking about you and Dillon.” She paused. “Why don’t you spend the night here? I’ve got a sleep shirt I can lend you. The paper’s put to bed. You’ve got staff who handle distribution. Hide from the world for a couple of days. Let things settle.”

“And then what?”

“When both of you are in a better state of emotions, you and Dillon can sit down and talk. Really talk. See exactly where the two of you are going and if it works.”

Jinx dabbed at her eyes again. “I didn’t expect to feel this way about him. About anyone.” She gave a hysterical giggle. “I hate cops.”

“Yes, well, he told you he hates reporters, yet here you are, the two of you. Do you think it’s possible Naomi is the reason he feels the way he does?”

She shrugged. “I guess. Oh, Amy, I’m so mixed up. I didn’t mean to fall for him. Didn’t want to.”

“I think it sneaks up on all of us. Come on.” Amy took the empty glass and set it aside. “Let me show you to one of the guest rooms and get you fixed up for the night. Things will look a little different in the morning.”

Jinx wasn’t at all sure about that.

Dillon’s first inclination after he left Buck and Amy’s was to get stinking drunk, but he realized all that would accomplish was to give him a headache and make him sick. And it wouldn’t fix anything. Somehow he had to get through the night and go back to the Montgomery ranch in the morning. Make Amy let him talk to Jinx. His feelings for her were so jumbled he wasn’t sure how to tell her what he felt. Except he did love her. He could hardly believe it himself so he wasn’t sure how to convince her, but he’d find a way.

Or at least convince her to give him a second chance. He’d show her how he felt. How it really was more than just sex.

He pulled into his driveway and hit the garage door opener, but before he could drive in his cell phone rang.

“Sheriff Cross,” he answered.

“Dillon, it’s Charlie. We’ve got the goods on Drummond.”

“No kidding.” Dillon rubbed his temple, trying to ease back the headache that was building. “Good deal.”

“Yup. Found the money. That allowed us to get a warrant to search his house and car. Can you believe the dumbass hadn’t even cleaned out his trunk? We found traces of Bert’s blood in it. And he even left his fingerprints on the shotgun.”

“What would we do if these guys were all smart, right?” Dillon commented.

“No shit. I’ll be sending someone out to your place for Drummond’s body tomorrow.” He paused. “Anyway, we’re bringing him in tonight. Sure you don’t want to come into the city and watch the show? We’re doing it all under the radar to keep the media out.”

“No, thanks anyway but—” He sat up straighter as something clicked in his head. “Actually, I think I might. When are you doing it?”

“In about two hours. We’ve had surveillance on him and he’s at dinner with his family. We’ll wait until they get home.”

“Charlie, can I ask a huge favor of you? A really big one?”

“A favor? Well, yeah, I guess if I owe anyone it’s you.”

Dillon explained what he wanted, listened to Charlie’s arguments and agreed to follow his orders. Then he hung up and dialed Amy Montgomery.

“Is Jinx there?” he asked.

“Yes, but I don’t think she wants to talk to you tonight,” Amy argued. “Tomorrow would be better.”

“I have an idea, and it would really help if you’d work with me on this.”

It took a lot of persuasion, but he finally got her to agree to the plan. He was so jacked up when he finished he could actually feel the adrenaline flowing through his system. There wasn’t a lot he could do that would convince Jinx of his feelings, but this might do the trick.

“I will never forgive you for this,” Jinx snapped, sitting as far away from Dillon as she could in the truck. “And I’m not sure I’ll forgive Amy and Buck either. Are you ever going to tell me why they insisted I let you shanghai me like this?”

“In just a few minutes.” Dillon kept his voice as even as he could. “Have a little bit more patience and you’ll understand.”

Jinx tried to hold back the anger and irritation surging through her. How dare Amy and Buck hustle her out of the house and into Dillon’s truck? How dare they take his side when she herself hadn’t had a chance to ask him what was true and what wasn’t? Buck had practically dragged her out to the truck, Amy hustling along beside them trying to soothe her. Dillon had simply nodded his thanks, lifted her into the cab and buckled her in.

Not to mention the fact he hadn’t answered any of her questions. If not for Amy and Buck insisting she go along with this, she’d have dug in her heels and refused.

Finally, she broke the thick silence filling the cab. “You’ve hardly said a word all the way into the city. What’s that all about?” She saw his hands tighten on the wheel.

“When we talk, I want to be able to answer all your questions and have you believe me. But first I have to show you just how much you mean to me. Ah. Here we are.”

They had left the interstate and driven into a high-end residential area. Now Dillon pulled to the curb and parked beneath an ancient tree that hung over the roadway.

“What—”

He held up his hand. “Just wait. Only a few more minutes.”

She folded her arms across her chest and gritted her teeth. In five minutes, she was going to unfasten her seat belt and get out of his damn truck, even if she had to walk back to Rowan County.

But at that moment, Dillon touched her arm and pointed down the street. Her eyes widened as she saw an SAPD patrol car and another unmarked one glide to the curb three houses down. Two uniforms climbed out of the patrol car, one of them standing by it while the other accompanied the three men from the unmarked car as they walked up to the front door of the house.

“Whose house is this?” she asked. “And why are we watching this?”

“Just watch,” he said again.

The front door opened and a man stood outlined in the light behind him. He shook his head and tried to close the door but one of the men in sports jacket and trousers pushed back, and in seconds the man was in handcuffs and being led to the patrol car.

“Who is that?” Her body thrummed with curiosity.

“Remember the John Doe that introduced us?” he asked.

“Well, introduced is stretching it, but yes. What about it?”

“He’s been identified and the man being arrested is his killer.” In short, succinct sentences, he explained to her what Charlie had told him and what was going on. “Now we get to go to the station and watch him being booked.” He started the truck and moved out to follow the other vehicles.

“My God, it will be a madhouse there.” Jinx frowned. “But I don’t understand. “Where’s the media? This should be a three-ring circus with a guy like that.”

“No media. Charlie Whittaker, my old boss, has kept this completely under wraps. But as a favor to me he’s giving you an exclusive.”

“What?” She sat up so straight the seat belt jerked against her. “You’re letting me in on this story before the rest of the media gets it?”

He nodded. “I want
The Hill Country Herald
to have the scoop. I know how this works. You can send it out on the wire and every other paper and most television stations will pick it up. And you and the paper will get credit for the story.”

Her jaw dropped. Are you kidding me?

“Not one bit.” He reached over and tentatively wrapped his fingers around one of her hands. “I wanted to do this for you to show you how important you are to me. How much you mean to me.”

For the second time in two nights, Jinx felt tears gather in her eyes, only these were not the result of sadness or pain.

“Naomi means nothing to me,” Dillon went on. “Amy told you what happened, right? Jesus, Jinx, maybe it took this for me to discover how much you really mean to me. Why would I ruin that with a bitch that already burned me once?”

“I don’t understand.”

“You never really asked me why I hate reporters, but Naomi’s the cause. You got the gory details. She thought being in bed with me was her ticket to all the big stories. When I wouldn’t release details of a bust we were about to make, and demanded she tell me how she even knew about it, she got royally pissed. Let me walk in on her with a hotshot news producer from New York.”

“Oh my God!”

“Indeed. Somehow she wormed everything out of one of the younger guys on the team and broke the story on the news. We had to push up the timeline, they were ready for us and that’s when I got shot.”

Jinx thought she might be sick to her stomach. “What about scruples? Ethics? Love?”

Dillon snorted. “I don’t think Naomi’s even heard of those words. Jinx, do you seriously think I’d jeopardize what we have with a woman like that?”

His hand squeezed hers and she responded.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that. But you didn’t have to do this for me just to prove a point.”

They were downtown now and entering the parking area at the police station. Dillon parked the truck and turned off the ignition.

“I wanted to do something to show how much I trust you and care for you. What better gift for a reporter than a scoop, right?”

Her heat cracked, swelled and filled her chest. She undid her seat belt and threw herself at him, loving the feel of his arms as they came around her.

“Thank you.” She looked into his eyes. “Thank you so much. Oh, Dillon, I was so hurt when…when…when I thought—”

His mouth on hers effectively cut off any more words. His tongue sought hers, leaving fire wherever it touched. He groaned and, without moving his lips from hers, undid his seat belt so he could pull her tight against him. She ran her fingers through the silk of his hair and along the stubble on his jaw. They were both breathing hard when she forced herself to break the kiss.

“I guess I don’t hate cops so much anymore,” she told him with a breathy little laugh.

“And I may hate reporters in general, but you’re definitely the exception as far as I’m concerned.

“Um, aren’t we supposed to go inside?”

He gave a strangled laugh. “Uh, yes, we are. Give me a minute here so I don’t walk in with my cock at attention.”

She giggled. “Just don’t put it all the way to sleep. We may want to use it later.”

“I can get with that program.” He pulled her against him for one last hug.

“I just need to ask you a question.” She turned her face up so she could see the expression on his. “Did you mean what you told Amy and Buck? About your feelings for me?”

“That I love you?” He nodded. “I know it came out of left field, and I don’t even know if you feel the same way—”

She touched her fingers to his lips. “I thought I was in love with Max, but what I felt for him is nothing compared to my feelings for you. I want you to know that.”

“Then let’s get this done and get on with the rest of our lives. Together.”

She smiled. “Together. You bet.”

About the Author

Desiree Holt’s writing is flavored with the rich experiences of her life, including a long stretch in the music business representing every kind of artist from country singer to heavy-metal rock bands. For several years she also ran her own public relations agency handling any client that interested her, many of whom might recognize themselves in the pages of her stories. She is twice a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award, a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio as well as twice a CAPA Award for best BDSM book of the year, winner of two Holt Medallion Awards of Merit, and is published by five different houses.
Romance Junkies
said of her work: “Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last.”

You can find her at
www.desireeholt.com
and
www.desireeholttellsall.com
.

Look for these titles by Desiree Holt

Now Available:

Naked Cowboys

Stark Naked

Buck Naked

Sometimes out of the frying pan and into the fire is the best way to burn.

Buck Naked

© 2013 Desiree Holt

Naked Cowboys, Book 2

Amy Stark has it all together—except for chronic bad taste in men. She’s firmly in hands-off-all-men mode when a flat tire forces her to accept the help of exactly the type of man she’s sworn off. Arrogant, cocky and condescending.

When she runs into him again later that day and then finds out her brother has invited him for dinner, the fire between them has a sizzle of a different kind.

At eighteen, Buck Montgomery left home to make his mark on the bull-riding circuit. He may have had wild success in rodeo but his personal life is in the dust, and while he’s ready to start a new life he’s wary to expose his heart. Buck knows he should tell Amy the truth, but every time he opens his mouth, hers is right there with kisses like molten lava.