Natural Born Lawman Read online

  “You, cousin dear, are an entirely different kind of company,” Sharon Lynn teased. “And I’m sure she enjoys that, too.”

  “I do,” Patsy assured him.

  “Then we’re on for dinner?”

  “We are definitely on for dinner.”

  He grinned. “And after?”

  “Don’t push your luck, lawman. We’ll negotiate the details over dinner.”

  He touched a finger to his Stetson in a mock salute as he put it back on. “I’ll be looking forward to it, ma’am. What time shall I pick you up?”

  “Why don’t I pick you up?” she suggested, as a perfectly fascinating idea occurred to her.

  “Why not? I’m a flexible kind of guy.”

  “That’ll be the day,” Sharon Lynn taunted.

  He scowled at his cousin, then said to Patsy, “Don’t listen to a thing she says about me. She’s never forgiven me for laughing when she fell off a horse in front of…” The teasing light in his eyes died. “Oh, God, I’m sorry, sweetie.”

  Tears welled up in Sharon Lynn’s eyes, but she reached over and touched Justin’s lips. “Don’t be sorry. Don’t ever be sorry for reminding me of the good times. It’s just that…”

  “It’s just that the wound is still raw,” Justin said. “But you’re going to be okay, you know that, don’t you?”

  “Sure,” she said, forcing a wobbly smile. “We Adamses are made of tough stuff.”

  “The toughest,” Justin concurred.

  But looking at the tenderness in Justin’s expression as he watched Sharon Lynn, Patsy knew he was wrong. Justin Adams, at least, had the softest heart she’d ever seen.

  * * *

  Justin had no idea why it had been so important to Patsy to pick him up that night, but he was going nuts waiting for her. Was this how women felt all the time waiting for their dates to arrive? No wonder some of them were itching to turn into control freaks.

  Oh, he’d recognized what that whole discussion at Dolan’s had been about that afternoon. Will Longhorn had dictated every aspect of his wife’s life and she didn’t intend to let it happen again. He had to wonder, though, how long these bids for independence were likely to go on. Would she refuse to marry him just to prove she could get along on her own? Or could he persuade her that it was possible to be half of a whole without losing her own identity? Tonight would be a fascinating test of his theory that she needed to know that at least some of the decisions in their relationship were hers to make.

  When the doorbell rang at last, he bolted to answer it. To his astonishment, in spite of the humid evening air and clear skies, Patsy was wearing a raincoat.

  “Expecting a storm?” he inquired lightly.

  She gave him an enigmatic look. “In a manner of speaking. May I come in?”

  He stepped aside. “Be my guest.”

  She sailed past him in a cloud of very seductive perfume. By the time he could recover from that and had closed the door, she had disappeared.

  “Patsy?”

  “Back here,” she said in a tone that could have lured ships to crash into rocky cliffs.

  There was no question that her voice was coming from the bedroom, his bedroom, unless he missed his guess. He swallowed hard. Something told him that dinner was going to be very late and was going to consist of whatever was in his freezer.

  When he got to the door to his room and glanced inside, his mouth gaped. Patsy was standing in the middle of the room in a black negligee so scanty he thought for sure his heart would slam to a stop if he stared at her too long.

  “Won’t you get cold at the restaurant?” he asked when he could find his voice.

  Her confident expression faltered just a little. “You still want to go out?”

  He barely held back a grin at her wistful tone. “Not if you don’t.”

  “I thought I was making myself pretty clear.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gotten our signals crossed.”

  “Justin, you will never make sheriff if you can’t read a clue this obvious.”

  He grinned. “Okay, let me try.” He paused thoughtfully. “You are less interested in dinner than you are in seduction.”

  She stepped toward him and nodded. “Very good,” she praised.

  She slid her arms around his neck. “And this?”

  “No waiting?”

  “Oh, yes,” she murmured just before she stood on tiptoe and kissed him with an enthusiasm that left not a single doubt in either of their minds about how they were going to spend the rest of the evening.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Patsy was very proud of the way she’d managed to render Justin Adams totally speechless. Lying next to him in his bed, she felt as if she’d finally come home, finally met a man who thought of her as an equal, a partner. Maybe she was being a fool for setting some artificial time constraint on the relationship.

  “Satisfied?” he asked, regarding her with an amused look.

  “Oh, my, yes,” she said.

  “What happens now?” he asked.

  Her expression faltered. “I guess that depends on you.”

  “Oh, no, you don’t, Patsy Gresham Longhorn. For the past twenty-four hours you’ve been telling me every way you knew how that you are capable of making your own decisions, capable of taking the initiative, capable of standing on your own two feet, that you insist on standing on your own two feet, come what may.”

  “There are still some things that are a man’s prerogative,” she admitted unwillingly.

  “Such as?”

  She was not going to put these words into his mouth. Nor was she quite brave enough to demand that he marry her and make an honest woman of her. Maybe if neither of them could put the question into words, there was a reason for it. Maybe it really was too soon after Will.

  Even if she did absolutely adore being in his bed, with his arms around her and her head resting against his chest.

  She sighed, rolled over and stood up. Justin regarded her with surprise.

  “Where are you going?”

  “You promised me dinner.”

  “Sorry, darlin’. The cupboard’s practically bare.” He grinned. “We could order in. That would certainly make Angie’s day over at the Italian restaurant. Or we could call Rosa and ask her to deliver some Mexican. Of course, she is related to the housekeeper at White Pines, which means there would be more talk.”

  “Are you saying there is not one tiny little scrap of food in this house?”

  “Not even a cracker.” He surveyed her thoroughly. “And you’re not exactly dressed to go to the restaurant I had in mind.” He beckoned to her. “Maybe if you climb back into bed I can make you forget all about your growling tummy.”

  “I’m sure you could,” she agreed. “But without food neither of us will survive another round of really energetic sex.”

  “Then we’ll take it nice and slow,” he said in a provocative way that set her blood to pumping furiously.

  She was still standing there debating the wisdom of that when Justin’s beeper went off. In an instant, he was all cop. He grabbed the beeper from his night-stand, reaching for the phone at the same time.

  “What is it?” he demanded, even as he scrambled to find clothes. His expression sobered. “I see. Okay, I’m on my way.”

  He slammed the phone down, pulled on his shirt and unlocked the drawer to get his gun. Patsy watched him and shivered. It was a full minute before he glanced her way and noticed her expression.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “No, it’s okay. Of course, you have to go. What’s happened?”

  “We’ve got a high speed chase on the interstate heading this way. Tate wants me to set up a road-block.”

  Patsy’s blood ran cold as images of Sharon Lynn’s wrecked car came whirling back.

  He touched a finger to her cheek. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

  “I know. It’s just that…”

  “The accident,” he said
succinctly. “I’ll be fine, Patsy. We have important things left to finish here tonight. I’ll make sure I get back before you even miss me.”

  “Not possible,” she told him softly. He wasn’t out the door and she missed him already.

  The instant he was gone, panic began to set in. What if he never came back? What if something happened and she’d never told him just how desperately she loved him? What if she’d wasted precious time while trying to declare her independence? Would it be worth it?

  Maybe, she told herself as she sat huddled in a blanket on the sofa waiting for him, maybe when something was so clearly right, only a fool would take a chance on throwing it away.

  When the clock ticked on slowly and still Justin hadn’t returned, Patsy could no longer sit still. Despite his earlier claims that there was no food in the place, she went into the kitchen in search of something to eat.

  When that proved fruitless, she went back to the bedroom and began straightening up. It didn’t take long. Justin was invariably neat. Only the clothes they’d worn earlier were scattered about. Her negligee and raincoat seemed ludicrous now, when she’d been reduced to wearing one of his shirts. Why hadn’t she at least tucked an overnight bag with a change of clothes into the back of the car? Had she planned on leaving here in broad daylight wearing virtually nothing? The truth was, she hadn’t thought about leaving at all, only about getting here and stunning him speechless.

  She picked up his slacks and when she did, something dropped out of the pocket, then rolled under the bed. She scrambled after it. When her hand closed around it, she realized it was a small velvet box. Her heart stood still.

  She rocked back on her heels and stared at the red velvet in wonder. This was what he’d had in mind for tonight, she realized. A romantic dinner and then this. With fingers that trembled, she flipped open the lid and gazed at a stunning solitaire diamond on a wide gold band. Even though the stone was large, there was nothing ostentatious about it. It was elegant and simple, a declaration not just of love, but of understanding.

  “He knew,” she murmured as tears began to build. He had understood that all of Will’s gestures had been for show—the gaudiest diamond, fanciest car, biggest house. This ring just said that Justin Adams loved her and nothing more.

  “Oh, Justin,” she whispered, her throat tight.

  What if she never got to say yes? What if the divorce dragged on, for some reason? What if…? She couldn’t bear to say it, not even to think it. Instead, she slid the ring onto her finger. Somehow, she thought, somehow he would know her answer, no matter what. When the decree was final—when Justin was safe—they would start to plan their future.

  It was nearly daybreak when she heard the front door open, then close quietly. In a heartbeat, she was on her feet and racing toward the living room. She skidded to a stop at the sight of him. He looked as if he’d been mauled by a particularly cantankerous bull. There were cuts and gashes and dirt. His uniform was in tatters, but he was alive, she told herself. He was blessedly alive.

  He glanced up and saw her then and the exhaustion vanished. His eyes lit up.

  Patsy moved toward him, then hesitated, all too aware of the state he was in. “How badly are you hurt?”

  “Just a few bumps and bruises. The guy took exception to being arrested. I had to chase him down and wrestle around with him near a barbed wire fence. The fence won.”

  “And you? Did you get your man?”

  “Of course,” he said, his expression smug. “The good guys always win.” He reached for her gingerly, then searched her face. “Don’t they?”

  “Depends on what they’re after, I suppose.”

  “You know what I’m after,” he said. “Are you ready for me to spell it out?”

  She held out her hand. “Does it have anything to do with this?”

  He stared at the ring in surprise. “You found it?”

  “I was straightening up. It fell out of your pocket.”

  He grinned. “And you assumed it was meant for you?”

  She scowled. “And who else would it have been meant for?”

  “Maybe some woman who knows her own mind.”

  “I know my own mind.”

  “Do you?”

  “Always have.” She circled his waist with her arms and held on, relishing the sense of security that swept over her. “It just took me a while to figure out I could trust my own judgment. I have had reason to question it, you know.”

  “You can trust yourself this time, darlin’. I will love you till my dying breath, Patsy Longhorn. I will never hurt you. I will treat Billy as if he were my own and I will make absolutely sure that we have a house crawling with brothers and sisters for him, if that’s what you want.”

  “Oh, it is definitely what I want,” she assured him. She gazed into his eyes. “No doubt about it.”

  He lifted her hand and admired the ring that fit perfectly. “You stole my thunder. I was going to ask you last night,” he said. “But you had other plans for the evening.”

  “I didn’t hear any complaints at the time.”

  “No way. Now, though, I want your full attention. No funny business, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  He surveyed her from the open collar of his shirt to her bare thighs. She could feel the heat of his gaze everywhere it touched.

  “Maybe you ought to get dressed.”

  She grinned. “My choices are pretty limited. It’s this shirt, the negligee or the raincoat.”

  He groaned. “Never mind. I’ll just have to concentrate a little harder.”

  “Can’t remember what you had in mind?” She waved the ring under his nose, then dropped it into his palm. “Does it have anything to do with this?”

  Justin looked as if he’d never seen the diamond engagement ring before in his life. “This? Yeah.”

  His reaction, his inability to focus on anything but her couldn’t have pleased her more. Will had always acted as if half his attention was on a speech he had to make later in the day.

  “How about the future?” she coached. “Does it have anything to do with that?”

  “You’re beautiful, you know that.”

  “The future, together, you and me,” she persisted, refusing to allow him to distract her, too.

  “Mmm-hmm,” he said, and reached for her.

  Sometime later, Justin finally managed to get out the words and get the ring on her finger, but the moment was almost anticlimactic. She’d given him her answer long before, in his arms, when she’d murmured yes over and over in his ear. And one day soon, when her divorce was final, the whole world would know, too.

  * * *

  The wedding plans had been taken completely out of her hands the very instant the divorce decree was final, but for once Patsy wasn’t feeling the least bit defensive about losing control over her life. It gave her more time to spend with Justin and Billy, more time to indulge in the incredible romantic fantasy her life had become.

  Watching her son with his prospective stepdaddy always brought a lump to her throat. And listening to Will explain to Billy that he would always be his daddy, but that it was okay with him if Billy loved Justin did bring tears to her eyes.

  “Thank you,” she told Will as he walked to his car after his visit.

  “You deserve to be happy. Your being happy will insure that Billy’s happy, too. How could I want anything less for my son?” He gazed into her eyes. “There’s something I need to thank you for, too.”

  “What’s that?”

  “For snapping me back to reality and for agreeing to let Billy spend time with me and my family while you’re on your honeymoon. I think it’s time both of us learned something about our roots.”

  “You’ve always known who you were, Will. You just got lost for a little while.”

  He grinned sheepishly. “Well, that’s one way of looking at it, I suppose.” He gave her a peck on the cheek. “Good luck, sweetheart. I think you’re getting a better deal this time around.”<
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  Patsy didn’t say it, but she knew she was. Her gaze lifted just in time to see Justin coming toward them. Will turned slowly and met Justin’s gaze steadily.

  “Make her happy,” he said.

  “I intend to.”

  “Okay, then, I’ll see you two tomorrow night, right after the wedding reception.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Patsy said.

  “You’d be welcome,” Justin added.

  Will seemed startled by the sincerity of the gesture. “No, but thanks. Patsy ought to start her new life without a reminder from her old one staring her in the face.”

  He got into his car then and drove away, leaving Patsy staring after him, her expression thoughtful. “Maybe he’s not such a bad person, after all. Maybe it was just the circumstances and the timing.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Justin said. “The only timing I’m concerned about now is seeing to it you make it to the church on time tomorrow.”

  “Sharon Lynn is staying with me. Janet has a timetable posted on the refrigerator door. There’s no way I’ll be late,” she promised.

  Of course, she hadn’t counted on getting stopped for speeding halfway to the chapel. Even as she hit the brakes, she glanced at the speedometer and noted that she was barely exceeding the posted speed limit.

  Ready for an argument, she glanced up into Tate’s amused eyes.

  “Going somewhere in a hurry, aren’t you?”

  “You do realize if you keep me out here on the side of the road, I will be late and Justin will worry and the whole family will get in on the act?”

  He grinned. “Which is why I decided to be your escort. I don’t want any other law enforcement officer coming along and delaying this wedding.”

  She regarded him curiously. “Why is my marrying Justin so important to you?”

  “Because the second you get back from your honeymoon, I’m going to follow Doc Dolan down to the Gulf Coast and spend the rest of my days fishing. Already have my place picked out and my wife’s chomping at the bit to get going.”

  “Which means what for Justin?”

  “That he’ll be sheriff, if he wants the job.”