Chapter Three #2
“Monica Purcell,” the middle-aged brunette with the headset replied, her soft blue eyes moving over me like an alien probe. “You don’t look much like Baker.”
“No, ma’am, we’re half-brothers. I take after my mother’s side of the family. Most are from Ireland and Scotland, which explains my ginger hair.”
“That’s right. I did hear that about you.” She knew where my family was from? How was that even possible? Did she work for the CIA on the side? “I take it you’re here to have the sheriff verify that you made the requested repairs to your left taillight?”
Jesus. Did this woman know how many freckles I had on my ass too? “That’s right, ma’am. Is he here?”
“I am.” Ollie’s rich voice slid into my ears to create a bonfire in my lower belly.
What it was about that man I didn’t know, but his voice made me salivate.
Turning to find him leaning on the doorframe of a single office, I nearly blacked out.
He was so damn stunning. “Glad to see you took my warning to heart. Shall we mosey on out and you can show me your rearend?”
Monica nearly choked on a sip of coffee. I felt my face flame, which was not an occurrence that a man with my bonnie skin tone could easily hide. Maybe I needed to grow a beard like Linc to help hide my flushes.
“You know what I meant, Monica,” Ollie tossed her way as he ambled past the American flag and the Oklahoma state flag standing on either side of his office doorway.
“I sure do, Sheriff.” She tittered into her mug. Ollie held the door open for me. I slipped past him, the rich smell of his cologne making my senses tingle. Outside, the heat slapped one in the face like a wet glove, which helped clear the lust from my mind.
I climbed into my SUV and cranked it over, showing him everything from brakes to turn signals to reverse lights.
“Okay, you can turn it off.” I did and then took a moment to enjoy his swagger as he walked from the rear of my Explorer.
Jesus, those thighs encased in tight tan cotton were going to be the death of me.
He came to stand in the space my open door allowed, filling it and my senses totally.
“Thank you for attending to that so speedily.” His dark eyes darted to the flowers lying in the passenger seat. “Got a date?”
“Me? No, no, they’re for Linc. Bella had some ladies come to the boutique today, and he wants to surprise her. I’m not really dating right now.”
“Really? That’s a pity. I was going to ask you if you’d like to have some coffee with me at the Calico Diner.”
That floored me. And excited me. It wasn’t every day the sexiest man in the county asked you to have coffee.
I wanted to leap at the offer but didn’t want to appear too eager.
Sure, it had been over a year of celibacy, but I wasn’t a trollop.
I mean, I at least wanted a donut before I went to my knees…
“Don’t you have two pots of coffee in your office?” I asked innocently and got a quirk of his lips.
“I do, yes, but the Calico Diner has the best blueberry muffins to go with their coffee,” he patiently explained as his deep brown eyes danced. It seemed like he wanted to give chase. Which was awesome. I longed to be caught. “And you look like you need a muffin.”
“Are you saying that I’m skinny? Because if you are, you haven’t looked close enough,” I countered as I patted my belly. It was still flat, but that was only due to the hard physical work at the ranch. Granny’s cooking would have added ten pounds to me easily if not for farm labor.
“Trust me, Dodge, I have looked plenty close.”
Oh shit. Right. To hell with coy. “Now that you mention it, I would enjoy some coffee and a muffin, but I do need to pick Dahn up at noon.”
“That’s plenty of time.” He checked the gold watch on his tanned wrist. “Over an hour. We’ll sit at the corner table with the pink calico tablecloth. You can see the oak tree at the rec center from that table. If you text him to meet you there, you’ll be able to see him.”
“He doesn’t have a cell phone. What?” I asked at his look of surprise.
“Nothing. I think that’s admirable.”
“Thanks. I took a lot of flak from my ex over my stance, but why expose him to all of that shit online at ten? He has a tablet that I supervise the content on, lots of parental controls, and a game system I also have parental controls set up on. When he’s a little older, he can get a phone, but at ten, why let him wade out into that cesspool of bullying? ”
“Good call. So we’ll make sure we’re done by ten of twelve so you can be outside the rec center. How does that sound? Feel free to say no, obviously. No pressure.”
As if I were going to say no to this man. About anything. “Coffee and a muffin sound nice.” He stepped back, smiling widely. I had to remind myself to get my keys out of the ignition—his aura was that strong.
We walked down the street, American flags snapping in the hot wind, incredibly conscious of him.
He made small talk, telling me about this store or that tree and its history.
His bare forearm bumped mine several times.
It was sheer will that kept me from getting hard on the stroll down Main Street to the Calico Diner.
We passed a small park of sorts, more like a little square with some flowers at the base of a statue of the town founder—and my distant relative Isiah Bastian.
The diner itself was like stepping back into the fifties.
The layout was pure Happy Days with a jukebox in the corner, booths and tables scattered about—the tables covered with different shades of calico cloth—and a clientele that looked to be mostly retirees in cowboy hats or green ball caps with a famous tractor logo.
The jukebox was playing a Four Seasons song, so maybe the place encapsulated the ’50s and ’60s.
The menu was listed on a long magnetic board above the counter with the daily special written in chalk that hung above the coffee pots.
It was charming in its own nostalgic way, I supposed. The smells were heavenly though. Coffee, cinnamon, and something beefy wafted past as Ollie led us to a tiny table for two by the front window.
“Sit there, lean to the left,” he said, removing his hat and lowering himself into a wooden chair.
He was so bossy. Guess it came with the territory.
I had no objection to being told what to do at times.
If we were alone and both naked, it would be better, but alas, we were surrounded by old people giving us dour looks. “See the oak?”
“Oh yeah, I do. Thanks.” I straightened up as the waitress, a pudgy gal in jeans and a calico top, came to our table.
Her nametag read LOLLY. She was perhaps twenty.
“Hello,” I said as she handed us menus. “We’re just here for coffee and a muffin, but I have to say whatever the cook is making smells delicious. Something with beef?”
“Stew with a side of butter rolls. Sure I can’t tempt you to try it?
It’s the special today,” Lolly said as she eyed Ollie with interest. Ollie and Lolly.
What a cute couple thing if only Ollie was paying her the least amount of attention.
His keen gaze rested on me as I smiled as one does at a stranger.
That intensity of his was doing funny things to my concentration.
Before I knew it, I was talked into a bowl of stew and coffee and a muffin.
“Make that two,” Ollie told the young miss, who gave him a bat of her lashes before heading away with the menus.
“I normally don’t eat such a heavy lunch,” I explained as he sat across from me, arms folded over a wide chest, a faint twist to his lips.
“When I still had my practice, I didn’t have time for a long midday meal, so I usually just grabbed a cup of yogurt or some fruit.
Although now I’m at the ranch, I seem to be eating more robustly.
Seems I’m hungrier now than I was when I was fitting braces.
Sorry, I’m sure you don’t care about my eating habits. ”
“You seem nervous. I hope that’s not because of me.”
I had to take a minute to sort out my emotions.
“Not nervous per se, just…” I faltered here, leaning back to allow Lolly to place our paper placemats, silverware, and coffee on the table.
She plunked down a dish of sweeteners, a sugar dispenser, and a small stainless steel creamer.
Then she was off again. “I’m not nervous. I’m just a little out of practice.”
Ollie stirred some sugar into his black coffee, nodding slowly as a truck with a loud exhaust drove by. His sight darted to the truck as if making a mental note of the driver.
“Out of practice eating or having coffee with an incredibly sexy sheriff?” he asked with a glimmer of mischief in his tone.
I chuckled. The door swung open. Hot air blew in as an older couple entered. Hellos were called out, and Ollie inclined his head at the twosome as they wiggled into a booth several feet away.
“The second,” I picked up the thread of our conversation while Lolly scurried over to the newcomers.
Glancing at the couple, I picked up on the sharp looks from a few of the men seated at the counter.
Nothing overt but displeased obviously. I brought my attention back to Ollie.
“Are those men at the counter unhappy that two men are having lunch, or is it something personal?”