as long as he’s not gunning for you.” Cara drummed her fingers on the table. “Trouble has a way of finding that man. And the women, old and young, are still attracted to him like mares to a stallion.”
“Give me a little credit. We won’t do anything that I don’t want.”
Cara shot her a skeptical grin. “And what exactly do you want from him?”
Kelly paid for their meal with a credit card. “We can discuss it while you help me pick out a thoroughly intimidating new outfit.”
“You changing outfits for the sheriff or for Wade?” Cara asked.
“Stop grilling me,” Kelly half demanded, half complained, knowing her friend meant well but would try to boss her until she put a stop to it. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Sure you do.” Cara checked her watch. “I don’t have much time. Some of us have to work for a living.”
Kelly rolled her eyes. “You love that job so much, if the Mustang Gazette didn’t pay you, you’d work there for free.”
“And I’ve got an interview lined up with Mayor Daniels over his election campaign.”
“You’re not working on one of your exposés where you’ve got to go undercover?” Kelly asked.
Cara shook her head. “Not this week, but stay tuned. Anyway, how about I catch up with you later?”
“Okay.”
“And Kelly…”
“Yes?”
“Be careful.”
“Would you please stop worrying? I’ll be fine.”
SURELY THAT COULDN’T BE Kelly waiting for him in front of the police station, wearing an outfit Wade classified between summer-break bragging and Vogue good-looking? He swallowed hard and reminded himself that his friend’s little sister was taboo territory. The fact that Andrew was no longer alive to remind him didn’t entitle Wade to forget she was off-limits.
Still, keeping his eyes above her neck was going to be more difficult than controlling a rowdy Saturday night crowd at the Hit ’Em Again Saloon. The contrast between her lace V-neck blouse and string of pearls that dipped between her breasts and her classic smile was almost enough to make Wade spin around and head elsewhere—except he’d promised Andrew to watch out for his little sister.
Wade sighed and kept walking with his teeth gritted in determination. He considered himself fairly knowledgeable about women and their clothes, but Kelly had knocked him off balance for the second time that day.
What in hell did she think she was doing? After working behind a bar he’d learned to recognize that the way a woman dressed said quite a bit about her personality and her mood. Kelly always wore classy, expensive, designer stuff that said hands off. Now her expensive fitted lace blouse stretched across a chest that had suddenly grown ample—no doubt due to some clever underwires designed to tease and entice.
Judging by the heat shooting directly south, he was “enticed” all right. Down boy. Kelly was still Kelly. First and foremost she was one high-maintenance lady. Her manicures alone likely cost more than his electric bill.
He had no doubt she was dressing this way for a reason. If she thought the sheriff might be distracted, she would likely be proven correct. No red-blooded male could possibly look at her without his mouth watering. She still wore her hair up, but some of it now tumbled down, curling around her face, one jaunty lock over the corner of her left eye. And those knotted pearls that tucked into the hollow of her breasts taunted his fingers to touch.
She waved at him and the movement caused her breasts to rise, drawing his gaze to her chest. “Nice.”
She eyed him with a glint of amusement. “You think I look good in blue?”
“I wasn’t talking about your shirt.”
“Oh.” For a moment her eyes widened as if startled, then she eased into a dangerous smile and looped her arm through his. “Good.”
He didn’t know what he thought when she didn’t act the least insulted by his direct reference to her assets. On the one hand, she seemed more touchable by showing a hint of skin, but contradictorily, he wanted her more than he ever had before. Sure, he’d noticed that Kelly was cute, but he’d never really considered getting together with her. First, there had been Andrew who wouldn’t have been pleased, and second, there had always been this unbreachable wall between them. However, the wall had cracks, ones he couldn’t seem to stop himself from peeping through.
He frowned at her. “You going to tell me exactly what you’re up to before we go inside?”
“Sheriff Wilson already thinks I’m a piece of fluff.” She didn’t sound resentful, just stated the obvious. “So I went out of my way to reinforce his attitude by buying this shirt.”
“Why?”
“Suppose he’s hiding more than the fact that my brother was murdered?”
“Like what?”
Wade didn’t believe that just because the sheriff wore a badge that he was an upright citizen. But he had no quarrels with the man, either. Wilson’s deputies left the saloon alone and Wade took care not to give them reasons to hassle him or his patrons. And he’d like to keep it that way.
“I don’t know,” she said. Together they entered the Sheriff’s Department. “That’s why we’re here. To ask questions.”
“Okay.” He wondered if she had a plan or intended to play this by ear. He also wondered if those tight jeans made her hips appear to sway more than usual or if she’d deliberately changed her walk to a sexy swagger.
Kelly headed straight to the front desk, seemingly unaware of the attention several deputies gave her. “We’re here to see Sheriff Wilson.”
“You have an appointment?” asked a male receptionist who wore a headset and didn’t look up from his computer.
“No, sir. But it’s real important that I talk to him.”
“I’m sure it is.” The male officer looked up, then looked again before dismissing her. “He’s busy, but if you care to wait…”
Kelly leaned forward and whispered loudly, “You don’t understand, sir. This is personal. My brother died and I have so many unanswered questions. Sheriff Wilson would much prefer hearing what I have to say in private. However, if you insist, I could go public…”
Wade clamped his teeth together to prevent himself from grinning. Kelly had insinuated that she had crucial information about Andrew and if the desk officer knew what was good for him, he’d give them immediate access to his boss.
The officer pushed a few buttons on a speakerphone, then mumbled into his microphone before jerking his thumb down the hall. “The sheriff will see you now. Third door on your left.”
Sheriff Wilson sat in a loose gray uniform behind his desk, a burning cigar in his hand despite the No Smoking sign on the building’s
