Cowboy Swagger by Joanna Wayne

Author:Joanna Wayne [Wayne, Joanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2010-09-06T05:00:00+00:00

"I CAN'T BELIEVE you hired an attorney after I told you I didn't want one."

Dylan spoke through clenched teeth, determined to keep his voice low enough that Collette would not hear the argument from wherever she'd disappeared to in the house. She'd escaped the table and the tension right after Troy had announced that he'd hired an attorney to represent Dylan before the sheriff came up with an arrest warrant.

Troy held a bowl beneath the faucet and rinsed away remains of the beef stew he'd cooked for dinner. "You'd think differently if you knew the sheriff the way I do."

"There is no evidence against me."

"I told you this morning. The evidence is whatever Glenn McGuire says it is. Believe me. I know."

"This isn't about you. It's not even about me. It's about stopping a lunatic before he kills someone."

"And if he does, you'll find yourself behind bars so fast, you won't even have time to think about what happened. And she'll be dead. That's all you'll know."

His father's hands began to shake, and the glass he'd just picked up slipped from his soapy fingers and hit the floor, sending slivers of glass in every direction.

Seeing his father like this stole the thunder from Dylan's anger and resentment. His release from prison would have been traumatic enough without being hurled back into his past by an assault that had nothing to do with him.

Drops of blood dripped from Troy's thumb as he cleaned up the broken glass with his bare hands. Dylan handed him a paper towel and tried to think of something to say to a man who had become a virtual stranger to him. Too many years had passed. Too much had gone unsaid.

"I wish we'd have connected sooner," Dylan said.

"Now's a fine time to think about that." Troy picked up the towel, brushed tiny shards of glass from his hand and walked away.

The last words had sounded like an accusation. The irony of that set Dylan on edge. Never had a kid needed a father more than he had. But he didn't pursue it.

"I noticed first-aid supplies in the hall bathroom," he said instead. "Take care of the cut. I'll finish up here."

"The cut's nothing."

Fine by him. Dylan walked away and went in search of Collette, though he hoped she'd gone to bed. She'd dozed in the chair back at her office, but she needed more than a catnap after what she'd been through.

Instead he found her on the front porch, sitting on the top step, her gorgeous hair tousled by the wind, her face tinged with moonlight.

His muscles grew relaxed. His need for her grew heady. Two days and he'd already fallen harder for her than he'd ever fallen for anyone. The situation probably had something to do with his letting himself get so close so quickly. But it was Collette who made it feel so right.

"Sorry to bring you into that father/son moment."

"No need to apologize. I just thought you needed a little privacy."

Dylan sat on the steps beside her.

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