Page 5 of Deputy Brand Gets Her Man
“Hey, Willow. Can I give you a hand with that?”
Without even looking at him, she said, “You put one hand on this jack and I’ll beat you with the handle, you hear?”
He must’ve been surprised, since he took a step backwards. “I do something to make you mad, Deputy Brand?”
She stopped jacking, wiggled the tire off, and leaned it against the car. Then she picked up the spare and fit it over the bolts, figuring it was good that her hands were busy. “You need to understand somethin’, Jeremiah Thorne. I didn’t need rescuin’ at Two Lilies the other evenin’. I don’t need a man to defend me, or to protect me, or to change my goldang tires, and if I did, then I got a whole family of ‘em to choose from. But I don’t.”
“I would’ve stopped to help anybody I saw along the roadside with a flat in the middle of the night,” he said.
She put on all five nuts, finger-tightening them in opposing pairs. “I didn’t get the chance to explain this to you before…actually, it didn’t occur to me right away.”
“Because I was so good looking under my beard?”
She shot him a look, not smiling at his humor. He was, though.
“Never do that again,” she said. “Never interfere when I’m on the job. You understand? Dumb question. You couldn’t possibly understand, being male. But you don’t need to understand.”
He was quiet for a moment, then said, “Be easier if I did, though.”
She finished tightening the lug nuts, then lowered the jack, picked it up, and threw it into the back of the SUV followed by the flat tire. There was a place for them in the floor, but she didn’t put them in it, just closed the hatch and headed for the driver’s door.
“Maybe you could explain it to me, so I can understand it better?” the Gringo said.
Whirling to face him, she said, “All you need to understand is this, and it’s real simple. If I need your help, I’ll ask for it. And if I don’t ask for it?—”
“I keep my help to myself. I got you. And uh, I apologize.”
His eyes were innocent and wounded. They got to her and she felt like an ass. She’d opened her door, but she didn’t get in. Instead, she attempted to explain herself.
“I just responded to a call. A local said kids were harassing her milk cow. When I got there, she wouldn’t even talk to me. Said to send back a real cop.”
“Real, meaning…?”
“Maybe male,” she said. “Maybe white. Maybe both, I don’t know.”
He nodded slowly. “Me stepping in makes you the weak female.” He lowered his head until his chin touched his chest. “I should’ve realized. People around here can still be a little…”
“Yeah.” She closed the pickup door without getting in. “Sorry I yelled. You were only tryin’ to help. You’re a nice guy and I bit your head off for it.”
“Not really. I lied when I said I would’ve stopped for anyone. I only stopped ‘cause it was you.”
“‘Cause we’re family, sort’ve?” she asked and then cursed herself for asking.
“Nope. Nothing to do with that.” His eyes had hold of hers, and she didn’t look away. He smiled a little, and those dimples appeared again. “Would you have dinner with me?”
Willow lost her air, so she couldn’t answer. Her brain said no a hundred times over. She opened her mouth to say it out aloud, but the word that escaped, was, “Yes.”
He smiled and she swore those Hemsworth-blue eyes twinkled. “How about tonight?”
She frowned at him. “You crazy? It’s midnight.”
“So you’re saying you already ate?”
She lowered her eyes. This was a really bad idea. And then she made it worse. “I’ve got half a lasagna in the fridge. Aunt Chelsea has a thing about feedin’ people.”
“Tell me about it. I have most of her plasticware in the bunkhouse fridge. There’s enough for a feast.”
Willow took a deep breath. It would be a chance to get to know him a little better, one-on-one, and to figure out whether he took after his criminal father or noble brother. How better than over a meal? Alone. In the middle of the night.
