Taming a Texas Devil - Katie Lane Page 0,2

sheriff has taken a . . . long vacation, I’m the one in charge.”

Beneath the brim of his low-tugged hat, she watched as his square jaw flexed and his lips pressed into a thin line. “You’re Deputy Meriwether?”

Blistered biscuits! If he knew her name, she was in big trouble. Still, she tried to bluff her way through like she had bluffed her way through high school, college, and the state police academy. “That would be me. And you are?”

He swept off his hat. “Lincoln Hayes, Texas Ranger.”

Dixie could count on one hand the times she’d been struck speechless, but she was speechless now. Not only because he was a Texas Ranger, the elite of Texas law officers, but also because he was hot. Not in a Brad Pitt pretty boy way, but hot in a rugged manly way. If he were a dog, he’d be a pit bull. His dark eyes were deep set and his nose broad and his jaw square. The only things that weren’t masculine were his long dark lashes, the dimple in his chin, and his soft-looking lips—although even those were marred with a jagged white scar in the top right corner.

A shiver of sexual awareness tiptoed up Dixie’s spine. She wasn’t surprised by her body’s reaction. The man was more virile and studly than one of her daddy’s prize stallions. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if women threw themselves at his big-booted feet just for a chance to be his mating mare.

Just not Dixie Leigh.

If anyone was going to be throwing themselves at someone’s feet, it wouldn’t be her.

She stood and swept off her own hat, making sure to give her long blond, highlighted hair just enough shake so it fell nicely around her shoulders. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Officer Hayes.”

His eyes widened, and she couldn’t help doing a mental fist pump. That’s right, Mr. Big Shot Texas Ranger. Don’t think you can strut in here and get the upper hand. This is my turf. She reached her hand over the desk.

It took him a full minute to stop staring and step closer to take her hand. His hands were as big and masculine as everything else on him and she steeled herself for a bone-crushing shake. Instead, he held her hand gently in his huge paw, as if it were a flower he was worried about crushing, and released it quickly.

“Nice meeting you, Deputy Meri—”

Queenie started to scratch at her carrier to get out. Dixie tried to cover it up by talking loudly. “What can I do for you, Officer Hayes?”

He stared at the desk as he answered. “I stopped by to check on things. Being a new deputy, I thought you might need some help.”

The last thing she wanted was another arrogant man bossing her around.

“As you can see,” she waved a hand around, “I’m doing just fine and dandy. Simple isn’t really a hot spot for crime, now is it? So there’s not a whole lot to do besides make my morning and evening rounds.” Not that she had been doing her morning and evening rounds. Simple might not have a lot of crime, but if some criminal activity did take place, she’d just as soon not be around for it.

He studied her for a moment before he cocked a jet-black eyebrow. “And give yourself a facial.”

“Excuse me?”

He made a loop around his face with his finger. “There’s some kind of blue goop hanging off your face.”

She wanted to stomp her foot again. But a beauty queen never threw tantrums or showed her frustration in front of people. Or owned up to her flaws and mistakes. “Oh, that. It’s just a new sunscreen—the sheriff’s department is big on protecting their officers from the damaging rays of the sun.”

“Are they also big on their officers painting their toenails dark pink while on duty, Deputy Meriwether?”

Her eyes widened. She glanced at the window, but the shades were drawn tight so he couldn’t have been spying on her. Then how had he known she was painting her toes?

As if reading her thoughts, he looked down at her hand. “There’s a smudge of nail polish on your right thumb. And more on the desk calendar where your feet must’ve rested as you painted them. Couple that with the strong smell of nail polish and the goop on your face and it wasn’t difficult to figure out that you were playing spa day.”

Great. She had gotten the Sherlock Holmes of the Texas Rangers.

“You know