Cowboy Truth: Cowboy Justice Association #3 (5 page)

“I need a break. Are you hungry?” he asked, tossing a folder aside. “I think I have a frozen pizza in the freezer. They don’t deliver way out here.”

“I could eat,” Ava shrugged and looked at her watch. “Wow, we’ve been at this a long time. I can’t believe it’s after six.”

“I can. My stomach is screaming for food.” He opened the freezer and pulled out two frozen circles, holding them up. “I’ve got a pepperoni and a sausage. Preference?”

“I like sausage but I’ll do either. I’m easy.”

Logan grinned. “That’s not the word around town, Miss Goody Two-Shoes.” Logan pushed a few buttons on the oven and slid the pizza directly onto the rack. He liked teasing her, seeing if she would take the bait. So far she’d been quite controlled.

“What is the word around town?” Ava asked, her expression bland.

Logan grabbed two fresh sodas from the fridge. “Word is you were a ‘touch me not’ in high school. Of course, that was several years ago. Things could have changed.”

She tapped her fingernail on the counter and didn’t look at him. “I didn’t sleep around. Then or now. When I go to bed with someone it’s because I like them. End of story.”

“You think I sleep around though.”

She finally looked up. “I didn’t say that.”

Logan laughed. “You didn’t have to. Your prissy tone told the whole story. And I don’t sleep around. I make sure the women I date understand who I am. I don’t want a commitment, or marriage, or kids. If they’re okay with that then we can have some fun. If not, I move along.”

“My mother said you were a player and my father said you were wild as a mustang.”

He liked her directness. It was refreshing in a world where most women were trying to get something from him. Sex, love, gifts, approval. Whatever it was, they were attracted to his looks or the way he filled out his jeans. They didn’t know shit about him. Not really. They said they wanted to know him but what they really wanted was for him to know them. They wanted to be understood and admired. Ava didn’t want anything from him at all.

Except to let her help.

He could give her that.

“A mustang. I like the comparison. Sounds like he doesn’t think much of me.”

Few fathers in this county did. Make that several counties.

“He said you were the best sheriff the town has ever had.”

He turned and opened the oven pretending to check the pizza but really to hide his smile. He was glad the town recognized how hard he worked to keep them safe. He was truly proud of the legacy he was building in Corville. What he did had meaning and substance. It was real.

“That’s nice of your father to say that. It’s good to be appreciated.” Logan popped open the can of soda. “Why are you trying to help me with a real murder instead of writing a new make-believe one?”

“This will make me a better writer.” Ava was swinging her foot back and forth and avoiding his gaze. Logan played poker and had interrogated countless criminals. She wasn’t telling the whole truth. He had found her tell.

“And?” He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“And what?” Her small foot kicked faster. She’d pulled off her sandals earlier and he could see the flash of red toenail polish as her leg moved back and forth.

“You better check your pants, Ava. I think they’re on fire. Now tell me why you’re not working on a new book.”

She sighed and her foot stopped swinging. “Melissa and Michael are falling in love.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Logan didn’t want to fall in love but he wasn’t averse to reading about it.

“I didn’t plan it that way. They were supposed to stay friends.” She sounded annoyed.

“I’m not sure I follow you. They’re your characters, right?”

“They really belong to themselves. They have minds of their own and they can be bossy.”

He might just have a crazy woman in his kitchen.

“Do they talk to you all the time? Do they tell you to do bad things?”

She picked up the oven mitt and tossed it at him. “Stop smirking. I’m a writer. My characters talk to me.”

He laughed at her outraged expression. “If you’re okay with voices in your head, I am. You don’t seem violent or anything.”

“It’s the life of a writer. Until now my characters were pretty well behaved. But lately they’ve wanted to do things that I’m not sure I can write about.”

“Love?” Logan pulled the pizza from the oven and slid it on a cookie sheet.

“I’ve never been in love. I don’t know how to write about it.”

“Then don’t. Ignore it.”

“It doesn’t work that way.” Ava’s stomach growled and she pressed a hand to her middle. “I didn’t realize I was so hungry. That smells good.”

Logan cut the pizza into slices and put two on her plate. “Eat. We still have a lot of work to do.”

She blew on the steaming pizza. “So that’s why I’m helping you. If I can hone my skills at solving a crime, maybe my readers won’t notice that I don’t know anything about love.”

“You’ve never been in love? Ever?”

She was an attractive woman so it was hard to believe she’d never fallen. Love seemed to be all that females talked or thought about.

She shook her head. “Nope. I had a boyfriend who told me he loved me, but I couldn’t say it back. He was nice but I just didn’t feel it.”

He decided to have some fun with her. “You could have just said it anyway. I don’t think everyone expects it to be the truth.”

Her eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. “Are you joking? Tell a man I love him but not really mean it? That’s mean. Do you tell your women you love them?”

“No. Never.” Love wasn’t in his plans. “I told you I make that clear.”

“Even if they tell you?” she insisted.

Logan winced at a recent memory. He didn’t like hurting anyone’s feelings but he wouldn’t lie.

“Even if they tell me. But we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you. You weren’t in love with him.”

“I should have been. He was perfect.”

She bit into her pizza and hummed in appreciation.

“Perfect? How was he perfect?”

Logan was well aware he was interrogating her but he liked her clear, direct answers. She was too naive to even lie. It was like spending time with someone on truth serum. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be crushed by the realities of life. It made him feel protective, wanting to shield her from the world.

“He was an artist of sorts. I’ve always dated that type. Actors, singers, writers. He understood my need to write at all hours of the day. He never pushed me when I was working on a book. He didn’t drag me out of the house when I’d rather be home. We ate a lot of take out and watched television. He read me his poetry and showed me his art. He did graphic design for an advertising firm.”

“He sounds like a deadly bore. No wonder you weren’t in love with him. No excitement.”

“I don’t need excitement,” she argued. “We were intellectual soul mates.”

Logan almost snorted up his pizza. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. I want passion and adrenaline. I want to feel something.” He’d made her uncomfortable. She was picking at the sausage on her pizza. Good. It appeared she needed to be moved out of her comfort zone. “You need to get your heart rate up. That would help you write about love. And sex.”

Her gaze lasered in on him, her eyes narrowing. He hid his chuckle as he realized he’d hit a nerve in the good girl. “I know all I need to know about sex, thank you very much.”

He looked at her a long time, letting her get fidgety. “Somehow I don’t believe that. Have you ever screamed so loud the windows shook? Have you made love so hard and fast the headboard put a dent in the wall?”

Her pretty cheeks were pink and she was eyeing him like he was slime. “That’s not real. That’s just in books and movies.”

“Honey,” he drawled. “That’s my specialty.”

*   *   *   *

From what she’d heard he was perfectly serious. He probably could get her screaming but she wasn’t in the market for a man at the moment. She had too much on her mind, and besides she’d be leaving when they caught Bill Bryson’s murderer. Being one of a crowd wasn’t anything she aspired to.

“Yes, I’ve heard all about your reputation as the county stud.” She reached for another slice of pizza. “Your name is on every bathroom wall between here and Billings. That must be quite an honor.”

If she’d bothered him with her sarcastic tone, he didn’t blink an eye. He just took a long drink of his soda and then grabbed another piece of pizza.

“There’s nothing shameful about taking pleasure in life, good girl. I refuse to feel guilty for enjoying one of God’s gifts to mankind.”

She wasn’t fond of him calling her a good girl. That’s what the town thought of her and it was what she was, but she wasn’t sure it was what she wanted to be.

“Sex is a gift from God?” Her voice sounded slightly choked. He was sitting there so smug and arrogant. Cool as you please.

He arched an eyebrow and smiled. “Isn’t that what they mean when they talk about making a joyful noise unto the Lord?”

Heat suffused her skin. “I have no idea.”

A knock at the door came just in the nick of time. Logan scowled but strode from the kitchen. She could hear a woman’s voice, and something made her get up from her bar stool and peek around the corner. She knew better than to spy but Logan’s silence made her wonder if the lady caller was welcome.

Logan was standing in the foyer with a tight expression on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. The woman, a drop-dead gorgeous blonde with a figure to die for, appeared completely unaware of his negative body language. The blonde had a bottle of wine and a cajoling tone in her voice.

“I know you’ve had a rough few days,” she said. “I thought we could have a glass or two and listen to some music.”

And Ava was Mary, Queen of Scots.

Ava doubted the only thing this woman wanted to do was drink wine and hang out. The blonde’s eyes had a hungry quality that was clear even from six feet away. Ava turned to go back into the kitchen but she must have alerted Logan to her presence.

“Ava,” he called. “Come out and meet Christina.”

Why? Was he one of those guys who thought all females were friends simply because they all carried two X chromosomes?

She sighed and turned back, pasting on a smile. Holding out her hand, she tried not to stare. The woman was stunning to look at and obviously in love with Logan. Ava didn’t know much about interpersonal relationships but a person could spot this a mile away. What was also obvious was that Logan didn’t feel the same. To his credit, he was uncomfortable about it. Clearly he didn’t want to be alone with her.

“Hi. I’m Ava. It’s nice to meet you.”

Christina’s mouth drooped, but she shook Ava’s hand.

“Nice to meet you. Are you a…friend of Logan’s?”

Ava wasn’t sure how to answer that question. She really wasn’t. They were more acquaintances than anything else, but what she thought didn’t matter. Logan answered for her.

“Ava and I have known each other for years. She’s been living in Denver for awhile.”

“Portland,” Ava corrected. “I’ve been living in Portland, Oregon.”

Logan’s arm settled over her shoulders and she stiffened immediately. “I don’t know why I keep getting Denver and Portland confused. Glad she’s back though.”

Logan had a big smile on his face, and Ava wanted to stomp on his toes. He was using her, dammit. She hadn’t signed on for this.

“I came for my sister’s wedding. I’ll be leaving in a few weeks.”

Christina was looking back and forth between them and for good reason. Who was going to believe sexy as sin, bad boy Logan Wright was interested in a barely attractive, goody two-shoes like her?

No one.

His arm hugged her close and she could feel the warmth from his body. “I’m hoping I can convince her to stay a little longer.”

“Well, it’s been very nice to meet you.” Christina shoved the wine bottle at Logan, her smile shaky. “I guess I should be going.”

The pretty blonde almost tripped over her own feet getting back out the door and down the porch steps. Ava felt her heart squeeze with sympathy as the car started up and shot down the long dirt lane to the main road. Ava twisted away from Logan and gave him a scathing look.

“That poor girl is in love with you. I thought you made sure they knew the rules at the beginning of the game?”

A muscle ticked in Logan’s jaw. “I do.”

Ava snorted. “This one didn’t. I hope she doesn’t drive off a bridge or something. Do you do this to all the women you date?”

“I do not.” Logan leaned down and got nose to nose with her, causing her to take a step back. “Shit, Christina said she knew the score. She said she wanted casual and some fun. She changed the game on me. And no, I don’t feel good about this. Hell, I wish she’d find someone else to fall for. I’m not worth what she’s going through over me.”

That took the wind out of her sails. “You were using me,” she accused, not ready to admit defeat yet.

Logan straightened up. “I was, and I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect her to show up here and I didn’t know what to do. I’ve tried making things plain without being hurtful.”

“I think you’re going to have to hurt her a little,” Ava admitted. “She’s still hopeful obviously. Aren’t you dating anyone?”

Logan’s lips twisted. “I know everyone thinks I’m ass deep in women but I do go through an occasional dry spell. And I don’t want to hurt her. She’s a nice woman.”

She had to give Logan credit. He seemed to be a genuinely nice guy.

“So you threw your arm around me?” she challenged.

A faint red stained his cheekbones. “I said I was sorry. I thought if she saw me with someone else, she’d give up and move on.”

“And I was handy?”

“Yes.” Logan sighed. “Are you going to take your foot off my nuts yet? I’ve apologized twice.”

He had and she should. He’d only been trying not to hurt the woman.

“Do you think it worked? She ran out of here pretty fast.”

“I hope so.” Logan shrugged. “I’d hate to have pissed you off for nothing.”

“I’m not mad. I just doubt she would be jealous of me. She’s beautiful.”

Logan stared at the doorway Christina had exited. “She is. But then all women are beautiful in their own way.”