Justice Inked (Cowboy Justice Association 7) Page 2

  The bell over the door rang as he and Sophie exited onto the sidewalk and she elbowed him in the ribs, her lips turned up at the corners in merriment.

  “You are in so much trouble, big brother. Rayne told you off…but good. I don’t think she’s afraid of you in the least.”

  “She should be,” he growled as he thought about how huffy she’d been with him.

  The less he saw of Rayne Dunn the better. He’d get his tattoo and then forget she existed.

  Women like Rayne were a menace and made a man’s life a misery. He needed to stay professional and far away.

  Chapter Two

  Friday night in a small town never changed much. If it was football season, most of the population would be sitting in the stands watching the game and freezing their asses off only to head to the diner or pizza place afterward. Or maybe the local watering hole if they were over twenty-one.

  Louie’s was a typical sports bar with pool tables in the back and dart boards on the wall. Big screen televisions circled the large room and there was even a tiny dance floor if a couple became amorous. It was mostly just good fun, but every now and then a few patrons got a little rowdy.

  That’s why Dare had been called in tonight.

  He strode into the bar, his gaze scanning for trouble and quickly found it. He wasn’t all that surprised. Tim Wallace, Sophie’s latest heartthrob, was punching it out with his older brother Duke Wallace over something stupid. At twenty-eight the guy was living on his past glories as quarterback of the high school team. Meanwhile in the present, he hung around bars and worked odd jobs to make beer money.

  Tim wasn’t exactly Dare’s favorite person either. He had a job at least, but Duke had way too much influence on his little brother and this brawl highlighted that fact. Tim hadn’t been dating Sophie long but he looked at her like…dammit…like he wanted her and that sure as shit wasn’t going to happen.

  Dare pointed to Duke, who had just taken a nasty punch and was leaning against a pool table, blood trickling down his chin. “Billy, grab Duke and I’ll get Tim.”

  Letting his deputy handle Duke – all the cops in Valley Station had plenty of practice dealing with him – Dare grabbed Tim by the arm and spun the younger brother around. Tim needed an attitude adjustment and Dare was the man to give it to him.

  “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Dare dragged Tim back, one hand on his arm and the other on his shirt collar. Tim struggled, but Dare had forty pounds of muscle on him and easily moved him from the fray.

  “Dammit, Dare. Duke was asking for it.”

  “I don’t doubt it, but you aren’t required to give it to him. Just calm the hell down and keep your family feuds out of public places.”

  The younger man was breathing heavy, his lip swollen and his knuckles bruised. Dare could feel the waves of anger coming off Tim so he placed himself directly between the two fighters.

  “He’s a son of a bitch. He deserved it.”

  Probably, but that wasn’t the point. “Start at the beginning. If your story is halfway decent, I may not have to throw your ass in jail tonight. How do you think Sophie will feel if you spend the night in my drunk tank?”

  “I ain’t drunk,” Tim denied, his neck and face red with anger. “Just had a couple of brews.”

  Sadly, the same couldn’t be said for Duke. If it weren’t for Deputy Billy the man wouldn’t be standing on his own two feet. He was wobbling but still belligerent as hell, barely letting Billy get a word in.

  “Talk,” Dare commanded, getting right in Tim’s face. For the life of him he couldn’t see what his little sister saw in the guy.

  “We were playing pool and things got heated. I told him he was a greedy bastard, always living off my hard-earned money and he called me a momma’s boy.”

  “So that’s why you hit him?” Dare asked, his voice deadly soft. Tim blanched at the unspoken anger in Dare’s tone. The entire incident underlined how Wallace wasn’t the man for Sophie.

  “He–he said that I needed to grow up…”

  Both men did, that was clear. Dare took a few deep breaths and tried to remember that he was the law in this town. That meant loudmouth punks like Duke and Tim were going to say stupid shit.

  “Anything else?”

  Tim’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Yes. He said that paying for things was all I was good for. That’s when I hit him.”

  So Tim had taken the first swing. For a semi-good reason, but he still shouldn’t go around punching people. Even people that heartily deserved it. Dare believed in the karma universe. He’d seen it do its magic many times and he never ceased to be amused by how accurate it was despite its mystical origins.

  “Stay here and don’t fucking move.”

  Tim ran his sleeve over his bleeding lip and nodded, suspiciously watching Duke who was telling Billy his side of the story. Dare needed to hear it for himself. He strode the small distance between the two men until he was looking down at Duke almost nose to nose. The man reeked of booze, weed, and sweat, and once again Dare had to question his own wisdom in becoming a lawman. He should have gone into something else, anything else. That was better than dealing with fools and drunks on a regular basis.

  “What’s the story, Duke?”

  Duke pointed to Tim standing a few feet away. “My brother swung first. I was just defending myself.”

  “Yep, you were just sitting in the corner reading scripture and minding your own business when Tim punched you, right? Is that your story? Or did you flap your gums and say something you shouldn’t have to provoke him?”

  Some of Duke’s bravado seemed to slip and he hunched his shoulders, looking down at the sticky concrete floor. “I didn’t say nothin’.”

  “Are you sure?” Dare pressed. “Is it your sworn statement that Tim Wallace punched you out of the blue? That you said nothing about him personally?”

  “Shit, Sheriff, no one in this damn town can take a joke.”

  “Yeah, you’re a riot, Wallace. A real comedian. Billy here is going to run you in for public intoxication, disturbing the peace, and anything else that comes to mind.” Dare leaned down, using his size to intimidate the other man, who cowered back against the deputy. “Next time you and your brother decide to tangle keep it at home. Got it?”

  Not one word fell from Duke’s lips as Billy hustled him out of the front door of the bar and into the waiting cruiser. Dare turned back to Tim, who was standing there with a hopeful look on his rapidly swelling face.

  Dare was about to dash that hope. The young man needed a lesson in reality. He drank too much, gambled too much, and generally made a mess of his life. He needed to get far away from his big brother’s influence if he hoped to make anything of his future.

  “You’re going too. As much as I can see why you did it, you can’t go around punching people who say shit you don’t like. If you and Louie can come to some agreement on the damages then maybe we can drop any charges. But you’re spending the night at the lockup.”

  “Fuck, Dare. I was defending myself.”

  The kid didn’t have a clue what it took to be sheriff of this town. It was all Dare could do not to put a major hurt on both of them so they would wake the hell up and see that they were wasting their lives, but that’s not what the good people of this town paid him to do. It was selfish and indulgent and Dare prided himself on being disciplined. He had plenty of things wrong with him but that wasn’t one of them.

  “And that’s why I’m not going to cuff you or put you in the back of the SUV. You can ride up front with me and sit in the office while I do paperwork tonight. By morning Louie will have calmed down, and as long as you pay for what you broke he’ll forget this ever happened.”

  Tim nodded and Dare let the young man lead him out of the bar. Billy would come back later and talk to Louie, hopefully smoothing the entire situation. A bar fight wasn’t anything to ruin someone’s life over.

  But Dare wouldn’t pass
up this opportunity to have a man to man chat with Tim.

  Chapter Three

  “Just you and me, Spartacus. Again.”

  Rayne scratched behind the ears of the tabby cat, eliciting a soft purr as she sipped her glass of red wine. Sprawled on the couch with the feline perched on her lap, she flipped aimlessly through the channels, barely paying attention until she finally settled on a chick flick.

  The heroine seemed to be having issues with her love life, something about choosing between two men. One looked perfect on paper but didn’t light her fire, and the other made her tingle but didn’t make a lot of money. Or something like that. Having trouble deciding between two men didn’t seem like much of a problem to Rayne. In fact, she’d like to have issues like that.

  It had been months since her last date and she was beginning to feel downright pathetic.

  Taking another gulp of her wine, Rayne closed her eyes and let the fruity liquid warm her abdomen. It had been a long week already and it wasn’t over. Saturday was always a busy – and long – day at the shop and all she really wanted to do was crawl between the covers of her bed and sleep for a week. She really did need to think about that vacation seriously. She hadn’t had much time off in the last two years and the stress was beginning to wear her down. She’d been close to losing her temper yesterday with Dare Turner when he’d decided to have an argument with his sister while she was trying to create a masterpiece on his shoulder blade.

  Asshole. Heaven help the woman he ended up with. Sure, he was hot and sexy but his personality left plenty to be desired. Bossy and high handed, he was the kind of guy that wanted to be in charge all the time even if they didn’t have a freakin’ clue of what to do. She didn’t need a Neanderthal. She simply needed one really nice man. Preferably one able to support himself with a kinky side in the bedroom. She was getting tired of dating her vibrator.

  Hating herself for what she was doing, Rayne slid her phone off the end table and dialed her best friend in the world. With a husband, a baby, and a career, Misty Foster Monroe really didn’t have time to hear all of Rayne’s problems but she needed more than a cat to talk to tonight. She needed someone to smack her hard and tell her to stop feeling sorry for herself.

  Rayne wasn’t about to call her sister Camy either. Camy would only somehow turn everything around and make it about her and how everyone had disappointed her. Camy truly believed that the people in her life simply didn’t do enough for her and it made her difficult to be around at times. Mostly Rayne ignored her sister’s whines and complaints, but there would be no way she could do that this evening.

  Misty picked up on the second ring.

  “Hey, girl. What’s going on in Valley Station?”

  Groaning, Rayne situated herself more comfortably on the sofa, tossing a wool throw over her legs. “Not a thing, but that’s not different than any other day, is it? Another week in a small town. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on in Seattle? That has to be more exciting.”

  “Diaper rash.”

  “What? I’m not sure I follow.”

  Misty’s laugh rang clearly through the phone. “Lizzie Rose has diaper rash. We’ve been battling it for the last few days and she’s been miserable, which means all of us are exhausted. I think we finally have it beat and she’s fast asleep now. Hopefully she’ll stay that way for several hours. Neither Jared nor I have had four consecutive hours of sleep in two days.”

  “When you put it that way Valley Station sounds pretty good. I’m sorry she wasn’t feeling well. It makes my piddly ass problems seem small and petty.”

  “Tell Dr. Misty what ails you. I’d love to hear about something else besides diapers and red butts. I love my baby girl, but talking to a grownup is certainly needed tonight.”

  Rayne hated to whine when she really didn’t have much to complain about. She had a good life and was lucky in so many ways, but every now and then she felt a little sorry for herself.

  “It was a long week at the shop and tomorrow is shaping up to be even worse. I have a full day scheduled and then some.”

  “That’s because your work is amazing,” Misty declared firmly. “From what I hear you’re attracting business from all over, not just locally. You’re a wonderfully talented artist.”

  Rayne snorted so hard she had to put her wine glass down on the end table. “Tell that to the grouchy sheriff. He and his sister decided to have an argument in my shop the other day while I was working on him. It’s not easy to create a masterpiece when two people are sniping at one another. Then he had the audacity to get nasty with me when I called him out on it. That man is never happy about anything and he wants the rest of us to feel the same.”

  Except that she’d seen Dare Turner being quite sweet and friendly more than once, especially to children. He had a gentle quality to him but at the same time, he was strong and reassuring. He wasn’t going to be playing Santa at the community center anytime soon, but he was well liked all over Valley Station by pretty much all the residents.

  “Jared says he’s a hell of a lawman, if that helps any. I asked him once why Sheriff Turner was so grouchy, but he said he didn’t know but that maybe Griffin did. I do know his father passed away not long ago and he took up guardianship of his little sister until she turned eighteen. That says a lot about him. He didn’t have to do that.”

  Rayne had the feeling the sheriff didn’t do anything he didn’t want to. “He’s just a difficult person to be around. I’m happy most of the time and I like to be around others that feel the same.”

  “I don’t think he’s unhappy. I just think he doesn’t smile much. There is a difference.”

  “Not much of one,” Rayne grumbled, wanting to change the subject. Dare shouldn’t get to live in her head rent-free. “So when do I get to see you again? It’s been ages.”

  “Glad you asked that. You’re going to get to see me very soon. Next weekend, as a matter of fact. We’re coming into town to see Jared’s family and let them spoil Lizzie Rose for a few days.”

  “And you and the handsome hunk will get a night to yourselves,” Rayne finished with a chuckle. “I know how this works.”

  “I’m ready for a night on the town and so are you. Jared has an old friend that is reentering the dating scene after a divorce. I’m told he’s smart, handsome, and successful. How about I fix you two up? We can double date so you won’t have to be alone with him right away.”

  Rayne exhaled noisily, and it came out as half whine and half groan. Overly dramatic, yes, but she wanted to get her point across. Being fixed up on a blind date was simply too pathetic.

  “I am not so lame that I cannot find my own man.”

  “When was your last date?” Misty shot back, clearly not intimidated.

  Rayne fell back on the cushions with a sigh. “Shit. Okay, it’s been awhile.”

  Images of Dare Turner floated through Rayne’s mind and she ruthlessly pushed them away. He might be gorgeous but he wasn’t her type.

  She wasn’t his type.

  They weren’t for each other.

  Although the way his shoulders made his shirt strain at the seams was certainly a fine sight to see, not to mention the way he filled out his worn blue jeans.

  “Jared said he’s a nice guy. What’s the harm in having dinner? I promise you don’t have to marry him and have his baby.”

  “Is he a cop too?”

  A picture of Dare in his uniform sent a flush of heat through her body all the way to her fingertips.

  “He’s a veterinarian. You can’t go wrong with a guy who likes animals.”

  That was true. Rayne had never met an asshole vet. If anything, they were always smiling and friendly.

  Unlike Dare Turner.

  Stop thinking about the sheriff!

  “Just dinner. That’s it. No movie. No inviting him in for coffee. Just one meal.”

  “Agreed. One meal. No commitment. Now go buy a new outfit to wear. Something sexy but tasteful.”

  “
Do those two things even go together? Are you thinking more pole dancer or debutante?”

  Not that it mattered. Rayne didn’t have either one in her closet. Although she usually wore edgy outfits to the shop, when dressing up she preferred floaty romantic attire.

  “Very funny.” A baby’s cry in the background interrupted their conversation. Poor Lizzie Rose was awake again. “Listen, I need to go. I’ll text you when we get to town with all the details.”

  Rayne bid her best friend goodnight and placed the phone on the coffee table. Although the idea of being set up with a complete stranger was galling, Misty had a point. Rayne needed to get out of the house and live. She’d become a prisoner of her own success, something she swore would never happen. She needed to make time for herself and the things she enjoyed doing.

  She had the awesome career.

  Now it was time to find the love of her life.

  * * * *

  “I can’t believe you put him in jail last night.”

  Sophie elbowed Dare in the ribs – hard – as she passed him in the kitchen to grab a soda from the refrigerator. She was dressed to go out in a pair of black jeans and an eggshell colored knit sweater. Her long blonde hair was curled and she was wearing too much makeup. Which was any at all, if he were honest. When had she ditched the pigtails and braces?

  “He threw a punch at another human being, Soph. I had to put him in jail. Luckily Louie calmed down and didn’t press charges. He and Duke busted up the back room and caused some damage.”

  Sophie’s lips tightened in distaste. “Duke’s an ass.”

  Hell, everybody knew that except Duke and a few of the floozies he spent time with.

  “He went to jail as well, so it’s not like I gave him a pat on the head and sent him home with a cookie.” Dare took a deep breath to calm his temper. Sophie had been digging at him about this since he got home. “Maybe if you dated a different kind of guy this wouldn’t happen.”

  Slamming her soda can on the counter Sophie rounded on him, poking his chest with her finger. “You’d hate any boy I dated. Why don’t you just admit it? Nobody would ever be good enough for you so I might as well date someone from the Manson family.”