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Melba shot him a narrow-eyed look. “It’s not funny. If I had known Corbin had become a cold-hearted loan shark, I never would have given him sweet Taylor Swift.”
Sweet? Obviously, the woman didn’t know the kitten well.
Jesse glanced around at all the people scowling at him. He knew enough about loyal small-town folks to know he was seconds away from being tarred and feathered.
He sobered. “There’s no need to worry about Taylor Swift, ma’am. Corbin loves the kitten as much as he loves his sister—and that’s a helluva lot. Pardon my language.”
“Now that you mention it,” Melba said. “I remember how sweet he was to his little sister. He rode her around all over town on the handlebars of that bike Mrs. Stokes gave him.”
“I remember that too,” Sheryl Ann joined in. “I guess a man can’t be all bad if he loves his sister and kittens.” She looked at Jesse. “But kicking a family out of their home is just plain wrong.”
Jesse didn’t disagree. But until he talked with Corbin, he wasn’t about to agree either. “I’m sure it will all get figured out once Corbin gets back into town.” He quickly paid. “Thanks for the best muffins in Texas, Sheryl Ann.” He tucked the box of muffins under his arm and picked up his to-go cup of coffee before he turned to leave.
Melba blocked his way.
“You got a pet?”
“No, ma’am. I travel too much for a pet.”
She scowled. “That’s no reason not to have a fur baby. Small dogs and cats can travel on planes as long as you have an approved pet carrier. Buck Owens is a little overweight, but he’s still under the twenty-pound limit and I know he’d be the perfect traveling companion. If you come on over to the sheriff’s office, I’ll introduce you.”
“I sure do appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid I have to pass.” He scrambled for an excuse. “I have a . . . date with Liberty Holiday.” It wasn’t a lie. He did have to get Tay-Tay back from her.
Melba’s eyebrows shot up. Everyone else in the café looked surprised too. Jesse took their stunned silence as an opportunity to make his escape. Coach Denny stopped him at the door and spoke in a low voice.
“You better buy yourself a sturdy cup, boy, because that little gal is a ballbuster if ever there was one.”
Once outside, Jesse heaved a sigh of relief and looked around for the Holiday sisters. They were gone. And so was Tay-Tay. Damn it! He’d known Liberty’s sweetness was all an act. She’d catnapped his kitten.
He headed for his truck with the intention of searching up and down the street, but stopped short when he saw Liberty sitting in the passenger seat. There was something about her in his beloved truck that made him feel a little lightheaded. It took a firm mental shake and a long gulp of black coffee to get his head feeling normal and his feet moving again.
“What are you doing?” he asked as he opened the driver’s door. The rest of what he was going to say got lost somewhere in his brain when he saw that she was sitting cross-legged on the seat with Tay-Tay sleeping in the nest she’d made of those long, tanned legs. He wanted to take the kitten’s place so badly his hands shook.
Completely unaware of his battle with his libido, Liberty stroked the kitten’s head. “Tay-Tay was not happy being held. I have the scratch marks to prove it. And since I didn’t want to put her down and risk her running into the street and becoming roadkill, I decided we’d wait for you in here.”
“I thought a pet in a hot vehicle was a bad thing.”
“Well, it’s certainly not a good thing.” She changed thing into a sexy Texas thang that made his belly feel all airy as she fanned a hand in front of her face. “So don’t just stand there. Get in and start up this beast. I’m assuming it has air-conditioning. Or is this redneck monstrosity wind cooled only?”
Even though the last thang he wanted was to be enclosed in a small space with Liberty, he set the box of muffins on the seat and climbed in. Once the engine was rumbling and the air-conditioning flowing from the vents, he turned to her.
“What’s going on?”
She lifted a dark eyebrow. “I just told you. Tay was scratching the heck out of me to get down.”
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about you volunteering to watch Taylor in the first place and no longer treating me like cow dung stuck to the heel of your boot. Last night, you couldn’t get rid of me fast enough and today you’re acting like we’re friends.”
She shrugged. “Maybe I’ve had a change of heart.”
“Oh, really. And what brought about this change of heart?”
She hesitated for only a second before she answered him. “I realized that you might be the only one who can change Corbin’s mind about foreclosing on Holiday Ranch. That’s if you really are friends with him.”
Now would be a good time to tell her the truth about his relationship with Corbin and that he owned a portion of Oleander Investments. But he knew if he came clean now, Liberty would assume the worst and think he was in cahoots with Corbin. He shouldn’t care about what Liberty thought. She was nothing to him. But for some reason, he did care.
He cared a lot.
“So that’s why you’ve decided to suck up to me,” he said. “You need my help.”
