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Decker choked on the sip of cold coffee he’d just taken.It took a good amount of coughing to clear his throat.When he finally did, he glanced over to see Melba giving him a knowing look.
“That’s what I figured.Sweetie coming home has caused quite a stir.”
As always, Melba had hit the nail right on the head.Sweetie had stirred Decker up all right.She’d stirred him up real good.Thankfully, there would be an end to the stirring.
“She’ll be leaving soon enough,” he said.
“And that’s a shame.One of those Holiday girls needs to stick around and take care of family.I realize Hank is hardheaded, but so are most Texas daddies—or Texas men, for that matter.That’s why Texas women need to be tough-skinned.You don’t run when your men get stubborn.You just take the tiger by the tail and let them know who’s really running the show.But enough about Sweetie Holiday.There’s another sweetie I’d like to tell you about.Dixie Chick is the cutest little gal you’d ever want to meet and I think she’d make a great friend for George Strait.”
People who didn’t know Melba would think she was talking about country singers.But Melba had taken to naming all her foster animals after country singers.She had fostered Gene Autry, Kitty Wells, Morgan Wallen, and Kelsea Ballerini.Just to name a few.It was like she knew that giving them a beloved country singer’s name would make them hard to say no to.But Decker didn’t need another dog.He hadn’t even needed the first one.
“No, thank you, Mel.George Strait doesn’t need a friend.All that animal wants to do is sleep.When you said he was a gentle soul, I thought you meant he had a sweet disposition.I didn’t think you meant he had narcolepsy.”
“George doesn’t have narcolepsy.He just enjoys naps.And who doesn’t like a good nap?”
“All day long?You put a leash on the dog and he drops to the floor like he’s been shot between the eyes.You toss a ball or a stick and it sits where it is until I run over it with the lawn mower.He doesn’t enjoying hunting or fishing or riding in the truck.He will meander over to his bowl when you fill it with food.And not just any food.It has to be the refrigerated kind that costs an arm and a leg.”
Melba smiled.“Admit it.You love that lazy, finicky dog.”
“Yes.I love him.Besides his eating habits, he’s not demanding.And with my job, demanding animals won’t work.So no on another dog.”
“Dixie Chick isn’t demanding.How can you say no before you meet her?”She opened the purse she had strapped on and pulled out a ...hairy rat.No, make that a hairy mouse with ears too big for its golf ball-sized head.But it had teeth.Tiny sharp teeth that it bared as soon as it saw Decker.
Melba stroked its head and spoke soothingly.“Now calm down, little mighty mite.Decker isn’t gonna hurt you.”As soon as she got the dog quieted down, she held it out to Decker, but he shook his head.
“Nope.You aren’t going to get me this time, Mel.Once was enough.”
She shrugged.“Well, it was worth a try.”She set the dog down on Decker’s desk.“But at least watch her while I run to the bathroom.”Without waiting for a reply, she turned and headed out of the office.
Decker studied the miniature cross between a Chihuahua and a rat.She was the littlest dog he’d ever seen in his life.But she was kind of cute.Besides big ears, she had huge brown eyes that covered more than half her face.They studied him with suspicion and fear.
“Melba is right.I’m not gonna hurt you.”He reached out to pet her, but she bared her teeth again.He held up his hands.“Fine, but don’t get too close to the edge.And don’t even think about pee—” He cut off when a flash of red drew his attention to the window.He swore when he saw the tail end of Mustang Sally passing by.
Without giving the bared teeth a second thought, he scooped Dixie Chick up and headed to the window.He arrived just in time to see Sweetie pulling into a parking space in front of Nothin’ But Muffins.If someone wanted to draw attention to themselves, all they had to do was show up at the café in the mornings.Everyone in town stopped by for coffee and Sheryl Ann’s famous muffins.
Decker should have turned away from the window and gone right back to his desk.Whatever the townsfolk dished out, Sweetie was obviously asking for.But when she got out of her car, he couldn’t seem to look away.
Yesterday, she’d looked all nap-tousled and sexy as hell when she came down the stairs.
Today, she looked refreshed ...and sexy as hell.
Her long hair had been curled and those curls waved in the stiff breeze like a field of overripe wheat.She wore the UT hoodie and black leggings that clung to the sweet curves of her butt like a second skin.Flaming-red cowboy boots came up to her knees and begged to be wrapped around a man’s waist.
Desire settled low and heavy inside Decker.
He tried to remember the last time he’d felt such a strong sexual pull.It was scary he couldn’t pull up one woman who had made him feel so ...hungry.Well, there was one and he was looking at her.But that was when he was a randy teenage boy.He wasn’t that boy anymore.
“Get a grip, Decker,” he muttered under his breath.He started to turn away, but then the door of the café opened and Cob Ritter and his gang of troublemakers stepped out.He hoped they wouldn’t notice Sweetie.It was a fruitless hope.There was no way any man could not notice Sweetheart Holiday.And when Cob smiled in a lecherous way, Decker knew he couldn’t hide in his office any longer.
By the time he got out the door of the sheriff’s station, Cob and his buddies had surrounded Sweetie and Cob was being his usual asshole self.
“Well, if it ain’t Miss High and Mighty Sweetie Mae Holiday.Of course, it doesn’t look like you’re all that high and mighty anymore.”He placed a hand on the Mustang’s hood.“What?Couldn’t you afford a new car with all that country star money you’re making?”
Sweetie didn’t back down.“Touch my car again, douchebag, and I’ll break your nose like I did in second grade.Or did you forget how I made you cry like a baby for his mama?”
Cob’s eyes darkened and he reached out and grabbed Sweetie’s arm.Decker had always been a calm and collected sort of lawman who never lost his cool and rarely chose to use physical force over levelheaded logic.But there was something about the sight of Cob’s hand on Sweetie’s arm that made him feel ...feral.
“Get your fuckin’ hands off her,” he growled as he shoved his way into the group.Both Sweetie and Cob turned to him with surprise.Cob released her and held up his hands.
