“There’s pictures of me?”
She leaned into him. “No, Hix. There’s pictures of random hot guys. Women are taking that action back. Men have spent years ogling calendars and magazines, objectifying women, reducing them to a pretty face, a head of hair and a hot bod. With social media, there’s probably more pictures of shirtless hot guys with six-packs wearing cowboy hats or shrugging off police shirts than there are oiled-up hot chicks rolling around on Ferraris.” She pulled back and finished with sham seriousness. “Of course, I frown on that entirely. Turnaround, in my book, is not fair play.”
She was totally lying.
And she was very cute.
However.
“I’m not getting back together with Hope.”
Her humor died.
Hix curled his hand around the back of her neck. “I’m getting, the life you led, you don’t expect good things to come to you. What I hope is that you think I’m a good thing. And you got me. We work on this, you’ll keep me, because I hope I’ve made it clear, I want you to. I won’t stray. I won’t go back to her. But I also get I have to prove that too.”
“Hixon—”
“And I will.”
“Okay,” she whispered, her hand coming up between them to slide along his jaw and back into his hair. “And just to say, you know, Keith’s already remarried, but even if he wasn’t, he gave up on me. And I loved him. We had a good life. I missed it when it was gone. I missed him. But that’s done, baby, because he did the one thing I can maybe understand due to the circumstances, but I can’t forgive. He gave up on me.”
Her eyes tipped down to his mouth then back to his and she kept whispering.
“And there is the aforementioned fact that you’re hot. But I failed to note that I’m somewhat enamored with your creative uses of my headboard.”
He was glad of that, almost more than he was pleased to hear her ex was remarried, and he was thrilled to get that news.
“So we’re good,” he murmured, moving closer, seeing her beautiful face but thinking about her headboard.
“We’re so good,” she breathed in reply, tilting her head.
Hix took her mouth.
It was necessarily gently. It was also wet. It lasted a long time. It was its usual spectacular. And he didn’t care his dick started to get hard during it after Greta started nibbling his lips and mewing in his mouth.
It further didn’t stop until they heard, “Greta. Sheriff.”
He had his hand tangled in the back of her hair, she had hers wrapped tight around the side of his neck, when they both turned their heads to the street to see a man and woman (a different woman this time) out with a dog on a leash.
“Sheriff,” the man grunted, clearly unamused that his wife had interrupted and trying to pull his woman along.
She was standing solid and staring up at them, smiling huge.
“How are you two?” she asked.
“Nancy,” her man bit out.
“We were great,” Hixon told her.
The woman’s smile got even bigger.
“Hix,” Greta hissed, but he could tell she was laughing.
“Sorry, sorry,” the man called and put more force into it with his wife so she would actually start moving. “We’ll let you get back to it. Have a good night.”
“’Night, guys!” Greta called.
The man waved behind him, still dragging his woman and also his dog.
The woman called, “’Night, Greta!”
Greta turned to him, and when he felt her gaze, he tore his annoyed one from the departing couple.
“Well, that killed the mood,” she noted.
It unfortunately did.
“What were you saying about good people in a small town?” he asked.
She busted out laughing but kissed him quickly in the middle of it.
When she sobered she looked deep into his eyes and announced, “I’m telling Andy about you tomorrow.”
And he knew he’d at least passed one test.
Brilliant.
“That means a lot, baby,” he said softly.
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“When you’re ready for me to meet him, I’m there,” he promised.
She shot him a happy smile. “I kinda can’t wait.” Her hand still at his neck gave a squeeze. “He likes cop shows. He’s gonna love you.”
He grinned at her.
She moved in, brushed her lips against his jaw and moved out, murmuring, “Drink your beer, smokey.”
“Ten-four, angel.”
Greta laughed softly.
He glided his hand from her hair, settled in his chair and threw back some beer.
And then Hix stared into the quiet night, drinking beer and keeping it light as he got to know his woman, pushing it to the last minute until he had to go home and wait for his son.
Late the next morning in his office, after he did what he did every day since things cooled with the case, this being going over Nat Calloway’s file hoping something would jump out at him, Hix was reading Donna’s report on a bust-up she and Larry had waded into the night before at the Lasso, the country and western club outside Yucca, when he heard Hal call, “Boss?”
Hix looked up to see the man in his door.
“Yup?”
Hal walked in. “Just, uh . . .”
He stopped talking but didn’t stop moving until he was standing between the chairs in front of Hix’s desk.
He looked uneasy.
This could mean anything, coming from Hal.
Damn.
“Just what, Hal?” Hix prompted.
Hal moved his neck in an uncomfortable way before it seemed like he forced himself to look in Hix’s eyes and he rushed out, “I got no plans on Saturday.”
“Sorry?” Hix asked.
“I could . . .” Hal gave a short cough and started again. “Ashlee said she’d make sandwiches and bring ’em over. And I could, uh . . . help you all out, movin’ you to your new place.”
Hix stared at him a beat before he inquired, “You’re volunteering to help me move?”
“Not, like, as a brownnose or any of that shit,” Hal stated shortly.
“I didn’t think that,” Hix returned immediately. “I thought maybe I should call in the doc and have your head examined because you clearly forgot the stories of what a huge pain in the ass it was to get that sofa in my apartment, and I don’t figure it’ll be any less of a pain getting it out.” He shrugged, his lips twitched and he concluded, “You’re up for that torture, I’m not gonna say no. But I am gonna supply the pizza and beer at the end. And Ashlee can come and join us then, but she doesn’t have to make sandwiches.”
“She likes doin’ stuff like that,” Hal murmured.
“I figure around noon when everyone is plotting my murder, sandwiches will be appreciated.” Hix smiled at him. “We’re gonna start at eight, man, but anytime you get there would be good.”
Hal smiled back. “I’ll be there at eight.”
“Right.”
Hal looked like he didn’t know what to do so his movements were awkward when he turned to walk away.