'For what?' The lights from another squad car lit up one side of her face as she turned to look at him.

'For saving your ass.'

'I figure we're even.' She shook her head. 'Peirce would have taken your head off with that pool cue if I hadn't stepped in and saved your ass.'

'He would have tried,' Rob scoffed. He'd been hit in the head a few times with hockey sticks and pucks, but he'd always been wearing his helmet. He doubted the pool cue would have knocked him out, but it would have hurt like hell. 'I know you think you can do anything a man can do. That you can take care of yourself, but there's a reason why people ignore the Worsley boys. Everyone knows they don't play well with others.'

She was silent a moment, then said, 'Well, it would have been nice if everyone would have told me.'

'I did.' Rob scooted down in the seat as far as his long legs would allow. 'Twice.' His coat and flannel shirt fell open around him, and a chill crept across the front of his T-shirt and stomach. Nothing to do now but kick back and wait to be hauled in alongside the ingrate beside him. 'I told you to call it a night and go home.' He guessed he could have warned her about the Worsleys earlier, but he'd been busy trying to ignore her. Kate wasn't exactly his favorite person, and by the time he'd even noticed her with the Worsleys, she'd already sunk three balls. At that point, the best he could do was stand around and watch her play and wait for things to get out of hand.

Rob turned his attention to the front of the bar. Tuttle had called Kate mannish, which was just moronic. She was so blatantly female, with large breasts, slim waist, and long legs, that there was no way anyone would confuse her for a man. Sure she was tall, but Rob liked tall women. He liked long legs cinched tight around his waist, draped over his shoulders, and wrapped around his head. He liked the way a tall woman fit against him in and out of bed.

Watching her stretch her long body across the pool table had annoyed him even as it had turned him on. Then he'd touched her because he hadn't seemed able to stop himself. He'd touched the side of her throat and her hair. He'd fit his hand in the curve of her waist, and he'd slid his palm across her stomach. For a few seconds, he'd welcomed the hot punch of lust in his belly instead of fighting it.

Muttering from the other side of the seat drew his attention. 'What?' he asked.

'I'm just wondering how long it will take to bail out of jail,' she said through a sigh as she leaned her head against the window. 'I don't want my grandfather to get called about this.' One side of her hair fell forward and covered her face. 'He's old and shouldn't have to get a call from the sheriff in the middle of the night.'

'I'll bail us out.' For some reason, he was starting to feel sorry for her, and he was having a hard time remembering why he didn't like her. 'How much?'

'I don't know. It depends on the charges.'

'Well, how is it done? Is there a teller machine somewhere? Or do I write a check?'

'You can only use cash.' She straightened and looked over at him. 'Don't tell me you've never been arrested.'

'Nope.'

Even through the darkness, he could see that she found that bit of news incredulous. 'You're kidding?'

Why did she find that so hard to believe? 'No.' He scowled. He'd just offered to pay her bail and she insults him. Now he remembered why he didn't like her. 'How many times have you been arrested?'

'Never. I'm a private investigator. At least I used to be. I know how the system works.' She thought a moment. 'Or at least I do in Nevada.'

He turned his attention to the front of the Buck-horn once more. He no longer cared what she did. Maybe the men around town were right about her. She was a real ballbuster.

He heard her take a deep breath and let it out slow. The seat shook a little as she wiggled around, trying to get more comfortable.

'Rob?' She said his name just above a whisper.

He looked over at her. She'd turned and pulled her bent leg up on the seat. The light from outside lit up her face, and her knee almost touched the outside of his thigh. 'Yeah?'

She licked her lips and her voice got low and kind of throaty. 'Thank you.'

Hell. Just when he was trying to work up a real dislike of her, she had to ruin it by turning all nice and girly. Her change in moods was giving him whiplash. 'You're welcome.'

She leaned forward a bit and spoke into the darkness just above his left cheek. 'How's your chin?'

'Hurts like a bitch, but I'll live.'

'I'm sorry you got hit. Let me know if you need anything.'

He lowered his gaze to her mouth and wondered if she was going to offer to kiss it better for him. Not that kissing Kate was a good idea. 'Like what?' Although it would definitely keep her quiet; keep her mouth too busy to talk, too.

'An ice pack.'

An ice pack might be good, might keep him from thinking up all the ways he could keep her mouth busy. 'Why don't you tell me how the gay rumor got started?' he asked to take his mind off her head in his lap.

She leaned back. 'I think I'd only lived here a few weeks, and you weren't back in town yet. Ada came into the store one morning and started telling me about the owner of the sporting goods store not being interested in any women in town, so I said something like maybe you didn't like women. I was thinking misogynist. I really didn't know she was talking about you.'

Right.

She shrugged. 'I never thought you were gay. Not even after the first night we met. It never even entered my head.'

Well, that's something, he thought as he sat up and tried to get more comfortable.

'Erectile dysfunction, yes. Gay?' She shook her head. 'No.'

He stilled. 'You don't think I can get it up? I can get it up plenty!' He hadn't meant to yell, but Christ almighty, just because he hadn't been using his hard-ons lately didn't mean he wasn't capable.

'If you say so.'

God, she'd done it again in a matter of minutes. Just when he was starting to think she wasn't so bad, she pissed him off. Just when he was thinking about kissing her, she told him he had erectile dysfunction. If they hadn't been cuffed, he would have grabbed her hand and shoved it on his dick just to prove her wrong. She'd feel for herself that he functioned just fine.

The car door opened and Sheriff Dillon Taber stood in the opening. 'Come on out, you two.'

Rob didn't hesitate before sliding out of the vehicle. He wanted to be as far away from Kate as possible. 'Erectile dysfunction,' he scoffed.

'Did you say something, Sutter?' the sheriff asked.

He frowned. 'No.'

Kate moved from the Blazer and stood beside Rob within the head beams of a police cruiser. 'Peirce swears you never touched him,' Dillon informed Kate as he moved behind her to take off her cuffs. 'He says he must have tripped because there's no way a girl knocked him out.' She turned and rubbed her wrists. 'But I'm going to give you some advice which I'm sure you'll ignore,' the sheriff continued as he shoved the cuffs in a leather case hooked to his belt. 'Stay away from anyone with the last name of Worsley.' He thought a minute, then added, 'And while you're at it, go ahead and steer clear of Emmett Barnes and Hayden Dean.'

'I plan to stay clear of the bars around here,' she said as she grabbed her leather backpack off the hood of the Blazer.

'That's probably wise. How much did you have to drink tonight?'

'About half a beer.'

'Then you're free to go. Drive careful, Ms. Hamilton.'

'I will. Thanks,' she said and walked away. For one brief second, a flash of light caught in her hair. Then she was gone.

Dillon moved behind Rob and removed his cuffs. 'Several people have confirmed that Tuttle Worsley swung first,' the sheriff said as he released the cuffs from Rob's wrists. 'You're free to go.'

Rob had first met Dillon last summer when he and his son Adam had signed up for fly-fishing lessons. He'd liked

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