He turned to see Maisy standing there holding a double-decker ice cream cone. Without waiting for an invitation, she took off her brown felt cowboy hat that looked like it had been stomped by a bull and slid into the seat across from him.
“How’s it goin’, Linc? It’s okay if I call you Linc, isn’t it? After you so graciously took me home the other night, I feel like we’re friends.” She snagged a French fry and ate it in two bites, then held out her ice cream cone. “Lick?”
“No, thank you.”
She shrugged. “Not a fan of chocolate fudge swirl? Suit yourself.” She licked her ice cream and watched him with her brown eyes. “So, you have a thing for her?”
“Who?”
She rolled her eyes. “Dixie. The entire town is gossiping about you tossing her over your shoulder the other night at Cotton-Eyed Joe’s. But since Dixie didn’t mention anything about you two dating when we were getting drunk on margaritas the other night, I’m going to assume she isn’t as interested in you as you are in her.”
“I’m not interested in her.”
She glanced out the window and grinned her gap-toothed grin. “Uh-huh.” She stole another of his French fries and nibbled on it while she studied him. “And seeing as how you’re as sinfully handsome as the devil himself, maybe Dixie is just keeping her cards close to her vest like you are.” She tipped her head. “Isn’t that the nickname for the Texas Rangers? Texan Devils? Although you’re a little too straight laced to be called a devil. Or a bad boy for that matter. How did a Double Diamond bad boy become a Texas Ranger?”
“With a lot of hard work. And speaking of work . . .” He pushed his plate toward her. “Help yourself to the rest of my fries. I need to be going.” He started to get to his feet, but she stopped him.
“Are you working on my father’s missing person’s case?”
“No.” It was the truth. All his research so far had just been freelance. “I’ve talked to the sheriff about it, but it’s not really my case.”
“So whose is it?”
“You’ll have to talk to your friend, the deputy.”
“I’ll do that.” She studied him. “I get the distinct feeling you don’t like me, Linc. In fact, I get the feeling that none of the Double Diamond boys do. And I can’t figure out why.” She licked her ice cream a couple times before she spoke again. “Unless you boys are hiding something about my daddy.”
Maisy was smart. Too smart for her own good. He stood and pulled on his hat. “No one is hiding anything from you, Ms. Sweeney. Your father worked at the Double Diamond ranch and then he left. Not one of the boys knows what happened to him after that and I’ve questioned all of them. Including Chester and Lucas.”
“For someone who isn’t working on the case, it sure sounds like you have an interest in it.” She slid out of the booth and pulled her beat up cowboy hat on. “Thanks for taking me home the other night and I’m sorry about the entire gun thing. But sometimes single women need a little extra protection.” She turned and strutted off.
When she was gone, Lincoln released his breath. Damn, Sam Sweeney. Every time Lincoln thought he had exorcised him from his thoughts, he showed up again. This time in the form of a cute little cowgirl with enough brains in her head to cause problems. Especially if Lincoln’s gut feeling about Chester keeping something from him was true.
Once he paid his bill, he headed outside. He stopped short when he saw Deputy Meriwether. She was standing between two parked cars with her hat tipped back. She appeared to be writing out a ticket. He watched as she tore off the citation and placed it beneath the windshield wiper of a truck.
His truck.
He strode down the sidewalk toward her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
She turned with a bright smile. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m giving this person a ticket for not parking within the white lines.”
He glanced down. His back tire was barely an inch over the white line. “You know this is my truck, right?”
She gave him a wide-eyed look. “This is your truck?” She placed a hand on her chest. “Oh, my, I guess I was too drunk the other night to notice what vehicle I was being kidnapped in.”
“Kidnapped?”
“What would you call slinging a woman over your shoulder and carrying her to your truck?” She paused. “Foreplay?”
Just the word coming out of those soft lips made desire swirl in his gut. He nodded at the windshield. “Admit it. That ticket is payback for me giving it to you straight the other morning.”
“Not at all. This is me doing my job. You broke the law. Are you saying law officers are above the law, Officer Hayes? I thought we were held to a higher standard. I thought we needed to be an example to the community . . . not an embarrassment.”
“There’s a big difference between a drunken public display and missing the white line of a parking space by an inch.” He stepped around her and pulled the ticket out from under the windshield wiper and stared at the fine. “Two hundred dollars?”
She crossed her arms and sent him a smug smile. “Higher standards.”
He blew out his breath and stuffed the ticket he had no intention of paying in his front pocket. “Okay. I get it. You’re upset with me. And I was probably a little tough on you. But you need to get it through your head that you’re not cut out for law enforcement.”
“Because I’m too stupid?”
“I didn’t say you were stupid. I said your actions the other night were stupid. And you have to admit that getting drunk and turning on half the male population in the town with that sensual bull ride of
