My Rowdy Cowboy. (3B Ranch Series) Book 2

10

**** Brett walked out of the jail house and left the suspect's interrogation to Nico and the Sheriff. He pulled a thin cigar from a vest pocket and bit off the end. He slid it under his nose and breathed in the scent.

'Mmm.' He thought to himself. He loved the smell of a good cigar. He cupped a match in his hands and lit the end. He barely had the chance to take a deep, satisfying draw when someone snatched it from his hand and threw it on the ground. He saw the barely lit, perfect cigar being crushed under a tiny leather, high heeled boot.

"Those things will kill you, you know!"

He spun around to let the offending woman have a piece of his mind and froze. Patricia Kincaid stood there glaring up at him.

"So... you really are alive?" Trish had been told he was, but to actually see him in the flesh was more than she was prepared for. She was shaken. Trish looked away to take a breath and gather some personal control.

"I don't believe you." She said scornfully. "You've been alive all this time and didn't let anyone know.... Didn't even let me know."

Brett was speechless. This tiny woman that had been haunting his dreams for years. He had convinced himself that he would never see her again. But, there she was - standing before him now. All five foot one of her. She hadn't changed, not one little bit.

"Hello to you too, Tish." He purposely used his old nickname for her.

The young doctor crossed her arms. "Speak for yourself, Mister F... B... I! You got a lot of gall to show up after what you did! You should be ashamed of yourself! I thought I... I thought I... we all thought we meant more to you."

Trish backed up a bit and still had to tilt her head to look at the retired -SEAL's face standing before her. Man, he was still gorgeous - even more so now. Those dark blue eyes held a deep intelligence, (when he chose to use it) the strong jaw and thick black hair. When she was in High School he had been dreamy... but now... all grown up... wow. He had the rugged, masculine, tough-thing going on. She could see the SEAL in those beautiful eyes, but also the years of stress, and bad memories that had settled there, but she wasn't going to think about that. Thinking he was dead had given her plenty of bad memories too.

And good grief... he had to have added some height since the last time she'd seen him. He had to be close to six foot four... the jerk!

Brett crossed his powerful arms and glared down at her. "Are you here to lecture me or just to get on my nerves?"

She glared back at him. "Would either one do me any good?"

He leaned in towards her, "Not... one... bit."

She stuck her nose up in the air then said, "Then do so excuse me for interrupting your attempt to shorten your life with that stogie. Go ahead. Light up another one and puff your health away, see if I care."

And with that, she raised her eyebrows, turned and pranced away to be lost in the crowd while he stood there, staring after her. He lost sight of her momentarily, but he had the advantage of his superior height and found her again. He smiled, chuckled and wondered just what had happened. He raised his eyebrow and watched her stomp into the jail house.

"Hmm. Wonder what she plans on doing in there?"

The thought that she might be stopping in to see a boyfriend didn't set well for some reason.

***

Trish walked into the jail house and waited for the young Deputy to notice her standing there. Deputy Daniel Small Bear smiled and asked if he could help her. Bear looked over from the file cabinet and froze.