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Nico rolled his eyes.
“For all we know, that blood belongs to a deer, or a squirrel.”
“Or it could belong to Isabelle Moss.”
Frank frowned. “Does the chief know about this?”
“He will.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Look, I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission on this one, okay?”
“Well, don’t count your chickens before they hatch,” Frank said. “If you go through with what you’re suggesting, you might not be alive to ask for forgiveness.”
“You mean we might not be alive.” At Frank’s less than enthused expression, Nico grinned. “You know, I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy being in command, but I’m finding it suits me.” He backed away toward his office. “Saddle up as soon as shift is over. We leave at sundown.”
As he walked away, Nico heard Frank mutter, “Okay, John Wayne,” under his breath.
Chapter twenty-one
“Lexie! Phone!” Wade’s bellow reached her across the crowded restaurant where she was placing a hearty meal in front of a tipsy patron who badly needed it.
“Be right there,” she called back, though she doubted he heard her.
Her feet, back, legs—everything, really—screamed at her every step of the way to the bar where she grabbed the receiver and put it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Miss me?”
The sound of Nico’s voice made her smile and go all soft and gooey inside.
“Hey. What are you doing?”
“Well, right now I’m questioning my ability to make rational decisions.”
“Aren’t we all.” She noted Frank’s disgruntled comment in the background and frowned.
What were the two of them up to?
“I tried your cell,” Nico said. “What are you still doing at work?”
Lexie had thought about driving home to her dark, quiet house surrounded by miles of uninhabited wilderness—a fact that, until recently, she’d adored. Nobody would hear her scream if she needed help . . . Nobody would know . . . A chill tingled down her spine. “Ask me a less complicated question?”
“Shit,” he muttered after a moment. “I’m sorry. I should have taken you home myself.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” she said tartly. “Anyway, it’s not like you’re my boyfriend, right?”
“Right,” he said, drawing out the vowel to a ridiculous length. She got the feeling he was buying time to think. “We could change that, if you wanted to.”
“Is that what you want?”
His laugh was heaven, sending tendrils of desire right down to her toes. “Let me put it this way, if it was legal to drag a woman by her hair kicking and screaming back to my lair where she would spend her life giving me lots of lovin’ and babies, that’s exactly what I would do with you.”
“Easy, caveman,” she heard Frank scold him.
Lexie laughed. A real one. It rose from her belly and chortled out until her eyes watered. Some people even turned away from their dinner to stare at her unexpected outburst. “Stop it, you’re making me blush,” she said once the giggles subsided. “But you can pump the brakes there, Prince Charming, because I’m only interested in your body.”
“Really?” he replied. “Which part?”
