Page 57 of Live Love Lasso

“Where are we going?” Lemon shouts over the roar of the crowd as we head to the truck.

I rush ahead and grab the passenger side door for her, offering her my hand as she rejoins me. “This is huge, baby girl. I wanna update Echo and have her start calling the ranchers to give this a try with the cattle. If there’s even a chance this might stall the progress or halt it, we’ve gotta let folks know.”

She nods and hops in, tucking one leg gracefully under the other. “I’ll help make phone calls if you want.”

Half an hour later, I’m endlessly grateful for her. She, Echo, the sheriff and I sit in the sheriff’s office with stacks of paper in front of us. We’re calling every rancher to let them know what we saw.

“We’re not saying it’s a fix,” Lemon says gently to a hologram of one of the ranchers on her list. “We don’t have much data other than what we saw tonight. But it gives you something to try, so proceed with caution and let us know, alright?”

The big gargoyle dips his head at her. “Thank you, Miss Knox.”

She smiles as he hangs up, then turns to me. “He knew who I was!”

Bishop Rygold lets out a roughshod laugh. “Ain’t you been all over The Gossip’s front cover these last few weeks?”

I waggle my brows at my woman, who blushes and looks from me to Echo, who’s been silent throughout the exchange.

Echo sighs and runs her hands through her shaggy black hair. “I’m done with my list. How ‘bout y’all?”

Lemon smiles tentatively at her. “That was my last one too.”

“Same,” Bishop and I confirm simultaneously.

The big gargoyle rises and stretches his wings wide, arching his back into a big stretch. “Well, ain’t nothin’ more we can do tonight, so I’m gonna head home and sleep until tomorrow. Might pray not to wake up to more bullshit, too.”

“Fingers crossed,” Echo says. Glancing over at me, she stands. “I’m gonna head home and help my father vaccinate our cattle. He’s got quite a few head to get through since we just moved ‘em all down from the high pasture.”

“Do you need help?”

When Lemon offers, Echo jolts a little bit but shakes her head. “You ever vaccinated cattle?”

Lemon blanches. “I haven’t, but honestly, I’m a quick study. If you need help, we’ll help.”

Echo snorts, the gold ring in her nose shimmying slightly. “Naw, we got it, but thank you for the offer. It’s kind.”

The sheriff crosses the room and grabs Echo, shoving her toward the door. “Can’t you see they want time alone? Git, woman.”

“Bye!” Echo hollers as she and the sheriff head for the door.

Lemon laughs and waves around at the office with its ramshackle desks stacked with case files and half-empty coffee cups. “Yeah, alone time at the jail. How sexy.” She winks at me. “Although I do believe you threatened to lock me in here the day we met.”

“Come to think of it,” I cross to her and lift her into my arms, “I promised to do naughty things to you in this jail, Lemon. You wanna get arrested, city girl?”

A moment of unease flashes through her gaze, but she slings both arms around my neck. “Yeah, but at this point, you’re officially done investigating me, right? I mean…we’re good?”

I chuckle as I stalk down the hallway at the back of the office to one of our two jail cells. They’ve been here since the early days of Pine Gulch, and they’re about as simple as it gets—just three concrete walls, a front with skinny bars, and nary a window to be seen.

I set her down and push her gently inside with a little smirk. She watches, wide-eyed as I pull the door closed, the auto-latch snapping in place.

“And the key?” She crosses both arms, one blonde brow lifting high.

“Somewhere on my person,” I say. That’s a lie. It’s hangin’ on the wall, but having her physically search me sounds fun.

She steps to the bars and grips them, pressing her breasts up against the metal enclosure. I hold back a groan at how wrong it looks for her to be behind bars. Wrong in the most delicious way possible.

“You can’t keep me locked up.” She lifts her upper lip in a vicious-looking snarl. “I’ve done nothing wrong, and you can’t prove I did.”

Oh, fuck yes. This sort of play is right up my godsdamned alley.