Page 28 of Tex's Angel

His face gets a goofy expression, and he purrs, “Aw, how cute. Y’all are using ranch analogies. Are y’all tryin’ to speak Texas for my benefit?”

I give him a little kick under the table, which makes him laugh.

“Now, don’t be that way, darlin’. This is the first break we’ve had in this case. Zen’s gonna try to track down who got the key fob made. Once we have a name, this case will be solved in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

“I’m just really frustrated that something like was even possible.”

He turns serious. “It shouldn’t have been. Dealerships are required to verify ownership prior to making a replacement key fob. One of two things happened.

Either your soon to be ex-husband gave them verification, which makes him your stalker. Or the person stalking you hired a shady locksmith. I’m still liking your ex for this whole stalking thing.”

“I can’t imagine him getting motivated long enough to pull this off, but he’s seriously the only person I’ve had any kind of conflict with for years. I hate to think it’s him, but it’s looking like it might be.”

“We thought about staking out his house to see if he leaves at night but since all evidence points to him hiring another man, it seems like sitting on Chris would be a waste of time.”

“Yeah, I get that. I know you’re doing your best and crimes aren’t solved overnight. I just want to get on with breaking this case so I can move on with my life.”

“How does that moved on life look to y’all?” he says.

There’s a hint of dark promise in his eyes, and my mind suddenly goes back to this morning as I came screaming his name. I decide to put it out there, “Maybe it contains a certain Texan…”

He grins. “Sounds good to me, darlin’. Look, we’ve had a rough past couple of weeks, Maybe, we can take a day and do something special this weekend?”

“Like what,” I ask, all kinds of interested.

Chapter 12

Tex

Ididn’t think I was hearing right for a moment when Clara pretty much came onto me. I know I was gonna play it cool, but when a woman lays it all down for you, then only a fool would refuse. Especially if that woman was the one you were jerking off to in the shower. When I suggested that we could do something at the weekend I didn’t have anything in mind. I shrug and steal a sip of coffee before I answer. “Maybe we could ride down the West Coast and spend the day at the beach?”

“I love the beach,” Clara says. Her lips curl up into a smile as she adds, “Maybe we could rent a cabin and make a weekend of it?”

Holy fuck! If I needed any reassurance that we were on the same page, then that’s it. “Let’s see what’s available,” I say as I immediately start searching online.

When I find something that looks suitable, I hold out my phone and flip through the images.

Clara shifts closer to me, “It looks beautiful.”

“I’ll see if they have an opening.”

I go to their website and find that every room is filled. “It’s a holiday weekend, so they don’t have any vacancies. Maybe we could spend the day at the beach and then stay at our club’s cabin by the lake?”

“Or we could skip the beach and spend time on the lake. I have huge blow-up floats. I’m sure Levi would love them.”

“No Levi. This is you and me going on our first romantic getaway.” I stop. Suddenly thinking that I’d misread the situation. “Was this a romantic getaway or have I just made a grade A ass out of myself?”

She flushes a cute pink, “No, I was kind of thinking it might be, but you and Levi are a package deal.”

Something about her saying that makes pride surge through my chest. The few times I have hooked up with women, when they find out I’m a single dad they lose interest PDQ, “We are, but he’s a teenager. He doesn’t want to hang out with his old man all the time.”

She nods but looks concerned. “Won’t he be upset if we leave him behind?”

“I doubt it, but let’s ask him.” I type out a message letting him know we’re going to the lake and asking if he wants to come. Almost immediately I get a reply.

Levi: Ugh, I’m not gonna be the third wheel to you and our neighbor. You can enjoy the skeeters, I’m gonna stay with Evan.

I read his message and laugh. Then relay it to Clara, leaving out the bit about playing third wheel. “He says no thank you and tells us to enjoy the mosquitos. He’s asking to stay with Evan. I’m going to text Rigs and ask if it’s okay.”

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