Page 19 of Texas-Sized Secrets

Reed turned sideways and dropped into a ready stance, cocked his leg at the hip and slammed a side kick to Dusty’s gut.

The man grunted and staggered backward.

“Don’t, Reed. He’s not worth it.” Mona’s hand rested on his arm.

“Get back, Mona, he’s not done.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Dusty charged again, like a bull in an arena, head down, snorting hot breath through his nose.

Was the guy just stupid? Drawing from within, Reed waited until Dusty was almost on him, then stepped into him, grabbed his arm, walking past him to jerk the arm up and behind him. He applied just enough pressure to make the man hurt, but not enough to break his arm. The point wasn’t to damage him, but to make him listen.

“Apologize to Catalina and Mona for being a jerk.”

Dusty growled.

Reed increased the pressure until the other man was standing on his toes to ease the pain, his growl rising in intensity until he cried out, “Okay! Lighten up.”

“What’s going on here?” Sheriff Parker Lee, followed by his biggest, meanest deputy, Toby Braxton, shoved his way through the crowd of onlookers.

When Lee saw Reed, he tapped his 9mm pistol in the holster at his side. “Let him go, Bryson.”

“Not until he apologizes,” he said in a warning tone.

“Let him go, or I’ll have to arrest you.”

“What for? Dusty started the fight.” Catalina got in the sheriff’s face. “He’s been downright nasty to me and Jesse all night.”

“Sheriff, make him stop. He’s gonna break my arm,” Dusty whined, sounding really pathetic, when a moment before he’d been more than willing to attack a woman.

Reed tightened his grip without raising the man’s arm, reminding himself that he was trained in self-defensenot offense. He only went on the offensive when he had no other choice.

“Bryson, you’re under arrest for assault.” Parker Lee glanced at his deputy and jerked his head. “Cuff him.”

Damn it, Dusty wasn’t worth the trouble. Reed’s gaze caught his boss’s outraged look.

Maybe Dusty wasn’t worth it, but that beautiful woman with the twin flags of color flying high in her cheeks certainly was.

“I’m not letting go of him until you personally assure me he won’t attack Miss Grainger again.” Reed’s brows rose. “Can you do that? Or is that badge something you picked up in a dime store?”

Sheriff Lee’s face flushed a ruddy red in the dim light glowing from the door to Leon’s Bar. “Dusty ain’t gonna hurt anyone.” He pinned Dusty with a glare.

The man had the gall to shrug. “I never attacked her in the first place. I don’t know what Bryson’s talking about.”

“Bull!” Catalina stepped forward. “Ask anyone around. Dusty was the one who started all this.”

“I can only go by the facts in front of me.” Lee’s hand dropped to grip his pistol. “You leave me no choice, Bryson. Let him go, or I’ll shoot you.”

Chapter Six

Sheriff Parker Lee eased his gun from its holster and aimed it at Reed. The crowd gasped and backed away, leaving a gap behind Dusty and Reed.

Mona’s heart fluttered and for a moment, she thought her knees would buckle. Reed Bryson had come to her rescue. He’d been her knight in shining armor when the rest of the world only wanted to watch the fun.

How could she let the sheriff shoot him? Her head swam with the absurdity of it all, like being on the set of a bad western.

“Hey, don’t point that thing at me too.” Dusty squirmed in Reed’s hold. “How do I know you won’t miss?”

“I never miss,” the sheriff said, his tone low and controlled.

That’s what Mona was afraid of.

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