Don't Mess With Texas (25 page)

He wondered if her stomach was still knotted at the thought of the mess waiting on her at the gallery—an issue he planned to take care of, too.

He glanced up and remembered his quest for answers. “So Jack—”

“He wanted to make partner. That’s what he was into.”

He saw how hard this was her. “Man, this is good.” He picked up another onion ring. “Try this.” He held it to her lips.

He thought she was going to refuse, but then she took the offering from his hand and took a bite.

“Tell me that isn’t heaven,” he said.

“It’s good.” She finished off the second half.

He reached for a paper napkin. “How are your fries?”

“I haven’t tried them yet.” She stuck her fork into a fry, and took a bite. “They’re good.”

He felt better seeing her eat. Reaching over, he swiped one of her fries and popped it into his mouth. “They are good. I’ll swap you half my onion rings for half of your fries.”

She licked the sheen of oil off her lips. “No food-sharing issues,” she said.

“Say what?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, I was just… thinking out loud again.”

“So, is it a swap?”

“Sure.” She handed him her plate.

He raked a few of her fries onto his plate and forked several of his onion rings onto hers.

“So Jack didn’t make bets on the games or go to the horse races? Never indulged in casual drug use?”

“No.” She picked up another onion ring and took a bite.

“So he had no hobbies, or passions… besides your hired help?” He picked up his hamburger and took a hearty bite. He hoped feeding his stomach would lessen the other hungers stirring in his blood.

She watched him eat, to the point he thought he had ketchup on his chin and picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. Finally, looking down at her plate, she picked up a French fry, with her fingers this time, and started eating.

“Wine,” she finally said. “That’s what he was into. He belonged to six different wine clubs. He liked dining out at expensive restaurants, to be seen in the right circles. He played golf with the senior partners and sometimes his dad. But he hated golf. Called it a business requirement.”

Dallas watched the sympathy play out in her eyes. For whatever reason, Nikki had cared for Jack Leon. Which meant the man had probably broken her heart.

“He was…” She took a breath. “He could be self-absorbed. But he wasn’t a criminal or a bad person. He had a way of making people feel important. His clients… his work associates. People liked him.”

“What about his wife?”

She looked confused. “I was his wife.”

“I know. Did
you
like him? Did he make you feel important?”

She bit down on her lip. “Yeah, in the beginning he did.”

“And then?”

“Then he didn’t always approve of who I was. Like I said, he could be self-absorbed, wanted to always look good, but he wasn’t all bad.”

“You loved him?”

“Yes. But we all make mistakes, right?”

“Yeah.” The conversation slowed and he finished off his hamburger.

“What about you?” she asked.

“What about me?” He picked up his iced tea and downed half the glass.

“You obviously aren’t married.” Her brow crinkled. “I hope not.” She looked worried and her gaze shot to his left hand.

“Not married.” He ran his thumb over his ring finger, glad that the white line had faded. The whole time in prison, the white band had been a constant reminder of everything he’d lost.

“That means you’re either divorced, or there’s something wrong with you.”

Dallas knew this was a ploy to change the subject, but he still laughed.

He watched her pick up her hamburger and take a bite. Her pink tongue slid across her bottom lip.

“Interesting,” he said and tried not to think about her tongue sliding across him. But holy shit, what was wrong with him? He wasn’t a horny sixteen-year-old virgin. He was a co…—a PI working a case. And he needed to focus on that.

“What’s interesting?” She dabbed her mouth with a paper napkin.

“That you see a man who has never been married as flawed. I’d think it was the other way around. The divorced guy is the flawed one.”

“Both have flawed possibilities. But at least the divorced guy had enough potential for a woman to take a chance on him and he’s not completely commitment phobic. Of course, the flaw ratio changes if the guy’s been
married more than once. Then he’s like the fish people keep catching and throwing back into the pond.” She picked up her hamburger again and asked, “So… what are you? Divorced or terminally single?”

“Divorced,” he admitted. “And only thrown back once.”

“What happened?” She pulled another paper towel from the roll and wiped her mouth. When he hesitated, she shrugged. “You got personal first.”

“Fair enough,” he said, and it was fair. He opened his mouth with the intent of telling her everything. Hell, she was going to find out anyway. But the answer that came out was vague. Purposely vague. “I hit a rough spot at work. She… didn’t like rough spots.”

“Did that rough spot involve another woman?”

He admired her directness. “No,” he said with a clear conscience, and noticed her gaze shoot to his eyebrow.

He saw something akin to respect fill her eyes. But he couldn’t help wondering if he’d still see that respect if she knew that rough spot involved a murder conviction.

“Kids?” she asked.

“Just Bud.” He ate another fry from her plate and tired to figure out how to tell her about his jail stint. Of all people, she should understand. But hadn’t he thought that with Serena?

“Was Jack seeing anyone now?” he asked, not ready to make this about him.

“I don’t know. Yet knowing Jack, yeah.”

“You really haven’t talked to him since the divorce?”

“Not once. Oh, he called almost every week. Sent flowers. I wouldn’t take his calls and I took the flowers to Nana’s retirement center.”

“Did Jack have any enemies?”

She set her hamburger down. “Some of his clients weren’t happy when he lost their cases. Not that he lost often. He was good at his job. People generally liked him. He never got mad or lost his temper.” Her brow crinkled as if she was remembering something. “Except…”

“What?” he asked.

“The phone calls.”

“What phone calls?”

“At the restaurant. He was upset. I remember because he actually said ‘fuck.’ Jack didn’t lose it like that. It wasn’t… politically correct.”

Dallas leaned in. “Who was he talking to?”

“I don’t know, but when I asked what was going on, he said it was something with work.” She blinked. “Do you think that has something to do with his murder?”

“Yeah, I do.” Dallas recalled Andrew Brian, and the fact he and Jack Leon were both hoping to make partner. “This is good.” Dallas smiled, remembering Tony had Jack’s cell phone. For the first time, he thought this whole mess was going to be easier to solve than he’d originally thought. “Okay, try to remember everything you heard. Everything.”

Dallas’s cell rang just as he and Nikki walked into the hospital. He pulled it out and frowned when he saw it was his dad. Not that he didn’t like hearing from the old man, but he knew what this conversation was going to be about.

He touched Nikki’s arm. “I need to take this call. Why don’t I meet you at the ICU in a few minutes?” He looked at his watch. “But remember we only have an hour before we meet Tony.”

She nodded.

He met her big blue eyes and for some crazy reason he felt as if they were both searching for something in each other.

One day at a time
. His phone rang again and he took the call. “Hey, Dad.”

Nikki walked toward the elevators. His gaze fixed on the sway of her hips. Her jeans weren’t too tight, but hugged her ass just right. Her fitted top hugged her waist and from behind showed off her hourglass figure. He shifted his gaze up to the way her blond curls stirred around her shoulders. Damn, she had gorgeous down both coming and going.

Then he noticed he wasn’t the only one noticing. A doctor type wearing scrubs had stopped and was enjoying the view. A fleeting sensation of possessiveness filled Dallas’s chest. He frowned and pushed it back.

“I left four messages on your phone,” his dad said.

“I’m sorry. I… had a case fall in my lap.” He watched Nikki disappear into an elevator.

“Too busy for your old man?”

“You got me now,” Dallas said.

“Do you remember what next Wednesday is?”

His chest tightened. “I remember.” Dallas wondered if that was why his mom had popped into his mind more than normal these last few days.

“I think it would be nice if we went to the cemetery together. She’d like that.”

Dallas raked a hand over his face. “I’ll see.” He decided on a noncommittal answer because he didn’t want to commit. Hell, he didn’t want to go period.

“You’ll see?” His father’s tone deepened—obviously
not pleased with noncommittal. “There’s no seeing about it. You’ll be there. It’s your mama’s birthday.”

Mom’s gone, Dad
. He almost said it, but couldn’t spit out the words. “I know.” There was a silence. “Did you go bowling with the guys today?” He went for the subject switch.

“Nah, I decided to skip.”

“Didn’t you skip last week?”

“I bought some beer and I’m grilling some chicken tonight,” his dad said, leaving Dallas’s question unanswered. “You wanna come to dinner? I asked your brother, but he said he couldn’t make it.”

“I’m sort of caught up with something, too. Don’t know when I’ll be done.”

“I don’t eat until seven. Just stop in. Eat and run is fine.”

“Yeah.” Dallas closed his eyes, feeling guilty. “I’ll try to be there by seven.”

“By the way, your wife dropped by yesterday.”

Dallas snapped his eyes open. “What the hell did she want?”

“Said she was just in the neighborhood and wanted to say hello. We had a good chat.”

“Next time don’t let her in.” Dallas started toward the elevators.

“Just because you two are having trouble doesn’t mean—”

“Dad, we’re divorced. And she’s suing me right now.”

“For what?”

“My dog.”

“She wants that wrinkly ugly mutt?” His dad laughed.

“Bud’s not a mutt.” Dallas looked at his watch. “Look, I need to run. I’ll try to see you tonight.”

“Okay. Oh, make sure you mark your calendar for Wednesday. I’m serious.”

“Yeah,” Dallas answered without a lot of conviction.

As soon as he hung up, Dallas remembered the call he needed to make and stood by the elevator doors.

Austin answered. “What, you think she’ll see a couple of real men and lose interest in you?”

He knew they’d give him hell about not bringing Nikki into the office earlier and making introductions. “Sorry, we were in a hurry,” he said, but in truth he wasn’t sure Nikki was up to meeting his partners. He sure as hell hadn’t needed them giving him more crap about being nervous around her. He couldn’t keep her from them for too long, but for now… he just needed to distant himself a bit before… before what, he didn’t know.

“Is Tyler there?” Dallas asked.

“Yup.”

“Put me on speaker phone.” Dallas heard the click of the line. “Tyler?”

“Just added another question to my list,” Tyler’s voice came across the line. “ ‘Why wouldn’t Dallas want us to meet our new client?’ Nervous and possessive? This is serious.”

“Knock it off,” Dallas snapped. “Tyler, did you find anything else on Andrew Brian, the lawyer who worked with Jack Leon?”

“Just what I told you this morning. I’ve been working on setting up a meeting for us tomorrow with Nance’s attorney. And I’ve been digging up some info on our good buddy Detective Shane. I think I’ve found something.”

“What?” Dallas asked.

“Don’t rush me. Let me finish my research before I start talking. I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Fine. Keep me updated. I’m meeting Tony at three. If something’s up with Shane, I could use it to convince Tony to help us out.”

“That’s less than an hour from now,” Tyler said.

“So get your ass to work. As soon as you get to the bottom of that, go after Andrew Brian. I’m thinking he might be the one who killed Leon. Nikki said Leon was arguing with someone on the phone at the restaurant and the only thing he would tell her was it was about work. Tony has the phone records. I’m hoping he’ll tell me who Leon was chatting with then. But we’ll need something more than a disgruntled conversation to throw suspicion off Nikki.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Tyler said. “By the way, Roberto called.”

“Does he have anything on DeLuna?” Hope sparked to life in Dallas’s chest. Roberto never called unless he had something.

“He has a lead on someone who may be one of DeLuna’s dealers. It’s a small operation. He needs money to throw at his source to get him to talk. And we’ll probably have to make a buy.”