Ridin' Solo (Sisters From Hell Book 1), Marika Ray [librera reader txt] 📗

of the rope, to hell with the damn bull, and ducked under Smith’s arm. My backside instantly chilled without his heat pressed against me. Good Lord, did the man shove a furnace down his pants? His jaw clenched in determination while he held steady. My eyeballs defied me and took a trip across the muscles straining, enjoying their travel indeed. How could male forearms be so delicious?

“I didn’t bring my firearm, which I now see was a mistake, but I’m glad you could get him under control without harm coming to him.” Bain clapped me on the shoulder, and Lucy took a picture of the scene with her phone.

I frowned.

“Amelia is never gonna believe me unless I have photographic evidence,” she explained sheepishly.

I shrugged because that was a fair assessment of my sister. Amelia was as hardheaded as they came. The Animal Control guy lined up his shot, and the dart hit the bull right in the flank. The beast gave me one last nasty look and then sank to the ground in a dead sleep. I shook my head, wondering how people hunt and shoot animals for real. Guilt ate away at me just knowing the poor guy was taking a snoozer.

Smith let go of the rope and wiped his hands on his pants. Bain stuck his hand out. The two guys did some weird guy handshake, which just pissed me off because I was the one who’d roped the bull. Where was my hand-slapping, knuckle-tapping handshake?

We eventually got my rope off the bull and back into my trunk. Just another day in the sheriff’s department. Figured I’d show Smith the full county we patrolled while letting him know I didn’t need his help back there. If we were going to work out as partners, he couldn’t be second-guessing my directions, or swooping in to save the day. I didn’t need that kind of help. He needed to handle his shit, and I’d handle mine.

This was exactly why I didn’t want a partner.

“Something wrong, Oakley?” Smith asked as I pulled out of the lot so quickly I left a plume of dust.

I took a fortifying breath to keep from snapping at him. “First of all, no one but family calls me Oakley. It’s either Lee or Captain to everyone else. Got it?”

The fucker just smiled. “I think it says a lot about your character that you consider me family already. Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

Well, shit. How could I put him in his place now? I bared my teeth and hazarded a glance over at him when I should have been watching the road. His smile only grew, and I instantly knew he was playing me.

“Call me whatever, but what you absolutely cannot do is undermine my authority while we’re on a call. Is that clear? I don’t need you babysitting me because I’m a woman. I can hold my own and you need to trust that.”

He nodded seriously, but I wondered if even that was just him telling me what I wanted to hear. “You got it, Oakley. That was pretty impressive back there. I’ve never seen anyone rope a bull before.”

A warm glow of pride hit my chest, despite his name usage. My lips tugged upward, thinking about telling my dad about the call and having him laugh that deep guffaw of his.

“Even if you looked like you were waterskiing behind him afterward.”

Like a freezing splash of water to the face, the pride vanished and anger had taken its place. That motherfucker. Making fun of me when I’d roped a goddamn bull while all he did was jump around and flail his arms? The man was gorgeous, but he had a serious ego on him. And he wasn’t afraid to poke the bear. The bear being me.

This wasn’t turning into a solid partnership.

This was war.

I’d barely gotten in the door after a very trying day at work when my cell phone rang. It was a video chat with three of my sisters, Izzy, Esme, and Vee. Amelia was missing from the list, so I knew this had to be about the baby shower we’d all promised to host.

I answered, dropping my helmet on the table and slamming the door behind me. “Hey, girls.”

“Oakley!” Vee squealed, a face-splitting smile filling the screen. “We were hoping you’d be home. We have a baby shower to plan.”

All the plans I’d had to come home, eat something frozen, and soak away my irritation in a hot bath went down the drain. I felt guilty for being grumpy about planning a baby shower for Amelia, the first of us sisters to have a baby, but damn. A girl needed some downtime to wipe off the residue of a day spent apprehending lawbreakers, roping wayward animals, and dealing with the giant ego of Lieutenant Wyatt Smith.

“Amelia is just starting to show,” Izzy said quietly.

The rest of us paused, needing a moment to process the heart-lurching emotion of knowing one of us was baking up a freaking human being. A true miracle was happening in our family. My eyes misted and suddenly I didn’t mind spending the evening on the phone with my little sisters, hashing out all the ridiculous things we could do at a party honoring Amelia and the baby that would be spoiled rotten by his or her aunts.

“Never in a million years did I guess Amelia would be the first.” I set the phone down on the countertop and reached into the freezer for a frozen meal. My hand found a foil container instead, with a note on top.

Homemade meatloaf and gravy, side of veggies. xoxo Mom

I smiled, even as I shook my head at her ridiculousness. I wouldn’t die of malnutrition via frozen meals, but I appreciated her coming over with food just the same.

“Okay, let’s assign who’s doing what,” Esme piped up, her pen and leather-bound notebook at the ready.

I let the sound of my sisters bickering flow over me, the warm, home-cooked