Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) by Olivia Jaymes (reading women .txt) 📕

He looked at her then, a quick glance because he was driving, but his blue eyes had turned dark with emotion. A zip of awareness ran up her spine and she wished they were already back at the house.

"Pretty much every damn thing about you."

His words washed over her like waves on the beach on a hot summer's day. She was finding out that she pretty much loved every damn thing about Knox too. She wasn't mad about it. In fact, she was happy. She was falling in love with a man that she liked. What could be better?

"Why did you talk to him?" she asked. "You could have just walked away and we would have left."

The one thing she'd learned about Knox Owens is that he rarely did anything he didn't want to.

"I've been asking myself that same question since we left," he confessed. "I'm more than a little ashamed to say that there was a little pinprick of hope in my mind. That eight-year-old boy inside of me that wanted to have a cool dad that loved me and spent time with me. I think that's why I did it, as pathetic as that sounds. I guess I thought that if anything would change Ben it would be a stint in prison. It didn't work, though."

"It's not pathetic to want your parents to love you."

"It's pathetic to still have any hope at my age. I should fucking know better by now."

"We all have that little kid living inside of us. We all want our parents to love us."

"Do you still want that? Do you have hope that your dad will change?"

Good question. It was one she didn't allow herself to ponder.

"Like you, I think that I have that small part of me, that optimistic and naive child that still believes that pots of gold were at the ends of rainbows, hopes that my father will sober up and become the person that I always wanted him to be. The vast majority of me knows that he'll never change but if he called me and said that he'd stopped drinking...yes, I'd probably give him a chance. Even after all the shit he put me through. I don't think that makes us pathetic, Knox. I think it makes us human. Humans have hope even when it doesn't always make sense."

"You're a wise woman, Jenna Waters."

"Keep going," she said with a giggle. "I love hearing effusive compliments about myself."

"How about I think you're beautiful? Oh, and funny, even when you aren't trying to be. Now you tell me how great I am. I want some of these compliments too."

She could sing his praises for hours but she definitely knew the item that was top of the list.

"You're the kind of man that would help a woman find her sister even when his own brother was a suspect."

"Aw, baby. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."

His phone beeped in his pocket and he retrieved it, handing it to her. "Can you read the text coming in? I don't want to pull over."

She opened the message and her heart dropped to her stomach. Maybe this day wasn't a total loss after all.

"It's from Eli. The request for a warrant to search Hedgcock's home was approved. It will be executed in the morning."

Jenna dug her phone out of her purse. "That's amazing news. I'm going to call Tom and Michelle. They'll be so happy."

Finally, progress. Things were really looking up.

When they arrived back at the safe house, Eli was awake and rested after his long night. He was in the kitchen fixing a sandwich and was surprised to see them back so early.

"Was the party a bust? I didn't expect you two for hours."

"The party was indeed a bust," Knox replied with a laugh. "Or maybe I was just a big party pooper. Either way, we're home. Did you get some sleep?"

"I did. Now I'm starved. How about you? Did you get a chance to eat at the shindig?"

"We did not," Jenna said. "I'm starving too."

"There's some rare roast beef and some grilled chicken," Eli said, pushing the bread closer to Jenna. "We also have chips and some fruit salad in the fridge."

"I'm on it," Jenna said. "Knox, what do you want?"

"You don't have to make me a sandwich. I'm not a misogynistic jerk."

Jenna waved away his concern. "You would be a chauvinist jerk if you asked me to make you a sandwich for you alone. It's not being a jerk when I'm making one for myself. Besides, I asked you. You didn't ask me. It's okay. I'm not going to suddenly become a 1950s housewife and greet you at the door with a martini and slippers."

The thought of Jenna doing any of that had Knox cracking up. More likely, she'd shove those slippers down his throat after a long day and drink the martini herself.

"Then I'll have roast beef. Thank you. Next time I'll make the sandwiches."

"You're welcome, and you will."

"Jared wants you to give him a call when you have a chance," Eli said, dumping some chips on his plate. "He thought it would be much later this afternoon but you can probably try him now."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Briefly. He wanted to make sure that I was okay to stay here and back you up. If not, he could send out Ryan. He just wrapped up the case he was working on and could be on a plane tonight."

"What did you say?"

Eli grinned and settled at a spot at the small kitchen table. "I said I was fine either way. I'm