Slow Hand Luke

Slow Hand Luke
Debbi Rawlins

When the ride gets wild…If Annie Corrigan had played it safe and stayed in New York, no cowboy would have sweet-talked his way into that empty bedroom down the hall. But on the eve of her very first night at her aunt's ramshackle Texas spread, that's exactly what happens.With a million dollars in rodeo prize money gone missing and a vengeful husband on his tail, Luke McCall needs a place to hide while he clears his name. Lady Luck seems to have deserted him for good when he accidentally picks a female cop from Manhattan as his cover. It looks like Annie has no choice but to turn him in. That is, until Slow Hand Luke decides to live up to his name…

Slow Hand Luke

Debbi Rawlins

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Epilogue

Coming Next Month

1

A NOTHER SUNNY SPRING day in Brooklyn. The punks would be out in full force. Annie Corrigan sighed as she stared out the small square window from the office she shared with three other cops. One more report to write and then she’d be out there, arguing with her partner over their cruiser’s temperature controls.

Her phone rang and she had to stifle a yawn before answering. “Sergeant Corrigan.”

“Hey, baby, it’s me.”

She closed her eyes, her chest tightening. “What do you want?”

“Is that any way to speak to—”

“Don’t tell me.” Her voice started to rise and she quickly lowered it. “You’ve been arrested again.”

“Look, Annie, I was going to call you last week, maybe buy you some dinner, but I got busy. You know how it is.”

Nothing changed. Nothing ever changed. Did he really expect her to believe more of his lies? “I told you not to call me at work.”

“See, the thing is, baby, I did get in a small scrape. But I swear to you, this time it wasn’t my fault.”

She shook her head. It never was. “I have to go.”

“Come on, baby, you aren’t going to leave me locked up for the weekend.”

“See you around, Pop,” she said, and hung up.

She stared at the phone for a long time, anger and resentment burning in her gut. The guilt that crept in made her even angrier and she had to force herself to breathe. How many times had she bailed him out? Used her hard-earned money or called in one too many favors? When had he ever been there for her? All he’d done was lie. About Annie’s mother. About everything.

“Monday’s the deadline and you haven’t done squat.” Lisa dragged a chair closer to Annie’s cluttered gray metal desk and adjusted her holster and gun before planting herself in Annie’s face. “What’s up with that?”

“Not now, okay?”

Lisa’s blue eyes clouded with concern. “What’s wrong?”

Annie started to shake her head although she knew better. She knew Lisa—her best friend, the sister she never had and an incredibly pushy broad. “It was Larry.”

“In jail again?”

“Yep.”

“Forget him.”

Annie sighed. “Yep.”

“Don’t you dare feel guilty.”

“Me? Hell, no. I’m not the parent. He’s the one who screwed up.” Except she did feel guilty, because she hated and loved him at the same time. Especially hated him for her longing for family and love that she couldn’t quite shake. “Let’s talk about something else.”

Lisa hesitated, obviously wanting to belabor the moot point, however her face brightened. “Like the detectives exam?”