Chapter 15

Leigh had given the same sort of advice to Daphne about confronting Brock as she had Cy. A few days after Cy had decided to keep working, Brock had one heck of a day. He was working on paperwork when Daphne came through the office door. She marched right over to his desk, an intense expression on her face.

“I need to talk to you.”

Brock gave her a startled look. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Daphne said, “I need to speak to you in private.”

Brock glanced at Ellie, but she was conveniently busy with her own work. “Uh, okay. We can go in the kitchen, I guess.”

“Fine.” She turned and strode quickly into the small room.

Brock followed at a slower pace, wondering what was going on. Ellie watched them go, smiling to beat the band.

“Shut the door,” Daphne said when he’d joined her.

“Okay. What’s going on?”

Now that she was alone with him, it seemed like he filled up the space with his wide shoulders and chest. She longed to run her fingers through his blond hair and felt like she could drown in his cobalt blue eyes. He was waiting for her to speak, but she suddenly couldn’t utter a sound. She bit her lip, and Brock’s eyes followed the movement before meeting her gaze again.

“What is it?” he demanded, a perplexed frown on his handsome face.

“Why do you hate me so much?” she asked.

Brock was taken aback. “Hate you? I don’t hate you.”

“But you hate what I am. You hate my Comanche blood. I’m not good enough for you,” Daphne said, hating the tears that burned behind her eyes. “You won’t have anything to do with me because of my Indian heritage.”

Brock opened his mouth, but he didn’t know how to explain it to her.

Daphne grew angry and did something she’d wanted to do for a long time. She grabbed Brock’s shirt lapels, yanked him down to her level, and kissed him. He was too shocked to resist at first, but then he tried to pull loose from her. Daphne wasn’t letting him get off that lightly, though. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him harder, pressing herself against his chest.

Brock’s resistance melted as her pliant lips parted a little. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and he couldn’t deny his attraction to her. He slid his fingers into her soft, short hair and slanted his mouth across hers, demanding access. Daphne willingly gave it to him, reveling in being in his arms. She played with the hair at the nape of his neck, and he groaned.

The outside kitchen door opened, and all hell broke loose.

“Get away from my sister!” Cy shouted when he saw them locked in an embrace.

Startled, they broke apart and Cy advanced on Brock, fury in his dark eyes.

“You can irritate the crap out of me all you want, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you use my sister and then throw her away when you’re done with her!”

Daphne said, “It wasn’t like that, Cy!”

“Sure it wasn’t.”

Brock said, “No, it wasn’t. I’m not using her.”

Cy snorted. “It sure as hell looked like it to me.”

“Well, you’re wrong, Detective,” Brock said with a sneer. “She kissed me, for your information, not that it’s any of your business.”

“She’s my sister, so that makes it my business.”

“Cy, stop!” Daphne demanded.

“Oh, I’ll stop all right. When I’ve beaten him into a bloody pulp, then I’ll stop,” Cy said.

Brock shoved Cy. “Is that right? I’d like to see you try that.”

Cy’s fist shot out, catching Brock in the mouth. Brock staggered back a little, but then came at Cy with a quick one-two punch, squarely landing a fist in Cy’s midsection. Daphne backed into a corner, her hand over her mouth.

The two men continued going at each other, landing blows and inflicting as much pain as they could on their opponent. Then Brock caught sight of Daphne’s stricken face and concern for her overrode his rage. She was trapped in a very small room with two big men fighting in it. What if she got hurt?

Holding up a hand, he said, “Stop. Just stop, Cy. Good God, what’s the matter with us? She’s scared to death.”

Daphne shook, but not because she was frightened for her own safety. She was scared one of them would kill the other.

Cy lowered his fists and unclenched his hands. Fear filled Daphne’s eyes, and her chest rose and fell rapidly as she stood with her hands balled by her sides.

“Are you okay?” he asked, going to her.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said. “For your information, Cy, I’m a grown woman and I don’t need you speaking on my behalf or making decisions for me. If I want to see Brock, I will.”

Cy said, “But—”

Daphne cut him off, looking at Brock. “And if you’re too stubborn to let go of your racist ideas over something that happened when you were a child and that my family had nothing to do with, you’re a very stupid man. I’m a good woman, and there are men who would enjoy my company, Comanche blood and all. I won’t wait around forever, Brock. I’m at a point in my life where I want to get married and start a family.” She squared her shoulders. “Now, if you two will excuse me, I have things to do. I’ll leave you to your idiotic fighting.”

Daphne pushed between them, leaving the kitchen. She bid good day to Ellie and went on her way, leaving the men staring after her.

Brock returned his attention to Cy. “Let’s get a few things straight, Cy. I’m not gonna take your crap. I expect to be treated with decency and respect. I’ll do the same in return. Since it looks like you’re going to be here permanently, we can’t be fighting. He held out a hand. “For the sake of the department and for Chance City, what do you say we call a truce?”

Cy looked suspiciously at Brock, but the deputy’s eyes held only sincerity. It irritated him, but Brock was right. His wife had been right that a good fist fight between him and Brock would improve their relationship.

“What about my sister?” Cy asked. “Now that you know how she feels about you, what are you gonna do about it?”

Brock turned thoughtful. Could he deal with socializing with Cy outside of work if he started seeing Daphne? Could he get past his hatred of anything Comanche to court the woman who drew him like no other?

“I’d like to think about that for a bit. I don’t want to ever do something to hurt Daphne, so it’s best that I take a little time,” Brock said.

Cy respected Brock for being honest and considerate of Daphne. He shook Brock’s hand. “Truce.”

“What’s goin’ on here?” Rob asked from behind Brock.

Cy said, “Nothing. We just came to an understanding.”

Rob grunted. “Well, how about you come to an understanding about getting back to work?”