She chuckled but there was zero amusement in the sound. “That’s exactly what you’re doing. Who told you? Does everyone know about the sad-sack victim?”

He wished Noelle hadn’t been so quick coming back from the library. He didn’t want to have this conversation in front of her. “Zep mentioned something happened to you in Dallas. I looked it up. You’re not some sad sack. What the hell were you supposed to do? I wasn’t saying something bad about you.”

“I don’t care what you think of me. I care that you do your job, but that appears to be writing tickets to innocent tourists.”

“He’s good at enforcing the dog-doo laws, too.” Noelle shoved her glasses up her nose as she looked at the newcomer. “I’m his daughter, Noelle LaVigne. I have an appointment tomorrow.”

Oh, he might have found a way out of Lila Daley’s trap. If she turned that tart mouth on his daughter, he could ignore his attraction to her for all of time. He kind of wanted it to happen. It was obvious Lila was a difficult woman, to say the least. If she was mean, too, he could shove her out of his brain and go on about his life.

Lila dropped to one knee, obviously not giving a damn about her probably designer clothes. She put that manicured hand on the desk next to Noelle’s wheelchair and her whole attitude had softened. “I’m glad to meet you, Noelle. How is that bump healing up? I read in your file that you took a fall a week ago.”

“Banged up my knee pretty bad, but then, it wasn’t like I could feel it,” Noelle said. “It’s okay. You can look at it if you like, but I would still prefer to keep my appointment. I have lady things to ask about. If my dad gives you trouble, you should talk about your period. It freaks him out.”

“Noelle.” He didn’t need his own daughter giving him hell in front of the smart, sexy doctor. Almost doctor.

His daughter gave him an impish grin. “You told me I should be nice to the new people in town. After all, we were all new once.”

She could be a whole lot of trouble.

Lila wasn’t at all cold now. She smiled at Noelle, an expression that transformed her face from pretty but remote to gorgeous. There was a warm, caring woman under her frosty demeanor. “This looks good. I saw the X-rays. Your patella was bruised, but there weren’t any fractures. You’ve taken good care of this wound.”

“My dad did it,” Noelle admitted. “I forget about my legs since they’re useless. I don’t think about it. Dad made me change the bandages twice a day. He’s obnoxious.”