“In a tree? Beside a pond? On a ridge? I don’t know. Where do photographers go to get good shots?”
She frowns. “And where’s her stuff?”
I glance around. The place looks as untouched as it did last time I was up here.
I shrug.
Haley spins around. “No Brandt woman travels this light. I mean, it doesn’t look like she’s even been here.”
“Well, I dropped her off myself, so I know she has.”
“Then where is she? She should still be here, right?”
“Far as I know.”
When my eyes have adjusted to the low light, I see the concern on Haley’s face when she moves closer to me. “I have a bad feeling, Nixon.”
I walk to the bathroom and check the cabinet. It’s empty. I walk to the wardrobe beside the bed and open it. It’s empty, too. There is no sign of the bag Hope brought with her or, like Haley said, that she’s been here at all.
“Let me call down to the main house. Maybe she radioed out for someone to come and get her.”
“And Dad not know about it?”
I don’t answer. I just go out to my horse, grab the walkie from the bag on his side, and call the ranch. Ty is the first to respond. He’s a ranch hand who’s been with John for a couple of years. I don’t know him well, but he seems like one of the more competent employees. “Hey, man, mind checking at the main house to see if anyone’s seen or heard from Hope?”
“Hope?”
“Yeah. She was supposed to be up at the old bunkhouse taking pictures.”
“By herself?”
“Yeah.”
Ty makes a sound that is far from approving.
A niggle of alarm starts at the base of my skull. She’s a grown woman. Her father knew where she was going. I assumed she knew what the hell she was doing, but maybe I should’ve asked. “Go check with her family. Find out if they’ve seen or heard from her. Get back to me the second you do.”
“Roger that.”
There’s genuine fear on Haley’s face now. “We’ll find her. Don’t worry. Maybe one of the other guys was up here for something and gave her a ride back. We could’ve missed them.”
“Nixon…”
That’s all she has to say. It’s not so much my name that speaks volumes; it’s that everything she’s thinking is somehow wrapped up in it, in the way she says it.
I reach for her upper arms. “She’s fine. There’s no reason to think otherwise. There are no signs of a struggle or foul play or bl—” I stop myself short over the word blood. Don’t need to be planting any more troubling thoughts in Haley’s head. “We’ll find her.”
“I hope so, because if something has happened to her…” Haley raises her hands to cup them over her mouth. Her eyes fill with tears. “I’d never forgive myself. She’s begged me to come home every time I’ve talked to her for the last ten years. And now I’ve barely even seen her.”
“Why did she want you to come back so much? Was something wrong?”
“No, she just… She’s eight years younger than me. She was just a kid when I left. We never got to… I was so wrapped up in— I was so distracted. I didn’t make a lot of time for her. I promised her I’d make up for it when I came home. And now…”
I wonder what she was about to say. Wrapped up in…what? Or who?
I have my suspicions, like that it involved a guy, but now’s not the time to ask.
“Lucky for you, you’ll have plenty of time when we find her. In fact, you two can come back up here, and you can kick her ass all over the mountain for scaring you.”
She manages a weak laugh. “Something to look forward to.”
I loop an arm around her shoulders and tug her against my side, pressing my lips to the crown of her head. “I’ll even hold her down for you.”
We stand like that for a while. It feels comfortable to hold her. And, at the moment, she’s too distraught to keep up her normal pretenses, so she leans into me rather than trying to pull away.
The radio crackles seconds before Ty’s voice comes through on my walkie. “Nixon?”
I depress the button to respond. “Go ahead.”
“She’s not down here. Nobody’s seen her.”
“Shit.”
“That’s not all, though. Uhhhh, one of the guys, ummmm…”
When he doesn’t continue, I prompt. “One of the guys what?”
“Well, Gerber says he thinks Waylan is, uh, is…”
He doesn’t go on. “What, Ty? Just say it.”
“He said they’ve been seeing each other. Like seeing each other.”
Sex. With the boss’ daughter. Like I said, normally that’s never a good idea.
But normally, there’s not a feisty redhead named Haley involved.
“Ah. I see. So where’s Waylan?”
“Took some time off to spend in the city. Sounds pretty coincidental, don’t it?”
“Do you have his cell? Or any way to reach him? Name of the hotel or whatever?”
“I’m sure I can get him.”
“Find him and get back to me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Haley pulls back and looks up at me. “Who’s Waylan?”
“He’s a ranch hand.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Got a problem with ranch hands?” I wouldn’t have pegged her for a snob, but this is the second time she’s taken exception to them.
She gives me a withering look. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then how did you mean it?”
She backs away, running a hand through her wild hair. “I just… I know what they’re like. Hope doesn’t need that kind of heartache.”
Heartache.
So she was involved with a ranch hand at some point. Makes me wonder if that’s why she left and didn’t come back for a decade.
“She’s a big girl. I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.”
“She’s twenty-one. She’s only been a big girl for two seconds.”
“I’m sure her sisters keep an eye on her.”
“Unless she’s hiding it from them, too.”
I can see her getting all worked up. This is a touchy subject, and not just because she’s concerned about her little sister. Since I don’t know what happened and, therefore, can’t help, I lead her back to her original concern, hoping it’ll help get her mind off whoever hurt her. “Let’s find her first. Then you can kick her ass twice. How’s that sound?”
This time she doesn’t laugh.
She wanders aimlessly through the room until the walkie crackles again and Ty’s voice fills the open space.
“Nixon?”
“Did you find him?”
“Yeah. He’s got her. She’s fine.”
“Good job. Thanks, man.”
“No problem,” he replies. “Hey, you might want to stay put up there. Wind’s pushing a helluva storm right over top of you. Might end up with some washed-out trails and mudslides between you and flat land. Big risk to you and the horses to get down.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
“You got it. Over and out.”
Haley’s head is tilted and her eyes are narrowed on me. “You planned this, didn’t you?”
“Planned what?”
“Us getting stuck up here.”
“That would be kind of hard since I wasn’t planning on coming all the way up here. That was your idea if you remember.”
“Uh-huh.” She nods slowly, suspiciously.
“Besides, why would I purposely plan to strand us here, with your sister? Unless you’re into sibling three-ways, which I suspect you’re not, then—”
She claps her hands over her ears and squeezes her eyes shut. “Oh, God! Shut up! La la la la la.”
“I’m just sayin’. Doesn’t make much sense.”
“Wait,” she says after a few seconds, her eyes snapping open. “You’d have a threesome with my sister and me?”
“Uh, I’m a man. Is that
a trick question?”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I.”
“So just because you’re a man, you’d have sex with my sister and me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Uh, you kinda did.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did. You’re the one who mentioned it.”
“I was just making a point.”
“Were you?”
“Yes, I was.”
“Because if you’re interested in my sister—”
I hold out my hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there. Didn’t we already go over this?”
“I thought so, but…”
“Look, I’m not interested in your sister.”
“You sure about that?”
“Hell yes. I’ve been here with her for weeks. Don’t you think if that was something I wanted, I’d have done something about it by now?”
“Maybe you were waiting for the right time.”
“Do you really think I’m the type of man who just sits back and waits for something he wants?” I start across the room toward her. A lion stalking his prey.
She takes a step back. “I wasn’t saying that. I was just saying you…you…”
“I don’t want a threesome with Hope. I’m not waiting for Hope. I’m not interested in Hope.”
“I wasn’t saying any of that. I just asked because you brought it up.”
“I shouldn’t have.”
“But you did.”
“Haley, I don’t want your sister. Any of them, for the record. I don’t want a threesome with any of them. Or a one-some. The only woman I’m interested in doing anything to or with is you.” She’s backed herself up against the kitchen cabinets. “Now if you’d like to talk about that, I’d be more than happy to give that conversation a go. Unlimited details. Graphic descriptions of the things I’ve fantasized of doing to you. Say the word and I’ll tell you everything.”
Her response is more than a little breathless. “I don’t…I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“So you believe me?” I wind one hand around her tiny waist.
She nods.
“You sure?”
Another nod.
“Lie to me. Tell me you don’t.”
“Why?”
“So I can prove it.”
“You can’t prove you’re telling the truth. It doesn’t work that way.”
“Oh, I think I can prove it. I think I can prove how interested I am in you, in discovering all the ways I can make you purr. And scream. And everything in between. I’d damn sure like to try anyway.”
“Nixon, I…I…” Her eyes flicker from my eyes to my mouth and back again. She licks her lips, and I realize I can’t remember the last time I wanted to kiss someone so badly.
“You’re stuck with me for the night. What happens up here will stay between us. It can be like the night you came to my hotel room, just better. Longer. Hotter. I can probably even find a bottle of tequila around here somewhere.”
“I d-don’t want any tequila, thank you.”
“No? I’d love some. I’ve craved it every day since I met you. Some nights when I close my eyes, I can still taste it. Right on the tip of my tongue.” She watches as my tongue sneaks out at the corner of my mouth. Air huffs out from between her parted lips. Her eyes are dark with what she refuses to admit. I’d be willing to bet that, right this minute, her panties are damp. My dick gets as hard as a slab of granite just thinking about that.
“You just don’t give up, do you?”
“Not when I really want something.”
“Well,” she begins as she slips out from between the wall and me, “you won’t be getting what you want tonight.”
I swivel with her as she makes her way around the room toward the sofa to sit down facing the fireplace. Facing away from me. She thinks that’s the final word and that’s that.
She couldn’t be more wrong. The harder she resists me, the harder it makes me.
I flip open kitchen cabinet doors until I find alcohol. I knew there would be some in here somewhere. And it’s tequila, like I also knew it would be. This is Texas. The odds were pretty high. I grab the bottle by the neck and put two tumblers in my other hand and make my way to the couch to join the woman who’s more or less promising to leave me high and dry tonight. High and dry and wanting her so bad it hurts.
I plunk down beside her, kicking my feet out in front of me as I pour a shot of tequila into each glass. I push one into her hand. “Does that mean tomorrow night’s on the table?”
Her lips curve as she answers. “No, that doesn’t mean tomorrow night’s on the table.”
“Then how about on the chair?” She shakes her head. “Or on the counter?” Shakes again. “Or on that vanity bench in your bedroom?”
“How do you—”
“I lived there for a while without you, remember? Didn’t pay a damn bit of attention to the furnishings until you showed up. Now, everything I look at is a place I want to see you naked.” I throw back my shot. It burns all the way down. My only hope is that it can burn away this maddening need I’m developing for this woman. Otherwise, it’s going to be one long and miserable night.
She leans up, setting her glass on the table as she looks away, but not before I can see the pretty stain on her cheeks. “Excuse me, I need to— ugh!” She sucks in a breath as she tries to stand and sits back down instead.
That gets a different kind of attention. “Are you okay?”
Her eyes are closed, and her lips are thinned in pain. “Yeah, it’s just been a long time since I was in a saddle that long.”
I nod at her legs. “How bad are they?”
“They’ll be okay.”
“You know if you don’t rub them down, they’ll be locked up come morning. And it’s a long ride back.”
“I’ll be fine,” she says, grunting as she tries to stand again. I heard her hiss a couple of times already, like when she dismounted and again when she sat down. I had other things on my mind, though (like how her skin might look by firelight) and it just didn’t register that she might be sore from riding.
“Then by all means, get up and go to the bathroom.” I sit back and watch her attempt to get up. She tries three times before she makes it.
I smile, imagining her in the bathroom gingerly getting up off the toilet. I know she’d probably rather die than ask for my help, though. That’s why I’m going to give it to her in a different way.
I first take the matches from the mantel and light the logs that are dry and ready for a fire, and then I go back to the kitchen to search the cabinets for liniment. I smile when I find a tub.
Maybe tonight won’t be a total loss after all.
16
Haley
When I come out of the bathroom, there’s a fire going. Nixon is sitting on the couch where I left him, only now he’s wearing a smile that’s way too big and entirely too sexy. There’s also a towel draped across his lap, which makes me immediately suspicious.
My step hitches, and I narrow my eyes on him. “What are you doing?”
He holds up his hand. A tub of something rests on his broad palm. “Making you feel better.”
“I feel fine.”
“You’re a terrible liar, remember? But I can forgive that. Come here,” he instructs, patting the cushion beside him. “I even have a towel for you to cover up with, because as much as I wouldn’t mind you sitting here in your panties while I massage your legs, I suspect you might have an objection or five, so… Towel.”
He stops, still smiling, as if the issue is settled. “If you think that I’m about to get undressed, come over there and let you rub…is that horse liniment?”
“I’ve used it before, and I’m sure every man who’s ever sat a horse has, too.”
“Ummmm, not a man,” I state, pointing to myself.
“Oh I know that. You’re all woman. One hundred and ten percent.” The expression on his face is so…h
ungry, I have to bite back a groan. Nixon Holt sure doesn’t make it easy on a girl. Unless she’s ready to be devoured. Then he’d make it too easy.
“Not what I meant and you know it, but I’m not putting that on my skin.”
“You won’t have to. I’m more than happy to do it.”
“Let me clarify. Neither of us is putting that on my skin.”
“It’ll make it baby soft. It’s all natural. Safe for horses and humans. I promise.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Here. Read what’s in it. It’s great for the skin. Seriously. And there’s nothing better for sore muscles.”
I take the tub, skeptical, but at least willing to check it out. It’s been a while, but I’ve been around horses and the men who ride them enough to know that a day in the saddle when you’re not conditioned for it can result in some serious problems come morning if those muscles aren’t worked out. Just like a horse. And at this point, my legs hurt so bad I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get up off the toilet. I had to grab hold of the doorknob and pull myself up. Thankfully, it’s a small bathroom, because I’d have gladly choked on my own spit before asking Nixon to help me. I’ve embarrassed myself in front of him enough.
The list of ingredients is actually impressive, and my thighs tingle at the thought of having strong fingers massage this into them. “Thanks. I think I will use some of this. I can do it myself, though. Sorry to disappoint.” I shoot him a cheeky grin.
“You know as well as I do you won’t be able to rub it in as good as I could. My hands are stronger, and I’m not as afraid of hurting you.”
“Oh, that makes me want to come right on over there then,” is my dry reply.
“You know what I mean. Come on,” he repeats, indicating the cushion beside him again. “I won’t bite. I won’t seduce. I’ll just rub. I promise.”
I only have to mull it over for a few seconds before I hold out the tub of goo, a sigh of resignation rushing between my lips. “Take this and give me the towel.”
He swaps with me, not even trying to hide his smile. “Good girl.”
“Turn around.”
Obediently, he faces the fire. As I’m pushing denim down my legs, I can’t help noticing his gorgeous profile. The strong chin, straight nose, high brow, chiseled cheeks. There’s no question that Nixon Holt is a fine specimen, but he’s the last thing I need in my life right now. I just have to keep saying no, no matter what my traitorous body wants me to say.
Tequila High Page 7
