Chasing Trouble in Texas

by Delores Fossen

  Thankfully, she hadn’t left town. He knew that because he’d called Em and she’d told him that McCall was in her room and that she’d seemed upset. His visit might only add to her being upset, but Austin was determined to talk this out with her.

  Maybe that would help him figure out his own feelings, too.

  He couldn’t imagine what had prompted McCall to own a strip club. It certainly didn’t mesh well with the high-society folks who donated to her foundation. But maybe the club was somehow funding the foundation, too. Still, he could see why she’d want to keep something like that a secret. Could equally see why she’d end things with him because the trouble something like that could cause him.

  So, why was he going to McCall?

  That was a question Austin had asked himself most of the afternoon, and he came up with only one answer: because he wanted to see her, that’s why. As answers went, it wasn’t a very good one. But maybe it was the only answer that mattered. McCall could be all twisted up in knots over what she’d told him, and he wanted to talk that out with her.

  “Pizza delivery,” Cait called out from the porch.

  That sent the girls running to open the door, and yep, there was his sister, balancing a pizza box in one hand while she held a plastic grocery bag in the other. A bag that no doubt contained something sugary. Probably candy and ice cream.

  Austin sighed. “At least make sure they brush their teeth after eating whatever it is you’ve brought them. And they have to eat vegetables first.”

  That brought on a duo of groans from Avery and Gracie, though they must have known it was coming. Cait knew it, too, and while yes, she indulged the girls a lot, she’d make sure they ate the right stuff before getting the junk food.

  Austin took the grocery bag, glanced inside and saw the ice cream, popcorn and two kids’ books. All the items definitely got the girls’ attention when he took them out and put the ice cream in the freezer.

  “Thank you for doing this,” Austin murmured to Cait. And she knew he didn’t mean bringing the food and books.

  “Hey, anything I can do to further your love life,” she whispered back while the girls started flipping through the books. Cait set the pizza on the counter. “This is about your love life, right? It’s about McCall?”

  Austin nodded. No way would he spill to Cait about Peekaboo. That wasn’t his secret to tell, but other photos could turn up of McCall working there. If so, it could blow up in her face and add another layer of embarrassment and hurt on top of what Cody Joe had already doled out to her.

  “Stay out as late as you like. Even all night since I can bunk here,” Cait added, still whispering. “Do I need to have the safe sex talk with you?”

  Austin ignored her and didn’t mention the brand new condom he now carried in his wallet. He wasn’t expecting sex—okay, maybe he was hoping for it—but he was pretty sure that wouldn’t happen. Heck, it was possible McCall wouldn’t even see him. If so, he’d just drive around for a while so that the girls could have time with Cait.

  Gracie and Avery were already engrossed in the books so they barely looked up at him when he kissed them goodbye. Austin went to his truck and started the drive to Em’s. Along the way, he tried to figure out what he was actually going to say to McCall if he got the chance to speak to her, but nothing he came up with sounded right. Best just to see her and take things from there.

  He was relieved when he saw her car parked on the side of Em’s. Relieved, too, when he spotted the light on in her room on the second floor. There were no lights on, though, in the front of the house so he went to the back, hoping to have a quick word with Em to find out how McCall was doing. The lights were definitely on in the kitchen, and he could hear laughter. Not McCall, though. It sounded like Boo.

  Em answered his knock right away, and Austin saw that she was wearing a full assortment of clothes, including a sweater and two cowboy hats stacked on top of each other. Unlike Boo and McCall. They were seated at the kitchen table, and Boo was in her underwear again.

  McCall wasn’t faring much better.

  She was in her underwear, as well, a plain white bra and panties, but she was scrambling to put on a robe that she’d had draped over the back of the chair. Boo barely spared him a glance. Instead, her attention was on the poker hand that she had spread out on the table. The hand—three kings—beat the other two hands on the table, and those no doubt belonged to Em and McCall.

  “Finally!” Boo declared, giving a victory whoop. “I won.”

  She was grinning, but she was the only one in the room who was. Em was studying Austin as if she wasn’t sure what to do with him. McCall looked mortified.

  Austin was certain he just looked aroused.

  Even though McCall and he had dated way back when, he’d never gotten past the point of a few kisses with her. He’d definitely never seen her in her underwear. Of course, there was that picture of her in the waitress outfit, but it was different with her in the flesh. And he was certain the image of the real her would stay in his head and the rest of his body for a long, long time.

  “I can dish you up a plate of lasagna,” Em offered, “but I’m guessing you’re here to talk to McCall?”

  He nodded and kept his attention on McCall, to see if she was going to nip this visit and the talk in the bud. For a few snail-crawling moments, that’s exactly what he thought she might do, but then she motioned for him to follow her. She also scooped up the stack of neatly folded clothes on the counter. Probably clothes she’d intended to put on if she won any hands.

  “This way,” McCall whispered. “But I don’t want Granny Em to hear our conversation.”

  Em but not Boo, which meant her assistant already knew about Peekaboo.

  “Your grandmother’s certainly good at poker,” Austin commented as he followed her into the front room that Em called the parlor.

  He hadn’t expected McCall to stop midway there, but she did and turned toward him. “Em said she was once involved with a guy in the mob and that he taught her how to play. Have you heard anything about that?”

  Judging from the tightness of her mouth, that was bothering McCall. A lot. But he had to shake his head. “When it comes to Em, the only man I’ve ever heard about was your grandfather. From what I recall people saying, Em moved here after they got married.”

  “Yes, and until tonight I don’t remember her ever mentioning anything about the mob.” McCall stopped and waved that off when she glanced down at her robe. “Sorry. Let me put on some clothes, and then we’ll talk.”

  He wanted to tell her to skip the clothes but figured that wasn’t a smart idea. Knowing what she was wearing beneath the robe was distracting, and instead of talking—something they needed to do—he’d be thinking of other things. Like kissing her again.

  When they got to the parlor, she shut the door. “Turn around,” she instructed.

  Austin did that, but he soon realized there was a problem. He could still see her in one of the wall mirrors. Clearly see her when she tossed aside the robe. Yeah, that was definitely a distraction. The best kind of one if they’d been about to have sex, that is. Since they weren’t, Austin closed his eyes.

  “I thought you’d have run for the hills by now,” McCall said. “You should have run for the hills,” she amended. “No way will I fit into the image of the woman Edith wants in your life.”

  And there it was. All laid out for him. Edith definitely wouldn’t think McCall was right for him. And maybe she wasn’t. But Austin wanted to make that decision for himself.

  “Tell me about the club,” he said. “How’d you end up owning it?”

  Austin heard her drag in a long breath. “A woman named Lizzie Marlow owned the place when I was a waitress there. She had a good heart but was awful with paperwork, managing schedules and such so I helped her. When she died, she left Peekaboo to me. Unfortunately, she set up the terms
of the will so I can’t sell it or give it away.”

  He let that sink in and found himself smiling a little. It was so like McCall. She’d helped someone out and had ended up getting more than she’d bargained for. More than she wanted.

  “Boo was a stripper there,” McCall went on. “That’s how I met her. When she wanted to go into a different line of work, I hired her as my assistant.”

  Well, that explained a lot. It might be stereotyping, but Boo did dress like a stripper.

  Austin jerked a little when he felt McCall touch his arm to get his attention, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that she was wearing jeans and a red top.

  “It doesn’t matter that I inherited the place or that I don’t want it,” she went on. “I’m still the owner of a strip club, and if anyone around here finds out, that could end up hurting you.”

  Austin wanted to deny that. But it could hurt him even if it shouldn’t. And that pissed him off more than a little. It wasn’t fair. Then again, he’d learned the hard way that life sucked in the being-fair department.

  “FYI, Boo is legally changing her name to mine,” McCall said. “But she’s doing that only so she can cover for me if anyone finds out I’m the owner. It’s a bad cosmetic attempt to hide the truth.”

  He went back through the conversation he’d overheard between McCall and Sunny. “Tit rouge?”

  She made a soft gasp of surprise, followed by a nod. “Yes. That’s what Boo calls the name change. I call it an unnecessary deal that’ll solve nothing.” She stared at him. “Austin, I’m really sorry.”

  He wasn’t sure exactly why she was apologizing especially since owning the club was out of her control.

  “I’ve got baggage, too,” Austin settled for saying. “Just being around me puts you under Edith’s eagle-eye scrutiny. I’m sorry that she came over to my house this afternoon—”

  “She basically told me that she was giving me her blessing so I could keep seeing you,” McCall interrupted.

  Oh.

  Well, Austin hadn’t expected that, and he immediately saw the irony of it.

  “Yes,” McCall said as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. “Edith gave me her blessing right before you came in after wrapping up the photo payoff with Hayes. By the way, I’ve talked to Hayes to let him know I’ll give him back every penny that he paid that blackmailing creep.”

  Austin figured she would say exactly that. He knew, too, that Hayes wouldn’t want or accept payment. He hadn’t spent much time with Hayes, but Austin recognized brotherly love when he saw it. Hayes was trying to protect his sister, something that Austin would have done for Cait.

  “I’m really sorry,” she repeated. On a weary sigh, she dragged her hands through her hair, pushing it away from her face.

  He could have told her that this wasn’t her fault. That she’d simply been trying to earn a living when the photo had been taken by the blackmailing creep. He doubted that would help. Doubted, too, that a kiss would help, either.

  But that’s what he did.

  Austin could blame this fresh punch of heat on seeing McCall in her bra and panties, but the truth was, he simply wanted to kiss her. Wanted to feel her mouth on his. Wanted to feel her against him. So, he slipped his arm around her waist, pulled her to him and kissed her.

  He made it long, slow and deep because he was afraid this might be the last kiss he ever got from her. In fact, he expected her to push him away and remind him of all the reasons why they shouldn’t be doing this.

  She didn’t.

  McCall made that silky sound of pleasure in her throat. Sort of a hum and an mmm combined as if she’d just tasted something damn good. Austin figured he could make the same sound because the taste of her definitely worked for him. The woman fired him up in the hottest kind of way.

  The firing up continued when he moved in closer, tightening his grip on her until her body slid against his. Everything lined up just right. Her breasts against his chest. The zipper of her jeans in the general vicinity of his. The contact and her mouth were more than enough to send the heat flaming high.

  “Edith,” she said with her mouth still against his.

  Obviously, she was reminding him that Edith would revoke her blessing if she learned the truth about Peekaboo, but at the moment that just didn’t seem important. Actually, not much of anything other than kissing and touching seemed important. Still, Austin eased back to give her a chance to tell him to back off.

  Her breath came out in little gusts, hitting against his mouth. Her face was flushed. Her eyes glazed. All good signs for making out but not for conversation.

  “If Edith finds out...” she murmured.

  He stopped the rest of what she was about to saying by kissing her neck. Austin hadn’t known it would be so effective, but he got proof that it was when McCall’s hum and mmm got deeper and louder. Her head lolled to the side, exposing her neck like an offering to a vampire. Austin didn’t bite. Well, not too hard, anyway. But he made sure both of them got the most out of that particular kiss.

  Still making that sound of pleasure, McCall caught on to his arms, her fingers digging in, but he soon realized that was just to bring him even closer. She moved. He moved. And they moved together in such a way that made Austin very glad there was a sofa nearby.

  But McCall might not be ready for that.

  He had to force himself to remember that. It got through to his brain just fine, but his dick was having a lot of trouble with the notion.

  “Granny Em and Boo are in the house,” McCall said. That reminder was also a breathy murmur complete with more of her body pressing to him.

  Austin managed to make a sound to let her know he was aware of that, but that was an easy fix. Keeping hold of McCall, still kissing her neck, he backed her across the room until he could reach the door and lock it.

  The click of the lock must have pulled McCall out of her lusty haze because she lifted her head and met his gaze.

  “If we have sex right now, how much will it mean to you?” she asked.

  Well, hell. At the moment he was barely capable of human speech much less answering something like that. Was she asking if this would be just sex?

  Maybe.

  At least, that’s what he’d want it to be until they figured out if there could be anything deeper between them. But sex was a start. He was sure of that. Or maybe again, that was his dick talking.

  “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. He could practically feel his dick wanting to kick him for it, too.

  She nodded as if that was the exact answer she expected. “I’m not analyzing you...us,” she amended, “but I don’t want to jump into anything that you could regret.”

  “I won’t regret it,” Austin blurted out.

  McCall smiled, gave his erection a nudge with a part of her that could do some serious nudging. “Let’s just be sure. I care about you too much to screw this up for you.”

  Austin repeated his mental, Well, hell. Now, there was caring too much? He wasn’t sure that was possible at this stage, but he thought he knew what she meant because he cared about her, too.

  “Sixty minutes of making out,” she said.

  No “Well, hell” this time, but Austin did manage a “Huh?”

  “It’s what I tell my clients who aren’t sure if they should be doing more than kissing. I suggest sixty minutes of making out. No sex, no clothing removal,” she emphasized. “Then wait at least a day to see how you feel.”

  Austin didn’t have to think about this answer. “I know how I’ll feel—frustrated and unable to walk.”

  She smiled again. “Yes, but then you’ll know better how you feel.”

  Again, he had a quick answer. Or would have. He could have repeated the part about being frustrated. But McCall took hold of the front of his shirt, gathering it up in her hand and pulling him to her.
>
  “Come with me,” McCall said, her voice that damn silky siren’s whisper. “And let’s get our sixty minutes started.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THIS WAS THE very definition of playing with fire. McCall knew it. So did Austin. But that didn’t stop her from taking Austin by the hand, and it definitely didn’t stop him from going right along with her as she led him outside.

  “Where are we going?” he asked, stealing a kiss on her neck as they went down the porch steps. “We can’t go to my place because the girls are there with Cait.”

  “We’re going parking,” McCall explained. She might be thirty-three years old, but she didn’t think she could fool around with her grandmother just a couple of rooms over. “We can go to Prego Trail.”

  Austin went a little stiff, probably in surprise, but McCall still got him to his truck. “I never went there when I was a teenager.”

  “Neither did I. Since I own it now, I go there a couple of times of year just to check on it, but it wasn’t a spot I used for making out.”

  Now, she was the one who was surprised. “You didn’t take any girls there?” Of course, what she really wanted to know was had he taken Zoey there. If so, they’d need a change of venue since she didn’t want to tap into those kinds of memories for him. Some places were more of a punch than a tap.

  He was smiling when he shook his head. “Going to a place called Prego Trail never appealed to me, not when it was much prettier scenery to park by the creek bank. But the trail is closer,” he quickly added. “I’m thinking closer is better.”

  Yes, it was. Though it took less time to walk there than it did to drive. Still, they shouldn’t be out in the open when things got hot and heavy between them. Plus, the good thing about using his vehicle was that he’d be driving and it’d give them some time to cool off. Maybe even give them some time to come to their senses.

  Or not.

  Austin kissed her when he started the engine, kissed her again before he put the truck into gear. Then, going at turtle speed as he drove down the road, he sneaked a few more kisses. Those might have been short, but they were still scalding enough to singe her eyelashes.