In Debt To The Cowboy (Miller Brothers 0f Texas Book 2)

by Natalie Dean

  He gave her a dubious look. “I never heard of polio giving someone white hair.”

  Another laugh. “It does sound like that, doesn’t it? Nah, poliosis just means a chunk of hair loses its pigment. It can happen on any hair technically, but usually the scalp.”

  “Ah, and that’s just… a random thing that can happen to people? At any time?”

  He sounded curious, maybe a little concerned, but not mocking. He also sounded like he believed her, as much as he was asking questions. It was nice.

  “It’s not completely understood, but basically I had trauma to the side of my head when I was young—I pulled down a burning pot on myself. I was lucky that my mom had just emptied it of spaghetti, and it was sitting on the stove to cool. The burn wasn’t bad enough for a skin graft, but they did have to transplant some follicles from the back of my head, and when those follicles started growing back, well something about the process must have traumatized them because all their melanin was poof.”

  “You’re kidding! Just like that.”

  “Yup, just like that. The charity that helped me get the procedure was fit to be tied, but I don’t know, I’ve always kinda liked it. It’s like a battle scar, but a really pretty one.”

  A strange expression crossed his face. “I never thought of scars as pretty.” His tone was a bit weird too. Nothing bad per se, but definitely a shift from his curiosity moments before.

  “I mean, maybe they’re not in a conventional sense, but I like them. They tell stories. Kinda like roadmaps to past battles and lessons. And sure, sometimes they’re a little intense, sometimes they can be awful, but they’re a testament to survival. I admire that.”

  “And sometimes they’re from someone doing something really boneheaded.”

  Well that was out of nowhere. “What?”

  “Nothing.” He shook his head, and then he was grinning at her. “So, now that I know your great hair mystery, do you have to kill me?”

  “Nah, I owe you way too much money for that. I’d hate for your ghost to come and haunt me.”

  “Hah! And I would too. Just for something to do. I’m sure your life is thrilling.”

  “What gave you that impression? The white streak of hair or the fact that I saved you from a group of jerks with a baseball bat?”

  “All of it.”

  Were they leaning closer to each other? It felt like it. And that didn’t fill her with dread or fear. No, instead she felt excitement strike through her, building in her stomach and bubbling out to her limbs until—

  “Hey, I was looking for the two of you,” Sterling said, walking out of the garage. “Where’d ya go?”

  “Frenchie took me out to see the horses but then had to run, so Silas offered me a ride back.”

  “I see. Sad I missed it.” He stuck his hand in his pocket and took a stance that Teddy was sure he learned from some sort of old western where the main character came swaggering in. “You know, I can always take you to see the horses at any time.”

  “Right. I’m sure you could.” Whatever moment Silas and she had been having crumbled, and Teddy cleared her throat. “I better get back to work. I’ll see y’all around.”

  “Is that an open invitation to visit?” Sterling asked with a wink.

  She didn’t miss how Silas stiffened beside her. “Uh, sure. Yeah. Whatever you want.” With a wave to each of them, she rushed inside.

  Geez. Messy, messy.

  14

  Silas

  Silas knew that he should stay at the manor. That he should focus on some expense reports or go over Solomon’s charity proposal or something, but instead he was driving his mom’s bright pink golf cart to Teddy’s garage for some repairs.

  Not that it really needed repairs, but he wanted to hang out with the exact woman he should have absolutely no interest in.

  Except he did.

  He had a whole lot of interest.

  He’d tried to keep a lid on it because it was pretty inappropriate, but seeing her with the horses had done him in. Her round cheeks had been so cute, along with the happy sort of laugh that escaped her mouth whenever one of the horses did something she liked. She was more honest and open with him than she had ever been, and for a moment it was easy to believe that the interest was mutual.

  It wasn’t, of course. It couldn’t be. She was being polite, sure, but she clearly saw him as some sort of bloodthirsty shark at worst and her overly wealthy employer at best. Neither of those was grounds to cultivate anything more, so he was just throwing himself up against a wall by even caring.

  But he wasn’t used to wanting to cultivate anything at all, so sometimes it felt like he was twisting himself into knotted contradictions. Teddy had been working for them just under a month, barely a nick off of everything she would have to pay back. How was he supposed to not say something stupid for two or so more years?

  He didn’t really have a clue, but that lack of information didn’t stop him from pulling into one of the open doors of her garage, beeping the horn.

  “Oh my goodness gracious!” she said with a laugh, nearly doubling over. “Is this you’re mom’s ride? Please tell me you’ve brought me your mom’s golf cart.”

  Her grin was so infectious that he knew he was returning it in kind. “In the flesh. Er… metal, rather.”

  “Man, Frenchie told me it was something, but geez, she really underplayed it.”

  “What are you talking about?” he joked, stepping out of the little vehicle. “I think it’s demure.”

  “Oh yeah,” she said with a nod between her peals of laughter. “Real understated.”

  That was about as long as Silas could hold it too, and soon they were both snickering. It wasn’t that his mom’s golf cart was ugly. It was just very… to a particular taste.

  It was bright pink, with hazy lavender mosquito nets currently wrapped up and held in place with little mint bows. The steering wheel was mint as well, with pretty pink roses embossed into the material. The top canopy was specifically 3-D printed to look like lace, with a durable plastic covering anything that would have been holes if it was made out of regular fabric. And that was pink too, of course.

  The tires? Lilac. The seat covers? Mint with pink roses and vines. Even the hubs were a polished, pink chrome that caught the sun in iridescent waves.

  “This is amazing,” Teddy said, standing up straight. “You know that, right? Absolutely amazing.”

  He didn’t mean for his gaze to sweep over her, taking in her broad smile and her wild hair and the slight flush to her cheeks. He also didn’t mean to pause so much before he answered, but that was exactly what he did.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  Maybe he said it wrong, or maybe he said it right, because her cheeks went even pinker and she shifted her gaze away from him.

  “So, what are we doing today then?”

  He wanted to say something witty, but that’s not what happened. Why couldn’t he be as smooth as Sal? Or maybe even Sterling. His brother seemed to have no problem flirting with Teddy every chance he got.

  Not that Silas was jealous.

  He wasn’t.

  …probably.

  “Just a general workup. She hasn’t been serviced in a couple years. Mom doesn’t ride it around as much as Frenchie does. Or any of us really.”

  “But she uses it enough to totally trick it out.”

  “Well, Mom’s got style. That’s for certain.”

  “Too bad you didn’t get any of that, huh?” Out of nowhere, her arm playfully joshed his, and the touch should not have affected him as much as it did. But it was like her palm was fire, and he could still feel the press of her against his sleeve.

  By some miracle, he was able to speak. “Are you trying to say I ain’t got no style?”

  “Well, not no style,” she said and laughed. “But you’re always so buttoned up and proper. I’ve only really seen you dressed down once. And that was when you were covered in sweat.”

  Oh. That meeting. The on
e that was burned into his mind. “I guess I just like looking professional. We can’t all wear coveralls every day.”

  She let out a sound of mock offense. “Excuse you, these are professional jumpsuits, just so you know. And expensive too.”

  “Really? I may not be the best judge of things, but they don’t exactly look high-end if you know what I mean.”

  “I’ll have you know, finding plus size, female mechanic jumpsuits is quite the task. They’re about three times as expensive than the male equivalent.”

  That didn’t sound right to Silas. “Why not just buy the male ones?”

  “Because even the plus-size male ones don’t fit my hips and chest, and if I do get one big enough, the legs and sleeves are so long that they make me look like an Oompa Loompa playing in Wonka’s closet.”

  Now that was a mental image. “Hah! Alright. Fair enough.” He turned to her and they were almost face-to-face. He hadn’t realized that she was so close. “For what it’s worth, they look great.”

  “Uh-huh, you’re just saying that so I don’t mess up your mom’s ride.” She didn’t step away from him, instead tilting her head upward to look him in the face. He hadn’t realized that she had freckles. They were light, barely there, but there were a few under her eyes and across her nose.

  “Nah, I trust you.”

  “Oh, you do?” she teased. “That’s not something you hand around lightly.”

  “No, it’s not,” he answered, his throat tensing slightly. Since when was his saliva so thick? “But I already handed you a half mil, so I would have thought the trust was pretty implicit by now.”

  “You say that, but then we did have to sign a contract.”

  “That was for—”

  “Both of our protection. I get it.” She took a step away from him and he thought that was it, but then she was grabbing a water bottle from a mini-fridge and handed one to him. “Thirsty?”

  “What?”

  “You’re licking your lips a lot. So, I figured you might be dehydrated.”

  “Ah, yes. Dehydrated. Yeah, probably.” He took the bottle and gulped it down hastily, trying not to watch her throat as she did the same. How was she so pretty doing mundane things with her hair all wild and grease across her face? It didn’t seem possible.

  And yet it was, and he had to tear his gaze away from her yet again.

  “Hey, you wanna make yourself useful?” she said once she was done.

  “What do you need?”

  She picked up a small toolbox and handed it to him. “Hold this for me while I go ahead and pop the hood.”

  “It’s a golf cart, it doesn’t have a hood.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him. “You know what I mean.”

  “No, I don’t think I do.”

  “Do you want me to kick you outta my garage?”

  “Technically it’s my garage.”

  She put her hand on her hip and sent him a look that might have sent him running for the hills if he didn’t know better. “Technically, it’s your daddy’s garage.”

  “Oof, that’s below the belt.”

  She opened her mouth, plush lips curling at the corners, but quickly snapped it shut, her cheeks flushing again. Silas didn’t think he had ever seen someone who blushed so adorably. “Just hold it, okay?”

  Silas nodded and took it, wondering what she had been about to say. His mind shot out in about a dozen directions, and none of them he’d want his momma knowing about.

  She crossed to the front of the golf cart and Silas followed her dutifully, holding the tool case. Teddy quickly grew serious as she got to work, opening up and looking things over.

  “I need the flashlight,” she said, holding out her hand.

  Silas opened the toolbox, setting the thing on the ground and handing the flashlight to her. She took it, their fingers almost touching, and he wondered if there was something wrong with him for wishing that they had.

  He had it bad.

  But Teddy continued on blithely, completely unaware of what was going on in his head. It figured, the first time he had a crush since high school and it was with a woman who seemed to see him as some sort of predator.

  And maybe he was. Or at least in a family of predators. Solomon’s words echoed in his head, Pharisees and all.

  “Alright, it’s not too bad, but I definitely see some things I can flush. I think I wanna work on the brakes a little too, even if your mom’s not exactly a speed demon.”

  She stood up and turned suddenly, bringing them face to face again. It was the second time in such a short amount of time that his heart still hadn’t recovered from the first one.

  “Oh. Hi,” she said in a breathy voice, her pupils going wide as she stared up at him. “I didn’t realize you were, uh, right there.”

  “Sorry,” he said automatically, and he was glad that he had at least that response because his brain was certainly off-line. Gosh, he was twenty-eight. He was far too old to be so affected like some sort of giddy schoolboy.

  “You…” she trailed off, swallowing, and there was that bob of her throat again. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s fine.” Was she leaning toward him? It felt like she was leaning toward him.

  Or was he leaning toward her?

  He had no idea, and he never got his answer, because her phone let out a shrill ring.

  They both jumped apart, and he felt like his heart was trying to climb all the way out of his throat.

  “Sorry, I have to take this,” Teddy said, reaching for her pocket in her jumpsuit. “If someone’s calling me, it’s almost always some sort of emergency.”

  “Yeah, I understand. Your family has a business.”

  She nodded and soon was walking away from him, her phone pressed to her ear. He turned away, as not to listen, and busied himself with scratching off some dirt from the side of his mom’s cart just to have something to do.

  It didn’t seem like any time had really passed at all before Teddy let out a loud curse and a bang resounded through the space.

  Whipping around, he saw her breathing hard, standing in front of one of the toolboxes, holding her hand.

  “Whoa, you okay? What happened?” He crossed to her quickly, taking her hand in his. One of her knuckles was split, blood pumping up steadily, and it looked like another was already bruising terribly.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to jerk away, but he kept a hold of her, pulling her toward where he remembered the first aid kit was. “This was impulsive. I’m not normally like this.”

  “Remember, you once saved my bacon by threatening people with a baseball bat.”

  She tried to laugh, but it came out more as a strangled sound than anything else.

  “What’s going on? Is everything alright?”

  “No, none of it’s alright.” Her voice trembled and it made his chest hurt. She was always so strong, how scared or hurt must she be to be showing him any sort of crack in her armor? “That was my brother’s public defender.”

  “He had bad news?”

  She let out a bitter sound. “You could say that. They recused themselves and now he’ll be appointed another one. That puts everything behind schedule, and the new lawyer will have less time to learn his case. That scumbag Cartwright is making things as hard as possible, and it just makes me so angry. I don’t like being so helpless. It’s not like me.”

  As she went on, her voice started to crack more and more, and he realized she was on the verge of crying, trembling a bit with the effort of holding it back. Once more, his mouth was moving before his brain did, anything to give her a lick of comfort, to let her know that she wasn’t nearly as helpless or alone as she thought.

  “I can cover a lawyer for you. My family has tons on retainer.”

  That seemed to shock her, and she stiffened, nearly pulling her hand from his grip. But he just kept wiping away the blood with some cotton and then a sanitizer wipe, like his heart wasn’t beating right outside of his chest.

  “Why wou
ld you do that?”

  He looked up for a moment, and her gaze was so intense that he looked right back down at her injury. He didn’t have an answer for her.

  Or he did, but he was afraid of what the true answer would be.

  “It just seems to be the right thing to do,” he answered finally, just before the pause grew excruciatingly long. If she had anything to say in response to that, she didn’t, her posture relaxing slightly.

  “I… thank you, Silas. I mean it.”

  Oh yeah. He definitely had it bad.

  15

  Theodora

  It was hard to believe, but things were actually getting better. And although she still didn’t quite get why, Silas had gotten them a bang-up lawyer who was apparently thiiiis close to getting Roman’s case dismissed.

  As if she needed a reason to like the guy even more. Her feelings were becoming a real menace to both her cheeks and her circulation, with her heart rate picking up every time she saw him and her face hurting from either smiling too much or way too many repeated blushes all in a row.

  Ugh, she hated being so silly. It wasn’t like anything would happen. Especially not considering how they had met. But she had meant what she said when she first met him. She just had no idea that he would end up being someone who saved her brother and their whole family business.

  “Come on, Teddy. Concentrate.”

  She was under a big ol’ truck in her dad’s mechanic shop, almost everyone having gone home, but she was staying late to make up for some of the hours she had missed. Andre and Roman were starting to get a little suspicious of where she was flitting off too, but mostly she was able to cover it with her deliveries to the community and other gardening exploits. She wasn’t sure how long that was going to last, but maybe she could think of a better cover story by then.

  …probably not. Lately it seemed that all of her brainpower was dedicated to Silas and his charming smile and perfect hair.

  Geez, everything would be so much easier if he was dumb instead of being so smart. But no, he was intelligent and funny on top of everything. Because life was unfair like that.