by Angi Morgan
Authorities questioned the race when they’d seen him or his father or his father’s cronies. It was one of the reasons he’d been so active in delivering money and messages when he was younger, smaller. Then overnight he’d grown tall enough to be spotted.
Then caught.
Therese waved her fingers in front of his nose. “Hey, did we win?”
Damn, it was over? He looked at the board and verified the race results. “Reval will get his money.”
“So we’re done? I’m sort of confused how we’re going to collect the winnings since we didn’t place the bets.”
“Right.” He glanced around. “I don’t see anyone watching us, but it’s probably better to have this conversation when no one can overhear.”
They’d barely closed the car doors when the phone Sal gave them buzzed inside his back pocket. He pushed the speaker button in time to hear “Money. Mustangs. Las Colinas Boulevard. One hour.”
“That’s not going to happen. It’ll take my guy twenty-four hours to get the cash together for that sum.” For the Rangers or Homeland or some other government bureaucracy.
“That wasn’t what you were supposed to do,” Sal screamed.
“Oh yeah? Neither was going to jail, which is what would have happened if I’d bet that much cash. But that was the real test, right?”
“What?” Therese mouthed.
He waved her off, pointing to the phone. Waiting for a response from Reval’s crony.
“Keep the phone handy. The boss will be in touch.” The call blinked with a disconnection.
Eyes forward, Therese started the engine, put the car in gear and spun the tires a little as she pulled from the lot full of horse trailers and trucks. He’d read about people’s knuckles turning white as they gripped the steering wheel. Therese had a death grip on the plastic and it was hard to miss.
She also wove in and out of traffic like a racing pro. Otherwise anyone watching wouldn’t be able to tell she was upset. Her expression was...expressionless. The beautiful smile he’d grown accustomed to in such a short time in just twenty-four hours... That smile hadn’t been there since they’d gotten inside the car.
They seemed to be headed toward her apartment when the route changed, and two turns later they were close to his house. How did she know where he lived? A few minutes later, screeching to a halt, she threw the car into Park and smashed the door unlock button.
“I take it that’s my cue,” he opened the door, still wondering what he’d said or hadn’t said as he stepped out.
“Wade?”
“Therese,” he said, leaning to look inside.
She held her palm out and gestured for him to hand something over. “Leave the phone.”
“We’re not waiting together? Inside?”
She flipped her fingers again and he complied, handing over the phone.
“I’ll be in touch.” She revved the engine, waiting.
“Dammit, Therese. What did I do?” Had he pushed the “I know what I’m doing bit” too far? He could concede that he had. He’d tell her that if he knew they weren’t being watched. Watched by either side—Reval’s men or the rangers. “Come on inside and I’ll explain.”
“Don’t try to smooth this over by throwing me your all-innocent look. It sounds petty when I say this is my operation. But dammit, Wade, it is. You can’t unilaterally make decisions and think I’m okay with it. I’m not. My supervisors won’t be. This is way too complicated. There’s more at risk than just bringing Rushdan Reval to his knees.”
* * *
THERESE WANTED TO peel out. Wanted to leave him standing curbside with that complete look of bewilderment on his face. But she couldn’t. He’d made sure that they were tied together waiting for the operation’s next move.
“You seriously don’t get it?”
“What?” he asked, shrugging his sturdy shoulders up into his neck. “Come inside and let’s...talk.”
Right. Like talking was what he’d want to do if they were alone. Sure, she wanted answers. More than just one at a time from their little game. But more important, she had to make him understand how critical this assignment was. Its completion was her way back. Back to a normal life. Back to friends. Back home.
“We could continue the Q and A you began this morning. The place is clean. No bugs—at least electronic ones—so, it’s safe to talk,” he said in a persuasive tone. But he didn’t look too thrilled about another round of talking. He shut the car door and ambled across his lawn anyway. Yeah, she’d just thought he “ambled” across his lawn.
Must be his boots.
Wade wasn’t like any man she’d dealt with. Granted, most of the men in her adult life had been criminals—were criminals. Then again, it turned out Wade had been, too.
So she followed.
Once inside, she took in the sparse surroundings as he set his hat on the rack near the door. She’d seen bachelor apartments with little furnishings before, but this was worse. There was a leather-looking recliner and a television wider than she was tall in the living room. A folding table with four folding chairs was near the kitchen.
“The first thing people ask is if I just moved in. Answer is no. I just don’t need a lot of stuff. I only have the house for a tax break.”
“Accumulating things takes time. You haven’t even been here two years.” He raised a questioning eyebrow and she realized her mistake. She shouldn’t know that information.
“Speaking of where I live...how did you know? You drove straight here without my directions.”
She fingered the closed blinds and peered between them to see if anyone was on the street. No one looked suspicious. A couple of men walked casually behind their self-propelled mowers on a Saturday afternoon, but no one else hung around.
“Oh, I keep tabs on people who owe me favors.” That answer would have to do. But she needed to tell him how she really knew. Soon, but not now. She was still a little upset. “You aren’t going to change the subject. I think you already know what I’m going to ask.”
“Maybe. But why don’t you ask anyway?” He brought one of the folding chairs from the kitchen and gestured for her to take the recliner. “We can go back and forth again like when you were sitting on my lap. That was fun.”
Wade’s tone was sort of casual, but she saw the curiosity in his eyes. She also didn’t believe for a minute that it was the questions he found fun—maybe the sitting together. He was willing to share, but he wanted to know something. The look tempted her to spill everything before he could ask. But she had her own agenda and would have to take her chances.
“The world of gambling is more than familiar to you.”
“That isn’t a question, but the answer is yes. What I said at the track is true. Not a cover story.”
His confession should have shocked her. But it fit him. Part of his charm was the way he talked people into situations. All three of the men he worked closely with had fallen for it. Shoot, she had fallen. It was why they were in this mess together.
“Like I said, I was raised by a gambler, a con man,” he continued. “A bad one. A cheat. One who got caught. And caught often. Both by the law and the people he stole from.”
Of all the things she’d imagined about him when she was younger or after he’d come back into her life again, the possibility of him being the son of a con artist had never ventured onto the radar. She had a thousand questions, but she sat silently and let him talk.
“When he wasn’t picked up by the cops, we lived in cheap motels or crashed with one of his girlfriends. I wasn’t much different. Not from him or the men who cheated him. That is, with the exception that when I got caught, I turned in my old man to stay out of jail. What does that make me?”
“Smart,” she said without hesitation. “How did you get away?”
“From jail or the life?” He flipped the ch
air around and crossed his arms over the back. “An investigation that involved the state of Texas and a ranger who didn’t give up. On anyone. Even me.”
He looked relaxed now. Not ill like at the track, not anxious. Just comfortable.
“So that’s why you applied to be a Texas Ranger?” It all made sense. “And that’s how you got into law enforcement. Because the ranger who put your father in jail had your record sealed and raised you?”
He shook his head. “No.” He sprang up and took down the only picture hanging on any wall.
“This is Fred and his wife, Faye.” He tapped the people in the photo before handing it to her. “Somewhere they found money to send me to boarding school. It straightened me out. Changed that resentful fifteen-year-old kid to a man who wanted more. And yes, he wrote a letter of recommendation when I told him I wanted to make up for my misspent youth.”
“That explains so much about you. Not this house, mind you.” She looked around at all the space. “I still don’t get why you don’t have a couch.”
“Are you going to tell me how you knew I lived here?” He’d sat backward on the chair again and tapped his fingers on his forearm, seemingly counting off the seconds until it was his turn to interrogate her.
“One more thing. Explain what happened at the track. Where’s the money?” She’d almost been distracted enough to completely forget that she’d been upset regarding him taking over.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry I couldn’t really explain everything when it was happening. But there was no way we could rig the race and actually collect that money.”
“I wondered about that. So Dale Beauchamp works with you?”
“Yes. If Reval asks, we can say that we sort of cleaned the cash by placing the bet outside of the law’s eyes. Sort of like structuring money or exchanging it for money orders, keeping the limits under ten grand. You know the routine.”
“I’m halfway glad I don’t. I’ll trust you that the next time he asks for the money your associates will have it ready. But the last part... What makes you think they were trying to get us caught?”
“There would be an awful lot of questions if we placed a large bet—in cash—and then we won. So that had to be the real test. If we placed the bet and didn’t get thrown in jail or at least detained, Reval would have known I’m undercover.”
“Next time fill me in on the details. You took a risk that could have blown more than three years of my life.”
“Promise.” He stood, moved in front of her chair and extended his hands. “This trust thing works both ways, you know.”
She shamelessly placed her hands in his, letting him pull her to her feet. “Obviously I just proved that I trusted you by letting you take the lead at the track.”
A good, solid answer. One that should deflect her earlier mistake about knowing where he lived. God, being in his arms sent shivers throughout her body. It was mind-blowing how primitively she reacted when he touched her.
He encircled her and tilted his head like he was about to kiss her, then raised it. This kiss might actually get them to the only real piece of furniture in the house...the bed.
Soft lips barely touched the sensitive skin where her neck met her shoulder. His teeth grazed her on the way to her earlobe. Then he stopped and so did the sizzle.
It was about to get real. Very real if he circled back to how she’d driven straight here without directions.
“Why do I have the feeling you know more about me than I do you?” he whispered. “Is Therese Ortis even your real name?”
Chapter Fourteen
Wade kept Therese close to him. He raised his head only long enough to ask his question. When she stiffened in his arms, he put his lips to work. Maybe the attempt to break through her resistance could be approached a different way. The direct questioning route sure wasn’t working.
“My real name is Therese Maria Elisabeth Ortis. Born and raised in San Antonio.” She stretched her neck back, giving him more access.
Wanting answers, but also wanting more of her bare skin against him, he continued his lips’ quest across her shoulder.
“Is this going to be that back-and-forth thing you started? Am I supposed to admit something now?” He kept his words low and in between each nip along her skin.
“If you...want to,” she said, sounding out of breath.
“You don’t sound mad anymore.”
“Concerned. I was...”
His fingertips found the edge of her shirt and quickly shot underneath, taking in her smooth skin, pressing her breasts even closer to his chest.
“I think—” he planted his lips in the curve of her neck again “—that I—”
He raked the edge of his teeth up to her ear, following it with circles on her back.
Therese shivered against him.
Who the hell was he kidding? His actions weren’t an interrogation—as if he ever thought they could be. He wanted her. She knew the truth about his history and still wanted him, too.
Dammit, he’d never felt like this. Open. Real. Excited about what came next. He drew back, staring at her beautiful face, waiting for her eyes to open and acknowledge the real him.
God, he’d turned into a sap. That was what nearly a year of desk duty and seeing his best friends find the women they love had done.
Therese opened her eyes. He waited for her to kiss him or at least expose her neck for him to take up his teasing again.
“Is this a good idea?” she asked instead.
“Getting to...um...know each other?” He slid his fingertips over the clasp of her bra. “Honestly, I think it’s been a little one-sided.”
Smiling, she drug a fingernail across his neck, then up and around the edge of his ear. His muscles tensed.
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
“I think you’re assuming I can still think.” He lifted her off the floor, letting her body mold against him. “I am a man, you know.”
Wade flexed his jaw along with other muscles as he tried to let Therese down. Her arms were around his shoulders, but she moved, resting more against him. She reached up to stroke his temple gently. He couldn’t let her go.
“I think you’re right about the talking. Let’s chat with our bodies.”
He was at a crossroads. The do-or-don’t sign flashed on and off, on and off. One decision would keep him in a perpetual teasing state and the other led to sweet relief. But along with that relief came a commitment he’d never made or wanted before.
The pledge was right there, ready for him. The weight of Therese in his arms was less than the weight of that promise he wanted. Yeah, he wanted it all. Relief, connection, possible love.
Hell’s bells, he had a beautiful woman in his arms and he was thinking about tomorrow. And the next day.
He shifted to keep her next to him, but with a little pop off the ground she lifted herself, wrapping her legs around him, and he kept her there. The movement hiked the small stretchy skirt she’d worn to the racetrack higher on her thighs. Closer to his face, she smiled before kissing him—winding her tongue around his.
Two seconds. That was all it took to make every bit of him rock-hard for her. It was like she’d read his thoughts and given her answer.
He was no longer questioning if he should or shouldn’t. She’d made the decision when she settled her practically naked bottom against the skin of his forearm.
Wanting the bedroom, he stepped in its direction, but the lounge chair was closer. He got near and plopped his backside down, sinking into the leather. Therese stayed as close as possible until she shimmied onto her knees, placing them on either side of his thighs.
“Help me with this,” she said, then laughed when she met his eyes.
He probably looked like a man who hadn’t thought the chair all the way through. She continued to work at the zipper of her skirt, tugging
, her arms behind her, thrusting her soft breasts closer to his face.
A man could only take so much cleavage that close before he had to...
Wade got out of the chair as fast as possible with Therese precariously balancing on his chest. Somehow in his rush, he scooped Therese into his arms instead of splaying her on the carpet. He bolted down the hallway, ready to drop her on the bed and devour every morsel of her delicious skin.
All of it. Every last inch of her.
“This is not good,” he said stepping foot into the room.
With her arms around his neck, she burst out in a full-blown laugh. Her head dangled back, enticing him with more skin and sparkling eyes.
“I’m assuming there isn’t a bed in the spare room with no clothes on top?”
Normally stacked inside his dresser, his clothes looked like they had all been upturned onto the unmade bed. Jack. “I don’t keep it this way. Really.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Jack or one of the other rangers grabbed stuff to leave at your place.” He set Therese on her feet.
“It looks more like they took revenge on you for some reason.” She spun around. “Unzip that, will you? I think there’s a hook at the waistband.”
He obliged and was mesmerized at how she gave the material a tug and it fell to her feet. She bent at the waist and picked it up, showing her heart-shaped derriere framed by a couple of strips of lace.
She folded her skirt and set it on the dresser next to his phone charging station. He watched her in the mirror as she crossed her arms and pulled off the matching top. Again he stared as she folded it and placed it with the skirt.
Wade took in her golden skin, the pale color of her lacy bra—even the tiny bows between her cleavage and on each side of her hips.
Therese cleared her throat, “The sooner we get this stuff put away, the sooner we can...get back to where we were. Unless you’d rather go back to the chair.”
