by Karen Anders
IF SHE HAD KNOWN that the Mustang handled this well, she’d have made Austin let her drive it. She parked in front of the well-kept two-story house, picked up the large bouquet of columbine tied with a red ribbon and got out. Walking up to the front porch, she knocked on the door. A beautiful eighteen-year-old woman eventually opened it.
“Jessica?”
“Maxie?”
They hugged as if they’d known one another all their lives. “I’m sure glad you came.” When she spied the car in the driveway a grin spilt her face. “Oh, that’s a good bribe.”
“Austin doesn’t take bribes. This is a gift.”
Jessica laughed. “Okay. It’s a good gift. What are those?”
“Columbine. Austin said the seeds were used to cure headaches. I think I gave him a pretty big one when I ran him around in circles. I thought maybe his grandmother would know how to brew a remedy.”
Jessica laughed. “You are pretty funny, Maxie. Why don’t you come through the house? His place is out back.” The house was beautiful, furnished in tasteful southwestern chic with colorful Apache blankets and pottery.
When they reached the patio, Maxie saw the small, neat house that sat twenty-five feet away from the main house.
“Austin had it built when my grandmother moved in. He said we needed our privacy.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “It’s my guess he’s the one who needed his privacy.”
Maxie opened the sliding glass door, went out across the patio until she got to his front door. She knocked and waited. Finally, the door opened and Austin stood in the doorway. He didn’t say anything he just stood there.
“I found out what you did.”
“I don’t want to be repaid.” He closed the door in her face.
His mistake was, he didn’t lock it. She wasn’t sure even that would have kept her out.
She went in and made a flying leap for his back. The flowers broke from the bundle and rained down on them. When she landed on him, it pushed him forward right into a bunch of pillows he kept in front of a beautiful kiva fireplace.
When he got himself turned around, Maxie straddled his lap. “You’re going to listen to me. I have something to say.”
“You always have something to say—you never shut up.”
“That’s right, so let me say what I came here to say because the last time I said it, it wasn’t very romantic…. I love you.”
There was a sudden glimmer of raw emotion in his eyes, and he abruptly looked away. Maxie saw him try to swallow. He waited a moment then looked back at her. “Are you sure I’m the right man for you?”
“You didn’t come after me when you had the chance. Dorrie told me everything. You knew where I was, but you let me go. You sold your car. You refused to be reimbursed for the money you laid out to that hacker of Jake’s. I know you’re the right man for me. You don’t care that I like bikers and llamas. That I would rather go dirt biking then do the laundry. I’m spontaneous and you’re not. So you can balance me out and I’ll balance you out.”
She held her breath when Austin didn’t reply. His face was still, his eyes dark and fathomless. God, she could get lost in those eyes forever—free fall into soft honey velvet. With a rough outburst of air, he clenched his eyes shut and hauled her into his arms. “I love everything about you, blondie.” Tightening his grasp, he whispered against her hair, his voice ragged. “I need you in my life, someone who knows how to surprise me.”
Maxie wound her arms around his neck, squeezing her eyes closed with relief that she hadn’t lost Austin. “Good. We can start with what’s in the driveway.” She raised her eyebrows up and down. “You were right about everything. I had to come back. It was the right thing to do.” She got off him and helped him up. “The way I left you…I felt so bad that I couldn’t stand it anymore. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You did what you thought you had to do.” He paused then asked, “What about the club?”
“The license came four days ago. The club’s fine, especially now that you cleared my name.”
He looked away from her. “I figured that it was something I could do for you.”
“You make me feel grounded, Austin. It’s not something I’m accustomed to.”
His eyes narrowed a fraction, and he stared at her, his gaze suddenly dark and serious. “Get accustomed to it, blondie. I’m crazy in love with you.” He stared at her for an instant longer, then he closed his eyes and pressed into her, his unchecked strength nearly crushing her. There was silence for some time as he just held on to her, as if he couldn’t let her go, and Maxie closed her eyes and clung to him.
“What’s with the flowers? A peace offering?”
“You said they cured headaches and I thought it couldn’t hurt to bring them. Maybe your grandmother could figure out how to make the remedy.”
He threw back his head and laughed, holding her tight.
“Come on, Austin. Come see what I got you.”
“I’m afraid to look,” he said huskily, following her out the door and around the house. When they turned the corner, Austin stopped dead and stared.
He stared at the car so long that Maxie wondered if he had turned to stone.
He looked at her, the muscles in his jaw bunched. He inhaled roughly. “That’s my car,” he said softly.
“Yes. It’s your car.”
He turned to her. “How could you afford to buy my car back?”
“Jake bought me out. I divested in Firecrackers.”
“No, Maxie. I won’t let you do that.”
“Wait. I haven’t told you everything. Jake gave me some of the reward money. After I bought the car back, I reinvested almost all the money. You’ll never guess where.”
“Where?”
“The Lucky Star. I want to go back to Mesa Roja and live. I loved it there.”
He laughed, gathered her up in his arms and whirled her around. “You are one spontaneous woman.”
She looked up into his eyes and smiled. “Yes I am and I’m one lucky woman now that I have you, Austin.”
“So what are you going to do with the money you saved?”
“What?”
“You said you reinvested almost all of the money.”
“Well, I didn’t actually save it. Look in the back seat of the car.”
He walked over to the back seat and she saw him swallow hard and brace himself against the window.
She walked up to him and saw that he was overcome with emotion. “I don’t know if it’s like the one your father bought you, but the clerk at the electronics store said it was powerful. I want to touch the stars with you.”
He buried his face in her neck and gathered her close to him. Maxie closed her eyes and was glad that she could give him something that had so much meaning.
“I didn’t expect you to come back. I thought I’d lost you.”
“No way. You could never lose me.” She pressed her hand to his heart. “Keep me right here for the rest of my life.”
He kissed her and it was the cheering from the upstairs window that drew them apart.
She smiled up into his face. “That would be your family.”
“Yes, it would. Why don’t you come in and meet them?”
And Maxie did with her heart full and her step light.
Epilogue
“MRS. GRANGER, you shouldn’t eat all the gumdrops in one sitting,” Maxie scolded as they rocked out in front of the Taggarts’ main house. “Austin will be here any minute to drive us to Handlebar… I mean David and Star’s wedding. You won’t have any room for cake.”
“What do I have to worry about? My health? Dear, I can eat as much candy and cake as I want, if you haven’t noticed—I’m old.”
“Then you should stop acting like a child.” Maxie smiled, but took the gumdrops out of Mrs. Granger’s hands.
“Oh my, the roller coaster sure looks fine in that uniform,” Mrs. Granger said with an appreciative tone in her voice.
Maxie looked out toward the dri
veway as Austin walked around his cruiser. The tan sheriff’s uniform looked very, very good on him. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of mirrored sunglasses and a tan Stetson covered his shiny black hair, although nothing could stop the impact of this hot, dangerous man.
“Star’s sure glad that you decided to buy an interest in her roadhouse. Why, your ideas have transformed that place.”
Austin came onto the porch.
“Hi, handsome. If you’re looking for some criminals, you’ve come to the wrong place,” Maxie teased.
“I don’t know about that, blondie. It’s sure criminal for you ladies to be so beautiful.” He smiled and leaned down to give his wife a kiss.
Mrs. Granger got up from her rocker. “I’ll go get my wrap and let your grandmother, mother and sister know you’re here.”
Maxie looked up at him. “You look good enough to eat, Austin.”
“Mmm. We have a wedding to attend. There’s no time for any naughtiness,” he said, censure in his eyes.
“That’s too bad. I can think of so many different ways to be bad.” She gave him a look full of sin.
“Don’t make me arrest you. I have handcuffs,” he threatened softly, his eyes telling her that he’d love it right now if she were bad.
“Don’t tempt me, Austin,” Maxie said softly as she got up and wrapped her arms around her husband’s waist.
Austin laughed as he felt her try to lift the cuffs. “Oh, no, you don’t. The last time we had to call the fire department when you accidentally kicked the key down the grate.”
“Okay, I’ll wait until tonight, if I have to.” Maxie backed into her chair and caught her hose. It ripped a run in the nylon. “Will you look at that? Now I have to change.”
“Looks like you’ll need my assistance ma’am.” Austin pulled the radio from his belt and spoke into it while a slow smile spread across her face. “We’ll still have plenty of time to get you to the church.” For a moment, Austin crushed her to him, so tightly in his arms that only the two of them existed.
“Get a room,” Jessica groused as she walked around them and down to the cruiser that had just pulled up. “You better hurry up, Maxie.”
“Just have to change my hose,” Maxie said with a grin. “Do you have any spare?”
“Yes, I do. In my top dresser drawer,” Jessica said.
Mrs. Granger and Austin’s mother and grandmother approached them. “I can see the sun will burn a long time for you,” his grandmother whispered to Austin.
He smiled down at Maxie. “Yes, grandmother, I believe that it will.”
Maxie watched as her family got into the cruiser and drove off. She deftly grabbed the cuffs at Austin’s belt.
Austin smiled as he followed her into the house.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8246-3
HOT ON HER TAIL
Copyright © 2002 by Karen Alarie.
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