by Jane Graves
Alex shook the woman’s hand and handed her the ribbon. “Congratulations,” he said. “The winner, hands down.”
More applause. The woman looked very pleased. Nadine and Raydine looked homicidal.
“Way to go, Dan,” Val whispered, smiling. “Those two just put out a contract on you. Better watch your back while we eat.”
Alex looked around at the crowd, most of whom were moving toward the food tables to fill up plates. His gut feeling told him there was no danger here. That feeling had never failed him before, but still he intended to be on the lookout. All it took was one person to recognize them, and all hell would break loose.
chapter fourteen
Val decided it was the best meal she’d ever eaten. Ever.
Barbecued brisket, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, and a variety of other salads and breads and all kinds of other good stuff. Alex was sitting across from her at the picnic table, and judging by the speed with which he was clearing his plate, he seemed to be just as taken with the food as she was. Then somebody came by and offered them drinks. She took a Diet Coke, and Alex popped the top on a can of Coors.
“So,” Val asked him. “How are the old taste buds? Coming back to life?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I will get you for that. Sometime when you least expect it. And you won’t even know what hit you.”
Val grinned. “Not a chance.”
“You see if I don’t.”
He gave her a knowing look, as if he were already plotting revenge. Little did he know, but she’d have been thrilled if he actually carried it out. If he played a practical joke, it meant he really did have a sense of humor in there somewhere. She wasn’t holding her breath, but it was nice to think that somewhere, someday, he’d make good on the promise.
He pointed to her plate. “I see you passed on the rattlesnake.”
“Had to. Those pesky allergies again.” She sighed dramatically. “I swear, there’s not a single decent thing on this planet that I can eat.”
“Don’t tell me. You’re also allergic to liver and anchovies.”
“That’s why I like you, Alex. You catch on quick.”
She smiled at him again, and this time he smiled back. God, he was beautiful when he smiled. At what point in his life had he decided that a smile was something he could do without?
About halfway through their meal, the winner of the chili cook-off joined them at their picnic table, introducing herself as Glenda McMurray.
“You’re a smart man,” Glenda told Alex, as she put her plate on the table and sat down. “By picking my chili you kept Nadine and Raydine from killing each other. Of course, now both of them want to kill me.”
“Nah. I’m the one at the top of their hit list. But it really wasn’t a contest. Yours had the one ingredient I value most in chili.”
“What’s that?”
“Blandness.”
Glenda grinned, then leaned in and whispered, “Don’t tell Nadine and Raydine, but I got my recipe off the back of a chili seasoning packet.”
“You seem to have forgotten the habanero peppers,” Val said.
“Are you kidding? I swear, those things will eat up the inside of a Crock-Pot quicker than battery acid.”
After a few more minutes, Inez and Cletus joined them, their plates piled high. Soon the whole table was buzzing with conversation, and even after everybody finished eating, they hung around, chatting until evening became dusk. The whole park came alive with activity. Kids ran relay races on the hillside near the pavilion while women started setting out desserts. As one beer after another disappeared from the coolers, the commotion level kicked up a notch, punctuated by laughter and good cheer.
As Cletus was engaging Alex in a discussion about spark plugs that he couldn’t possibly have been interested in even though he was pretending he was, Val glanced over at the deputy, who sat at the next picnic table with another group of people. Every few minutes, he’d look over at them. At first it made her heart skip a little, thinking that maybe he was on to them, but then she realized it wasn’t her and Alex he was looking at. It was Glenda.
“You and the deputy,” Val whispered to Glenda. “Is something going on between the two of you?”
“Me and Stanley? No. Nothing.” But then she glanced over at him, and Val saw that the moment their eyes met, they both looked away again.
“He likes you, doesn’t he?”
Glenda shrugged and took another bite of pea salad.
“Do you like him?”
She shrugged again. “Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
Glenda sighed. “When he’s not trying to be a tough guy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like tonight. He couldn’t just talk to Raydine and Nadine. He had to go getting all tough with them, telling them he was gonna toss them in jail if they didn’t straighten up. Sounds kinda silly, because everybody knows there’s no way he’s gonna do that. Those two ladies would end up locking him up if he tried.”
“So you don’t think much of the macho approach.”
“I don’t know. If it fits a guy, I suppose it’s all right.” She glanced at Alex. “Like your husband there. If he said stuff like that, you can bet your life people would listen, and it wouldn’t sound stupid. But it’d make more sense for a guy like Stanley to rely on what’s between his ears and not on the rest of his body. When he finally did that, by getting you two up there to judge the contest, everything turned out just fine. I thought that was a pretty smart thing for him to do.”
Val smiled. She was so cute. And Stanley was such an idiot. She decided before the night was over, she was going to have a word with him.
They ate the rest of their meal, making small talk about nothing in particular, and Val noticed that Glenda and Stanley traded several more glances. When Glenda got up to go to the bathroom, Val leaned over to Alex.
“Did you see those two?”
“What two?”
“Stanley and Glenda.”
“What about them?”
“They like each other.”
Alex just stared at her dumbly. “What?”
“He likes her, but he’s always trying to show off, and she hates that, but he probably thinks that’s how he’s got to act to impress her, but it turns her off, and … well, you can see the problem.”
Alex stared at her, dumbfounded. “How do you know all that?”
“It’s just girl talk.”
“I’ve known some men for ten years and I couldn’t tell you that much about them.”
“That’s because you’re a man. I’ve been known to go into a public bathroom with a total stranger, and in the time it takes to wash our hands, I’ve heard her entire life story.”
“This may come as a shock to you, but men don’t do a lot of chatting over the urinal.”
“Which is why you don’t know a thing about each other.”
He rolled his eyes, but ended up smiling anyway, and just the sight of it made another jolt of pure pleasure surge through her. Then she glanced over at the dessert table and saw the deputy reaching for a slice of pie.
“I’m getting some dessert,” she told Alex. “Can I bring you something?”
“Anything. As long as it doesn’t have peppers in it.”
Val went to the dessert table. “Hello, Deputy.”
“Mrs. Roberts. Mighty fine barbecue, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Mighty fine.” She glanced at Glenda, then looked back at Stanley. “Glenda McMurray. She’s been talking about you.”
Stanley’s eyes widened, and he looked as if he’d swallowed a golf ball. “She has?”
“Yes. She’s been telling me what a smart man you are.”
Stanley looked at her with total incredulity. “That’s what she’s been saying?”
“Oh, yeah. Women like that, you know. Smart men.”
“They do?”
“Well, of course they do.”
Stanley just stared, perplexed.
“And later,” she said, “when the dance starts?”
“Yeah?”
“I think she’d like it if you asked her to dance.”
“Really?”
Val grabbed a pair of double-fudge brownies. She started to walk off, then looked back over her shoulder with a knowing smile. “Really.”
Stanley’s mouth hung open dumbly, and she wondered if maybe she hadn’t put him into irreversible sensory overload. It was sure going to be interesting to see if he worked up the nerve to talk to Glenda, much less ask her to dance.
The park had eased into near-darkness, with only a pale orange glow remaining around the horizon. Somebody was in the process of lighting several copper tiki torches around the perimeter of the pavilion. A few seconds later the overhead lights in the pavilion were dimmed to a warm, faint glow, leaving the torch flames to provide most of the illumination.
She headed back toward the picnic table and saw that Alex was sipping from his second beer and carrying on a conversation with Cletus and a couple of the other men. It struck her that he actually seemed to be having a good time.
She stopped a moment and watched him, and the sight made her breath catch in her throat. Even when he was relaxed, he had a commanding posture, always holding that gorgeous body of his in a way that drew her attention like nothing else. Even beneath the dark T-shirt he wore, she could clearly see the outline of his broad, muscular shoulders and chest, along with biceps and triceps that were beyond belief. That he was handsome was a given. It was almost as if God couldn’t bear to give him that beautiful body without a face to go with it. Maybe it was shallow of her to respond so completely to a man’s physical appearance, but when a man looked like Alex DeMarco, she couldn’t imagine a woman on earth who wouldn’t wallow around in that shallowness right along with her.
Then she thought about how they’d be staying in the same room tonight. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steadying herself before she dropped the brownies. She could only pray there were twin beds.
As she approached the table, Cletus apparently said something funny, because Alex laughed, a deep, rich, hearty laugh that wrapped itself around Val’s heart. She put the brownies on the table and sat down next to him.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
Still chuckling a little, he turned to look at her. “Cletus knows a joke or two.”
“Care to share?”
“Sorry. They’re not fit for a lady’s ears.”
“Now, Dan,” she said quietly, “you know I’m no lady.”
His broad smile faded to a softer one. “I don’t know any such thing.”
Alex continued to stare at her, and slowly something seemed to come alive between them. He’d had a couple of beers, but a man like him didn’t fall easily under the influence. His gaze was sure and steady, focusing on her face as if it were the first time he was seeing it.
“What?” she whispered.
“You look beautiful tonight.”
Her heart jolted hard, then settled into a maddening rhythm. Alex had never been one to toss around compliments, and it caught her completely off guard.
“It’s the tiki torches. Every woman looks good by the light of a tiki torch.”
“I don’t think the torches have a thing to do with it.”
Commotion was going on all around them as the band started tuning up and people moved chairs to circle what was going to be the dance floor, but for that moment in time, Val barely saw them. She had eyes only for Alex.
“It’s so nice to get away from everything,” she whispered. “Even if it’s only for a little while.”
His smile faded, and he looked away.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, really,” he said softly. “It just reminded me of why we’re here.”
“Don’t think about that.”
“It’s hard not to think about being accused of murder.”
She ran her hand gently up and down his arm. “Not tonight you haven’t been,” she said. “Okay? Not tonight.”
His gaze shifted to where her hand rested against his arm. She started to pull away, only to have him take her hand in his. And that simple touch electrified her.
“I’m glad you talked me into coming,” he said. “This has been—” He stopped and gazed around the pavilion, then laughed softly. “I don’t believe it, but this has actually been fun.” Then his smile dimmed. “And you were right. I don’t usually have much of that.”
“Then maybe you need somebody like me around once in a while to shake things up.”
“Yeah. Maybe I do.”
The band started to play, some wild-and-woolly country song that had the whole place stomping, but to Val it sounded like white noise. Alex turned to face the band. She did the same. He kept hold of her hand, resting it against his thigh beneath the picnic table, and Val thought her heart was going to jump right out of her chest. Her eyes were on the band, which featured a fiddle player who was clearly the star of the show, but her entire attention was focused on the feel of Alex’s strong, callused fingers against hers.
She couldn’t look at him. She didn’t want to think about what it meant. She just wanted to feel it. He stroked his thumb back and forth against her hand, a soft, gentle motion that mesmerized her. The humid night air still held most of the relentless heat of the day, but right now it felt like a warm blanket that had wrapped around both of them, bringing them together.
The band played a second song, then a third, and still they sat there, holding on to each other, saying nothing. Then the band downshifted into a soft, soulful song with a much slower pace.
Val looked across the pavilion and noticed that Stanley was talking to Glenda. Then she rose, and the two of them went to the dance floor. Good. He’d gotten up the nerve to ask her to dance, and she’d said yes. True love in the making.
She leaned closer to Alex. “Look. Stanley and Glenda. They’re dancing.”
“Interesting couple.”
“Just goes to show you that there’s somebody for everybody.”
“And they just happened to find each other in Tinsdale, Texas. What are the odds?”
“Maybe they’re just destined to be together.”
Alex smiled indulgently. “Uh-huh.”
“What?” she said. “You don’t believe in fate? In destiny?”
“Come on, Val,” he said teasingly. “You know me better than that.”
Val smiled. She did. He was a man who insisted on being in control. The very idea that some unseen force would be pushing him around the universe was something he’d take great exception to.
“Well, can you think of any other explanation for why some people are attracted to each other?”
Alex turned to look at the band again, but she could feel his attention still focused squarely on her.
“I suppose it would explain a lot,” he said.
Val had expected nothing but bad attitude from Alex tonight, with lots of pointed frowns to remind her of just how he felt about the mess they’d ended up in.
And now this.
Don’t forget, she told herself. Don’t you ever forget what he did to you.
But as much as she willed herself to remember, the memory was fading fast, until the only thing she seemed to be able to comprehend was what was happening here and now.
Soon the song wound down. Another one began.
“Another slow song,” Alex said.
“Yeah.”
“Come on.”
To Val’s surprise, Alex rose from the picnic table. Still holding her hand, he coaxed her to stand, then led her toward the dance floor. She followed as if she were in some kind of trance, her body hot and shaky, her mind muddled, giving her the uncanny, out-of-body feeling that she’d fallen asleep and was dreaming the whole thing.
If that’s true, Lord, please let me sleep forever.
When they reached the dance floor, he eased her around to face him. Slowly he slipped his arm around
her waist. She rested her palm against his chest. He pulled her closer, until their bodies were pressed together.
Oh, yes.
They didn’t dance as much as they simply moved with each other, letting the music flow over them. Val had never really had a sense of just how big and powerful Alex was until she’d found herself in his arms that night five years ago, and she had that same feeling now, as if she were being held by a man strong enough to wrestle a grizzly to the ground. With a soft sigh, she laid her head against his shoulder, then stroked her hand down his back, feeling planes of solid muscle from his shoulders to his waist, wishing she could slip her hand beneath his shirt and feel his bare skin against her hand.
Wished he would take his shirt off altogether.
Alex moved his hand from her waist, sliding it up to her shoulder and finally to her neck. He tucked his hand beneath her hair until his fingertips found the skin at the nape of her neck. He stroked his thumb back and forth there, sending hot shivers all the way to her toes.
Nothing on earth felt better than this. Nothing.
But there was something else she felt as he held her, something besides pure sexual feeling. She felt warm. She felt content.
She felt safe.
No. It was a lie. An illusion. She’d trusted him that night five years ago, too, and look what it had gotten her.
But it was only a dance, she told herself. Just one dance.
Then he shifted a bit, and she felt the hard ridge of his arousal pressed against her. Desire sparked hot and heavy inside her, pooling right between her legs.
No. It was more than a dance. Much more. He wanted her. She could feel it.
And she wanted him.
When she woke up this morning, she couldn’t have imagined that they would end up in a place like this, talking and laughing together, then dancing in the dark. Or that they’d be sleeping in the same room tonight.
The song slowly wound down. Alex pulled away slightly, and their eyes met. He stared down at her a second, then two. She knew what he intended to do, and the mere thought of it made her heart race like mad. He lowered his head, and she felt as if eons passed before he finally, finally touched his lips to hers.
She leaned into him automatically, and the moment she responded, he tilted her head back and delved deeper, slipping his tongue into her mouth and stroking it against hers. Her breasts felt hot and tingly, her skin suddenly so raw and sensitive that it seemed to sizzle everywhere he touched her.
