Texas Hold 'Em

by Christie Craig

  She dipped the toothbrush into the soapy bleach water and commenced to scrubbing. Scrubbing hard. Her sinuses stung. She blamed the bleach. She’d cried enough. It shouldn’t hurt this much. It hadn’t hurt this much when Brian’s father walked out. But she knew why. There had been something about Roberto, something she couldn’t explain. The connection. The feeling of fate. And yet she barely knew him.

  But she did, a voice inside her said. She’d known him well enough that she’d risked her job to remove a bullet from his leg. She’d trusted him enough to bring him into her home. To get naked with him. To offer him the one emergency condom she’d bought a year after Brian was born just in case some knight in shining armor showed up to sweep her away.

  He’d swept her away. He’d made her glow inside.

  She’d thought he was her knight. She could still recall the talk she’d had with her dad less than a month before he died. She’d just broken up with a boyfriend and he’d told her, Sweetie, he wasn’t the one. You weren’t shining from the inside out. You see, when you meet the right person, like your mom is my person, you’ll glow. It’s this feeling you get inside, as if you just discovered another part of yourself.

  Roberto had held her so tenderly and made love to her. Made that lonely knot she’d felt for months fade away like a rainbow faded from the sky after a rain shower. Just talking to him over the phone had infused her with… happiness.

  Then he’d called her a mistake.

  After she finished the kitchen grout, she might as well do the bathroom.

  Leah tried to be patient. But Luis was in that hospital and they were driving around the building over and over again. Austin talked to Dallas twice. They hadn’t spotted Rafael or Cruz. Enough already, she wanted to scream.

  Finally, he parked. He glanced at her. “Wait until I open your door to get out.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  Austin’s clown face went stern. “What did I tell you about doing everything I said?”

  “Sorry.” She wasn’t accustomed to taking orders.

  He opened her door and pulled her to his side. His touch sent bolts of emotion coursing through her so strong that it physically hurt. It hurt more when she realized the reason for the closeness. He was shielding her. He was willing to take a bullet for her.

  She held her breath until they entered the hospital. The knot of unease in her stomach lessened, but not so much for Austin. His gaze flipped from side to side as if he thought Rafael might be inside.

  They got in an elevator.

  Stepping out on the third floor, another tall cop-looking guy stood at the door down the hall. He nodded. “Make it short. We’re moving him to another hospital in ten minutes.”

  Ten minutes didn’t seem like enough time, but she’d take what she could get. Austin motioned for her to go. So he trusted her enough not to think he had to come in and listen. Or was the room bugged? As soon as the thought hit, she sent it packing. He wasn’t the enemy anymore. But what was he? Her heart seemed to know the answer, but she wasn’t ready to listen.

  She moved in. The door swished closed. The room’s silence enveloped her. Luis was asleep. Emotional pain gripped her chest at the sight of his swollen face and bruises. Tears filled her eyes and her breath hitched as she imagined the pain he’d endured.

  She inched closer, trying to find a spot on his body that wasn’t black and blue to touch. Even his arms were purple. She rested her hand on the back of his.

  His eyes opened, or tried to. He stared at her through swollen eyelids.

  “Hey. It’s me,” she said, remembering her costume.

  “Shit!” he muttered. “What are you doing here?”

  “I had to come.” Her throat thickened; tears spilled from her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Luis. Why did Rafael do this?”

  “Because he’s… a bastard. He thought I was somehow getting information to the police. A kid that he thought was behind this went to school with me. I hardly knew the kid. And then he had some deals go bad in Austin and then in San Antonio. And because I was in both places at the time he just assumed…”

  “Shh.” Leah could tell it hurt him to talk. She started to touch his lips but pulled her hand back when she saw the stitches on his bottom lip.

  “I told that PI to keep you away. Rafael’s one sick human. Enjoys seeing people hurt.”

  She pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from crying aloud. Breathing deep, she found a small measure of control. “Austin and his friends are moving you to another hospital so Rafael can’t find you.”

  “I know. You leave,” he muttered. “Go somewhere safe.”

  “I love you.” More tears slipped from her lashes.

  “Love you, too, but please leave. You’re not invincible like you think.”

  Fury built in her chest for Rafael. She wanted to hit him, to hurt him like he’d hurt Luis. “Is anything broken?”

  “Just a rib,” he said. “I’m fine. Get out of here.”

  The door swished open and Austin stepped in. His gaze met hers as if saying her time was up. He glanced at Luis.

  “I’m Austin Brook.”

  “You the clown who saved her?” Luis tried to smile, but it looked painful.

  “Yeah,” Austin replied.

  “Thanks. Now get her the hell away from here before Rafael shows up. Don’t let her push you around. Her bark is worse than her bite.” He nudged Leah away. “Go.”

  Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to his forehead.

  “Love you,” she whispered.

  Austin took her hand as they walked to the door. “You okay?”

  Emotion swelled inside her. “Promise me you’ll catch that bastard.”

  He smoothed his thumb over the top of her hand. “That’s my plan.”

  Austin nodded at Rick as they stepped out. Leah looked at him. “Please keep him safe.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said.

  Austin’s phone rang. He checked the number. “Dallas.” He took the call. “We’re leaving,” he said into the phone, then frowned. “Shit! Where?” He listened for a second and hung up.

  “What?” Leah and Rick asked at the same time.

  “Dallas spotted a dark sedan with tinted windows parked three cars over from our rental. They’re here.”

  Rick pulled out a set of keys. “Take my truck. White Ford, parked outside the emergency room. Dallas and I’ll hold the fort down here. Get her out of here.”

  “No,” Leah insisted. “I’m staying with Luis.”

  “We’re leaving,” Austin growled.

  “They don’t know what room he’s in,” Rick told her. “We moved him. Go. We’ll take care of your brother. If you’re here, we’ll have two of you to protect and that makes it harder.”

  Austin handed Rick the rental car keys. “It’s a Chevy Cruze, silver, south entrance. My truck’s at the rental place.” He took Leah’s arm. She followed. She didn’t want to, but she did.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  IN THE ELEVATOR, Austin pulled the puffy, elastic-gathered sleeve over his hand. Leah saw the barrel of a gun poking out of the gathered fabric. A gun. Another thing he’d lied about, but she was too scared to care.

  The elevator doors opened. He stepped out looking left and right, then motioned her out.

  They walked down a long hall, following the signs to the emergency room. Anytime someone crossed their paths, his shoulders tensed. Don’t let him shoot anyone. Don’t let him shoot anyone. The mantra repeated in her head.

  Her chest tensed, making it hard to breathe. They walked outside. Cold October air made her skin crawl. Austin’s red wig stirred in the breeze. He pulled her against him again. Not to shield her from the cold, but from bullets.

  She wondered if this meant he cared, or if this was just his protect-and-serve training coming out. Either way, she moved beside him.

  “We’re looking for a white Ford truck,” he bit out.

  She scanned the parking lot. “Is that it?” She pointed at the
third row.

  “Yes.”

  As they stepped off the sidewalk, she saw him. Cruz stood on the other side of the parking lot, but he stared right at her.

  “There’s Cruz!” she muttered, and the man came walking toward them.

  “Keep walking. He doesn’t know it’s us.”

  Cruz called out, “Hey, clowns! I need to ask ya something.”

  “Damn!” Austin passed the keys to her. “Get in the truck and drive off.”

  “Where?”

  “Away from here.” He grabbed his phone out from under his clown outfit, hit a number, and muttered, “They spotted us. Outside the emergency room.” He hung up.

  “Go!” He motioned for them to do so.

  “I’m not leaving you.” Leah glanced back. Cruz was halfway across the lot. And damn if it didn’t look like he held something in his hands. Something like a gun… or a knife.

  “Go!” He shoved her forward. She took off.

  “Stop!” Cruz yelled again.

  Leah’s pounding heart echoed in her ears as she ran. The metallic taste of fear coated her tongue. The memory of Cruz’s forced kiss sent a sick feeling to her gut.

  “What is it, buddy?” Leah heard Austin call out, no doubt drawing attention to himself.

  She clicked the truck open, crawled in, but her hands shook so hard, she couldn’t fit the key in the ignition. Then she made the mistake of looking up. Cruz and Austin were fighting. Why didn’t he shoot him? she wondered.

  A loud pop sounded, but it came from across the parking lot. She spotted a man running toward the fight. It wasn’t Dallas or Rick. It had to be another of Rafael’s men. She spotted a baseball bat on the floorboard. She stopped trying to fit the key in the ignition.

  She snatched up the bat and leaped out of the truck, praying she made it there before the guy with a gun. Praying one of his bullets wouldn’t get to her first.

  When she got there, Cruz and Austin were rolling around on the ground. Cruz, on top, pushed a knife toward Austin’s face, while Austin held the man’s wrist back. It wasn’t until she swung the bat at Cruz’s head that she realized it was a plastic T-ball bat. It still caused a good whack upside his temple.

  Startled, Cruz shot around. Austin bolted to his feet. He growled, then charged at Cruz. She spotted Austin’s gun on the ground. Thinking it was a better weapon than a plastic bat, she started for it. Cruz caught her by the arm and slung her back. Austin went at Cruz.

  Catching herself from falling face first on the pavement, she saw Cruz swipe his blade at Austin, missing him by inches. She took a flying leap onto the man’s back. Wrapping her legs around his waist, one hand around his neck and the other around his eyes, she screamed. He stopped fighting Austin and started dancing and bucking to get her off his back. Austin, spitting out obscenities—that seemed aimed at her—charged Cruz again.

  He hit Cruz in the upper gut with his fist. Cruz’s knife dinged to the pavement, and then he went down, taking Leah with him. Slammed to the pavement, her lungs gave up their air in a gulp. Another bullet popped off. Leah saw the pavement splinter at Austin’s feet. He scrambled for his gun, and Cruz bolted between two cars.

  Austin snatched her up so fast, her feet dangled in the air. He forced her into a dead run toward the truck. Bullets pinged against the cars as they ran.

  She must have left the door open, because Austin shoved her inside on the driver’s side and then came in behind her, pushing her to the passenger side.

  “Keys?” he snapped.

  “Shit.” She started looking around the truck seat.

  She spotted them on the floorboard at the same time he did. He snatched them up. The engine roared to life as a spray of bullets hit the truck.

  “Down!” He grabbed her head and buried it in his lap.

  He kept his hand on her head, her nose pressed firmly in his crotch as he drove off. She couldn’t explain it—hysteria, maybe panic—but she laughed. She tried to rise up.

  “Not yet,” he bit out.

  He turned the truck on a dime. Tires squealed as he stomped his foot on the accelerator.

  She waited another few seconds before sitting up.

  This time, he let her. She looked back and didn’t see anyone following them. She laughed again. “That was almost fun.”

  He looked at her with so much anger her exhilaration evaporated.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I friggin’ told you to leave!” He yanked off his wig and tossed it into the seat.

  “I saved you,” she said.

  “You could have been killed. You promised to do what I said.”

  “So I lied,” she snapped back. “Seems to be the norm around here, Mr. I-have-gun-because-I-travel!”

  Growling, he focused on the road, zipping in and out of traffic, getting them as far away from Cruz and his men as possible.

  His phone rang. Snatching it from his jeans pocket he answered it. “Tell me you got them.” He sounded like an angry bear. “Damn!” he muttered.

  “Is Luis okay?” she blurted out, certain it was either Dallas or Rick.

  He glanced at her, nodded, then refocused on the road. “We’re fine.” He paused and his scowl deepened. “Give me hell later, not now.” He hung up.

  Shooting her another frown, he said, “Buckle up.”

  He drove without speaking. Never had she seen such an angry clown. When he stopped speeding, and she stopped shaking, she actually fell asleep.

  Someone touched Leah’s shoulder.

  “Hey, sleepyhead, we’re here.”

  Lifting her eyelids, she flinched at the sight of the blond clown standing outside the passenger door. Then it all came back. Seeing Luis, the fight with Cruz, Austin… Her heart raced, but his sweet expression sent her initial panic packing. He leaned in front of her. She thought he planned to kiss her. She had no intention of stopping him. He unsnapped her seat belt instead.

  He smiled ever so softly. “You make an adorable clown.”

  Part of the conversation they’d had on the ride to the hospital replayed in her head.

  If you’re so afraid of cats, why did you agree to keep Spooky?

  Because you said I’d be your hero. I wanted to be that.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She nodded. Instinctively she knew she was done fighting. Done fighting with him.

  Done fighting what she felt. Lies, no lies. She cared about Austin. The thought scared her, but less than before.

  “You want me to carry you inside?” he asked.

  “No.”

  He stepped back. She caught him by the arm.

  “You are,” she said.

  He tilted his head to the side, looking like a confused clown. “I’m what?”

  “My hero. Thank you for taking me to see Luis.”

  His painted smiled turned upside down. “I almost got you killed.”

  “No. You saved me. Then I saved you,” she reminded him.

  “That still pisses me off,” he said, but he was smiling, especially when she caught the ruffled collar of his clown costume and tugged him closer.

  “Thank you.” She pressed her lips against his.

  She was kissing him. Austin could hardly believe it. It started out soft, sweet, but went to hot and hungry in seconds. And it was she who took it there. He’d been too afraid to react. Her tongue slipped inside his mouth. She pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. At some point, he stopped thinking about being kissed and started kissing back. He almost climbed into the truck, but instead he caught her under her arms and pulled her out.

  So light, yet he’d never felt anything so right. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He placed his hands on her ass, loving how the round flesh fit into his palms. The V of her legs came right at his pelvis. Each step he took, she brushed against him, causing him to grow harder behind his zipper.

  All he could think about was how it would feel to hold her like this without clothes. To take her, sli
p inside her body, while standing up. To have his hands on her bare ass and shift her back and forth, in and out.

  He made the three steps up his porch, kissing her the whole time. He pulled away one second to unlock the door but didn’t let her down. Walking into his cabin, he was kissing her again. When three felines came running up, he barely hesitated before he went back to kissing her. Would it be presumptuous to head straight to the bed?

  Not wanting to chance ruining this, he asked, “Bed, sofa, or… kitchen table?”

  Her brow pinched. “Kitchen table?”

  He laughed. “To talk.” He prayed she wouldn’t go for that option.

  “About what?”

  He grinned. “About how badly I want to take you to bed.”

  She bit her bottom lip as if considering. “How about I shower first?” Her tone came out bashful.

  “Together?” He held his breath.

  Hesitation filled her eyes. Okay, he needed to slow down. “You go first.” He lowered her to her feet. Sliding her down him, feeling every inch of her. Another thing he wanted to do when they were naked.

  “I’ll hurry.” She smiled, now sounding bashfully sexy.

  “You do that.” He kissed her again. “If you get lonely, just holler. I’ll wash your back.”

  She grinned. He noted a touch of insecurity in her eyes, but then the sexy look she sent him over her shoulder before shutting the door made his breath catch.

  The running shower echoed behind the door. He had to reach into his jeans and adjust his dick. Suddenly, one of Leah’s gray cats shot out from under the bed and hacked up a hair ball on his shoe.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  LEAH STEPPED UNDER the spray and let the water hit her face to remove the clown paint. She hoped the warm water and steam would calm her nerves. Not that she wanted to back out. It was just that… it had been a long time, and old insecurities bubbled to the surface. Did she remember how to do it? Was it like riding a bicycle?

  Hell, she obviously had never been much of a biker chick—had been so bad at it that her ex had gone and biked with an older, less attractive neighbor. Not to mention, he’d turned to phone sex. She closed her eyes, accepting she had good reasons to be concerned. Then she remembered feeling the hardness between Austin’s legs as she’d slid down his body. He wanted her. She wanted him.