She flopped onto her bed still fully dressed and stared at the ceiling. The damn man was driving her crazy. One night he’s kissing her and the next he’s nowhere to be found. Pounding her fists on the mattress, she uttered the dirtiest word she knew. It didn’t help.
She climbed off the bed and opened her closet door to kick in her shoes. Cash’s belt and silver buckle swung to the side, whapping her wrist. She took the belt off the nail and hung it over the corner of the mirror above her dresser. That memento had traveled with her since the night he’d given it to her. It was one of the few items she owned that she wouldn’t sell or trade for anything. Did he even remember giving it to her? He’d probably laugh if he saw it. Think her a silly, sentimental female, which she wasn’t. Not by a long shot. But it represented a special night for her, a night that had changed her whole future.
After changing into her pajamas, she crawled between her sheets. As she settled into her foam-gel mattress, she sighed. Why couldn’t she fall for someone normal, like Marc Singer? Hell, why couldn’t she fall for someone who liked her back? Oh, no. She had to go and fall in love with the most obstinate cowboy God ever put on this earth.
Rolling onto her stomach, she thought about Marc. He was a really super guy. He deserved someone who chose him, not someone who was with him because her number-one choice was a stubborn bullheaded cowboy who needed her whether or not he’d admit it.
And based on that, she needed to tell Marc the truth. She liked him, but she didn’t like him. Argh. She was going to have to give him the let’s-be-friends talk and she hated that talk. She’d given it and been on the receiving end of that talk. Both ends sucked.
Flopping onto her back, she resumed her stare of the ceiling. Her door squeaked as it opened a couple of inches. Leaning up on her elbows, did she dare hope it was Cash? That he’d finally come to his senses and come down to her?
Ruby jumped onto the bed, her body so tiny that her landing made no movement. She bumped Paige’s arm, followed by a loud purr.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Paige sat, pulled the kitten into her lap and began giving Ruby long strokes down her back. “What’d you do today? Have a good day? Did you and Buster play? So what did Cash do while I was gone?”
The cat purred and butted but had no further information about the goings on in the house while Paige was on her date. She and Ruby rubbed noses.
“You’re no help at all.” Paige fluffed her pillow before lying back down. “You know what I’m going to do, Ruby?” The cat climbed on top of Paige’s abdomen and curled into a ball. Paige ran her hand in the cat’s fur. “I think I’m going to lasso me a stubborn bullheaded bull rider. He’ll never know what hit him until it’s too late. What do you think?”
Again, Ruby had no words of wisdom. Just a loud purr of approval.
Paige’s alarm beeped at seven. Groaning, she rolled over and turned it off. Her movement sent Ruby into a purring and head-butting routine.
“Great. Just what I need. A morning cat.” Sitting, she stretched. “I am so not a morning person.”
Cash’s silver buckle caught the morning rays and threw them into her eyes. She squeezed her eyes tight and then she remembered her resolution from last night. Either she needed to excise Cash Montgomery out of her mind and soul or she needed to weasel her way into his. One way or the other, she knew she had to resolve this mental battle before she could move on with her life.
She threw on her robe, brushed her hair and then opened her door. The life-affirming aroma of coffee wafted into her room. Pinch her. She had to be dreaming.
Cash was sitting at the dining room table, a cup of coffee at his elbow, his face hidden by the Sunday Whispering Springs Gazette.
“Morning.”
Cash lowered the paper enough to look over the top. “Morning.” He snapped the paper back into place.
Paige grinned to herself and headed for the kitchen. “Thanks for making coffee.”
“No problem.” The reply was muted by the newspaper.
While she waited for her toast to pop, she poured a cup of coffee and sipped. A little strong, but not surprising. She knew that most of the coffee the cowboys preferred was as thick as mud.
She carried her toast and coffee into the dining room, which, now that she thought about it, was the first time they’d eaten here instead of the kitchen table.
“What’s the occasion?” she asked. When he lowered the paper enough to frown at her, she indicated the table with her cup. “The dining room. I mean, it’s nice but we usually sit in the kitchen.”
He folded the paper and set it by his plate. “No occasion.”
When he started to push his chair back, she said, “Wait. Go with me to church this morning.” He started to argue but she cut him off. “They miss you, Cash. You’re home but you’re not. I mean, you’re here in Whispering Springs but you’re not seeing your family much.”
“Saw Travis yesterday. Will see the rest of the family tomorrow at the annual Bar M cookout and fireworks.”
“Sounds like fun. But come with me to church, Cash. I know your mom wants to see you.”
“She put you up to this?”
Paige shook her head. “Nope.”
“I hate a crowded church. The pews cram packed, hips pressed together, elbows colliding, overwhelming scents from a mixture of perfumes and colognes. Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Today’s perfect then. Being Memorial Day weekend, the crowd will be sparse. Lots of butt and elbow room. We need to leave here about ten. I’ll drive.”
He stood. “Of course you will.”
At ten when Paige walked into the living room, Cash sat on the sofa dressed in a pair of jeans, a snap shirt with a bolo tie and a jacket. His boots looked freshly polished.
“Well,” she said on a sigh. “You clean up right nice, Mr. Montgomery.”
He winked at her. “You look pretty spiffy yourself.”
Arriving at Whispering Springs United Methodist Church with Cash Montgomery had to be akin to escorting the latest teen idol through a mall. The women all fluffed their hair and pulled back their shoulders. The men had to slap his back or shake his hand. Cash appeared taken aback with the reception, as though he couldn’t understand why people would want to cozy up to him.
Sitting alone on the second row, his mother’s face lit up as if hit by a spotlight when she got sight of him. The smile that stretched across her mouth produced deep dimples in both her cheeks.
She stood to hug her son. “Cash,” she said. “You look wonderful.” She clutched his arm as she kissed his cheek. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” he said, and then realized he did feel better. He wasn’t in pain anywhere, if his heart ache didn’t count. When had his leg stopped hurting all the time? He couldn’t remember the last painkiller besides the nightly bedtime aspirin.
“Sit here with me,” Jackie Montgomery said, sliding farther down the pew. “You too, Paige. I haven’t even greeted you this morning.”
Paige smiled. “Good morning, Jackie.” She took a seat next to Cash on the pew.
Lane Montgomery entered the church through a side door and slipped into the pew next to his wife. “Morning, son. Paige.”
Paige had been right. Attendance was light, to say the least. His parents were the only Montgomerys present beyond him. Olivia, Jason and Travis had apparently skipped this morning, like he wished he could have done.
He hadn’t gone to sleep until long after Paige had arrived home from her date. At least the guy hadn’t spent the night. Better yet, she hadn’t even invited her date into the house. It’d taken every ounce of willpower combined with a dose of cussing to keep him upstairs and away from the front door. Another kiss like the one from Friday night and he’d have been stripping off Paige’s clothes as though they were on fire. Then again, another kiss like that and he’d be on fire.
At the moment, his biggest problem was that Paige was simply sitting too close for comfort. Not that she was doing anything but listening to the sermon, but her floral perfume made him want to press his nose into her neck, nibble along her ear, run his tongue down the curve of her chin and then kiss his way down her neck. Her leg touched his when she shifted on the pew. A powerful jolt of sexual awareness surged through his veins. He adjusted his position, but short of running out of the building, he was forced to sit there and let the essence of Paige Ryan permeate every one of his senses.
After the services, his mother grabbed his arm before he could make a run for the door. “I’m glad you came. I was going to call you this afternoon anyway. You are coming tomorrow to the barbeque, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Cash said.
“You too, Paige. Lydia did give you our invitation, didn’t she?”
A rosy blush bloomed on Paige’s cheeks. “She did, but I didn’t realize I was supposed to RSVP. I’m so sorry.”
Jackie laughed. “No RSVP necessary. Just come on over about three or so.”
“Of course. What can I bring?”
His mother thought for a moment and then said, “Pies and cookies. There’ll be a herd of kids running around. No one else is bringing cookies and I’m sure we can use another pie or any dessert you want to make. Can you do that?”
Paige grinned. “Cookies are my specialty.”
“Excellent.” Jackie hugged Cash. “You and Paige want to go to lunch with your dad and me?”
“Thanks, Mom. Maybe some other time.”
“Okay. Good to see you, Paige. See you both tomorrow.”
Once they were in the car, Cash said, “I still owe you a meal.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Sure I do. I’d planned on taking you out on Friday, but being that you’re so popular, you left me for another man that night.”
Paige laughed, the sound lighting a spark inside him. “Yeah. That’s my problem. I’m too popular.”
Grinning, Cash pointed through the windshield. “Drive. I’m buying lunch.”
“Where to?”
“The Rosemont Room. Ever been there?”
Paige shook her head. The Rosemont Room was one of the nicest restaurants in Whispering Springs.
“I figured we got all dressed up and everything. Let’s have lunch before we go home.”
Paige made a right turn and headed downtown. “If you’re paying, I’m eating.”
Lunch with Cash was like seeing an old friend. He laughed at her jokes, listened intently while she talked on and on about her new job, and then was ever-so sympathetic when they talked about her parents.
Over steaks and salads, they debated the strengths and weaknesses of every cookie they could name. But they had to agree it might be impossible to find someone who didn’t love chocolate chip cookies. Cash claimed he’d never eaten a snickerdoodle cookie, so Paige immediately made a mental note to bake some tonight for his parents’ party, along with chocolate chip cookies and a coconut cream pie.
When it came time to order dessert, Cash ordered a crème brûlée and two spoons so they could share.
It was the best date Paige had ever been on.
Too bad it wasn’t really a date.
When they arrived home, they headed to their separate bedrooms. Paige changed into a pair of shorts that she knew made her butt look great and her Rope Me, Cowboy T-shirt. Forgoing shoes, she headed for the kitchen and a few hours of baking. While assembling the needed supplies, she heard Cash tromp down the stairs followed by the click of Buster’s nails. The front door slammed, so she could only assume they’d headed for the yard.
Buster was good for Cash. Gave him something to do. Someone who relied on Cash every day. A reason to get exercise multiple times a day, something his injured leg still needed. She couldn’t remember the last time Cash had tried to pawn the dog off on someone else. Looked like Buster was here to stay, and she had no problem with that. She’d grown to love the little guy…almost as much as she loved the owner.
She started with the snickerdoodles since they were quick and easy and something new for Cash. She’d just slid the second pan into the oven and was removing the first batch from their pan when the back door opened and Cash and Buster came bounding through. Well, Buster was still bounding. Cash looked as if he’d had enough.
“Hmm. Something smells good,” he said. He sat the ball-thrower and a couple of tennis balls on the floor by the door.
“Snickerdoodles.”
He snatched a couple of hot ones off the cool rack and popped one in his mouth. His eyes rolled back as he moaned. “These are wonderful.”
“Great. Now stop eating tomorrow’s cookies.”
“Okay.” He grabbed up four more and race-walked from the kitchen.
“I saw that,” she called after him, but a broad grin split her lips.
“Saw what?” he answered, but the reply was garbled by a mouth full of hot cookies.
While the snickerdoodles were baking, she started on the chocolate chip cookie dough. She had her back to rest of the kitchen, so when the crinkle of rattling plastic began, she startled. Whipping around to the sound, she furrowed her brow in confusion. Cash had a large roll of clear, thick plastic that he was stapling over the door that led to the back bedroom.
“What are you doing?”
“Aw. How sweet. You’re wearing my favorite T-shirt. And I’m covering this door with plastic.”
Paige shut her eyes and shook her head. “Yes, I can see that. I meant, why are doing that?”
“You should have asked that then.” Cash glanced over at her, a sexy grin on his face.
“Har. Har. Let’s try this again. Why are you covering that door?”
The smile on his face was playing havoc with her heart. It raced, skipped and bounced around in response. The guy had sex appeal in spades, and she’d swear he didn’t even know it.
“I’m going to be doing a lot of work in here. The bathroom is going to take a total tear out. There’s rotten wood in the floor. I want to keep the dust and dirt confined in here as much as possible and out of the kitchen. Plus, I’m adding another exit close to the storm shelter so we can get to it faster if needed.”
“Oh.” She started the mixer going and then stopped and turned back. “Storm shelter? This house has a storm shelter?”
“Found it totally by accident. Completely out of date but would work in a pinch. I’ll show it to you later, but it’s on the patio side of the house.”
“Cool. Doubt we’ll ever need it, but nice to know it’s there.”
Cash went back to stapling plastic. Paige pulled another pan of cookies from the oven and replaced it with a dough-laden one. All the while, her brain ran over various ways to draw Cash’s interest to her. Not as a roommate but as a lover. Maybe if she rolled in the cinnamon and sugar mixture from the snickerdoodles, he’d feel compelled to tongue it all off her. Maybe not exactly the right plan, but she could start there and build on it.
For the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening, she baked to the sound of wood splintering and the occasional cuss word in the adjacent bedroom. She was sliding the last pan of cookies into the oven when the plastic crinkled and a dusty, sawdust-sprinkled Cash stepped through the door.
“Wow. Pigpen has nothing on you.”
Cash smiled, his teeth appearing even whiter when surrounded by all the dirt on his face. “Nasty in there. Now you see why I put up the plastic.”
“I do and I appreciate it.”
“I’m heading for the shower. What do you want to do about dinner?”
Paige eyed the piles of cookies, minus the ones she’d eaten, and her stomach groaned. “I may have eaten too many cookies. I’m not hungry at all.”
“What? You wouldn’t let me eat them.” Cash collected s
ix chocolate chip cookies from the cooling rack. “I’m going to take a shower. How about something easy tonight? Bacon and eggs and toast. I’ll even fix it.”
“You’re on.” Standing in the kitchen for the past few hours had Paige’s back and legs making their presence known with cramps and aching. “I’m almost done with the cookies. The coconut cream pie is the refrigerator, so hands off. I’ll get all this cleaned up and be mostly out of your way when you get back.”
She hustled and got everything put away, the cookies stored and was washing the final baking sheet when Cash came back. The spicy scent of Cash’s soap swirled around her and she drew in a deep breath.
“Better?” Cash held his arms up and turned.
“It’d be hard to be worse.”
He laughed. “Now scoot. The kitchen’s mine. I’ll holler when dinner’s ready.”
She saluted. “Aye, aye, Captain Cowboy.”
With Cash doing the cooking today—and she did wonder if he could cook since this was the first and only time he’d volunteered—Paige had time for a quick change. If she was going to try to seduce the man, she needed to shower and something sexy to put on. And the sexy outfit had to not look like she was trying to be sexy.
She sighed. Why couldn’t she just have liked Marc? It’d have been so much easier.
Digging into her dresser, she found a pair of cut-offs that could never been worn outside the house without fear of public exposure. With those, she put on a white tank top, again eschewing shoes. She’d just finished brushing her hair when she heard his yell.
“Dinner.”
Chapter Nine
“Paige. Dinner’s ready.”
The steak lunch had been great, and usually by this time in the evening, Cash would be starving. But the volume of cookies he’d stolen while Paige’s back was turned had put a damper on his appetite.
Plus, ever since church, he couldn’t get Paige’s scent out of his nose. He’d thought tearing out a rotted, moldy floor would at least replace Paige’s floral perfume, but no such luck. It didn’t take more than a few seconds to call up the aroma from his mind.
Texas Twist (Texas Montgomery Mavericks) Page 13
