The guy dropped to the floor, assumed the spread-eagle position. Cash kept his gun on him until Marc got the plastic cuffs on his prisoner. Even though the adrenaline was still flowing, the message didn’t get to Paige’s legs as they simply gave way and she collapsed to the floor. Lydia rushed over but she wasn’t fast enough to be first. Cash dropped to his knees beside her.
He brushed the hair off her forehead. “Hey, honey. You okay?”
“Cash.” She grabbed his hand. “You saved me.”
“Naw. Singer had it under control.” Still, when he wrapped her in his arms, she could feel them both shaking.
Caroline and Travis entered the room.
“Smart of you to enter the panic code,” Caroline said. “When it rang at the front desk, Margie and I had time to hide. I think the sheriff’s department was in the lobby within five minutes.” She hugged Lydia and then stooped to hug Paige. “You are both so brave and quick thinking to stall him long enough for Marc to get in place.” She stood. “Now, let’s get you both in exam rooms and let me have a look.”
Lydia shook her head. “I’m fine. A little shaken up and a whole lot mad, but physically only Paige needs attention.”
Cash stood. “Do you want me to carry you to a room?”
Paige snorted, and then climbed to her feet with his support. “Don’t be silly. I can walk.”
But as she said the words, her knees gave out and she collapsed. Cash caught her and swung her up into his arms. “Where to, ladies?”
Paige’s wounds were superficial. Small head cuts tended to bleed a lot and look more serious than they were, but Paige was still glad tomorrow was a holiday and she had three days off.
The Montgomery clan and Leo fussed over her the entire long weekend. Come Monday, she was thrilled to get back to work and her life back to normal. Not that all the caring wasn’t nice, but she’d had almost no time alone with Cash, and she missed him.
Needless to say, their more-than-friends relationship was out in the open, and she had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, it was nice to be included in family nights with the Montgomerys and not worry about watching her every response to Cash. On the other hand, she felt a subtle pressure from the outside world—the Montgomerys and her brother—to make their romance more than it was.
And even though she and Cash didn’t talk about it, she suspected he was feeling the same pressure and getting the same messages. But she didn’t want to talk to him about it. It was the old rocking-the-boat idea. Everything was going great right now, why rock the boat?
The rest of July passed in a blur of busy days and nights in Cash’s arms. She was as happy as she’d ever been.
The start of her graduate program was coming on fast, and while she hadn’t changed her mind about going, she was questioning her upcoming move to Dallas. Maybe she could make the drive every day. Sure it’d make for some long days and late nights, but she’d be home with Cash every night.
And even though he hadn’t said anything about love or marriage or the future, his tender touches said a lot. He’d begun to get serious about cooking, so dinner was always interesting, not always edible but interesting. But he did have steaks down to a fine art.
The work on the house had slowed through July. The end was in sight and Paige wondered if Cash was anxious about getting done with all his projects and having nothing to do. Not that he would ever tell her if that were true. Cash was the king of hiding feelings.
Chapter Twelve
For Cash, July was the month from hell, but with a life-changing twist. He’d almost lost Paige to a crazy druggie. That was the hell. But the twist?
When he’d seen her standing in the medical-clinic hallway, a man holding her tightly against him as a shield from Singer’s gun, a feeling like none he’d ever experienced had swept over him. An emotion so strong and so stunning that it had almost dropped him to his knees. He loved Paige Ryan. Loved her with every ounce of his being.
And wasn’t that a kick? In love with a woman who’d made it clear their summer fling was just that…a fling. An affair with a deadline, a deadline that was rushing toward them. He still wasn’t good enough for her, but he wanted to be, even if it took the rest of his life to get there.
She’d said fling, but he was sure there was more between them than that. He debated telling her how he felt, but part of loving her meant wanting her to achieve her dreams, and right now, that meant graduate school.
The last time love had been mentioned, he’d totally screwed up her life. He couldn’t take the chance that a selfish declaration on his part could throw Paige off her plans. He could wait out the year she was in school. Wait until she was done and back in Whispering Springs and ready to settle down. She was still young. Hell, technically, so was he at twenty-nine. They had their whole lives ahead of them. Waiting a year or so to start that life together would be no big deal.
He liked the feeling of Paige next to him in bed. It felt natural, as if there was no time before them.
However, there were times when he worried that not telling her how much he loved her could screw up his life. Their summer was almost over. She’d put a deposit on an apartment in university housing. She’d begun talking about classes and homework and nerves about matching up with the others in the class.
Through all those conversations about the school and the next year and the work after graduation, she never said a word about them, their future. She gave him the impression that what they had was here and now.
And that worried him…a lot.
By early August, renovations were mostly completed on the house. Since the Singing Springs ranch house already had four bedrooms, converting the old bedroom at the back of the house into a large master suite seemed to be a waste of Travis’s money.
Instead, Cash used some of his rodeo winnings to rebuild the space into an exercise room with a large whirlpool tub and sauna. Travis told Cash that he was nuts to put that kind of money into the old house, but Cash was growing fond of the place. The more time he spent there, the more it felt like home, and for a man who hadn’t had a permanent home in eleven years, it was a feeling he liked. Plus, he was enjoying the physical labor involved in rebuilding this house board-by-board.
He was finishing some touch-up paint around the windows when he heard a knock at the back door. After cleaning his hands, he found Rusty Webster, the oldest son of Travis’s foreman, at the door.
“Hi, Rusty. What can I do for you?”
He shoved an envelope at Cash. “I was supposed to bring this over last night and I forgot. Don’t tell Dad or Mr. Montgomery, okay?”
The return address on the envelope was Halo M Ranch. Travis had said he was sending a check for some supplies. Cash stuck the envelope in his back pocket.
“It’s our secret, kid. Thanks for bringing it over.”
“Thanks, Cash.” Rusty looked over his shoulder. “Gotta run before I get caught. Supposed to be exercising Willard.”
The teen rushed toward an aging gelding who was more interested in eating the grass than walking. Rusty climbed on and, after quite a bit of prodding, got the old guy moving back toward Halo M.
Cash shut the door with a smile. That boy stayed with one foot in trouble and the other on a wet bar of soap.
Travis’s timing was perfect. Cash was going to the bank this afternoon anyway, so he’d throw this check into his account. After sliding his finger under the flap, he pulled out the check and froze. He held his breath as he studied the check made out to Paige Ryan for one thousand dollars. For a moment, his vision swam making him nauseous.
Why would his brother be giving Paige a thousand dollars?
In the memo area was the notation Thank you. What the hell did that mean? Thank you? What was Travis thanking her for?
His first reaction was to call Travis and demand an explanation. But instead of getting a straigh
t answer, Travis would be all over the fact Cash had opened Paige’s mail instead of the real issue, which was…why in the hell was he paying Paige a thousand dollars?
Cash paced and thought. Was Paige being paid to house-sit this old place? That didn’t make any sense either since she’d started out paying rent.
Had she bought something and Travis was reimbursing her? That didn’t seem logical.
The next thought made his stomach heave gastric acid into his throat. Was Paige being paid to watch him? Had his brother sunk so low as to pay a woman to sleep with him, take care of him? He swallowed against the rising knot in his throat. The whole idea made him sick.
He glanced at the clock on the stove. Paige should be home in less than an hour. He’d have his answers then.
The end of the work day couldn’t come fast enough for Paige. Last night, Cash had finished caulking in the new two-person whirlpool, and tonight they were going to break it in. Cash could be so inventive when it came to sex. Her heart skipped at the thought of being in all the swirling water with him and his ideas.
She vibrated with nervous energy all day. Her mood had been so upbeat and spunky that Mr. Francis had asked her if she’d had too much caffeine.
With a ton of resolve, she kept the distressing reality that the end of summer was just around the corner from overwhelming her. No matter that the separation would hurt, no matter where her life took her, this summer would always remain in her memories as the summer of her life.
Over the years, she’d learned a lot about herself, such as there was nothing she couldn’t do if she put her mind to it, except maybe one thing. She couldn’t make herself fall out of love with Cash, not that the word love had ever come up between them.
Seven years ago, he’d walked out when she’d told him that she loved him. She promised herself that this time, she’d keep that little tidbit to herself, and she had. It was hard, but she’d done it. She wouldn’t hold her breath that he’d ask her to stay or confess his undying love or tell her he couldn’t live without her. She wasn’t a child. It was time to put away childish fantasies such as those. He’d given her exactly what she’d asked for…commitment-free sex.
She patted the two bottles of sparkling grape juice beside her. Now they would celebrate the new construction and the end of the summer. Champagne would have been nice, but really, she didn’t need the alcohol. Just a naked Cash in a swirling pool of hot water.
She whipped her car into the drive. Gravel spewed behind her tires. She brought the car to a skidding stop in front and then slammed the gears into park. She grabbed the two bottles of juice and hopped out, ready to christen the tub properly.
To her surprise, Cash was sitting in the downstairs living room when she walked in the door. He didn’t wear the expression of a man about to get very, very lucky. Instead, the phrase dead man walking came to mind.
“Cash. What’s wrong?” She sat the bottles on the coffee table. “You look like your best friend just died.”
He held out a piece of paper. She recognized the check from the Halo M account. She didn’t take it.
“Why is my brother paying you a thousand dollars?”
“That’s between Travis and me.” She knew he’d never let that answer stand, but she was frantically searching her mind for what to say. Unfortunately, her mind had shut down.
“Did you buy something for Caroline and he’s paying you back?”
He’d given her the perfect out. She should take it.
But she couldn’t.
“No.”
“Then explain this money.”
“I don’t have to explain anything to you. It’s really none of your business. You’ll just have to trust me.”
Cash stood and the air was sucked from the room. Her knees wobbled in her pink scrub pants. Her heart wobbled in her chest. He put both hands on her shoulders and held her until she met his dark gaze.
“Is my brother paying you to watch me? Are you my hired live-in nurse?”
She tried to speak but there were no words. Nothing she could say would make this better. Lying was not one of her strengths, so that wasn’t an option. She swallowed against the boulder lodged in her throat.
He gave her the slightest of shakes. “Are you being paid by my brother to watch me? Report back to him?” He let out a snort of derision. “I hope you asked for more money once you had to start fucking me. I’m sure that wasn’t part of the agreement.”
Paige slapped him. “How insulting.”
“Insulting?” He shoved off and walked away a few steps before turning to face her. “Insulting is finding out that my brother is paying you to spy on me.”
“I never said—”
“You never denied it either.”
Paige’s legs gave way and she collapsed on the sofa. “It wasn’t like that. He didn’t pay me to spy on you.”
“Then explain this.” He waved the check in her direction.
She blew out a long sigh. “He just wanted to make sure you were okay. Had food in the house. Had what you needed. But not spy on you. Never spy on you.”
Cash raked his hands through his short hair. “Fuck a duck. He couldn’t care less about this house, could he? All the money he spent to fix it up was just to keep my hands busy and me out of Leo’s. Am I right?” He banged his open hand on a doorframe. “Am I right?”
“I don’t know, Cash. I really don’t.”
“Fuck!” He hit the doorframe again and then his head sagged. “Why did you take it? The money. Why?”
“At first, I was still a little mad from our run-in that morning. Then—” she shrugged, “—I thought why not? I was going to let you stay here anyway and then Travis offered to help pay for my graduate program if I would….”
“Would what? Give him reports? Tell him if I was drinking? In case you and my nosey family hadn’t noticed, I haven’t been.”
“I noticed, Cash. I noticed a lot of things. How much stronger you’ve gotten. How you barely limp now. How tan your face has become. How much you laugh these days.”
“And of course you reported all this to my family.”
“No. I told you, I didn’t spy. Travis loves you. Your family adores you. Travis just wanted to make sure you had what you needed.” She pushed off the couch and walked over to him. When she touched his shoulder, he shrugged her off. Her heart sank.
“Don’t. Just don’t touch me right now.”
“I’m sorry, Cash. When I agreed to make sure you had food and a roof over your head, I didn’t know we would…” She couldn’t say fall in love because she was the only one in that boat. “Get so close,” she finished.
He snorted. “Close? Not hardly. We are about as far apart as two people can be.” He headed toward the kitchen and the back of the house.
“Where are you going? Cash?” She hurried after him and caught him at the back door.
“I don’t know, but don’t worry. Your job here is done. I’ll be back after you’ve moved out.” The look he gave her broke her heart. His expression was etched with hurt and pain. The fire in his eyes was gone, replaced by a flat stare. “You always were going to leave. I kept forgetting that. Maybe now is as good a time as any. When you’ve got your things out, let Travis know. He’ll let me know. Leave your key on the kitchen table.”
“I’m not through talking.” Her voice shook. Not so much with anger at his reaction, but with regret and sadness that he was walking out on her again.
“I am.” He opened the door. “We could have had a chance,” he said without turning around. “I really cared about you. I was just fooling myself. I can’t trust you. And apparently, you have so little trust in me that you kept this secret for months. Have a nice life, Paige.”
She watched through the back door window as Cash climbed into his truck, started it and drove out of her life.
She wan
ted to run after him, tell him that she loved him, but he’d never believe that. Not now.
The new place was ready. She could move in any time. The deposit was paid. The small apartment had furniture. All it needed was her clothes and Ruby’s litter box and she’d be moved in.
She’d gone into this relationship—or whatever it was—with no promises and an understanding that when she left, it was over. So maybe her leaving had come a little sooner than she’d expected. She could pack and be out of here within the hour. Let him come home to an empty house. That’d teach him a lesson.
She dropped into a chair. Stubborn jackass. If he’d waited around for another minute, she’d have told him that she’d returned every check Travis had sent and would return this one too. But no. He had to storm out of the house like a warrior going to battle.
Seven years ago, she’d let him walk out of her trailer and out of her life. However, she wasn’t the same woman today that she’d been then. She was willing to fight for what she wanted.
He wasn’t going to get the last word this time. He wasn’t going to run her off, and she wasn’t going to let him storm off without an explanation. He’d listen to what she had to say if she had to tie him in a chair. And it was past time for him to do a little explaining himself, even if his explanation was seven years overdue.
If it’s a battle he wants, a battle he’d get. Bring it on.
Chapter Thirteen
Cash drove around for almost an hour, fighting with himself. He didn’t just care about Paige, he loved her. So maybe he hadn’t said it, but she had to know.
And maybe he shouldn’t have walked out, but the fact that the woman he loved had sided with his family to spy on him hurt more than any damage Bad Bob or any bull had inflicted on him. A future with a woman he didn’t trust was out of the question.
Damn it! He slammed his fist on the truck’s steering wheel.
There was another person to blame besides Paige.
Texas Twist (Texas Montgomery Mavericks) Page 18
