by Tina Leonard
Risky or safe. What did a woman who lived in the house she’d grown up in and yet made love in a balloon really want?
“Hey,” said a voice by his ear.
He sat up straight, his heart jumping. “Hey, Holly.”
She glanced inside his truck. “What are you doing?”
He gazed solemnly at her, drinking in her fresh beauty and the slight smile on her lips. “Having a debate.”
“With who?”
“Myself.”
“Oh. I thought there had to be two people for a debate.”
This was not the dramatic romance he’d been debating. “I don’t have anyone to argue with. It’s just me, myself and I.”
“Oh. Well, my neighbor called me down at the flower shop and told me there was a cowboy sleeping in his truck in front of my house. She wanted to know if she should come shoo you off.” Her eyes twinkled at him.
“I’m glad you came to do it yourself,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be shooed by a stranger.”
“Bandera. Would you like to come in?”
An invitation! Stay cool, Bandera. Follow her lead. Getting out of the truck, he said, “I hear you’ve been busy.”
“Yeah, I have. It was sort of sweet of you to send Mimi to check on me.”
He followed her inside the house. “Sort of?”
“Yeah.” Holly went into the kitchen and he looked around at the flowered wallpaper and yellow-covered chairs. “I know Mimi gave you the update.”
“Yes. Proud owner of a new home and business. Congratulations.”
“And I’ve got the bubbly.” She poured him a beer. “Michelob, but bubbly.”
“Suits my taste just fine.” He drank the beer gratefully, hoping to chase away some of his nerves. She looked more beautiful than he remembered.
“I was thinking about our balloon experience the other day,” she said, handing him a plate of cheese and crackers.
“Were you?” He didn’t think now was the time to mention that he thought about it maybe a thousand times a day.
She smiled. “I’m really glad it happened. Thank you for making it so beautiful.”
Oh, God, he was going to die. She was writing him off. A thank-you was a certain goodbye. In fact, she was probably planning to join a nunnery. He had to act quickly. “My niece and nephew want you to come to our family Fourth of July picnic so you can be my three-legged-race partner.”
Now if that wasn’t romance, he didn’t know what was.
She didn’t say anything. But she was smiling.
“Do you like three-legged races?” he asked.
“I don’t know. But I’m into trying new experiences these days.”
He gulped. “Me, too.”
“I wish I’d met you at a different time in my life, Bandera,” she said softly.
Uh-oh, that didn’t sound good. “No time like the present, I always say. Some things can’t be timed. Actually, the only things I can think of that are successfully timed are boiled eggs and chocolate chip cookies.”
She looked down at her fingers, but he saw the smile on her face.
“What is it, exactly?” he asked. “Between you and me?”
Her eyes widened. Bandera tensed inside. Well, that was the combination of risky and safe he’d been looking for, he guessed; even Minnie would have to approve of his direct approach.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I want to make love to you again. I think about it all the time.”
He could be very obliging. Wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Right now, the kitchen floor would do just fine for hot, sweaty sex.
But he knew that’s not what she wanted, either.
On the other hand, a man couldn’t go around snatching ribbons instead of showing his true feelings. He stood, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her against him.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Measuring you for the three-legged race. I aim to win, and I need to know if we fit together.”
“If we can make love standing up in a hot air balloon, I think we can run tied together at the ankle,” she said.
“Oh, you just gave yourself away,” he said, sweeping her up into his arms. “I’m going to make love to you, and when I’m done, I want you to say that you’re coming to our family picnic. You need to get to know the rest of the Jeffersons.” He pulled off his belt. “You need to get to know me better.”
Bending down, he tied the belt around both their ankles. She started to laugh, pulling at his hair. “This is not how a man romances a woman. I’m sure it’s not. I never saw this in any of my bridal magazines.”
He put his arm around her shoulder so they were connected. “You’ve been reading all the wrong periodicals. Run,” he said. “To your bedroom. Or wherever your little heart desires to make love this time.”
She stared up at him.
“Well, go,” he said. “You have to take some initiative in this relationship. It’s part of my plan to break you free from all your pent-up worries and fears. One foot in front of the other now,” he said.
A pretty blush spread over her cheeks. “Bandera, I can’t run with you.”
“Why? You want me to do all the work in this relationship? So far I have, you know.”
Her lips pursed.
“I want you to want me, Holly. Or you can take us apart. It’s only a standard belt buckle, it’s not a wedding ring.”
She bit her lip, then said, “Hold on tight, cowboy. I’m pretty sure you can’t handle heights.” And she headed up the stairs, dragging him. They stumbled, and he couldn’t keep up with her, so they lay on the staircase, kissing as if they would never stop.
“I will take off the belt, seeing as how I had to drag you up here,” Holly said. “It was like dragging a two-hundred-pound sack of rice. I don’t think we’re going to win the race at your family picnic.”
Once the belt was released, he pressed her back onto the carpet-covered steps.
“Good to see you at least won’t lag behind like a broken-down mule. I missed you,” he said. “I don’t like you playing hard to get.” He gave her a little slap on the bottom as he pulled off her jeans.
“And I don’t like you being so easy to run off,” she said, slapping him on the rear end as she pulled his jeans off. “I thought you said you had endurance.”
He tore off her blouse, holding it to his nose to smell her fragrance. “On the other hand, I like how you’re not desperate,” he said.
She squatted over him in her sweet little pink-and-white-dotted thong to pull off his boots, which he appreciated. “On the other hand, I like how you gave me time to clear my head. I really couldn’t jump from one relationship to another. It would have been weird.”
“And what would we have told the neighbors?” he asked, tossing her shoes to the floor and undoing her brassiere. “Miss Bride on the Fly.”
“Oh, my gosh! My neighbor who called to tell me there was a cowboy outside my house will be looking to see if you’re still here and if I’m safe!”
He held her down when she tried to escape. “We’ll invite her to the wedding, when you ask me nicely to marry you.”
She gave him a light punch on the chest, so he tore her thong off of her. “So much beauty,” he said, “and it’s all mine.”
“So much pigheadedness, and I’m stuck with it,” she said, moving to be on top of him.
“That’s all right, Miss Independent. You be on top, since you like being in charge, and I’ll just be happy.” He ran his palms over her breasts, squeezing the nipples lightly. “You are the sexiest woman I have ever seen.”
She tugged off his boxers and gave a thumbs-up to his erection, before she settled over him. “You’re definitely the most caveman-man I have ever met.” She slid down him, and he held his breath, putting his hands on her hips so that he could enjoy the feeling of her throwing caution to the wind.
“Let’s always have fun,” he said, flipping her over so that he could get farther inside her.
He kissed her so hard he thought he would explode from the heat and the hardness and all the feelings that she called forth from somewhere deep in his soul.
“Crazy,” she said, crossing her legs up over his back so she could hold him tight. “Let’s always be crazy.”
“Crazy works for me,” he said, thrusting inside her just to see her eyes close as she strained for pleasure. “Holly, you’re magic.”
He touched his finger to the hot spot between them, lightly massaging her pleasure zone until she cried out, then he rocked against her until she yelled his name. He kissed her, claiming her, before whispering in her ear, “You are always going to yell my name just like that.”
Pleasure so hot swept over him that he stopped thinking. When it was over and his mind came back to him, he realized Holly was holding him tighter than anyone had ever held him in his life.
Almost as if she was afraid he wasn’t real.
Chapter Thirteen
Holly held Bandera tightly, knowing she had to let go but wanting to lie like this forever. With him. Nothing in her life had prepared her for the beauty of passion. He made her happy; he made her feel excitement.
“Hey,” he said, looking down at her.
She finally released him and gave him a smile. “Hey, yourself,” she said.
He kissed her neck. “Standing up or at an incline?”
“Balloon or stairs? Too hard to choose.” She got up and began putting her clothes back on. “So much for me being the girl who waited until the altar.”
Bandera laughed, a throaty growl that raised goose pimples on her skin. He pulled her back down and took her thong from her before she had a chance to get it over both feet. “This has polka dots. Nice of you to remember my favorite pattern.”
“I didn’t. And they’re pink. As I recall, that wasn’t your favorite color.”
“No, but polka dots are good luck.”
“I didn’t know you were superstitious.”
The smile melted off his face. “Oh, no. You shouldn’t have said that.”
Holly sat up. “Said what?”
“The S word!”
She giggled. “Superstition?”
“Shh!” He sat up, his brows furrowed.
“Bandera, you’re creeping me out,” she said. “I can handle making love in a stairwell, but polka dots and superstitions make you almost too wild for me.”
“I was going to be the first man to fall in love without invoking the family superstition,” he told her. “I haven’t hurt anything.”
“You’re into that kind of stuff?” She got up, snatching her underwear from him. “I’m into crazy. But no pain.”
“Holly!” Bandera began dressing, too. “Every man in my family has hurt something when he met the woman for him.”
She smiled. “Maybe I’m not the one.” Dressed now, she went down the stairs into the kitchen. “I wouldn’t want to hurt you, anyway. That’s sick.”
“No, it’s superstition. And it works for us. It began with Frisco Joe.” Bandera followed her around the kitchen, trying to be helpful as she set up a tray of veggies, but really he just got in the way. She slapped his hand.
“Ow,” he said.
“There, I’ve hurt you. Does that count?”
“I don’t think so. It’s not significant pain.” He looked at her funny, and Holly’s heart turned over.
“Bandera, I realize you’re not the typical man, but superstitions make me nervous. I’m not a rabbit’s foot kind of girl.”
“That’s it,” he said. “You’re right. We’re not rabbit’s foot kind of people.”
Holly hugged him. “Now see how strange that sounded. Already you’re rubbing off on me.”
“I want you to rub off on me,” he said, kissing her. “I’m pretty certain there’s more to like about you than not.”
“How do you know that?” she asked softly. “I have never understood what it was that made you so sure of everything.”
“I don’t know. Most of the time, I just go on instinct.”
“No planning.”
“None at all.”
She pulled away, looking up at him, wondering what he was really thinking. “You know, we’re completely opposite.”
“Nothing boring about that.”
But he didn’t sound as convinced as he once had, and Holly couldn’t help feeling that a little of the magic had just blown away.
BANDERA WAVED AT Holly’s neighbor, who was staring out through her curtains, then got in his truck, wishing he felt better about the evening. Holly was his woman, he knew it in his bones.
And yet something was missing.
“Mason,” he said, a couple of hours later when he walked inside the kitchen of the main house at Malfunction Junction. “What do you remember most about Mom and Dad?”
Mason looked up from an apple he was cutting. “That Mom was always teasing Dad. She could make him laugh even when he was tired.”
So laughter made a successful relationship. Bandera and Holly laughed together.
“How’s Holly?” Mason asked.
“She’s fine. And she’s coming to the Fourth of July picnic.”
“Excellent. I’ll tell Last to put an extra plate on the picnic table.” Mason flipped a piece of apple his way, and Bandera caught it with his mouth.
“You’re good at catching things,” Mason said. “Only you and Last can do that successfully.”
“Speaking of catching things,” Bandera said, “can you catch cold feet?”
“Hell, no,” Mason said. “There’s no such thing.”
Bandera stared at his brother. “Then what the hell is your problem?”
Mason stopped chopping, his frown deep. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Bandera ground his teeth, wanting to tell his brother the truth about Mimi, and the truth about their baby. But he knew it wasn’t his place, even if Mason was so stubborn he would never ease up enough for Mimi to tell him. “It means you’ve got the worst case of cold feet I’ve ever seen.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Mimi,” Bandera said. “Everybody in this house walks on eggshells around you when it comes to Mimi, but it’s time something got said.”
“No,” Mason said, “it’s definitely not time for you to harangue me about anything.”
Bandera set his jaw. “I nearly proposed today.”
His brother seemed surprised. “Good for you.”
“Only I couldn’t,” Bandera continued, “because I thought about pain. And superstition. And why our family lives at a place called Malfunction Junction.” He took a deep breath. “Then I realized none of us is ever going to lead a normal life until your head is screwed on straight.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Mason’s face turned red. “Do you want me to open up a can of whup-ass on you—”
“Hey,” Last said, coming into the kitchen. “Are we having another close, enjoyable family dinner tonight?”
“Shut up,” Mason said, reaching for him. “I’m sick of your smart mouth.”
“Hey, what did I say?” Last demanded, edging away.
Crockett came in, nearly catching Mason’s swing. “What in the name of Sadie Grace is going on? Mason, cool it, dude.”
“I don’t want to cool it,” Mason said. “Y’all have been wanting me to express myself, and now I’m ready.”
The last four bachelors of Malfunction Junction began ducking and dodging and throwing light punches as they circled the kitchen. Bandera reached out to test Mason’s reflexes with a little tap to his chest, just a small one, but Mason kicked out with his boot, catching him in the ankle.
Bandera went down, and the last thing he remembered as he fell to the floor was Holly’s face when he’d left her.
She’d been scared—and for the first time, he had been, too.
“BANDERA,” a voice said. “Bandera!”
The voice was small and sweet and reminded him of someone. Someone he liked a lot a
nd who made him feel good. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Holly sat beside his bed.
“Hey, Holly.” The pain in his skull was piercing. “You finally came to me. I told you you would.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, he didn’t knock any of the nonsense out of you.”
“No one knocked me,” Bandera said.
“Mason said he did, and a sorrier brother you have never seen. He’s moping around the house. He thinks he nearly killed you.”
“Hmm. I can’t remember.” Bandera smiled at her, and it was a loopy kind of smile.
“Let me go get Doc. He wanted to see you as soon as you woke up.”
“Why do I have to see Doc?”
“Because you hit your head on the corner of the stove. Crockett wanted to take you to the hospital, but Mason said it was too far, and Doc could get here quicker.” Holly slipped from the room and went down the hall. “Mason? Doc? Bandera’s awake.”
“Good,” Doc said. Holly followed him nervously. The sight of Bandera laid up in bed was difficult to bear. When Last had called and asked her to come out, she had immediately jumped in her car and driven to the ranch. He’d said there’d been an incident and Bandera had gotten hurt. By the tone in his voice, she knew Bandera was really hurt, more than his superstition called for.
Doc examined Bandera’s eyes and checked his skin. “I still think he needs a scan,” he told Mason. “I don’t know that this is your garden-variety coldcocking.”
“I don’t need a scan,” Bandera said. “I’m fine.” He smiled at Holly. “You’re pretty.”
“Oh, boy,” Mason said as Last and Crockett came to stand beside him.
“That was mushy even for Bandera the poet,” Crockett said.
“Poet?” Bandera frowned. “I’m not a poet.”
“A little look-see by the city docs can’t hurt, Mason,” Doc said. “Your bell is a bit rung, Bandera.”
“I’m just tired.” Bandera closed his eyes before slowly opening them again. “Don’t leave,” he said to Holly. “You’re the only one looking at me like you know me.”
