Kansas Heat

by Kansas Heat (lit)

  “Somebody broke into my house.”

  Jace met Cody’s look as he tried to process all the questions her brief response brought to mind. The fear in him latched on to one. “When you got here, you realized somebody broke into your house, and then you went in?”

  “They trashed my house.” Amanda stared at him as if her upset justified putting her life at risk.

  “They could have been in there,” Jace snarled.

  “Oh, I wish they were.”

  “What?” Cody gaped at her, turning his head from Amanda to Jace as if checking he heard what their woman just said. Jace heard all right.

  “Are you insane? They could have hurt you!”

  “I’d have hurt them,” Amanda snapped as if she weren’t dreaming. “Trust me. The scales were weighed in my favor.”

  “You are insane.” Cody glared down at her. “I hate to break this to you, doll face, but you are just a little woman.”

  What Amanda did next, Jace would have never anticipated. She punched Cody straight in the gut. True, she had a tiny fist, but it must have packed quite a wallop because Cody grunted and slouched over.

  Not enough of an impact though to steal his breath. “What the hell was that for?”

  “Now you won’t doubt me the next time. I can handle myself, Cody.”

  “Amanda—”

  She didn’t wait around to hear whatever Cody had left to say. With a toss of her head, she flounced off.

  “Pain-in-the-ass woman,” Cody muttered.

  Jace slapped his brother on his back as Cody straightened up. “Way to go.”

  “What?” Cody lifted his head to pin Jace with an annoyed gaze. “This is my fault?”

  “You have to pick a fight when my woman is obviously worn down? What did you think was going to happen?”

  “Well, I didn’t think she’d hit me,” Cody grumbled as he rubbed his stomach. “And she’s not yours. As far as everybody around is concerned, she’s mine, so you could try helping by not making another touching confession.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Unless you forget, the whole town thinks she’s my girlfriend. Just what do you think people are going to be talking about when they hear how she ran into your arms and you began pledging your love for her. Hell, I thought you were about to kiss her there for a moment.”

  Jace shot Cody a hard look before storming after Amanda. He hated to admit Cody had a point. Whatever. Let the town talk. It didn’t matter. What mattered was Amanda, and right now she needed him.

  Back on her porch, Amanda held an animated conversation with her blonde-headed friend. It didn’t take a genius to figure out whom Amanda complained about. If she had something to say, she could say it to him.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” A large deputy blocked him at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Excuse me?” Jace paused only out of respect for the man’s position. Otherwise he’d have flattened him and kept on going up the steps.

  “This is a crime scene.” The man crossed his arms over his chest. “The public is not allowed.”

  “We’re not public.” Cody snapped. “I’m the victim’s boyfriend.”

  “Boyfriend?” The deputy raised a brow. “As in not related to the victim. I’m going to have to ask you gentlemen to leave.”

  “I’m not going nowhere,” Jace retorted.

  “Do you need to be escorted?” A little smile tugged on the edges of the deputy’s lips, letting Jace know he would be glad to comply.

  “Do you need to have your face smashed in?” Jace answered back without any thought. It got rid of the smile.

  “Are you threatening me?” Before Jace could do something rash, like say yes, Cody tried to shrug past the deputy. The big man deflected the move with reflexes fast for his size. “And where do you think you’re going?”

  “I’m going to walk up those steps and talk to Amanda.” Cody got right in the deputy’s face. “If you try and get in the way, that’s your bad decision.”

  “Try it.”

  “Enough!” The blonde moved to the top of the steps. “Thank you very much, Braden, but I think we should let Amanda decide if she wants these two here.”

  Braden gave the blonde a sullen look before turning his gaze on Amanda. That’s when Jace saw it, a flash of softness in the deputy’s gaze. That man wanted her, wanted what was Jace’s. The sudden urge to flatten in the deputy’s pretty looks had his hand clenching painfully into a fist.

  “Amanda.” Cody might have meant to ask her, but he couldn’t keep the demand out of his tone.

  “Whatever.” That was definitely the sound of a woman not impressed by any of the three men standing before her. Amanda rolled her eyes and waved them up. “If Jace and Cody need to be beaten down, I’ll do it.”

  “Fine.” The deputy gave them both a sharp look. “Don’t get in the way.”

  “Don’t get in mine,” Cody responded with the same amount of threat in his tone. Obviously Cody had caught the deputy’s interest. They might like to share, but it stayed in the family.

  “Are you ready to apologize?” Amanda greeted them with a cold look and an upturned chin.

  Cody crowded his way onto the swing, looping a heavy arm over Amanda’s shoulder. Almost drawing her right into his lap, Cody made Jace sigh with his too obvious behavior. “I’m sorry I was an ass to you on the phone.”

  Amanda’s gaze narrowed as she studied him silently for a moment. “Say it like you mean it.”

  “Amanda.”

  “Fine.” Her glare shifted to Jace. “What about you?”

  “Me?” Was he supposed to apologize for something? Jace couldn’t think of anything. “I’m sorry Cody was an ass to you on the phone?”

  “Ha. Ha. What about the stunt you pulled down by the curb?”

  Stunt? Ah, hell. Amanda wanted him to apologize for telling her he loved her. “I’m sorry you are so stubborn you can’t see the truth before your very eyes.”

  “I’m sure you can do better than that.”

  “Well, you’re not getting anything else until I get mine.” If she wanted to be illogical, then so could he.

  “You?”

  “Yes, me.” Jace smirked. “After all, I’m being accused of lying.”

  That got her out of her seat. “Don’t you even dare to pretend to be insulted.”

  “Why not? I get you’re having a bad day and you think it gives you rights to be a little grumpy, but—”

  “A little grumpy?” For a second Jace thought she’d punch him. Instead she just started shoving him back, yelling every step of the way.

  “Try totally pissed off! In the last twenty-four hours I have been ogled, felt up, totally humiliated, forced to sleep in some bug-infested cot, walked all over this stupid town without a shower or even a single drop of coffee, only to get home and find some jackass has torn my house to pieces. You think I’m a little grumpy?”

  Jace honestly didn’t care right then. “Who felt you up?”

  “That’s not the point,” Amanda spat.

  “Oh, the hell it is.” Cody lifted off the swing to bring his weight into the conversation. “You’re going to tell us the name of whatever man touched you, Amanda, as in now.”

  “That’s enough.” Amanda’s blonde friend shoved herself right into the mix, pushing Amanda behind her in a protective gesture. “Unless of course, you want the whole world to know you both slept with her.”

  “Cindy!” Amanda hissed from over the woman’s shoulder.

  “What?” She arched an eyebrow at Amanda.

  After a mini-staring contest, Amanda settled back down on the swing. “Fine. We’ll fight later.”

  “Good plan. Right now I’ll go get you a bag packed. I’m taking you home with me so you can get a shower. Sorry, honey, but you’re kind of rank.”

  Amanda didn’t respond. At least not with words. The dirty look Amanda sent Cindy went unnoticed by the blonde as she disappeared through the door. With a heavy sigh, Cody gla
nced from Amanda to him. “I’m going to go see how bad it is. Try not to get hurt while I’m gone.”

  Mindful of his brother’s suggestion, Jace led Amanda back to the swing and settled down with her. He waited, but Amanda didn’t say anything, wouldn’t even look his way. Jace decided to go for the first move and reached slowly over to take her hand. She didn’t resist, neither did she return his gentle squeeze, but after a while she sighed.

  “I know I’m being a bitch.”

  Jace smiled, there was his Amanda. “From what it sounds like, you deserve to vent a little.”

  “Yeah.” She lifted her scowl to him. “But it’s not your fault.”

  “No, but I’m strong enough to take it,” Jace assured her, smoothly moving his arm up and around her shoulders.

  “You’re developing a habit of being around when I’m falling apart.”

  “I guess I’m just lucky.” And pretty damn good, because he managed to pull her into his side without getting bit.

  “Not so lucky,” Amanda muttered.

  “I don’t know.” Jace gave her a quick squeeze. “I kind of like playing the knight in shining armor to your damsel in distress.”

  Amanda rolled her eyes at him, a slight twitch pulling on her lips. “Is that why you said it? Playing into a role?”

  “It?” Jace repeated, hoping she didn’t mean what he knew she did.

  “You know what I mean.” Amanda’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Your poetic moment down by the street.”

  At least she called him poetic. “I said it because I meant it.”

  “Please. You don’t know me well enough to mean it.”

  “I know what I feel.”

  “It’s just infatuation.”

  “Is that what you’re telling yourself about the way you feel?”

  “No. I tell myself it’s lust. I was just being polite.” Amanda tried to jerk back. Jace held on, unwilling to let her derail the conversation into a full-out argument.

  “Why’s it so hard for you to accept I might actually love you?”

  “A man who loves a woman doesn’t share her,” Amanda whispered harshly. For a tense moment they glared at one another. Jace refused to respond here and now, not with so many busy ears moving around the place. Finally, Amanda looked away and shook her head.

  “Fine,” Jace sighed. “Just forget I said anything. Why don’t we just go with you? I want you to come home with me and let me bathe you, feed you, carry you off to my bed, and screw your fucking brains in every single position in the Kama Sutra. Can you agree to that?”

  “At least you’re being honest now.”

  Jace held back his instinctively sharp comment and managed to simply ask, “So, you in?”

  “You going to wash me with your hands again?”

  “And my mouth.” Jace grinned, feeling instantly happier. “Whatever you want to get you to say yes.”

  Amanda’s bottom lip disappeared between her teeth for a tense moment. “And Knox…is he going to be bathing me as well?”

  No. Knox didn’t do showers, but he did all sorts of other things probably best not mentioned now. “Only if you want him to.”

  “No pressure?”

  “None.”

  “I got your bag.” Cindy’s cheery proclamation came from over Jace’s shoulder. “You ready to go?”

  Amanda lifted her gaze from his to turn her attention toward her friend. “There has been a change in plans. I think I’ll go home with Cody and Jace.”

  Jace let go of the breath he was holding. “I’ll take her bag.”

  * * * *

  Cody didn’t relax, even as Humble faded into the background. Instead of taking the horses down the side of the highway, they turned off through the fields, preferring the scenic view. Normally riding through the plains brought him a quiet peace. Having Amanda in his arms should’ve made everything better, but it just made him tenser.

  The edgy feeling in his gut wouldn’t leave him alone until he and Amanda had settled everything. True to form, she’d been quiet, pretending everything between them was fine, but Cody knew better. Not wanting Jace involved in what would be a difficult enough conversation, Cody let his older brother gain some distance between them before clearing his throat pointedly.

  “I think you and I need to talk, Amanda.”

  “Hmm.” She sighed, softening into his chest. “Can’t I just take a nap? It’s been a long few days.”

  “Yes it has.” Cody could agree easily enough with her. “Still, I think you and I have to get some things right between us, starting with—we’re not friends.”

  It took her a moment to perk up, straightening off him as she glanced over her shoulder. “We’re not?”

  “No. We’re more than that.” Cody took a deep breath and broke her gaze. It was hard enough to talk without having to see the guarded confusion in her gaze. “You were right at the party. I don’t share easy with other people, least of all women, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

  Amanda smiled, turning back to rest in his arms. “I know, Cody. You don’t have to worry about it.”

  But he did. “If you know, then why’d you run to Jace?” She didn’t answer him, but to slump her shoulders forward. Cody read her response to mean just what his gut told him. “Because you love Jace and not me.”

  “What?” Amanda’s reaction was instantaneous. Bursting into laughter, she didn’t make him feel much better. Pulling up on the reins, he brought Oliver to a stop, just so he could appreciate how seriously she took him.

  Lifting her by the waist, he swung her around before planting her ass back in the saddle. Shrieking over the motion, Amanda clutched at his arms, giving him a dirty look. “What’s got you all upset?”

  “You. Laughing at me.”

  “Oh.” Amanda’s scowl lightened as her arms circled his waist. “Come on, Cody, I wasn’t laughing at you. It’s just…you’re talking love, and I’m worrying over next week. I mean, we’ve only known each other like two weeks.”

  “Closer to three,” Cody corrected. Begrudgingly, he admitted Amanda had a point. Maybe he and Jace were moving faster than she. In Cody’s mind, it just meant she had to catch up. “But I get what you are saying. I still want to know why you ran to him.”

  “Honestly?” Amanda shrugged at Cody’s nod. “Because the last time I saw you it was over the barrel of a gun, and if memory serves me right, you threatened to spank me.”

  “I didn’t threaten nothing,” Cody grunted. “That was a promise, and I’ll be delivering on it later tonight.”

  Not intimidated, Amanda retorted with her own verbal assault. “Then, of course, you ran off.”

  Cody winced. “Yeah, I guess I owe you an apology.”

  “You don’t owe me anything,” Amanda assured him. “Just don’t be asking why I ran to the man who spent the whole night treating me like a princess and telling me how wonderful and beautiful I am over the man who skipped out. Kind of like a no-brainer, Cody.”

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “Yeah, but you haven’t said why you left.”

  He’d known they’d get here eventually. It had been the whole point in him pressing this conversation, but it didn’t make it easier for Cody to say. His answer came out muttered and a little annoyed. “I was jealous.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” Damn if he would repeat his confession.

  “Jealous?” Amanda stared at him as if she hadn’t met him before. “But you’re the dumbass who pushed me toward Jace. I thought this was all normal for you guys?”

  “I’m not jealous of the sex,” Cody snapped. “It’s the damn googly-eye thing. I mean, I worked so hard with you, and when am I going to be the one you run to?”

  “I get it. You want me to get off this horse and run and jump into your arms so you can have your special moment?”

  “No, damnit! I want to be special to you.” There, he’d said it. Tensed and braced for her sarcastic comeback, Cody was surprise
d when she deflated right in front of him with a shake of her head.

  “No. No, you really don’t.”

  “I don’t?” Cody repeated, lost somewhere.

  “You don’t want to be special to me, Cody.” Amanda’s head lifted. “Not now. In fact, I probably shouldn’t even be going out to your ranch.”

  Cody could sense the subject had changed and he had a pretty good guess to what. “Is this about your house? Are you in some kind of trouble, Amanda? Whatever it is, I can—”

  “It is my father and you can’t help. All you can do is become a liability.”

  Cody scowled at her cryptic words. This is why he hated having these kinds of conversations. He didn’t do well with reading between the lines. Blunt and direct, he understood. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It just means you’d be better off away from me for a while.”

  “See, this is what I mean.” Cody was mad enough to spit. “If I was Jace, you’d tell.”

  “I would not.”

  “Then prove it.”

  “Prove I wouldn’t tell Jace? How? By not telling him, because I haven’t.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Cody—”

  “You really think I’m going to let this go?” Cody asked, lowering his nose to hers. “I’m going to find out. If you make me do it on my own, I just might end up in more trouble than if you’d just be honest with me.”

  “Fine. You want to know? I’ll tell you. My creature-feature of a father has dragged his slimy tail all the way back to Humble to try and get thirty grand from me. The thing is, I don’t have it. Not that Davey would ever believe anything. He has this sort of ‘I got shat on, so now I shit on you’ view of the world. So he’s going to be shitting on me and anybody near me for a while.”

  The hard bitterness of her tone told Cody he’d waded way into the deep end of the pool without a lifeguard on duty. Where the hell was Jace when he needed him? Not around, and that left Cody having to figure out what to say given he’d forced this confrontation.

  “Did you tell the police?” It sounded both practical and lame to his ears.

  Apparently to Amanda’s too. She rolled her eyes as she snorted with disgust. “Of course. Trust me, it’s not like Tony doesn’t know what Davey’s like, but that isn’t going to save you. Davey’s already figured out I’m with you and you can afford to pay—”