by Helen Conrad
Monty’s face didn’t change. He merely waited for her to go on.
“I saw one of those thugs here the other night. He works for Jasper.” She stared at him, her gaze triumphant, as though she’d certainly proved her point.
He shook his head. “Now, Kelly—“
She half rose from her chair. “No! Don’t try to quiet me or calm me or tell me boys will be boys and it was just a prank. They were warning him not to talk. I heard them. They wanted him to keep something a secret and they were giving him a taste of what would happen if he didn’t.”
Monty stared past her at the wall. As she’d talked, she’d seen him distancing himself from her, his eyes growing cooler, his face hardening, his expression becoming more remote. “And did Cody tell you what that something was?”
“No. He wouldn’t tell me.” She drew in a deep breath and tried to force him to meet her gaze. “But I have a pretty good idea it has something to do with illegal activities here at the casino.”
The air seemed to freeze around them. “Is that right?” His face was even colder now, closed to her. Her heart was beating harder and harder. Was this it? Was he the one who was behind it all? Had she come to exactly the wrong place? Had she just ruined Cody’s chances for good?
Still staring at the wall, he went on slowly. “I appreciate how you feel about this, Kelly. I know how you feel about Cody.”
“Do you?”
His gaze flickered over her. “Yes, I think I do. But you’ve got to understand. This whole incident—you should never have stumbled upon it. Things are happening that you can have nothing to do with.”
She stiffened, feeling desperate. “That may be,” she answered, her voice low and hoarse. “But I will not stand by and watch Cody get hurt again. If I have to go to the police—“
Monty’s frown was ferocious. “You stay away from the police,” he growled, glaring at her.
“Why?” Her tone sharpened. She was truly frightened. For all she knew, Monty could be some sort of gangster who would stop at nothing to keep his activities hidden from the police. But her feelings for Cody were stronger than her fear. “Are you afraid of a little scrutiny?” She leaned over his desk toward him. “Just what is going on here at the casino, Monty?”
His gaze was piercing hers. For a long moment they faced each other, glare to glare. Kelly was trembling inside, but she would never show it. Suddenly Monty’s head went back. Kelly held her breath. Then laughter filled the room.
“Oh, Kelly, Kelly,” Monty said. He slapped the desk and grinned, taking her hand in his. “I think Cody has found a good one in you, lady.”
She just looked at him, feeling bewildered and limp.
“You can stop right now,” he told her. “We don’t need the police.” He patted her hand. “What we do need is for you to stay quiet and lay low just a little longer.”
His affectionate humor was as disconcerting as his coldness had been. “But what about Jasper?”
“I’ll take care of Jasper.”
She looked at him uncertainly.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry, Kelly. I’m on your side, honey. Cody came to me the other day and told me all about this. Jasper’s been running an illegal numbers game on his own, but operating out of my hotel. Cody wanted to handle it by himself.” His smile was warm with affection for his friend. “At first he wasn’t sure if I was involved or not, so he took the time to watch and see how the land lay. You see, there’ve been times in my younger days when I did a few things that I’m not too proud of. Cody knows all about that. I can’t blame him for being cautious, for feeling his way here. He wanted to make sure he didn’t get me into trouble. I’d trust Cody with my last penny, my last piece of bread. And I’m not going to let anyone beat him up, believe me. You just calm down now. Cody will be fine.”
She searched his gaze. Could she believe him? Yes, she was fairly sure she could. If there was one thing she’d learned lately, it was that there were moral codes just as valid as her own, even if they were slightly unorthodox. Gambler or not, casino owner or not, Monty was a good man.
“Where is he?” she asked, almost whispering.
“You don’t know?”
Alarm swept through her once again. “What?”
Monty looked uncomfortable. “Well, he’s not here. He quit the other day. The same time he told me all this stuff about Jasper.”
The world tipped and swayed around her. She blinked hard, trying to keep a fix on it. “I don’t understand.”
Monty hesitated, then patted her hand again. “Cody is a real gambler at heart, honey. He loves poker. He loves the bluff and the odds. And he’s got that lucky streak going for him. That boy must have been born under a lucky star.” He shook his head admiringly. “He never did belong here in the casino. He belongs at the poker tournaments, playing against the best in the world, playing in the world series of poker.”
She could hardly assimilate his words. All she knew was that Cody had left, and she didn’t know where to find him. “Where did he go?”
Monty frowned and looked down at the blotter in front of him, avoiding her eyes. “I don’t really know if I have the right to tell you that. Maybe you’d better ask him.”
Fury propelled her out of her seat. “Well that would be just fine,” she cried, “if I could find him.”
He rose, too. “You just wait. I’m sure he’ll contact you. And then he’ll let you know what he wants.”
“What he wants? How about what I want?” She turned on her heel and started for the door.
“You and he are going to have to work that out for yourselves,” he called after her. “Goodbye, honey.”
Kelly left the hotel in a daze, blinking in the bright sunlight as she came outside. Cody might have left town. For all she knew, he might have gone to catch up with the poker circuit somewhere. What if he didn’t ever come back?
She drove down the Strip all the way to the airport, then back and onto side streets, up and down, not knowing where she was going, just moving for moving’s sake. The lights and colors of the oasis community seemed to swirl around her, a tangle of the tawdry and the pure, Las Vegas and the desert. Her thoughts swirled, as well. Cody and Monty and Jasper and poker all mixed together, and behind them flashed the image of Cody’s face beside her on a pillow, the feel of his hand on her skin, the delight of his lovemaking, the pleasure he was to watch, the comfort of his words, the ecstasy of his affection.
She stopped at a light. Church bells were ringing. She looked around vaguely and then frowned. The bells were tolling the hour. Her glance fell on the clock in the center of her dashboard. It was almost three o’clock. The softball game would be almost over. She’d forgotten all about it.
Suddenly her movements had purpose again. She was so late! What were the girls doing without her? What if they’d been forced to forfeit the game? Another humiliation for the Robins—and this time it was all her fault!
She raced along the highway, then onto a little street that twisted and turned and had stop signs on almost every corner. At last the field was in sight. There were still plenty of cars in the parking lot. It looked as though they’d gone ahead and played the game without her.
She parked and ran to the ball field. The place was in pandemonium. People were jumping up and down, shrieking with cheers and laughter. The game, it seemed, was over.
“What happened?” she cried, catching hold of Tammy and tugging on her arm. “What’s all this?”
“We won!” Tammy cried, throwing her arms around her mother. “We did it!’”
“Oh.” Kelly couldn’t conjure up the proper joy for the occasion. “That’s nice. I’m glad you went ahead and played without me.”
Suddenly, her eyes met a pair of dark ones that blew all the words right out of her mouth.
“Cody,” she breathed, staring at him.
Tammy pulled away and disappeared into the crowd. Cody stood looking at Kelly, his eyes serious, waiting. He was wearing the coach’
s shirt and a blue baseball cap turned backward on his head.
Ordinarily she would have laughed at the picture he made, but there didn’t seem to be anything very funny right now. Their gazes locked, and between them was the memory of that last night, when he’d pushed away from loving her, when she’d frozen at his touch. She wanted to look away and block it out but couldn’t. The pain shivered between them, its jagged edges just as sharp as they had been that night.
“You coached them?” she asked stiffly.
He nodded. “They played great.”
She tried to smile. “It must have been the uniforms,” she murmured.
He shook his head. “It was the girls. And the coaching you’ve been giving them all along.”
“Oh.” She looked away, then back again. “Well, it’s really nice of you to come and...and coach.” Her gaze sharpened. “Why are you here, anyway?”
“I couldn’t just abandon the girls, after all the work we’ve done. Especially for the big game with the Unicorns.”
She nodded, avoiding his eyes, feeling miserable.
“Where were you?”
She looked up quickly. “Me?” Her voice squeaked. “Oh. I was...detained.”
The crowd still whooped and hollered all around them, but they didn’t seem to have anything left to say. The silence was unbearable.
Finally, Kelly couldn’t stand it any longer. She started to turn away, and then his hand was on her arm.
“Kelly,” he said, his voice hoarse and ragged. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” She was dying inside. She couldn’t look at him. Was he apologizing for having made her love him? Was he apologizing for what he was about to do? Tears were threatening. Above all else, she had to hold them back until she was alone. “I don’t understand. What are you sorry about?”
“For being such a jerk. For not being there when you needed me.”
She tried to look at him, but his image swam before her eyes. She realized the tears were coming. She was naked, revealed. But perhaps that was the only way. She wasn’t good at strategy or subtlety or hedging her bets. She wasn’t a gambler. She had to come right out and say it.
“Cody,” she said, trying to focus on his face. “I...” She turned her palms up helplessly, then clenched them into fists. “I love you.”
There was a shocked moment, then his hands were on her shoulders, fingers biting in. “Kelly.” His voice was strangled. “Kelly, darling.”
She was in his arms. She closed her eyes and huge, hot drops rolled down her cheeks. “Oh Lord, Kelly.” His kisses rained over her cheeks, her hair, her neck. She turned her face up to him like a flower turning toward the sun, and he was there, his mouth caressing hers.
“Listen.” He gently pushed her back, talking low and fast. “I hope you don’t mind, but I went ahead and scheduled a party day at the Video Palace for the girls. It’s all arranged. I even got parent volunteers to go with them. They’ll be gone for hours. And in the meantime—“ he took her hand “—you’re coming with me.”
She nodded, her eyes still wet with tears. She was going with him. She didn’t even have to stop and think about it. She would go with him to a distant star if he asked her.
They roared through residential streets and then out across the desert in his car. She was flying through clouds. She couldn’t think, didn’t speak. But he was beside her and he was all she needed.
Ten minutes out of town, she spotted an oasis on the hill. Another moment and they were pulling up along a white rail fence that enclosed grass as green as any in Kentucky, and horses as fine as the best Arabians in the world.
The house was a modern adobe with red tile on the roof and a courtyard with a tinkling fountain and Spanish tile and bougainvillea everywhere. It was stunning. It could have been a film set, or the house of a desert prince.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, turning to him questioningly.
“Come on.” He got out and went to her door, helping her out to join him. “This is my place.”
“Yours?” She stared at him. "What do you mean?"
"It's mine. I bought and built it, the house, the stables, the barn, everything."
She stared at him, not sure what to believe. "When did you have time to do all that?"
He looked into her face and laughed. "I didn't do it with my very own hands," he teased her. "Though I did spend some weekends feeling like someone on a chain gang. No, but I drew up the plans and ordered the supplies and hired the contractors."
"So it really is yours?"
He nodded.
She shook her head in wonder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His eyes were luminous as he reached out to touch her cheek. “I never told anyone. No one else knew about it but Monty. I bought the property years ago and I’ve been developing it as a horse-breeding facility ever since. Just last year I had the house built.” He nodded toward where the beautiful house sat at the top of the hill.
"But…you're a gambler," she said, searching his eyes.
He nodded. "And I'm also a rancher. My passion is breeding horses, Kelly. I've been working toward this for a long, long time."
She gazed at him in wonder. "My cousin is married to a guy who breeds horses," she said, beginning to smile. "His name is David Santiago. His ranch is in Destiny Valley."
Cody nodded. "Sure. I know David." He grinned at her. "So Shawnee is your cousin?"
She nodded, eyes bright as diamonds. "I never knew," she said softly.
"You weren't meant to know. Not until I was ready to tell you."
She sighed. "It doesn't make any difference, you know," she told him happily. "I'm over that gambling thing. Just as long as you stay safe."
His arms came around her from behind and he pulled her close against him. “Do you think Tammy will like it out here?” he asked softly.
Kelly twisted and gazed at him, speechless, her golden hair blowing in the wind. “Why?” she asked at last, breathless.
He lifted an errant wisp of hair from where it fluttered over her lips and smiled. “Because this is where we’re going to live.”
“What are you saying? You’re the man who claimed he would never marry.”
He nodded sagely, though his eyes were sparkling. “A sound rule. I’ve lived by it all these years.” He drew her closer. “And then I met you.” He buried his face in her hair. “I want to marry you, Kelly.”
Her head was floating like a helium balloon. She was going to faint. “Cody—“
“Hush, don’t answer yet. Let me tell you something about my plans. I quit at the casino. I’m going to be concentrating most of my efforts out here, breeding horses. But I won’t try to kid you, Kelly. I’ll still be gambling. Poker’s in my blood. I’ll be following the circuit from time to time, playing the tournaments.” He dropped another kiss and then unwound his arms, taking her hand and leading her again. “Hush. Don’t answer yet. Come on up and see the house.”
The house was furnished like a showroom, beautifully modern but with few personal touches. But already Kelly found ideas for improvement flashing through her head.
The bedroom was another story. The moment she looked inside, she knew it somehow had been designed especially for her. His bed was huge and overstuffed, a downy heaven filled with fat comforters and fatter pillows. In another moment, they were both flopping down on it.
“I love this!” she cried out, laughing.
He stopped, framing her face with his large hands. “I love you,” he said haltingly, earnestly, searching her eyes. “I’ve never said that to a woman before.”
She smiled dreamily. The shock had worn off, but the thrill would never fade. “Then how do you know it’s love?” she teased. “It might just be a bad case of spring fever.”
He shrugged, looking down at where she lay. “You tell me,” he said softly. “Is it love when you smile every time you think of someone?” His hand cupped her cheek. “Is it love when you want to take everything to show them, every
joke you hear, every rainbow you see?” He kissed her lips once, twice, then raised himself a little. “Is it love when something inside burns to be with them?” He stared down at her again, almost as though he were puzzled by the entire affair. “Because that’s the way I feel about you.”
Kelly reached up and touched his lips with her fingertips. “Me, too,” she whispered, her eyes full of the longing she had for him.
He kissed her again and again. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her sweetness, of her warmth. He drank of what she had to offer until her lips were swollen.
His hand played with her buttons, then found her breast, cupping it and enjoying the feel of her hard nipple through the cloth. She sighed, moving beneath him, and he felt the rush of hunger flowing through his blood.
He pushed aside her blouse and bra and let her breast out into the air. He kissed the tip. Urgency was growing in him, but he ignored it, kissing her softly, tasting her skin, playing with her nipple until it too was swollen and she was writhing beneath him, calling his name, her hands searching for him, coaxing him to come to her.
Lying back, Cody let her undress him, her fingers trembling with her eagerness. He watched her every moment, not wanting to miss anything she did or any expression that might pass over her face. He wanted her so badly, and it was going to be right this time. He’d given up his apartment in the Marquis. This was his home now. And Kelly was the only woman he’d ever brought here.
Kelly could hardly breathe; her chest felt tight and her legs ached. She loved the darkness of his chest, the tightness of his flat stomach, and when she drew the leather belt from around him and began to pull off the rest of his clothes, she could hardly believe the beauty of what she uncovered. She’d seen him before, but not like this, not in the sunlight, not on this downy comforter, his nakedness so hard and smooth and dark and magnificent.
Her hands fluttered across him like blossoms in a breeze, and then he gripped her, pulling her up, and she gasped as he tore the last of her clothing away and touched her, stroked her, tempted her to the edge of delirium.