by Jodi Thomas
She’d never had anyone say anything less sexy to her in her life. He wasn’t telling her he was attracted to her or even interested. If this was his way of romancing a woman, it was no wonder he lived alone.
“Never mind,” he said, shaking his head. “Dumb idea.”
“No. I guess I have no objections. It’s a small favor to ask. In fact, I should think of it as neighborly. I’m thirty-seven, in case you care.” She was starting to sound as crazy as he was. She thought of adding for him to go ahead and kiss her. Get it over with. How bad could it be? She’d kissed her share of frogs in her life and he was definitely not a frog.
She moved right in front of him, leaned her face up slightly and closed her eyes.
What she’d expected was a hard, closed-lip kiss on the mouth.
What she got was a very soft brush of his lips against her cheek.
She heard the slight jingle of his spurs as he shifted.
Then another light brush of his lips and another as he moved toward her mouth. Gentle encounters, almost shy. He made no effort to hold her. It seemed enough for him to just be so close to her she could feel the warmth of his body.
When his lips did finally brush over hers, she felt his breathing slow and knew he was relaxing. As he did, the kiss turned tender. Not a payback for a favor. Not an attack on her senses, but something with meaning.
Her body mutinied to the other camp and she moved closer. When her blouse brushed his shirt, his hands slid around her waist, deepening the kiss.
Her last thought before her brain melted was how did her cowboy, out here in the middle of nowhere, learn to kiss like this? She’d been kissed by men who bragged of having many lovers, but none could compare to this one tender kiss.
Suddenly she was hungry for something that, a moment ago, she hadn’t even known she wanted. Her hands moved into his chestnut-brown hair and pulled him closer, demanding more.
He lifted her off the floor, her body pressed against his. The man felt like he was made of rock, only he was warm, so warm she felt like she was melting into him and loving the feel of being so close.
When he lowered her slowly, without breaking the kiss, she almost wanted to cry out that she wasn’t ready for this to be over.
Only he wasn’t ending anything yet. Apparently, he was just getting started.
His big hands moved up her sides, slowly warming her through the thin layer of silk. When he reached the edges of her breasts, he pulled back slightly, almost touching her, almost caressing her, far more intimately than a friendly kiss might allow.
Parker let out a sigh, wishing he’d be bolder but loving that he hesitated.
As his hand moved over her shoulder, he froze, then pulled away so suddenly she cried out.
“You’re hurt,” he said as he turned her in his arms. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing. Just a cut I got on the wire.”
She kept protesting, but he pulled her to the bathroom and tugged a first aid kit from the shelf.
Parker took quick gulps of air, feeling the loss of his warmth as she wondered what had happened to the man she’d just kissed. He couldn’t be the same man standing before her now swearing under his breath.
“Take off that blouse,” he ordered as he washed his hands.
“I will not.” Didn’t the man know that no one ordered her around? She was Parker Lacey. She was a self-made millionaire. She was thirty-seven.
Oh, wait. He already knew that.
“Take it off so I can see the cut. It could get infected. Every animal on the prairie has probably rubbed up against that fence.”
The thought grossed her out. She didn’t even like the idea of people having pets that sat on the furniture. The possibility that a cow and her open wound might have brushed the same fence turned her stomach. She might contract rabies or foot-and-mouth disease or who knows what else.
She unbuttoned the first few buttons of the blouse, and he tugged it over her head.
Parker kept her eyes closed as he cleaned the cut and applied ointment. So he was seeing her back. Big deal. His voice was gruff, almost as if he blamed her for the accident, but his touch seemed caring.
“It’s only a little cut,” she said more to calm herself than him.
“It’s deep enough to bleed.”
She opened her eyes and looked into the mirror at his worried expression.
Then she realized all he had to do was look in the mirror to see her front because her lace bra hid very little. When she met his gaze she thought she saw a smile at the corner of his mouth. He’d read her mind.
“I’m sure you’ve seen a bra before,” she snapped.
He spread a big Band-Aid over her cut and whispered close to her ear, “I wasn’t looking at the bra.”
He stepped back. “I’ll get you one of my shirts to wear home.”
She thought of saying “no, thanks,” but the idea of putting on a bloody shirt really wasn’t appealing. “It will be too big,” she finally answered.
“So was that one you had on. I don’t know where you buy your clothes, but your shirt must have belonged to a giant and those jeans you got on are way too tight. Plus, you don’t seem to own a pair of shoes you can keep on.”
“They’re leggings and I don’t need help with dressing.”
“I wasn’t complaining, just observing.” He handed her a denim shirt. “I won’t mind helping with the undressing if you ever need it.”
“Thanks. Fat chance,” she added, but he had already backed out of the bathroom. Parker took the time to wash her hands and run his comb through her hair. He’d been right to doctor the cut. It felt much better. Her hundred-dollar blouse would have to be tossed. Cuts in silk never patched.
The soft denim shirt felt warm against her skin. Another reason to thank you, cowboy, she thought.
She found him on the porch, scraping the mud off her tennis shoes.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said. “I’ll just get them muddy again on the way home.”
“No, you won’t,” he said without looking up. “I’m taking you home. I don’t want to take a chance on you bleeding all over my good barbed wire again.”
“But...”
“But nothing, Parker. I figured out why you wouldn’t let me drive to your door last night. You thought I didn’t know about that woman living at your place the past few weeks. Hell. I see her out walking almost every day and I nearly ran over her once when she was jogging down the road after dark. I can see your attic light on every night. She must be afraid of the dark. Half the time it’s still on when I get up at five.”
“You’re watching her?”
“No. I don’t care about her. It’s none of my business. Maggie and Flip told me about you having them stock the house, so I figured you’d invited her.”
“Who are Maggie and Flip?”
“Your housekeepers for the past ten years. They gave up trying to reach you years ago and just call me when something needs fixing around the place. Flip says you send a check every January to cover their work. Other than that, they weren’t sure you were real.”
“I thought their names were Margaret and Francis?”
He looked up and rolled his eyes. “Really, you think an old cowboy would go by Francis? I’ve known him all my life and no one ever calls him Francis more than once. His wife does the cleaning. He takes care of keeping the place up. Built the flowerbeds last fall.”
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“You will, come spring. He seeded them with wildflowers.”
Parker stared at him. “You told him to do that, didn’t you?” It wasn’t a question. She already knew the answer.
“We talked about it and figured you’d like the flowerbeds to match the walls in your rooms inside. That is, if you ev
er decided to visit.”
“You two didn’t have to do that.”
He shrugged. “One way or the other I figured it needed doing.”
“I’ll remember that.” She slipped into her shoes. “I’m ready to go home now.”
The sun was almost touching the horizon as they walked toward his truck. When he went right past it, she was confused, until she saw the horse tied to the back.
“You mind riding?” he asked, as he began pulling the reins free.
“I don’t know how.”
He laughed. “I know how, and so does the horse. Two out of three will be enough.” He swung into the saddle and offered her a hand. With one tug, he pulled her up in front of him.
“Relax, Parker. You’re safe enough.” Without another word, they moved toward the road at a slow pace.
She watched the sunset, loving the orange and gold as it spread across the land. Halfway between his place and hers, she asked, “About that kiss?”
“What about it?” His voice was low, near her ear.
“Did you get it out of your system?”
“No,” he answered. “Maybe we should try again.”
His hand moved across her middle, holding her secure, caressing her. Logic told her she should end this now, but she couldn’t seem to get the words out.
There it was again, she thought. That gentleness he could show but couldn’t seem to voice. That call to an adventure that she couldn’t turn away from.
“I’m not looking for forever.” She always believed in being honest at the beginning of anything with a man. That way, she wouldn’t waste time dreaming, and he wouldn’t spend time fantasizing.
His laughter came hard. “I don’t even believe there is a forever, lady. But if ever there was a woman who needed kissing, I’m thinking it’s you. I’ve seen a lot of pretty girls but you are downright beautiful and haven’t been kissed near enough.”
She tried to stiffen. Compliments wouldn’t work. “So you were simply offering to kiss me as a way of helping me out?”
“Nope. But I’m offering that and more if you’re interested.” His fingers moved from her shoulder to where her hands gripped the saddle horn. As he crossed over her, he’d lightly brushed her breast...by accident?...on purpose?
His voice was low in her ear as his hand warmed hers. “No relationship. No strings. No forever. Just you and me maybe making a memory we’ll both keep.”
Parker closed her eyes and tried to think. Was she willing to take the first wild adventure of her life, that would probably also be her last?
“When?” she whispered.
“I’ll be waiting at the end of your drive at sunset tomorrow. I’ll bring you back before dawn.”
“I don’t have forever, but I might have a night.”
“Fair enough.” His hand slid beneath her shirt and brushed the bare skin just above her waist as he kissed her temple. “One night with you might just last me long enough.”
Then he was lowering her onto the side of her porch. He touched his fingers to the tip of his hat and was gone before she could say another word.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
WHEN GABE STEPPED from the shower, he heard his cell beeping. Grabbing a towel, he crossed the darkened hallway to his rented room and picked up his phone.
“Santorno here,” he answered, knowing no one ever called him except on business and this time of night only one man managed the office.
“We got a lead on Victoria Vilanie.” Charlie Watts didn’t waste time on greetings. “A highway patrolman stopped her about fifty miles from your present location. The guy obviously didn’t recognize her, but I picked up his log while I was scanning all reports. Unless someone stole her license, she’s in the area.”
Gabe stood perfectly still, letting water drip around him. “Can you send me the paperwork?” He lowered his voice, not because he thought someone might overhear, but out of habit.
“Will do,” Charlie snapped back, “but according to the report, she wasn’t alone, so watch yourself.”
Gabe moved toward the desk lamp and flicked it on in case he had to find pen and paper. “So maybe she didn’t go nuts and run away from her loving family. Maybe she’s just having a wild affair. Sounds like something a twenty-four-year-old might do.” He’d already figured out she wasn’t nuts or high from watching her work with Yancy, but he wasn’t about to admit that to the home office.
Charlie, far too old to take assignments, manned the night phones at the agency. He was like an old firehouse dog. He wanted to run with the bell, but age and four hundred pounds kept him planted behind a desk. “I’ve been talking to her family every day, Gabe. The stepfather’s upset because she’s due to ship new paintings next week and she hasn’t finished them. He’s mentioned twice that he has to know where she is, dead or alive. Sounds like if he gets her back, he’s got his workhorse. Of course, if she’s dead the value of her work will skyrocket. Either way he wins.”
Gabe liked talking to Charlie Watts. The old guy had seen a great deal over the years and had a bloodhound nose for BS. “What about the mother?”
Charlie hesitated. “She missed the second conference because she had a hair appointment she couldn’t break. That pretty much told me what I needed to know. Rich folks will pay big money to get their grown kids back. Then they send them off to private country-club rehab so they’ll at least look normal and tanned when they get out.”
“This one isn’t a kid, even if she looks petite in the photos. Since she’s managed to avoid us for weeks, I’m thinking she might have her head on straight.”
Charlie snorted. “Stepdad mentions drugs every time he calls. Wants to make sure everyone, including the police, knows she’s a druggie. He says she’s messed up bad. Has been since her real father blew his brains out in front of her. The guy said he had to take over being her legal guardian before she became an adult herself. Said she tried to kill herself once.”
Gabe thought of the sweet girl Yancy seemed to treasure. She didn’t look like the type to off herself, but then, he’d thought of ending it all a few times, too. The only thing that kept him from it was figuring that he’d end up in a worse hell than here.
“Charlie, does the office know about the report in Texas?”
“No. It came in after hours. I just thought you’d like to be the first to hear.”
“Thanks. How about sitting on this info for a few days?”
“You know there are others looking? I think we’re billing for six in the field right now. They’re spread out pretty thin from Kansas to New Mexico.”
“I know. I also know some won’t care how much they frighten her, or hurt her, for that matter. I saw a girl Burt and Lee brought in last year. They’d hauled her in the trunk of their car for over five hundred miles. Bruised, bloody and throwing up from coming down off a bad high, she looked more dead than alive when she climbed out. If she wasn’t crazy when she ran away, she was by the time they handed her back to the arms of her parents, who wouldn’t even touch her.”
“I remember that one.” Charlie added, “Burt and Lee should have faced charges for it, but the parents wanted it all kept quiet. No cops involved.”
Gabe kept his voice level. “I don’t want that happening to this woman.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the call. “Tracking people down isn’t an easy business. Years ago it was mostly bad guys jumping bail or cold killers who someone wanted caught more than the police did. I even handled a few for the mob. They paid good and I didn’t ask too many questions. But now...”
“I know.” Gabe closed his eyes. It was getting harder to tell the good guys from the bad. “If I can find her, maybe I can talk her into coming back. That estate she lives in with her parents is like a hotel. She couldn’t have it too bad in a place like that.
”
“And if you can’t talk her into going home?”
“If I find her, I’ll bring her back where she belongs. Like you’ve told me before, we’re not the judge—we’re just the deliverymen. But, Charlie, give me a few days. I’m close. I can feel it.”
“It’ll cost you, Gabe.”
“I figured.” Gabe smiled. “Best steak in town and all the beer you can drink.”
Charlie took the bait. “I’ll call you when and if that police report gets found but don’t think I’m doing you a favor. I saw that girl’s face on the flyer. I don’t want to see it all bruised up from being bounced around in the trunk of a car.”
“Me either.” Gabe ended the call.
His chest ached so badly it felt like he was having a heart attack. He was starting to care again and it hurt too much. Somehow, he’d find a way to talk to the girl Yancy called Rabbit. If she didn’t want to go back, that was up to her. This time he’d worry about what was right, not what was profitable.
Then, suddenly, he had a more pressing problem.
Miss Daisy had walked past his open door and screamed when she noticed him, almost naked, standing by the desk lamp.
Gabe grabbed his shirt. When the towel tumbled, he dived behind the bed. Cusswords rumbled, but Daisy didn’t hear him. She was too busy shrieking.
Fifth Weathers came running from his room with his gun drawn. For a few moments, chubby Miss Daisy and the deputy tried to get past each other in a hallway wide enough for only one.
Miss Daisy kept yelling, even though all she could see was one bare leg sticking out from the corner of the bed.
Gabe had nowhere to run. Two people were already blocking the only exit.
When the deputy finally got the larger half of the Franklin sisters to move along, he closed Gabe’s door and said calmly, “You can come out, Professor. I told Miss Franklin to go down to the kitchen and make herself some tea. She’s got to calm down or she’ll explode.”
Gabe stood up and quickly slipped into his clothes as well as his character. “I’ve never been so embarrassed, sir, I assure you. I can’t believe that poor woman had to see me in the bare. It’s intolerable. I’ll never be able to face the sweet lady again.” He kept shaking his wet hair. “I’m afraid I’ll have to have a bit of brandy with my tea, if she’ll even let me go down to the kitchen after this.”
