by Debra Holt
Davis pushed away from the cabinet then and moved back to the table, his hands resting on the back of his chair as he responded to her question. “It would have been reckless if you had other options at your disposal and chose to ignore them. However, you had no way to call for help and time was critical in this case.” His stance softened as a gleam lit his eyes. “It’s really nice outside this evening, how about we move to the front porch for a bit of fresh air for you… if you’re not too tired yet?”
Would that be tempting fate? Moonlight and a porch swing and a man whose kisses she found she really liked… a lot? The decision was hers to make.
Chapter Nine
“I’ve wanted to sit in that porch swing since I arrived the first time,” she returned with a full smile at his suggestion and glad of the change of subject. It might be time to see if fortune favored the bold. “I’m not tired after having slept the entire day away.” She stood and then held up a palm in his direction. “And I will walk to that porch. Your ego will just have to suffer.”
His reply was to step forward and offer her his arm. She looked at it for a moment and then she curved her arm around it. They had an agreement. After a brief pause in the hallway, while Davis thoughtfully retrieved a colorful afghan off the chair in his office in case Stacy might need more warmth, they finally settled into the porch swing.
Dusk had spread across the yard and a soft evening breeze stirred the night. The evening star was just making its appearance in the inky sky above. Davis stretched his long legs out in front of him, one booted foot gently sending the swing in slow movements back and forth. One arm stretched along the length of the back of the swing.
If Stacy allowed her head to relax backward, she would find a soft pillow for her head. She was very much aware of the man lounging beside her and mindful of her wardrobe. She was grateful for the afghan and kept it draped across her lap and around her legs. It didn’t keep a slight shiver from going through her body when the line of his body accidentally made contact with hers in the swing.
“If it’s too cool out here, we can go back inside.”
Did his eyes not miss anything?
“No, I’m fine. It’s a lovely evening. The fresh air is better than any medicine, and I really am not an invalid. I feel much more like myself. Darcy’s soup must have done the trick, along with a nice long nap in a real bed. Much better than that damp, smelly hollowed-out rock Lizzie and I shared last night.”
Then a shadow filtered through her. He also saw that. Davis sat up straighter, his head bent in her direction as his eyes searched her face.
“What’s wrong, Stacy? Are you in pain?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that, for a moment, I remembered how differently I spent last night. It goes without saying that I much prefer this.” She brushed away the darkness to end on a lighter note.
A long finger gently lifted and smoothed a lock of her hair back across her shoulder. His voice was as potent as an actual caress.
“You’re safe. Lizzie is home and safe. Everything is right with the world again.”
“I certainly hope she got the blueberry pancakes she wanted as soon as she got home,” Stacy said with a smile, remembering the child’s words.
Noting the quizzical arch in his brow, she filled him in on her and Lizzie’s conversation and the child’s request for breakfast when she returned back to her family. He nodded with a grin.
“I’m certain Lizzie has been given anything and everything her heart desires since her return.”
“What made those men do what they did? Why did they choose Lizzie?”
“Stupidity is the short answer. The longer version is a lot more complicated beginning with the fact they showed up in McKenna Springs a couple months ago, just drifting through, looking for ranch work or any odd job. One of them managed to get hired on part-time at Jim’s lumber yard. They were on the lookout for the fast score. For some reason, they latched on to the fact that Jim is a wealthy man and it wasn’t hard to see that he and his wife doted on their child. They figured it would be easy to snatch her and demand a ransom. They would get it and be gone to Mexico in nothing flat… or so they thought.
“One of them managed to get put on a work crew that was doing some remodeling on the porch at their home. Without going into too much detail, things worked out for them and they were able to get their hands on Lizzie while her mother thought she was napping in her room. They took her to what they thought was the perfect hideout to wait for the ransom drop.”
“Perfect except for the fact that it belonged to a Texas Ranger… with a nosy writer for an unexpected house guest.” Stacy finished with a soft laugh. Her voice grew solemn as she added, “I hope Lizzie won’t have too many memories of such an awful time in her life.”
“The doctors checked her out and will keep her overnight at the hospital before sending her home. Apart from some bug bites and scratches, along with the beginnings of dehydration, she seems to be none the worse physically. Her parents will see that she gets the best help counseling-wise, as well.”
“The doctor prescribed that for me also… the counseling. I thanked him, but I doubt I’ll need to go that far.”
Davis eyed her for a long moment. “You’re a strong lady that’s for certain. However, even the strongest person needs someone to talk to now and then.”
Stacy knew better than to argue with the man. In a short amount of time, she had become used to reading that certain look he could fix a person with… just below the deceptively calm blue surface of his eyes. She smiled and nodded.
“Message received and understood.” The smile left her face as another thought intruded. “You didn’t say, and I haven’t asked before now. The man that was shot? I—”
He didn’t let her finish. “He’ll live. They’ll both do some serious time, which reminds me… you’ll need to give a statement tomorrow. I kept the legal guys away this long, but they want to speak with you as soon as you’re up to it.”
“I’m sorry you had to get involved like that… having to shoot someone…”
“You and Lizzie were in immediate danger. When he leveled that gun at you and the safety clicked, I made the call to end it. If I had meant to, he would be dead right now instead of just wounded.”
“You make it sound so… clinical. As if shooting someone is all in a day’s work.”
“If you can’t pull the trigger without hesitation, then you won’t last long as a lawman.” His tone was matter of fact.
She hadn’t really thought a lot about what his work actually entailed. The sudden reality of it was an eye opener. He wasn’t one of those heroes on a book page. He was a living, breathing man, who daily went to work where he might have to actually step into a life and death situation. It was a sobering thought.
“Have you been placed in a situation before where you had to use your gun?”
“Yes, but only a handful of times in almost fifteen years. There’s generally a better solution to a situation other than a violent one.” Davis’s voice changed as did the subject of their conversation. “Take a look over by the gate.”
Stacy’s eyes followed his pointing finger and she caught sight of what he was referring to. A grin broke across her face.
“Lightning bugs! I haven’t seen them in years.”
“Did you ever catch them and put them in jars when you were a kid? Darcy and I did.”
“No. I just watched them from afar. I suppose if I had a brother or sister to help instigate things, I might have been more adventurous than that.”
“Would you have liked brothers and sisters?”
“Yes, I think I would have, if things had been different. As it was, my mom really didn’t need more than one child. In fact, she really didn’t need me.”
Davis’s silence and level gaze encouraged her to continue.
“And your father? Do you ever see him?”
“As I mentioned earlier, he was a rodeo cowboy… a bronc rider. He was just the be
ginning of many one-night stands after my mom left home when she was sixteen. When she found out she was pregnant with me, she thought he would do the right thing and buy into the picket fence and diapers routine. That lasted not even a year. He gave her a handful of cash and was gone the next day.
“I did see him once when I was nine. He came into the cafe where my mother worked. I was sitting at the counter doing my homework, waiting for her to finish her shift. I remember he was really thin, walked like an old man… all hunched over and stiff from too many falls off too many horses, I suppose. He wore a big black cowboy hat and old scuffed boots. His eyes did match mine. He just looked at me for a long time, but never spoke. Then, he laid another wad of bills on the counter for my mom and left. We never saw him again. A couple of years after that, we heard he died in a car accident in Arizona.”
“You mentioned that your mom remarried?”
“She made a career out of it. Three more times. Each one was a broken-down cowhand and each one promised her the world. Then they moved on and left us. I think the longest one lasted about ten months. Anyway, Mom passed away four years ago from lung cancer. Her life never was an easy one, until towards the end. After I sold a couple of best-sellers, I was able to make things easier on her, before the cancer came along, that is. It’s a good thing I didn’t have siblings. I would have had to take care of them growing up, too.” Stacy finished on a better note than she began.
“I can better understand your perception about the ‘cowboy’ type of man. You had to grow up more or less on your own. You’re determined not to repeat your mother’s mistakes in your own life.”
“So you understand now.”
“I understand where the idea came from and how you’ve maintained it over the years growing up. I’m not a psychologist by any stretch of the imagination,” Davis began, “but I can understand now why any man who resembles a cowboy is tainted in your book before he even has a chance with you.”
Stacy ventured a long look at the man beside her. She was afraid she would see pity or even a hint of disgust at the life she had growing up, but she saw nothing close to those things. He accepted her. Why couldn’t she accept him? There was no use pretending he wasn’t different from those men her mother had brought home. He was right when he had referred to them as wannabe cowboys.
The man seated beside her was the genuine article. She’d bet her life on that one. In fact, in a way, she already had. She had never opened up to anyone else as she had to him. She had never trusted anyone enough before. No man had ever made her feel as protected and alive in such a short period of time. It was time to share another truth with him.
“Perhaps I’ve had to recently revise some of my preconceived notions on certain things.”
“Certain things… or certain people?” His blue eyes turned to deeper shades of sapphire as they locked on hers.
“Well, it appears that my hard and fast rule about cowboys doesn’t seem to be so hard and fast anymore. I guess you could be blamed for that.”
“I think I don’t mind taking the blame for that one as long as it’s to my favor. Does this mean you might reconsider the ‘just friendship’ policy you established for us?”
“Don’t you think you already pushed the limit on that one? Friends don’t usually kiss each other the way we did last night on this porch.” There. She had said it.
Maybe she needed to make a few bolder steps now and then. Her mouth might not have been smiling, but her eyes were warmer as she said the words. Maybe she needed to go after the things in life that she wanted… and, in that instant, she knew what one of them was.
Chapter Ten
Davis gave her a slow smile. “You mentioned at the dinner table you wished you had a place like this growing up. You’ve certainly done well for yourself in your career. Why haven’t you considered buying a place in the country? Or do you find you prefer the bright lights of the city?”
“It’s not that I prefer the city.” Stacy gave a soft shake of her head. “It just suits my lifestyle right now. My life is taken up with my writing and I have no husband or children to fill up a place like this, so my condo is simply more suitable for me at this point in time.”
“And would you have time in your busy schedule for a husband and children?”
“Someday,” she agreed, the look in his eyes making her throat grow tighter and squeezing off a longer reply.
Stacy was also vaguely aware his arm moved from where it rested on the back of the porch swing and now a couple of his fingers lightly wound themselves into a couple of curls that lay across her shoulder.
“If the right man came along and I found myself in love with him, then the natural step would follow… or so I would hope. He’d have to understand that my writing would always be part of my life. But if I had a family, they would be the priorities.”
“I think…” he began before his words trailed off.
Had he moved closer to her? She could see the darker lines radiating from the blue irises in his eyes and, if she lifted her hand, she could easily trace the deep grooves beside the mouth that was quietly tempting her.
“You think…” She prompted him to complete the thought.
“Since we have this quiet evening before us, perhaps we should work on some of that research you said I could help you with.”
His words caught her off guard and she was not sure where he was headed. “Research? You think we should do research… now?”
“I’ve read your book that Darcy had you autograph for her that day in the diner.”
“I see. You’re a fast reader.”
“I read it while you slept. You’re really a very good writer.” The compliment was sincere. “And I’m definitely the man for any research on your latest book. In fact, after I finished your book, I went to work on the list of questions you left on the kitchen table before you took that walk in the woods. It was the list about law enforcement issues. I dropped it inside your bag for you. That takes care of that aspect of your book.”
“Thank you… I think. What other aspect might you be talking about helping me with?”
“I think not only can I help with any of the research you need on law enforcement, but also on any of the romantic, sexy, bedroom scenes you might need help with. I’m all about volunteering with anything you might need.”
Now his smile was lethal and revved her pulses into overdrive. There was no question he was openly flirting with her. She had always had a feeling that if Davis McKenna really turned up the voltage on his charms he could be totally devastating and he did not disappoint.
She was also aware in the outer most recesses of her suddenly fevered brain that his long fingers were making slow, lazy circles across her shoulder and closer to the tender skin at the base of her neck. Instead of moving away, her body was moving closer, with or without her consent. Somewhere… somehow… she needed to find her voice and a coherent thought.
“That’s not really necessary… I think. I usually just rely on imagination… for many other things in my books.” Idiot, not making sense.
“You don’t sound so certain of that. And imagination just goes so far sometimes. It really isn’t a substitute for the real thing. You want to give your readers what they want, don’t you? I certainly want to give you what you need.”
Her brain exploded and all thoughts blew with it as his words ended with his taking possession of her lips with his. Had he managed to improve over the last kiss they shared? That thought screamed through her body as her hands clutched at the front of his shirt of their own accord.
Davis’s mouth was in control of hers… lightly at first, then as she moved closer into his chest, his hand slid under the hair at the back of her head to allow his lips to apply more pressure and work to entice hers to open to him… something that did not take much persuasion at all. Was it a sigh or a plea on her part that gave him permission? They enticed and Stacy’s responded without hesitation. His free hand encircled her waist, turning her bod
y more fully toward his as they sat in the swing. Next, the same hand moved to slide along her back, drawing her closer into him.
Somewhere a tiny voice kept repeating “friends don’t kiss like this” but Stacy wasn’t in the position… or the mindset… to pay heed to it. Friendship might be highly overrated. Her restless hands managed to leave the shirt front and find their way up and around his neck, losing themselves in the soft hair at the back of his head. His mouth was obviously intent on drawing out every last ounce of resistance from her body. It was a traitorous body that gave in without much of a fight at all. All sorts of feelings were bursting through the barricades in her mind and in her body. She had written about it… imagined it… but never experienced the level of pure wanting that overtook her with his touch. Where had Davis McKenna been all her life?
It wasn’t difficult at all for Davis to shift her onto his lap, her legs folded beside his powerful thighs, the denim of his jeans coarse against the flesh of her legs. Her lower body was instantly aware of the throbbing ridge that now rubbed against the thin material of her panties as her shirttail had ridden up her thighs as she settled herself onto his lap. Heat pooled between her legs at the touch of their bodies in such an intimate embrace.
Stacy had no idea where the feeling of abandonment of her common sense went to but it was indeed fleeting. His touch ignited a flame inside her that flared into an inferno at each of his caresses. The more he gave, the more she wanted.
Davis slid both his hands, palms flat beneath the shirt material at her back and slowly moved upward, creating a hot trail up her back even as the cool night air sent shivers along the skin bared by his touch. His mouth left hers to trail searing kisses along her jawline, yet remained infinitely careful to not touch any of the bruised skin. His lips found the soft flesh along her neck and more shivers of hot anticipation went down her spine. Stacy was lost in the sensations his mouth was creating at the hollow of her throat while his hand moved to her shirtfront, his fingers deftly slipping the top button from its hole, before sliding to the next one down.
