The Rowdy Coyote Rumble (Jackrabbit Junction Humorous Mystery Book 4)

by Ann Charles

  “Stay with me, Kate.” He tapped the left side of his chest. “In here.”

  Her heart throbbed loud and slow in her ears.

  Was he saying what she thought he was saying? Common sense still held her in check, wary from her past screw-ups. She gave him a crooked smile and joked, “Are you saying you want me to play Jiminy Cricket and climb into your pocket?”

  He didn’t laugh. Pulling his hands from his jean pockets, he stepped closer and took her by the shoulders. “No. More.”

  Did he mean “more” as in more more, or did he mean more of something else? Her tires spun on that garbled mess for a moment, but she quickly yanked on the brake cable. She was too exhausted for guessing games tonight.

  “Valentine.” It was her turn to whisper. “What are you saying?”

  She hoped like hell his answer would put her out of her misery, because if this was his way of asking her to put in longer hours at the bar, she was going to stomp on his toe and sock him in the gut.

  He slid his hands along her cheeks, his thumbs lifting her chin as he lowered his face toward hers. His mouth lined up with hers. She grasped his shirt, holding on for dear life. Her eyes fluttered closed, his scent waking a deep need.

  “Please,” she breathed, wanting him so bad she ached.

  “Kate,” he kissed one corner of her mouth, “stay with me tonight.” He kissed the other corner. “And tomorrow.” He brushed his lips over hers, so tender, stealing her breath. “And for all of the tomorrows after that.”

  Her eyes opened when the kisses stopped.

  Butch stared down at her, holding back, waiting for her answer.

  “I’m afraid.” There, she’d come clean with the reason she’d pulled away from him since seeing those pink lines on the pregnancy test weeks ago.

  His mouth curved upward. “What if I promise to be gentle with you the first time?”

  She tried to smile, but her heart had too much riding on this moment. She gulped and then held the beating organ out there for him, come what may. “Valentine Carter, I’m in love with you. There’s nothing I want more than to have your child. But I don’t want to end up like my parents in twenty years, full of bitterness and hatred for each other.”

  His brow creased. “Why would we?”

  “Because you feel trapped in a relationship that started because of a pregnancy.”

  “Our relationship didn’t start with a pregnancy.”

  “Before this happened,” she placed her hand on her stomach, “we were just having some fun.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not true. Before this,” he put his hand over hers, “I was already hooked on you, enjoying what was building between us.” His hand slid upward, curving around the outside of her breast. “But now I’m plumb crazy about you. I don’t want to ever let you go.” He took her hand and laced his fingers through hers, then used their joined hands to reach around her lower back and pull her against him. His other hand cupped the back of her head. “Stay with me, Kate.” His lips feathered over hers. “Stay with me and make the long nights and lonely days go away.”

  Well, when he put it that way. “Okay.”

  He pulled back slightly, his brow raised. “Okay? Really?”

  At her nod, he kicked the door closed and turned her around, backing her into it. His mouth teased hers as his hands caressed, returning to their old playground favorites.

  She heard the lock click behind her and moaned in agreement. She fumbled with the buttons of her shirt, wanting to feel skin on skin. He pushed her hands aside, taking care of the buttons in a flash. His palms brushed her bared stomach, tender yet possessive, before climbing higher.

  “Your body,” he said as his mouth skimmed across her shoulder. “It’s changed already.”

  “I’m turning into a balloon animal.”

  “No.” He lowered to his knees, his mouth trailing down between her breasts, which were spilling out over her old bra. “You’re blossoming with my child.” His lips feathered over her stomach, his hands spanning her hips. “It’s incredibly hot.”

  She clutched his shoulders as his tongue circled her bellybutton. “You say that now,” she sank her fingers into his blond hair, tipping his head back so she could look him in the eyes. “But in a few more months you’ll think I look like I swallowed a basketball.”

  His gaze was a dark, inky pool of lust. “I’m in love with you, Kate. Whether you are with child or not, I’ll be nuts for your body.”

  This had to be a dream. This kind of shit never happened in her waking life. Dream or not, she didn’t want it to end, but her feet had a request after tonight’s hectic shift serving gallons of beer. “Why don’t you show me how nuts you are over on that couch?”

  In a flash he was standing, scooping her up and carrying her to the couch. After he set her down he pulled his shirt off. He reached for his jeans and she shoved his hands away, unbuttoning them for him. It was her turn. She ran her palms over his briefs and skin as she slowly pushed his jeans toward the floor. He groaned as she taste-tested along the way, reacquainting her mouth with his salty skin.

  When she finished teasing him, she lay back on the cushions, raising her arms over her head. “Your turn.”

  His hands flexed over her as if he weren’t sure where to touch first. She stretched out like a cat, offering herself without reservation. He got over his dilemma quickly, starting in the middle. He kissed and caressed her flesh as he undressed her. She closed her eyes and sank into the pleasure of his touch.

  Eventually he slid over her, his mouth seducing hers with a kiss that cranked her need into a frenzy. Then he slid between her legs. She arched, taking him in, her soul filled to the brim but her body craving release.

  He took her to the edge and then eased back repeatedly, teasing her into a clawing, sweating, gasping mess. “Damn it, Valentine.” She wrapped her legs around his. “If you don’t stop teasing me, I’m going to hurt you.”

  He laughed under his breath. “You know I like your brand of pain.”

  Running her fingers down his back, she moved against him, holding him in her sights. What was happening finally reached her core. She was here with Butch and he wanted her, he loved her. No more nights curled in a ball for hours on end in Gramps’s R.V. No more tears about facing the future on her own with a baby. No more aching to touch him but holding back. She stared up at him, her emotions spilling out on her face she had no doubt. “I’m a lucky girl,” she whispered.

  His expression grew serious, his gaze holding hers for several seconds. Then he lowered his mouth, tenderly kissing her as his body took hers with a fierce need. The combination made her cling to him as her body pulsed, her muscles contracting around him.

  “Kate,” he gasped, holding her still as his muscles locked for several seconds, a mixture of pain and pleasure on his face. Then he collapsed on her, the couch sinking under their weight.

  She trailed her fingers down his damp back, her legs still wrapped around him. She didn’t want to break the connection.

  As their breathing returned to normal, he rolled sideways into the cushion, relieving her of his weight. His fingers trailed over her breasts, circling, cupping, his gaze mesmerized. “You’re beautiful.”

  She chuckled. “We already had sex. You don’t need to seduce me now.”

  “I mean it, Kate.” His focus moved to her eyes. “I was afraid I’d never get to touch you again.” His fingers trailed down to her stomach, his palm rubbing over where the bump would begin to show soon. “I’m not letting you go. Not even if it means sleeping in your grandfather’s R.V. for as long as you want in order to keep you by my side.”

  “No way are we sleeping there. That bed is killing my back already and it will only get worse the bigger I get.”

  “You’ll come home with me then?”

  She nodded.

  “For good?”

  “On one condition.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly. “What?”

  “You promise no
t to leave me there alone for weeks at a time when you travel.”

  “I’m not going to go anywhere for a while.”

  “What about the classic car auctions?”

  “I have plenty of work to keep me busy for now after that auction in Texas. By the time I need to go again, you and the baby can come with me.”

  … and baby makes three. She smiled. “Okay.”

  “Okay what?”

  “I’ll go home with you.”

  He leaned down and kissed her, his hand still spanning her stomach.

  When he lifted his head, she traced the lines on his face. “It’s good you’ll be home for the duration of my pregnancy, because I’m not sure who would spring me from jail next time if you’re gone.”

  He frowned. “Kate, you need to be more careful.”

  “Come on, Butch. You know I’m not very good at being careful.” She shifted, tugging him around so he was underneath her, flat on his back. She straddled his hips, teasing him with her body as she continued tracing her finger down his chest.

  “You’re not, huh?” He folded his arms behind his head, his smirk cocky yet content.

  “Nope.” She leaned forward, hovering over him eye to eye. “How do you think I ended up pregnant with your baby?”

  He laughed. “I don’t know, teacher. Maybe you should give me the lesson about the birds and the bees once more.”

  He didn’t need to ask her twice.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Sunday, November 18th

  Sunday morning eased in on a warm gentle breeze, rattling the yellowing leaves of the cottonwood trees down by Jackrabbit Creek. Ronnie took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh scent of the desert as she raised her arms toward the sun, exhaling as she folded her torso down and touched the yoga mat between her bare feet.

  It was the perfect opportunity for some yoga sun salutations in the great outdoors, modified slightly after last night’s injuries. Even more opportune since Deborah was maintaining her vigilant watch over Claire inside Ruby’s walls.

  She breathed in, raising her arms high again.

  In addition, Gramps had called early this morning from somewhere in New Mexico. He and Ruby would arrive home later this afternoon. With them needing their bed back, Deborah had insisted on moving Claire and Mac into the spare room.

  So Ronnie had packed her things back into her suitcases and headed out the door … landing at Gramps’s Winnebago, her new home away from no-home. Her lack of an abode was yet another reason she’d love to beat Lyle with a sock filled with bars of soap. If he hadn’t secretly mortgaged their house to the hilt and then lost it to the bank after skipping off to prison, she wouldn’t be stuck in this leaf-in-the-wind position.

  She breathed out and folded down to touch the mat again.

  Although, it was her own fault as much as his. She shouldn’t have had her head in the sand for all of those years. Oh well, lessons learned and all of that shit. Holding onto her rage only gave her heartburn. Unless she was willing to drive up to South Dakota, break into prison, and strangle the son of a bitch until she put him out of her misery, she needed to move on with her life and try to focus on the positives.

  Take what happened with Katie and Butch last night. Somehow they’d managed to work through their differences, which meant Ronnie would get Gramps’s queen-sized camper bed to herself. Bonus!

  She inhaled, hands reaching for the sun, trying not to think about the loneliness factor. After all, she had Manny sleeping in the camper right next to her, and Chester right across the gravel drive. She exhaled and bent over to touch the mat again. Maybe she could start having nightly Euchre games, take up cigar smoking, drink beer instead of gin and tonics.

  On the inhale up to the sun yet again, she tried to clear her thoughts of the world around her, relax her mind, block out the sound of someone walking past the front of the Winnebago on the gravel drive. Back down with her hands on the mat, she did her best to ignore the dull pain radiating out from her left hip where she’d taken the brunt of the fall last night while fighting with Arlene.

  The kaleidoscope of blues, purples, blacks, and yellowish-green bruises coloring her left side from ribcage to upper thigh had made her grimace when she’d gotten dressed in front of the bedroom mirror. Sexy they were not. She’d have to make sure her mom didn’t catch her in the midst of changing her shirt for the next week.

  She walked her hands forward on the mat, shifting into the downward facing dog position to start loosening the back of her thighs and calf muscles. Pain pulled on her lower back as she pushed her butt higher into the air, making her wince when she was supposed to be zoning out.

  It was taking longer to clear her thoughts today, which was no surprise after last night. She wondered if Arlene was hurting as bad as she was. Probably worse after Claire’s attempt to bat her skull out of the infield with that mop handle.

  Clear your mind, dammit.

  Two more breaths and she’d …

  “Keep that up, Veronica,” Grady’s voice surprised a gasp from her, “and somebody might get arrested for lewd conduct in public.”

  From her upside down viewpoint, she looked over to where he leaned against the back of Gramps’s R.V. in his Sheriff’s uniform, albeit a very rumpled and wrinkled version of it minus the shiny badge. His hat shaded his face, his sunglasses shielding his eyes from her.

  “It’s called yoga, Sheriff Hardass,” she said, still holding the pose, “and I’m wearing all of my clothes.”

  He cocked his head sideways, making it obvious he was staring at her butt. “Who said I was talking about you?”

  That made her smile. She walked her hands toward her feet and then stood up, unbending slowly. “I didn’t hear you drive up.” She pulled her T-shirt down over her stomach.

  “I parked up at the General Store. Mac said I could find you here. It’s a nice morning, so I decided to walk.”

  She shook out her yoga mat and then rolled it up. “Welcome to my new abode.” She slipped on the flip-flops she’d borrowed from Claire and headed for the Winnebago “Come inside and I’ll pour you something to wet your whistle.”

  “Coffee would be great.” He followed her inside.

  She tossed the mat on the floor next to the couch, slid out of the flip-flops, and walked over to the kitchenette to see what she could drum up in the coffee department.

  “You’re lucky. Katie hates instant coffee, so this rig is stocked with an actual coffee grinder and maker.” She opened the bottom pantry cupboard door, not finding any beans, and then checked the top. Going up on her toes, she grabbed the little bag of coffee.

  “Do you like it black or with—” She turned to find him staring at her backside again, his sunglasses and hat off now. She looked around at her butt. “Do I have something on my pants?”

  “No.” His gaze lifted to her chest. “I’m having trouble thinking clearly after being up all night, and your choice of clothing this morning isn’t helping.”

  Finally his amber gaze met hers. His eyes looked tired, but heat still shimmered in their depths.

  “Look, Sheriff, if my clothes are bothering you, I could always take them off.”

  That brought a grin to his face. “First coffee and then we’ll work on your debriefing.”

  She grinned. “That line doesn’t quite work unless I’m wearing briefs.”

  “De-pantying?”

  “Well, that would require me to be wearing panties.” She pulled the waistband of her yoga pants away from her hipbone and peeked down at her bare skin before letting it snap back. “Nope, none to be found in there.”

  He groaned and walked over to the table, obviously putting distance between them. “We need to talk about a few things, Veronica.” He sat down on the edge of the table.

  She had a feeling he was reminding himself of that more than informing her. “Okay. Give me a minute to get some coffee going and then we can talk.” She’d rather skip the talking herself, since it probably had to do with the trou
bles she was bringing to his county, but she doubted much would dissuade him from speaking his piece.

  When the coffee was brewing, she turned around and leaned back against the counter, giving him the space he apparently wanted. “Okay, Grady, let ‘er rip.”

  He grimaced, rubbing his right eye. The poor guy was nearly asleep on his feet.

  “I heard all about your fight with Arlene.”

  He must have talked to Butch. “It was more of a tussle.”

  His gaze drilled her. “You could’ve been shot.”

  “But I wasn’t.”

  “You should’ve gone inside and immediately called 911. Let us handle situations involving firearms.”

  “And let Arlene kidnap my sister in the meantime? I think not. I made the right choice at the time.”

  “I disagree.”

  “Really? So if you’d been there watching your sister get the shit kicked out of her, you would have gone inside and called for backup first and worried about saving her life second?”

  His jaw tightened.

  “Yeah,” she said, “that’s what I thought.”

  “But I’m trained in hand-to-hand combat.”

  “So am I.” After all of those self-defense classes, she knew enough to get herself out of trouble … most of the time, anyway.

  He growled under his breath. “Christ, you’re so damned obstinate.”

  “What does it matter how Claire and I took down Arlene? She’s behind bars now and we’re both still alive and kicking.”

  “It matters because you’re my girlfriend, damn it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  It was sweet that he cared, but … “Listen, if you want a girlfriend who runs for help or hides at the first sign of trouble, we should probably put an end to this thing we have going between us right now.”

  “Veronica,” he started, but she wasn’t done.

  “Because you need to understand something, Grady. I’m done letting assholes fuck with me and my family.”