“It was a little chilly waiting for Bessie, so I covered us up. I didn’t figure you’d object since you were already using me as a pillow.” Irritation turned his eyes the deepest shade of sky blue with sparkles like fireflies in the night. “For the record, I’m not a morning person until I’ve had at least two cups of coffee.”
Robin studied his grumpy expression while he shook out the offending sleeping bag. “Aren’t farmers up at the crack of dawn?” Robin straightened her clothes and ran jittery fingers through her tousled hair.
“Before we continue this little battle, I say again—we have an audience.” Chad pointed to the back of the truck.
On the tailgate swinging their legs, Boo and Lindy watched the verbal volley with bright-eyed interest. Taking a deep breath, she glared at him to let him know he’d taken the coward’s way out. He rolled his eyes.
Robin walked to the tailgate. “Good morning, sweeties.” Robin hugged both girls, then dropped a kiss on each proffered cheek.
“Good morning, Mommy.”
“Good morning, Mr. Chad.”
“Good morning, girls.” Chad cleared the rasp from his throat.
“Bessie had five puppies.” Boo’s grin made Robin wary.
“We named them.” Lindy pointed to the squirming masses. “Cookie, Cream, Pistachio, Chip and Peanut. Do you like them?”
The girls beamed at her, then at Chad.
Robin and Chad groaned in unison. “Girls…” Robin began.
“Don’t.” Chad touched Robin’s arm to stop her words. When she flinched, he yanked his hands back. “Let’s have coffee first. Please. Then we’ll tackle the puppy problem.”
After throwing his sleeping bag into the back of the truck, he lifted a girl in each arm and headed for the house, not daring to see if Robin followed. The night before, after the girls settled in their sleeping bag, she’d told them a story. He’d listened to the rhythm of her voice, the soft melodic tones easily conjuring thoughts of intimate pillow talk. He’d doused his desire by talking about farm details as soon as the kids fell asleep. Given the circumstances, it was the best strategy he could come up with to keep his hands to himself.
She’d bushwhacked him, though. She’d listened, really listened. She’d asked questions and exhibited an interest he hadn’t found in his last girlfriend. Since his family had money, most people assumed he wasn’t serious about his farming. He combated the gossip with hard work and reliability. Robin’s interest soothed feeling he didn’t know had been hurt.
While they waited for Bessie to deliver, Robin had started the night next to the pickup wheel. As the hours wore on and she’d fallen asleep, she’d snuggled a little closer and a little closer and a little closer, until she was all but sleeping in his lap. It had been two years since he’d been so near a woman. In fact, he’d sworn off women altogether the day Gwynne’s wedding invitation arrived in the mail.
When he’d awakened to find Robin’s soft, sweet heat nestled close, a lustful sensation blazed through him like a flame to dried pumpkin vines. The urge to kiss her awake and then explore the smooth, silkiness of her skin, to give in to the flame, taunted him. Then he’d looked up into two sets of identical eyes and his libido came to a screeching halt. He hadn’t been sure whether to thank God or to curse his fate.
He set the girls down on the walkway. They each grabbed a hand and swung his arms. Trotting along, they chattered about the puppies. Whether from a child or a full-grown woman, the implicit trust was humbling. Thankfully, he’d controlled his impulse this morning. He coveted Robin’s trust, wanted it with a longing that was ridiculous given the fact he’d only met her yesterday. According to his grandmother, though, feelings knew no time boundaries.
Chad stopped at the steps. Robin trailed behind, so he went on into the house. In the kitchen, he lifted the girls to the counter and studied each face, searching for freckles.
“Lindy.” The twin on his right pointed at herself.
“Got it. No freckles.” He tweaked her nose.
Boo gave him her best persuasive grin. “Can we have some peanut butter toast?”
Chad shook his head. “Why not?”
“I much prefer Captain Crunch—Peanut Butter Captain Crunch.”
“Yeah!” They high-fived his raised hand.
He lifted the girls off the counter and handed them bowls and spoons, pushing them toward the breakfast area. Taking the milk from the refrigerator, he grabbed the soon-to-be devoured box of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. The timer had started the previously prepared coffee pot at the usual early morning hour and he inhaled the intoxicating smell. He stopped to pour the brew into his favorite blue mug and joined the twins at the table. The back screen door slammed on his third mouthful of cereal. Robin hovered on the threshold of the kitchen, a sleepy flush across her cheeks.
“I hope you don’t mind.” Chad pointed her to the mugs by the pot. “The girls were hungry and didn’t want to wait.”
Robin took an orange mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. She stood at the counter, turning carefully, apparently still dazzled by his kitchen. The lower cupboard was ajar and she reached to close it. She stopped, opening the cupboard wider.
Chad tensed.
“Trix, Frosted Cheerios, Froot Loops, Captain Crunch, Honey Comb, Berry Berry Kix, Frosted Flakes and Lucky Charms.” Robin turned a raised brow his direction and grinned. “What? No Coco- Puffs?”
“I’m out.” He couldn’t stop the growl. His sister constantly lectured him on the contents of his cupboard and how much sugar he inhaled, claiming he was ruining his health from consuming so much crap. He didn’t care. It was quick and easy and he hated healthy cereals. Spoon halfway to his mouth, he waited for Robin to do the same. After all, she was a mother.
“That’s quite a collection.” Robin smelled her coffee. The sigh escaping her lips was likely from the aroma, but the sound tensed Chad’s gut.
He dropped his spoon back in his cereal. “Self- defense. I don’t cook.”
Her brow crinkled at his defensive tone. “Is that a problem?”
“Only for my family who are trying to run my life.”
She walked to the table to sit across from him.
“I promise I’m not trying to run your life. I have enough trouble taking care of my own.” Robin pointed at the two little girls. They were sucking up Captain Crunch as if the cereal was a scarce commodity.
Chad fiddled with his spoon, an idea blazing to life. “You cook?”
“Some. I used to do short order in a restaurant in Oklahoma.”
He smiled, a self-satisfied smirk. “You’re definitely hired, full-time.”
“What?” Robin straightened in her chair.
“As part of your job, you can cook for me. I get tired of driving to town to my Grandmother’s or buying takeout and my microwave hates me.”
Chad sat back in his chair and watched her expression. Then, he offered the one thing guaranteed to make her say yes.
Robin’s eyes bulged at the salary Chad named.
Even including the antique sorting agreement, nobody paid such a ridiculous amount for someone to cook—not just cook, anyway.
Robin rose from her chair and pointed to the family room. “Could I talk to you for a minute, in there?”
“Sure.” Chad picked up his coffee cup, winked at the twins and followed her. His clothes were rumpled, his hair mussed and his light morning beard looked roguish against his tanned skin. He could tempt her heart with just the heat from his blue eyes.
She forced aside her attraction to him. Men flirted with her. Men rubbed up against her. Men propositioned her. They did not offer her jobs.
Careful to keep her voice down, she went on the attack the minute he stood in front of her. “What are you up to?”
“Six-foot-one.” He grinned, quirking an eyebrow when she didn’t laugh.
“Old joke. Not funny.” Robin backed up to keep him at an arm’s length. “If you think all these promises are going to mak
e me fall into bed with you, you have another thing coming.”
“I believe I invited you to cook. C-O-O-K. You want to forget the whole deal, fine by me. No cook, no sorting through the antiques and no paying me back for the clock. It’s that simple.” Chad smiled, giving the appearance of a friendly, ordinary neighborhood farmer. He didn’t succeed. He was too sexy.
“I pay my debts.” She ground her teeth.
“Then, I just hired a cook.” He rubbed his hands together, his expression gleeful. Closing the distance between them, he leaned to whisper in her ear. “By the way, Robbie, when I invite you to my bed, the words will be M-A-K-E L-O-V-E.”
Robin’s face burned. Her heart pounded in her breast, stirring up a mountain of agitation and causing her breath to come in short gasps. “It’s Robin, not Robbie.”
“Whatever you say.” Chad returned to the kitchen before she picked up on the when not if.
The trembling started in her hands, then shot to her knees. She slumped to the sofa. There was never going to be a man in her bed again. Ever.
After several deep breaths, she rose and marched to the kitchen, refusing to look at Chad who poured himself another cup of coffee. She picked up the overused sponge from his sink, efficiently gathered the girls’ dishes and rinsed them, then wiped the table.
Chad leaned against the counter, sipped his coffee and watched her.
She tossed the sponge back into the sink. “Girls, we have to go.”
“But, Mommy, we wanted to go see the puppies again.” Boo stuck her lip out.
“We have to go, Bonnie. I’m sorry. We’ll be back tomorrow and you can see the puppies then.
Say goodbye to Mr. Applegate.”
The girls ran to Chad for hugs which were gladly returned. Robin trembled with anxiety, her knees barely holding her upright. She’d come back tomorrow and rip through the rooms of this house. It shouldn’t take long to work off the clock. She would cook for him as part of the job, if that’s what it took, but she wouldn’t be around for making love.
Robin picked up her keys. “We’ll see you in the morning. Around seven a.m.?”
“That’s fine.” Chad put his cup in the sink and walked to the door, opening it for them.
Not trusting herself to speak, she herded the girls to the car. Chad followed close behind, stopping to put on a Texas Ranger baseball hat.
She’d go home, take a hot shower, nap with the girls and by evening this insidious panic would be gone. When she came back tomorrow, she’d have herself under iron control.
Chad helped Lindy buckle her seatbelt while she helped Boo. She ignored him when he opened her door. She ignored his smug smile, too. “See you tomorrow,” Chad said.
Robin jammed the key in the ignition and turned.
The starter ground, but the motor didn’t turn over.
Twisting the key again, she prayed. The starter whined, then silence.
She put her head on the steering wheel.
Please, not one more problem.
On the next try, the engine barely hiccupped. Desperation made her try one more time.
Nothing. The silence strangled all hope.
Her car was dead.
~~CHAPTER FOUR~~
Chad tapped on the hood of her car, silently asking Robin to pull the lever to pop it open. Through the windshield, her eyes accused as if he had purposely sabotaged her car. A lesser man would have retreated. Stifling his irritation, he waited, a headache building at the back of his skull.
Robin got out of the car. “May I go back in the house and use the phone to call a tow truck?”
“Open the hood, Robin. Let me take a look before you spend that kind of money.”
Her face tightened. “I solve my own problems. I don’t need you to solve them for me.” Fury flooded her eyes, mixed in equal measures with despair.
Boo and Lindy pushed out the back windows and looked at Chad. He took a deep breath, striving for calm.
“Let me take a look.” With his hands on the hood, he swore silently at the woman and prayed for a little cooperation.
Robin’s face hardened, her hands gripped tightly in front of her. Finally, she reached inside the car and pulled the lever to open the hood. She refused to look at him, her mouth set, her back poker-stiff. “Girls, go see the puppies.”
Their excited clamor filled the air as they escaped the car and ran to the shed. After a half an hour tinkering with the battery cables and connections, Chad set the wrench to one side and rubbed a greasy hand across his forehead. Even after using his truck for a jump, it still wouldn’t start.
“Had trouble with it lately?”
The morning sun glinted off her hair, the tousled disarray distracting him for a minute.
Robin chewed her lip. “Yes. I’ve had a few days where it wouldn’t start. My landlord had to jump it.”
He wiped his hands on a rag. “Texas heat is rough on batteries. This one is past resuscitating.” Robin nodded and started for the house, yelling for the girls. They tore from the shed and raced after her.
Chad followed them. The girls went inside, the back door slamming. Robin stopped at the door and turned to him. “I’ll call a tow truck.”
Chad ground his teeth. “That’s not necessary.”
Robin glared. “That’s not your decision to make.”
While she was right on that one, he knew damn well her jobless state meant she didn’t have money for a tow to town. Since her car had died in his driveway, he felt obligated to help. Her refusal was about more than pride. He saw fear in her blue eyes. What kind of man did she think he was anyway?
In the kitchen, she turned her back, crossed her arms and stared at the family room where the girls had gone. Chad eased around her, went in the other room and pulled out one of the many movies he kept for his niece and nephews when they visited. Putting it in the DVD player, he started Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
The girls beamed. Their mother scowled.
Boo perched on the beige, flowered sofa, tapping her foot to the music as soon as it started. Lindy claimed the green recliner, stacking all the magazines from the coffee table at her side, then taking the first one in her lap and turning the pages.
Chad returned to the kitchen and reached for the coffee pot to keep from wrapping his hands around Robin’s pretty neck.
“You must know a reputable tow truck and repair shop.” Her glare could have fried chicken at thirty paces.
“Sure. Buddy’s Service and Repair. However, I’ll get killed if I let you take it there without first calling my grandmother.”
Robin swiped her hair from her face. “What on earth has your grandmother got to do with this?” Chad poured some coffee into his mug.
“Everything. Her father, my great-grandfather, owned the first gas station and repair shop in Echo Falls. The shop was in our family for years. After my great-grandpa died, his brother sold the shop to Buddy’s father, against the family’s advice. My grandmother was furious.” Chad lifted the coffee pot and offered to pour her a cup.
She shook her head, indicating for him to continue his explanation.
He put the carafe back on the hot plate and turned off the machine. “I’m going to catch enormous amounts of grief if you call him. Besides that, I’m already going to be in trouble for tinkering with it without calling her to get in on the fun. She hates being left out of a good vehicle repair. If truth be told, her talents in that department have kept Hap’s old tractor running for the past four seasons. Your car would be a snap.”
She studied him for a moment, an internal debate plain on her face.
He tipped the black brew in his coffee cup to his lips, swallowing a chunk of rage and frustration along with the black liquid. “Instead of blowing seventy-five bucks on a tow and another hundred having a new battery installed, I can save you some money and the hassle. I’ll just call my grandmother, tell her the make and model and she’ll be right over with her tools and a new battery. She’ll be thrilled. But
you do what you want. Just tell me.”
Chad wanted to rub the tense set of Robin’s shoulders and wrap his arms around her in a soothing hug. He didn’t dare, though. Her posted ‘No Trespassing’ signs disturbed him to the depths of his soul. It shouldn’t mean so damn much that she let him do this little thing. His feelings shouldn’t be hurt if she decided to pick up the phone and call that tow truck. He shouldn’t worry whether or not she had the money. He’d just met her and she’d dumped a dog and a litter of puppies in his lap. This wasn’t his problem.
Like hell!
Robin chewed her lip. “Your grandmother is really a mechanic?”
“Best in town, including Buddy.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to let her take a look at it.”
The air blasted out of his lungs. Careful not to say anything that would make her change her mind, he nodded and slipped his cell phone out of his pocket.
Robin went to the family room to check on the girls.
Several minutes later, he had relayed the information to his grandmother and, as predicted, she was delighted. Walking to the back door, he stared out across the landscape. The lawn needed mowing and a car sped down the lane to the open market. Marveling, he realized he hadn’t given the market a thought this morning. Trudy Givers, his manager had, though. Her truck was parked alongside the building.
“Maybe while we’re waiting, you could give me a tour of the house.” Robin’s soft voice settled in his gut, inciting and enticing. He turned to face her, judging her mood. Her lip was chewed beet-red raw. Her expression was defiant, yet contrite. He accepted her words as a peace offering.
“Okay.” He led the way to the dining room. “You’ve already seen this room. This is just the start.”
She looked over the collections again and then they proceeded through the foyer into the living room. The same scene greeted them. Curio cabinets and bookshelves covered the walls. Dozens of items filled every possible spot. Robin wandered the room, stroking a finger over an item here and there.
Echo Falls, Texas Boxed Set Page 4
