by J. D. Faver
Breck held her, pinned beneath his body and his gaze. His passion spent, he kissed her gently and rolled onto his back, carrying Cami with him.
She collapsed against him, breathless. “That was astounding.”
He wrapped both arms around her and pressed his lips against her temple. “Astounding, huh?” He shot her a dark look.
She nodded. “What’s wrong, Breck? You look upset.”
“This wasn’t just sex for me, Cami. I have strong feelings for you. Right now, I want to be telling you how much I love you, but I’m afraid.”
She gazed down at him. “What could you possibly afraid of?”
“I don’t want to hear you reject me. I don’t want to see the mistrust in your eyes. I’m tired of being treated like I have some kind of ulterior motive.” With both hands on her face, he drew her toward him and kissed her mouth. His lips stirred feathers of emotion in her chest.
When she pulled away, his expression made her breath catch in her throat.
His dark brows drew together in a frown. “You should just accept it, Cami. I’m in love with you.”
She heard the pain in his voice and saw it register on his face. She cleared her throat. “I hear what you’re saying, Breck. I don’t believe that you have ulterior motives.”
“Then what’s standing between us?”
She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “It’s me. I don’t know what I feel. I’m barely out of one relationship and now I’m in bed with you. This isn’t like me.”
He brushed her hair back from her face. “I wouldn’t feel this way about you if it was.”
Cami gave him a long look. “I don’t regret it…this thing that happened between us. I just wasn’t expecting it.”
Breck frowned again. “This thing that happened between us didn’t just happen. There’s been an electric current running between us since the day we met. You can’t deny that.”
“No, you’re right, but…”
He glared at her. “What?”
“I know the attraction between us has been growing. I don’t know what happened last night that we woke up half naked, but I’m not unhappy about it. Just give me a chance to be comfortable with this…this…”
“Relationship? Is that too much commitment for you? Can you admit that we have a relationship, Cami?”
She grinned and nodded, suddenly shy. “Yeah, so what are we doing? Going steady?”
He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her. “Absolutely.”
#
He took her to lunch at Tiny’s Diner. He felt the gamut of curious stares from the church crowd and hoped that Cami was taking it in stride.
“Missed you in church, Breckenridge,” Miss Cora Lee Ferguson said. “Are you feeling well?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said. “I, uh, I overslept.”
A series of little tongue clicks from Alma Jo Tooley followed. “Well, try to set your alarm next week.”
“I feel like the Scarlet Woman,” Cami whispered as he herded her into a booth.
Breck helped her take off her jacket, allowing his fingers to caress the warm skin on her neck. He nudged her over and slid onto the seat beside her, his thigh pressed against hers. “I’m good with it. I’d be willing to take out a newspaper ad. ‘I finally got to love the woman I love’.”
A blush crept up her neck. “Shhh. Don’t talk so loud.”
“Easy now. Take a deep breath.” Breck slipped his arm around her and brushed a kiss against her temple.
Crystal plopped menus on the table. “Special today is the meatloaf with tomato gravy with mashed potatoes and green beans on the side.”
“That’s for me.” Breck slid the menu back to her and turned his attention to Cami.
“Me too.”
“See how easy that was. Nobody’s staring at us. We’re old news already.” He grinned at her, trying to put her at ease.
She leaned her head against his shoulder, and examined him carefully. “You sure are full of yourself. Is this the way you behave with all your conquests?”
The look in her eyes stirred something deep inside him. “You still haven’t figured it out, have you? It’s not about getting into your panties. It’s about getting through your defenses. I feel like you’ve had me crawling on my belly under barbed wire since I met you.”
“And now?”
“And now, I’m getting closer to you…and getting into your panties.”
She laughed. A real, shoulder shaking, dimple-making laugh. The wariness and mistrust was gone and she looked happy.
A warm feeling spread through his chest. He loved the way she laughed. Last night he’d breached some invisible barrier when he’d gone to her house with steak and wine. Maybe it was persistence. Maybe she was especially vulnerable, being exhausted and having disposed of a fiancé. Whatever the cause, he couldn’t regret it when he’d gotten to hold her all night and wake up to a morning of passion.
“Good afternoon, Breck.” Celeste Pigeon came to stand beside the booth. She apparently hadn’t noticed Cami crammed in the corner prior to her approach. Her face went from soft and pleasant to looking like she’d just sucked a lemon. “Oh, I didn’t know you were with someone.”
Cami gazed at her coolly.
“No, come on and join us.” Breck gestured to the seat opposite them. “There’s plenty of room.”
Celeste’s gaze flicked over Breck’s arm, still draped around Cami’s shoulder. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“Don’t be silly. Sit down.” He watched as she reluctantly slid onto the opposite seat.
Crystal rushed over with a menu and took Celeste’s order. “Don’t you two look happy?” Her mouth went tight.
“I’m happy,” Breck said. “I asked Cami to marry me and” He glanced at Cami with a wink. “She’s thinking about it.”
He couldn’t decide which woman looked the most surprised. He gave Cami a little squeeze and she giggled.
Celeste turned a deep crimson and seemed to be having trouble breathing because her chest was heaving and she blinked her eyes rapidly. “Well…Well, that’s sudden, isn’t it?”
He gave Celeste a long look across the table. “It was love at first sight on my part. I had to wait a while for Cami to catch up.”
At that moment, Crystal brought the meatloaf plates and slid them on the table.
“Crystal, you can cancel my order,” Celeste said. “I’ve suddenly got a splitting headache.” She gathered her things and rushed out of the restaurant.
“You are a terrible man,” Cami whispered.”
“No, I am not,” he said. “In case you had any lingering doubts as to whether I was carrying on with Celeste Pigeon, I wanted to set your mind at ease.”
She made a noise in the back of her throat. “With a sledgehammer?”
“Y’all need some ketchup?” Crystal asked.
They shook their heads in unison.
“Is there anyone else you were worried about?” he asked.
Cami reached for her fork. “Not anymore.”
#
After their meal, Cami and Breck returned to Moonshadows. She watched as he hitched a horse trailer onto the back of his truck and loaded Red inside.
He’d suggested showing her the Ryan ranch from horseback and she’d agreed, anxious to ride Red again and glad he was willing to accompany her, given his trepidation about her ability to ride the big horse.
She glanced at his face again. It had been wreathed in smiles since she’d awakened in his arms. She’d been grinning as well. This thing that had transpired between them seemed to have made them both happy. A relationship, he said.
She took a deep breath and tried to put it into perspective. They’d had sex. Big deal. People do it all the time.
Then she took another breath. But those people aren’t me.
It had been the best sex ever and from the way Breck acted it must have been pretty good for him, too. He’d said it wasn’t about getting into her panties, but past h
er defenses.
Yeah, she’d been pretty defensive since this big cowboy had been coming at her, head on from the start. She was used to less…less…Damn! She was used to less. She wasn’t used to having a man pour his feelings out on her in such a lavish manner.
He reached across the width of the truck to squeeze her thigh and give her a smile. “You’re awfully quiet.”
“I’m just thinking,” she said. “About everything that’s changed in the last twenty-four hours.”
He nodded. “Still okay about what happened between us?”
“It would be hard not to be okay with you grinning like a Cheshire cat over there. Have you never heard of the word subtlety?”
“Sounds too in the closet for me. I’ve got nothing to hide. Have you?” He gave her a wink.
“I guess not.”
He pulled up in front of a sprawling ranch house built of native stone. “Come inside to meet my dad and then we can go for a ride.”
He opened her door and when she leaned down into his arms he pressed her close.
When he held her, Cami felt a thrill. He posed a major threat to her ability to keep her clothes on and a defense against any other male getting too close. Breck had staked his claim.
His innate jealousy had been amusing when she was less involved. Now, she realized that he considered their coupling a serious commitment and would be crushed if she chose to return to Houston.
She sighed as he swung her around and set her feet on the ground. It was a commitment. She’d made her choice. It hadn’t been a choice between Clay and Breck. It was choosing between Breck and all of her dreams of a career in research.
“Hey, what’s that look about?” he asked. “You’re not having regrets, are you?”
She gazed up into his eyes and gave him a smile. “No, I’m not.”
“I hope not, because I’m not into one night stands.”
“Morning. It was morning.”
He grinned and dropped a kiss on her nose. “I plan to pleasure you again tonight.”
“Unh huh. I’ll see what I can do to make it interesting for you. I don’t want you to think I’m easy.”
“No chance of that.” He pointed the way to the front door.
Once inside, the entry led into a cavernous great room with a huge rock fireplace at one end. A set of French doors on the opposite wall opened out onto a patio with a magnificent west facing view of the distant mountain range.
A tall man resting in a recliner struggled to his feet. Breck brought her to meet him. “Cami Carmichael, this is my father, Zachery Ryan. Dad, this is the girl I’m going to marry.”
She turned a surprised face to him.
“If she’ll ever say yes.”
His face wreathed in smiles, Zachery Ryan’s large hand enfolded hers . “Glad to meet you, young lady. What are your intentions toward my only son. Are you toying with his affections?”
Cami blushed. “I see how it is. An ambush.”
Zachery turned his gaze to Breck. “He’s a pretty good man. You could do worse.”
She felt her color rising. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Both men stood grinning at her.
“Sit down, Cami,” Zachery invited. “Get the girl something to drink, son.”
Breck disappeared and could be heard opening the refrigerator and clinking ice cubes into glassware.
“My son tells me that you’re a doctor?”
“Yes, sir,” she said. “I’m in Internal Medicine.”
“I also heard you were taking over Doc Parker’s practice.”
“I’m not sure about that,” she said. “I’m just helping while he’s out of commission.”
Breck handed her a glass of tea and gave one to his father. He sat beside her and slid a protective arm across the back of the sofa.
“Are you getting acquainted with folks in town?” Zachary asked. “I imagine people
are glad to have a young doc in the area.”
She grinned. “My arrival has been met with mixed reactions. None of Breck’s girlfriends have been too thrilled to see me.”
Zachary hooted with laughter but Breck just grinned and shook his head. He passed his hand over his face. “I should have known this was a mistake.”
“Young lady, you’re the first girl he’s brought home since high school. Don’t you be worried about any of those other women.”
She sipped her tea and looked around the room. Family photos on the mantle showed a younger Breck with both parents, and another of him wearing a football uniform. An older photo showed Zachery standing at the base of a drilling rig with his young son on his broad shoulders.
“You were in the oil business?” she asked.
“Back in the old days, everyone with a few acres had pump jacks working on their land. Landmen signed up every living breathing land owner and big oil companies were drilling pilot holes anyplace that looked promising.”
“Did you know Eldon Kincaid back then?”
“Who didn’t?” Zachery grimaced. “That rattlesnake got around. He bought up cheap land and properties close to foreclosure. One of my old buddies, Brody Atwater, had a little problem with drink. He lost his land to Kincaid. Danged shame. He and his wife Marie just pulled up stakes and disappeared right after that. They had a brand new baby boy, too. Don’t know where they went. Just vamoosed.”
“That’s too bad for your friends,” Cami said. “You never heard from them again?”
Zachery shook his head. “Did you see the picture of Breck in his scout uniform?”
Cami smiled to herself. All American male. “Eagle Scout?” she asked.
“Breck always achieves whatever he sets out to do.” Zachery nodded at his son. “The scouting program was a great influence on him.”
“There’s still an active scouting program here,” Breck said. “In fact, Silky was going to let the local troop use the area around the mesa and the caves to do some camping and exploring. It was in the newspapers a little over a month ago. She was planning on organizing a big spelunking party for them in the spring when it warmed up. The caves haven’t been explored during my lifetime, but she said people used to go there years ago. Interesting formations, she said.”
Cami stared at him in disbelief. “You’re telling me that my Great-Aunt Silky was going to go climbing around in caves?”
Breck gave her a mischievous look. “I said she was going to organize the party. I can’t see Silky going underground. She had a distinct aversion to snakes and other slimy critters.”
“Maybe we can still do it,” she mused. “If Aunt Silky was going to have a spelunking party for the local scouts I should make sure it happens just the way she wanted.”
“I’ll help,” he said. “I’ll introduce you to the Scout Leader. Maybe we can have a camp out on the mesa for the younger boys.” His face reflected his enthusiasm.
She was filled with a sense of buoyancy whenever she looked at him. She didn’t ever recall anyone gazing at her with quite the same expression. Breck is in love with me. Accepting his emotions gave her a sense of security. In her limited experience, no one had ever loved her in such a way that it showed on his face.
“That sounds like fun,” she said. “We’ll do it.” Goodbye fellowship. Goodbye Houston. Hello happily ever after.
“I have to take this beautiful lady for a horseback ride, Dad.” He stood up and took her empty glass from her hand, returning it to the kitchen.
“I’m glad you came by, Cami,” Zachary said. “And I’m glad you got together with my boy. He seems to care a lot about you.”
She nodded, not sure of what to say to this man who was examining her with warm gray eyes, not unlike Breck’s.
“He’s a good man,” Zachary said.
“Yes he is.”
She sensed that he would have said more, but Breck returned from the kitchen at that moment and held out his hand to her.
“We should get going while we still have the light.”
S
he bade his father goodbye and they left the Ryan house behind.
Breck unloaded Red and saddled him for her before bringing his big black stallion, Cavalier, out of the stables.
The horses nickered and whinnied to each other.
“Rein him in, Cami. These guys are competitors. They excite each other.”
When they rode out, both horses were eager to run. She thrilled to the big horse under her. Red was straining to run free. She pulled back on his rein, letting him know that she was in charge. “Easy, Red.” She felt him acquiesce to her directions.
Breck watched intently, giving her the impression her horsemanship was on trial.
“Oh, come on,” she said. “We want to run.”
“You are so related to Silky Carmichael.” He prodded his horse into motion and took off ahead of her, looking back over his shoulder.
She could barely restrain Red. He wanted to fly. They overtook Breck shortly and Red was content as long as he was in the lead.
They rode at a full gallop for a while and then slowed to a walk to let the horses rest.
She observed Breck’s face. He seemed to be in his element here. “I saw the photographs over the fireplace,” she said. “The ones with your mother. She was very pretty.”
“She died my freshman year in college. I didn’t even know she was sick.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re dad is very proud of you.”
“And I of him.” His voice grew thick with emotion. “He’s a good man.”
“He said the same thing about you.”
“Yeah, well. We’ve been depending on each other for a while now.” He pointed to the horizon. “See that mountain in the distance? Ryan land ends just a few miles this side of it.”
“It looks like a lot of land. What do you use it for?”
“Grazing. Pasture. Some will be under tillage when it warms up.”
“You raise beef cattle?”
“Just like you do,” he said.
She sighed. “This seems almost surreal to me. A few weeks ago, I was running my little rat maze in Houston, going to the hospital and back to my apartment. My head was full of the patients I was attending and my co-workers and anticipating getting into the area of research I wanted.” She smiled when she caught the expression on Breck’s face. “What?”
