Rico reached out as if he might give Joe a friendly, celebratory slap on the back, but the look Joe gave him had Rico taking a step back. “All right, man,” Rico said. “Catch you later.”
Joe kept his glare in place until the man was out the door, and he made a mental note to talk to Dara about the dangers of bad-boy assholes. It was possible Rico’s son hadn’t inherited his father’s dickish ways, but Joe wanted to warn her just in case.
He went past the counter and into the large repair bay. It was crammed with motorcycles, a golf cart and even a mobility scooter, telling Joe that Tanner likely had plenty of business. There were parts lying around on the smooth concrete floor. Parts on worktables, too. The place smelled of motor oil, sweat and the spring storm that was moving in.
He spotted Tanner working on the Harley that Joe had brought over the morning after the dinner deal at Millie’s. Millie was very much on Joe’s mind.
Both then and now.
Of course, after the kissing and touching that’d gone on in the barn, it was impossible not to think of her. Impossible not to want her, too. Soon, very soon, he was going to have to make a decision about where all of this kissing and such was going with her. The sensible thing was to stop seeing her, so that neither of them would end up getting hurt. But Joe doubted he had enough sense to manage that.
“I’m just about done,” Tanner called out to him. “Give me another ten minutes or so. Once it’s fixed, I’ll open the bay door and help you load the Harley.”
Joe would give him that ten minutes and more because he needed to have a talk with Tanner. A talk that was best done in person which was why he hadn’t called Tanner after Millie’s visit to his ranch, and his barn, three days ago.
“Trouble?” Tanner asked after eyeing Joe’s face.
“Maybe.” And it occurred to Joe that it was trouble that really wasn’t his business. Except it affected Millie. And until he’d made that “sensible” decision as to what to do with her, he was making her trouble his business. Plus, Laurie Jean had reined him into this family problem by pointing the finger at Frankie and him.
“A couple of days ago, Millie was at the ranch for a riding lesson,” he started. “She told me what you’d said about Laurie Jean, a possible affair and blackmail.”
Joe watched Tanner for any clue that Millie had already spilled about their conversation, but Tanner’s blank stare told Joe that she hadn’t. Tanner finally sighed. “When Millie gets off from work, she’s planning on going over to talk to Laurie Jean, to try to get to the bottom of what’s going on.”
Joe checked the time. It was just after six which meant Millie was either already at her mother’s or on the way there now. He hoped like the devil that Millie stood her ground and got the truth.
“While Millie was still at my place, Laurie Jean showed up,” Joe continued. “She didn’t confirm the affair but she did more or less confirm she was being blackmailed. She seemed to believe I’m responsible for that. Maybe Frankie, too. Why would she think that?”
Tanner groaned, cursed and pushed himself away from the Harley. He sat on the floor, looking up at Joe. “The woman’s batshit. Mean batshit at that. As for why she’d say something like that, it’s probably just to try to put a wedge between Millie and you. I’m sure dear ol’ batshit Mom has heard you two have been seeing each other, and she wants to put a stop to it.”
Joe couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of that, but yeah, that was something Laurie Jean would do. He frowned though over the “has heard” part. Frowned, too, that he hadn’t remembered there would indeed be talk, especially after he’d gone to Millie’s house for dinner.
“I’m sorry Laurie Jean said that about Frankie and you,” Tanner added. “And if you’re looking for a ‘misery loving company’ deal, I can give you that. Laurie Jean, in the full she-bitch mode, went over to Skylar’s parents’ house a couple of days ago to try to convince them to force Skylar to stop seeing me. Laurie Jean likes that Skylar’s family has money and such, but apparently, our dating is causing gossip because folks think I’ll ruin Skylar’s reputation. Laurie Jean gave them this whole whine and spiel about why Skylar and I should break up.”
“How’d Skylar take that?” Joe asked.
“Not well. She’s pissed, and trust me, it takes a lot to piss her off. She told Laurie Jean to shove it, in a more polite kind of way. Skylar rarely loses her temper, but Laurie Jean can push buttons you don’t even know you have. I swear, Skylar’s mad enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the one who’s doing the blackmail.”
Joe could see that happening if enough of those buttons had been pushed. But blackmail seemed extreme. A reaction to something worse than a “dump the bad boy” chat with the parents. If the blackmail wasn’t being done for just the money angle, then it could be payback for Laurie Jean’s bitchiness.
And that led him to Frankie.
“I haven’t brought any of this up to Frankie,” Joe explained. “I wanted to run everything past you first, but do you really think there’s a chance Frankie is behind the blackmail?”
Tanner rested his forearms on his knees. “Maybe. Frankie could have seen Laurie Jean with this other man, and after the way Laurie Jean mistreated her when we were married, Frankie might be wanting some payback.” But then he stopped, shook his head. “But even with all Laurie Jean’s dumped on her, I can’t see Frankie doing it.”
“Neither could I, but I know she doesn’t always tell me what’s going on in her life.” Joe recalled the hickey he’d seen on her neck. That’d been about six weeks ago when she’d come over to check on him after Millie had drawn Ella’s name at the Last Ride Society. “Does Frankie ever talk to you about, uh, her personal life?”
Joe groaned and shook his head to wave that off. “No need to answer that.” Because he recalled something else. The “freeze in hell” glances that Frankie had shot Tanner and Skylar from across Millie’s dinner table.
“Her personal life,” Tanner repeated. Not a question. Judging from his tone, he was giving that some thought. “I haven’t heard if she’s seeing anybody. Have you?”
“No,” Joe admitted. “And that’s the problem. Usually when Frankie’s dating someone, she’s eager to tell me all about it. Even if I don’t want to hear it.” Which was most of the time. “But I think she saw someone...” Hell, he was tired of beating around the bush. “She had a hickey and dodged giving me any info about who gave it to her. That makes me think she’s gotten involved with someone she knows I won’t approve of.”
“Yeah, it does,” Tanner muttered.
Joe couldn’t be sure, but he thought that what he was hearing and seeing from Tanner was regret. Or heck, maybe even jealousy.
“I just don’t want Frankie to jump into anything stupid,” Joe added.
Of course, that was more than a little like the pot calling the kettle black since he was thinking about doing something stupid with Millie.
Muttering some profanity, Tanner moved back to the Harley repair. “There’s cold beer in the fridge in my office,” Tanner said. “Why don’t you grab two, and once I’m finished here, we can sit down and talk about anything but my mother, Frankie or Skylar.”
Even with the limits Tanner had put on conversation, Joe still wanted the beer so he headed out the back of the repair bay and into the narrow hall that led him past a storage room, a small bath and finally to Tanner’s office. It definitely had a man-shed feel to it with its outdated furniture, but the papers on the desk were stacked in neat piles and everything was clean.
Joe grabbed two beers, opened his and had a long pull before he headed back to the bay. However, he stopped when he heard Millie’s voice.
“She accused you of blackmailing her,” Millie said. “And when I told her that was BS, she said I was probably behind it.”
Joe sighed. He didn’t have to see Millie’s face to know she was ups
et. Angry, too. But he could also hear something else. The hurt. Laurie Jean still knew how to take jabs at her.
“I hope you didn’t just stand there and let her talk to you that way,” Tanner responded.
Millie’s silence told Joe that’s exactly what she’d done. Joe had another sip of the beer and decided it was time for him to try to repair some of the damage Laurie Jean had obviously done. Once again though, he stopped.
“Laurie Jean demanded I stop seeing Joe,” Millie went on. “She had the nerve to say I was being disrespectful to Royce by seeing Joe. Disrespectful,” she repeated in a near shout. “Can you believe she said that?”
“Yeah, because she’s batshit,” Tanner replied.
“I’ll tell you what disrespectful is,” Millie snarled, obviously not ready to end her rant, and Joe couldn’t blame her. “It’s having an affair with a married woman. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as I’m concerned. Despite what everyone thinks, Royce wasn’t Mr. Perfect. There, I’ve said it.”
Ah, hell. He shouldn’t be hearing any of this, but it squeezed at his heart to hear the broken sob that tore from Millie’s mouth. He also heard some moving around and figured that Tanner was getting up to comfort his sister.
Joe looked around for a door so he could make a quick exit, but there wasn’t one. There were windows, very small ones, in the bathroom and behind Tanner’s desk. Joe thought he might fit through them. Might. If he got stuck, it wasn’t going to improve this situation so he just stood there and tried to block out what Millie was saying.
He failed big-time.
Joe heard her all right. Every single word.
“Royce wasn’t perfect and neither was our marriage,” Millie continued. “And Mom brought that up, too. She says it was my fault that my marriage wasn’t all sunshine and roses. My fault that Royce cheated. Apparently, if I’d been better in bed, he wouldn’t have looked for anything on the side.”
Joe mentally repeated his “ah, hell.” Why had Laurie Jean gone there? Of course, he’d tossed some of those same questions at himself. His own marriage hadn’t been all sunshine and roses, either, but the sex had been good. Damn good. Then again, maybe that’s what he wanted to believe because there sure as hell had been a reason for Ella to go off with another man.
“Better in bed!” Millie repeated in a snarl. She’d obviously worked herself up even more. Was crying, too, because she was talking through sobs.
“Millie,” Tanner said, but that was all he managed to say before Millie’s sob broke.
“Mom could be right.” No anger now. Millie had moved on to just the hurt. “I never had an orgasm with Royce.”
Joe’s ah, hell turned to an “oh, shit.”
“Never,” she repeated. Tanner was doing some repeating, too, by saying her name in such a way that Joe was pretty sure Tanner was trying to tell her they weren’t alone. Other than her name though, he didn’t get a word in edgewise. “I tried, I swear. I read all the books about it, but I didn’t have a single one. Well, not with him, anyway. I can manage them just fine solo—”
“Joe’s here,” Tanner finally blurted out.
Millie gasped, and she whirled around just as Joe stepped out of the hall. He’d been right about her crying. The tears had streaked down both cheeks. But it wasn’t the grief and anger he saw on her face now.
It was pure, undiluted embarrassment.
“Oh, God,” she muttered, and the blush seemed to spread over her from head to toe.
“Millie—” Joe said.
But that was all he managed before Millie turned and ran out. Fast. The door slammed shut with a loud thud behind her.
Joe and Tanner stood there a couple of seconds, both of them spewing some profanity, before Joe also bolted toward the door. But he was already too late because Millie jumped in her car and sped away.
“I’ll go after her,” Tanner said.
Joe shook his head. “I’ll do it.” After all, this was mostly his fault. If he hadn’t overheard her sex confession, it would have stayed as just a venting between siblings. But having him overhear it took it to many levels beyond venting.
It was no longer merely drizzling when Joe hurried outside to his truck. It had moved on to the pouring stage, which was common during spring and early summer. Still, it cut his visibility big-time, and when he pulled out of the parking lot, he didn’t see Millie’s car anywhere.
He didn’t bother trying to call her. He knew her well enough to know that if she answered—and that was a big if—she’d just blow it off as nothing. She’d apologize and tell him not to worry about it. And all of that would be a big pile of crap. Because she sure as hell wouldn’t be blowing it off, and he sure as hell would worry about it until he saw her and had a chance to tell her...
Well, he didn’t know exactly what he was going to say, but he’d figure that out once he found her.
He drove to her shop first, but her car wasn’t in the parking lot. Ditto for it not being in the driveway of her house. So, Joe kept driving, kept looking for her car, and he ruled out Frankie’s where Dara was spending the night. He even ruled out her parents’ place and his ranch. Though he was pretty sure that was the last place she’d go, he checked it out, anyway. After he’d ruled out all of those places, he just continued to drive around.
And mentally kick himself.
He should have spoken up the moment he heard her voice. Or tried to climb through the window. No way should he have just stood there and heard such a private conversation.
I never had an orgasm with Royce.
There was no way to erase that from his mind. Even heavy blows with rocks wouldn’t do the trick. Worse, he was certain he wouldn’t be able to keep the shock of hearing that off his face. One look at him, and Millie would know that he...
Shit.
She’d know right from the get-go that he felt sorry for her. That he pitied her, which would send her spiraling to rock bottom. Like him, she didn’t handle pity and grief very well.
Joe drove past every business and through every neighborhood before he thought of another rainstorm. Of the day she’d insisted he stop at the old drive-in. Millie had said she loved the place so that’s where Joe headed next.
And that’s where he found her.
Or rather where he spotted her car. It was in the very center of the parking rows, the front of her car facing the screen. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell if she was still inside, because the rain was lashing down in thick, windy waves, and it was mixed with some serious cracks of lightning and thunder.
Joe’s truck bounced and bucked over the uneven ground, and he pulled to a stop beside the car. He still couldn’t see Millie, but since the windows were fogged up, he had to guess she was inside.
“Millie?” he called out after lowering his window.
“Go away,” was her answer.
An answer Joe wouldn’t take.
Sighing and knowing he was going to get soaked to the bone, he got out and went for the passenger’s side door of her car. Which was locked, of course. He jiggled, tugged and pulled while she repeated her “Go away,” but Millie must have felt bad about him getting wet because he finally heard the click of the locks. He threw open the door and got inside.
She’d done more crying since she’d left her brother’s shop. Her eyes were red. Her mouth, too, but he soon realized that’s because she was sucking on a cherry Jolly Rancher lollipop. It probably wasn’t her first of that color since the huge bag of the candy was in her lap, and she was obviously picking through it for the red ones.
Neither of them spoke. They just sat there with Millie staring at the rain sheeting down the windshield and with Joe staring at a candy-sucking Millie.
“I’m sorry,” they finally said—in unison again. They had this joint-apology stuff down pat.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated, “but y
ou have nothing to apologize for. I shouldn’t have been listening.”
“But you did.” A tear streaked down her cheek, and she sucked harder on the candy. “You know why Royce cheated on me.”
Joe groaned. Of course, she would turn this around and take the blame for her husband dicking around. She’d also taken the blame for the dick not being able to get her off. Joe fixed that by kissing her.
Okay, so maybe the kiss wasn’t an actual fix, but he wanted his mouth on hers, and he was positive it would help that particular craving. It would also get her mind on something else other than the dick she’d married.
Man, she tasted good. Millie mixed with the sweet cherry flavor. Even if he hadn’t had a close to permanent hard-on for her, he could have dived right into the kiss.
Millie did some diving, too. She grabbed on to his wet hair and plunged her tongue into his mouth, making him believe that she might have her own female version of a close to permanent hard-on for him. She kissed him, and kissed him, and kissed him, until they might have passed out from oxygen deprivation had she finally not hit the pause button.
While dragging in some quick breaths, she looked at him, blinked, sighed. “Are you doing this because you feel sorry for me?”
“I don’t believe in pity kisses,” he assured her.
She made another sigh, a very breathy one that hit against his mouth like a kiss. “I want you, but I really suck at this. Really suck at it,” she emphasized. “I’m too Millie Vanilla, too—”
He kissed her again to stop her from beating herself up. She’d already done enough of that.
When he had her on the verge of needing another hit of air, he pulled back and met her eye to eye. “Good sex is a lock and key kind of deal. It’s the key’s job to find the right chinking and maneuvering to get the lock to open.”
She stared at him a long time. “Maybe some locks aren’t capable of being opened by keys.”
Spring at Saddle Run Page 15
