Midnight Wrangler

by Cat Johnson

  Eventually, he’d stopped going, but it took a good long while. He didn’t go there, but he didn’t forget the pain, either. Not until he’d met Lila. She’d healed him. Loved him. Made him realize there was life after teenage heartbreak.

  And here he was, doing it again, but now he was old enough that he should know better.

  He was more confused than hurt. And he was frustrated. The stubborn woman wouldn’t even give them a chance.

  She was holding back for some reason. He could take a guess why. She probably had some misplaced noble idea like not wanting to hurt him again when she left for Arizona.

  He was a grown man. He could make his own decisions about what he could handle. She needed to realize that. He had to prove it to her and soon.

  This was his one shot, because if she sold her house and went back to Arizona, he had no doubt that this time he’d never see her again.

  This second chance with her was a gift and he wasn’t going to squander it.

  The sun was high in the sky as he stood beneath its rays, a reminder that there was a full day’s worth of work to be done, and only half a day to do it. He’d work with the boys today to get things completed. That would give Bonnie the space she needed to get her work accomplished at her own place. But tonight . . . that was another story.

  Tonight, he was heading over to her house and they were going to hash this thing out. He didn’t care if it took all night. He wasn’t leaving until he made her see the light or she gave him a damn good reason why she was willing to throw away a second chance at happiness.

  With renewed energy, he turned toward the house. He needed to go inside and change his damn shirt before Tyler got back.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The house seemed too empty and quiet after the whirlwind that was Rohn’s crew left for the day. It had felt like that yesterday as well when they’d all left.

  Too quiet. Too empty. Too lonely.

  Bonnie shouldn’t complain. The neighbors had stopped by to check on her and see if she needed anything. Colleen had invited her to dinner again, and she’d said no, so if she was lonely, it was her own fault.

  She drew in a breath and looked at the stacks surrounding her. All piles of stuff waiting to be taken away.

  Her old life, and her father’s entire life, fit into three piles. Garbage. Donations. Things to keep. The keep pile was the smallest. It amounted to things she thought her mother might want, like their grandmother’s Hummel collection, which had been left behind years ago during the divorce. There were also some papers that looked too important to throw away. Bank statements. Income taxes. And of course, the sentimental things she kept finding. Pictures. Her mother’s wedding rings. Her own baby spoon.

  She would have assumed it was just an oversight on her father’s part that all those keepsakes still remained, but she found them in places that made her think he’d kept them nearby so he could look at them. Like in the kitchen drawer. And more in his bedside table. Still more in the top drawer of his dresser right along with his wallet, spare change, and wristwatch.

  Every discovery raised more doubt in her mind and made her wonder if she knew the man who was her father at all.

  Exhausted, she sat down heavily on the sofa, the only furniture left in the living room. She’d told the guys to take it away with the rest of the stuff but the three had stood their ground and refused, saying she’d have nowhere to sleep if they took it since she’d insisted they haul away both bedroom sets.

  She’d finally given in. It hadn’t been worth the fight, and the boys were right, anyway. She did need someplace to sit, and lie down.

  The only other things she’d kept were the kitchen table and chairs, and the dining room set, and that only because she knew her mother had loved that damn furniture. She had worked a job one summer to save up to buy it.

  Bonnie couldn’t make the decision to get rid of it without her mother, even if she could still envision her father sitting at the head of that table, his scowl firmly in place if dinner wasn’t ready on time. Or if Bonnie had gotten what he considered to be a bad report card. Or if wheat prices were down. Or if the weatherman reported a drought.

  There had been no predicting what would put the man into a bad mood that they’d all have to suffer through.

  Bonnie’s cell phone rang in her pocket and she wrestled it out. It was her mother, whom she’d neglected to call today with all the upheaval happening.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “Hey, baby. How’s it going?”

  “Actually, I’m starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We have to talk about what you want to do with some of this stuff. Like the dining room set.”

  “That’s a tough call. It costs so much to ship furniture but it is a good set.” Her mother sighed. “Let me think about it.”

  “Okay.” Bonnie’s gaze hit upon the pile of things to keep. “I’m finding other stuff, too. Um, Dad kept a lot of things. Personal reminders of you and me. Things from when I was a baby.”

  “You’re surprised by that?”

  Bonnie let out a snort. “Yes.”

  “Why? He loved you. I always told you that.”

  Maybe that was the problem. It had been her mother telling Bonnie he loved her, rather than her father acting as if he did. “A man who loved his daughter wouldn’t have done what he did to me.”

  There was silence for a moment. “Your father was a hard man, Bonnie. I’ll admit that. It was how he was raised. But there were other things in play, too.”

  “What other things?”

  “Mood swings. Outbursts. Depression. High highs, and low lows. He should have been on medication, but you know how he was. No doctors. No pills. If he hadn’t been nearly crippled by the pain, he never would have gone in for his back.”

  It was something that a child wouldn’t have picked up on, but now that her mother pointed it out to her, Bonnie realized she was probably right.

  Stubborn man. A pill a day and her whole life might have been completely different. All of their lives would have been. Rohn’s, too.

  The sound of someone pulling up to the house had Bonnie glancing toward the front windows. Her heart began to pound when she recognized the truck.

  Rohn was there and her body reacted accordingly, just as it always had and probably always would.

  “Mom, can I call you back?”

  “Sure. Bonnie?”

  “Mm?”

  “You okay there?”

  “Yeah. I am. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

  It felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as the hatred she’d held for her father all these years gave way to understanding. All those years growing up when she’d felt his moods and outbursts were her fault, she hadn’t been to blame at all.

  Her parents’ marriage, which she’d assumed had been loveless, hadn’t been at all. It had been troubled, no doubt, but she believed now her father had loved her mother, and probably her, too.

  It was all too much to absorb, especially now as Rohn parked his big truck in her driveway.

  Glancing down at herself, she sighed when she saw the dirt on her shorts, and the grime on her T-shirt. She could only imagine what her face and hair looked like, but it was too late to do anything about that now.

  She went to open the front door and waited for Rohn to swing the driver’s-side door open. He smiled when he saw her standing in the doorway.

  Her own smile mirrored his as he walked up the path. “Hey.”

  “Hey. I heard you sent my boys home early.” He strode forward and reached her in a few long steps. “That true?”

  “Yes. I needed to take time to go through some things. No use their hanging around here waiting for me when I’m sure there is work to be done at your place.” She moved back from the door. “Come on in.”

  He did and glanced around the living room. “Wow. It’s almost empty.”

  “Getting there. There’s still a bit more to do. Then I guess I’ll have the real est
ate agent come in. Once I’m not too embarrassed to have them see the place.”

  He turned to her, but he didn’t seem to be listening to her talk of real estate and houses. Just as she wasn’t really thinking about all that, either. She was remembering last night, and the kiss she’d walked away from, and this morning, and the talk of his date with another woman.

  Rohn watched her, his eyes narrowed. The intensity of his gaze was unnerving. Even more so when he turned and shut the front door, cutting off a good amount of the last of the day’s sunlight and bathing the room in shadows.

  “Bonnie.”

  She swallowed hard. “Yeah?”

  “I tried staying away from you. I really did. I couldn’t. I’m going to talk and I’d like it if you’d listen.”

  Heart pounding, she nodded. “Okay.”

  Rohn grabbed both of her hands in his and took a step closer. He towered over her and she had to look way up to see his face. “I know you’re going back to Arizona, and I don’t care. I still want to give us another shot.”

  When Bonnie opened her mouth to protest, he shook his head. “Don’t. There is absolutely nothing you can say that will convince me otherwise.”

  There was. He just didn’t know it.

  Rohn continued, unaware of the secret standing between them. “One night, Bonnie. Give me one night with no excuses. No pulling away. No walls up between us. If it’s not everything we both think it will be, I’ll back off.”

  Her body clenched at just the thought of giving in to temptation and taking that one night.

  “Okay.”

  His eyes widened. “Just so we’re clear, what are you saying okay to?”

  “One night. Anything you want.”

  “Anything I want?” His nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath that swelled his chest beneath his T-shirt. “Be careful what you offer a desperate man, Bonnie Blue. What I want might not be what you want.”

  “I think it is.” Her voice came out sounding so husky, she barely recognized it as hers.

  “You sure?” He squeezed both of her hands in his.

  The feel of his big, rough hands holding her made her feel safe and warm inside, just like it always had. “Yes.”

  Rohn drew in a shaky breath. That was the last sound she heard before his lips crashed against hers. He dropped her hands and moved to cradle the back of her head with one large palm while he moved the other hand around her, keeping her pressed close to him.

  The man could kiss. She’d thought his kisses were irresistible all those years ago when she’d been young and naïve. Now, as an adult, she knew she’d never be able to resist him or his kiss.

  The kiss stole her breath and set her heart fluttering.

  It had liquid heat pooling low in her belly as she seemed to throb with need. There was no way she was stopping him this time.

  Maybe it was that for the first time in what felt like forever forgiving her father meant there was no more fear or hate filling her. Maybe it was that she knew Tyler was actively setting Rohn up on dates. Maybe it was that he might have actually gone on one this morning.

  That brought up something she needed to deal with before the kissing moved to something more. She pulled back. “What about your girlfriend?”

  He drew his brows low. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

  “Tyler said—”

  “Fu—” His nostrils widened again but she could tell it wasn’t desire. This was anger. His eyes flashed. “I am not with anyone else, Bonnie. I swear to you. Tyler invited me to dinner and sprang a woman on me. I had nothing to do with it. I was polite and got out of there as soon as I could. I told him never to do that to me again.”

  “What about this morning? He said you had on your date shirt.”

  He pressed his lips together until they formed a tight line. “I swear I’m gonna throw that damn shirt in the garbage. This morning was a mistake. After you told me we couldn’t be anything more to each other than friends last night, I thought I should try to at least give dating a shot. See if I might have some chance in hell of being able to forget you when you’re gone.”

  She swallowed hard, almost afraid to ask. “And? How did it go?”

  “It was an unmitigated disaster. I’ve accepted it’s gotta be you for me, or nobody at all. And if I can’t have you forever, then I’ll take you for as long as I can have you.” Rohn ran one fingertip between her brows. “What are you frowning about, Bonnie Blue?”

  “Your date.”

  A smile lit his face, even as the heat she’d thought was lost returned to his gaze. “You jealous?”

  “Maybe, just a little.”

  He ran a hand down her cheek and then cupped her face. “There’s no one but you, Bonnie. Not when I was eighteen. Not now.”

  He kissed her again, his lips possessing hers and leaving no question in her mind that he was a man on a mission, and he was going to take what he wanted. Take what she’d offered him.

  No other women mattered. The future didn’t matter. He was hers for tonight and for once she was going to let herself enjoy it without worrying about the past or the future.

  Tomorrow was a world away. She’d live a lifetime with Rohn tonight. Enough pleasures could be hers to provide memories to last her the rest of her life.

  He breached her lips with his tongue, taking her mouth, claiming it as his. As he backed her toward the sofa, there was no doubt in her mind that he’d claim all of her tonight.

  Her knees hit the edge of the cushion and buckled.

  Then Rohn’s weight was on top of her, pressing her into the old lumpy cushions, making her feel what it was like to have a hard, heavy man above her for the first time in more years than she cared to admit.

  “Bonnie, I need you.” He breathed the words against her ear before he latched his teeth into her neck, nipping at the tender flesh. “I need you so badly.” He said it one more time before his mouth covered hers again.

  She needed him, too. Needed this. This reckless abandon that made the world go away.

  He reached for where her shirt covered the waistband of her shorts and slipped his fingers beneath her clothes. She felt his hands against her bare skin. She wanted to be naked with this man. She should have listened to the boys and kept a mattress.

  She pulled back from his kiss. “Can we go somewhere else?”

  Rohn’s excitement took years off his face. “Where? My house?”

  The house filled with his dead wife’s pictures and decor? That would be nearly as bad as where they were now.

  “No.” Bonnie shook her head, until an idea struck her. “Take me to the river.”

  A smile broke over his face. “A’ight.”

  Reaching down to grab her, Rohn hoisted her off the sofa.

  Bonnie laughed at the speed with which he had her out the door and to his truck. After yanking the passenger door open, he planted two big hands around her waist and lifted her effortlessly into the passenger seat. Rohn literally jogged around the hood of the truck to the driver’s-side door, flinging it wide with a force that had the hinges creaking.

  “The river it is.” He glanced at her with heat in his gaze as he turned the key in the ignition, and she imagined he was thinking the same thing she was. The river had been their place.

  It was where they made love for the first time, and for the last time. And there was no doubt in either of their minds it was where they’d make love tonight.

  They didn’t talk on the short drive. Any conversation would have been ridiculous at a time like this. He did reach over and take her hand in his.

  Squeezing her fingers, he held her hand captive in his the whole drive. He didn’t let go of her until it was time to flip on the directional signal to turn into the dirt road that led to their place. The river.

  Chapter Eighteen

  How many times had they parked here together? She couldn’t count. Not nearly often enough for her at the time.

  There was no more time to think when he made a U-turn
and backed up so the bed of the truck faced the water, just like he had all the times they’d been there before.

  He cut the engine and glanced at her. “You sure about this?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not asking about the sex. More about the place. We took plenty of chances when we were younger, but we’re a little old to get caught with our pants down outside in the open like this.”

  “We never got caught before.”

  “Nope, we never did.” He laughed. “Come on. I got a blanket behind my seat.”

  Her heart fluttered as if butterflies had taken up residence in her chest as he got down and reached behind his seat to pull out a blanket.

  “Don’t worry. These days I keep this here in case I break down and need to lie on the ground.”

  Bonnie laughed. “Don’t worry, Rohn. I didn’t think you kept it there for . . . you know. This reason.”

  “If we’re gonna make a habit of this, I will make certain to keep a blanket in here from now on for exactly this.” He shot that parting statement across the cab of the truck before slamming the door and running around to her side.

  With the blanket beneath his arm, he opened her door and helped her climb out of the high truck. When she was standing on two feet, he leaned low and with a groan pressed one short, hard kiss to her lips before he pulled back and reached for her hand.

  “Come on, Bonnie Blue.” He tossed the rolled blanket into the open back, unlatched the tailgate, and let it down with a creak of hinges and a clang of metal. After a sly glance in her direction, he flipped open the blanket. It drifted with a puff of air and settled slowly into place, covering the bed liner. “Just like the old days.”

  “Not quite.” She ran one hand over the black plastic installed inside the metal bed. “You’ve upgraded from the old days.”

  “We can talk about truck accessories and upgrades later. A’ight?” With one brow cocked up, Rohn took a step closer. He moved one thigh forward, wedging it between hers until they stood nestled together like the lovers they had been and would be again.