Love, Lies and High Heels

by Debby Conrad

  “You wish.” Grabbing a bottle of lotion from the vanity, she turned around and came smack up against him.

  Automatically his arms shot out to steady her. Her breasts pressed into his abdomen and the top of her head reached the bottom of his chin. He felt her warm breath expel against his chest as an erection sprouted in his jeans.

  Luke didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. There was no way he wanted her to know that she’d turned him on.

  Not that it meant anything. Men were turned on by women all the time. They didn’t have to like them. It was just their nature. Men weren’t very particular. A warm, receptive, female body, a nice pair of legs and breasts, and a small round butt—Hell, they were in love. At least for a short time.

  But in this particular case, the female didn’t come across as being very receptive—and definitely not warm. In fact, she was more like a cold, arctic wind.

  She tilted her head back and stared up into his face. Her tongue darted nervously out of her mouth and moistened her lips. There was a slight catch in her breath. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, Mr. Galloway, but I’m not at all attracted to you.”

  Licking her lips again, she said, “Since we’re going to be living here together, we’re going to have to find a way to get along.”

  “I agree.” Her breasts were still touching his chest. He was getting along with her just fine. Then he noticed her eyes drift shut, and she let her head fall back slightly. She looked as if she wanted him to kiss her, which couldn’t have surprised him more than if she said she wanted to marry him. But, what the hell? One kiss certainly wouldn’t hurt. He’d been dying to taste her.

  He pressed his mouth to hers and instantly felt her body go slack in his arms. A tiny moan escaped her lips and then they opened to him. His tongue snaked between her warm lips.

  She moved in closer and he couldn’t help but press her body against his erection. She moaned again. Oh yeah, she wanted him, all right. But just as he slanted his head for a better angle, she clawed at him, covered her mouth with one hand and jerked away.

  “Oh, God, I think I’m going to be sick.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO carry me around like a sack of potatoes?” Rusty asked, trying to push away from his bare chest. As if it weren’t embarrassing enough getting sick in front of him, now he refused to put her down, humiliating her even more. Her fingers clutched at her silk robe for fear it would gape open in certain places. Not that he hadn’t already seen her naked in the motel bathroom the night before.

  “A sack of potatoes weighs more than you do,” Luke said. “When’s the last time you’ve eaten anything substantial?” He pushed open the door to her bedroom, crossed the room in three steps, and deposited her on the bed.

  “Just a few hours ago. I had a cup of consommé.”

  “You mean that brown water you tried to pass off as dinner?”

  She scowled at him. What did he know? And it wasn’t as though she’d had much of a selection. Other than a freezer stocked with red meat, there hadn’t been much in the way of health foods. “It was quite tasty. Besides, Sam needs nourishment.”

  “Exactly. You keep feeding him stuff like that, and he’s going to die of starvation.”

  “That’s not funny, Mr. Galloway!” Sam was dying, and he was making jokes. “Tomorrow, I’m going to tell Sam I insist you move out of this house while I’m here.”

  He grinned. “That’s not gonna happen, Princess, but it’ll be fun watching you try to get rid of me.” He narrowed his eyes and leaned over her. “What’s wrong, Rusty? Afraid you might lose control around me? You were all over me in that bed last night.” He deliberately raked his gaze over her. “Are you sure you don’t want a little company now? We could finish where we just left off.”

  Her palm connected with his cheek all on its own accord. She tried not to look surprised that she’d slapped him, and she’d be damned if she’d let him know her hand stung so badly she could cry. Wanting desperately to escape his piercing look, she leaned back against the headboard. There was nowhere else to go.

  She expected him to get angry with her, maybe even violent. But he didn’t so much as flinch. Perhaps that’s why she continued to empty her rage on him. “No wonder I got sick. I must have been temporarily insane to let you put your filthy hands on me.”

  “Baby, you didn’t seem to mind it at the time. And all those little moans and groans coming from your throat told me you wanted even more.” He was ready this time when she swung her hand. Catching her by the wrist, he leveled his eyes on her. “Don’t ever hit me again, or you’re going to find yourself over my knee and my hand stinging your cute little ass.”

  Rusty’s mouth flew open. She gathered the sheet around her legs and pulled it up high above her waist. “Don’t threaten me, Mr. Galloway.”

  “Honey, that was no threat. That was a promise. And I think that after all we’ve been through, it’s about time you start calling me by my first name.” With that, he straightened to his full height and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

  She’d let an ex-con kiss her. She wanted to scream. How could she have let something like that happen? Maybe the aspirin she’d found earlier in the medicine cabinet, and had taken for her headache, hadn’t been aspirin at all, but some kind of powerful drug that had relieved her of her senses. That had to be it.

  Or maybe it was those hypnotic olive green eyes of his. Or his dark, dangerous reputation. She’d read stories about women who were attracted to bad-boy types. Maybe she was one of them. And now that she’d had a taste of what it’d be like with him, she could get him out of her system.

  “Listen to me,” she said, picking up Brownie and clutching him to her chest. The man made her feel things she’d never felt before, and now she wanted to pretend that she wasn’t at all responsible for what had happened between them. That she’d somehow been drugged or forced to kiss him. From the very first time she’d met him there had been something in his eyes, something about the way he looked at her, that gave her just a tingle of excitement.

  Rusty slapped her hand on the bed, then winced. She’d almost forgotten about her sore hand. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she liked him to look at her with lust in his eyes. It made her feel alive, and God knew, before tonight, she’d never felt like that before.

  He was probably laughing at her right now. How pathetic he must think she was. A man like him had probably slept with hundreds of women. But regardless of how Luke Galloway made her feel, she vowed to stay completely away from him. She would never let him make a fool of her again.

  “You’re sure Rusty didn’t see you?” Sam asked as he wolfed down the meat on his plate.

  Luke had never seen the old man so hungry. The broth Rusty had fed him earlier hadn’t done the trick. Nor had the chunks of apples and bananas she’d offered him. Which is why Luke had broiled Sam a steak and micro-waved a couple baked potatoes.

  “I’m sure,” Luke assured him. “She was sick, and went to bed early. I tucked her in myself.”

  Sam’s fork hung in mid-air, several inches from his mouth. “I thought she had a headache. What do you mean she was sick? What’s wrong with her?”

  “Nothing that a good meal won’t cure. I know she’s your daughter, Sam, but that woman needs her ass whupped. She wouldn’t eat the dinner I bought her last night, and this morning she stuck her nose up at the food on the plane. She’s damned spoiled.

  “And because she hadn’t eaten anything substantial for two days, she got a little light-headed and then threw up her consommé,” he said, emphasizing the French term. Luke didn’t bother to tell him about the kiss they’d shared, or that she’d slapped him after he’d provoked her.

  “You’re sure it’s nothing serious?” Sam asked.

  Luke nodded and lowered himself into a chair. “You know, I’ve been thinking about taking some time off. I haven’t had a vacation in quite a while. I was thinking maybe I’d go up to Canada,
do some ice fishing before the lake thaws.”

  “Now? You can’t go now,” Sam sputtered, and pushed his tray aside.

  “Why the hell not? Garvey can take care of things while I’m gone.” Hank Garvey was their foreman. “And Rusty can take care of you.”

  “You saw what she fixed me for dinner tonight. If that’s a sample of what I’m going to get to eat while she’s here, I’ll be dead in three days.”

  Sam was right about that. “I’ll ask Garvey to sneak food you some food while I’m gone. Or better yet, tell your daughter the truth. That you’re not sick, and you’re not dying. Then you can eat the way you like.”

  Shaking his head violently, Sam sat up and hung his bandaged feet over the edge of the bed. “I can’t do that. Not yet. Not until we’ve had a chance to get to know each other better. Once she trusts me—”

  “Trusts you? How the hell do you think she’s going to feel when she finds out we’ve lied to her? She’ll be on the first plane out of here.” Luke liked that idea. They didn’t need Rusty here. Well, maybe Sam thought he did, but Luke didn’t. The woman was driving him crazy. All he could think about was her.

  “Which is why I had to lie in the first place.” Sam hung his head, and sighed. “She wouldn’t have come, Luke. She as much as admitted it this afternoon.”

  “Well, if she doesn’t want to stay, you can’t keep her prisoner here.”

  “I’m not. It’s not like that. It’s just that she used to love this place as a child. If it weren’t for Natalie forbidding her to visit…”

  Luke had heard the story plenty of times over the years. Rusty had fallen from a horse and broken her arm when she was seven. Sam had promised Natalie not to let their daughter anywhere near the horses, but he’d lied. He’d been teaching Rusty to ride the summer the accident occurred. To punish him, Natalie had refused to let their daughter return to the farm, and instead had left the country, married the first man with money she’d found, and stuck Rusty in a boarding school in Switzerland. The woman had then somehow convinced Sam that he wasn’t a very good influence for a young girl, and that their daughter would be better off living abroad.

  Sam had regretted his decision not to fight his ex-wife all those years. But now that Natalie was dead, Sam wanted his daughter back. Luke was afraid it was too late, but didn’t have the heart to tell his friend that, because Sam was determined, above all else, to repair his relationship with her.

  “Luke, can’t you postpone your vacation a little longer? I need you to help me. You owe me.”

  Another guilt trip. Why did he always let Sam do that to him? “What can I do? I’ve already let you talk me into lying to her. It’s not easy, carrying on this charade of yours, you know.” He paused, ran his hands through his hair. “Besides, I don’t think she likes me very much.”

  “Sure she does.”

  Luke snorted. “Okay, then. I don’t like her.” Or the state she’d left him in earlier. The cold shower he’d taken had done nothing to free his mind of her.

  “Why not? When did you stop liking beautiful women?”

  Narrowing his eyes, Luke stood up and pointed his finger at Sam. “When they think they can order me out of my own house.”

  Sam waved a hand, dismissing Luke’s words. “You know women, they overreact. Once you get to know Rusty better, you’ll like her. She has a good heart, that one. Gonna make some lucky man a fine wife. Trust me.” Sam rearranged his pillows and leaned back against them, then plucked a cigar from the nightstand table, unwrapped it and lit up. After a few puffs, he said, “I can’t wait to get out of this damn bed.”

  Luke took the tray off Sam’s bed and moved it to the top of the dresser. “Well, then you should have listened to Bill and let him do one foot at a time.” He glanced at Sam’s bandaged feet.

  Snorting, Sam said, “You know how I feel about hospitals. I just wanted to get it all over with.” He blew a few smoke rings in the air and watched them hover above his head.

  In other words, Sam was chicken, Luke thought.

  Sam reverted the conversation back around to his daughter. “She used to love horses, you know.” Luke acknowledged the statement with a slight shrug of his shoulder. After a few moments of silence, Sam said, “You know, maybe it’s time for me to retire. Maybe I should think about finding a wife, someone to grow old with.”

  “You’re already old.”

  “Hah, what the hell do you know? Fifty-six isn’t old. I’m in the prime of my life.”

  “Then why the hell are you talking about retiring?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’m bored. What would you say if I told you I wanted out?”

  “I’d say you’re crazy. Besides, even as well as we’ve been doing lately, you know I can’t afford to buy you out.” Last year’s winnings had been invested in the business and used to build a new stable and barn.

  “I wasn’t talking about selling you my half. What if I gave it you? Would I still be welcome to live here? I mean, this has been my home forever. I’d like to see my grandkids running around outside … riding the horses.”

  Luke paced the room for a moment, wondering why Sam would want to give everything away. He also wondered why was it so important to Sam that Luke like Rusty, that he stay around while she was here. And then it hit him. He turned to look at Sam. “Don’t be getting any ideas about your daughter and me getting together, because it isn’t going to happen. I pick my own women.”

  “Yeah, well, you haven’t been picking so well. It’s time you were married with a couple of kids.”

  Luke walked over to the dresser and picked up the dinner tray. “I’m serious,” he warned. “And for God’s sake, don’t be putting that kind of guilt trip on Rusty either.” He turned and walked toward the door, then stopped in his tracks and spun around. “That’s what this is all about! You want Rusty to stay, and you want a couple of grandkids running around, so you think you can push the two of us together. Well, it’s not going to work, damnit. I wouldn’t marry your daughter if you gave me your half of the business and a million dollars to go with it.”

  After Luke stomped from the room and slammed the door, Sam smiled. “Wanna bet?”

  Rusty had been half asleep when she sensed someone standing over the bed, watching her. She awoke fully with a start and almost screamed.

  “Shhhh,” Galloway whispered. “It’s just me.”

  The light in the hall burned brightly, outlining his body. After blinking several times, her eyes finally adjusted.

  “What do you want?” she asked in a shaky breath.

  She was almost afraid of his answer. What if he said he wanted her? Would she have the strength to resist him? Would she even try? Remembering his scorching kiss she doubted it. In fact, she wanted him to touch her again. To show her what she’d been missing all these years. She wanted to feel him deep inside her. Oh dear God, she thought. When had she become such a nymphomaniac?

  “I brought you something to eat,” he said, startling her from her lusty thoughts. “Can I turn on the light?”

  He’d brought her something to eat? She managed a weak, “Yes.”

  He reached for the lamp on the bedside table and clicked it on. The lamp bathed the room with a soft yellow glow. Walking to the dresser, he picked up a tray and carried it to the bed. “I brought you some soup and crackers. And a banana.” Without waiting for her response, he wedged the tray around her hips, then sat beside her on the bed.

  Rusty fixed her gaze on him. She could feel the heat from his body seeping through the covers and into her skin. But rather than ask him to leave, she welcomed his body heat and offered him a tentative smile. “Thank you. No one’s ever done anything like this for me.” A shiver ran up her spine.

  “You’re cold. Here, eat this.” He picked up the spoon and dipped it into the bowl. “It’ll warm you up.”

  Before she could tell him she could feed herself, he touched the spoon to her lips, and she opened her mouth. Canned soup. Some kind of rice with chi
cken broth. She didn’t really want it, but she didn’t want to appear unappreciative. “I can feed myself.” He placed the spoon in her hand and watched her take a bite. She was careful to avoid those penetrating eyes of his as she ate.

  When the bowl was empty, he peeled back the banana, handed it to her and waited until she finished. Then he picked up the tray and walked to the door. “Good night, Princess. Remember, I’m just across the hall, if you need anything. Anything at all,” he added with a grin before pulling the door shut.

  Rusty let her head fall back onto the pillow. She’d made a horrible mistake earlier. He’d kissed her senseless. That was never going to happen again. She was here to take care of her sick father, not to awaken her sexual side. And she was not Galloway’s personal plaything. It was time he understood that.

  Rusty greeted him coolly when he entered the kitchen the next morning. “Good morning, Mr. Galloway.” She opened the refrigerator and stuck her head inside. Probably so she didn’t have to look at him.

  “Good morning,” he muttered, then yawned, reaching for the can of coffee. He busied himself making the second pot this morning.

  He’d tossed and turned most of the night, and just after he’d drifted off to sleep, it had been time to get up. After he’d finished the first pot of coffee, he’d looked in on Sam, then gone out to check on the horses and speak with Garvey and the trainers. He dumped an extra scoop of grounds in the filter and started the machine.

  Turning away from the counter, he found Rusty emptying the refrigerator. She popped the lid from a plastic container, sniffed the contents, then dumped the leftovers in the sink. Above the whir of the garbage disposal and the running water, he shouted, “Can I ask what the hell you’re doing?”

  “I’m making room for some healthy foods,” she said, repeating the same process with another container.

  Luke watched her, but didn’t say anything. Apparently she thought she had the right to come into his home, his and Sam’s home, and toss their food out just because it didn’t appeal to her.