He wanted to beat the man to a bloody pulp. The man had held a prize in his hands and hadn’t taken care of her, hadn’t protected his own son, or the baby Lacey carried. The sheriff failed her in so many other ways, too. Jesus. Rafe dragged fingers through his dark hair. He was still fuming over the fact Danger brought his new bride to the ranch.
What if Lacey had been here? How cruel would that have been?
Where Lacey’s feelings were concerned, Danger had developed a callous heart toward her. Not that she had been here to witness him bringing his new wife into her home, but still, how could he risk doing that to her?
If Lacey had been home, Rafe thought she would have been devastated.
No doubt Smitt Davis had done a number on her, too.
Rafe’s gut clenched. “Damn it!”
No matter the circumstances, it wasn’t his place to judge. He didn’t have any rights where Lacey was concerned, not yet, except one. He needed time to consider that one.
Maybe because Rimrock was where Smitt grew up, and he was familiar with the territory, he’d stashed the bodies of several women he’d murdered in a cave at the back of Jace Remington’s property. Smitt seated them in chairs around a large stone table and set it with dinner plates, wine glasses, and cutlery, as if they were all dining in a fancy restaurant.
Three years ago, Lacey and Danger had stumbled onto Smitt’s cache of bodies. The chilling factor had been the fact that each woman was in a different month of pregnancy, as if Smitt Davis planned to have nine women ringed around that table. The serial killer disappeared after the bodies were discovered, but now he was back with a vengeance.
And he’d included Lacey on his list of targets.
Rafe sighed and hooked his thumbs inside the waistband of his jeans and pondered the situation. He had a feeling before it was all said and done all hell was going to rain down. On him. On Danger. On Rimrock.
But no matter what Smitt had done or would do in the future, he wasn’t the one who’d caused all these problems or the ones Rafe now faced. When the dust finally settled, he and Danger would no longer be friends, because when it was all over, when tempers settled, and shouted accusations stopped, and all the guilt reared its ugly head and finally died, he intended to walk away with Lacey Blackstone and make her his wife.
Hell, who was he kidding? His and Danger’s friendship had ended months ago. He didn’t regret it. Sooner or later, it would have ended anyway. What he regretted was the fact he’d left Lacey behind. He should have taken her with him.
Rafe threaded fingers through his dark hair and blew out a puff of air. A monumental task there—taking Lacey from Danger, making her his—but not an impossible one, just a perilous one.
His heart raced. That was then. She was free now. He already had a hold on her, one he had no plans to change. Two months ago, he’d backed off, willing to give her some time to think things over, but he’d always intended to come back and take her away from here. He would have already done so if he’d known she was divorcing Danger. If he’d known she was—
Swearing, he deliberately closed off his thoughts and reached for the cup of coffee near his hand—another commonality he and Danger shared. They were caffeine addicts. He chugged down the liquid gold that had grown cold, wiped his mouth with a paper napkin, and eyed the crime scene.
“Shit. What a fucking mess!”
And what a perverted fuck Smitt Davis was.
Rafe moved closer to the wall and concentrated on the pictures Smitt had drawn. They resembled little more than chicken scratches. He closed his eyes, no longer able to focus his attention on the impossible scrawls.
Lacey’s blood. So much blood. How could she still be alive?
Memories haunted him and tugged at his heartstrings.
Three years ago, he’d given up his job as a Special Agent and settled in Triangle, Texas. Shortly after, he’d bought a fair-sized ranch on the outskirts of Triangle with hopes of meeting the right woman and starting a family.
Instead, he took on the responsibilities of sheriff and, to his utter horror, fell in love with another man’s wife. He’d never been the kind to poach from another’s preserve, especially when the man was a good friend.
Rafe didn’t believe in adultery. Just love—a strong love, like the kind that had smacked him cold upside the head and knocked him to his knees.
To put it bluntly, when it came to Lacey Blackstone, his dick was dragging in the dirt.
Just like then, he still had no idea how to handle the situation with her. The best solution he’d come up with was to stay away, but it had been doomed to fail.
Yes, that was then, this was now, and a bad situation had taken a turn for the worse and was about to get even worse—and he knew it.
Danger might be the ex-husband. He might be married to another woman, but Rafe knew, as sure as there were stars in the sky, new bride or no new bride, the man still loved Lacey. Rafe stood squarely between.
And he had no intention of budging.
Damn. Rafe shook his head.
The tightrope he’d walked to keep a lid on his feelings for Lacey had stretched so thin after three years of holding everything in, he’d finally let go. Now, he didn’t know how to hold them back.
Once he’d hit bottom, he’d tossed all consideration of remaining friends with Danger aside. How could they possibly remain friends when he wanted the man’s wife? Refilling his cup, he stood there staring out the same window he’d seen Lacey stare out of many times. In his mind, he saw her slender back, the way her long hair fell to her waist in variegated shaded of gold. She was right there, so plain he could reach out and touch her…
* * * *
Triangle, Texas
Six Months Earlier
August 18, Monday
6:00 a.m.
“Hey, Rafe, why don’t you come up to Montana and spend the last two weeks of your summer vacation with us? Lacey would be glad to see you. You haven’t seen Joseph in months. He’s into everything.”
Rafe frowned, knuckled his eyes, and sat up on the side of the bed. The phone’s incessant ringing had dragged him out of a deep sleep, the first he’d managed for any length of time in months.
“I don’t know, Danger. I have plans.”
He tried to ignore the way his heart skipped beats at the mention of Lacey’s name, ignore the way his belly clenched and his cock jumped.
“Plans? Ah, you finally got a woman?”
Rafe smiled into the phone and ran fingers through his sleep-tousled hair. “No. No woman, just—”
“What?”
The thread of impatience he heard in Danger’s voice surprised him. Rafe frowned. He’d never known the Montana sheriff to be anything but laidback. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I thought I heard you groan.”
“Uh, yeah, you’re giving my headache a headache by hem-hawing around about coming here. Damn nose is bleeding again.”
Rafe frowned. “Are you ill?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“The weather’s starting to cool off some here. I thought I’d get some hiking in.”
“You can hike here. Besides, it’s much prettier scenery. I won’t take no for an answer. Lacey and you can go horseback riding on the days I’m too busy to entertain you. There’s plenty to do, horseshoes, cookouts. We’ll grill fresh trout. You won’t have time to get bored. You can help me break a couple of the Pintos I’m having trouble with.”
“Hell no, I’ll be on vacation. I’m not about to bust my ass breaking green horses.”
“Then you’ll come? Great. I’ll tell Lacey to get the guestroom ready.”
“Wait, Danger, I don’t know—”
“Oh, no, you’re already committed. We’ll expect you tomorrow.”
Rafe sighed. He knew he was going to cave. He wanted to see Lacey too badly.
Weak bastard.
“Do I need to bring anything? Wine? Steaks?”
“Yourself. We ha
ve plenty of everything else. Oh, you might pick Lacey up some flowers or something nice, since she’ll be doing most of the hostessing.”
Rafe’s brows furrowed. “Okay. Flowers it is. White daisies, those are her favorite, right? ”
“That’s right. She’ll love you for bringing them to her.”
Love him?
His heart skipped a beat. If only—
Rafe hung up the phone. Odd request. Bring Lacey flowers? He would have done so anyway. He always did. Rafe ran his fingers through his hair and swore softly. He’d tried hard to stay away from the Blackstone Ranch, stay away from Lacey, but Danger wasn’t helping matters one whit. His constant invitations only shredded Rafe’s good intentions.
Bring her flowers?
How could Danger make such a request? Couldn’t the man see he wanted to fuck his wife? Shit! It wasn’t like he was good at acting or hiding how he felt. Danger had to suspect—
Jesus. He was in trouble here, but staying away from Lacey any longer was impossible. He’d be content just to see her, hear her laughter, her voice, and see her smile. Rafe picked up the phone and booked a flight to Havre, Montana for the next afternoon.
* * * *
Lacey waited for Rafe at the airport the next day. She grinned when he handed her the bouquet of white daisies. “My favorite. Thank you, Rafe. You didn’t have to do it. I love them.”
“Yes, I did. Danger threatened to shoot me if I didn’t.”
She laughed. “He did? I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. He’s always so busy. He’s tired all the time. He’s been having bad headaches. I keep telling him he needs to take some time off, but he won’t.” She smiled and hugged him. “Welcome back. We’re always glad to see you. With you here, maybe Danger will slow down a bit and relax.”
Rafe grabbed a black duffle off the luggage carousel and paused to hug her back. He loved the clean smell of her skin, the hint of country flowers in her hair.
The innocent press of her soft breasts against his chest nearly undid him. She didn’t come on to him, and the hug she gave him was strictly impersonal, but he pulled her a little closer, and she let him. He knew she thought nothing of it, but he needed every bit of the closeness.
Rafe laughed, released her, and stepped back. “Wow, I swear you get prettier every time I see you.”
Bright color stained her cheeks. “Aw shucks, sugar, I bet you say that to all the ladies.”
“Maybe.” He let his carry-on slide down to conceal the thick bulge pushing against the front of his jeans. He hadn’t been around her two minutes, and already he had the beginnings of a hard-on. Every time he got near her, everything in his body tightened. His gut clenched. His balls ached, and his dick throbbed like a fucking toothache.
He didn’t tell every female she got prettier every time he saw her, either, only Lacey, with her sexy, sultry Southern drawl that wrapped around him like sin and good sex. Her voice drove him to madness with images of the two of them tangled together on hot afternoons.
“Danger has so many plans for you,” she said. “Hunting, fishing, camping, you name it.”
Smiling, he fell into step beside her. “How can I resist all those lures? Hunting, fishing, camping?”
She laughed. “You can’t. Come on. I’m parked in a no-parking zone. If we don’t hurry, they’ll tow away the Jeep, and we’ll have to spend the night in Havre.”
He choked and glanced at the front of his jeans. Nothing could be better than spending a night alone with Lacey Blackstone. Or more dangerous. He might not be able to resist the lure to return to the Blackstone Ranch, but it had nothing to do with all the activities Danger had planned for him.
Damn. He was crazy in love with her, and after so long, he didn’t think it was going away. Lacey was it for him, the one he wanted to spend his life with. An impossible dream. She belonged to Danger.
As she settled behind the wheel, she slid her sunglasses in place and grinned at him. “So what have you been doing since you were here last? Gosh, what’s it been? Six months?” She adjusted the rearview mirror, stuck the key in the ignition, and fastened her seatbelt.
“Eight,” he replied quietly. Ten days. Twelve hours. Thirty minutes.
Eight miserable fucking months in which he’d counted off every single day, hour, and minute. Eight months since he’d heard her voice, listened to the sound of her laughter. Eight months of imagining Danger touching her and doing all the things to her he yearned to do, months of walking the floor at night, his dick hard as a rock, the only relief, his fisted hand.
His body burned with the need to simply hold her in his arms.
“You shouldn’t wait so long between visits.” She steered the Jeep into the proper lane and left the airport and city of Havre behind. She hit highway two and headed east toward Chinook. “What have you been up to these past months? You haven’t even called.”
He shrugged. “You know, shooting bad guys. I joined a rattlesnake roundup, captured several and managed not to get bitten. Cooked those babies up and had a real Texas feast.”
“Really?” She wrinkled her nose, laughed, and patted his hand where it rested on his thigh. “Please don’t say it tastes just like chicken.”
Rafe laughed. “Never. I wouldn’t dream of comparing rattlesnake to chicken. It’s a delicacy, but an acquired taste, I’m sure. You’ll have to try it sometime.”
“Rattlesnake?” She shuddered. “You and Danger are a pair. I can picture him doing something like that.”
She didn’t notice he flinched beneath her touch. And didn’t notice when his thumb grazed her wrist. His cock must be a glutton for attention. It noticed everything she did. Rafe shifted in the seat and eased the pressure inside his jeans. Damn it, he should have stayed in Texas. This was never going to work. He couldn’t be around her or touch her without his body responding.
Last time he left Montana, he swore never to return. When he arrived home, he ripped his phone off the wall so he wouldn’t be tempted to call Danger in hopes Lacey would be the one to answer the phone.
Of course it had been a stupid thing to do, ripping off the phone. In his line of work, he had to have it. He’d forced his mind to accept the woman he desired was another man’s wife and ignored the absent phone for as long as possible. It was too hard on his heart to love Lacey and know he couldn’t have her. A little more of him died every time he had to leave and return to Texas.
Here he was, back again. When he left, he’d be shredded inside just like all the other times, his heart in pieces, a bleeding wreck—his body in torment and need.
“No girlfriend?” she teased and brushed a strand of hair out of her mouth.
The movement and rush of wind flowing around them in the open-top Jeep plastered the soft material of her white T-shirt against her rounded breasts. He fastened his gaze on the fine curves and lingered on the impression of her baby-pink areolas and firm nipples stabbing the material. Hell, his mouth went dry.
Jesus, I need a little help here.
Rafe glanced at his lap.
And you behave! You can’t have her.
“Did you say something?”
“Nah, just spitting in the wind.”
The full shape and size of her breasts delineated against the soft material left nothing to the imagination. His fingers twitched with urgent need to stroke what he knew lay bare underneath the shirt, what he knew he had no right to lay a hand on.
His mouth suddenly watered. He hadn’t thought he possessed a drop of moisture inside his mouth, but he did. Sweet. She’d taste like an aphrodisiac on his tongue.
Rafe smothered a groan. Damn, he was a dying man here. The pressure behind his zipper increased. His cock was in urgent need of action. Shit! This was going to be a long, miserable two weeks, just like the last time. He squirmed and tore his gaze from her breasts.
“You never did say if you have a girlfriend or not.”
He felt like an utter fool for listening to his heart and coming to Montana. N
othing could come of it. Nothing. Lacey was his best friend’s wife. Out of reach. Untouchable.
“Rafe?”
“No. No girlfriend,” he answered in a strangled tone. “I don’t have time for a girlfriend.”
“You’d better make time before you grow too old to father children.”
He forced a grin to his mouth and wiped a drop of sweat from his brow with his thumb. “At thirty-four, I have plenty of time yet.”
She laughed and turned her attention to the winding, mountainous curves, flipped on the blinker, turned right at Chinook, and headed south on County Highway 236 to Rimrock.
His gaze dropped to her flat stomach. He visualized it rounded with his baby. It was something he’d pictured many times. A man had to be a goner if all he thought about was making another man’s wife pregnant.
He’d never given much thought to having children. He risked his life daily on the job, but when he had sex, protecting a woman against pregnancy was something he took care with. He never accepted a woman’s word she was on the pill.
But with Lacey, the thought of making and having a baby with her never went away.
The smart thing to do would be to tell her to turn around and take him back to the airport, make up some excuse about urgent paperwork he forgot to send off and hop on the first flight to Texas. Something. Anything. But he didn’t.
“Are you hungry?”
Rafe jerked at her question.
Hungry?
Couldn’t she see how starved he was for her? “Yeah. I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch, and they didn’t serve a meal on the plane.” He glanced at his watch. Four-thirty. No wonder his stomach rumbled.
“There’s a little café in the next town that serves the best buffalo burgers around, maybe not as good as Texas rattlesnake, but damn good. You wanna stop?”
“Sure. Sounds delicious.”
Plus it gave him extra time alone with Lacey, time before he had to face Danger and pretend he didn’t have the hots for the man’s wife. Time he decided to spend wisely. She was right—if he was going to have a wife and family, he needed to get started.
Too Close To The Fire/Too Hot To Handle (Montana Men 3) Page 15
