Tempting in Texas

by Delores Fossen

  Bev shot Hayes a chilly look to let him know she didn’t approve of his hurting Cait. Well, he sure as hell didn’t approve of it, either, but Cait had led him to believe that the hurt was far less than he’d thought. And now he somehow had to fix it. First, though, Cait had to be fixed.

  “You can wait out there,” Bev said to the Crocketts when they tried to come into the examining room. “You, too,” she added to Hayes when he stayed put.

  Hayes realized he should have expected this. Bev clearly wasn’t going to cut him any breaks since he was the man who’d jacked Cait around.

  “I’d like to stay and make sure Cait’s okay,” Hayes insisted. But he knew Cait had to be okay with him staying, and to up his chances of that happening, he took her hand and added, “You’ll get out of here soon, and I can drive you home.”

  Cait might have been waylaid by her injuries, but she was still sharp as a tack. She looked up at him, and even though Hayes wasn’t sure how much of him she could see exactly, she sighed. “It’s okay. I don’t want you to miss your flight.”

  Missing the flight was a given. He should have already left for the airport, and he had no intention of doing that until he made sure Cait was all right. And until he heard the answer to the question he’d asked her at the Crocketts’.

  Are you in love with me, Cait?

  Thanks to the pine cone and the Mighty Hold, she hadn’t given him a yes or no. He wanted that. But not in front of Bev. He didn’t want to dish up any more gossip fodder.

  “I can get another flight,” Hayes settled for saying. “I don’t have to be on set until the day after tomorrow.”

  He’d planned on using those forty-eight hours to make sure everything was running as it should at his house. He knew he would also want some time for his brain to settle. Hayes felt as if he’d been caught in a whirlwind for the past month.

  Cait stayed quiet a long time, and he figured she was dealing with her own whirlwind along with the pain. “He can stay,” she finally said to the nurse.

  Bev scowled at him, a warning to let him know not to do anything to make things worse. Hayes wasn’t sure it could get worse. He’d really screwed up with Cait, and in the process screwed up himself. No way could he just jet off to LA and not try to mend what he’d broken.

  “I’ll get something to flush out your eyes,” Bev explained. “I’ll check that arm, too, to see if it needs any stitches.” She cast Hayes another warning before she walked away.

  “You’re not giving me a shot,” Cait called out to Bev. “Don’t let her give me a shot,” she added in a mumble to Hayes. “Last time, you did a shitty job of stopping that.”

  “True. I weighed your options for you. The shot or lockjaw. The shot won out.”

  Even though it was next to impossible for Cait to narrow her swollen eyes, she managed it.

  Since Hayes figured the judgmental nurse wouldn’t be gone long, he got busy laying some groundwork. First things first. “Are you okay? Are you hurting?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she snapped, but then she groaned and shook her head. “No,” Cait amended. “My eyes and arm are stinging, that’s all. And I feel stupid.” Another groan. “My brothers will have something to rib me for the rest of my life.”

  Yeah, they would. No way around that. Ribbing was a sibling right.

  “I’m sorry,” he told her, and that was an apology for many things.

  For hurting her. For distracting her at the Crocketts’ so that she hadn’t seen the pine cone coming. But what Hayes couldn’t be sorry about was getting involved with her in the first place.

  Though he should be.

  “I’m sorry,” he repeated in a mumble. “You deserve better.”

  Her forehead bunched up. “Better than what?”

  “Me.” Hayes mumbled that, too.

  Again, she looked at him, and she blinked hard, obviously trying to focus. “Better than you?” Her mouth tightened in disgust. “Yeah, because the world is just filled with guys who are kind, hot and caring. Every hour, I have to beat off hordes of them with sticks.”

  Since the “hot” was all DNA, Hayes hadn’t had any part in that. And he was kind, most of the time. Some of the time, he silently amended. But he’d fallen on his ass on the caring stuff, because a caring man wouldn’t have hurt Cait.

  “I’m tied up with Outlaw Rebels two out of every three days,” he reminded her. “I live in LA. I have a life there. I also need to stay in therapy. Need to keep healing.” Though he had made plenty of progress in that area. He’d always miss Ivy, but he could forgive himself for what had happened to her.

  Cait smiled in a way to let him know she accepted all of that, and she eased her hand out of his so she could pat his arm. She didn’t miss with the patting, which meant some of the blurriness was fading.

  She opened her mouth, maybe to finally answer that question he’d asked her at the Crocketts’, but Bev came in, carrying a tray of supplies. The nurse’s timing sure sucked.

  He stood back and watched as Bev did the eye flush, which looked very similar to what Hayes had tried. When she was done, Hayes saw that the redness was still there, but Cait’s eyes looked marginally better.

  “I’ll give you some drops to take home with you,” Bev explained, and she examined Cait’s other injury. Using a pair of tweezers, she plucked out the bit of pine cone stuck in Cait’s arm and cleaned it. “You don’t need any stitches. Or a shot. No need to see the doctor, either, unless you just want to.”

  Cait’s breath of relief was audible, and she watched as Bev put a bandage on the wound. “No, I don’t want to see him.”

  “Okay, then wait here while I get the drops and the paperwork.”

  Again, Hayes figured the woman wouldn’t be gone long, so he jumped right into the thick of it.

  “I asked you if you were in love with me,” he reminded Cait. “Are you?”

  “He did ask that,” he heard Wilma say, and that’s when Hayes realized Bev had left the examining room door open. He scowled at the Crocketts, closed it and sat on the examination table so he could meet her eye to eye.

  “Are you?” he pressed.

  She studied him a long moment, and he didn’t think that it was because she was trying to bring him into focus. “Yes,” she said. “But I don’t want you to do anything about it,” she quickly added.

  She loved him. Cait loved him.

  Hayes felt the tightness ease in his chest. His stomach unclenched. He wasn’t sure if what he was about to say would make this better or worse, but he wouldn’t walk out of this room until he said his piece. As pieces went, it probably sucked.

  “I can only offer you part-time,” Hayes told her, repeating what had been going through his head. “I can come back in between shoots and you could maybe come out to see me. I’ll totally understand, though, if that’s not enough.”

  He’d understand. But it would crush him if she wanted more than what he could give her.

  Cait stood, faced him. “Let me get this straight. You’re offering me you? Or rather you in short increments? You could split your life between here and there? You could give me one out of three days?”

  Hell. That made him sound and feel like the dick that he was. “Like I said, you deserve better.”

  “You bet I do. I deserve a man who loves me.” Cait managed a flat look. “If I had that—a man who loves me—then one-third sounds like, well, a whole hell of a lot.”

  She stepped closer, fitting her body to his, and she slid her arm around his waist. Then she smiled and touched her mouth to his. Not quite a kiss, but it seemed to hold a promise of much more. That more was a risk. Because it could change everything.

  “What if I did love you?” he asked. “I could end up hurting you.”

  Cait shrugged. “Or you could end up making me stupid and giddy with happiness. Maybe making yourself stupid and
giddy, too, though you’re on your own there. I won’t be able to help you with that.” She was smiling when her lips came back to his. More than a touch this time.

  So much more.

  The woman had a mouth on her. A mouth that Hayes took as he pulled her closer. She went into his arms as if she belonged there. And she did. Hayes knew that was exactly where Cait belonged.

  “You really think we can make this work?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.

  They would.

  They would make it work because they were in love with each other.

  “Oh, yes,” she assured him with complete confidence. “I just want to hear you say one thing first.”

  Hayes smiled. “I love you.”

  She shook her head. “I want to hear you say something else. I want to hear what you’re famous for saying.”

  He studied the borderline-porn glint in her eyes, and Hayes gave it to her. “Climb on, babe, and kiss me.”

  Bingo. And Cait did exactly that.

  * * *

  Keep reading for Whatever Happens in Texas,

  a special bonus story from USA TODAY

  bestselling author Delores Fossen!

  Whatever Happens in Texas

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER ONE

  “A TEN-SECOND French kiss can spread eighty million germs,” Lila Novak heard her eleven-year-old niece, Sophia, mutter.

  The girl angled her eyes toward the bride and groom and had spoken behind the fluffy bridesmaid bouquet that she’d lifted in front of her face. “And that kiss is definitely French and is lasting way over ten seconds,” Sophia added.

  Lila couldn’t exactly argue with the duration or the type of kiss, but using her “maid of honor” bouquet to hide it, she shot the girl a disapproving frown. Now wasn’t the time for such a discussion. They were literally standing at the altar where Sophia’s mom and Lila’s sister, Crystal, had just exchanged vows with her brand-spanking-new husband, Jeremy Kendall.

  Crystal and Jeremy finally finished the “you may kiss the bride” lip-lock, but they kept their hands linked and their gazes fastened on each other. Lila could practically see little cartoon hearts flashing from their eyes.

  No one in the room could doubt these two were crazy in love, and Lila was reasonably sure the pair didn’t care diddly-squat about sharing germs. Besides, the amount of kissing Jeremy and Crystal had done over the past six months since they’d gotten engaged, they had to be immune to each other’s germs by now.

  “Well, it’s done,” Sophia declared on a sigh, and Lila used the cheers and applause of the onlookers to cover her whispered reassurance to the girl.

  “It’ll be fine,” Lila told her. “Jeremy will be a great stepdad.”

  Sophia made a noncommittal sound, practically mandatory for a preteen who seemed to be in a constant Debbie Downer mood. Still, Lila knew the girl got along with Jeremy just fine. Ditto for getting along with her new stepbrother, Noah Kendall, the fourteen-year-old groomsman who was standing across from Sophia and her. Next to Noah was Cooper Kendall, the best man and the groom’s brother.

  “I’m betting you wouldn’t kiss Cooper like that,” Sophia added when the bride and groom finally turned to face the guests seated in the small country church.

  Lila frowned again and glanced at the girl to see why she’d made such an out-of-the-blue comment. When she followed Sophia’s gaze, Lila saw that it was now on Cooper. He wasn’t paying attention to Sophia, though. Nope.

  He was looking at Lila.

  Since she’d arrived back in their hometown of Lone Star Ridge three days ago for wedding preparations, Lila had done her level best to avoid prolonged eye contact with Cooper, but she certainly failed at it now. She was looking, all right, matching him lingering gaze for lingering gaze, and she had to wonder if he was thinking about her previous trip home two years ago.

  When Cooper and she had landed in bed.

  That had happened after the wedding of their mutual friends. She couldn’t even blame it on too much alcohol. Not on her part, anyway. Maybe it’d played into it for Cooper. For Lila, it’d been her getting caught up in the romance of the wedding and the prospect of a happily-ever-after. Even though the friends’ marriage hadn’t lasted past the first year, the memories of that night with Cooper lived on.

  The corner of his mouth lifted in a lazy underwear-melting smile. Yes, he was remembering it. And she was trying very hard to convince her body that it didn’t want another round with the hot cowboy.

  Emphasis on hot.

  Cooper had the body of a Viking warrior. Lean and muscled. The looks, too, with his rumpled blond hair and scorching blue eyes. He’d never had a problem getting women into the sack, but nary a one, including her, had had any staying power. However, Lila hadn’t exactly stayed around so he could give her the boot. She’d left the next day, sneaking out of his bed and leaving him a goodbye note to say that it had been fun. And she hadn’t looked back.

  Well, mostly she hadn’t.

  Lila had thought of him more often than she’d ever admit. Thought about their one perfect night together. The nerd and the star quarterback turned cowboy—who would have thought it? But she couldn’t repeat what had happened between them. Nope. Her heart wouldn’t be able to handle being rejected by the one and only guy she’d ever wanted. Because star quarterbacks and nerds didn’t have any lasting power beyond a “brief opposites attract” kind of thing. It was best for her to keep the memories of their one encounter and move on.

  Except she couldn’t.

  As proof that she’d lost her mind, Lila had agreed to “babysit” Sophia and Noah while Jeremy and Crystal went away for a long honeymoon weekend in Vegas. As proof that Cooper had also lost his mind, he was going to share those duties with her. In the same house. Under the same roof. With sex memories that suddenly seemed as fresh and hot as if it’d happened five minutes ago.

  The bride and groom stepped down from the altar, and Crystal gave Noah a hug as Jeremy did the same to Sophia. Then the couple reversed the gesture. It was a nice show of love for their new blended family.

  “Eighty million germs,” Sophia muttered to her mom when Crystal leaned in to hug her.

  Crystal only chuckled. “Jeremy and I will aim for the trillion mark.”

  Sophia grumbled something about that being gross, but she wasn’t fooling her mom or Lila. The girl adored Jeremy. A good thing since Sophia’s own father had never married Crystal and skipped out on them when Sophia had been just a baby. And while Sophia might not approve of all the smooching going on, Lila knew that would change.

  In a couple of years, if not sooner, her niece would meet some boy she didn’t mind sharing germs with. Sophia would meet her own Achilles’ heel, just as Lila had with Cooper. Maybe the guy wouldn’t be a hot cowboy or star quarterback who would trounce on Sophia’s heart.

  Like Cooper was about to do to Lila’s.

  She saw that heart-trouncing look in his eyes when they fell in step together to walk out of the church. Of course, he’d think of it as an “I want you in my bed again” look, but Lila knew the score. The next three days, and nights, would be long and filled with potential sexual potholes. The saving grace was the kids would be around. Probably not around enough to stop Cooper from making a move on her, but Lila would somehow have to make it work.

  They stepped outside into the sweltering June temp, which was the norm for central Texas. Crystal and Jeremy didn’t seem to notice the sauna level of heat, and the moment they were inside the church’s reception hall, they were on the dance floor—wrapped in each other’s arms.

  Crystal’s petal-pink dress fluttered as Jeremy spun her around to the George Strait song the DJ was playing. Noah,
Sophia and Cooper scattered, too, and the guests began to trickle in behind them.

  Lila glanced around the large room, making sure everything had been set up according to the plan Crystal and she had come up with. It was. The tables with the party food and the bar were against the walls, leaving the center space for the dance floor and some tables and chairs. There was no head table for the wedding party, and there’d be no formal toasts. Actually, nothing would be formal, which was why Jeremy, Noah and Cooper and most of the male guests were all wearing Texas tuxedos—jeans, boots and black jackets.

  “Did you know that a ten-second French kiss can spread eighty million germs?” Cooper asked, handing her a glass of sparkling wine. He’d snagged a longneck bottle of beer for himself.

  Lila frowned but accepted the wine. “You’ve been talking to Sophia.”

  “Yeah. I told her in a few years she wouldn’t mind such things.”

  Since Lila had already thought the same thing, she couldn’t dispute that, but Cooper’s choice of conversation seemed to be foreplay. So was the look he gave her. And he chuckled all manly and low when her frown turned to a scowl.

  “Don’t worry, Lila,” he drawled. “I won’t do anything with you that you don’t want me to do.”

  That was the problem. She wanted him to do many, many things to her and vice versa. A repeat performance of their one-nighter. But that couldn’t happen, and even though there were plenty of guests milling around, it was probably time for her to lay down some ground rules.

  “I’m here in Lone Star Ridge to babysit my niece and your nephew,” she reminded him.

  Crystal hadn’t had a choice about tapping her for that duty, either, because none of the grandparents had been able to fill in. Noah’s maternal grandparents had health problems, and Cooper’s folks had passed away years ago. It was the same for Lila and Crystal’s mom. Their dad was on wife number whatever and hadn’t seen fit to visit his only grandchild in years, so he hadn’t been a babysitting candidate, either.