An hour later, we were on our way to the small town that was a four-hour drive from the King-Alexander Ranch. It hadn’t taken thirty minutes before she fell asleep.
Her head bobbed, reminding me about wishing I’d had a pillow of some kind she could rest her head against yesterday.
When we got to the next town, I’d stop if I saw a drugstore, and run in and get something. Twenty minutes later, I pulled into a parking lot.
“Where are we?” she asked, sitting up.
“Quick stop. Can I get you anything? Do you want to come in?”
“I’ll wait here if that’s okay. And water would be nice. Thank you.”
It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for. On my way out, I grabbed a cheap cooler to throw some drinks in. The temperature was over the one-hundred-degree mark today, and we needed to stay hydrated. Before walking back outside, I sent a quick text to my barn manager, letting him know I wasn’t sure when I’d be back.
The man answered quickly with a thumbs up.
“Here,” I said, handing Mila the pillow. “Thought you’d be more comfortable.”
“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you,” she said, not hesitating to rest her head against it.
“Go back to sleep,” I told her once we were on the road and I noticed her fighting it again.
“I’m sorry. I can’t keep my eyes open.”
“Nothing to apologize for. You need the rest.”
By the time we got to Waco, it was mid-morning and my stomach was rumbling. I hoped she wouldn’t mind if I stopped to get a quick bite to eat, but first, I needed to gas up the truck.
“Where are we?” she asked like she had before.
“Waco. I’ll just pick up something quick to eat, and we’ll get back on the road.”
“I could eat,” she said, stretching her arms over her head and exposing her bare midriff. I couldn’t stop myself from looking. When I raised my eyes, it was obvious she’d caught me.
I wasn’t sure whether I should apologize, until I saw the heat in her eyes. Miss Knight hadn’t minded my gaze on her, one bit.
Under other circumstances, I’d reach across the console and kiss the shit out of her. But these weren’t other circumstances.
“There’s the silo place that those fixer-upper people built,” I said, figuring most women would want to see it.
“I’m fine if we go somewhere less like a theme park. Although, again, you’re driving.”
My shoulders dropped in relief. I rolled down both of our windows and hopped out to pump the gas. When I got back in the truck, Mila had her phone out. Was she texting Adler to see if he came after all? I hated how the idea that she was made me feel. I wasn’t sure what to do when she handed me her phone.
“You may already know of a place, but here are some options,” she told me.
“First one sounds good,” I said, handing the phone back to her. I pulled out onto the road and saw it was two blocks down.
“What are you hungry for?” I asked once we were seated and the waitress brought over menus.
“Just some toast,” she said, not looking up at me.
“We can leave if you don’t want to be here,” I offered.
Her eyes met mine. “I’m okay. I just…it’s…”
“You don’t need to explain.”
I perused the menu, and when I raised my head, Mila was looking out the window. The way the sun hit her blonde hair, she looked like an angel.
The waitress approached the table, and Mila turned her head, breaking the spell she’d had me under.
“Are you okay?” she asked when the waitress left the table.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
She cocked her head briefly and then looked back out the window. Neither of us spoke again until after our food arrived.
“How long have you lived in Boston?” I asked between forkfuls of pancakes.
“Since college, so almost eight years.”
“You like it there?”
Mila shrugged. “Better than here.” Her cheeks turned pink. “Sorry. No offense.”
“None taken. Were you born in Texas?”
“Yes, sir,” she answered, exaggerating her accent and rolling her eyes. “I’m Texan through and through.” She shook her head. “Sorry. Again. I just…”
I wiped my mouth with my napkin and sat back. I liked that she was being playful. “Just what?”
“I wanted a change.”
Change was understandable, but why Boston? “Not all that uncommon. Boston is a big one.”
“You’ve been?” she asked, picking up her last piece of toast.
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered, smiling at her slight and handing it right back to her. “Every once in a while, they let us good ol’ boys out explorin’.”
The smile left her face. “You must think I’m a raving bitch.”
“Nothing wrong with wanting a change. Nothing wrong with wanting to start your life over.” I’d certainly wanted to when I was younger, much younger than she was when she left Texas, though.
“Are you from Texas originally?”
I caught my flinch, hoping Mila didn’t pick up on it. “New Mexico, actually, but I only lived there a couple of years.”
“Then your family moved to Texas?”
“Something like that.”
“Sorry. I’m prying.”
I looked at her empty plate and the way she was eyeing my last pancake. “You still hungry?”
“I’ll be okay.”
“That isn’t the answer to the question I asked,” I said, moving her plate out of the way and pushing mine over in front of her.
“I can’t eat your food.”
I motioned for the waitress, who was at a table nearby.
“What else can I get ya, sugar?” she asked with a wink.
“Another side of pancakes.” I looked at Mila. “Anything else?”
Her cheeks turned pink again and she started to push the plate back toward me. “I’m fine.”
I stopped it with my hand. “Two more sides of pancakes, please.” I didn’t look up at the woman; I kept my gaze on Mila long after the waitress had walked away.
“Thanks,” she said, finally taking a bite of the food in front of her. “I’m hungrier than I thought I was.”
“So why Boston?”
“It’s where I wanted to go to school.”
“You said you were a music teacher?”
“Instructor—or at least, I was—at Northeastern College of Music, where I got my degree.”
I envied the male students in her classes. If I got to look up at her pretty face every day, not to mention her rockin’ body, I would’ve taken every class she taught. “What did you teach?”
“Music theory, critical listening, piano. I was supposed to teach copyright law next semester.”
“Impressive,” I said, digging into my now-cold eggs.
She shrugged. “Did you…”
I looked up. “Go to college?”
Her cheeks were flushed. She gave a slight nod and looked away.
“You’re even prettier when you’re embarrassed.”
Her head snapped back in my direction; she opened her mouth and then closed it.
“I’m not sure how it works in the big city, but here in Texas, when a man gives a woman a compliment, it’s customary for the woman to say thank you.” I winked.
Before she had a chance to respond, my phone buzzed. I looked at the screen and saw it was Mac calling. “Excuse me. I need to take this.” I got up from the table and walked out the front door. The heat engulfed me like a cocoon. Damn Texas summers.
“Anything to tell me?”
“Afraid so. The sister’s place was trashed. Somebody was lookin’ for somethin’.”
“Any signs that whoever killed her started the process there?”
“None so far. Neighbors told one of our deputies that her car was parked in a back parking lot. That was trashed too.”
S
hit, this was getting uglier. As Mac said, someone was looking for something. Would whoever it was come after Mila next? “Let me know if you find out anything else.”
I went back to the table. “Sorry I disappeared on you.” I must’ve been gone longer than I thought. There was a plate of pancakes on my side of the table, and Mila looked like she was almost finished with hers.
“I’ll take these to go,” I told the waitress when she stopped back by to drop off the check. Mila and I reached for it at the same time.
“Please let me get it. You’ve done so much for me already.”
I wasn’t accustomed to letting a woman pick up the check, but something in her eyes made me relent.
“Thank you, Mila.”
For a moment, I thought I’d done the wrong thing based on the look on her face. Before I could speak, she got up and walked over to where the cash register sat on the counter.
I waited for the waitress to bring my to-go box, and then stood to join her.
“There must be some mistake,” I heard her say when the kid at the register handed her back her credit card.
“Sorry, ma’am. It was declined.”
While she rummaged through her purse, probably looking for cash, I quietly slid a fifty-dollar bill in the kid’s direction.
She looked up when he handed me the change.
“I’m mortified,” she said when we got back out to the truck.
“Maybe you should give ’em a call. Sometimes they decline a card if someone’s traveling.”
She nodded but didn’t take out her phone.
11
Mila
There was a very slim chance that Decker was right. There was a much larger chance that I was over my limit. If that was the case, I couldn’t bear the embarrassment of having the conversation with my bank in such close proximity to him.
He started the engine, but didn’t put the truck in gear.
“It’s been a hard year,” I said, looking out the passenger window, too embarrassed to look directly at him.
“You don’t owe me any explanation.”
I shook my head. The man had been so incredibly nice to me, but he wasn’t interested in hearing the sob stories of what my life had been like. “Right.” I closed my eyes, willing the tears filling them to dry up in the Texas heat.
“Mila, look at me,” I heard him murmur, and slowly turned my head. “I got some more bad news earlier.”
I waited for him to continue, mesmerized by the kindness I saw once again in his green eyes.
“The place where your sister was living, did you say it was your grandfather’s house?”
“That’s right.”
“Someone broke in and trashed the place. They were obviously looking for something. Do you have any idea what it might be?”
What in the hell had Sybil gotten herself into? Every worry and fear I’d had in the last two months were suddenly justified. Yet, the truth was, my sister and I had never been close. I knew little to nothing about her life. I shook my head.
“If I remember correctly, you said your grandfather passed earlier this year.”
“In January.”
“Were you in contact with your sister since that time?”
“Yes. I mean, we didn’t talk often, but I was taking care of my grandfather’s debts, so I heard from her when she received statements.”
“Was your sister working?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” When my eyes filled with tears again, I looked away from him.
Decker reached over and covered my hand with his. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise. We’ll find out who killed her.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, looking back at him. “You’re so kind to me. I can’t—” Why did I have to keep dissolving into tears?
He reached out and brushed a tear away. “I made you a promise, and I’m going to keep it. Understand?”
I stared into his eyes, wondering why I was putting so much trust in a man who was practically a stranger. I’d seen him one time in my life prior to this: when I was a child. It wasn’t logical that I’d feel this comfortable around him based solely on that. The only answer I could come up with was that I didn’t see what other choice I had.
“Want to see one of my favorite places in Bluebell Creek?”
I smiled. “Sure.”
Decker took a deep breath. “I sure like seeing you smile, Mila.”
His lips were close enough that if I leaned forward just a little bit, I could kiss him. I wanted to so badly, but what would he think of me? What kind of woman would that make me in his eyes? A virtual stranger whose sister had just died, kissing him? He’d probably turn around, drive back to Austin, and put me on the next flight to Boston just to get rid of me.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” he said, brushing my bottom lip with his finger, “but I want you to know you can trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
“I hope this doesn’t make you change your mind.”
When Decker leaned forward and brushed my lips with his, it was as if every wall I’d erected around myself over the last few years came crumbling down. When he traced my lips with his tongue, I opened to him and then wrapped my arms around his neck. I deepened our kiss, not Decker, and when I felt him pulling away, I was mortified by how aggressive I’d been.
“Hey, now,” he murmured, stroking my cheek with his finger.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” I tried to back away, but Decker’s grip on me tightened.
“I hope the same thing came over you that came over me, sweetheart.”
My cheeks flushed, and I tried to look away from him. I brought my fingertips to my lips. No one had ever kissed me the way Deck just did.
“Do you know that I’ve wanted to do that since the first moment I laid eyes on you?”
“You have?”
He brought his lips to mine again. As our tongues wound around each other’s, a need started to build from deep inside me. How long had I wondered if I’d ever experience desire, if I’d ever be able to react to a man with anything but fear?
Decker pulled back and looked into my eyes. “I wish I knew what you were thinking.”
“Maybe I’m thinking the same thing you are.”
“I have to admit, I’m thinking about how nice it would be to feel your body against mine.”
“Same,” I answered, hoping that if and when the time came for that to happen, I wouldn’t freeze up or find myself unable to go through with it.
Decker put the truck in gear, and soon, we were back out on a road that was very familiar to me. While my mama had been from Bluebell Creek, my daddy hailed from Austin. I remembered when I was a little girl, my parents, my sister, and I would drive this same route to visit my granddaddy.
Once my parents divorced, we moved in with him. We rarely saw my father after that, and the last time I did, was one of the worst days of my life.
Decker put his hand on my arm, startling me. “You okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “Just thinkin’ about my parents.”
“You keep in touch with Judd?”
Judd. God, I’d forgotten that’s what people called him. “Do you know him?”
“Only met him once or twice. He came to the ranch to meet with Z.”
“Quint’s daddy?”
Decker nodded. “I think they were friends, although I’m pretty sure he was better friends with Wasp.”
“Wasp King. That’s a name I haven’t heard for a long time.”
“I never met him.”
I hadn’t either, but I remembered hearing stories about him.
“You didn’t answer me,” said Decker, sliding his fingers from my hand to my knee. “About Judd.”
“We lost touch.”
“I wondered, when you said you paid your granddaddy’s debts. I’m surprised Judd didn’t step in and take care of it.”
Decker didn’t know the half of how accurate his statement wa
s. Judd Knight took care of himself. No one else.
“Not everybody’s cut out to be a parent,” I murmured.
12
Decker
Didn’t I know it. Neither of mine were, that was for damn sure. I was in single digits when they split up, and unlike Mila’s, my mama didn’t stick around to take care of me, and neither did my daddy.
Child Protective Services did, though. Not that they did much protecting. Up until the time I met Quint Alexander, I’d been bounced from one abusive situation to another.
When I was thirteen, Z approached me. I guessed he’d caught glimpses of the bruises that dotted my body.
“Would you like to live here with us?” Z had asked.
I hadn’t known what to say. “Can I?” I remember asking. After that day, I didn’t go back to the house I’d been living in, not even to get my belongings, which were meager.
I looked over at Mila, who was as lost in thought as I was. “The place I’m taking you is on the outskirts of town. You okay with that?”
Mila sighed. “The truth is, Decker, I’ve really got no place to be except here with you.”
I squeezed her hand. Damn if I didn’t like the sound of that more than I should. As soon as I was able to figure out who killed her sister, Mila Knight would be on the first plane back to Boston, and probably into the arms of the asshole. I was more attracted to her than I remember being to any other woman, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t keep myself in check.
It wasn’t long before we came to the turnoff that would take us to the cabin that sat on the edge of Bluebell Creek. It had belonged to members of the King family up until recently when Quint approached them about buying it and they’d agreed.
I knew damn well why the cabin meant so much to my best friend; it held some pretty special memories for him and the woman who was now Quint’s wife.
“It’s so beautiful,” Mila said when I drove up to the log structure. “Like out of a book.”
Decked (The Invincibles Book 1) Page 5