“As well as can be expected I imagine.”
“How the hell did this happen, and what the hell are you doing about it?”
“What would you like me to do dad? I can’t very well challenge the boy to a duel now can I?”
“There ought to be something to be done. Can’t we get him for breach of contract or something?”
“Dad, Cami doesn’t want that, she just wants the whole mess to go away.”
I heard the harrumph that followed that statement just as I entered the study. My grandpa is one of my absolute favorite people in the world, but he can be a trial. “There you are. What’s this I hear about you shooting and missing? At least one of them should be molting at the undertaker’s.” The old reprobate glared over his half glasses at me.
“Nice to see you too grandpa, fancy seeing me from behind plate glass do you?” I leaned over to kiss his cheek and get one of his hugs that have been making everything right in my world for as long as I can remember. “I’d have got you out of the country before they ever touched a hair on your pretty little head. I can still arrange something…”
“Dad, please don’t encourage my daughter in any illegal activities. You do remember you’re still the county’s sitting judge don’t you?” That brought on another harrumph. “One has nothing to do with the other, this is personal; somebody hurt our little girl we ought to get our pound of flesh.”
“No need grandpa, I’m over it already.” He studied me like a specimen under a microscope. “Boy wasn’t worthy of you in the first place. Now how long you plan on moping around here over the likes of him? Never let it be said that the Sutherlands were brought low by that miscreant and his side piece.”
“Grandpa by any chance have you been smoking or drinking this morning?” I kept my first smile in days under lock and key. He tends to see such things as facetiousness. “A little of both why? I don’t see what that has to do with the price of beans.” Grandpa has what you might call convenient glaucoma. It only surfaces when the need for a good toke hits him, which is about twice or three times a day according to the maid mama and daddy planted in his mansion to spy on him.
The old cuss has had more than his fair share of falls in the past, but he refuses to give up the bench, or his independence, by moving into a home or here on the estate with us. So mama and daddy came up with the next best thing. He’d made a fuss to be sure but they’d stood their ground, and when that didn’t work, they’d sent me in to play on his heartstrings.
“Nothing, you just seem a little more bloodthirsty than usual that’s all.” He badgered me for the next ten minutes to be sure that I wasn’t just paying lip service when I said that I was okay, and then the talk turned to business and I was able to relax with the spotlight off of me.
“I wonder who that could be.” Daddy paced to the study door at the ring of the doorbell. I heard the familiar voice as the butler answered the door. I was trapped, nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. I tried to squelch the butterflies that were running riot in my stomach and to hide the look of horror that I was sure was plastered all over my face.
I wasn’t ready to face him yet. Okay calm down Cami, no one knows but you two and he’d be daft to bring it up in front of daddy. I calmed myself as best I could and braced for my first sight of him since he’d screwed me and disappeared. I ignored the prickling of my skin, and the acceleration of my heart, I was probably just coming down with something, some kind of summer bug.
“Judge Sutherland, Camille.” He greeted us both in that snooty tone of his that made me want to smash his face in. How dare he come here like nothing happened? How dare he look so cool and unaffected when my life had been turned upside down?
“Brady you wanted to see me?” I kept my gaze trained anywhere but on him as he and daddy carried on their conversation. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. It was on one of my perusals around the room that I caught grandpa looking at me squinty eyed. I didn’t like the way he looked from Grant to me and back with a lift of his brow. He opened his mouth to say something but I waylaid the nosy old fart before he could start trouble.
“Grandpa I promised to show you Gigi’s new foal, come along and let’s leave daddy and his little friend to talk.” I hope Grant didn’t miss that slight, the pig. I grabbed grandpa’s arm and practically lifted him from the chair in my haste to get away.
“Girl what in the Sam hill is your hurry?” That hint of laughter in his voice told me he knew damn good and well what my hurry was. I was trying to keep him from making a damn fool of me in front of the stuff shirt. I didn’t look back as we left the room, and didn’t breathe easy again until we were halfway to the stables.
“Ohhhh, so that’s the way the wind blows.” I wonder if I can buy him off? “Grandpa.” I gave him one of my pleading looks that always worked to get me my way in the past. Of course just when I needed it most it was a dud. “Come on, tell me about it girl, sure as spit the others are gonna catch on soon enough if you can’t help mooning over him like that.”
“I did not, you take that back.” How long was he watching me anyway? I made myself busy getting treats for the horses, anything but look at the old meddler, but I’m afraid it was too late. “So he’s the one you want? Why didn’t you just say so?”
“Grandpa.” I sounded like a broken record, but how could I explain this to him so that he would understand? Everyone else thought I was all torn up over Joel, he’s the one I’d been set to marry after all. What will he think of me if he learned the truth? That a few hours after my engagement was destroyed I’d been ready to throw myself at another man?
“It’s complicated.” In the end there was no use hiding it from him. He has always been good at getting me to open up where no one else could. My shoulders slumped in defeat, because I knew better than anyone that this was one prize he couldn’t get for me. I had the past rejection to prove it. I mean why else would he spend a whole afternoon making love to me and then not call or anything, if he wasn’t done with me?
“Aren’t these things always? Complicated I mean. Now why don’t you sit here and tell grandpa all about it?” I wasn’t too surprised when he led us both to bales of hay on the other side of the barn. I was a little mystified when he pulled the joint from his shirt pocket though. “You want some?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s still illegal, in fact I don’t know how you’ve been allowed in a state that’s so prohibitive.” He rolled his eyes as he lit up. “I’ve got my ways, now tell me how you came to be in love with the great Grant Colfax.”
“In love? Now come on grandpa, nobody said anything about being in love.” I started to fidget uncomfortably. I didn’t want him seeing that much; after all, I hadn’t even allowed myself in all these years to think about that. It was one thing to acknowledge a certain liking or attraction for a person, but love? That was taking it a bit too far dammit. At least I’d tried to convince myself of that for years.
“I have eyes don’t I? I can see as well as the next guy, and what I just saw in that room back there is love pure and simple. A heavy dose of lust to be sure, but I know love when I see it.” Good grief. He puffed away on the semi sweet smelling weed hard enough to send smoke fumes in all directions. Even the horses were starting to get restless in their stalls and I wondered fleetingly if it were possible for animals to get high.
“Grandpa listen, there’s no none of that. It was just a look, just a moment of weakness shall we say.” I was hoping to throw him off the scent because apparently he saw more than I was ready for anyone to see, but I should’ve known better. I spent the next half hour trying to convince him that what I felt for Grant was nothing more than the remnants of a schoolgirl crush.
***
By the time we got back to the house he was gone. I felt relieved and disappointed at once as I slipped away to my room after threatening grandpa to silence. I had the feeling that all my explanations were in vain. He was going to believe what he wanted to anyway. “Isn’t it exciting?” Mom ca
me bustling into my room with an armful of clothes.
“Isn’t what exciting?” I turned from the window where I’d been trying to catch a glimpse of the house next door through the trees. I missed him, which made no sense because we were hardly in each other’s company. But ever since that night, I find myself missing him in a most horrendous way.
“The party of course, didn’t your daddy tell you? He has decided that to save face we’re going to have a shindig to end all shindigs. You know your daddy; he weren’t about to let you lick your wounds for too long so this is the next best thing.” I still hadn’t a clue what she was jabbering on about as she flitted around my room like a worker bee. She finally wound down enough to make sense and turned my life upside down. “He what?”
Chapter 8
GRANT
How did I let myself get talked into this mess? What was my throwing a party going to do? The whole town already thought she was pining over the loss of that fool and I wasn’t too happy about that. I didn’t want people believing that my woman was gone over some other dick; the shit was infuriating. My woman, I like the sound of that.
I haven’t had time to explain my sudden absence and from the way she behaved when I went over there unannounced didn’t give me hope that she was in a listening mood. It was just that when the alert came through it was in the middle of the night and there was no way for me to get word to her that I had to leave.
Some asshole had been rustling my damn cattle for a few months now and I was always too late to catch the son of a bitch. This time the boys and I had set some traps and they’d paid off. When I’d got the call to come out to where the crew had the bastards hogtied I hadn’t thought of anything but getting out there to deal with their thieving asses which I did and I had the bruised knuckles to prove it.
But now in retrospect I realize that she might take that shit the wrong way. The next time, and there bloody well will be a next time; I’d see things through to the finish. I should probably have sent her some flowers or some shit but I wasn’t sure where the hell we were with that. Something I was going to fix soon.
No more holding back, no more excuses. I had five years of buildup to work off. I’d missed the shit out her though and that’s no lie. It got so that just the thought of her and a strong wind was enough to get me hard enough to pound nails. I figured when I finally get my hands on her again it’ll take a week to slate my lust, or at the very least bring it down to controllable levels. I still didn’t know how we were gonna do this, but I knew for sure that marriage was going to be in there somewhere whether her hard headed ass agreed or not.
It’s been two days since I last saw her, since she ran like a scared rabbit from me. That’s okay though, though she may not know it, there was a time clock in my head and her time was almost running out. I’d gone there as sort of a test to myself as well that day. I wanted to see if the attraction was really that strong, or if it had just been the heat of the moment.
Seeing her there, looking so vulnerable, I’d wanted to take her then and there. I’m sure that would’ve gone over well, Brady would’ve probably taken his gun to me seeing as how that whole family seems to be trigger happy. It was seeing her and not being able to touch her that had solidified things for me. I don’t know how I’ve been able to go this long without doing something about this, about us, but I knew there was no way in hell I could go another five years without taking her into my home, into my bed.
She was of age, there was nothing stopping us, nothing standing in our way. Last I heard Joel was still shacked up with the librarian and the last fling I had was already a distant memory. That reminded me, I’d told Marcy that things were off between us, but that girl has a way of hearing what she wants to hear. It wasn’t the first time that I’d broken things off with her, but somehow she always finds a way to finagle herself back into my bed.
This time there was no question though. I pride myself on being honest, especially with myself, and there was nothing honest about taking one woman to my bed while my heart was so completely involved with another. I’ll just have to be on my guard for the next little while until I staked my claim once and for all, so that the whole county knew that she was mine. I didn’t want anything getting in the way of what I had planned, starting with tonight.
One good thing about this idea of her daddy’s, it will bring her to me. I’m sure I can find a place to whisk her away while the festivities were going on. We needed to talk and I needed to get my hands on her one more time, needed to reassure myself that it wasn’t a fluke, that what I’ve been imagining the last couple of days was real. Okay that’s just an excuse. I have a sore dick and the fond memories of her riding that dick to convince me. I just wanted in her again in the worst damn way.
There was still a lot that we needed to work through, she was as hard headed as a two headed mule and I was sure she was going to hold my bad behavior against me. That’s why I needed to get in there and get things started. Brady had let it slip that already there were more than a few suitors sniffing around like vultures on carrion, but I’m afraid if she even looked at one of ‘em I’ll be the one with the gun next time.
It was amazing, but after having her under me, over me and any other way I could, it was damn near impossible to breathe without her. I know I said I’d give her time, but that didn’t seem like a good idea anymore either. After tonight we’ll see, either way there was no way I was going another night without being balls deep inside her, even if it meant climbing through her daddy’s window.
***
I must’ve checked the door six damn times before I caught myself. What the hell was I doing, acting like a high school kid at his first prom? Of course I wasn’t about to treat her the way I had all the others, but I wasn’t going to act like an ass either. Camille just has that affect on men I guess. She’s a throwback to a gentler time when men kissed women’s hands and bent over backwards to please them
I was willing to give her all the genteel she wanted, but I wasn’t about to play the sap. One of my fears had always been that because of the way she was raised she wouldn’t be able to handle my rough and rugged ways, but since we’d crossed that bridge she’ll just have to deal.
I made sure everything was as near to perfect as it was possible to get. I hope she didn’t notice that I’d chosen all her favorite treats for the night’s menu, or that the place was overrun with her favorite flower. These were things I’d picked up along the way over the years, things I never thought to have any use for.
I checked myself in the hall mirror one last time and tried to remember the last time I was this nervous before seeing a woman. Finally acknowledging that that’s what was going on was the catalyst I needed to snap me out of it. any sign of weakness and she’d have me balls on a platter.
I’ve never been the nervous type, and the fact that I had screwed up royally the last time I’d held her in my arms wasn’t about to change that. If all went as planned tonight, I was about to erase that memory from her mind and fill it with something better.
***
CAMI
I’m a nervous wreck and there’s no hiding it. At least mama and daddy thinks my nerves are because it’s my first party since the engagement debacle, but there was one person in the family vehicle who knew better, and if he smirked at me one more time I am going to wring his neck.
I kept my head forward and avoided looking at him at all cost. “Well Grant’s place seems to be coming along. There was a time there when I didn’t trust his grandpa’s judgment in leaving his spread to a city slicker, but it seems the old man knew what he was doing.” Gramps stuck his head out the window.
We were already on Grant’s land, making our way down the long driveway that literally went on for miles as it meandered through paddocks on both sides and miles of grass as far as the eye could see. The house was a great monstrosity up ahead that beckoned with its million lights with the setting sun as its picturesque backdrop.
My face caught fire w
hen we reached the place where we’d been that day. The memories came flashing back like a windstorm and suddenly the care felt too closed in. I was almost tempted to jump out and make a run for it, but that seemed a bit extreme.
“The boy is smart, has a good head on his shoulders and wasn’t too proud to ask for help when it was needed. Old Angus would’ve been pleased. I don’t think he could’ve asked for better.” Daddy was always a champion of Grant’s, since the very beginning. I don’t know why that should please me, but it did.
“He’s getting along in age though isn’t he, what is he thirty-two, thirty-three? High time a man that age settles down and has a few children. What’s the sense of working so hard with no one to come home to at the end of the day?” I’m going to open the car door and chuck him out on the paved driveway, the old meddler.
“Wasn’t he interested in that Marcy girl? A fine young lady from an upstanding family; he could do worse. Say wasn’t she in your classes at school dear?” If I didn’t know better I’d think the lot of them were setting me up. I turned to mama with a saccharin smile, not once giving away my true feelings. That Marcy was a bed-hopping termite who had made more visits to the free clinic than the people who worked there. Okay that was a bit of an exaggeration, but the girl did have a reputation.
It would serve Grant Colfax right if he ended up with her as the mother of his children, the jackass. Since he had the nerve to cast me off like refuse, he deserved nothing better than to spend the rest of his days with someone who was sure to keep the town guessing as to the true lineage of his offspring.
Okay so I’m feeling mean, but can you blame me? Why in the blazes would daddy get it into his head to ask Grant of all people to throw a party? “Yes she was but we were never close remember, since you forbade it?” I had no interest in discussing my old nemesis, especially since we were pulling up in front of the mansion just then.
Texas Hellion Page 7