Dodge the Bullet

by Christy Hayes

  “You’ll need to tell me where to turn,” she said.

  “I’ll tell you when you get there, don’t worry. I want to sleep as much as you seem to want me to.” Dodge turned in his seat and Sarah felt his eyes watching her drive.

  Her cheeks flushed. “I’m worried about you, Dodge.”

  “I was going to say the same about you. I want you to be careful. Call me anytime night or day, even if you just feel a little spooked.”

  “I don’t spook easy. Besides, I think whoever cut the fence was trying to hurt you.”

  “I agree, but I can’t take the chance you’ll get caught in the crossfire.”

  Sarah sniffed and glanced at him. “You make it sound like a gun battle.”

  “Speaking of guns…do you own one?”

  “No, I don’t own a gun.” Her grip tightened on the wheel. “And I don’t plan to.”

  “I think that’s a mistake. Barring what happened last night, on a ranch of your size with wildlife all around, I think you should get one. I can show you how to use it, and show the boys.”

  “The boys? Are you crazy?”

  “Take the next right, just past the curve in the road,” he said. “And no, I’m not crazy. This isn’t the suburbs. Your kids need to know how to use a gun. It’s a way of life out here, not just a means of protection. I’m not talking about an automatic weapon, but a shot gun is a pretty handy thing to have around. Bear can wander down from the mountains and I know you’ve heard the coyote.”

  He was trying to make her nervous and she hated that it was working. “A bear? Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a bit? What am I supposed to do if I hear a bump in the night? Grab a gun and start shooting?”

  “No, I expect you to call me, then get the gun and wait until I get there to help you. Here’s the drive on the left, the one with the black mailbox.”

  She maneuvered the truck down the long rock drive, past a line of spruce trees whose tops waved in the wind and driving rain. Just beyond a small bend in the road sat a farmhouse.

  “Just because your cows live on my property doesn’t mean you’re obligated to defend us.”

  “I want to take care of you, Sarah. I feel…responsible for you.”

  She shook her head and shoved the gear stick into park. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel obligated. “You shouldn’t. I’m an adult, Dodge, not a child. I may not recognize the danger we face at the ranch, but it’s my responsibility to take care of us, not yours.”

  Dodge rubbed his eyes. “Ok, maybe responsible was the wrong word.” They sat listening to the methodical clicking of the windshield wipers and the pitter patter of the rain. “If anything happened to you or the boys because of me…”

  Sarah placed her hand over his where it rested on the bench. His fingers were long and tan and felt surprisingly warm as she wrapped her fingers around his, felt the calluses on his palm. He squeezed her hand and when she looked up into his eyes she felt startled to see his tired gaze had sharpened.

  “Nothing happened to us.” Her voice sounded normal despite the tug of emotion the simple act of holding a man’s hand had sent through her system. Without thinking, she reached her free hand across the small cab and rubbed it along his stubbled chin.

  His need to protect her, while foolish, made something inside of her break apart. How long had it been since someone put her needs before their own? She leaned in and pressed her lips to his, a soft kiss meant to heal and thank. His eyes widened as she watched him through the slits of her own.

  When she began to pull away, the realization of what she’d done came back with each centimeter of distance. She felt him tangle his hand in her hair and pull her back, saw his eyes drift close before she released the breath in her chest. It came out as a moan. She’d expected an assault, but the only thing rough about his kiss was the scratch of his beard against her skin. He rubbed his lips against hers enticing her lips to part and let him in. She tasted heat with an edge of impatience for more. She surrendered to him just long enough to draw a very detailed map in both of their minds about where it could lead.

  “I’m sorry,” she gasped and backed slowly away. What was she sorry for? Sorry she kissed him? Sorry she let him kiss her back? Or sorry it ended?

  “Don’t be sorry.” He lifted their still joined hands to his lips, kissed the knuckles that gripped his and made her galloping heart turn over in her chest. “Thanks for the ride.” He jumped out into the driving rain and made a quick dash to the porch.

  Okay, thought Sarah. No need to panic. Just because her heart slammed against her chest at triple the beat of the windshield wipers, nothing unusual there. Hell. As she put the truck in gear and began the short drive back to her ranch, she considered the implications of what had just happened. She’d kissed him and he kissed her back. They were even. And it didn’t mean anything because he was exhausted and she’d meant to comfort him. The fact that she’d spent quite a bit of time thinking about what it would be like to have him touch her and kiss her didn’t necessarily mean that the line between friendship and something more had blurred. Did it? Hell. She needed to call Jenny.

  ###

  So much for getting some sleep. Dodge stepped into the warm house and let the screen door bang closed behind him. He could still taste Sarah’s lips on his, hear the throaty moan she’d let out and could’ve taken his pulse in his loins. This was the last thing he needed, the last thing he wanted. He couldn’t tell himself she didn’t mean anything more to him than a friend. He wanted her and from the look in those green eyes of hers he’d have to say she wanted him too. It’d taken every ounce of self restraint not to pull her into his lap and satisfy them both right then and there. But then where would they be? Probably right where they were now. Except a whole lot less tense. Fuck.

  Chapter 14

  “I kissed him,” Sarah whispered into the phone. She sat alone in her truck, parked in the garage. The boys couldn’t hear her talking to Jenny through the sound of the rain hitting the metal roof.

  “Finally you call with the good stuff. How was it?”

  “It wasn’t that kind of kiss, not at first. It was brief, but there was heat. I think he felt it too.”

  “Hell yes, he felt it too,” Jenny said. “What’d he do?”

  “Well, he seemed surprised, and then he grabbed me and kissed me back.”

  “My God, Sarah, are you in grade school? Give me the details.”

  “It was soft and then rough and thrilling, like being on a dangerous roller coaster. Oh, God, Jenny. What have I done?”

  “You finally let yourself do something without thinking it to death, thank goodness. Why do you sound so hysterical?”

  “Because… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I wanted more and I think he did too. I feel so guilty and…turned on and…confused.” She knew she was babbling but couldn’t stop herself. “Part of me feels like I’m cheating on Todd and the other part really wants…more than a kiss. A lot more.”

  “Sounds to me like it’s out there for the taking. Why’d you stop?”

  “It’s ten in the morning. We were in my truck in his driveway and I…I don’t know.” She wound her hair around and around her finger. “I swear, Jenny, if he’d made one move, one little encouraging move, I would have melted all over him in that truck. Christ--his dad was probably inside the house and I would have let him have me in the truck, I just know it.”

  “What would’ve been so wrong with that, Sarah? He’s a good man, you’ve said that over and over again. He cares about you and the boys. God knows that’s a hell of a lot more than I get from the men I sleep with.”

  “I’ve never slept with anyone but Todd.”

  “I know that, sweetie.”

  “I don’t know how to do this, Jenny. I don’t know if I want to.”

  “You’re a woman. You know how to have sex. Just because you gave Todd everything when you slept with him doesn’t mean you have give it all every time. Sometimes sex is just sex.�
��

  “Just sex?” Sarah repeated and let the idea of it roll around her head for a second.

  “Just sex. You need it and he needs it. Welcome to my scary world. It’s not so easy to have sex without one of you becoming attached. That’s why I love my vibrator.”

  Sarah dropped hair she’d spun tight around her finger. “Wait a minute. You try not to get attached to the men you have sex with? What’s the point?”

  “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. Not everyone is looking for forever. And even if you are, you end up settling for Mr. Right Now.”

  “Okay, wait. You’re getting a little ahead of yourself, and you’re starting to sound like a country song. I don’t want to have sex with just anyone. I want to have sex with Dodge.” And when she heard the truth out loud her stomach did a queer little flop. “Oh shit.”

  “What? Don’t say ‘oh shit.’ I’m proud of you. You want to have sex with Dodge, he wants to have sex with you. So go for it.”

  “Oh, God. I think I’m going to be sick,” Sarah said and then jumped when Lyle knocked on the window of the truck.

  “Mom? What are you doing in there?”

  “Uhh, nothing, sweetie,” she said through the glass. “I’ll be right up.”

  “Sarah, listen to me,” Jenny pleaded. “Don’t be a chicken. Just do it. You can thank me later. And I’d better get a call after it happens.”

  ###

  Dodge walked into The Stand, one of Hailey’s two bars and the only one he’d ever step foot inside, and set his hat beside him on the bar as he took a seat. “I’ll have a Sam Adams.”

  Stan Trippington slid the beer in front of Dodge and perched his elbows on the grimy wood surface, settled in for an update on the life of one of Hailey’s more scandalous citizens. “How’s things out at the Woodward place working out?”

  Despite the fact that he hadn’t seen Stan in a week or two and rarely, if ever, discussed anything of a personal or business nature with the man, Dodge wasn’t surprised or even offended at the question. Stan took pride in keeping up with everyone in Hailey. Dodge knew when he’d taken a seat that the questions would come not long after his beer. “Good enough. Had some cows get out a few days ago. We got them all back.” Dodge sipped his beer, content he’d get around to the reason he’d come to The Stand. No better way to feel out information than from the man who considered himself the county’s authority.

  “Really? Yeah, I think I heard about that, now that you mention it.” Stan reached for the damp rag hanging from a holder near the sink and wiped the once glossy surface. “Winslow thought he’d been real upstanding cornering your cattle ‘til you got around to getting them. Thought it was mighty white of him considering he’s not too thrilled to have you working so close.”

  Dodge shrugged and thought nothing of the fact that Stan told him Winslow didn’t like him. No news there. “You hear anything else, Stan? Anyone bragging about getting back at me maybe?” Dodge reached in the peanut bowl and plopped a handful in his mouth, tried to sound as casual as he could.

  Stan straightened, then bent down to whisper to Dodge. “No, can’t say that I have. I thought that fence broke, thought it was an accident?”

  Dodge raised his brows, ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know about you Stan, but I’ve never heard of week old fence breaking lose from a post. Maybe decades old…maybe, but week old?” He shrugged. “Just gets a man to thinking.”

  Whatever Stan was about to say got interrupted by a howling shriek near the back of the bar where ancient pool tables sat and dart boards hung. A group of men, both young and old, had been playing pool. Even with his limited understanding of Spanish, Dodge could make out the beginnings of an argument over one of the tables. Hell, anyone could the way the men were squaring into two groups and puffing out their chests.

  “Damn it,” Stan muttered. “That’s the third time this week.” He grabbed a baseball bat and moved out from behind the counter toward the back, ready to ward off impending violence by heading the group outside.

  Dodge glanced over his shoulder and sighed. If Stan knew anything about the fence at Sarah’s, he’d be too busy to tell Dodge about it tonight. He finished the last of the beer, threw a five on the counter and had headed for the door when he caught sight of Miguel, tucked away in a corner, dead drunk and leaning against a pool cue like a bike uses a kick stand.

  “Miguel.” Dodge shouted over the fight about to take place within feet of where they stood. When he didn’t respond, Dodge knocked away the stick and had to shove Miguel back with the heel of his hand to keep him upright. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Miguel turned his face to Dodge, his pupils huge black balls swimming in the equally dark sea of his face. “Mi amigo,” Miguel slurred.

  “You’re supposed to be back at the Woodward’s keeping an eye on the place.” Dodge spoke in English, then tried to translate to Spanish. Miguel was so drunk Dodge knew he wouldn’t be able to understand anything but his first language. “Por qué no está usted en el Woodwards?”

  Miguel smiled and tried to glance around, his eyes unable to focus on anything. “La Senora Woodward está aquí?

  “No, Mrs. Woodward isn’t here.” Dodge reached for a chair to set Miguel down. “Damn it.” He wiped his hands off, ducked to miss a cue stick flying through the air and made his way to his truck.

  The drive from the bar to Sarah’s place would take about 10 minutes. With the looks of Miguel, he’d have to say the place had been without protection for at least a few hours. Damn it. This was exactly the kind of thing he was trying to avoid. He knew Sarah would be furious if she knew he was trying to protect her, keeping Miguel on alert for anything or anyone suspicious. Hell, he should have just done it himself, but he’d been trying to stay away from Sarah ever since he’d kissed her in the truck.

  He knew it was childish, avoiding her, and probably hurtful for her too. But he couldn’t help it; running had always been his first instinct with women. The last woman he’d let into his heart had proved that running was the safest course of action.

  What had started between them was a mistake and unfortunately, he feared, inevitable. Keeping his distance had caused the image of her and Wendy Hawkins to merge in his head. He was sleep deprived, jittery and grumpy as hell.

  He pulled onto the gravel drive and stopped at Miguel’s house just outside the corral. He’d asked Miguel to patrol the pastures a couple times each night and to swing around the cabin. Miguel did his patrols in his truck, which was smaller and quieter than Dodge’s big diesel, the sound of which might wake someone in the cabin. Miguel’s truck was nowhere to be found and Dodge’s only other option was the four by four. He pulled on his jacket, grabbed a flashlight and keys to the barn and headed out to do some sleuth work.

  ###

  Sarah walked past Kevin’s room, heard the muted sound of his iPod and his off-key singing and smiled. When they’d first come to Colorado he’d been too depressed and angry to sing. Things were looking up.

  She’d left Lyle on the couch, covered in a blanket. He’d fallen asleep watching baseball and from experience, she knew it was better for everyone if she left him to wake on his own and stumble to his bed.

  She cracked the door to her bedroom, tossed off her slippers and stared at her queen bed. The mattress was comfortable, the heavy duvet enough to ward off the cold nights when the windows were raised. Her pillows looked fluffy and inviting. But crawling in to bed at night had become her least favorite part of the day. She hated sleeping alone. She’d hated sleeping alone when Todd had been away from home on business, hated sleeping alone in the months after his death, and since a certain cowboy had reawakened her hibernating libido, her detest for bed had returned with a vengeance. With a heavy sigh she crawled into bed and after she’d stacked the pillows behind her back, reached for the book she’d been trying to read for the last few nights.

  It had been three days since she’d kissed Dodge and Jenny had convinced her to go for it. And w
here was the man she planned to seduce? Nowhere to be found. Oh, he was around. She’d seen his truck in the mornings parked near the barns, back again sporadically throughout the day and sometimes around the dinner hour as well. The man was at her ranch practically all day long and she never saw him.

  In the week or so it had taken him to get his cows transferred to her place, he’d made a habit of coming by for coffee some mornings, slipping in for a drink if the heat got too bad and staying for dinner on a whim. She missed him. The one time she’d actually worked up the nerve to go talk to him, he’d taken off like a shot when she’d gotten within two hundred yards.

  There she sat, restlessly awaiting another night that stretched ahead of her, sleep and peace just out of reach. She tossed the book aside, threw back the covers and crossed the foot of the bed to the window. When she yanked the cord to the blinds and heaved the window open, she noticed what looked like small headlights and the beam from a flashlight off in the distance. She leaned down and pressed her nose against the screen to get a better look. The headlights appeared too small for Miguel’s truck. Sarah had noticed he’d been checking things out at night, probably on Dodge’s orders. But that definitely wasn’t his truck. Even the sound the vehicle made was different and she’d never seen him use a flashlight. She straightened so suddenly that she scraped her nose on the raised window and yelped.

  She turned away from the window, searched her room for something to use as a weapon, and decided to grab a baseball bat from the garage on her way to investigate. Her heart thundered in her chest as she checked the window again, saw the lights head back toward the barn and headed outside to investigate.

  Sarah paused by Kevin’s door and for a fleeting moment she considered getting him to come with her. He was as tall as a man, but he was still her little boy and she needed to protect him, not send him out to face an intruder. In the garage she grabbed the biggest bat she could find, one of Kevin’s aluminum Louisville Sluggers, and went out the side door.