“Did you like it? Do they catch frogs and snakes? What if I step on one? I won’t have a gun to blow him away.”
“River! Stop that talk.” Alaska shook her head.
“Sorry, Mom,” he groaned.
Laughing, Arc gave hm a thumb’s up. “You will catch some frogs, but my advice is stay away from the snakes and the guns, at least until you’re older and can learn safety with a firearm.” Seeing Alaska’s concerned expression, he added, “When your mom feels you’re ready.”
“Let’s all have a seat,” Cariss said as she came into the kitchen. “Dinner will get cold. Sit anywhere you like.”
The boys quickly picked two chairs close together.
Arc rounded the table about the same time Alaska did and they reached for the same chair, their fingers touching. Alaska jerked her hand back. He smiled and motioned for her to sit. “Be my guest. I’ll take that one.” He pointed at the empty chair across the table from her. He still felt her eyes locked on him as he sat down, laying the cloth napkin on his lap. “Wow. This looks amazing.”
“The Tarnation way is to work hard during the day and celebrate with a delicious meal in the evening,” Gary said proudly as he dished out a large portion of mashed potatoes and handed the bowl to Arc who gave himself a bit less. Before he could pass the bowl to his right, River was pouring gravy over Arc’s potatoes. “Thank you, young man.”
“River,” Alaska whispered. “Did you ask if he wanted gravy first?”
“It’s okay. Potatoes aren’t the same without gravy.” Arc scooped out a spoonful of corn. Then a slab of ham. He forked a large forkful of gravy doused potatoes. “Mmm. These are the best potatoes I think I’ve ever had. You must be some cook.” Arc directed his words to Cariss.
Her cheeks blossomed in color. “I’d like to think I am but I’m afraid I can’t take credit for much of this meal. Alaska made the potatoes and the ham. It turns out she worked at a restaurant before.”
“Only for a short time.” Alaska didn’t meet his gaze.
“You’re a cowboy, aren’t you?” River anxiously said to Arc.
“Yeah, I’m a cowboy.”
“I want to be a cowboy too, one day.”
Arc smiled. “Why wait for one day? You’re never too young to learn to ride and take care of livestock.”
His eyes widened and he shifted, looking at his mom. “Ma? Did you hear that? I can be a cowboy now. Can I?”
His excitement brought laughter from around the table.
Alaska looked a bit at unease. “So I’m Ma now and not Mom?”
“I’m a cowboy. That’s how they talk.” River turned back to Arc. “I love horses.”
“Have you ever ridden one?”
He gave his head a solid shake. “Nope. We don’t have horses in Chicago.”
“If it’s okay with your mom, she can bring you by the ranch and I’ll saddle up one of the horses for you to ride.”
River about came out of his chair. “Can I?” he asked on bated breath.
Alaska gave a quivering smile. “We’ll see. I know cowboys are really busy.” Her gaze was a little softer than previously, but not gentle by a long shot.
If ever there was someone who feared the world, he’d peg Alaska as one of them. What caused her to put up walls?
“I’m never too busy to show a fellow cowboy the ropes. By the time I was your age, I had my own stallion and could ride like a pro. In fact, I participated in my first junior rodeo when I was around your age.” He patted River on the shoulder, looking at Alaska. “Any time. You’re more than welcome.”
“Well, we’ll see what we can work out,” she said but Arc wasn’t convinced by her words. A part of him wanted to show her that he could be trusted. That might not be easy, not when he made an ass of himself the first time they met, but suddenly, this became important to him.
“Speaking of the ranch, how are things over at the Grinning Spurs?” Cariss asked.
“Busy. Chaotic. One fire after another, but my brothers and I are keeping up.” Arc stabbed a steamed carrot and munched on it.
“What are your plans? Will you be staying in Tarnation?” She passed the plate of rolls.
“That’s a question I’m afraid I can’t answer right now.” He was being perfectly honest. To a point. He and his brothers had no clue what they’d do when the six months was up, and they no longer had to abide by Buzz’s ridiculous rules.
“We’re delighted to have you, Arc.” Cariss saluted him with her glass. “By the way, during the festival at the fairgrounds, they have an amateur rodeo contest. It might be a little leisurely for your tastes, but the money raised goes for a good cause. Buzz actually started the charity rodeo.”
“I’m finding that he had his hand in a little bit of everything in the community.”
Cariss and Gary laughed. “Now that was one interesting character. Just when you think he had a heart about the size of the Grinch he turned around and donated the money for a new wing at the hospital. I think he wanted to keep the town guessing.”
“Gary,” Cariss reprimanded him.
“No, it’s okay.” Arc assured her. “I’ve heard a lot of stories that waver along the same line.”
Alaska stayed quiet but he could feel her eyes boring into him. “What did you think of Buzz?” Arc couldn’t help himself.
She coughed and downed her water. By then all eyes were on her.
“Did you know Buzz?” Cariss asked.
If looks could kill Arc would have been as dead as the deer whose head was hung on the wall above the table.
“I did. I was a nurse’s aide in the clinic where he had treatment. I didn’t know him well.” She averted her eyes away from Arc and suddenly he felt bad because he’d dragged her into the conversation. What had he been thinking?
“And now you’re here living on his ranch. We just never know where life will lead us.” Cariss smiled. “Yet, you’re not off the hook. What did you think of Buzz?”
“I think he was completely misunderstood.”
“What a good answer,” Gary said.
“Now can we change the subject?” Cariss advised.
The rest of dinner was easy with casual conversation. Now and again Alaska and Arc would make eye contact, but he felt the tension—felt her desire to send him a silent message that she had no intention of making a friendship easy between them. Then again, he didn’t mind a challenge. He never shied away from one.
Once dinner was finished, Alaska offered to do dishes but Cariss told her, “Nope. I won’t hear of it. You did most of the work on dinner.”
“Then let me help,” Arc volunteered. “My ma always said I wasn’t allowed to be a freeloader. After that delicious meal I need to do my share.” He rubbed his stomach.
“Your mom taught you right.”
“Cory? You ready to go out and do our evening chores?” Gary asked.
He gave a disappointed look. “Okay. If I have to.”
“The livestock won’t feed themselves, Son. They provided you the milk and ham for tonight’s dinner, so we have to provide them with food too.”
“Ahh…my hero husband.” Cariss kissed him and swatted him on the behind. “I’ll see you later.”
CHAPTER 10
DURING DINNER, ALASKA found herself leaning closer as Arc told stories of ranch mishaps and his time in the military. She could almost forget that he threw her under the bus when revealing to everyone that she knew Buzz. Thankfully, Cariss hadn’t asked anything too serious.
When Arc volunteered to wash dishes, she wanted to scream. He utilized that charm on everyone and they ate it up like honey butter. Why did this anger her so much?
“Alaska, why don’t you and River go out and take a look around the farm. I’m afraid it’s nothing like Grinning Spurs, but we like to think of it as a beautiful place. After all, I overheard River talking earlier about wanting animals.”
“We can take a look around and then, I’m afraid, we should be getting back home.”
“Sure. If you’d like I can go grab my keys and run you back now,” Cariss said.
“How about I take you and River home?” Arc said, his arms laden down with a stack of dirty dishes. “I’m heading that direction when I leave here anyway.”
Alaska shifted, feeling Cariss’ curious gaze. “Arc has offered to help with some things around the B&B. He’s fixing the kitchen faucet.”
“If that’s okay with you, Alaska, or I can run you over?” Cariss offered.
“No, that would be ridiculous, especially with Arc and I going the same place.”
“Then you leave those dishes and you two run along. If it’s okay, why don’t you let River join Cory while he does his chores and I can bring him home later?”
River jumped up and down. “Yes!”
“I wish Cory still got that excited about feeding the pigs and mucking the stalls.” Cariss laughed.
What could Alaska say? If she caused too big of a stink would they see straight through her? Would they realize that Arc affected her in a way that was unexplainable? “Okay, if you don’t think it’ll be too long.”
“Shall we go then?” Arc asked.
“Fine.”
Then she and Arc were alone, in his truck. The silence was overwhelming. And so was her irritation. “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
He seemed completely oblivious.
“Divulge to everyone that I knew Buzz prior to moving here.”
“First, I didn’t know they didn’t know. Second, they’d eventually find out on their own.”
“Why does it matter what I think of Buzz? I’ve tried to speak to you about him before and it didn’t matter much then. In fact, you closed any opportunity to discuss him.”
“True. Maybe I’m not ready.”
“Maybe you’re just—wait, did you say you’re not ready?”
“I definitely don’t want to talk about him now.”
She thrummed her fingers on the door. “River certainly is making himself at home around here.”
He slid a glance toward her. “People around here make it too easy. Everyone I’ve come across has been friendly.”
The sun was setting, and she looked into the distance, seeing the last slivers of the sun’s touch as night took shape. She saw twinkling lights hovering over the field and then they drove further up on the road. “What is that?”
“Lightning bugs. Haven’t you ever seen fireflies?”
“Not for many, many years.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” He drove a short distance longer and pulled off. “Climb out.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
She met him at the front of the truck, he grabbed her hand, and led her along a pathway through the thick woods. “Arc? What are we doing?”
“It’s worth it. Trust me.”
As they reached the top of the cliff her breath suspended in her lungs. More twinkling lights. Lots of them. There must have been hundreds. “How are there so many?”
“Fireflies exist throughout the entire United States, and there are around one hundred seventy species. Here in Texas we have thirty-five species alone. As kids, my brothers and I would catch them and put them into a glass jar. We’d let them go though.”
“You know your stuff.”
He gave a small shrug. “I read it in a magazine and thought it was pretty amazing.”
She stared at the scene, mesmerized by all the dancing lights. So mesmerized that she hadn’t realized she and Arc were still holding hands until he gently squeezed her fingers. She looked down at the connection then back up. He was staring at her.
“There are a lot of amazing things here in Tarnation,” he said quietly. He leaned in, merely inches from her. Every logical bell rang inside her head, but the bars around her heart had slipped, leaving her vulnerable. His lips met hers in a gentle, explorative touch and she found herself opening to him, giving as well as receiving. She swept her arms around his shoulders, deepening the kiss, enjoying his tongue against hers. He tasted like the pie they had for dessert, but better. When his hand pressed into the small of her back an alert pounded through her mind. Not sure why, but her gaze was drawn to a tree with names carved into the side.
“Arc? Where are we?” She stiffened.
“Lover’s Cliff. Something like that. There’s supposed to be some history here. I can’t remember…”
Her breath caught in her chest. Oh shit! Shit, shit, shit!
Cariss had told Alaska all about the story of the cliff. In the dark, she had no clue they were on the cliff and now here they were, kissing.
“We should go. River will be home soon.” She pulled her hand away and hurried back down to the truck. Her heart was beating fast and her inner thighs were quivering. This man affected her in such an unexplainable way. She wasn’t in Tarnation to strike up a hometown romance, but why couldn’t she fight the sensations spiraling through her?
What if the tale of lover’s cliff was right?
It wasn’t possible.
But…
She could barely breathe.
By the time they pulled in front of the B&B, she hurried out of the truck and led the way, unlocking the font door and stepping aside so that he could come in. In the kitchen, she switched on the light, still mesmerized by what they’d encountered on the cliff surrounded by lightning bugs.
“I’ll get started on the faucet. It shouldn’t take too long,” he said.
“Can I get you a cup of coffee?” She offered.
“Sure.”
While she went about preparing them both a cup, her gaze naturally kept traveling to Arc. He had large hands with wide fingers and short nails. Each time he moved, the muscles in his arms flexed. Sweat beaded between her breast as her nipples tightened. Something took shape inside of her, something unfamiliar and yet comforting. She conjured an image of his hands on her body, exploring her while she trembled under his attention. What would their lovemaking be like?
Rebecca always bragged about her lovers, how they spent hours exploring each other and how they could bring her to multiple orgasms. As far as Alaska knew, she’d never experienced even one. Not even with her own hand. She wasn’t experienced like Rebecca, definitely not as brazen, sexually. Alaska had only been with two men and neither of them had seemed interested in pleasing her. Sex had become mundane, nothing intimate, not in the way she’d fantasized that it would be.
There had been something new and invigorating about the kiss with Arc. As if he hadn’t only touched her lips but he’d penetrated the layers into her soul.
Running the tip of her tongue along her swollen lips, she tasted him lingering there.
“Alaska?”
His husky voice brought her out of her reverie. “Yes?” Would he kiss her again? Could he see the desire she felt for him?
“I’m finished.”
“That was quick. I have your coffee.” She handed him a steaming cup.
“I only needed to reattach it. Watch this.” He turned on the faucet and water streamed out perfectly. “I noticed that the bulb is burnt out in the front porch light. I grabbed a box of lightbulbs just in case. How about I go and take care of that now and head out.” He placed his cup on the counter. “Thank you for the coffee.”
“Arc?” She caught him at the threshold.
“Yes?”
“Are we okay?” There was a distance between them now and she didn’t like it.
He gave her a hint of a grin. “We’re fine.”
“Does your offer still stand that I can catch a ride with you into town? I need to stop at Mr. Robins office tomorrow and I’d like to grab a few things from the hardware store. I’m thinking some paint will brighten this place up.”
There was a long hesitation and she thought he might say no, but he nodded. “I’ll be here in the morning.”
CHAPTER 11
ARC WOKE UP feeling different.
After leaving Alaska�
��s last night he came home and drank a beer and knocked his thoughts around inside his head. He had a feeling he was in trouble.
Trouble that was spelled A-L-A-S-K-A.
He wasn’t sure how it was possible but in the little time that he’d known her he’d learned a lot about her. She’d been hurt in her past. She hadn’t said as much but it didn’t take a genius to see the disappointment in her eyes.
Had someone done something to her? Mistreated her? Betrayed her?
The mere thought angered Arc, enough that he wanted to wring anyone’s neck that did something wrong to her.
Kissing her had made things messy.
Big mistake.
A woman like Alaska didn’t move fast. He’d lost his head momentarily, but damn, he didn’t regret it. Would never forget how soft her lips felt. How supple she felt in his arms.
Something had come over him standing on the cliff, surrounded by nature. He’d been excited. Believed that he’d felt her excitement. Had he misread the signs that she wanted his kiss? Her kiss told him she wanted more. And then she’d pulled away, looked frazzled and shocked. The last thing he wanted was to push or scare her. But Lord, how could he keep his hands off her when there was a driving force taking shape in his body.
He promised he’d take her into town today. He hadn’t expected her to ask him for help, not when he thought she was angry with him for kissing her.
A part of him wanted to run as fast as his dusty boots would carry him.
But Grinning Spurs needed him.
So did Alaska and her son.
Not him exactly, he guessed. He’d injected himself into her life. Like a fool. A man who was allowing his dick to rule. Instead of buttering up the timid next-door neighbor, he needed to give his screwed-up situation some attention and fast.
Arc couldn’t explain how his blood boiled when he’d learned about the stipulations Buzz had made for his sons. How could Arc have not known that he and his brothers didn’t own their ranch? Why didn’t his grandparents tell him?
Growing up and being the oldest, he’d become the surrogate father to his younger brothers. Teaching them the ropes. Being there when they needed help. Although he’d faced a few hurdles along the way, the one place he’d always felt at home was his ranch. That’s where his heart always led him. How could he give it up?
Pour me a Drink (Tarnation, Texas Book 3) Page 10