Belonging to Bandera

by Tina Leonard

  “Why doesn’t he just fix it?”

  Bandera chewed on the inside of his cheek, noting that her fingernails had a pretty polish on them, like half-moons of white. Her wrists were small and dainty. She had the hands of a woman who spun dreams for other people, he decided. “Some things are not meant to be fixed. And then sometimes they’re meant for another time. But you’re not the only one who uses the open road to navigate through your emotions.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled at him. “For putting that so kindly.”

  “Yeah. So. Looks like the Harley’s working.”

  She turned around. “Hey, it is.” Sliding down from the truck seat, she accidentally slid right into arms he put up to catch her. They looked at each other for a moment, Bandera recording the feel of her as fast as he could. The smell of her, the temperature of her skin, the silk of it, her height and how very, very good she felt.

  “Whoa, I’m sorry,” she said, stepping away. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “I did,” he said, “and I’m not apologizing. And I’m not saying sorry for this, either.” He kissed her, his lips touching hers ever so gently, ever so briefly.

  But long enough for him to know that this woman was supersweet.

  He looked at her, reading shock in her expression. “Just as good as I thought,” he said.

  She didn’t move. For an instant, he wondered if she was going to slap him. Tell him off. Call Mike to save her from his clutches.

  But then she surprised him. Grabbing his shirt collar, she pulled his face back down to her level. She put her small, cool hands on both sides of his face, and she kissed him, using her body and her tongue and her lips to blow his mind.

  When she released him, it was his turn to stare at her.

  “Now I’ve kissed a cowboy,” she said.

  And then she walked away.

  He watched her, his eyes hooded, as she went to her cousin. Mason appeared beside Bandera. “Pony up,” he said. “The bike’s back in business, and we have done our Good Samaritan duty.”

  Bandera stood silently, staring at the woman who’d just kissed him like he’d never been kissed before.

  “Why have you got that dumbstruck expression on your face?” Mason demanded. “Indigestion? Solve the world’s greatest mystery?”

  “No,” Bandera said. “That bride on the run is a woman just begging to be slowed down.”

  “Nah,” Mason said. “She’s not your type. No polka dots.”

  Bandera shook his head, his brain fairly ringing from all the signals he was receiving from Holly’s kiss. “She is a reversible pattern, I do believe. It’s just not obvious to the insensitive eye.”

  “Oh, jeez.” Mason sighed, getting into the truck. “Can we stay on task here? We did have a mission, and it had nothing to do with your love life.”

  “I don’t have a love life.” But maybe I should.

  Probably not. If there was one thing he’d learned from watching his brothers fall, it was that a woman was the road to matrimony. Holly was a wedding planner. That was a no-brainer danger signal, right? How close could a man dance around a fire without getting burned?

  It was best to stay away from flammable things, for certain, and Holly was too hot for a man whose heart was used to staying pretty cool. She was geared to have weddings on the brain, either hers or someone else’s. He patted his shirt pocket, which still contained the garter.

  Walking around to the driver’s seat, he said, “All right. You be map reader.”

  “Now you’re talking.” Mason relaxed, putting his seat belt on. “For a minute there, I thought you were doomed.”

  “Bandera!” Holly called.

  Mason’s eyes met his as Bandera hesitated in the midst of getting in the truck. “Act like you didn’t hear her, just to be on the safe side,” Mason said. “Maybe it’s best to get in, lock the door and drive away.”

  “The shop’s got an extra bike,” Holly said, coming to stand next to him. “Mike wants to know if you want to rent a motorcycle and caravan to wherever you’re going. The owner’s in the mood to see the countryside with some buddies, and you’re the only easy riders who’ve been by today who know their Hogs.”

  “A Hog for rent?” Mason perked up. “Really?”

  “Mason,” Bandera said. “Stay on task.”

  “Let me see this Hog he’s renting.” Mason got out of the truck, striding over to where Cousin Mike stood.

  Bandera glared at Holly. “Mason has no business biking.”

  “Are you afraid of motorcycles?” she asked. “Mike seemed to think you and Mason might enjoy traveling that way as a novelty.”

  “I have plenty of novelty in my life, thank you,” he said. “You’ve now got my brother off his path, and the problem with that is that I only came along to keep him on track.” Holly just didn’t understand the dilemma. “See, Mason has a tendency to wander. He wanders off, and when he does, he may wander off for months.”

  “Does he have an attention deficit disorder?”

  “No, it’s just…” Bandera sighed. “Look. I’d feel better if I could keep Mason in my sights at all times. With any luck, I’ll have him home in two days, which will be a Mason record.”

  The sound of motorcycles gunning made Bandera swivel around. Mason was on the back of the biggest, flashiest Hog Bandera had ever seen. Mike was slipping on a helmet, and the shop owner—who Bandera realized with some horror was a tall, thin, rangy-looking brunette with foxy eyes—loaded herself onto the back of Mason’s seat.

  “Oh, no,” Bandera said. “This is not going to happen. This is bad. No. Wait!” he yelled over the engine noises. “Mason! Hell, no!” He went running toward them, but Mike, Mason and the brunette waved and roared off. “Damn it!” Bandera tossed his hat to the ground. “Damn it to hell!” The glare he sent Holly should have shriveled her, but she drew herself up to her full height and turned her back on him, arms crossed.

  Uh-oh. Now she was mad, and being alone in the countryside with a hot, angry female was not a recipe for happiness. He took a few deep breaths. “This is your fault,” he said. “I’m sorry I lost my temper, but you shouldn’t have dangled bait like that in front of Mason’s face.”

  “If you’d been paying more attention to the discussions and less to your map fear, you would have met the shop owner and seen how nice she was,” Holly said, annoyed. “Mike knows her. Apparently, she bought the business recently from the guy you knew.”

  “I meant the bike,” he said crossly. “Mason and anything that gets him on an open road these days is dangerous. And that Hog was about the most alluring bait he’s seen in months.”

  “Well, then he probably deserves it,” she said huffily. “Maybe he doesn’t like you being his ball and chain. I know I wouldn’t.”

  Bandera stared at her. “Ball and chain?”

  She turned around. “Frankly, your possessive attitude grates on my nerves.”

  He blinked. “Possessive?”

  “Yes. You should be happy for your brother.”

  The brunette had been quite a looker. Very Cherlike, in her younger days. And she’d let Mason drive her Hog. He sighed. “Mimi isn’t going to like you,” he told Holly. “I’d watch that rhetoric around her.”

  “Who’s Mimi?”

  “The next-door neighbor. Well, used to be.”

  “Well, she’s not here. And you gotta live life to the fullest, as I’ve learned only too well today.”

  “I know that quote,” he said. “But I think there are varying definitions of what living life to the fullest means.”

  “Mike has a cell phone,” she reminded him, “and we can follow them to wherever you were planning to go in the first place.”

  “True.” Bandera began to feel better. “Yes. Nothing to worry about.”

  Somewhere a door slammed loudly, making them both wheel around. He grabbed Holly and held her against him.

  “Are you always nervous like this?” she whispered.

  “Shh!” He�
��d thought the shop owner was the only person working in the place. She’d hung up a Closed sign in the window. He and Holly had seemed to be alone on miles of deserted country road. “I’m going to go make certain everything was locked up.”

  “Okay.” She began walking and he pulled her back.

  “No,” he said, “I’m going to check, and you’re going to stay here.”

  “Bandera! I just canceled a wedding! I think I can check to make certain a door was closed properly.”

  “I can’t allow you to get in trouble out here.”

  She sighed. “Come on, cowboy. I never dreamed you’d be so needy, or I wouldn’t have kissed you.”

  “More on that later,” he said. “Stay behind me.”

  “Whatever.”

  He walked to the door, which had an old screen covering. It looked as if the brunette lived in the front part of the house and ran her business from the garage. He took hold of the handle, giving it a good shake, and the door swung open.

  He and Holly exchanged glances.

  “Not a good sign,” he whispered. “I really did think this door slammed.”

  “I did, too. Go on in.”

  “No!” Bandera said. “It’s her house!”

  “And she’d appreciate you making certain nobody walked inside!”

  Holly had a point. “Will you stay out here?” he asked.

  Her eyes got big. “What do you think?”

  “I think hell no.”

  She pushed him inside. Then she followed, glancing around. “Oh, it’s so pretty,” she murmured. “I love yellow-and-green gingham.”

  It looked like rays of sunshine had been splashed throughout the den. Plants were everywhere, blooming lush and green. The sofa was overstuffed and the chairs were fat leather recliners. “She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who decorated comfortably.”

  “She seemed fine. I don’t know why she’s bugging you so much.”

  “Because she drove off hanging on to my brother’s backside. I’m telling you, that wasn’t in the plan.”

  “Today is not the day for plans. I’m going to call my mother,” Holly said, crossing into the kitchen. “Look! She baked chocolate chip cookies.”

  “You yak, I’ll eat.” He perched on a flower-painted bar stool and made himself at home with the yellow-gingham plate. “Mmm. Maybe better than wedding cake. You should have one.”

  Holly rolled her eyes, but took one from him, being very careful to avoid his fingers, he noticed. Dialing the phone, she stood on the opposite side of the bar, instructing the operator to make a collect call.

  He went to the cupboard and got himself a red coffee mug, which he proceeded to fill with milk, listening to Holly with only half an ear. A gray cat wound itself around his boot, startling him. “I think I found the door slammer.”

  “Cats don’t slam,” she said.

  “This one does, when it wants past the screen. You little devil. I don’t think you’re supposed to be in the house, are you?”

  It jumped onto the counter, looking at Bandera’s cookies with interest. “No sweets for you,” he said, putting her on the floor. But he poured milk from his coffee mug into her saucer to take the sting out of his comment.

  “Softie,” Holly said.

  “An illusion,” Bandera said. The cat settled down to lapping milk contentedly, and Bandera got back on his flower-covered perch, watching Holly as he helped himself to cookies.

  She had a really fine figure. He wasn’t certain he’d fully observed how nicely her waist curved into her butt, but now that she was leaning against the counter, he could get the whole picture. He ate another cookie, happily enjoying the view.

  “Hi, Mom,” Holly said. “Yes, I’m fine. I really am. I just wanted to apologize for leaving you to clean up the mess.”

  She listened for a few minutes. “I’m glad, too, actually. It wasn’t the right time. It’s a shame everything went to waste, though. All the beautiful flowers you— What?”

  Bandera perked up, hearing the note of surprise in Holly’s voice.

  “Oh. Well, I’m glad everything worked out then. Okay. I’ll call you from the next stop. I think I’ll keep traveling for now. Thank you. I love you, too, Mom. Give Dad a hug and kiss for me.”

  She hung up and turned around, her eyes round. “Chuck got married.”

  Bandera blinked. “The ex?”

  “Yes.” She started to giggle. “I know I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s funny. He married my best friend. He said all his friends and family were already at the church, and the flowers, and the minister, and the food had been catered, and it was all done wonderfully, and he wasn’t going to waste it. He paid my folks for the expenses and got married.”

  “What about the license?”

  “Well, they’re taking care of that now, Mom said, by going on our honeymoon trip to Cancun. They can get officially married there. I’m sure Chuck worked out all the details. He’s good at that.”

  Bandera stared at Holly. “Are you upset?”

  She shook her head. “Strangely, I’m relieved.”

  “I guess your best friend must have liked what you planned.” He scratched his head. “Most brides like to pick everything themselves.”

  “I think she just wanted to get married.” Holly shrugged.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  She nodded. “I was all right when you told me I hadn’t really loved him.”

  He grunted. “Glad I could help.”

  “If you’re through snacking, maybe we should go.” She glanced around the room. “The biker lady really does a nice job of decorating.”

  “Yeah.” He didn’t care too much about that. Right now, there were other things to think about. “I can take you back home, if you want, since the coast is clear.”

  She smiled. “Thanks. But I think I’ll ride with you as far as you’re going.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then I’m going to keep on going. For a while, anyway.” She headed out the door. He pushed the bar stool up to the counter and hurried after her.

  “Do you think the cat will be all right?” he asked, closing the door tightly behind them.

  “I think her owner wouldn’t have left her if she didn’t have provisions made for her.”

  The little cat was in very good condition. “That’s true. So, how long are you going to keep on going?”

  “Well,” Holly said, getting into the truck, “I spent nine months planning the wedding of my dreams, and working, too. I’m going to take a vacation and see the countryside. Then I’ll decide.”

  Starting the engine, he drove away from the little bike shop. “I’ve got to get Mason home as soon as possible, or I’d join you.”

  “Oh, no,” she said, “I’m doing this myself. I just got rid of one man. I don’t want another.”

  “Well, it’s not like I would interrupt your flow or anything,” he said. “I’m in the mood for a little traveling myself.”

  She opened her purse and pulled out a lipstick. She applied it as she looked in the mirror.

  He’d never seen a woman put on lipstick in a truck. It was very sexy, he realized uncomfortably.

  “You have to understand,” she said, “I’m never planning another wedding. Ever.”

  He tried to watch the road, but when she spritzed a light fragrant scent down her halter, his fingers tensed on the wheel. “I wasn’t asking you to marry me,” he said, “especially since you don’t share my belief in premarital sex.”

  She laughed. “Believe all you want.”

  “How do you know you’ll never plan another wedding? Yours or someone else’s?”

  “I’m going into a new business. And the next time I get married I’m not planning my wedding, I’m just going to do it.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that! He asks, I say yes and we go to…a justice of the peace or something. I think I’m good at planning,” she said, “and maybe not executing.”

  “Ah. That makes sense.”
Bandera had experience watching his brothers with that same kind of problem. Although some of them had become pretty good at executing. “What business will you do now?”

  “I haven’t decided, but,” she said, putting her purse away and pulling out the map again, “if that woman can run a motorcycle shop, I can do something beside plan weddings. I’m changing my whole life.”

  “Hmm.”

  She glanced up at him. “And you?”

  “My life is fine. But I really didn’t have an epiphany like you did. I just enjoyed the cat and the cookies.”

  “Yes, you did. Which surprised me. I didn’t see you being such a hearth and home kind of man. I thought cowboys were adventurers of the West.”

  He sighed. “I do not want to adventure. I want to find my brother and get him home. He’s the adventurer in the family, and it’s really getting me down. If he’d just stay in one place—”

  “Oh, broken hearts sometimes mean traveling feet. I’m a prime example.” She tapped the map. “All these squiggly lines on here represent destinations I’ve never been. So I’m going.”

  “But your heart’s not broken,” he said, hoping he was right. He really didn’t want her thinking about ol’ Chuck. The only reason Bandera could think about her ex with any degree of rationality was because he knew the poor sap hadn’t traveled to any of her physical destinations.

  Like that fanny he’d been examining earlier. It was virgin territory, so to speak—unclaimed, unconquered.

  He really, really liked thinking about her that way.

  “But it could have been broken,” she said, interrupting his spell. “I just got lucky that you came along.”

  “Lucky?”

  “Well, you’re so much more fun than Cousin Mike. I’d much rather travel with you.” She smiled at him, and dimples blossomed again beside her lips.

  Bandera’s heart jumped. Dimples and a sexy butt.

  Except she had him in the same traveling-companion category as Cousin Mike. That wasn’t good for his ego.

  “Look,” he said, “your cousin was okay, but I’m not your cousin. Or your friend. We’re strangers.”

  “True.” She began pulling the twinkly things and pins out of her hair. Strand by strand, her hair came down. He gulped nervously. He’d never watched a woman take her hair down before. It was an awful lot like a prelude to taking off her clothes.