The Texan's Tennessee Romance

by Gina Wilkins

  It was a rationalization she would never even have entertained only a few months earlier. But that was before her whole world had been turned upside down.

  She’d been admiring Casey’s appearance for days now. Since the first moment she’d seen him, actually. She’d thought his slightly shaggy, light brown hair was beautiful, with its rich texture and gleaming gold streaks. She appreciated it even more when she was able to bury her hands in it, feeling the softness, the thickness, the slight waviness of the strands surrounding her fingers.

  She’d always been drawn to his eyes. So bright, such a compelling mixture of greens and blues. Gazing into them, she trailed a fingertip lightly over his lashes, envying him their length and thickness. It took two coats of mascara to get hers to look that long, she mused with a private smile.

  Tracing the structure of his cheekbones and jawline, she decided that “clean” and “well-balanced” were the two terms that best described the lines of his face. If she’d had any artistic talent, she’d have loved to sculpt him, to try to recreate those lovely angles with clay or marble.

  His shoulders were firm and straight, his abs well-developed, though not to the overworked, bodybuilder stage. He was slim and fit, but she suspected he maintained his condition through sports and other activities rather than regimented workouts at a gym.

  He conducted his own explorations as they kissed and caressed on the couch. His hands slid down her back, around her ribcage, up to her breasts. The kisses grew hotter, deeper, hungrier. Their breathing accelerated, roughened, and their movements grew more frenzied.

  They were rapidly getting to the point of no return. Natalie’s entire body was aching by the time Casey lifted his head to look down at her. She saw the question in his eyes even before he said huskily, “Natalie, I—”

  A loud, shattering crash from the back of the cabin made both of them jump. Buddy jumped to his feet and barked toward the bedroom. After staring at Natalie for a blank moment, Casey pushed himself to his feet and ran toward the back. She followed a bit more slowly, still trying to clear her passion-dazed mind enough to understand what was going on.

  The scene in the master bathroom made her stop abruptly in her tracks. Casey stood in the doorway, cursing angrily in a low voice. The large, new, beveled mirror that he had hung above the sink had fallen from the wall, smashing against the sink and countertop, raining shards of silvery glass everywhere in the bathroom.

  The toiletry items she’d left sitting on the counter beside the sink were scattered, some of them broken from the impact. One of the bottles had held an expensive perfume. Now the bathroom reeked of what should have been a subtle floral scent.

  “What on earth happened?” she asked, taking an instinctive step back from the overly aromatic mess.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked irritably. “The mirror I hung last week fell off the wall. I guess I didn’t use enough mastic or something. Whatever, I screwed it up.”

  She didn’t take offense at his tone, since she realized he was angry with himself, not her. “Everyone makes mistakes, Casey.”

  “Yeah. I just make more than my share.” Shaking his head in self-disgust, he said, “This is going to take a while to clean up. I’ll have to go out to the truck to get my gloves. Don’t go in, there’s glass everywhere. Slivers as sharp as razors.”

  She nodded. “I’ll get the broom and dustpan. And the large trash can to put the glass in.”

  “There’s no need for you to help clean. This is my fault.”

  “It would take you hours by yourself. I’ll help. I’ll get my gloves.”

  “No. This glass would go right through those leather gloves you wear. Mine are thicker. I’ll do the picking up. You can sweep, if you want, but you’d better put on thicker-soled shoes than those sneakers you’re wearing now.”

  He was wearing sneakers, too, but the soles on his were thicker than hers. Nodding, she moved to the bedroom closet to pull out a pair of boots while Casey went out for his gloves.

  He returned quickly, and was back in the bathroom doorway before she had gathered the cleaning supplies. His expression was grim when he looked over his shoulder at her. “You could have been standing there,” he said, motioning toward the sink. “You could have been badly hurt, if not—”

  “I wasn’t standing there,” she reminded him in a firmly calming voice. “There’s no need to waste energy with what-ifs. It was an accident, that’s all.”

  “It was incompetence,” he disputed flatly. “I never should have tried to install that mirror on my own. I thought it was a simple job and I didn’t realize—I’m no handyman, Natalie. I’m a—”

  “Buddy, no.” Natalie put a hand on the dog’s head as he tried to crowd past her to see what Casey was up to. “You’ll get glass in your feet in there. I’d better get him out of here before he gets hurt,” she added to Casey.

  Casey nodded and turned to start picking up the larger pieces of glass and dump them in the big plastic trash can she’d emptied and wheeled in for the job.

  She ushered the dog back into the other room, slipped him a little meat from the fridge to bribe him into staying behind and went back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

  The smell of the spilled perfume hit her as soon as she walked into the room. It must be giving Casey quite a headache, she thought.

  She had already decided she would be sleeping on the couch that night. Considering the aromas wafting from the bathroom, she would likely dream of being lost in a botanical garden if she slept in the bedroom.

  As for inviting Casey to stay with her…well, that moment had passed in a crash of glass and reality.

  It took them more than an hour to complete the cleanup. They actually finished fifteen minutes earlier than that, but Casey obsessed about making sure not the tiniest sliver of glass remained to assault her unexpectedly. Making her cringe, he ran his bare hand over nearly every surface in the now-sparkling bathroom, so that if there had been a shard hidden somewhere it would have lodged in his palm. Despite her repeated assurances that she didn’t blame him for the accident, he seemed to think he would deserve the pain if he did get punctured.

  Reassured that the bathroom was glass-free, if still powerfully fragrant, he gathered his things. He paused long enough to pet the dog and praise him for being a good boy while they’d worked, and then he moved toward the door.

  “I’ll order a new mirror at my expense first thing in the morning,” he assured Natalie. “And I want to repay you for anything that was broken in the crash. I’m sorry about the inconvenience.”

  She was getting tired of arguing with him. She merely nodded and opened the door for him, vowing to herself that she would just keep putting him off about the broken items until he forgot about them. She had no intention of taking his money for a few lost toiletries. She rarely wore perfume, anyway; the bottle had been a gift from Thad. Hardly a treasured memento.

  He hesitated on the doorstep, as if he felt as though there was something more he needed to say, or do. And then he gave her a wry smile and murmured, “Good night, Natalie.”

  “Good night.”

  She closed the door behind him.

  Turning to look at the dog sleeping by the fire, she sighed deeply. “Well, Buddy. Looks like it’s just you and me tonight.”

  A low snore was his only response.

  Shaking her head, she moved wearily toward the bedroom to retrieve a blanket and pillow. She wouldn’t bother pulling out the bed from the sofa. There was plenty of room as it was, considering she would be sleeping alone.

  It was almost eleven when Casey walked into his own cabin, his ego still stinging, his body still aching with frustration. He couldn’t even think about sleeping yet. He knew he would lie in bed hearing the sound of that mirror crashing from the wall and picturing Natalie standing in front of it when it did. He shuddered.What kind of hubris had made him think he could be a handyman with no training, no experience? Had he thought it was that easy compared
to being an attorney? Had he really been that arrogant, so oblivious that it hadn’t even occurred to him that a mistake on his part could cause more than simple property damage?

  He really needed to tell Natalie the truth about himself. He’d started to do so tonight, but they’d been interrupted by Buddy and then he’d gotten too busy cleaning up the broken glass. Or so he’d told himself.

  Maybe he would tell her tomorrow. It wasn’t like it was a big, dark secret. Without much interest, he glanced at the screen of his cell phone, noting that he’d missed calls that evening from his father, one of his aunts, his cousin Jason and his cousin Andrew. He’d silenced the ringer on his phone earlier. He hadn’t wanted his evening with Natalie interrupted by calls.

  It wasn’t quite ten o’clock back in Dallas, not too late to return any of the calls. He should at least call his dad, he thought, gazing morosely down at the screen. The thing was, he just wasn’t in the mood to talk. Everyone wanted to know when he’d be home, and he wasn’t yet ready to answer that question.

  He knew he needed to go back. The only thing holding him here was indecision.

  And Natalie.

  He knew he shouldn’t be thinking that way. Knew very well that she wasn’t looking for anything serious. He had tried not to let his emotions get involved with their…flirtation, for want of a better word. But he might as well admit it—he was falling hard for her.

  The thought of saying goodbye to her, maybe never seeing her again—well, he just wasn’t ready for that yet. Which meant he should probably start spending less time with her—but he didn’t think he could do that, either. It had been ridiculous how much he had missed her while he’d been at the amusement park with Molly and the kids.

  He could be headed for real trouble here, he thought with a frown. As if his life hadn’t been complicated enough already.

  Considering everything, Natalie slept fairly well on the couch. She woke a little sore from all the unaccustomed activity the day before, but she figured a hot shower would take care of that. She was relieved to discover that leaving the vent fan running all night had cured the master bath of the perfume overdose.Buddy had spent the night on the hearth rug, ignoring the bed she’d made for him in the laundry room. She let him out while she made her coffee, watching through the window as he ran around the yard, sniffing and scratching. He seemed to enjoy being outside, but just as she was ready to go take her shower, he was back at the glass door, scratching for entrance.

  He was certainly taking to the indoor life, she thought with a wry smile, moving to let him in.

  “You stay here,” she told him. “I’m going to get dressed. If the phone rings, take a message,” she added, laughing a little as she moved toward the bedroom. She laughed again when Buddy yipped as if in agreement.

  She took a hot, leisurely shower, dried her hair, applied a little makeup and then dressed in a soft red sweater and jeans. Ready for the day, she glanced at her watch. It was eight-thirty back in Nashville. That should be late enough on a weekday morning to make a business call, she decided, dialing Beecham’s number. If she got his voice mail again, she intended to leave a very pointed message for him.

  But Beecham answered in the same cheery, busy-sounding tone he always used with her. “Good morning, Ms. Lofton.”

  She didn’t bother with trivialities this time. “Have you looked into the source of Cathy Linski’s extra money? Have you found out anything new since the last time I talked to you?”

  “I’ve been following some rumors about Miss Linski,” he replied with a slightly condescending tone that set her teeth on edge. “She’s been running with a pretty plush crowd lately. Lots of money flowing with that bunch.”

  “So I’ve heard. So where is she getting her money?” Natalie demanded impatiently. “She’s not making that much at the firm. And as far as I know she hasn’t come into any inheritances. Have there been any new media leaks about clients during the past couple of weeks? Anything that could account for Cathy’s extra income?”

  “I’m following some pretty good leads,” he assured her.

  “You’ve told me that before.”

  “I know, but these are real promising. Tell you what would help, if I had a little extra cash to grease the wheels, so to speak. You know, people like this are motivated by money.”

  Natalie stared at her phone in disbelief for a moment before putting it back to her ear. “You’re asking me for more money?”

  “Just a little cash advance,” he assured her quickly. “Against the final payment.”

  “I’ve already paid you an advance. And I’ve gotten damn little in return for it,” she snapped.

  “Now, Ms. Lofton, I told you when you hired me that it could take a few weeks to get you all the proof you need. You told me it would be worth it, if it meant clearing your name.”

  “And it would be. But since I’m no closer to that now than I was when I hired you, I am not at all satisfied with your services.”

  “Just let me explain—”

  “I don’t want to hear any more explanations. I’ve done what you asked, Mr. Beecham. I’ve cleared out and left you to do your job, but I can’t see that you’ve accomplished anything I couldn’t do from here. I’m not giving you another cent until I see an itemized statement about what you’ve done on my behalf and a report about anything you’ve learned.”

  “Hey, we agreed—”

  “We agreed that you would do a job. I’m going to require evidence that you’ve done what you advertised.”

  “But I—”

  “I’ll expect a call from you when you have the report ready,” she said. “And I’ll expect it soon. Good day, Mr. Beecham.”

  Her hands weren’t quite steady when she snapped the phone closed. It was a combination of anger, frustration and fear. Fear that she’d made a terrible mistake hiring this man. That she’d have to invest even more in someone else who might not produce any results. That she would never be able to prove that the accusations against her had been both unfounded and unfair.

  Someone knocked on the back door, drawing her out of those unhappy thoughts. In the living room, Buddy barked, sounding excited. She knew just how he felt.

  As she’d expected, Casey stood on the deck, looking at her through the glass. He gave her a little smile, and she smiled back, relieved that he seemed to be over his chagrin from last night. It was a measure of how besotted she was that she didn’t at first notice Kyle standing beside him.

  By the time she opened the door, she had her emotions under control. She hoped. “Good morning, Casey. And Kyle. Nice to see you.”

  “Thanks. I understand you had a little excitement last night.”

  Her mind went immediately to the wrong place, making her cheeks warm a bit before she said, “The mirror, you mean? Yes, it certainly startled us.”

  “I’ve already ordered another,” Casey told her. “It should be here in a couple of days.”

  “I told him he didn’t have to pay for the replacement,” Kyle said with a shake of his head. “We’ve all made our share of mistakes, but he insisted on paying.”

  “Maybe the mirror was defective,” Natalie suggested. “After all, it stayed in place for several days after Casey mounted it. Then it just fell for no reason.”

  “I didn’t use enough glue,” Casey corrected her. “It finally just gave way. But thanks for offering the excuse.”

  She shrugged.

  “We’re going to be working on the roof today,” Kyle said, changing the subject. “We thought we should warn you before we get started. I hope our pounding doesn’t disturb you too much.”

  “Maybe I’ll drive into town and visit my aunt.”

  Kyle chuckled. “Good idea.”

  Kyle was gone by the time Natalie returned to the cabin that afternoon. She had deliberately stayed away a good portion of the day, having a long visit with her aunt and then spending some time shopping and browsing through some of the quaint shops in town.Seeing Casey’s truck st
ill parked in her driveway, she wondered if he was still working or if he was waiting for her to return. Maybe both.

  Her arms full of packages, she walked toward the cabin. Casey appeared from around the corner, having heard her arrive. Buddy followed at his heels, bounding ahead to welcome Natalie home.

  “Need some help?” Casey asked.

  Gratefully, she offered one of the bags she’d been juggling. He took that one and another, lightening her load considerably. “Did a little shopping, huh?”

  Though she thought it was obvious, she nodded. “A little.”

  “Did you have a nice visit with your aunt?”

  “I did, thank you. How did the roofing job go?”

  Following her into the cabin, he set the bags on the kitchen table. “Good. Kyle showed me how to fix shingles. I managed to hit my thumb with the hammer only once.”

  She winced when he showed her the bruised nail. “Ouch. That must have hurt.”

  “Let’s just say Buddy might have learned a few new words.”

  She smiled and looked down at the dog, who was already settling on his hearth rug. “How did he do today?”

  “Great. He just hung around the yard while we worked. Chased a couple of squirrels. Ate some kibble. Made friends with Kyle.”

  “You know, I think he’s already gaining weight.”

  Casey nodded. “I think you’re right. He’s certainly been eating well the last few days.”

  “I placed a ‘found dog’ ad in the local paper. I gave some general information about him, but I think anyone who calls should give us more specific details. You know, just to make sure they’re the real owners.”

  “Makes sense.”

  She shot him a look to see if he was making fun of her, but she couldn’t read his expression.

  Bustling around the kitchen, she put away the groceries she’d purchased. And then she opened another bag, looking at Casey from beneath her lashes as she pulled out a few things she’d picked up at the pet store.

  “You’ve been shopping for Buddy,” Casey commented, watching her.