Forever Buckhorn

by Lori Foster

  Bear grinned, but Elizabeth shook her head in exasperation.

  “Right after Sawyer is Morgan, the sheriff, who generally looks like he just crawled right off a cactus, but he’s as nice as they come as long as you stay on his good side.” He leaned close to whisper, “And folks in these parts definitely stay on his good side.”

  “Lovely.” Elizabeth tried to picture these two respectable men related to Gabe, who looked like a beach bum, but she couldn’t quite manage it.

  “Morgan up and married Honey’s sister, Misty, just a bit after Sawyer married. He smiles more these days—that is, when she doesn’t have him in a temper. She does seem to enjoy riling that boy.”

  It was a sure sign of Bear’s age that he’d call a man older than Gabe a boy.

  “Then there’s Jordan, the best damn vet Buckhorn County has to offer. He can sing to an animal, and damned if it won’t sing back! That man can charm a bird out of a tree or lull an ornery mule asleep. He’s still a bachelor.”

  Good grief. Elizabeth could do no more than blink. Doctor, sheriff, vet. It was certainly an impressive family. “What does Gabe do for a living?”

  Bear scratched beneath his chin, thinking, and then he looked away. “Thing is, Gabe’s the youngest, and he don’t yet know what it is he wants to do. Mostly he’s a handyman, sort of a jack-of-all-trades. That boy can do just about anything with his hands. He’s—”

  “He doesn’t have a job?” Elizabeth didn’t mean to sound so shocked, but Rosemary had told her Gabe was twenty-seven years old, and to Elizabeth’s mind, that was plenty old enough to have figured out your life’s ambition.

  “Well…”

  She shook her head, cutting off whatever lame excuses Bear was prepared to make. “I got the impression from a few things Rosemary said that he worked here.”

  A cold, wet hand clamped onto her shoulder, and Elizabeth jumped, then whirled to see Gabe, dripping lake water, standing right behind her. His grin wasn’t pleasant, and she wished that she hadn’t gotten engrossed in what Bear had to say, that she’d kept at least part of her attention on Gabe.

  She looked around him, but his newest female companion was nowhere to be found. Which, she supposed, accounted for his presence. Surely if any other woman was available he’d still be ignoring her.

  Gabe nodded to Bear, more or less dismissing him, then pulled Elizabeth around and started walking a few feet away. In a voice that only barely bordered on cordial, he said, “Well, Miss Nosy, I do work here, but I’m not employed here. There’s a definite difference. And from now on, I’d appreciate it if you kept your questions to yourself. I don’t much like people prying into my personal life, especially when I already told ’em not to.”

  Elizabeth gulped. No amount of forced pleasantness could mask his irritation. She tried to inch away from his hot, controlling grasp, but he wasn’t letting go. So she simply stopped.

  Gabe turned to face her. They were once again standing in the bright sun, on a gravel drive that declined down the slight hill, used to launch boats into the lake. The glare off the white gravel was blinding. She had to shield her eyes with one hand while balancing her notepad, pen and purse with the other. Looking directly at him both flustered and annoyed her. He was an incredibly…potent male, no denying that. Standing there in nothing more than wet, worn, faded cutoffs—and those hanging entirely too low on his lean hips—he was a devastatingly masculine sight. A sparse covering of light brown hair, damp from his swim, laid over solid muscles in his chest and down his abdomen, then swirled around his navel. He was deeply tanned, his legs long, his big feet bare. He seemed impervious to the sharp gravel and the hot sun. And as she watched, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “You be sure and let me know when you’re done looking so I can finish telling you what I think of your prying ways.”

  The heat that washed over her face had nothing to do with the summer sun and everything to do with humiliation.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that you don’t look like the other men.”

  He sighed dramatically. “I take it we’re talking about the other supposed heroes?”

  “Yes.”

  “And how did they look?”

  Elizabeth hesitated, wondering how to explain it. She couldn’t just say they had all been fully dressed, because thinking it made her blush more. At the moment, Gabe Kasper looked more naked than not, and even the jean shorts didn’t help, considering they were soaked and clinging to his hard thighs, to his… Don’t go there.

  She cleared her throat. “They were all more…serious. They have careers they take great pride in, and they enjoyed telling their stories.”

  “But I told you, I don’t have a story to tell.”

  “Your friends disagree.”

  His arms dropped and he scowled at her. Strangely, Elizabeth noticed he was watching her mouth instead of looking into her eyes. It made it easier for her because staring directly at him kept her edgy for some reason. There was so much expression in his eyes, as if he wasn’t just looking at her, but really seeing her. It was an unusual experience for her.

  But with him looking at her mouth, she felt nervous in a different way, and without thinking, she licked her lips. His gaze shot to hers, and he stared, eyes narrowed, for two heartbeats while she held her breath and felt faint for some stupid reason. She gulped air and fanned her burning face.

  Relaxing slightly, he shook his head, then said, “Look, Lizzy—”

  “Don’t call me that. My name is Elizabeth.”

  “And as long you’re disregarding my wishes, I think I’ll just disregard yours. Besides, Lizzy sorta suits you. It sounds like the proper name for a red-haired girl.”

  Elizabeth wanted to smack him. But since he’d come right out and all but admitted he wanted to annoy her, she decided to deny him the satisfaction. When she remained silent, he smiled, then continued. “This is all foolishness. Now I’m asking you nicely to let it drop.”

  “I can’t. I’ve decided you’ll make a really good contrast to the other men in my study. See, you’re very different, and I can’t, in good conscience, leave out such an important factor in my study. In order for the study to be accurate, I need to take data from every angle—”

  He raised a hand, looking annoyed enough for his head to explode. “Enough of that already. This is your summer break, right?”

  She watched him cautiously. “Yes.”

  “So why work so damn hard on summer break? Why not just cut loose a little and have some fun before going back to school?” He looked her over again and judging by the tightness of his mouth and the expression in his eyes, obviously found her lacking. “You’re so prissed up, you have to be sweltering. No one puts on that many clothes in this heat.”

  Her shoulders were so stiff they hurt, and her stomach was churning. How dare he attack her on such a personal level? “Obviously someone does. I consider my dress totally appropriate.”

  “Appropriate to what?”

  “To interviewing a hero.”

  His head dropped forward and he groaned. “You are the most stubbornest damn woman….”

  “Me? You’re the one who refuses to answer a few simple questions.”

  Their voices had risen and Gabe, with a heartfelt sigh, took her arm again and started farther up the gravel drive.

  “Where are we going?” She had a vague image of him dragging her off and wringing her neck. Even a hero could only be pushed so far, and with the way everyone worshiped him, she didn’t think she’d get much help.

  “We’re drawing attention and it isn’t the kind of attention I like.”

  With a sneer she couldn’t quite repress, she asked, “You mean it isn’t purely female?”

  Glancing her way, he grinned. “That’s right.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake!”

  “Here we go. Have a seat.”

  Luckily, this time it wasn’t a root he wanted to perch her on. The rough wooden picnic table was located beneath a tree—not
an elm—and though it was partially covered with dried leaves, acorns and twigs, it was at least shaded.

  Elizabeth had barely gotten herself settled before Gabe blurted, “Okay, what is it going to take to get you to back off?”

  He wanted to bargain with her? Surprised, but also hopeful because she really did want to add his story to the others—he was proving to be the exception that broke the hero mold she’d mentally formed—Elizabeth carefully considered her answer. Finally, she said, “If you’d just answer five questions…”

  “I’ll answer one. But it’ll cost you.”

  Her relief died a short death. “How much? I have a job, but it’s barely enough to pay my tuition so I couldn’t offer you anything significant—”

  He looked so totally and utterly appalled, she knew she’d misunderstood. His expression said so, but in case she hadn’t caught on, he leaned close, caging her in with one arm on the picnic table, the other on her shoulder, and said through his teeth, “You actually think I’d take money from you?”

  Elizabeth tried leaning back, but she didn’t have much room to maneuver, not without toppling over. “You…you said you don’t have a job.”

  “Wrong.” He looked ready to do that neck wringing she’d worried about. “I said I’m not employed here. For your information, Red, I more than pay my own way. Not that my financial situation is any business of yours.”

  “But…” It was one of the questions in her survey, though luckily this time she had the good sense to forfeit it. “Of course not. I didn’t mean to suggest—”

  “If you want me to answer a question, you’ll have to loosen up. And before you start widening those big blue eyes at me again, I’m not suggestin’ an illicit affair.”

  Her heart almost stopped, but for the life of her she wasn’t entirely sure if it was relief or disappointment she felt. No one had ever offered her an illicit affair, and the idea held a certain amount of appeal. Not that she’d ever accept, of course, but still… “What, exactly, are you suggesting?”

  “A swim. In the lake. Me and you.”

  The big green murky lake behind her? The lake he’d pulled that enormous fish out of—then thrown it back so it was still in there? The lake where any number of things could be living? Never mind that she didn’t even own a bathing suit, the thought of getting into that lake positively terrified her. Hoping against hope, she said, “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s easy, Lizzy. I want you here tomorrow, same time, wearing a swimsuit instead of all that armor. And I want you to relax with me, to take a nice leisurely swim. Maybe if you loosen up a bit, I won’t even mind so much answering a question for you.”

  To make certain she understood before she agreed to anything, she asked, “And in exchange, you’ll answer my questions?”

  “No, I’ll answer one question. Just one. Any question you like. You can even make notes in that damn little book of yours.” He eyed her mouth again, then shook his head. “And who knows, if all goes well, maybe we can work out another deal.”

  “For another question?”

  He shrugged, looking reluctant but strangely resigned.

  Elizabeth had the sneaking suspicion he was trying to bluff her, to force her to back out. But she was fascinated. Such unusual behavior for a hero! She could almost imagine the response she’d get from this thesis—if anyone even believed it. But there had to be some redeeming information there, something that would make her research all that more complete, valuable and applicable.

  In the end, there was really only one decision she could make. She held out her hand, and after a moment, Gabe took it.

  His hand was so large, so tanned. And he felt hot. She gulped, shored up her courage, and with a smile that almost hurt, she said, “Deal.”

  HE COULDN’T BELIEVE he was running late.

  If anything, he’d planned to be on the dock, sunning himself, a man without a care, when she arrived. Truth was, he felt strangely anxious. He grinned at the novelty of it.

  “You’ve been doing a lot of that this morning.”

  Gabe turned to his brother Sawyer. “What?”

  “Smiling like a fool.”

  “Maybe I have good reason.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “None of your business.” Gabe, still grinning, finished running caulk around the windowpane then wiped his hands on a small towel. “That should do you, Sawyer. From now on, don’t let kids play baseball in your office, hear?”

  Honey hustled up to his side with a tall glass of iced tea. Bless her, he did like all the doting she felt compelled to do. Having a sister-in-law was a right nice thing. “Thanks, Honey.”

  “What are you so happy about, Gabe?”

  Uh oh. He glanced at Sawyer, saw his smirk and concentrated on drinking his tea. Sawyer knew without a doubt that he wouldn’t even consider telling Honey to mind her own business. By virtue of being female, she was due all the respect his brothers didn’t warrant. He just naturally tempered himself around women—well, all but Red. She seemed to bring out the oddest reactions from him. Damned if he wasn’t looking forward to seeing her again.

  What would she look like in a bikini?

  “There he goes, grinning again.”

  “Actually,” Gabe said, ignoring his brother, “I was just thinking of a woman.” That was true enough, and not at all uncommon. In fact, Honey gave him a fond look of indulgence, patted his shoulder, then went to her husband’s side. Sawyer sure was a lucky cuss. Honey was a sexy little woman—not that he thought of her that way, her being in the family and all. But he wasn’t blind. She was a real looker, and best of all, she loved his brother to distraction.

  Sawyer gave a grievous sigh. “He’s in lust again. Just look at him.”

  That drew Gabe up short. Lust? Hell, no, he didn’t feel lust for Little Red. Amusement maybe, because she was unaccountably funny with her freckles and her red corkscrew curls that hung all the way down to her fanny.

  And frustration, because she simply had no idea how to accept no for an answer and she trussed herself up in those schoolmarm clothes, to the point a guy couldn’t even tell what he was seeing.

  Maybe even annoyance, because her stubbornness rivaled his brother Morgan’s, and that was saying a mouthful. But not lust.

  He grunted, earning an odd look from Sawyer.

  His invitation for a swim was simply his way of keeping the upper hand. And thinking that, he said to Sawyer, “If a funny little red-haired woman tries to talk to you about me, don’t tell her a damn thing, okay?”

  Sawyer and Honey blinked at him in confusion, but he didn’t bother to explain. He hurried off. Knowing Red, if he was too late, she’d give up on him and go home. She wasn’t the type of woman who’d wait around, letting a guy think she’d be happy to see him when he did show up. No, Red would probably get her back all stiff and go off asking questions of every available body in the area.

  And he really didn’t want anyone filling her head with that nonsense about heroes. Best that he talked to her himself. And that was another reason he’d engineered the date. No, take that back. Not a date. An appointment. Yeah, that sounded better. He’d arranged an appointment so that at least she’d get her stupid story straight.

  Hell, he had plenty of reasons for seeing her again, and none of them were about lust.

  He did wonder what she’d look like in a bikini, though.

  SHE WAS STILL in full armor.

  Gabe frowned as he climbed out of his car and started down the hill. Judging by the color of that long braid hanging almost to the dock, the woman with her back to him was one Miss Elizabeth Parks. And she wasn’t wearing a bikini. He consoled himself with the fact that at least she was waiting for him. There was a certain amount of masculine satisfaction in that.

  The second he stepped on the dock, she turned her head. He noticed then that she was sitting cross-legged instead of dangling her feet in the water. She had her shoes and frilly little white socks on. Socks in th
is heat? He stopped and frowned at her. “Where’s your swimsuit?”

  She frowned right back. “I have it on under my dress. Surely you didn’t think I’d drive here in it? And you’re late.”

  She turned away and with her elbows on her knees, propped her chin on a fist and stared at the lake.

  Gabe surveyed her stiff back and slowly approached. He wasn’t quite sure what to expect of her, so he said carefully, “I’m glad you waited.”

  With a snort, she answered, “You made it a part of the deal. If I want to ask you one measly question, I had to be here.” She waved a dismissive hand. “I figured you’d show up sooner or later.”

  Not exactly the response he’d hoped for. In fact, she’d taken all the fun out of finding her still here. “Well, skin out of those clothes then, so we can get in. It’s hot enough to send a lizard running for shade. That water’s going to feel good.”

  She didn’t look at all convinced. Peering at him with one eye scrunched against the sunshine and her small pointed nose wrinkled, she said, “The thing is, I’m not at all keen on doing that.”

  “What?”

  “The swimsuit thing. I’ve never had much reason to swim, and this boat dock is pretty crowded….”

  “You want privacy?” Now why did that idea intrigue him? But it was a good idea, not because he’d be alone with her. No, that had nothing to do with it. But that way, if she asked her dumb hero question, no one else would be around to contradict him.

  He liked that idea. “We can take a fishing boat back to a cove. No one’s there, at least, not close. There might be a few fishermen trolling by, or the occasional skier, but they won’t get near enough to shore to look you over too good.” He gave her a crooked grin. “Your modesty will be preserved.” Except from me.

  Her face colored. “It’s not that I think I’d draw much attention, you understand. It’s just not something I’m used to.”