He made a noise that was part growl, part groan and all need. But then he paused. “Can I get you anything before I join you? Water? A snack?”
And that, in a nutshell, was why she was in Oliver’s bed. “Just you.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. He flung his clothing off and was between the sheets within moments. When he pulled her against his chest and pressed a kiss to her forehead that would’ve been tender if there hadn’t been so much heat packed into it, Renee sighed with pleasure. As soon as she settled in his arms, though, her eyes began to drift closed. It had been a very long day...
When Oliver spoke, she startled back awake. “I have to go to work tomorrow and Friday,” he said apologetically. “I’ve put this meeting off twice and there’s no avoiding it. By Sunday we should know if anyone has connected you to Red Oak Hill. If not, I’d like to take you out. We’ve got museums or movies or the theater or—”
“Gosh, like a real city?” she couldn’t help quipping. She ruined the sarcasm by yawning, however.
“Smart-ass.” But as he said it, he began to stroke her hair. “There’s a pretty park with a pond and ducks about a block away—we can just take a walk. Although I wouldn’t recommend that at high noon, unless you enjoy sweating. Whatever you want—I’m yours for the weekend.”
“I’ll think about it.” She was too damned tired to make any sort of decision right now. It was probably for the best that Oliver was going to work tomorrow. Today had been wild on about six different levels and she needed to recover.
But...there was something she wanted to do before Saturday. “Would it be all right if I called Chloe tomorrow?” So much had happened in the last week—which was saying something, because a lot had happened in the last five months. If she vented to Oliver, she knew he’d listen—but she also knew that he’d try to solve the problem. And she didn’t want to be his problem.
She really needed a girlfriend, which meant Chloe. Frankly, there wasn’t anyone else.
She felt the tension ripple through Oliver but as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. “I don’t see why not. I’m sure if you explain the situation, she’ll keep your whereabouts quiet. And she’s launching a new clothing line, so she might be able to help with the clothes.”
She smiled against his skin. Even when he wasn’t solving the problem, he was still solving the problem. Men. This man.
Mine, her brain whispered as she yawned again. She was his and he was hers...wasn’t he?
“I’ll call her. But I won’t tell her about us,” she murmured against his chest. She wished Chloe were here, although...if she were, there would be no hiding the fact that Renee and Oliver were sleeping together. Or they were going to, shortly. Very shortly.
As she drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard him whisper, “I doubt that’ll make much of a difference.”
* * *
“You’re where?” Chloe Lawrence squealed in Renee’s ear.
“At Oliver’s condo.” Renee thought it best to leave out any mention of Oliver’s ranch house. “It’s a really long story, but I needed a place to lie low and you’re... Where are you?”
“Omaha.” Then Chloe’s voice got muffled and Renee got the feeling she was giving instructions to someone. “Sorry. Oliver has given me a lot more control over the rodeo—which is great. But it’s a lot of responsibility and combined with the Princess clothing launch...”
Renee exhaled in relief. “Which was exactly why I didn’t try to track you down. I figured I would just hang out here until you came to Dallas and then we could catch up.”
There was a long pause. “I told you not to marry that asshole.”
“You were the only one,” Renee said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice and failing. It wasn’t Chloe’s fault she’d been right—or that Renee hadn’t listened. She deserved that I told you so. And probably a few others.
“Oliver would’ve told you not to marry him, too,” Chloe said, because even as a kid, she’d never been able to let anything go.
Because this was a telephone call and not a video call, Renee rolled her eyes. “Tell me about the clothing line.” Nothing like a change of subject to dance around the Oliver issue. “Couture or cowgirl?”
“Cowgirl,” Chloe said so firmly that Renee had to wonder if she was insulted by the couture suggestion. “Why?”
So Renee laid it all out as quickly as she could. It was odd that Chloe was more up-to-date on the situation than Oliver had been. But she knew of Chet Willoughby’s suicide—she’d sent flowers. She knew about the pyramid scheme and had sent emails—not a lot, but some—offering Renee support and help if she needed it.
What she didn’t know was how the prosecutors had seized anything that was even remotely close to an asset.
“So all of the designer clothes are gone and even if I still had them, they wouldn’t fit. I’m pregnant. I only brought two bras with me and neither works anymore.” The words your brother doesn’t seem to mind danced right up to the tip of Renee’s tongue, but she bit down on them before they could escape. “Nothing’s going to fit in a few weeks and I might be here longer than that.”
“Man, I long for the days when I can wear nothing but yoga pants,” Chloe said with a sigh. “But I understand the problem. I bet it’s driving Oliver nuts that you’re not in a suit or something. I hope he’s not being a total butthead.”
“He’s...fine.” Which was not a lie. He certainly wasn’t being a butthead. But that left a lot of room around what fine meant. “It’s not like anyone will see me in his condo.”
“Wait—why did he take you to the condo? Why didn’t he take you to the ranch?”
Renee bit her lip. “He did. But I decided I wanted to bake cookies and there was...an incident. The fire department showed up.”
“Did you burn Red Oak Hill down?” Chloe asked in a panic. “He loves that place! And those stupid swans!”
“No, no.” Although just thinking about it—again—made her stomach flip. “It was only some cookies. The swans are fine. It was just smoke.”
Unexpectedly, Chloe began to laugh. “Was Oliver mad? He’s such a stick-in-the-mud.”
That was the thing Renee kept coming back to—he had been upset. But he hadn’t taken it out on her. Instead, he’d treated it more like she’d pulled off a successful, funny prank and he was impressed. She told Chloe the whole story.
Chloe hooted with laughter. “I would’ve paid good money to see that. I knew he was hiding something! If he’d told me you were there, I would’ve tried to get there, even if only for the day.”
“Yeah? I’ll admit, it’d be great to see you.” Of course, Chloe was too smart by half. She’d take one look at Renee and know for sure that she was sleeping with Oliver. “But Oliver’s taking care of me. So you don’t have to worry.”
Chloe made a humming noise and Renee realized she might have overplayed her hand. But then Chloe said, “Hey, the rodeo is coming to Dallas—well, Fort Worth, which is practically the same thing—in three weeks. I’ll be in town for at least five days—longer if I can swing it. You, my friend, are going to spend a few days with me and we are going to catch up. I’m going to take you to the rodeo,” Chloe said in a tone of voice that made it clear this was nonnegotiable. “A pitcher of sangria, unhealthy snacks and—”
“I’m pregnant.” As if anyone could forget that small detail.
“I don’t mind. That’s more sangria for me.” She was quiet for a moment. “Renee, are you sure you’re doing okay? I know Oliver can be grumpy. And rude. And bossy. And—”
“It’s fine,” Renee interrupted. True, Oliver could be all of those things. But far more often, he was encouraging and kind. When he teased her, she could tease right back and feel safe that, instead of telling her she was wrong, he’d laugh with her instead. “And are you sure going to a rodeo is the best idea? I’m supposed t
o be lying low.”
“It’ll be fine! I’ll send you some Princess clothes to tide you over but when we’re at my place, we’ll try everything on. We’ll get you a fab hat and I’ll tell Oliver to keep an eye on you.” She sighed heavily. “As long as we keep you away from Flash, it’ll be fine.”
“Well...” She remembered Flash being an extremely irritating little brother. There had been lizards involved. But maybe he’d changed. After all, she wasn’t the same little sister she’d been back then, either. “I’d actually love to go to one. I’ve never seen the Princess of the Rodeo in all her glory.” Chloe snorted. “But only if Oliver agrees...” She was pretty sure he wouldn’t.
“Oh, he will,” Chloe said, sounding way too pleased with herself. “It’s his damned rodeo, too. He doesn’t appreciate how awesome it is. If we’re lucky, Flash will get stepped on by a bull. But,” she went on, apparently cheered by that thought, “in the meantime, try not to kill him. I know he’s uptight but it’s just because he never has fun.”
“He doesn’t?” The man who owned a pair of swans named after the Flintstones seemed like he had maybe a little fun at least some of the time.
“He wouldn’t know fun if it bit him on the butt.”
Renee smiled at the memory of Oliver jumping when the swans took offense to his invasion of their pond.
Chloe went on, “I worry about the butthead. All he does is work and micromanage. He argues with Dad constantly about the business. He orders me to keep Flash out of trouble—as if anyone could keep Flash out of trouble,” she added under her breath. “And all he does with Flash is fight. Promise me you won’t let him boss you around.”
Renee let that thought roll around her head. If she hadn’t spent the last few days with Oliver, she would’ve agreed with Chloe’s assessment. Because that’s who Oliver had been, at least in her memory.
Frankly, that was who he’d been at her brother’s wedding and that’d been five years ago. Because she’d tried. She’d struck up a conversation with him and she would’ve asked him to dance, if she’d got to before he’d had so much to drink. Oliver hadn’t tried to boss her around, but he had been the textbook definition of grumpy.
“He’s been great,” she finally said, hoping that wasn’t giving too much away. “Really, I don’t want you to worry about us. I’m more concerned about what to wear to your rodeo.”
There was a moment when she didn’t think Chloe was going to go for that subject change. But then she said, “What size are you?” And they fell into the familiar habit of discussing clothes and sizing.
“I’ll send some samples out for you,” Chloe said. “It’s not what you’d normally wear, but you’ll blend in. And they’re samples. You can’t pay me for them,” she added.
Because Chloe was a real friend, bless her heart. It shouldn’t feel different, accepting this gift instead of one from Oliver. But it did. “Thanks, Chloe. I can’t wait to see you in a few weeks.”
“If Oliver gives you any trouble, call me immediately.”
Renee almost defended Oliver again, but she decided that would only make Chloe more suspicious so instead she said, “I will. Promise.”
She sat there for a moment after the call ended. Chloe’s clothing line didn’t make maternity clothing, but she was going to send things a size or two up, which would give Renee a couple of more months to figure out how she was going to afford everything else she needed. Which meant the only thing she needed to buy on her own was underwear, and she could afford a bra and a few pairs of panties.
She began to browse on her phone. But instead of basic white or nude underthings, she found herself looking at pretty bra and pantie sets. Because Oliver wanted to take her out and show her the town. But more than that, because she wanted to feel pretty. Leggings were great but they weren’t doing much for her ability to look in a mirror and feel good about what she saw. She wanted to be tempting, damn it. And she had about two hundred dollars left in her bank account from the money the feds had allotted her to travel with. New panties it was.
She still heard her mother’s voice, dripping with icy menace as she complained about Renee getting fat. But at least now, she also had the memory of Oliver telling her how gorgeous she was and how he couldn’t keep his hands off her.
She had to choose who to believe. And her mother had never loved her.
Not that Oliver loved her. Of course not. He liked her and he worried about her and that...that was enough.
This whole situation was still a mess. Just like her life. But she couldn’t stop thinking about what Chloe had said—Oliver never had any fun. That picture of him didn’t mesh with him laughing and naked in the mud, or of him insisting that he show her the town.
It was high time they both started having more fun.
Eleven
“Are you sleeping with her?”
It took a lot of work to make sure Oliver’s face didn’t react to this bald statement. Obviously, Renee had talked to Chloe. He’d known there was no way Chloe wouldn’t put two and two together. But he hadn’t quite expected her to scream it in his ear. “One moment.” He turned to Herb Ritter, praying the older man hadn’t been able to make out Chloe’s screech. “Thanks again for coming by. I’m sorry our meeting had to be pushed back.”
The older man did something Oliver never would’ve seen coming in million years—he winked. “I hope she was worth it,” Herb said in his gravelly voice. “But try not to let it happen again.”
Oliver came this close to asking Herb to keep the revelation that a woman was involved to himself, but he managed to hold on to his tongue. At this point, he was neither confirming nor denying anything involving Renee to anyone.
Including his own sister. He waited until the door had closed behind Herb before he turned his attention back to his sister, who was humming the Jeopardy! theme song on the other end of the line. “Can I help you with something?”
“You are! You’re sleeping with Renee! I knew it.”
Was there anything worse than a little sister gloating? If so, Oliver couldn’t think of what that might be. But he had all the plausible deniability in the world when Renee was the subject. “What are you talking about?” Maybe he’d missed his calling in the theater.
“She told me you were being nice to her and frankly, you’re not nice to anyone. Especially not her. So clearly you and Renee have hooked up.”
He knew better than to fall for the trick of making a blanket denial. Chloe had missed her calling as a lawyer. Instead, he focused on the first part of the accusation. “I am perfectly capable of being polite, as is Renee. We both grew up and are no longer whiny children. Unlike some people I know,” he said, hoping that Chloe would take the bait.
She didn’t. “Do you have any idea how big of a mess she’s in? And you creeping up on her isn’t helping anything! You should keep your damn hands off her! Just because she’s vulnerable and needy doesn’t give you the right—”
“Stop right there,” Oliver growled and, to Chloe’s credit, she did. “First off, I am not taking advantage of anyone. Second off, I know exactly how big of a mess she’s—I spoke with Clint, the ass, over the phone.”
“Really? Whoa.”
He ignored her. “Third off, whatever happens between consenting adults is absolutely no business of yours—”
“I knew it,” Chloe muttered under her breath.
“And fourth off,” he ground out through gritted teeth, “she is not vulnerable and needy. She is not a helpless damsel in distress or a lost child and it’s insulting her to imply she is. She’s a woman in a difficult situation doing the best she can to get her life back on track for her and her child and all I’m doing is giving her the space to decide what she wants to do and helping her accomplish those goals, whether it’s attempting a cookie recipe or shielding her from the press. And furthermore,” he went on, because he was on a roll
and Chloe wasn’t interrupting him and that was a rare thing, “I am not creeping on anyone. Really, Chloe? You know damn good and well that Mom loved Renee like she was one of the family and all I’m doing for her is what I’d do for you or Flash.”
Except for the part where he stripped her down and lost himself in her body. But again—he was neither confirming nor denying that.
“Because that’s what Mom would want and expect out of me—out of all of us. So don’t insult me or Renee, sis, because she’s had quite enough unfounded accusations and rumors to last her the rest of her life. Are we clear?”
There was a stunned moment of silence. Oliver wasn’t sure if the stunned part was coming from him or from Chloe.
Because he might have just lost his temper. There may have been shouting involved—he wasn’t sure. Hopefully, Herb had got out of earshot.
“Is Renee why you gave me the negotiations?” All of her righteous anger was gone.
Yes. But he kept that to himself. “The rodeo is yours, you know that. Just because Dad doesn’t appreciate all the work you do to make it profitable doesn’t mean I don’t.”
“Did you just compliment me?” Chloe let out a low whistle. “You did! Jesus, she’s good for you. And before you yell at me again, I’m not insulting either of you.”
He growled.
“There’s the brother I know and love. Listen, I invited Renee to stay with me when I’m in town and I’m taking her to the rodeo.”
“That is not a good idea.” But even as he said it—all right, even as he growled it—he knew he was being ridiculous. Hadn’t he offered to take her to museums and theaters and whatever she wanted? A rodeo wasn’t that different, was it?
Then again, it was the rodeo. Ugh.
“Keep your pants on. I’m sending her a bunch of clothes and we’ll find a hat. I could give her big hair. Ooh! We’ll try new eye makeup. Trust me, when I’m done with her, no one will recognize her.”
He would. He’d recognize her in a crowd in the middle of the night.
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