The boy spared him a glance and nodded.
Linc put on his best imitation of a desperate lawyer pleading for his client before the judge who agreed not to send Ethan to Juvenile Detention. Then he groveled like a pig in mud before Mr. Lockwood cottoned to the idea of Ethan coming back to the shelter but only for forty eight hours until another solution could be found. Linc didn’t know what he could do for the boy that would make a real difference in his life but he knew he had to try.
***
Kinley stood in the llama paddock with a hose and refilled the two kiddie wading pools with water. The heat was unrelenting despite the brief shower earlier and she’d been schooled by Lilly on the importance of the llamas staying cool. Before the pool was full, Smiley ambled over with his silly grin and stepped into the pool. He lay down, pushed his muzzle under the water, lifted his head and snorted. Kinley laughed. He gave her another silly grin and hummed in contentment. Sunlight sparkled off the water and a design of colorful sea horses encircled the sides of the pool.
After the pools were filled, she decided to tackle the loose boards on the barn roof. With the old tool belt she’d found in the barn fastened around her hips, Kinley climbed the ladder she’d leaned against the side of the barn then shinnied up onto the roof. Once she reached the roof’s peak, she pushed the brim of her hat back and gazed at the spectacular view of the river and pasture grasses green and vibrant from the abundant rain that fell in the Piney Woods region of Texas. Her gaze followed the river until it flowed onto Linc’s ranch and the spot where he’d caught her skinny dipping. His ranch was quite a spread. Cattle grazed in lush pastures. There were two large barns, a huge silo and a house which was more of a mansion that sprawled complete with a swimming pool and well-kept grounds. He wasn’t hurting for money that’s for sure. She turned to get to work when she heard Linc’s angry, male voice.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Linc stood with his hands propped on his hips, irritation etching his handsome features and his blue gaze boring into hers. “I’m fixing the roof.”
“Why? You could have fallen, been seriously hurt and no one around to help you.”
“I’m fixing the roof. Part of my obligation, remember?”
“I didn’t mean for you to actually climb on the roof. You can hire someone to do it.”
Kinley thought about the view of his ranch and the huge house he lived in. “I don’t have the money to hire someone besides this is fun. A new experience. I’ve never fixed a roof before.”
He huffed a breath. “Well, I have the money. I can send a couple of hands over to do it or I can do it myself.”
Kinley dug some nails and the hammer out of the tool belt dangling around her waist. “No need. I can handle this. How hard can it be?” She eased herself to the barn’s roof beside a warped shingle and removed the bent nails with the claw end of the hammer. She held up the old shingle. “See. Easy peasy.”
She tossed the old shingle to the ground and reached for a new one.
And slipped.
“Hold on,” Linc called.
Kinley kept sliding until her hands caught on the roof’s edge but at the same time the hem of her t-shirt snagged on the gutter. Between gravity and the pull of her body her shirt scrunched to her arm pits. Her jeans hung well below her hips now and the crotch of her red thong panties, the one’s with the tiny red devils printed on them were showing. Suddenly, the whole situation struck her as enormously funny and she started to laugh.
She glanced at Linc and watched him shift the ladder closer to her. He climbed up and in a moment his large hands closed around her bare waist like a ring of sensual fire. His fingers felt strong and sure, his callused palms the mark of a man who wasn’t afraid of hard work. He smelled of fresh air, hay and man and his touch sent shivers of awareness over her skin and into private, secret places in her body but she couldn’t stop laughing. Linc moved up another rung on the ladder until he stood directly behind her. “What’s so funny?”
“My shirt is up to my pits and I nearly had my jeans pulled off,” she said around a spate of giggles.
His fingers caressed the tops of her bare buttocks then she felt him give her jeans a yank until they settled once again around her waist. He leaned in close, his breath blew over her neck and ear, his rock hard chest pressed against her back and set her blood to racing. One large, male hand unsnagged her shirt from where it was caught and roughly smoothed it down over her back.
“You steady now?” he asked.
Not by a long shot. “Yes, I’m fine.”
Together they descended the ladder until they reached the bottom. With Linc standing so close she could see tiny gold flecks in his eyes and a dark blue outline encircling the iris. There was something else in his eyes.
Male interest.
And she had the female interest to answer back. He started to move away and on impulse she grabbed the front of his shirt, stood on tip-toe and kissed him full on the lips. They were firm and warm and made her own tingle. “Thank you.”
He cleared his throat, stepped back and nearly stumbled.
“What’s the matter? Never have a woman give you a thank you kiss before? I’ll have to do it again soon. Got to see that look on your face again.”
Chapter Three
Linc sucked in a lung full of air like a dying man gasping for breath. Having Kinley plant one on him was the last thing he expected. Her lips had been pillow soft, pink and nectar sweet with a hint of cinnamon. He’d never tasted anything like them.
How the hell could a woman taste that good?
She must have been eating something with cinnamon but somehow he knew the taste wasn’t man made. Her special taste was all natural woman. He wanted to go back for more, but he had to get his head fixed straight on his shoulders and his feet flat on the ground.
The woman was trouble with a capital T.
A little frown appeared between her brows. “It was just a kiss, Linc. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” The frown disappeared. “Actually I’m not because you need to loosen up.” She stepped around him and he had to fight against the urge to pull her into his arms.
“I checked out the other unoccupied trailers and some of them are in pretty bad shape. One needs to be completely gutted. I’ve written up a list of everything I can see that needs to be done. If you’ve got a minute maybe we could sit down and talk about it.”
He followed her into Maddie’s trailer. Every inch of wall space was covered with some kind of picture or doo-dad. They sat down at the breakfast table. The cool air felt good. Kinley must have turned on the AC.
“Would you like an iced tea? I stocked the fridge last night.”
“I’ll take some water if you’ve got it.”
She got two bottles of water, handed him one and sat next to him at the table. “Aunt Maddie had two thousand dollars and some change in her savings account and a hundred and fifty dollars in her checking account. Unless she stuffed her mattress with cash I don’t see how I can keep the place going. She has no tenants left and none beating a path here desperately wanting a place to live. I have my winnings from the rodeo, but I was hoping to hang on to as much of that cash as possible. I’ll need some help. Lilly and I can do a lot but a couple of strong backs would really be great. You mentioned you might be able to spare a couple of hands from your ranch. I can’t afford to pay them except with a few hot meals. Do you think they might be interested?”
He saw her lips moving and heard the words coming out but all he could think about was how those lips felt on his.
“You aren’t still worried about that kiss, are you?”
Linc snapped out of his libidinous thoughts and looked at her. He felt a blush moving over his neck and couldn’t stop it.
Suddenly, she leaned over and planted another kiss on his mouth. Startled, he jerked back. She grinned in satisfaction as he felt the blush burn hotter. “What did you do that for?”
“I couldn’t resist. I wante
d to see if your blush would go deeper if I kissed you again. It did.”
“Do you follow through on every impulse you have?”
“Yeah. Life is too short and you’ve got to make the most of it.”
“I agree about life being short but that doesn’t mean I act on every thought that pops into my head.”
“Maybe you should try it sometime.”
Without answering, Linc stood and paced over to the kitchen sink. “I’m a former judge. I have to weigh all sides. Impulses aren’t part of my vocabulary.”
“That’s too bad. It would do you a world of good to lighten up and have a little fun sometime.”
He felt like she’d slapped him. “Hey, I have fun.”
“Really? How? When?”
“I’m not here to talk about having fun. I’m here to help you figure out how to get this place back on its feet.”
“Did you have any fun today?” she asked not letting the subject drop.
He huffed a breath. “No, I sent a kid back to the shelter he’s been living in rather than juvenile detention.”
“At least he’s not in detention.”
“Yeah, but that decision isn’t going to really help him. It just puts him back into the same situation and he will probably get into trouble again which means he’ll probably end up in detention anyway until he turns twenty-one.”
She propped her chin on her loose fist. “How old is this kid?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the Formica countertop. “Fourteen. Scared with a nice size chip on his shoulder. By the time he gets out of juvenile detention that chip will be the size of Texas and his life will only get worse. I just wish there were something I could really do to help him.”
Her expression changed from concern to happiness and satisfaction. She smiled. “Maybe you can.”
“How?”
She walked to his side. “Like you said I’ve got to get this place financially healthy again which means I’m going to need all the help I can get. The trailers need cleaning, tile replaced, panels fixed, walls demolished. The landscaping is a mess. Plus the llamas need tending. What better place for a troubled boy than to be kept busy and away from bad influences. What do you think?”
He pursed his lips and she had a sudden urge to kiss him again. “He would need a place to live and someone to keep an eye on him.”
“He can stay here. This trailer has two bedrooms.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a great idea. The other day you were floating naked down the river and today you decided to climb onto the barn roof and we both know how that ended up. I don’t think you’re such a good influence.”
“I don’t drink or do drugs or condone violence. The only trouble he could get into would be not doing his work. You said yourself being back in the shelter will just get him into trouble again. At least out here he’d be away from trouble. Look, if it doesn’t work out you can always send him back.”
She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and saw a mouse zip across the kitchen floor. Her heart careened into her throat. She threw her arms around Linc and plastered her body against his all the while staring at the mouse who had paused at the base of the refrigerator. She shuddered.
Linc’s chuckle rumbled from his chest into hers. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little mouse.”
She flicked her gaze back to his. “I can take snakes, spiders, any kind of creepy-crawlie but I hate mice. They have fleas and carry disease.” She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t stand their beady eyes and twitching whiskers. Gives me the creeps.” She scanned the kitchen floor. The mouse was gone. She relaxed then suddenly felt something brush by her leg. Slowly she shifted her gaze to the floor. There was the mouse sniffing around her feet, his rodent nose quivering. She shrieked, lifted her legs from the floor and wrapped them around Linc’s waist.
***
Linc nearly swallowed his tongue. Suddenly, he found himself full of curvy, sensual woman and not just any woman. Kinley. The woman who had kissed him twice in one day and now her lips were less than an inch from his and her breath wafted over his mouth urging him to follow his impulse to kiss her rather than resist.
“Sorry,” she said her eyes still wide with fear. He didn’t like seeing fear in her eyes and certainly not fear over something as trivial as a little mouse. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face. “Easy. In addition to my judicial skills I happen to be an expert mouse wrangler.”
He shifted, set her on the counter by the sink and in two shakes had the mouse corralled in an empty coffee can and put the furry creature outside.
When he stepped back in Kinley’s face was still pale. He walked over to her, swiped his palms together and said, “All gone.”
She peered around him her green eyes searching to make sure the mouse was truly gone. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. That little guy told me he was on the run from his wife.”
She straightened and stared at him. The fear was gone from her eyes and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Did you just make a joke?” she asked.
“Yeah, but don’t tell anybody.”
She smiled and then for the third time that day she leaned forward and kissed him but this time she lingered over it. “Thank you,” she said.
Okay, there was just so much a man could take. Before he could think twice about it, he tunneled his fingers into her hair and laid his lips over hers. Her cinnamon taste filled his head, his blood, swirled through his stomach and settled warm and heavy in his groin. He loved cinnamon. Cinnamon apples, cinnamon rolls and now he’d added another favorite cinnamon taste to his list. Cinnamon woman.
He nipped at her lips rubbed his tongue along the seam between them asking to let him inside and she obliged. He delved deep, her tongue tangling with his. He pulled her close and felt her breasts pillow against his chest. He knew what they looked like but he wanted desperately to feel them, to test their weight and texture in his hands. He lifted her t-shirt, slid his palms upward until he felt the edge of her bra. Quickly, he pushed it aside and let her tender warm skin fill his hand. The ground shifted beneath his feet.
A low groan issued from her throat. He’d begun to trail his lips down her neck and move his hand to cup her other breast when he heard a knock at the door.
“Ignore it,” she murmured.
“My thoughts exactly,” he said against the supple skin of her neck.
The knock came again a little more insistent this time. “Kinley,” a female voice called from outside.
Linc heard the doorknob turn and knew the door was about to open. “Or not.”
Quickly, he removed his hand from Kinley’s breast, jerked her shirt down and busied himself at the sink. Kinley slid quickly to her feet and turned her back and opened a cabinet. “Come in,” she called to Lilly.
Linc turned and saw Lilly Pierson step inside the trailer. “What’s up?”
The girl smiled. “Hi, we are almost out of pellets and alfalfa for the animals. We have enough to last us through tomorrow but after that we will be completely out.”
Linc watched Kinley out of the corner of his eye. She smoothed a lock of hair from her face, hair that had felt like silk. He wanted to bury his face in it and inhale the apple scent of her skin. How could a woman taste like cinnamon and smell like apples? The combo drove him wild.
“Okay, I’ll pick some up first thing in the morning.”
“There’s a standing order at the Feed and Seed. Maddie has an account. Not sure when she last paid though,” Lilly added.
“Standing order. Right, thanks Lilly. I’ll be down to help you feed in just a few minutes.”
Lilly glanced at Linc then Kinley and headed out the door.
“Whew,” Linc said expelling a breath of relief. “I don’t think she saw us.”
“I think she saw us.”
They said the statements at the same time and looked at each other. “Damn it, that’s not good,” Linc said.
“What’s the big deal?”
The carefree expression and smile, the-what-the-hell in her eyes changed. She looked at him and frowned. “Oh, my God. You kissed me and you’re seeing someone.”
It was a statement not a question. Linc shook his head. “No, I’m not seeing anyone. I wouldn’t have—”he gestured toward her—“you know, if I was involved. I’m not that kind of guy.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “Glad to hear it.”
She sidled over to him again, the heat still in her eyes, her lips pink from his kisses and a cute little flush on her cheek.
Linc backed up. If she touched him again or tried to kiss him he was a goner. His hand still tingled from caressing the silky skin of her breast. He could still taste her and smell her on him. “Oh, no you don’t. You’ve got animals to feed remember.”
“Chicken.” She grinned, turned and headed for the door. “What do you think about my idea of that kid coming to live at the ranch?”
“I think it might be a good idea. At least for the time being.”
Link walked out of the trailer and headed for his truck. He’d lost control. He’d gotten sucked in by Kinley and her taste and her smell and her charm. He’d let himself loosen up and it had nearly gotten them both in trouble. All it would take is one word from Lilly to her mother who owned the Got Curl salon in town who would then tell every woman who sat in her chair that he and Kinley were an item.
That’s all he needed.
They were definitely not an item and they would never be an item if he had anything to say about it. He’d only known her a couple of days and already she was pulling him into her hey-life’s-meant-to-be-fun-come-and-join-me attitude. Life wasn’t about fun. Life was about discipline and doing the right thing. Now if he could just convince his libido.
***
Ethan Ferris slumped in the passenger seat of the big Ford truck and stared out the window at the passing fields filled with horses and cows. Between the motion of the truck and the cool air he wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep but he couldn’t.
The Judge And The Heiress (A Salvation Texas Novel) Page 3