“You’re a real tiger, aren’t you, sugar?”
Carrie smiled. “Grrr.”
She loved the soft sound of their smug male chuckles. Sighing with contentment, she nuzzled her face against Chase’s chest.
“Easy, darlin’. Hold still. I’ll be right back.” He eased out of her body, and she shivered with the sudden loss.
“’Kay.” Carrie didn’t think she’d ever been in a place of such total satiation. Moments later the bed dipped, and she felt Brian behind her again. He used a warm, damp cloth to clean the lube from her body.
Then he snuggled down beside her, spooned her, and kissed her shoulder.
“You can take me on, sugar, just as soon as you have a little rest.”
One of the things she loved about these men was their penchant for taking care of her, even when she didn’t need it.
“I don’t need a rest.” She wished those words had come out just a bit stronger. She’d prove to them how much stamina she had, too.
Just as soon as she figured out how to open her eyes.
Chapter 18
“I feel a little guilty.” Carrie looked up from the work counter. She’d directed her comment to the man who sat in the corner of the kitchen, thumbing through a novel.
Matthew Benedict met her gaze. “You have no cause, whatsoever, to feel guilty.”
“But you’re here, watching over me, on the off chance that SOB will figure out I work here and come after me. All of the men are taking turns coming into the restaurant, posing as customers, so that there’re always at least two of them here.” She shook a knife at him as if it were her finger and he a recalcitrant child. “And don’t think I don’t know that y’all have been patrolling by the ranch every couple of hours all night long.” Carrie blew out a breath, ruffling her hair. “It’s already been two weeks and there’s been no sign whatsoever of Lockwood. How long can y’all keep this up?”
“We can keep it up as long as it takes.” Matthew picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, but the entire time his gaze never left hers. It was a little disconcerting.
“Aunt Abby would kick my ass seven ways from Sunday if anything happened to you. That is, if there was enough left of it after my mother got through with me.”
Behind her, Kelsey snickered. “Not to mention the fact that the men of this town are feeling the need to redeem their collective manhood.”
“That has nothing to do with anything.” Matt sounded authoritative. Then he shrugged. “Okay, I’m willing to admit that might be a nice side benefit of this situation, but I can assure you the possibility never entered our consideration.”
Carrie looked over her shoulder. Kelsey was just finishing up getting the turkeys ready to put in the oven in anticipation of the Thursday night special. She gave Carrie a wide smile. “You will notice he never protested the need for that redemption.”
Carrie shook her head. “This must be an inside joke, because I don’t get it.”
“Well, the women of Lusty have been slaying the dragons, lately, leaving the men feeling all defensive and unmanly. Isn’t that right, Tracy?”
The other woman looked up from the chocolate cakes she was frosting. She winked at Carrie, and then raised her voice just slightly. “Yeah, the next thing you know they’re going to be walking around asking each other if their pants make their butts look too big.” Tracy smirked as she said that, and Kelsey laughed.
“Okay, that’s it. I’m entering deputy sheriff stealth mode. I am not here.” Matt raised his book up so that he couldn’t see them. “And I’m almost wishing that SOB would try to break in here in the next couple of minutes, because I’m in the mood to pound on something.”
Kelsey and Tracy were both chuckling. Carrie found herself fighting the urge to do the same. Since Matt was there, basically, for her benefit, she thought it behooved her to do what she could so as not to ridicule him.
“All right, my curiosity is roused. What particular dragons did the women of this town slay recently?”
Carrie couldn’t help but grin as Kelsey and Tracy exchanged sly looks. Then Kelsey put the turkeys in the oven, washed her hands at the sink, and came over next to her.
Carrie was working on the daily salads. She’d already prepared the rotini and the rice. Both had been strained and were cooling in the large bowls she’d use to mix them in. She only needed to finish adding the other ingredients, and then the dressings, for the salads to be ready to serve. The lunch hour was fast approaching, so she needed to work quickly.
Kelsey took a moment to survey the array of vegetables on the working table, then picked up a knife, grabbed a stool, sat, and got to work chopping vegetables.
“The first hombre to meet a sad fate at the hands of the women of Lusty”—she grinned and winked at Carrie and then looked over toward her husband—“while the men were off protecting the wrong place primarily due to their flawed logic, I might add, was a very dangerous and more than slightly demented drug lord who’d painted a target on Peter’s back. He’d put a contract out on him and when that didn’t work, came after him in person.”
Matt lowered his book and skewered his wife with a very direct stare. “You have no idea how frantic we were when we found out what y’all were doing. Swear to God, y’all were lucky you weren’t turned over your men’s knees for that one.” His glance took in Tracy, who had the cheek to stick out her tongue at the deputy.
“You took on a drug lord?” Carrie guessed her horror sounded plain, because Matt pointed at her.
“See? Carrie understands how reckless and foolhardy that was!”
Carrie was all about making Matt feel appreciated on account of he was there guarding her, but there was a limit. “Um, I never said that, Matt.” She gave him a sweet smile to soften the blow.
He grunted then pointed at his wife. “Wait until you hear what Ginny did. Go on, tell her.”
Kelsey said, “How come you don’t want me to tell her what I did, before we got married?”
“Because there is only so much stress I can take. Now, are you going to tell her what our sweet, shy little Ginny did, or not?”
Just then Ginny Kendall came into the kitchen. “I need an order of breakfast tacos, extra hot, and to know why y’all are staring at me as if I have two heads.”
“I’ll get the order,” Tracy said.
Carrie met Ginny’s gaze. “Kelsey was fixin’ to tell me what you did that got the men’s masculinity all twisted up in a knot.”
Ginny’s cheeks turned pink. “Oh, that.” She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “I don’t know why the men keep harpin’ on that. It’s not like I planned to do anything dangerous. Things just happened. The truth of the matter is I—”
“Just got so mad!”
Ginny’s eyes widened as Tracy, Kelsey, and Matt cut her off to say that in perfect unison. The women grinned, and Matt said, “Why do you think we men treat you with such respect, Mrs. Kendall, ma’am? We’ve all seen what you do when you get mad and we aim not to put you in that state. Ever.”
“I have a feeling that this is a story I have to hear.” Carrie looked at each of them in turn.
“Order up.” Tracy set a plate under the hot lights.
Ginny waved her hand again. “I have to give Uncle Albert his breakfast. Y’all can fill her in. As long as you also let her know what Kelsey, Susan, and Tamara did. Boy howdy, you’d think I was the only woman in town to stand up for herself.”
“Well, sweetheart, you are the only one to have done so by bodily dragging a convicted felon from his vehicle and then hoofing him in the family jewels. While being completely unarmed, I might add.”
Everyone turned to see Adam Kendall standing in the doorway of the kitchen, the door held wide open by his muscular body.
Carrie guessed that anyone sitting near the doors could have heard that statement. And likely did, judging by the smiles she saw on the faces of Warren and Edward Jessop, who were the town’s EMTs and sitting at the small table just be
hind Adam.
Adam let the door swing closed behind him and gave his wife a sunny smile.
“Boy howdy, Adam Kendall, just you wait until you do something in the heat of the moment that in hindsight you realize is risky. Then we’ll have us a discussion about leavin’ the past in the past.” Ginny scooped the plate of food and made a great show of skirting her husband with her head held high as she headed back out to the dining room.
Adam followed her with his eyes. “God, I love that woman.”
Carrie guessed he certainly did if that satisfied, partly smug grin on his face was any measure of his feelings.
And then the words he’d said in such a casual manner sank in. She felt her jaw drop. “That tiny woman hauled a man out of his car?”
Matthew got to his feet, stretched, and then grinned. “She did indeed. But Adam misled you slightly when he said that she dragged him out and kicked him in the balls. First she punched him in the face, and then she kicked him in the balls when he came at her. By the time we pulled up, the bastard was curled into a fetal position on the ground, unsure if he should cover his head or his already-abused dangly parts. See, Ginny was still kicking at him and screaming at the top of her lungs.”
Adam narrowed his eyes as he looked at his deputy. “At least she wasn’t running away from a maniac with a gun after discharging said gun into a car windshield, yanking the car keys from the car, and tossing them out onto the road.”
Matthew actually winced. “Don’t remind me.” He wagged his finger at his wife. “You were lucky that asshole Connors had so much glass in his eyes from that exploding windshield he couldn’t see well enough to take up that gun and shoot you dead.”
“Yes, darling, so you and Steven have said, many, many times.”
Adam rocked back on his heels, his smile as wide as Matt’s had been. “She could have been blinded, too. That was a hell of a lot of glass the uncles had to pick out of her cheek, neck, and hair.”
Kelsey proved herself a smart woman then. She went over to her husband, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him.
Carrie looked over at Adam, who winked at her. “There’s still no response to the alert issued on Lockwood,” he said. “Of course, you know I’m just here to relieve Matt.”
“Of course. I just wish this was all going to be finished soon. Maybe the Rangers will find him before he even gets here—though that makes me sound kind of cowardly compared to my kick-ass coworkers, here.”
“No!”
Carrie blinked because, not only had the men said that, so, too, had Kelsey and Tracy.
Kelsey had already stepped back from her husband. Chuckling, she came over to Carrie and rubbed her arm. “I know how it feels to be, well, under a kind of mental siege—waiting for something bad to happen. I have been there. But hang in there, Carrie. Despite all our teasing, and, well, appearances to the contrary, the women of Lusty do have faith in their men.”
“You should have faith in your men, too,” Matt said. “Chase and Brian are determined to keep you safe, honey. We all are.”
Carrie nodded, and felt her mouth slide into a smile of contentment as it inevitably did whenever she thought of her men. “I know those two cowboys will do all they can to protect me.” They’d already done so much, including mobilizing the entire town. “And I know and appreciate that y’all have my back.”
She just hoped that while everyone was focused on watching out for her, they’d be careful for themselves, too.
Because with each new dawn the feeling grew within her that something very bad was waiting just around the corner.
Chapter 19
Chloe stood, her lips pursed, her hand clutching the door knob with white-knuckled intensity. She was fully prepared to slam the door on the two men who stood there, arms crossed, determined looks on their smug, know-it-all faces.
Two men who apparently didn’t know how to take “no” for an answer.
She’d been all for the way the town of Lusty, Texas, had banded together for the sole purpose of protecting her baby sister. She’d inwardly cheered as she’d sat in on the planning sessions, when Matt Benedict, Adam Kendall, his brother-in-law Peter Alvarez-Kendall—a DEA agent—and Joe Grant, a Special Agent with the FBI and Michelle’s husband, had detailed the steps needed to keep Carrie safe. These people cared about her sister and for that, Chloe would be forever grateful.
Chloe herself had extended her stay in Lusty. She’d called Madeleine and pleaded a family emergency, although she’d already pretty much decided that Lusty was soon going to become her new hometown, too.
She thought that maybe Madeleine not only suspected as much, but that she’d be fine with it. Her boss and friend had been very sensitive to Chloe’s personal situation, sympathetic to the dilemma she’d found herself in, and to her emotions. Chloe hated to leave the day spa in Divine, because Madeleine had been the best boss she’d ever had.
Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending—circumstances changed, and sometimes a body just had to go with the flow.
Chloe generally considered herself to be a fairly bright woman. She didn’t possess a genius IQ, but she was smart. As she’d taken in the way everyone planned to work together to make sure Carrie was never alone, she’d relished the fact that at the end of the day, she, Chloe, was staying in Carrie’s apartment. She also had kept her mouth closed about that fact, mentally cheering when no one seemed to recall that one tiny little detail.
They all seemed to have forgotten that the small, one-bedroom unit in the building was her sister’s official, legal address. It was the address that she’d put on the change-of-address form that she had belatedly sent in to the DMV, for her driver’s license.
Chloe was convinced that that bastard, George Lockwood, likely would hack into that database again, and would come away with this address.
Chloe wasn’t frightened in the least. Lockwood would come. She had no doubt of that. The sick bastard had become obsessed with her sister.
She understood the men hadn’t gone into great detail but knew they were on alert, watching for him, certain they would nab him as soon as he set foot in Lusty.
Not that she doubted the vigilance of the citizenry, but she had a sense that Lockwood, being very evil and very clever, would somehow elude capture. She believed he’d make it to this very apartment.
And she, Chloe, would be waiting for him.
Chloe owned a small Beretta handgun that she’d carried, legally, for a number of years. Specifically it was a 3032 Tomcat, just under five inches long, weighing less than sixteen ounces, and equipped with a seven-shot magazine loaded with .32 caliber, hollow point bullets.
She’d taken lessons when she’d first purchased the weapon, and she’d made time, faithfully, to practice with it on a regular basis. She didn’t believe a person ought to have a weapon unless they learned how to handle it safely and proficiently. She sincerely hoped George Lockwood evaded the law, and broke into this apartment. She had a trip wire set up at the bedroom door that would alert her if he came in the middle of the night, and she tucked herself and that gun into bed together each evening.
She even left a small light burning in the bedroom at night that would allow her to be able to see whoever opened that bedroom door, uninvited.
Chloe had always awakened instantly, and fully alert.
If all her careful preparations and planning paid off, she’d finally realize her ten-year-long dream.
Chloe Rhodes intended to shoot the cock right off that perverted son of a bitch.
It was the perfect plan, she decided, because the people of Lusty were so focused on keeping Carrie safe and on catching the bastard the instant he set foot in town, they’d forgotten where he’d be headed once he got here.
Or so she had thought.
Chloe had met the two firefighters currently standing at the door during one of the planning sessions at the restaurant. Carrie had introduced her to them. Chloe had engaged them in conversation, treating them friendly-l
ike, because she could see the men were friends of her sister’s. It seemed, in fact, just about everyone in town was a friend of her sister’s. That was a real nice change as far as Chloe was concerned.
The hermit-like life Carrie had lived before coming to Lusty appeared to be a thing of the past.
Chloe brought herself back to the present. She had a feeling she’d need to keep all her wits about her while she dealt with these two men.
Keeping the frown on her face and her arms folded in front of her chest, Chloe blocked the entrance to her temporary apartment, drew herself up to her full five-foot-three-inch height, and said, “I can assure you, gentlemen, there is no need whatsoever for anyone to babysit me. I’m perfectly fine. It’s Carrie y’all should be concerned with. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll bid you good-night.”
Andrew and Grant Jessop traded looks. Chloe saw the hint of amusement on both of their faces, and that just pissed her off.
She was not going to budge from her spot blocking the door, no matter what “logical” argument they gave her, and that was that.
Andrew Jessop sighed, and solved what he must have decided was a problem, by reaching out, picking Chloe up as if she weighed nothing at all, and carrying her into her apartment.
Chloe gasped, too shocked at first to do anything at all. She looked over Andrew’s shoulder, wondering where Grant had disappeared to.
Andrew didn’t seem inclined to put her down anytime soon, either. He held her with his two beefy hands clamped onto her arms so that she couldn’t even unfold them. Her fear of heights kicked in so that she felt leery of fighting him physically, anyway, just in case he dropped her.
It didn’t matter if a couple of feet off the ground wasn’t really very much height at all. Logic played no role whatsoever in this particular phobia of hers.
Finally she found her voice and said, “Put me down, please.”
Covington, Cara - Love Under Two Cowboys [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 20