He shook his head and turned to stare out the window. “I sold my bulls at auction to pay for the mortgage on my land, and I haven’t gotten the check yet. I was on the phone trying to figure out why when your horse came crashing onto my land. I decided a life was more important than a late mortgage payment, so I hung up.” He chuckled with a sarcastic note. “I’d finally gotten to someone who could actually help me, too. Ironic, isn’t it?”
Gillian wasn’t a crier, but she wanted to bawl. She couldn’t believe what he’d done, what he’d given, for a complete stranger, especially one he didn’t even know was still alive. “Is there something I can do to help?”
His jaw muscle worked rapidly, and she could see how stubborn he was in the hard set of his shoulders. “I don’t need help. I just want you to promise me you’ll take care of yourself and all your injuries. Don’t make this a waste of my time. I expect a full recovery.”
That was simple, but it didn’t feel like enough. He was playing with his livelihood by taking care of her. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I guess I haven’t shown a lot of gratitude. I wouldn’t have expected anyone to put their lives on hold to come find me. Well, maybe I thought my aunt and uncle would come, but not anyone who wasn’t family.”
His expression darkened. “In Courage, everyone’s family.”
Well, didn’t Gillian feel like an ass! She wanted to stick her head in the mud like an ostrich and pretend no one could see her. But she couldn’t even break eye contact with the man before her. Her mind swirled with a million different thoughts. “I guess I can be a city girl at times,” she said meekly. “We don’t have the same sense of community in Richmond. I’m lucky to meet a neighbor before he or she moves out and I help carry a box to the moving truck. There is no bonding.”
Suddenly, Lucas was a tornado of activity, grabbing things and tossing them in a bag. Gillian couldn’t even keep up with what items he packed as fast as he moved, and her focus was more on his words anyway. “Here, we cook a meal, get in the truck, and haul it to wherever the newcomer is, whatever the weather is. If one of our horses goes missing, we all watch for it. We notice if a piece of someone else’s fence is down, and if we have time we fix it for them. We talk to the mailman like an old friend, and if my neighbor’s out of town, I keep the mail for them till they get back. And I don’t wonder if that’s a credit card or a check they got because I’m not that nosy.”
Gillian was the first to admit she liked her modern conveniences. She liked being able to walk around the corner to the coffee shop or the newsstand. Shopping centers called to her on a daily basis. But the way Lucas described Courage, she wondered just how nice it would be to live in that kind of small town. She’d always imagined a population of less than ten thousand would be all up in her business and telling her what to do with her life.
“So, you never have problems with people butting in where they don’t belong?”
Lucas snorted. “Of course we do. But I bet you get some of that in the city, too. Even the government there gets in your face with city ordinances and what have you. Here, if something like that’s being considered, there’s a city hall meeting, and the residents get to put in their two cents.”
Now, there was an idea. It was an old school solution, but Gillian liked the idea of having some say in how her town was run. She shook her head. What was she thinking? She had a life in Richmond, and she was about to move into her own apartment. She had a job and friends, and even if she didn’t, there was nothing in Courage for her.
She assessed Lucas again, but that was ridiculous. He obviously wanted to wash his hands of her at this point. He would never invite her to stay. And if she stayed anyway, just to feel him out, the best she could hope for was a fling. Neither of them had a desire to settle down, so there was no reason for either of them to consider the possibility with each other. She couldn’t get involved with him. She would set up shop here, only to have her heart broken and have to face him on a daily basis. She was better off going home to what was familiar.
“Are you ready?” he asked, and Gillian realized she’d shoved her plate away with the last scraps of food. She nodded, feeling heavy and a bit sick to her stomach now. She couldn’t answer him with the lump of self-loathing sitting heavily in her throat. Lucas took a deep breath. “I’m going to get the truck opened up, and I’ll come back for you. Are you okay there alone?”
She gave him a scathing glare. “I’m a grown woman. I can sit at a table by myself for a few minutes.” His jaw set hard again, and Gillian watched the muscle twitch. As much as she hated to admit it, Lucas was even hotter when he was angry, and she had to do something to get that look off his face before she did more damage to her ankle by launching herself at him. “Look, I’m sure your bedside manner is geared toward kids and helpless victims. But I’m neither. A victim, yes. And maybe a bit of an idiot for thinking I was more capable than I am. But I’m definitely not helpless, and if you just give me a chance, I can prove how grown up I really am.” She winked at him and then realized the underlying entendre of what she’d said.
With eyes that could have burned holes right through her, Lucas took three predatory steps toward Gillian, and she held her breath. He crouched down with a hand on the table so he was just below eye level with her, but their gazes were locked. “You better watch yourself, Gillian. Even if I am a Boy Scout, I’m still a man, and I have the lack of self-control that resides in most men. Don’t issue an invitation unless you want an RSVP.”
Gillian thought he was going to get up and move away before she could even process his words, but he hesitated a split second too long. In that instant, she grabbed his face and pulled his lips to hers, making him fall to his knees as she issued the invitation he referenced. His hands were all over her back and stomach, and she kissed him like she hadn’t been properly kissed in a century. She drank from him and demanded more.
He gave it to her and made demands of his own. She worked to tangle her tongue with his and answer his needs, and the room seemed to turn into a sauna. It felt like the fires of hell were closing in on Gillian, and she didn’t care. She could have gone down in flames and died happy in that moment.
But she was in an awkward position, with her leg stretched out and resting in the other chair, and she lost her balance. She fell on top of Lucas, and her ankle twisted again, ever so slightly. He caught her easily, rolling to his back so the length of her body rested on top of his. It would have felt incredible, had her leg not felt like it just might explode from the throbbing pain.
Still, she didn’t want to move. She could feel Lucas’s response to her against her thigh, and she wanted to straddle him and ride him until they both found their satisfaction. Maybe then, this sexual tension would just go away. But she knew she couldn’t, not with her injured leg. But she certainly wasn’t finished with him, and he seemed to be just as eager for her.
She dove back into the kiss with fervor, and Lucas’s hands roamed her body, squeezing her buttocks and pressing her tighter against his erection. Gillian sighed into his mouth, and he groaned, biting her lip and tugging at it. She whimpered and ground her hips against his, begging for more, resulting in one of his hands traveling up her side and cupping her breast.
Gillian could have let herself peak right then and there, but she held back. She wanted to savor every moment, and if she was going to come, she wanted it to be in a bed with her legs wrapped around him. “Lucas,” she whimpered.
“Mmm,” he responded, licking the corner of her mouth and down the side of her neck to that sweet spot behind her ear. Gillian’s legs twitched, and she winced, though she didn’t really care how much she hurt. But it was a mistake that jolted Lucas back to reality. He froze and pulled back, knocking his head on the tile floor and making a face. But the raw sexuality in his gaze and the disappointment written all over his face were too much.
Gillian’s body was on fire, and she could feel the vibrations of arousal and anticipation begging her to find a way to keep this
from coming to a halt. Her brain knew, though, there was nothing she could do to change it, and her body cursed her for being so stupid. “Lucas…”
But he shook his head and cut off her plea before she could get it out. “We’ve got to get your ankle taken care of. It’s already been far more hours than is healthy without medical care.” He started to move and realized he would shift Gillian in a way that might cause pain.
Gillian saw her opportunity and let her body turn into dead weight on top of him. With a devilish grin she told him, “You’ll have to find a way to get out from under me if you want to leave this house.”
Chapter 11
Lucas couldn’t decide whose head he wanted to slam against the wall more – his or Gillian’s. But one way or another, he kicked himself for getting into this position, figuratively and literally. “Are you playing games with me?” he asked, not sure whether it was his anger that prompted the question or his need to satisfy the arousal that had him physically impaired at the moment.
“You started it,” she quipped childishly. He gave her a quizzical look, not sure what she meant. With a sigh of exasperation, she said, “You leveled the invitation challenge.”
He gave her a completely serious expression. “That wasn’t a game, Gillian. That was an honest warning.” Lucas called to mind a signature move he’d used during a wrestling match in high school. He wrapped one leg around the back of Gillian’s knees to hold her legs steady and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her arm’s length over him. She gaped at him as he rolled swiftly so she was on her back, his leg still supporting hers. He slid his hands quickly to the floor by her and smiled down at the girl.
Gillian shook her head, looking awestruck. “Okay, big guy. I have to admit, that was beyond sexy. Do I even want to ask where you learned to do that?”
Lucas couldn’t help but laugh. “Probably not, but I thought you’d like it. Come on, I’m getting you down to the medical center before your aunt and uncle think I’ve tied you up and kept you for my own.” Or before he actually did something that crazy.
From the expression on her face, he didn’t think she’d have a problem with that, either. He had to move quickly or he’d lose his resolve. But he also had to be cautious or he’d cause her more pain or damage. He got up slowly, making sure they disengaged with no harm or foul, and he went to open the truck as he’d intended to do in the first place.
The cold air barely registered against his skin, but it helped cool his libido, and the strain in his groin lessened as he worked to set up the seat so Gillian could ride comfortably. There wasn’t much he could do about the rough ride down the mountain, but he was going to stabilize her ankle as much as possible.
Lucas didn’t go inside right away; he took a minute to clear his head, breathing in the cool air and the smell of moisture in the air. He told himself Gillian was just another woman, and if she got her injuries taken care of and still wanted to play her little games with him, he’d take what she offered as he would from any other woman who leveled the invitation.
Having settled that issue in his own mind – and cooled down his body – Lucas went to collect Gillian and found her stubbornly getting to her feet, or foot, rather. She was definitely independent, and he had to admit she was doing a pretty decent job of standing without putting any pressure on the injured ankle. She didn’t even seem to be jiggling it at all.
“You couldn’t wait?” he asked in exasperation.
“You were gone forever, and I know we need to get moving. I thought I’d save a couple of extra minutes anyway,” she told him. That made Lucas feel like shit. He should never have implied such a rush, especially since most of the delay was his doing to start with. “I’m ready to hobble out there, if you’re ready to support a poor, helpless girl’s weight.”
Lucas scoffed “I think you’ve proven you’re anything but helpless.” But he reached out, grabbed her arm, and drew it around his shoulders, curling his arm around her waist and mostly carrying her out to the truck. He grabbed her under her knees to lift her into the seat and told her, “Don’t move. I’ll help you settle in when I get in the driver’s seat.”
But after he’d shut the door and gone around, he found her already situating her leg as he’d intended to do. “Is this your way of telling me you’re getting impatient or anxious or hurting too much?”
“Uh, no, it’s my way of showing how cooperative I can be. And showing you that I don’t have to be guided every step of the way through something like this.”
Lucas just shrugged as he knocked the truck into gear. He couldn’t fathom why it would be so important to her, but he wasn’t one to argue. It was one less thing he had to do, which was nice, but for some reason it made him feel useless. As he backed out of the drive, he tried to make sense of why everything seemed so complicated with Gillian. He’d never had a patient, a date, or a friend who made conversation, physical contact, and even silence so confusing.
Lucas took the winding path down the mountain rather than the more direct route, which would have them bumping and sliding every which way. This one still bounced, but it was much less hectic on Gillian’s ankle than the other, and since he could drive faster, it only took five extra minutes to navigate.
* * *
Toward the bottom of the mountain, as the trees began to clear and the ground started to level off, Gillian frowned. She didn’t recognize this as the town she’d come through on her way from the airport. Sure it had been dusk, and she might have been exhausted and dozing in the back seat. And now there were limbs down and trash containers overturned, with puddles the size of small ponds in every direction. Gillian still found it hard to believe this was the same place.
There wasn’t much to it, just a long main thoroughfare with a diner and a few shops. The sheriff’s station had a large sign in front of it, and there was a little bed and breakfast. She also saw a directional sign for a “trailer and camper community” that said it was a mile away. But Lucas drove the opposite direction, away from all of it. “Where exactly are you going?” she asked.
“To the county medical center, like we said,” he replied. “It’s six miles from here in Myers.” Gillian frowned, and he added with that crooked smile that had her so enamored of him, “Don’t bother looking at a map. Treasure County consists of one incorporated town, and the rest are all communities. Technically, Courage isn’t a town at all. Hysham, the county seat, is the only place you’ll find on a map.”
Wow, she’d realized this was a small town, but she hadn’t even begun to comprehend just how tiny. “Dare I ask the population?”
Again, Lucas shrugged. “I’d guess Hysham is somewhere just north of three hundred, and the county as a whole might be seven hundred or so. We’ve got about ninety or so in Courage.”
Ninety people was a small business in Richmond. In a community with so few people, everyone must know everyone else. To find someone and marry them within the community had be akin to inbreeding. Trying to lighten the conversation and add some humor to what seemed like a losing situation, she quipped, “So, do you get together with other communities and play matchmaker at a dance or something?”
Lucas shook his head. “There’s the county fair, which is actually a multi-county event, and similar with spring and harvest festivals. We’ve got the rodeo and stock show, and there’s always the flea market. Why?”
“It just seems like it would be hard to, you know, meet people with such a small pool to fish in. I mean, are there any women here you haven’t known all your life?”
He grunted. “It’s not that bad. People move in and out, like your aunt and uncle. We get travelers passing through from time to time.” Now, he winked at her. “And there are a lot of hikers and campers that I rescue. Trust me, I have options.”
That last comment about people he’d rescued made Gillian want to slap him. “I thought you claimed to be professional about your search and rescue efforts.”
“I am,” he affirmed. “I can’t help it if
a woman here and there throws herself at me.”
Now he was purposely goading her. Gillian didn’t want to take the bait, but the problem was, he wasn’t lying. She knew he was being perfectly honest, and that just made it worse. “Lucas Graham, I should have known you were a man-whore.”
“That’s a little dramatic,” he argued, looking genuinely hurt. “I don’t sleep with all of them. I was just responding to your inquiry. I thought you were being polite and assuming I wasn’t hitched or committed because all these girls in town had known me too long.”
No, they’d discussed their opinions on long-term commitment, and she’d heard his loud and clear. Shaking her head as they pulled into the medical center, which was about as big as a small emergency clinic in Richmond, she told him, “Get over that trumped up opinion of yourself and maybe you’ll have a wider variety of options.”
He stopped at the “emergency” entrance, which was a regular sliding door with a big red exclamation point on it. Facing her with a no-nonsense expression, he told her, “I don’t want more options.”
She was so glad he got out just then and came around to unload her. And the other EMT meeting him with a wheelchair was a bigger relief. She was seconds away from making an idiot of herself yet again. The two of them pulled her out of the truck and set her into the chair carefully, and Lucas introduced the other man. “This is Rick. He’ll get you to x-ray and a CT scan, if needed. Rick, this is Gillian.”
“The missing woman from last night. Got it.” Rick winked at her, and Gillian couldn’t help but blush. He didn’t hold a candle to Lucas, but he was still a good-looking guy with a lot of charm. She would bet his bedside manner got him a lot of positive female attention. “Don’t worry, boss, she’s in good hands.”
Gillian thought she heard Lucas mumble, “That’s what I’m afraid of.” She couldn’t be sure as he said louder, “The Marshalls will be here soon. Get her fixed up. If you need me, I’m heading to the sheriff’s office and then up to his house if he’s not there.” Gillian barely kept from asking any questions. Lucas had already shared a lot. She had no right to ask why he’d let Garrett leave if he was just going to go see him again. Apparently, there was a conversation of a private nature to be had.
Courage To Believe (Cowboys of Courage 2) Page 8