My Kind of Trouble

by Becky McGraw

  "Cole is handling the cows. And a nurse showed up for your daddy yesterday after you left for the lake. Bud and the other guys hauled in the equipment she brought with her, and Imelda helped her set it up. You don't need to worry...just relax for a change."

  She heaved a relieved sigh and settled back against the seat. "I owe you and Cole so much, Luke. Thank ya'll for all you've have done since I've been back. I've been too stubborn to tell you that."

  "You're welcome," he sounded surprised.

  A few minutes later, she realized they were near the lake. She flipped off the air conditioner and rolled down her window to inhale the rich fishy smell that always hung in the air. She pulled the rubber band from her hair and ran her fingers through it as the wind whipped her hair into a frenzy. She laughed then asked, "So this fantasy of yours...it includes the lake?"

  "Lake house," he corrected. "We're going to the place Cole's daddy left him on the other side of the lake."

  She squealed, then wished she hadn't when pain pierced her brain and a wave of nausea rolled over her. "Oh god, I thought that was gone," she said and leaned over her knees.

  "What the lake house?" he asked in confusion looking over at her.

  "No--the headache that makes me want to throw up," she told him and groaned when another pain throbbed inside her skull. "Jesus, Luke..."

  "What can I do to help? Need me to pull over?"

  "No, I just need to get the prescriptions the doctor gave me filled. They're in the bag I have with me, but the pharmacy is way back in town. I forgot." She didn't forget, she just hadn't planned on getting them filled or taking them. Cassie didn't like the out-of-control loopy feeling pain medication gave her. She never took it.

  "That's not a problem. Let me get you to the cabin and settled, then I'll go back to town for it. I need to buy some groceries anyway."

  She smiled her thanks as she sat back up and leaned her head against the seat, letting the brisk wind from the window cool her skin. "I'm sorry I'm such a pain in the butt."

  "I like your butt," he said and chuckled. "Just relax, cupcake. If you remember how to do that."

  It had been a long time since she'd relaxed, but she thought she could remember how. If she could just get her head to stop pounding, and her stomach to stop heaving, maybe she'd be able to do it.

  They pulled up in front of a cozy little wood cottage painted bright yellow with green shutters. The front door was by stark contrast, painted navy blue. She hadn't been here before, so she let her gaze wander around the yard. Two canoes were leaned up against the side of the house, and she saw a floating dock on the water down a gentle hill behind the house. A small aluminum motorboat sat tied to the dock. There was a huge deck on the backside of the house, but she could only see a portion of it.

  Luke hopped out of the truck and shut his door. As she picked up her bag and reached for the handle on her door, it was flung open and then he was standing there reaching inside for her. Before she could say anything, Luke pulled her into his arms then kicked the door shut.

  "There's probably holes in the ground around here, and I don't want you hurting yourself again," he said by way of explanation as he walked with her up to the porch. He shifted her weight, then used one hand to open the door then carried her inside.

  He didn't put her down once they were inside the cabin though, he just walked swiftly across the large room and turned down a short narrow hallway to the right. "You can put me down now you know. They put a ball on the bottom of the cast, so I can walk on it."

  "Ain't happening, darlin'," he said and stopped at a last door on the left at the end of the short hall. Once he managed to open it, he walked across the room and gently laid her on a huge king-sized bed covered in a wedding ring quilt. "There you go." Luke smiled at her.

  She sat up on her elbows and said in a whiny voice, "Luke I can't stay in bed all day."

  Luke put his hands on his hips and smiled sexily. "I'll bet I could give you reasons to like it...when you're feeling better, of course."

  Blood rushed to her face and her mouth went dry. She would love nothing better than to have him demonstrate that incentive, but she knew he wouldn't, because she was hurt. "Can't I go out on the back porch instead?"

  "Not today, honey, you need to rest. Now lay back," he ordered and pushed her shoulders into the mattress. When he leaned across her to grab two of the other pillows on the bed his chest brushed against her breasts. Cassie sucked in a breath and held it while her nipples hardened to sharp points and darts of desire coursed through her.

  He raised back up with the pillows in his hand, and she let the air trapped in her lungs escape slowly, but the tingles remained as did the sexual tension between them. She met his eyes and they glittered with desire telling her he was just as aware of her as she was of him.

  With hands that trembled slightly, he bent to lift her cast and put two pillows beneath her leg. "That ought to help with the swelling," he told her and moved to squeeze her numb toes. "Your toes are icy and blue darlin', you need to keep that leg propped up, or we're going to have to go get it checked out again. I think you've got some swelling going on."

  "Thank you...doctor," she said saucily and gave him a heated stare. "That's one of my fantasies, you know. So let's throw that in the mix with the kidnapping."

  Luke growled and sat down on the bed then leaned toward her. "We'll throw in anything you like honey, and a lot more. We have a lot of catchin' up to do."

  Capturing her mouth with his in a heated kiss, Luke coaxed her lips until they opened for him. Heat poured through her as his tongue sought hers out. Cassie moved her arms up around his neck, then sucked his lower lip into her mouth and ran her tongue across it. With a moan, he sealed his lips to hers and devoured her mouth.

  After a few moments, he pulled back from her and sat up breathing hard. Her eyes traveled down his chest to his fly and she noticed his breathing wasn't the only thing that was hard. She moved her hand to his thigh and then slid it upward. When she reached her destination, he placed his hand on top of hers, held it there and groaned. "Not yet, cupcake." His voice was low and gravelly.

  She squeezed his steely length and tried to move her hand against him, but he pulled it away from him and up to his mouth where kissed her palm. "We'll get there soon, but you need to rest now...and I've got to go to town." He stood and gave her a quick kiss, moving away before she could grab him for more. "I won't be gone long."

  He took his cell phone out of his pocket and left it on the night stand for her. "Cole is number one on speed dial. Call him or 911 if you need something."

  She smiled at his thoughtfulness. Her cell phone was in the tote bag she'd had with her yesterday, probably still down by the lake where they'd been. "I need to go get my tote bag from our spot at the lake. My phone is in there."

  "Cole picked it up and has it in his SUV for you. I'll get it back from him."

  "Thanks," she said and watched his muscular jean-clad butt as he turned and left her. She sighed dreamily.

  ***

  Luke had dug Cassie's prescriptions out of the plastic bag she'd left the hospital with and dropped them off at the Bowie Pharmacy, telling Clyde the pharmacist he'd be back by in a little while to pick them up.

  Clyde had looked at the name on the prescriptions and asked if they were for Carl's daughter, Cassie, and he'd said yes. That led to a lengthy conversation about what had happened to her and then to how Carl was getting along. It had about taken an Act of Congress for him to get away from the chatty man.

  When Luke got back in the truck, he glanced at the dash clock and saw he'd already been gone an hour and a half, and he still hadn't made it to the grocery store. He'd told Cassie he wasn't going to be gone long, and he didn't like leaving her out there alone. She was hurt and immobile. He'd be quick at the grocery and get back to her.

  The big pink pig on the sign at the grocery store waved at him when he pulled into the parking lot. He saw a parking spot open up near the front door,
and gunned the truck to get there before someone else did. This store stayed pretty busy, because it was the only one in town, so to get a prime parking spot usually meant you were living right. He slid out of the truck and went inside. He grabbed a buggy and headed directly to the produce section. You couldn't cook without proper seasonings, and a salad and baked potato with the steaks he planned to grill for them tonight sounded great.

  Luke was perusing the tomatoes, when someone stepped up beside him. "Hello, asshole," an angry male voice grated beside him. "Where is Cassie?"

  Luke dropped the tomato to turn and face the name caller, his hand automatically reaching for the butt of the weapon he wasn't wearing. He dropped it to his side. "I think she said all she had to say to you the other night, didn't she asshole?"

  James, Cassie's ex-fiancé, didn't look quite as slick as he had two nights ago at the restaurant. His khakis were wrinkled and dirty and had about two inches of dirt up the bottom hem. His formerly pristine green polo shirt had stains under the arms and was ripped at the sleeve. The thick brown hair he'd had perfectly combed and slicked back with gel the other night was sticking up in every direction, and he had a two-day old growth of beard on his face. Luke wanted to laugh. If Cassie could see him now, she probably would too.

  "I went by the farm and her old man wouldn't tell me...I know you know where she is. I saw how she stared you down at the restaurant the other night. And saw you at the lake with her."

  Luke stepped into the man's personal space and ground out, "Are you stalking her? How the hell would you know she was at the lake?

  The man, who was a couple of inches shorter than Luke, and about fifty pounds lighter, took a step closer to him, and put a brazen finger in Luke's chest. "Just tell me where she is...our business is none of your business."

  Luke pushed the man with the foul breath back from him then grated, "You don't have business with Cassie anymore. The best thing you can do is get out of town, bud."

  James snorted then said, "It's a free country, I'll leave when I damned well please. Who are you anyway telling me what to do?"

  "I'm the Sheriff," Luke informed him then leaned down to within inches of his face. "And I think you following Cassie to the lake constitutes stalking, and your visit to the Double B was trespassing. So if you don't want your ass thrown in jail, I suggest you get out of my face, and out of Bowie right now."

  The other man's face paled, but he didn't back down. "I'm not leaving until she talks to me. She owes me...and I'm going to get it, one way or another. At the very least, she owes me an explanation as to why she broke up with me." Luke saw a strange glitter in the man's eyes that bothered him. This guy was one pancake short of a stack.

  Luke grabbed him by the shirt collar and jammed him into the potato bin. "She doesn't owe you a fucking thing. You want to know why she broke up with you? Because for one you're a smarmy city-boy asshole. And secondly, she loves me--she's mine--and you leave her the fuck alone. Is that clear?"

  A crowd had gathered around them now, and Luke looked around at the familiar faces, he'd sworn to protect and swallowed hard. He let James go and took two steps back. James jerked his collar straight, before he said loudly, pandering to the crowd, "Why Sheriff, I think that constitutes assault, and I wish to press charges."

  That's all Luke needed right now. Why did he let this asshole goad him into grabbing him? Because he was a threat to the woman Luke loved. Luke would probably lose his job over this one, the mayor and city council weren't going to be happy. He saw Cole push through the crowd then come to stand beside him giving him a lethal stare. Luke didn't say a word to his friend, he turned his back to him and put his wrists behind him. The cold metal cuffs snapped shut, and he felt Cole squeeze them hard to tighten them, before he pushed him up against the apple display and searched him while he read him his rights.

  When he was done, Luke told him loudly. "Arrest him too, he poked me in the chest and threatened Cassie. He also trespassed on Carl Bellamy's property."

  "They haven't pressed charges, Luke. I can't arrest him, you know that." He turned to the crowd and asked, "Did anyone see him poke Luke in the chest?" Luke saw them all shake their heads negatively and groaned. "Sorry bud, can't do it, but you can file a complaint if you want when we get to the station."

  The crowd erupted in a flurry of conversation as Cole grabbed his arm and led him away. He heard James the asshole snickering, and he wanted to beg Cole to let him go so he could at least make the assault charge with worth it.

  When they walked outside, Cole led him to the SUV and gave him the full criminal treatment by putting his hand on top of his head to shove him into the backseat roughly. Luke couldn't keep his balance and wound up laying across the seat. He deserved it and more for being so damned stupid. Now, Cassie was at the lake house alone, and the asshole was on the loose. Panic surged through him and he sat up and leaned his forehead against the wire cage in front of him.

  "Get someone out to the lake house to keep an eye on Cassie," Luke demanded. "Call her on my cell and warn her that James is still in town and may be stalking her."

  Cole looked him in the eye in the rearview mirror, and said. "You're not the Sheriff right now Luke. Sit back and quit giving me orders."

  Luke gritted his teeth. "He fucking threatened Cassie, Cole. He's been stalking her. Please, do it," he begged.

  "She's fine, Luke. He doesn't know where she is."

  Luke slammed himself back against the seat and growled his frustration.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Gingerly, Cassie got out of the bed and went to look for the bathroom. Luke had been gone a long time, much longer than she'd expected, and her bladder couldn't wait any longer for him to get back to help her to the bathroom. If he'd just left her crutches, she'd have been golden, but he'd forgotten to get them from the back of his truck.

  Using one hand on the wall to steady herself, Cassie picked her way down the hall, then balanced with her outspread arms across the living room and teetered toward a door near the kitchen that must be the bath.

  In the very quiet house she heard the faint ring of Luke's cell phone down the hall, and thought about trying to get back to pick it up, but knew it would go to voicemail before she got there. Whoever it was, she hoped it was Luke, she'd call them back when she managed to hobble back to the bedroom.

  It took her fifteen minutes to take care of her business and get back to the bedroom. Being stiff and sore made every step she took torturous. Her ankle was hurting now, and she wished Luke would get back with her pain pills. Although she didn't like taking them, she was going to make an exception this time.

  She sat down on the bed with an exhausted sigh and reached for the cell phone. The only missed call she saw was from Cole, so that must have been him on the phone. She noticed that there wasn't much of a charge left on the phone, and wondered if Luke had left a charger laying around here somewhere. There was no way she was going to go looking for it though, that much she knew. She'd wait until he got back and ask him.

  Pushing the number one, she brought the phone to her ear and heard it ringing. It rang five or six times then she heard Cole's deep-timbered voice on the recording asking her to leave a message. She disconnected, figuring he'd call her again when he had time. Luke had been gone a long time, but she wasn't really worried about him yet, because he'd had a lot of errands to run. It was almost dusk now, and she'd start worrying if he wasn't back after dark.

  As soon as her head hit the pillow, her stomach growled noisily, and she realized she was damned hungry. She hadn't eaten since the bland breakfast she'd had at the hospital this morning. Dreading it, but knowing she had no choice, Cassie got to her feet again to go to the kitchen and see if she could scrounge up something to eat.

  She should have gone to the kitchen when she went to pee, but hindsight was twenty-twenty. Cassie stood and then leaned back to pick up the cell phone then dropped it in the pocket of the scrub shirt. At least, she'd remembered to bring that with her
this time.

  As she made her way slowly down the hall, Cassie flipped on lights, because the interior of the cottage was getting very dark, and she didn't want to trip over something, and break her other leg. Cassie chuckled amazed at what a klutz she'd become lately.