by Radclyffe
“I’ll follow you all the same.”
Gard opened the truck and motioned for Beam to hop in, got behind the wheel, and opened her window. “You don’t have to follow me, but I suppose I can’t talk you out of it.”
“Humor me,” Rina said.
“Don’t I always?”
Rina grinned wryly. “Not so’s you’d notice.”
Gard waited for Rina to get back to the cruiser and then she headed for home, driving carefully with Rina behind her. She was about a mile from her own driveway when a red convertible came zooming around a curve and passed her going a healthy eighty or ninety miles per hour. She glanced in her rearview mirror, caught the flash of Rina’s headlights signaling to her, and then the sheriff’s car made a fast, tight U-turn and screeched off after the convertible. Gard smiled as she pictured Rina locking horns with Alice Smith.
*
“What do you mean, she chased you down?” Jenna took one last look at the paragraph she had just finished, decided it was adequate, and closed the document. Turning in her chair, she gave Alice her full attention. She’d only been half listening the last few minutes until she registered the words sheriff, speeding, and fine. “How fast were you going?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a little over the speed limit—whatever that is—certainly not too fast for the roads around here. There’s never any traffic!” Alice threw up her hands, the picture of innocence. Jenna narrowed her eyes. She didn’t look contrite, she looked exhilarated.
“You enjoyed it, didn’t you?”
“Which part? The part where she kept me sitting on the side of the road for thirty minutes while she did a crossword puzzle in the front seat of her cruiser? Or the part where every single car, truck, hay wagon, and tractor that went by slowed to approximately a quarter of a mile an hour so everyone could peer into my car? I thought some of them were going to fish out cameras and take my picture.”
Jenna smothered a smile. Not just exhilarated, completely thrilled. “I bet you were hoping she’d get out her handcuffs.”
“You don’t know me well enough to suggest that.”
“The hell I don’t.”
“Believe me, the only thing she wanted to slap on me was a great big juicy fine. Which she did.” Alice folded her arms beneath her breasts and looked thoroughly put out.
“How much?”
“Two-fifty.”
“Wow. You must’ve really been going fast.”
Alice shrugged and looked sheepish before she managed to don her outraged expression again. But that little break had been enough to tell the story.
“What else did you do?” Jenna rose. “Come on. Let’s make some iced tea and sit outside and you can tell me all about it. The sunsets are gorgeous here.”
A few minutes later, they occupied matching rocking chairs on the broad back porch. Below them in the fields, the cows clustered in a patchwork quilt of brown and white. Broken shards of sunlight cascaded over the mountaintops, the golden light fracturing into reds and oranges, bleeding down the mountains. A breeze cooled the perspiration on her neck, and Jenna felt very close to peaceful.
“So. You were going to tell me exactly what you did to get such a whopping fine.”
“Nothing,” Alice said far too quickly.
“Come clean.” Jenna sipped her tea.
“I suppose I irritated her a little bit when I accused her of lying in wait behind Gard’s truck. And I might have suggested that speed traps were illegal or something. Maybe the word attorney slipped out.”
“Wait, back up. Gard was there too?”
“Well, sort of. They were coming back from the hospital, apparently, because the sheriff got very snarky when she said that she was actually doing something important when she had to stop to deal with an irresponsible, arrogant city girl who didn’t—”
Jenna’s breath caught. “Hospital. What does that mean, hospital?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t exactly give me the details.”
“Think,” Jenna said sternly.
“I was a little bit preoccupied at the time,” Alice protested. “It’s not like the world stopped for me when she mentioned Gard’s name, you know.” Alice must have figured out from Jenna’s glare that Jenna was serious, because she sighed and looked thoughtful. “All right, she said…she shouldn’t have to leave a responsible citizen like Gard, who’d just been released from the hospital, to deal with—” Alice waved her hand in the air. “And then that was the part about the irresponsible, arrogant city girl.”
“Gard was hurt?” Jenna said quietly.
“Well, she couldn’t have been hurt very badly, she was driving her truck.”
“But the sheriff was following her. And she said that Gard had just come from the hospital.” Jenna stood. “Why didn’t you tell me that right away?”
Alice looked confused. “Which part? The part where I was humiliated, or the part where I got the fine, or the part where I was insulted by—”
“Never mind.”
“Where are you going?” Alice called as Jenna hurried into the house.
“To be a good neighbor,” she called back.
Chapter Seventeen
Gard closed the refrigerator door with her knee, juggled the jar of mayonnaise and packet of lunch meat in the crook of her right arm, and fumbled them onto the table just as the doorbell rang for the second time.
“Coming,” she shouted as she made her way down the hall. Clicking on the porch light, she peered through the vertical windows beside the heavy oak door, jolting in surprise when she saw Jenna peering back. Hastily, she pulled open the door. “Hey.”
“Hi,” Jenna said quietly, her attention shifting to Gard’s forearm. “How are you doing?”
Frowning, Gard followed her gaze, then shrugged. “It’s nothing. How did you know?”
“Alice said the sheriff said something about you being at the hospital—” Jenna’s eyes widened and even in the waning daylight, her blush was vivid. “Oh my God! I’m starting to sound like the people in the diner. I am so sorry. You must think I’m completely invading your privacy—I am completely invading your privacy. I’m leaving right no—”
“No, don’t.” Gard pulled the door open wide. “Come on in. I was just making dinner.” She grimaced. “Except it’s baloney and cheese sandwiches and somehow I don’t think that’s quite what I ought to be offering you for your first meal here. Not after what you made for me.”
“I didn’t come over to be entertained.” Jenna walked in and Gard closed the door. “I was worried. How bad is it?”
“It’s really nothing.” Gard led Jenna back to the kitchen. “A few stitches.”
Jenna regarded her suspiciously. “How many stitches?”
Gard put her good hand into the pocket of her pants, but she didn’t have any coins to jiggle and pulled her hand back out. Glancing sideways at Jenna, she said, “Twenty, if you count the ones inside, but—”
“Sit down,” Jenna said, pointing to a chair. “I’ll fix you something to eat. Only it’s not going to be baloney and cheese. If you don’t mind me knocking around your kitchen, I’ll cook.”
“No way.” Gard got between Jenna and the refrigerator. “You sit. You’re my guest tonight.”
“You’re hurt.” Jenna’s eyes flashed with a little bit of anger, a little bit of worry.
Gard had never noticed the tiny flecks of black diamond swirling through the green, but now, so close to her, she was mesmerized. “You’ve got beautiful eyes.”
“Shut up.” Jenna caught her lower lip between her teeth, the flush creeping down her neck. “Don’t say anything else, and whatever you do, don’t touch me.”
“Why is that?” Gard stepped closer until they were only a few inches apart. Jenna was breathing noticeably faster, the tip of her tongue peeking out to moisten her lower lip when she released it from between her teeth. “You look so damn kissable right now.”
“I don’t know why it is,” Jenna said, her voice breat
hy and low, “but you make me want to be kissed like no one I’ve ever known.”
Gard traced a finger along the edge of Jenna’s jaw. “I don’t think I want to know how many women that’s been.”
“Jealous?” Jenna knew she was teasing, wanted to tease her. She’d rushed over to Gard’s to be sure she wasn’t hurt badly, but just one look at her had rekindled the wanting. The wanting had quickly caught flame and by the time they’d reached the kitchen, she was fully involved. All she could think about now was Gard touching her, kissing her, holding her. She snapped herself back to the present. Gard was hurt. “We are not doing this tonight.”
Gard brushed her thumb over Jenna’s lower lip, then pushed in just a little farther until the pad grazed over the moist inner surface of Jenna’s lip. “What are we doing? Huh?”
Jenna licked the tip of Gard’s thumb, aching to suck it. Aching to taste her. And where in Hell had her brains gone. She jerked her head back but Gard’s hand on her jaw blocked her escape.
“What are we doing?” Gard stroked Jenna’s lip, sending sparks showering straight to Jenna’s core. “Jen?”
Jenna planted her hands on Gard’s chest and pushed her backwards, one slow step at a time. “What we’re not doing is fooling around.”
The muscles in Gard’s chest and shoulders tightened beneath Jenna’s hands. God, she had a gorgeous body. Jenna couldn’t help but imagine what all that strength would feel like moving on top of her, moving inside her, and she felt herself go liquid. Go ready. Gard’s eyes flared, and Jenna knew she knew.
“I never heard how you got hurt,” Jenna said hoarsely, maneuvering Gard back the last inch until her legs hit the kitchen chair and she sat. “Tell me while I make your sandwich. But I’m not eating one of those things.”
“There’s some leftover pizza in the refrigerator.”
“I’m not really hungry.” Jenna set about assembling the sandwich, aware of Gard watching her. She concentrated on the mindless activity to keep her mind off the way Gard always made her feel like the absolute center of her attention. She’d been ignored as a child, and as Cassandra was used to being on stage, but rarely had anyone looked at her with such intensity. Having Gard’s gaze on her was as exciting as being touched. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Want to join me for a beer? There’re a couple of Long Trails in the refrigerator.”
“I will, thanks.” Jenna pushed the plate with the sandwich on it over to Gard, got out two bottles of ale, found the bottle opener where Gard directed her, popped the tops, and set a bottle in front of Gard. She sat down next to Gard and sipped from hers.
Gard took a big bite of the sandwich, then another. “Good.”
“It’s baloney. How could it be?”
Grinning, Gard finished chewing, tilted the beer bottle, and took three long swallows, her eyes never leaving Jenna. “How’s your writing coming along?”
“My new book?” Jenna was surprised that Gard would care.
“Can you tell me what it’s about so far, or is that a trade secret?”
“You really can’t be interested.”
“Wrong,” Gard said softly. “I am.”
“I’ve really just started.” Jenna laughed, hoped she wasn’t blushing. “Something a little bit different for me. I’m writing a love story, of course, that’s what I write, but this one is set in a little town a lot like this one.”
Gard’s brows rose. “Really? And who’s the hero?”
Looking at her, Jenna realized immediately who she’d written that day. “You. I mean, a character a lot like you. I’m going to make her a vet—I just decided that right this minute.”
“Not biographical, I hope.”
“Only insofar as she’s devastatingly handsome, effortlessly charming, and drop-dead sexy.”
“Is that what you think?”
“Oh, that’s exactly what I think.” Jenna recognized she was flirting again, and the feeling was a little bit intoxicating. “Of course, I don’t really know what it is that you do, but that’s what the Internet is for.”
“Why get it secondhand, when you could experience it yourself?”
Jenna wondered if they were talking about her book anymore. “What did you have in mind?”
“Why don’t you come out with me on some of my calls? That would be better, right? Give you more of the details that you need?”
“That would be amazing.” Jenna sat forward, excited. “You wouldn’t mind? Believe me, the character wouldn’t be recognizable, even if anyone in Little Falls did read my books.”
“You think they don’t? Rina knows who you are.”
“She might be the only one in Vermont, then.”
“I doubt it. Cassandra Hart sounds a lot more famous than you like to let on.”
Jenna waved that away with a flick of her hand. “Never mind that. You’re sure I can come out with you?”
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at five.”
“Wait a minute, you can’t be working tomorrow.” Jenna brushed the bandage on Gard’s arm. “You need to recover.”
Gard laughed. “Sweetheart, I can’t stop working because I’ve got a little scratch.”
“I can’t believe that’s a little scratch. And you’ve very neatly distracted me so that you didn’t have to tell me what happened.” She stood up and pointed a finger at Gard. “I’m going to clean up and you are going to tell me what happened.”
“Oh yeah?” Gard grabbed Jenna’s hand with her uninjured arm and pulled Jenna onto her lap. She looped an arm around Jenna’s waist, holding her. “You sure?”
“Talk,” Jenna said. Being this close to Gard was dangerous, but she didn’t care. She laced both arms around Gard’s neck and leaned back so she could watch her face. “No touching.”
“It was a boar.” Gard stroked the outside of Jenna’s thigh below her shorts. Each gentle caress was a streak of fire. “I was doing some dental work and—”
“Wait a minute. A pig?”
“A very big pig,” Gard said with some heat.
Jenna almost smiled. “All right. A very big, mean pig, I gather.”
“All pigs are mean,” Gard said. “This one is especially nasty when he’s awake.”
“Wasn’t he?”
“He was supposed to be anesthetized,” Gard said. “He was getting a little light and some idiots were firing rounds in the woods out behind the farm. The unusual stimulation was enough to wake him up. I was almost done when he got me.”
Jenna cradled Gard’s injured arm in her lap, carefully stroking the white gauze wrapped around Gard’s forearm. “I’m sorry. Will it be all right?”
“Yes. It’ll be sore for a few days, and I’ll need to take it easy with the heavy work for another week or so. But it’ll be fine.”
Gard’s voice had dropped and the slow strokes on Jenna’s leg had become firmer, trailing over the top of her thigh and lightly down the inside, just above her knee.
“I need to get off your lap,” Jenna whispered.
“Why?” Gard nuzzled the side of Jenna’s neck.
“I’m going to forget you’re injured in another few seconds.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.” Gard slowly, deliberately, kissed her way up Jenna’s neck and tugged gently on the gold stud in her pierced earlobe.
Jenna arched, unable to stifle a faint whimper. The little pinpoint of pleasure streaked down the center of her body and struck her clitoris. She realized she was grinding her butt into Gard’s lap, an invitation she hadn’t meant to make and was afraid she couldn’t stop. With more strength than she thought she had, she pushed herself up and away from Gard.
“Sorry,” Jenna muttered. “Sorry.”
“My fault.” Gard didn’t want to let her go and barely restrained herself from yanking Jenna back into her arms. Her stomach was rigid, a hard hot plank of desire. She hadn’t meant to touch her in the first place, but watching her move around the kitchen, bantering with her a little, just being w
ith her had been so damn easy. So damn good. “Sorry.”
“No, you didn’t do anything.” Jenna shook her head and backed up another step. “I can’t seem to think straight around you.”
“I don’t believe what we were doing had anything to do with thinking.”
“My point exactly.”
“The other night you wanted me to kiss you. You wanted me to do more than that,” Gard said.
“The other night you didn’t want me.”
Gard’s jaw clenched. “That’s where you’re wrong. I wanted you. I haven’t stopped thinking about wanting you.”
“Even when you were with your girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend.” Gard blew out a breath. “So you did hear the rumor. Look—”
“Never mind. God damn it. It’s none of my business and I know it.” Jenna turned to leave. “We’re not having this conversation. It’s completely unnecessary. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right.”
Gard stood up. “That’s bullshit. You came over here for something else.”
“You don’t know me well enough to read my mind.”
“Can anyone?”
Jenna shook her head. “No.”
“What about Alice?”
“What about Alice?” Jenna asked.
“She knows you, doesn’t she? I got the feeling Alice didn’t think too much of me.”
“Alice is a good friend. She cares about me. That’s all.”
“You’re not lovers?”
Jenna paused. “No.”
“Do you want to be?”
“It would make sense.” Jenna glanced at Gard. “We’re compatible. We have the same passion—we work too much and we both get more satisfaction from work than anything else. It would be easy and comfortable.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes. Would that be so bad?”
“Probably not.” Gard lifted her shoulder. “If more relationships were like that, they might last.”
“What about you and the girl last night?”
“I just met her.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything.”