Bootscootin' and Cozy Cash Mysteries Boxed Set (Books 1-6)

by Scott, D. D.

  Dipstick licked her nose, cuddled into her chest then wedged his behind into her lower abdomen and tucked his head just under her chin and into the bend of her neck.

  If only the rest of the world thought Roxy was as wonderful as her dogs did.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As the front tires of Zayne’s beat-up truck hit the gravel lane leading to the McDonald farm, Roxy’s boot slipped off the accelerator. Overcompensating, she slammed on the brakes and fishtailed.

  Driving in cowboy boots, let alone driving a pick-up were new experiences. Used to punching the pedal of her Mercedes with the small soles of her stilettos, she was having a difficult time transitioning to the massive heels of her boots and the power they packed to the squirrely truck’s floorboard.

  She’d just have to keep practicing. Something she didn’t mind a bit. Driving one of these beasts, she was livin’ her dream. And wouldn’t Audrey and Jules get a kick out of riding in a big ‘ole farm truck? She was turning into a for real country Carrie Bradshaw, Roxy thought, loving every moment of the transition.

  Having burnt all the fuel she’d pumped into whatever part needed it, Zayne’s truck coasted forward until it came to a complete stop. Immobilized by the view, she didn’t have the presence of mind to tap the gas pedal.

  She leaned back against the split, cracked and badly patched leather of her seat, careful not to ruin the back of her hair on the headrest.

  What would it have been like to be raised by a woman like Kat whose creative touch never stopped, even at fencerows? A real trip, she imagined. But a journey she’d loved to have been a part of. A journey marked by potted tomato plants precisely positioned between each section of fence lining the McDonald farm’s entrance.

  Could tomatoes grow in pots? Guess so. ‘Course that was assuming the clusters of green balls hanging amidst the tiny yellow blooms were tomatoes. Tomatoes 101 hadn’t been offered at the prep schools Roxy attended.

  Taking a quick count, she estimated about twenty moss-like pots on each side of the lane. And who knew how many more wound around the bend in the road a ways in front of her. As the plants’ fuzzy leaves reached toward the sun, wooden trellises — perhaps handmade — but definitely not the plastic or cheap iron Wal-Mart variety — staked the climbing vines in each pot.

  For a minute, Roxy felt like she may be daydreaming, perhaps dozing off while skimming a coffee table book highlighting the most scenic farms in America. She’d never seen this kind of natural beauty, a result of human hands mixing with Mother Nature. It warmed her like the leaves basking in the late day sun.

  In the pots, hugging the base of each trellis, cherry red impatiens mixed in with deeper red, ruby-like, geraniums. Petals in the same hues but of unknown varieties tumbled over the tops of clay pots decoratively placed around each trellis. Tall spikes and pluming ferns added height and perfect splotches of green to break up the rousing reds.

  Kat believed in making an entrance. That was damn evident. No wonder she’d approved of the wisteria Roxy had painstakingly trained onto the arbors marking the supply store’s rear doors.

  Roxy’s foot hit the gas pedal a little too hard, lightly spinning the tires as she drove toward the house. As far as she could see, the ground had been broken and piled up into perfectly aligned black-brown hills. She cut the air conditioning and cranked down her window, breathing in the country freshness. The scent of the rich earth, mounded in rows on both sides of the road, inundated her nose.

  She may not know how to garner life from the raw earth, but just put her in charge of the scarecrow. She’d have him dapper and draped to kill before sunset. Were scarecrows used on tomato farms? Or was that just in the cornfields bordering the yellow brick road?

  Rounding a small bend, she passed a lemon yellow barn trimmed in white, then two more in the same color scheme although not as big. Three greenhouses — the expensive glass kind, not the plastic-covered pop-ups — followed.

  At the end of the lane, she circled in front of a sprawling ranch-style villa. It belonged as a set piece in a major motion picture not on a Tennessee tomato farm.

  The home’s pale yellow stucco screamed Tuscany, as did the low cobblestone wall spanning the front lawn. The only details the property lacked from its Italian counterpart were a second story with a view of the Mediterranean.

  How could something this charmingly European exist in Tennessee? Who knew you didn’t have to go on holiday to find a Mediterranean paradise?

  Delicate white curtains blew outside open, shuttered windows. She imagined tile floors, lion head fountains, arbored roses and terraced courtyards. As she opened the truck door and scooted out from behind the wheel, she could almost taste sangria.

  The home catapulted Roxy right out of boot country and into Tuscan poppy fields. She’d never felt so Frances Mayes but under a Tennessee sun.

  Pausing to gather her over-stimulated muse before she opened the gate to Zayne’s world, Roxy adjusted her custom-cut pink leather jeans. She tugged the hem down to cover the top of her pink, ostrich skin boots.

  Grinding the boots’ soles into the soft dirt, she applied extra pressure to her left foot testing the boot’s fit, glad to discover it held her bad ankle snug. Having beat the worst of the pain by midday yesterday, she still babied her injury, trying to ignore the occasional dull throb it packed into her foot.

  Regardless of their comfort level, which she was pleased to note was unexpectedly wonderful, Roxy had to wear the boots. A gift from Kat, they were perfect for serious bootscootin’. Perfect too because Zayne would have a cow over the nontraditional color.

  Roxy may dream about thriving here and adopting a surrogate family like Zayne’s, but she’d do it with her own style. She just hoped her definition of style and graciousness would earn both his and his family’s affection. Growing up on Manhattans’ A List hadn’t exactly taught her how to cultivate close friends. She was bred for cocktail party functionality, not heartfelt, lasting connections.

  She slung her pink canvas Prada bag over her shoulder, loving the clinks and jingles the baubles on the handles made colliding with her belt.

  Tonight would be a great endurance test for her signature Buckles Me Baby prototype. She’d see if the fasteners she’d chosen could handle two-stepping. Hopefully better than her jacket did last Saturday night.

  Undoing one more pearlized button on her bubble-gum pink, fitted western blouse, Roxy relaxed the soft cotton fabric, flaring it out right above the ‘v’ of her breasts. She may not bootscoot to Zayne’s satisfaction but she’d provide plenty of eye candy.

  Stepping through the wall’s wooden gate, she followed the crushed stone path to the front door, hoping he would like what waited for him on his porch.

  She knocked once, waited less than a reasonable amount of time, but longer than she wanted to, then again tapped her knuckles against the solid oak.

  Zayne opened the door. Without saying a single word, he moved his warm, dark eyes down her body, causing time as Roxy knew it to stop. With a devil-take-all grin, he confirmed his approval.

  “Hi,” she said, fumbling with her keys but feeling lucky she remembered an acceptable greeting.

  Shirtless, clad in the best-fit jeans she’d seen on a man, Zayne’s taut muscles were beaded with droplets of water evidently missed by his bath towel.

  To keep from touching him, Roxy clenched her fists until her nails dug into her palms. Feeling like her belt had just tightened itself another notch, she drew her hands over her trembling stomach.

  The man made her crazy. Every hormone she had crashed against her mind.

  • • •

  Just out of the shower and pre-occupied thinking about the night ahead of him, Zayne answered the door forgetting to finish drying off. The pink bombshell waiting for him stopped the cold draft rushing over his damp skin. A heated thrill replaced the chill from the early evening air.

  Hoping to shake himself back into reality, Zayne sized up his new dance partner while he towel-dried
his hair. Numb, all rational thoughts suspended, he opted to drip dry. Hello, my little pink sweet tart.

  Not one damn cowgirl he’d ever seen wore pink leather jeans. And damn if Roxy didn’t have pink boots to match. But then again, Roxy was no cowgirl. She was a siren in western wear.

  Zayne couldn’t block out her body’s sweet, silent whisper to surrender his sail. His sail popped all right. He shook out his tingling arm and lowered his towel to cover his bulging clipper.

  Recalling he’d been taught manners, he tried to form words in his mouth. “Hungry?”

  What the…? How about ‘come on in’, Dumb Ass?

  Roxy giggled, choking back a full laugh, although her mischievous eyes carried her humor at Zayne’s expense. Hell, she was enjoying his torture.

  “May I come in?” She waited a beat, tapping her toe and shifting her gorgeous body to one hip. “Or are we dining and dancing out here?”

  He’d still forgotten to invite her in.

  “Yeah. Yeah. No. I mean, yes, come in. No, we’re not eating out or dancing in,” Zayne said, trying to determine if he’d gotten the prepositions in the correct spots.

  “I think I understood that.” Roxy moved past him, into his home and into his heart.

  “Sometimes, Zayne, I don’t think you speak English.”

  “Sometimes, I don’t think you understand it.”

  He studied the way her jeans perfectly hugged her endless legs, temporarily hung up by the way her toned ass rounded out the back pockets.

  “What did you say?” She asked him, not waiting for an answer, instead making herself at home taking in the décor.

  “Never mind.” He took her elbow and moved her into the family room, not missing the jolt passing up his arm and punching his gut. “Wander around in here while I finish getting dressed.”

  Thanks to his mother’s friends, Zayne knew how to entertain creative women. Basically, if the setting was decent, a man didn’t have to provide as much conversation. Lucky for him, his mom had done their house up right.

  Zayne left Roxy with the family photos filling every bit of space in the room. Probably not a wise move either since there were some doozies of him he wished his mom would put away. At least, however, the pictures were something to provide a catalyst for conversation.

  Mentally kicking his own balls for being such an idiot, Zayne swore to get a grip on his erratic behavior. What had he been thinking making this deal? He couldn’t be in the same room with Roxy and remain remotely functional above his belt. After dancing together two times a week, he’d be crippled.

  He returned to his bedroom, pulled on a T-shirt, shoved some gel through his hair then prayed for courage and wit. With Roxy, he continually fought for both. Something he’d never had to do with a female.

  Once thinking his mom had taught him well regarding the ways to capture a woman’s fancy, now Zayne questioned his prowess. Around Roxy, he never said or did anything right. Worse yet, usually his actions resulted in near mishaps or personal injuries.

  Back in the family room, Zayne leaned against the pocket door. He cracked his knuckles and prepared to high jump into what he wanted to be a memorable evening. He hoped to foster enough good will that at least she’d want to come back.

  Their payment plan wasn’t his chief concern. Actually, he couldn’t have cared less how much she owed him. He wasn’t kidding himself. He wanted the woman bearing the blame for damn near totaling his truck, not the money she claimed she didn’t have for repairs.

  He studied her, liking every bit of how she looked in his family room. She was a bold contrast to his all-too-comfortable life. She added spice to a room that was anything but dull and bland even though it appeared that way when compared to serving as her host.

  She’d taken a picture from the mantle. Moving her fingers over the glass, she paused along the photo’s right side.

  Zayne recognized the frame. From the numerous times he’d handled its well-worn maple edges, the original finish was gone. As he watched her studying the photo, his heart squeezed in his chest.

  The whole idea of planting her in here was to give them stuff to discuss. Why had she zeroed in on the one thing in the room he couldn’t talk about?

  Many years had passed since his mom had taken the photo. By now, Zayne should have toughened up to that image of his life. He’d changed so much since the day the photo had been shot. At least he used to think he had. Watching Roxy study the scene made him wonder if he really was that different.

  He sucked in his quivering stomach, chastising himself with every step he took closer to her. Before she could ask him about the picture, Zayne took it out of her hand and returned it to the knotty pine credenza. Grabbing another frame, he offered it as consolation.

  “Here’s one of my favorites,” he said, trying to ignore her questioning eyes even though they were as sweet as chocolate pudding.

  He pointed to the muscular, tank top-clad man in the photo. “This here’s Damian who Mom says you’re going to meet Friday.

  “And this one’s my other friend Cody. The best damn cook around,” Zayne said, tapping his finger against the short, tanned man in the photo, who never appeared in public without a cowboy hat drawn-low on his forehead.

  Roxy took the frame and held it up for closer inspection. “Great looking friends. Are they single?”

  Okay. That plan had blown up in his face. Zayne didn’t want — wouldn’t let — Roxy fall for those guys. Not when he wanted her so bad he couldn’t think past her tight pink pants. Getting an unsolicited whiff of her cherry almond-scented lotion, he was breathless. That damn stuff would be the death of him.

  “Umm. Yeah. I guess they’re single. Why?” Realizing his response had come out pathetically defensive, Zayne tried to shrug it off as he replaced the frame.

  “Easy, boy,” Roxy said and squeezed his shoulder, leaving her beautiful, Palmolive-perfect hand on his back. “I’m not interested. My two best friends are arriving in three weeks to spend the summer. I thought you guys could show us the town.”

  “Oh. Great idea. I’ll set that up. Three weeks, huh?” Zayne took a breath, then another, releasing his turmoil in measured spurts, hoping Roxy wouldn’t pick-up on the relief washing through him.

  “Why don’t we all hook-up at The Neon Cowboy? They can catch our first official night as dance partners.” Zayne rearranged a few photos, waiting on her response, then turned back to face her.

  “Sure. That’ll work.” Roxy rubbed her hands together then down her arms.

  “Are you cold?” She must be, he thought, as her nipples ripened to bud-like perfection against the perfectly thin cotton of her shirt.

  Damn. She was killing his resolve to be a gentleman. He wanted her so bad he ached, even before she flashed her headlights.

  Zayne swore she blushed. But she was covered in so many shades of pink he couldn’t decipher what was what amongst the color variations.

  “I am chilly. Could you cut the AC?”

  She walked across the room toward the fireplace. Like he’d have it going in May. What was wrong with these Yankees?

  She was chilly, and he was melting from the heat of her in his home. Igniting flames inside him he couldn’t put down. She warmed every inch of him with a sizzling desire he couldn’t extinguish.

  As he turned off the cooling vent, Zayne stewed about his own rising temperature. Even though he was a free man, totally unattached, sex wouldn’t be just sex with her. Having her in his bed wouldn’t be an end. It would be the start of something he wasn’t sure he was ready for. Roxy wasn’t a woman he could walk away from without suffering significant collateral damage.

  Part of him hoped tonight would prove she wasn’t the woman for him. What could he possibly offer her? She’d never be happy as the mistress of a tomato manor, even if he’d earn the right to take the throne away from the Baudlins. And dancing for a living sure wouldn’t pay for the lifestyle she was used to.

  Zayne re-focused his tormented mind on
the present, leaving his future wrapped in dreams he’d learned to put on indeterminate hold. Finding Roxy sitting on the floor in the middle of his tomato card mess, he took another hit to his gut. He should have picked-up the cards before she came over but he hadn’t wanted to lose his place. Now she’d think he was a slob and an idiot.

  “What are you doing with these cards?” She looked over the matched rows he’d started. “Playing Go Fish? It looks like you’re missing one here though. Number four of…the Red Rocket Brandywine five series.”

  “You got that right, smarty pants.” Zayne sat down next to her on the bearskin rug, determined to control his libido since he’d been abandoned by his brain. “I’ve got to find that card, or I’ll be screwed in this year’s tomato festival contest.”

  “How so? I thought you knew the tomato world. Were its Beefsteak King.”

  Roxy laughed.

  Zayne didn’t.

  She put her hand on his knee, sending a shot of lust to his groin. “Hey. What’s wrong? I’m sorry if I upset you. I didn’t mean to.”

  “It’s not you, Rox,” Zayne said then sighed feeling bad his silence and inability to find humor in his mess killed her joke. He picked at the oiled fibers of the rug. “It’s me. I don’t know shit about tomatoes. It was my old man’s domain. Mine is the dance floor.”

  “So why enter the contest?” She withdrew her hand from his knee and crossed her legs Indian-style, pressing her palms to her knees.

  “After my father died, I promised myself I’d do this one contest for him. He was so close to getting his prized hybrid ready for market-level production, and a win would have finished the process.”

  Once Zayne started talking about the problem he couldn’t stop, even though he had to seem a fool. What kind of man took on a project he didn’t know a damn thing about? Then freely admitted he was clueless? To the woman he liked? He should shut up. Save what little dignity he had left. But it felt so good that she’d listen.

  “I’m missing a card containing the errors Dad recorded about the growing process. I had it Sunday when the Baudlins were here. But I dropped the box and the cards went everywhere.” As Zayne spoke, his chest, once wound tight enough to alter his airflow, relaxed, starting to release some of the pressure he’d carried since taking on the tomatoes.