"No, actually I wasn't. I was thinking about peach cobbler with ice cream. What were you thinking about?"
"That romp in the sheets at your house in Cushing."
He almost choked on a bite of potato. Daisy spoke her mind and did not stutter. Life with her would never be a guessing game.
She smiled sweetly. "I was lying. I was really thinking about how I'd like a repeat performance up in your bedroom right here."
"Before or after cobbler?" He laid his napkin to one side and held out a hand. She put hers in it and followed him upstairs to the bedroom. He left the door open and sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling her down beside him.
"I want you. I've thought about you all day and was disappointed when I thought you weren't here when I came in for the day. Every waking thought centers around you, Daisy. I want to make love to you until neither of us can see straight."
"I see a but in your face and it's not part of anyone's anatomy."
"There is a but. I want more. I want a relationship with you. I don't want a quick tumble in the sheets. I want to date you. I want to introduce you as my girlfriend even though that seems young and silly. I want to be able to say the words."
"Can we talk about this after we make love?"
"No, I'm not making love to you right now even though I want to so bad it aches. I want an exclusive relationship and I don't want sex without it," he said.
"What if all I want is a friendship with benefits?"
"Then you'll have to find it somewhere else. I can be your acquaintance but I can't be only your friend with benefits."
"Kiss me," she said.
"Is it friendship with benefits?"
She let go of his hand and stood up.
You've blown it, he thought.
She threw one leg over both his and sat in his lap, facing him. Grabbing a fist full of hair she pulled his lips down to hers and ran her tongue around his lips.
He broke away and leaned back. "Why did you do that?"
"Testing the water, darlin' man," she said.
He frowned.
"I was afraid that if I said I'd commit to you that it would change things. It didn't. Kissing you made me just as hot ever. Have I ever told you that touching your hand puts my mind in the gutter and I want to haul you to bed every time you look at me?"
"And?"
"I'll be your girlfriend, Jarod. I'll be your exclusive, committed relationship, but don't pressure me for anything more for a very long time," she said.
"It's a deal, sweetheart." He hugged her tightly. "Will you sleep with me tonight? I'm so tired I'm not sure I can do anything more than that, but I want to cuddle with you like we did last night. I want to wake up with you beside me like I did at my house in Cushing. I want to hold you and feel your sweet breath on my chest all night."
"I promise I'll sleep with you but peach cobbler with ice cream is waiting, honey," she whispered in his ear.
"Lie down here with me for five minutes. Let me feel your body next to mine. I'd rather feel you than taste peach cobbler and it's my favorite dessert," he said.
"I'm flattered," she giggled softly.
"You should be. Darlin', I have never given up peach cobbler for another woman," he laughed with her.
They snuggled for half an hour, whispering as if the house was full of relatives who might overhear their sweet talk.
"I could sleep until morning just like this," he said.
"Me too."
They didn't sleep or make love but lay in each other's arms for another thirty minutes. He made lazy circles on her back and upper arms and she breathed softly on his chest.
"Want to go watch the sunset with me?" Jarod finally asked.
"I'd love to," she said.
They hurriedly cleaned up the kitchen and dipped cobbler and ice cream into one bowl with two spoons to take to the porch to watch the sunset. They sat side by side on the porch steps and shared cobbler as the sun slowly sunk below the horizon.
The clock struck nine times in the dining room. That was the first time Daisy had thought of the Honky Tonk all evening. Guilt flowed over her; she loved that place. How could she forget it even for an evening?
Easy. You found something that you love even more, that pestering voice inside her heart said.
Oh, no, she argued. I'm in a committed relationship now. I love the sex. I love the attention. I love the afterglow and even this peach cobbler, but I will not admit that I've fallen in love with Jarod. Not tonight. I can't do that much in one day and keep my sanity.
"Peach cobbler and a sunset are almost as beautiful as my girlfriend. It don't get no better than this," Jarod said.
"You are sure using that word a lot," she said.
"Yes, and you'll be hearing it even more tomorrow when I introduce you to everyone who drives a truck onto this property, or when we go to the Honky Tonk and I tell Billy Bob and everyone who'll stand still and listen to me crow that you are a marked woman now," he said.
She tried to find a smart aleck remark to snap back at him but her mind went blank. She sighed. She hadn't thought of the teasing Chigger and Cathy would give her.
Chapter 17
Chigger took one look at Daisy and winked. "You got laid."
"Did you?" Cathy's big blue eyes widened.
"I don't kiss and tell but the answer is no. I have agreed to a committed relationship. I did not agree to anything past that," Daisy said.
"If you are thinking of anything past that you'd better get on the ball or else wait until after Valentine's Day because I'm going to be in the wedding and I refuse to look like I've got a watermelon under my fancy dress when I am," Chigger said.
Daisy looked at Cathy. "What about you?"
Cathy put both palms up. "I've got a new car and a job. I don't care if you take fifty years to do anything past that."
"Good, guess that's settled. I can use it. Hams are cooking. You can make the yeast rolls. The cattle trucks won't be here until lunch or after so I can help in the house until then," Daisy said.
"You are a woman of many talents," Chigger said. "I can't cook and barely know a cow from a bull."
"But what you do in the bedroom makes up for that, don't it?" Daisy teased.
Chigger headed for the kitchen. "You are damned right! But I can help with this dinner in other ways that cookin'. I've helped Momma do hundreds of funeral dinners at the church and this ain't much different than that. I'll get the table arranged. We'll start 'em on this end by the door. They can pick up a tray, fill it up, and go find a place to sit. Where's the paper plates? Bet they're in the pantry out here with the extra stove." She pulled a stack of divided Styrofoam plates from the shelf, along with plastic cutlery and glasses.
"I'll get busy on hot rolls." Cathy started searching through the pantry for the flour, yeast, sugar, and oil. "So did you?" she asked Daisy.
Daisy stirred up the dressing for the potato salad. "Did I what?"
"Get laid," Cathy asked.
"You two are obsessed with sex. And I understand. I really do. Chigger just got married and had it on the brain even before she said 'I do.' Cathy, you've always liked a man in your life. I swear you'll be leaving the Honky Tonk in another week and searching for a new boyfriend. But I'm content with a committed relationship for a very long time."
"Bite your tongue!" Cathy said.
"Did you get laid?" Chigger asked.
"I'm not answering that question. Which reminds me, you never did tell me what your momma had to say about your marriage," Daisy said.
Chigger stopped working and poured a cup of coffee. "She cried and then she got mad that I didn't have it at the church so she could buy a new dress. Can you just imagine all the frills and ruffles she would have picked out? I would have looked like Little Bo Peep. All I would have needed was a shepherd's hook and a parasol. Hell, she might have made me carry a parasol too. After the tears she was happy because she didn't have to pay for a big shindig and she was excited that she was going to hav
e a new grandbaby. She couldn't wait to get to church on Sunday and tell everyone that we got married six months ago and was keeping it a secret. Said it sounded so romantic. All I could think was, 'Hot damn, I got off that one easy.'"
"What cock-and-bull story did you tell her about why you got married secretly?" Daisy asked.
"She hadn't asked yet. You got any ideas?"
Daisy peeled cooled boiled potatoes and diced them. "It's your lie. Concoct it anyway you want."
Cathy poured two cups of hot water into a bowl and added yeast and sugar. "You two sure do fight a lot to be best friends."
Chigger put a plastic cloth on the table. "Best friends don't always see eye-to-eye. We respect each other's opinions. Wait until you meet Momma. You'll understand."
"Am I going to meet Momma soon?" Cathy asked.
Chigger smiled brightly. "Oh, yes. She's coming to Sunday dinner, not this weekend but the next and both of you are going to be there and so is Jarod and he's going to have to be married to Daisy that day so you'd best get him ready for the part."
"Oh, no, not again," Daisy moaned.
"You will do it, won't you?" Chigger asked.
"Of course I'll do it," Daisy said.
"And Cathy, you are Joe Bob's girlfriend that day," Chigger giggled.
"Dear God," Cathy muttered.
"What about poor old Billy Bob?" Daisy asked.
"Oh, he'll be there all right but he made me mad this week so he doesn't have a girlfriend. Know what that means?"
Cathy shook her head.
Daisy shivered.
Chigger nodded seriously, "You get the prize, Daisy, 'cause you figured it out right away. He isn't going to have a girlfriend and Momma will fix him up with someone from her church. He'll learn to be nice to me and Jim Bob. Momma's matchmaking skills are even worse than voodoo. And while we're at it, you'd better tell Cathy the cover story."
Daisy filled her in.
"Monopoly?" Cathy frowned.
"That's right. Cards are sinful and will lead you straight to hell so we don't play cards on Saturday night."
"And I'm a Sunday school teacher and I live with Daisy and I do what?" Cathy could hardly believe the lie.
"Bookkeeping. It's not a lie. You do work for Daisy and you do take money and count the till so that makes you a bookkeeper. Say it often enough and it don't sound so far-fetched. Momma's a pain in the ass but she's my momma and she's the only one I'll ever get. I wouldn't hurt her for the world and she's got a bad heart so it's not really lies but heart protection," Chigger said.
"Did Daisy tell you about my other job? Is that why you said I was a bookkeeper?" Cathy stopped stirring the yeast mixture. "Do you read tea leaves or practice voodoo?"
Chigger glanced up from her job. "Are you a real bookkeeper?"
Daisy answered the question. "She's an accountant. She's got a college degree and she worked at an oil company along with a son-of-a-bitch who slapped her around. She gave a notice and came to Mingus to get away from him and the area."
"Well I'll be damned."
Jarod slipped into the kitchen through the back door and asked, "What will you be damned about?"
"Daisy will tell you later but save a week from Sunday for dinner at my house. Momma is coming to visit," Chigger said.
"Strength in numbers?" Jarod draped an arm around Daisy's shoulder. "Have you two met my girlfriend?"
"We have and we know," Cathy said.
Jarod brushed a kiss across her forehead. "Just came after a glass of tea and to tell you the first load of cattle will be here right before noon. We've got most of Emmett's herd rounded up and in the corral. If you'll bring the paperwork down right after lunch we'll go through them and decide what to turn out and what to send back with the trucks. Jim Bob, Joe Bob, and Billy Bob are here helping us too."
"Maybe I should've made three hams." Daisy shrugged his arm away and went to straighten the wrinkle-free table cloth.
Jarod filled a plastic glass with tea and carried it out the back door. "See you in at noon."
"Whew! What was that all about?" Chigger asked when he left.
"What?" Daisy asked.
Chigger pulled out a dining room chair and sat down. "Okay, let's get this thing talked through before the fellers come in for dinner. Another ice storm like that and Jarod will be introducing you as his ex-girlfriend. You know what I'm talking about, Daisy, so don't give me that blank stare. I could feel the chill. Right here in the middle of the summer, it felt like an icy winter wind filled the house. Don't you think he could feel it too? Last time I gave Jim Bob the cold shoulder like that was a year ago when this woman at the Honky Tonk backed him up in a corner and had his belt buckle in her hands when I caught them."
Daisy sighed. "I don't know what it was. Last night I really wanted to enter into a committed relationship. Today, when he said that girlfriend thing, it made me mad and I have no idea why."
"Better figure it out right soon," Cathy said.
"I'm not sure it's even Jarod. I think it might be all this stuff around me. I feel like I'm being smothered to death just trying to fix a meal in this house with all the clutter around me and then he's smothering me by being so damn possessive. I couldn't breath when he put his arm around me. I felt like all these damned fake animals were giving me the evil glare. His sister-in-law, Jewel, looks at me like that and…" Daisy stopped talking and threw up her hands in bewilderment.
"Physical things are affecting the emotions. I can understand that," Chigger said. "Everything chose that moment to close in on you and make you crazy."
"You should be a psychiatrist," Daisy said.
"Hairdresser. Rancher's wife. Psychiatrist. One and the same. Got to get to the bottom of a problem, then unravel the damn thing no matter what you are. Here's the deal. Momma's church owns an old house that they keep things like this in, along with clothing and used eyeglasses to give to the needy. If Jarod is willing we'll get rid of it."
"I'll ask him," Daisy said.
"Hey, you know what this house reminds me of? My grandmother's. She loved all this folderol," Cathy said.
"So do I," Chigger said. "Like I said, it's cozy to me, but to each his own, and if this drives Daisy crazy enough to produce icicles when Jarod touches her, it's time for the damn stuff to go."
***
As he worked that morning Jarod kept thinking about the way Daisy shrugged off his touch. She'd offered to make the lunch; he hadn't asked. He'd given her a chance to back out of the relationship and she'd agreed to it—quite wholeheartedly. So what in the devil did he do wrong from the time he walked out the door that morning and she'd kissed him passionately until the time he ran inside for a glass of tea?
She was behaving like most of the women he'd had in his life and that didn't set well with him. Get him committed and then play little mind games that kept him confused. If he'd judged her wrong then he could and would get out of the relationship. He was too old and had been through too many women with issues to play the game again.
He hadn't figured out a single thing when he and the Walker triplets trooped into the house for dinner. Jarod spoke to several of the men already in the backyard with plates piled high in front of them as he made his way across the yard. He wasn't in a hurry to face Daisy again even though his stomach was growling and he was as thirsty as if he had just crossed the Sahara.
Once inside the house, the dinner line was still long. Daisy, Chigger, and Cathy were busy behind the table and the noise level was even higher than when Uncle Emmett had the television and the CD player running at the same time. Daisy looked up and smiled at him. What should have sent his spirits soaring plunged them to the pits of depression. Too hot to touch. Cold enough to freeze him. Now warm. Those abrupt changes in temperature could ruin a relationship and squelch love.
Jarod picked up a plate at the dinner buffet only to have Daisy move around and get in front of him. "You won't mind if your girlfriend cuts in line, will you?"
"Not at all
," he said flatly.
A band appeared around Daisy's heart and began to tighten. Had she just destroyed the best thing that had ever happened to her?
"Did you get the cattle all penned up for me?" she asked as they loaded their plates.
"We did. Just a few more stragglers to herd in and they're all ready."
She could feel the frost coating his words.
He started out the back door and she touched his arm. "In the living room. Alone. Please."
He followed without saying another word.
I Love This Bar Page 29