by Lynda Chance
She sighed and closed her eyes.
She just wanted some peace for awhile.
CHAPTER TWO
On Monday, mid-morning, Elaina stood next to her uncle’s farm truck at the feed store and watched it being loaded. This small town was the nearest one to the ranch, and at ten miles away, it boasted less than a thousand people in population. She’d been here several times in the last six months since her mother had died and Janie had married Brian. She really liked the small town.
For the first thirteen years of her life, Elaina had been raised an army brat. Just as soon as she made friends and got used to a school, her father upped and moved them. It hadn’t been easy. She longed for a real home and solid roots.
Everyone in this small town was friendly, and as she wanted to be helpful, when the subject came up, she had quickly offered to make the drive for supplies.
She stood and chatted with the boy loading the truck, enjoying the laid-back moment having nothing more pressing than getting back to the ranch with the supplies.
He was about her age, maybe a year or two younger, maybe older. This was the third time in the last six months she had spoken to him since making her temporary home with her aunt and uncle. It was also the third time he had asked her out. She was actually contemplating saying yes this time. He was good-looking and he wasn’t too pushy.
Although he didn’t make her heart beat faster, he was sweet and cute and seemed to be someone she could enjoy spending some time with.
She continued to smile softly at him as he tried to cajole her into going out with him. “You know me now. You can’t keep using that excuse forever.”
She was vaguely aware of a big, black pickup truck pulling into the parking lot as she answered with a smile in her voice. “It’s not an excuse. I only found out your name today, Trevor.” She stressed his name, trying out a soft, flirty tone that she hadn’t wanted or attempted to use in almost four years.
She watched the muscles ripple under his dusty red t-shirt as he dropped another fifty pound bag of deer corn in the back of the truck. He turned back to her, lifted the next bag, and stared down at her. “I’ll take you to Uvalde tonight. We can catch a movie and—”
A dark, hard voice from behind them cut him off and intruded on the personal conversation. “Can’t do that, Trev. I need you this week. I’ve got forty protein feeders that need to be filled.”
She didn’t turn to face the man behind her, but she recognized that voice easily. Raul Vega stood behind Elaina, his hard words interrupting her peace. Tension jolted through her from the impact of his body so close to hers. She shifted restlessly but continued to face Trevor as a frustrated expression crossed the younger man’s features.
“Damn, Raul—”
“You were supposed to get to it last week.” His voice was dark, too smooth, too controlled.
“Yeah, I know. Mac needed me late every night,” Trevor answered.
“You still want the extra work? I can find somebody else, easy, if you don’t,” Raul softly threatened.
The younger man let out a puff of air. “Yeah, I want the work.” Trevor glanced down at Elaina and his face softened as his eyes ran over her. “Another time, pretty girl.”
Elaina felt tension radiating from behind her, but she managed to smile back. “Sure. Rain check,” she said softly.
“Yeah. Rain check.” Elaina felt Trevor’s blue eyes on her, both disappointment and anticipation shining in them.
Trevor threw the last bag of corn up in the bed of the truck and as he turned back, Raul slammed a computerized list at his chest. “Need this quick-fast, Trev.”
“Sure.” Trevor’s gaze lingered on Elaina one last time before he turned away and jogged back into the store.
Elaina closed her eyes and knew she had no option but to turn around and face Raul Vega. Best just to get it over with.
Twirling the keys in her fingers in a parody of relaxation, she attempted to compose herself as she swung in a graceful motion to face the man who twice now had messed with her insides. Trying to exude a calm she wasn’t feeling, she pasted a false smile on her face and spoke lightly. “Hey, Mr. Vega.”
He cut to the chase.
“You planning on taking a ride with a kid who’s a stranger to you?” he blasted out.
Her muscles tensed as she lifted her chin. “He’s not a stranger. I know him. Evidently, you do, too.”
“You didn’t know that before I drove up.”
For whatever reason, his audacity didn’t surprise her in the least. She inhaled deeply and took her best shot, answering him in slow, firm words. “I may seem young to you, but I assure you, I’m an adult and can make good decisions.”
Raul steeled his guts against the lust that consumed him once again and gave her his opinion. “I don’t think a freshman in college is an adult, baby. Maybe your definition is different than mine.” He looked her over, his eyes going from the silky hair again in a ponytail, to the t-shirt that molded her feminine form. His eyes stalled on the slender hips encased in skin tight jeans, and ended up at the dusty orange Ropers on her feet. Orange. Shit. She was just a fucking kid and he was goddamn lusting after her. He needed to get his head out of his ass and fast. His voice snarled at her but the reminder was for himself, “You need to grow up some before anyone in their right mind can call you an adult.”
Elaina felt a frisson of anxiety slide through her. First year. Freshman in college. She was just about to begin arguing with him that it wasn’t any of his business when it dawned on her that he thought she was a teenager. The first time she met him, it hadn’t occurred to her that he might think she was younger than she actually was. But twice now, he’d seen her without any make-up, wearing scruffy, beat-up clothes.
Maybe she should keep him in the dark. Maybe the age difference would put a wall between them, protect her from him. Did she need protection from him? Did she even want protection from him? Heat slid through her as his dark gaze stayed on her, his countenance filled with anger and something else she was simply too distressed to fully acknowledge.
She didn’t have loads of experience with men, but she was smart and the female intuition banging loudly in her head was telling her she was going to at least need all the distance she could get from him.
She let the comment go and moved to get away from him. Suddenly, she didn’t feel quite safe. “Thanks for your concern. I promise I’ll be more careful.”
She turned away from him, left him standing alone, his hands clenched into fists. She slipped into the truck and pulled out of the parking lot.
It wasn’t until she was nearly home that she realized she should have been thinking about Trevor. But she hadn’t been. Her thoughts were consumed with one man only.
Raul Vega.
****
Three days later, Raul’s cell phone rang and he flipped it open. The display read Brian Canton. “What’s up?”
“Raul, I hate to bother you, man, but shit, Janie’s about to freak.”
Raul cradled the phone to his ear and began ripping the leather work gloves from his hands. “What’s the matter?”
“Elaina’s car broke down three miles from the house and we’re in San Antonio. She doesn’t mind walking back, but you know Janie, she’s a city girl, she’s freaking out thinking something might happen to Elaina.”
Raul felt immediate and unintentional heat fuelling his blood. “No problem. She on the south end of county road?”
“Yeah, probably half a mile from you. Thanks, man. Drop her at the house. We won’t be home for a couple of days. Buying supplies for another damn party. Just leave the car, I’ll get Earl to pick it up and take it to the garage.”
“You got it.” Raul closed his cell and walked to his truck, pissed at himself for the uncontrollable and sudden heat of arousal pumping through his veins. He tried to rein in his lust in a futile attempt as he reminded himself repeatedly, she’s too damn young.
****
Elaina had walked
about a mile from her car toward the house when she heard the diesel motor idle up behind her. She figured the farther she walked, the less time she would have to spend with him. Confused and irritated with herself for the way he made her feel, she didn’t want to be in his radius any more than was strictly necessary. She hadn’t felt comfortable admitting that to Brian when he told her he was going to call Raul.
She scooted to the side of the gravel road and waited for the big, black 4 X 4 to roll up beside her. The passenger door opened from the inside and she grabbed it with her hand.
“Get in.”
CHAPTER THREE
Anxiety and a sliver of tension coursed through her. She didn’t care for big men who thought they could tell her what to do. She especially didn’t care for big, tall, Latino men telling her what to do. Latino men had that certain machismo that Anglos didn’t. It was the way they were brought up, the way their fathers raised them. They thought they were the dominant gender and acted and lived it. Her gentle, blonde mother had warned her often enough. Maybe they weren’t all like that, but nothing so far had indicated to her that Raul Vega wasn’t. But Brian had called him to bail her out, and she had no choice but to make nice.
She put her dusty tennis shoes on the running board and climbed in his truck. Easing down into the leather seat, she swiveled to face him. “Thanks for picking me up.”
She settled in the seat and felt his eyes on her.
“Got your phone?”
“Yes.”
“Pull it out.”
She did as he asked and raised her eyebrows in question.
He rattled off his number and made her key it in and then repeat it to him. “You don’t take any chances, you need someone, anytime, you can’t get Brian, you call me. Anytime.”
“Okay, thanks. Again, I’m sorry to be a bother.”
“No problem, Miss Ruiz. You can’t help when your vehicle breaks down. These things happen.” He put the truck into drive and eased his foot down until they were slowly rolling down the deserted road.
Elaina was agitated by his presence and her brain wasn’t functioning like it should be. She said the first thing out of her head. “Yeah, well, I didn’t have to run out of gas.”
He immediately braked and turned to look at her. “You what?”
Shit! Why the hell had she said that? Her eyes flew to his and she mumbled, “Ran out of gas.”
Fury took over his features as he slammed the truck into park and turned fully to face her. “Tell me you didn’t just say that, Miss Ruiz.”
“Look, it’s not your problem, I appreciate you giving me a ride—”
“Do you know what can happen to little girls on a deserted road when they have a disabled vehicle?”
“It wasn’t intentional—”
“You let yourself run too low on gas.” His eyes ran over her. “That’s not very smart.” His voice was glacial.
“Yeah, well, I’m not a little girl—”
“You better be thankful you’re a little girl right now.” He looked down at her bare legs. It might be December, but it was almost eighty degrees in south Texas.
Anger penetrated the fog in her brain and her spine stiffened. “What the hell do you mean by that? Are you threatening me?”
“I’m stating a fact. You. Are. Lucky. You’re. A. Little. Girl.” He punched the words out, pulsating anger coming with them.
His tone and attitude pissed her off. He was nothing to her; he had no right to speak to her like that. She became belligerent. “What the fuck’s it to you?”
His hand reached out and swiped her wrist in a brutal move that reminded her of a snake striking. He pulled on her arm and her butt lifted involuntarily from the seat as she was forcibly moved until her face was only inches from his.
Elaina sucked in a single breath and then began hyperventilating. Her eyes opened wide. Damn her mouth.
“What word did you say to me?”
She licked her lips as fear slid through her system. Her heartbeat pounded away in her chest as her bravado disappeared in the face of his anger and the proximity of his large body looming over hers. “N-nothing.”
“Good answer. Little girls don’t say fuck. You understand me? Little girls who throw the fuck word around are askin’ for it, baby. You askin’ for it?” His hand tightened on her wrist. “Because I gotta tell ‘ya, I’m trying to be nice here. But eighteen is a legal adult, Miss Ruiz. If you’re askin’ for it, I got every right to give it to you.”
Elaina shivered in his hold. Now was absolutely not the time to tell him she was twenty-one. He assumed she was eighteen because she was first year. His mistake. Her good fortune. Not everyone had the money or the opportunity to start college at eighteen. She hadn’t. But no way was she telling him that now.
“I’m not asking for it. Let me go.”
He waited for the count of three very long heartbeats as he seemed to conquer his anger. Finally, he dropped her wrist.
She immediately scrambled back and scooted away from him and then lifted her hand to rub her wrist. It was red and almost sore where he had squeezed her. She bit her lip and stared at him while she held her arm and waited for him to say something, do something.
His eyes dropped to her reddened wrist. “Did I hurt you?”
“I’m okay.” She pushed the words through gritted teeth.
His eyes ran over her and Elaina was supremely conscious of the fact she should have put on more clothing that morning. Yellow t-shirt, frayed shorts and Converse weren’t nearly enough protection against his dark, intense inspection.
He raised his eyes from her body, to her lips. His searing stare held her until he lifted a hand, ran it through his dark hair, and put the truck back into drive.
Three minutes later, he was pulling around to the front of her aunt’s house.
She reached down for the handle, but before she could get her hand there, the locks were activated and she was shut inside with him until he decided to let her out. Shocked, her breathing going haywire, she silently turned to face him, her back against the door.
He broodingly watched her and took his time about speaking. “I’m going to get one of my men to put gas in your car and bring it around. There’s no sense in having the garage pick it up. But you can bet your ass I’m going to tell Brian what you did. Maybe he can talk some sense into you.”
“You’re too kind, Mr. Vega.” Her words were sarcastic and she watched a quick, ferocious scowl cross his face.
“You just do not know when to quit pushing, do you?”
“Let me out.”
He didn’t move. His eyes were glued to her.
She tried again. “Let me out.”
“Doesn’t feel good, does it? Knowing you’re stuck. You better be glad it was me that found you, baby. Another man might not have been such a gentleman.”
Her eyes flared wide. “A gentleman? Are you f—”
Her voice stopped on that word he hated as he interrupted her at the same time.
“You want your ass blistered?”
Great waves of intense fury mingled with fear pulsed through her bloodstream. The fury won. “You think you’re man enough to do it?”
He reached out and swiped her wrist again, but this time, his hold wasn’t as tight. Just as strong, but not as tight. “I’m plenty man enough, you grow up some and I’ll show you.” His eyes glared into hers, then dropped to her lips. His nostrils flared. “That’s a promise, Miss Ruiz.”
He released her from his hold and pressed a button to unlock the doors.
She didn’t wait even a second before jerking the door open and jumping down. Just before she slammed it in his face, his dark voice hit her with one last demand.
“Elaina, do not run out of gas again, understand me?”
She gave him a go-to-hell look, slammed the truck door, and ran up the steps to the house.
****
At ten the next morning, Elaina sat on the side of the unpaved county road in almost the exa
ct same spot where she had run out of gas the day before. Today, her car was safely in the driveway, but she was shaken and bruised. Her morning run had started out fine, but the surface of the road was not what she was used to. It was her own fault she’d tripped and fallen. She’d more than fallen, she had a couple of strawberries on her knees like she hadn’t had since she was a kid. They dripped blood down both shins. The palms of her hands were rough and abraded, and one of her ankles was twisted so badly she couldn’t even stand. Shit. And that wasn’t the worst of it.
She’d been carrying her phone, listening to music and had landed on it, crushing the screen and pretty much disabling it completely.
She was stuck until a vehicle came by. Her aunt and uncle were still in San Antonio. Unease trickled through her. The good news was it was only ten in the morning, she could sit here all day before it got dark, and the weather was unseasonably mild. Another reason she had strawberries on her bare knees. She was wearing shorts again.
She hung her head between her legs and waited.
At one o’clock, not a single car had come by and she was getting more than a little worried. She was ferociously hungry, her face was burning from the sun, and she had to pee. Badly.
****
Raul was cutting down county road on his way to the north pasture when he saw her and braked. Jesus Christ, what the hell was she up to now?
Letting the truck idle, he jumped down and was squatting beside her in seconds.
Her head was hanging between her legs and he gently lifted her chin until he could see her face. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and dust, and he took in the skinned knees and dried blood.
“Christ, little girl, what happened to you?”
“I fell.” The answer was short and all she could manage.
“That’s it? You fell? What the hell are you doing this far from the house?”
“I was running.”
“Running?”
“Yeah, you know, running. Jogging, exercising. Whatever.”
Raul was acquainted with the concept. He just never had to do it. He got so much damn exercise around the ranch, he needed extra calories and protein. He damn sure didn’t want to expend any of them uselessly.