by Merry Farmer
“An offer has been made, but more offers could come in later,” she said as fast as she could, not quite able to meet Ronny’s eyes.
“Hmm.” Ronny grinned and rubbed his chin like a shark. Not that sharks had chins. But if they did, that’s what they’d look like if they rubbed them. “Interesting.”
“Yeah.” Laura glanced through the shop’s window, wishing she was out on the curb with Calliope—who looked like a cop keeping an eye on delinquent adolescents as she watched the exchange.
“What else can you tell me?” Ronny went on.
“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”
“Not when there’s no point in it,” he said, then hardly took a breath before going on with, “What else do you know?”
“Lots, but nothing that I’m going to tell you,” Laura managed to say. Funny, but one gutsy comment settled the anxious butterflies in her stomach.
Ronny wasn’t deterred. “I can make it worth your while to tell me what you know.” His gaze drifted southward. Laura was glad she was wearing a t-shirt with a relatively high neckline.
“I doubt it,” she said, uncrossing her arms so he would have less to look at. “Nothing that’s going on out there on the Flint ranch is any of your business.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” His eyes snapped up to meet hers. “It’s definitely my business.”
“How?” she asked, her tone flat and doubtful.
He didn’t answer. He merely grinned. Sharky McSharkface. “I’ll give you one last chance to look out for your best interests. I need someone on the inside to tell me about any offers being made on that fossil.”
“No.” The answer was as simple as that. “I would never do anything to undermine or hurt Ted.”
“Because he’s your boyfriend, right,” Ronny said, dripping with sarcasm. “Well, when he gets tired of you and moves on to someone with nicer legs, let me know if you change your mind.”
He couldn’t possibly know about her scars or how badly his comment stung. “I’m not going to change my mind,” she said, as serious as she ever was. She turned to go, needing to get as far away from Ronny as possible.
At the last minute, hand on the door, she turned back to him.
“Why are you such a bullying asshole?” she asked.
He met her comment with a nonchalant grin. “You gotta do what you gotta do to get what you deserve.”
She shouldn’t have asked. His answer only increased the feeling that she needed a shower. She shook her head and pushed open the door, glad to not have to breathe the same air as him anymore.
If that had been the end of it, everything would have been fine. But the ickiness of Ronny Bonneville hung on her through lunch with the Clutterbucks and all the way out to Ted’s place that afternoon. Ronny was up to something. She’d been in Haskell long enough to learn that the Bonneville family was always up to something. But instinct told her that the stakes were higher than usual. Of course they were when there was a twelve million dollar fossil in the mix.
Her unease only got worse when she pulled her sedan into the Flint driveway to find not just half a dozen other cars and trucks already parked there, but a cluster of people standing on the yard just past the driveway. Ted stood in front of them, holding out his arms and shaking his head. The cluster of people didn’t look happy.
“Oh, crap,” she muttered as she pulled her car to a stop, turned it off, and got out.
She started for the scene, finally able to hear what people were saying.
“You’ve been letting folks come out and get a look at it all week,” a gray-haired man drawled. “Why can’t we see it now?”
“The excavation crew says that people have been interfering with their work,” Ted explained, more than a little exasperation in his voice. “Things have gotten out of hand.”
“I’ll tell you what’s out of hand,” A fairly young woman with three children that looked to be under the age of three growled. “The fact that you won’t let your neighbors, you won’t let children, take five minutes to look at a hole in the ground.”
“Sorry, Marcy,” Ted did his best to apologize. He spotted Laura walking toward him, and relief visibly washed over him. “I know you’d like to show the fossil to your kids,” he focused on the woman again, “but the excavation crew has specifically said that the site is too dangerous for kids right now.”
“He’s right,” Laura added, drawing attention as she came closer. The would-be visitors turned to her…all except the three toddlers, who were much more interested in chasing crickets through the grass. “Fossil digs can get dangerous.”
“Nonsense,” the gray-haired man grumbled. “I’ve been to at least three different fossil sites in Wyoming, and they’re billed as being good family fun.”
“I’m sure they are, but places like that have to undergo all sorts of inspections and regulations and they have to install safety features.” She had no idea if that was the truth for the sites the man was talking about, but it was enough to give Marcy pause. Laura turned up the charm one step further for the gray-haired man. “You’ll have to tell me all about the sites you’ve been to at some point. I’m a nut when it comes to touring different dig sites.”
The man grumbled something under his breath, his cheeks getting a little pink.
“Well, be sure to let us know when you have things set up so that children can visit,” Marcy said, then twisted to figure out where her two older kids had gone. “Bo, Billy, you two get back here.”
That was the beginning of the end as far as the would-be tourists were concerned. Ted said a few goodbyes to the ones who took being chased off the property better. He introduced Laura as he did, but at no point did he specifically state she was his girlfriend. Granted, it didn’t quite come up, but added to the things Ronny had said back at the dry cleaners, it didn’t soothe Laura’s doubts.
“You might want to be careful about who you talk to about the fossil for a while,” she said once all the visitors had gotten in their cars and driven off.
“I didn’t think so many people would be interested,” Ted said as they walked out toward the dig site. He swiped his cowboy hat from his head and ran his fingers through his hair.
Laura caught herself thinking about how nice it felt to run her fingers through his hair, especially when his head was down around her hip level. Was it normal for a guy to like playing around down there so much? She had no idea, but she wasn’t about to complain. She didn’t think he had any reason to complain either, since she’d been reading up on the best way to return the favor down south. Lord help her if the cops checked her browser history this week.
“What’s got you blushing?” Ted asked, his frustrated look melting into mischief.
“Nothing,” she answered in a squeak. “Just thinking about something I looked up on the internet earlier.” It wasn’t a lie. Even if it had nothing to do with the next thing she said. “People are really interested in the fossil.”
“Are they talking about it online somewhere?” he asked, then blew out a breath and put his hat back on. “That’s just what we need. It’s hard enough to keep Haskellians away while Dr. Ashford’s team works, let alone outsiders reading about it online.”
“I think you might have bigger problems on the horizon,” she said, leftover warm-fuzzies quickly vanishing.
“Why?” He glanced at her askance. “What happened?”
Laura let out a breath and rubbed a hand over her face. “I ran into Ronny Bonneville at the dry cleaner. He said…he was acting kind of shady.”
Ted snorted. “Ronny always acts shady.”
“True, but he wanted information about the fossil. About offers that have been made on the fossil.”
Ted sighed. “That’s my fault.” Laura’s brow inched up. He went on. “I may have mentioned the offer from The Field Museum to someone at Bertran’s Feed Store last week.”
“Ouch.” Laura winced.
“And one of Ronny’s chief minions, Ton
y, might have been standing in line behind me when I did.”
“Double ouch.” She let out a breath, waving to the excavation crew as they approached the fossil hole. “It’s probably a good idea not to say anything to anybody until you have some sort of signed deal in your hands.”
“Tell me about it.” He didn’t sound at all happy about either that or the way things had already gone. “Sometimes I hate living in a small town, where gossip travels like dust on the wind.”
Laura grinned, sliding her arm through his and hugging it. “I didn’t know you were such a poet.”
He stopped and turned to smile at her. “Me neither. I guess something has come over me in the last week that’s changed things.” He leaned in closer and added, “Or maybe it’s the something that’s come under me.”
Laura’s face flushed so hot with embarrassed arousal that she was sure she rivaled the sun for heat. “Stop it,” she said, letting go of his arm and glancing down. She couldn’t wipe the grin off her face, though. At least, not until she remembered the other things Ronny had said. The things Betty had said didn’t feel right either.
But no. She took in a breath, forcing the impending thoughts of gloom and doubt away. Ted didn’t like it when she questioned why the two of them were together, so for the moment she was just going to let it slide.
“Do you think we can keep things under wraps a little better until you decide whether you’re going to take The Field Museum up on their offer?”
Ted shrugged. “We can only try.”
“Good.” She gave herself permission to be bold and gave him a quick hug. “Let’s do that. And let’s dig up some bones too.”
“You know I’m all about the bones these days,” he said, dipping down to kiss the tip of her nose.
Laura didn’t even mind the double entendre. In fact, she kind of liked having someone to joke with about that sort of thing. Even if they hadn’t put a label on their relationship.
She just hoped that once they got that label-maker out, he would call what was going on between them the same thing she would call it.
Chapter Thirteen
Ted was proud to be from Haskell. He loved growing up and making his life in a town where community still meant something. At least, he had until that sense of community caused half the town to show up at the ranch, interested in checking out the fossil. He hated turning people away, but after Laura’s warning, it became increasingly necessary. Too bad it made him the local bad guy. Although, after the paleontology team brought in extra heavy, sensitive equipment to begin the process of removing the fossil from the ground completely, he had an excuse to chase everyone away that made sense, even to the most persistent neighbor.
Which finally meant he could relax again.
“You seem really mellow this morning,” Laura commented as she snuggled up to his side in bed. How he’d convinced her to stay the night was still a mystery.
“Of course I’m mellow,” he replied, twisting to face her. “I’ve got a beautiful, sexy, naked woman in my bed.”
Laura giggled, her cheeks turning pink. He loved that about her, loved the fact that still, after more than a month of dating, she still got bashful about being in bed with him. He made her even more bashful by scooping his hand down her thigh and lifting her knee high over his side. She gasped and shivered as he ground his morning erection against the soft, hot mystery between her legs.
“I’m not really that sexy,” she insisted, breathless, as she wriggled against him. “I mean, there are all those shrapnel scars.”
“I like your scars.” He pulled her closer. “They show how tough you are. I like my women tough.”
“Do you?” Her voice wavered just enough to make him impatient.
“Oh yeah.” He proved it by slanting his mouth over hers.
It was first thing in the morning, and neither of them were minty-fresh and ready to kiss, but he didn’t even care. He loved the feeling of her body against his, the way she went speechless when he teased her with a stroke along the cleft between her legs or by cupping her breast and working her nipple into a taut knot. He loved that she responded to him like every time was the first, even though, at her age, there was no way that could be true. He loved how she tasted. Even thinking about it made him want to flip her to her back so he could kiss his way down her belly to run his tongue over her, circling and sucking until she came.
He drew in a breath, his cock throbbing with the need to be inside of her. There were condoms on the bedside table, but he was enjoying the morning far too much to bring everything to a climax so soon.
“Remind me to thank Howie for giving PSF the day off for his birthday,” he growled, resting his head against the pillow.
Laura laughed. “I’d feel a lot better about it if we weren’t at a crucial stage with the redesigned plasma engine. Angelica mentioned something about getting together at her and Dennis’s place later to do some math, so I might do that.”
Ted chuckled. “Getting together with friends to do math. Ooh, baby, I love the way you talk dirty.”
Laura laughed harder, the vibrations turning Ted on even more. “Stop it.”
“Oh no, I want to hear more of that.” He rolled until he was on top of her, adjusting her legs so that she was wide open to him from the waist down. It took all of his will power to keep his kisses to her breasts…not that there was a problem with that. “Pi equals MC squared and all that.”
“It’s E equals MC squared,” she giggled, then moaned as he caught one of her nipples between his teeth. “And I can’t do higher mathematics in this position.”
“How about this position?”
He rocked back to his knees, then flipped her to her stomach, lifting her hips high. The urge to reach for a condom and see how long he could last inside of her before exploding was massive, but all he did was wrap himself around her, rubbing his cock against her without penetrating.
“Two plus two is eight? Definitely not helping with math,” she panted.
He wished he could cup her breasts and hump away in that position, but he needed his arms to balance. He couldn’t even do that after a few seconds, not with the way she was moving her hips against him, doing her level best to maneuver into a position where he would thrust into her instead of over the wet parts of her. It would be so easy to pretend passion had overridden his good sense, but he wasn’t going to put her at risk by not using a condom.
He had no choice but to call a time out and flop to his back, lifting her to lie on top of him.
“Why did you stop?” she panted, pushing hair out of her face. “I was really, really enjoying that.”
“Any chance you’re on the pill?” he asked, wincing at how unromantic the question was.
Laura blushed, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. “I didn’t even think of that.” She lowered her head as though she’d committed some sort of unforgivable sin.
Ted frowned, pushing back the strand of hair that had fallen into her face, in spite of her efforts to brush it away. He’d noticed that Laura was prone to overreacting to things, but something about the level of, well, it had to be embarrassment, that she was showing wasn’t right.
He opened his mouth to tell her it was okay, but she cut him off with, “I bet the other girlfriends you’ve had were smart enough to get on birth control.”
The uneasy feeling that things weren’t as they seemed intensified. “I guess so.” Actually, he knew so. In every other relationship in his life that had gotten this far, he’d made sure to have a frank discussion about sexual practicalities. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t had the same discussion with Laura, except that he knew the situation was different. This was more than just some temporary fun.
Laura was still and silent for a long time before sucking in a breath and adjusting the way she draped over him. She rested her arms on his chest so that she could look down at him with a look of scientific curiosity. “So how many women have you slept with?”
Ted would have squirme
d if she didn’t have him pinned down. He’d never felt so awkward about answering that question before. “How many have you slept with?” He turned the question back on her.
He’d never seen anyone turn as red or as squirrely about a question as Laura did after he asked. Her eyes darted around, not resting on anything, and tension flooded her face. “That’s not important. I’m asking you.”
“And I’m asking you,” he teased. He was suddenly eager to know, and at the same time, dreaded her answer. The thought of any other guy hearing the sounds Laura made when she was aroused or tasting the salt of her skin made him jealous. And he wasn’t the jealous type.
“Answer the question,” she said, eyes narrowed.
If he felt so jealous about her past lovers, then she must be feeling the same thing. He was filled with the need to put her at ease. “Five,” he confessed.
“Five?” her brow went up and her eyes widened, but whether in surprise or panic or disappointment, he couldn’t tell.
“Honestly, most of those were in college or before.” He tried to reassure her. “What my dad called my wild oats phase. None of them were lasting relationships, just a horn-dog away from home for the first time getting excited that college girls were so liberal.”
“But that wasn’t all of them.” Laura’s surprise deflated into a frown.
“No, but they were all in the past, before I met you. I don’t intend to go sleeping with anyone else in the foreseeable future.” He added a grin and stroked his thumb across her cheek, hoping it would set her at ease.
“The foreseeable future?” Her body went so tense that it was like she gained ten pounds in a second.
Something else was going on, something that had her upset. He shifted, rolling her to her side so that he could hold her and stroke a hand down her back. “Okay, what’s this really about?”
Instead of meeting his eyes, she studied her fingers as they played with his chest hair. “It’s just…It wouldn’t bother me, except….” She let out a breath and looked up at him. “I keep having people tell me that they never thought you would date a girl like me.”