“Sure it isn’t because she wants to see for herself such an incredible package?”
Julia groaned. “Heard that one too, did you?”
“Please don’t spoil anyone’s joy, Ms. Hillard. Let this friend have her fun. Maybe you’ll get a worthy second opinion toward my charming charisma, and why you find me so utterly fascinating.”
Julia tried to push off the large man yet again, his grin drawing her in. “Liddy’s had more than enough fun at my expense over the years. She doesn’t need the courtesy.”
“Still, this does feel comfortable…you on top of me, smiling.”
Julia did everything in her power not to smile, but with a man like him, it was an unfortunate malady. “Charming charisma? Fascinating? Now who’s the one taking advantage of the situation…and enormous strength?” She cocked her brow in jest.
“Of course it’s charming charisma, since it more than explains why the ladies faun all over me,” he said.
“I’m beginning to think that they faun all over you only because you pull them onto you.”
“Touché’”
“Really, I need to get up. Let me go.” Julia pushed again, her efforts wasted.
“Let you go? Now way, Little Darlin’. You lied to me, so there should be some form of punishment to that.”
Doing a double take, she looked him square in the eyes. “How so?”
When had she lied to him? She ran most of her thoughts through her head and came up empty. She never lies; not intentionally, and not unless necessary and for the benefit of another.
“This is a double bed. You said you had only a single for me to use.”
Ah! So that’s what he meant? If she would just get her mind out of the gutter, perhaps she’d be able to understand his thoughts much faster. “No. I said yours’ would be a single bed, Mr. Patterson. And this is certainly not about to be your bed for the foreseeable future.”
“It’s not?” he teased recklessly. He ran his hand up and down the length of her spine, sending shockingly ignitable tidal waves of desire throughout her entire system, a veritable volcano erupting in the inner core of her body, and producing one heck of a ‘get ready for anything’ mode.
“Not on your life,” she said, quicker than even she expected.
This time her shove finally got her somewhere. Julia moved to her feet at the side of her bed, adjusting her clothing. Saber sat upright and playfully frowned.
“But I might get this fascinating body gored by a very mean bull next Friday night. Might even get my head cracked open …permanent brain damage, if not careful.” He tapped the side of his blond scalp to make his point. “You’re tellin’ me you’re not willin’ to share this comfy little mattress with a man who could get himself permanently injured, and you could’ve enjoyed to the utmost while he was still intact?”
“You wouldn’t dare!” she harped out, viewing him hard.
“What? Get injured? Lord above, Little Darlin’, happens all the time.” Saber then shrugged, making his point. “The Rodeo is a dangerous occupation, sweetheart. Two of the men are in the hospital as we speak, one with a few cracked ribs, another with a broken leg and slight concussion. I’m quite certain by week’s end another three or four will end up there. I might even be one of those three or four. It happens all the time. Bull riding isn’t exactly picking daisies in a meadow.”
“Not on my watch will you get yourself gored by an angry bull, or injured in any other way. And certainly not after my father is never to speak to me again. Or, best case scenario, at least another two weeks. Besides, you’ve already gotten your head cracked open, and I don’t see any permanent damage.” She looked at the crown of his head and smiled.
Saber’s reflexes were quick. He grabbed her by the waist, as he rose from the bed to stalk her, a devil’s grin on his face. “It’s the damage that you can’t see, Little Darlin’, which needs the utmost sympathy right now.”
She swayed forward to mere inches from his person. Jesus! This cowboy could easily tease a tick off a bear by the simple lowering of his voice. She’d almost fell for it.
“I don’t do sympathy,” she promised, backing up. Yet the words left a strange taste in her mouth, her husky sigh to increase their bitterness. “Not to a guy like you.”
“And what kind of guy do you think I am, Ms. Hillard?” He looked a bit shell-shocked by this news. Albeit, short-lived, he recovered fully.
The two seconds it took to take another breath, barely enough time for a man to blink, she gave him the answer. “You’re the kind of man who could break a heart in two just because he can.”
They both heard the front door open and Liddy Giotti announcing Julia’s name, loudly. “Julia Margaret Hillard? Where the devil are you?”
Julia’s eyes tore from his, wrenching her thoughts forward.
**
“That wasn’t ten minutes!” Saber blurted. Regrettably, this said at Julia’s back while he watched the red-haired woman hightail it from her bedroom with her heels on fire.
She’d physically jumped at the sound of her name and he hadn’t been fast enough to keep a better grip on her waist. Caught in the act of something both of them had been trying to avoid up to this point, for a moment, her rash and dangerous actions had been quite amusing. Saber frustrated and no longer amused by any of her teasing, he felt as though she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar—and hated the kind of cookie stuffed inside. She’d been relaxed enough when it was just the two of them inside the boarding house. But the minute a third party entered the equation a very complicated woman turned afraid of her own shadow.
He couldn’t quite get rid of the grin on his face to save his soul. Imagine what grief she’d give him if she’d caught the huge hard-on he had, still quite demanding under his jeans, induced from when she’d fallen on top of him.
“You owe me, Julia Hillard. You owe me a good four minutes,” he promised.
“Four minutes plus interest,” was yelled even louder. “And I’ll be collecting those highly entertaining minutes later on tonight, when you’re more in the mood. I wouldn’t want to disappoint the lady of the house.”
“Would you just shut the hell up back there?” she sent his way.
“Make me, Little Darlin. I’ll be waitin’ right here for you to do this while camped out on your comfortable bed…”
**
Liddy Giotti looked ready to burst at the seams, and once that damn broke, Julia wouldn’t be surprised if her dear friend didn’t go charging back there, taking pictures.
“No wonder your father punched out his lights. Sounds to me the darling man might have egged Gill into doing it.”
“You think?” Julia asked, turning her head toward the now grinning, deeply-dimpled, shamelessly-sexy, eight second wonder of the world—who’d come out of hiding just to spite her tongue.
Liddy whistled at the sight of the dangerous, arrogant bull-rider, as Saber took it all in stride. As would be expected from someone so god-awful gorgeous, nothing seemed to faze him. Then again, gorgeous men expected no less than what they knew the world saw of them, or owed them.
He glanced down at his watch and teased her even more.
“Time’s a wastin’, Little Darlin’. I ain’t got all day for you to come on back inside the bedroom and finish what you started.”
“Christ, Julia! Where in Hell’s Bells did you find this one?”
Liddy sauntered toward the grinning cowboy, completely ignoring Julia’s heated glare at her back.
“He was sitting on Petty’s rocker this morning. I found him after my run.” She groaned, then muttered, “It was when he stood up from the chair and spoke, that everything turned into such a complicated mess.”
“Well, knock my knickers to my knees and force my sorry ass to pray for the next ten years in one of Bet’s misguided religions, this man might be the best damn thing to waltz into Preacher’s Bend in well over a decade. Other than Jake, that is.”
Julia groaned even lo
uder because Liddy was making things even more uncomfortable by circling the man like a prowling tigress. There wasn’t an inch of Mr. Patterson her friend didn’t assess—twice.
“Yeah, and now he gets to stay here for the whole week. For free. Thanks to my father’s disturbing temper,” Julia admitted.
Liddy held out her hand to Saber. “I’m Liddy…taken, and happy about that. But if you got even a week out of our dear, sweet, incredibly naïve school marm, you are certainly playing your cards right. Perhaps you’re just heaven sent, hmm?”
Saber smiled down at Liddy’s face then shook her hand. “It’s Saber Patterson. Nothing heavenly-sent involved with my being here. But thanks for noticing, just the same.”
Liddy snapped her head back.
Julia could see the wheels spinning in her friend’s head, the obvious fact she was noticing the blond hair, silver blue eyes, and bulging muscles, same as every woman alive likely did.
“Saber Patterson? Surely not thee Saber Patterson?” Liddy asked.
“Yes, ma’am, the one and only.”
Liddy dropped Saber’s hand like a hot potato, taking a huge step back. “I’ve heard all about you.” With a touch of awe held in her voice, she eyed the bull-rider up and down, crown to heels.
“Don’t you believe everything you hear, Little Lady.” Saber had turned his sight to Julia, giving her a wink.
Forced to dissect because an odd feeling was hitting her gut, surely jealousy wasn’t playing a role in this?
She began chewing on her bottom lip as if tomorrow wasn’t coming.
“No. It’s all good, every single word of it,” Liddy announced brightly. “They said you did something at some hotshot hospital in Miami for a kid. Saved his life, in fact. I read all about it in the newspapers.”
“Like I said, don’t believe everything you hear or everything you read in the gossip rags.” His voice had dipped into what sounded almost like regret.
“No. It was front page news in all the newspapers. Everyone at work had been talking about it. Lawyers tend to stick their noses into other people’s business when it involves a doctor. You did a pretty hefty miracle for a kid, then disappeared; oddly, never to be seen again. Talk was you might’ve had an accident somewhere. Amnesia. Because no one seemed to know why you left Miami so swiftly, or where you ran off to hide,” Liddy continued.
Of course, if anyone would know how this felt, it would be Liddy. She’d done her own disappearing act nearly ten years ago; leaving Jake in the lurch, and Julia too, simply because she’d found out about his cheating on her with Eliza Porter.
All water under the bridge at this point.
Julia remained mum, but damnit! She really wanted answers now. If he saved a kids’ life, why wouldn’t he want to talk about it? If not mistaken, she could swear he looked ready to run.
**
Saber felt uncomfortable about Julia’s friend talking about any of this, even having brought it up. He had to get her to drop it, soon. Else, his stay would no longer be offered, his cover blown, and everything he’d worked for destroyed by accusations and lies.
He’d worked too damn hard at blending in with the crowd to have it fall apart now. And Julia was glaring at him; made him feel lower than a beer-drinking slug crawling across hot pavement just to get into the prized blue-ribbon garden on the opposite side. Was it because of this unexpected conversation taking place? She’d been so easy to read before. Now? Not so much.
He knew there was only one way to find out the cause for her oddity. Saber chose to take the least most painful way out of this by not asking what that was. If he played his cards right, perhaps this time he would not have to explain the actual horrors of his past.
He would not have to tell another soul why he left Miami, or why he could never go back.
Chapter Ten
Liddy couldn’t help but stare at Mr. Patterson. What she’d read about this man over a cup of coffee when living in Miami, had been truly incredible. The guy was an absolute genius in the medical field. What in the world was he doing in Preacher’s Bend? And why was he riding a bunch of devil-hearted mammals for a living? Wanting to get hurt, or worse? Killed?
No one with half his brains would be riding angry bulls only to make a bit of cold hard cash. The mere thought of it was making her sick to her stomach and having her doubt her sanity up to this point.
He’d said his name was Saber Patterson. How many men out there had a name like that? It wasn’t exactly John Smith or Mr. Jones. And with his charming good looks, not many men out there even looked as he did—cowboy surfer . Saber Patterson was a brilliant individual, a doctor no less. He was Godly gorgeous. If she wasn’t so head over heels in love with Jake, she would be sorely tempted to shove Julia aside from this particular hot male specimen just to be first in line. And Julia wasn’t even giving Patterson the time of day.
That wasn’t the Julia Liddy knew and loved. Back in their younger days, her friend would’ve been falling all over this man, doing everything and anything imaginable to get him into her panties. A little teasing, a little sashaying, a sexier outfit …Jesus! She’d at least be wearing makeup on her face.
Something was up.
Julia looked terrible. There wasn’t stitch of mascara, eyeliner, or lipstick on her mouth. It was as if within the last few months her dear friend had given up. She wasn’t even trying to catch his interest.
Tangible, so real, she could almost see it with her own eyes. These two were hiding something from her.
“So? You ride dangerous bulls for a living?” she asked. “What’s that like?”
Julia had chosen to head into the kitchen to make them a pot of coffee. Always the polite hostess, Liddy couldn’t chastise her friend for wanting a moment’s reprieve from the conversation.
Saber nodded. Both then moved to sit on opposite sofas inside the Tressle Boarding House.
He never quite settled into the sofa before she jumped on him.
“Okay. Now that Julia has gone out of the room, start spilling the beans,” she warned, glancing first at the kitchen doorway, then at Mr. Patterson.
“Excuse me?” The man sputtered, rising in breakneck speed to gain his feet.
Liddy’s eyes followed his movements. “I said start spilling the beans, Mr. Patterson. You, my good man, know exactly what I am talking about.” Her glare reached its intended target. “I am fully aware of who you are, and what you did. I wasn’t about to say so in front of Julia. So why are you hiding in a low budget rodeo? Why aren’t you still practicing medicine down in Miami? And why did you leave the state so suddenly after doing something damn near close to a miracle?”
Saber looked taken aback. “I am not hiding out in anything, Ms. Giotti.” He shoved his hands deep into the front pockets of his jeans, drawing the material tight.
Liddy almost groaned aloud, catching herself at the last second.
“It’s Mrs. Giotti. But that’s an entirely different story, and we don’t have all day to sit around and chitchat about my strange life. We are talking about you. And for the moment, I’d say we haven’t much time to do even that. If I know Julia, and believe me I do like the back of my hand, she’ll be coming back into this room, lickety-split, supervising the both of us from saying too much about her. So start talking, Mr. Patterson,” she warned, “unless you feel the urgent desire coming on to tell my dearest friend in the whole world the truth of what you’re trying hard not to.”
She cocked an eyebrow upward suggestively, giving him barely little alternative.
“What’s there to talk about?” He smiled politely. “The weather’s been pretty good as of late. I did hear there might be some heavy rains headed this way for the coming weekend. I do like the rain. Don’t you, Mrs. Giotti? A good storm can wash away even the dirtiest of things, the ugliest truths; give everything and everyone a fresh start. Hell, it can make a well-earned lie go away—permanently. Or so I’m told.”
“Oh!” was all she could utter before he cut her
off.
“There’s no ‘oh’ about it, Mrs. Giotti,” he promised “I’m not hiding myself in a low-budget rodeo incognito. Everyone knows me and why I’m here. I don’t use a false identity. I ride bulls. It’s what I do. I never lie about my name, or compromise an easy situation. What you may or may not have heard about me has been washed away. So please, let’s just leave it at that.”
His words had turned to barely above a whisper as he’d kept his eyes glued to the kitchen door. They could hear Julia moving about, pulling cups from the cupboard. The last sound she’d made was of her setting the cups on a tray. In another second or two, she would be back to give them the third degree.
“Are you going to hurt her?” Liddy asked. “Cause if you are, you’ll have to step through me to do it.”
Saber moved to her sofa and actually glared down at her.
“Not on your life! That is perhaps the easiest question anyone has ever asked of me—or to answer.” He hardened his eyes to make certain she’d gotten the message. “Ms. Hillard isn’t someone who should be hurt…by anyone.”
“That’s good to hear, Mr. Patterson. Truly, it is. She’s been through enough. So why don’t you come clean and tell her the truth while you still can? Once she finds out, she might not forgive as easily as you expect her to.” She eyed him up and down, daring the gorgeous man to concede.
“It’s complicated,” Saber offered, turning his head toward the window.
He shoved his hands again into his front pockets and glanced out at nothing in particular. Other than a sleepy old town, on a sleepy Sunday morning, slowly coming to life, life was what it was around here.
“What’s complicated?” Julia had returned to the living room with three freshly brewed cups of coffee. A growing frown then made as two heads whipped toward her unexpected entrance, more so her question.
“Riding bulls,” Liddy quickly supplied. She’d taken her cue to drop it when Saber pleaded with his silver-blue eyes for her to do just that.
Julia handed the first cup of coffee to Liddy, moving toward Saber to give him his.
Seduction of Saber (Saving the Sinners of Preacher's Bend #3) Page 7