Gill wasn’t purposefully mean. He was dreadfully overprotective. He was the nightmare to her lonely existence.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” he said.
Her gaze held. “Like you have any need to ask for permission. You haven’t asked before.”
Her bluntness checked his grin. Saber cautiously pulled his sight away. “That may be the case, Ms. Hillard, but I am asking for your permission now.”
She waited, took another bite, chewed, and then swallowed. She had no intention to make this easy on the man.
“What made you run out of the house as you had? Was it because of what I did, pulling my shirt off in front of you? Or was it for something else?”
Julia stalled her chewing. “That’s not a very personal question. And that’s three questions. Not one.”
“It was sort of personal in my book. And they all blend together, if asked in the same breath,” he admitted, getting his body comfortable on the hard ground by stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankles.
Julia made room for Saber and her under Theodora’s tree. “It’s not. And the answer is…” She paused. “I don’t know.”
“Was it because of what I did? What I showed you?” He drilled his thoughts about this through his eyes and directly into hers. “Showing you my scar bothered you in some way?”
“Sort of.” She turned her head away. “But not the scar.”
It was because he’d done it to shock her. More so, her shock to entail the huge scar that large boa tattoo was trying to hide.
“Want to talk about it?” he asked.
Talk about it? Julia raised her brow. Is he kidding?
“Are you now my shrink, Mr. Patterson?”
“No. Do you need a shrink?”
“No. But I might need one after dealing with the likes of you,” she promised, turning her face to the setting sun, and then smiling.
There was something about this man that made him easy to talk to. Even if most of their conversations were on the level of teeth grinding.
“I’m not such a bad guy, Julia. I didn’t come to Preacher’s Bend to hurt you. Or, come here to hurt anyone else, for that matter.” He took a deep breath and flared his nostrils. “I’m here as part of the rodeo, nothing more, nothing less. When it’s over, I leave with it.”
This time it was Julia’s turn to draw in a deep breath. She released it as slowly as she could, settling her thoughts to a low simmer. “I’m sorry.”
Saber looked at her profile. “About what?”
“For running out, for snapping at you, for being a real bitch when uncalled for.” Her grimace held, headed to his unwavering gaze. “Only one woman in town is allowed to be such a bitch on a Sunday. And we just happen to be sitting under her oak tree at the moment.”
“You had every right to do exactly what you did, Little Darlin’. To all of us,” he stated. “I’m not pointin’ any fingers, but some of us have earned it more than others.”
His deep chuckle was music to the ears.
“That still doesn’t make it right, or very nice. And I don’t usually snap at strangers, let alone a complete stranger at that,” Julia rued.
“Come here.” He reached his left arm around her shoulder to pull her shivering body to his side. “Would a complete stranger do this for you?” he asked. “Or, give you insulin, when too sick to do it on your own?”
Julia was shivering and Saber was simply doing his duty as a gentleman to keep her warm. Surely there was no more to this than that. His arm around her had nothing at all to do with what the rest of her body wanted from this man.
She drew in another deep breath. This time, savored the rich masculine scent surrounding her entire being. He no longer smelled of cigars. He smelled earthy; dangerously delicious to a woman in dire need.
“Thanks. I was getting a bit cold.”
Saber smiled. “Don’t you think we should head back home? Get you warm and fed more than a measly granola bar? Don’t really know about you how you feel, but I’m starvin’ for some good ole’ fashion home-cooking.”
“Not just yet,” she admitted. “I don’t want to miss this.” She turned her sight forward.
She was going to ignore the fact of Saber being hungry, when he could’ve eaten dinner instead of searching for her. Time had been on his side to do so. She’d not asked him to come out of the boarding house, hot on pursuit. But she was very glad that he had.
And now that he was here, each watched a spectacular sunset; neither ruined it with the sound of their voices, or any unnecessary comments to wreck the solitude. When it was over and the dark shadows crossed the land, Julia turned to face him.
As Saber turned to her, their mouths brushed against the other within the fading twilight. Kissing seemed a natural thing to do. So potent, so surreal, she checked her body from caring too much that his hand was reaching under her shirt. His fingers dragged across her midsection.
Once the briefest of kiss was over, he drew back and whispered, “That was nice.”
The complete sensuality, the touch of his lips, and the caress of his fingertips quivered throughout her body. “Yes. It was. Wasn’t it?” She smiled. “And that sunset was pretty damn great, too.”
**
Saber grinned at Julia’s light teasing. He simply enjoyed the moment and of holding onto her. It had been a long time since he had a real woman in his arms. Too long.
Superficial gold-diggers didn’t count as being real.
He’d purposely kept himself unattached so there’d never be a need to explain his withdrawal; even complete departure from life. He partied, played the field, but didn’t commit for a reason.
Somehow, someway, this woman in his arms had broken down these invisible walls he’d built to protect himself from others.
“We better get you on back home.” Yet saying it did not make the rest of his body follow suit.
“Yes. We better.” Her eyes widened, drawing him in.
“Then how is it neither of us is moving to our feet, Little Darlin’?” A devil may care attitude couldn’t be shelved, no matter what.
“I was wondering the same thing,” she rushed out breathlessly.
He leaned forward and kissed her again. He doubted a brilliant sunset could ever compare to how hot she felt when in his arms. He set his hands on either side of her face, and this time held on for dear life. His fingers splayed across her heated skin.
Julia’s hands had found themselves at his chest. They were pressed against the vast expanse of pure muscle under a now infamous T-shirt.
“You taste so good,” he admitted, easing his lips from hers; with a bit of reluctance and while trying his damnedest not to take advantage of her vulnerability in the darkness. She would be so easy to have right now.
She’d be so easy to hurt.
“You taste pretty good, yourself,” she responded.
One brief second, he prayed she could not see the hunger he was unable to hide, or the large bulge under his jeans. He’d promised Liddy he wasn’t going to hurt Julia.
“No, really. By kissing you, you’ve made me hungrier than I already was.” He added, “For food,” to clarify this need.
“Well then…” She paused, grinning. “I guess we should do something about that. Shouldn’t we?”
Julia was the first to pull away and break the shared heat of their bodies. She donned the gift of the jacket and shoved her hands into its pockets.
Saber gained his feet. His hands moved to the front pockets of his faded jeans, stuffing them in hard. Neither was able nor ready to look at the other. Both had to adjust to what just happened under an old oak tree.
“Come on,” he announced, shrugging in the direction of the boarding house.
“After you,” she added.
Saber moved forward. Seconds later, Julia slammed into his backside in the fading light.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
He’d come to a complete standstill right in front
of her. He looked first one way, then the other. “I don’t know how to get back,” he reluctantly admitted.
“Then it’s probably a good thing you’ve got me.” She moved ahead of him to lead the way home.
Saber smiled. Her shapely hips climbed over fallen logs and forest debris and had a grown man crying aloud in frustration. He had to pull at the taut juncture between his legs behind her back. All he’d wanted was to watch her walk.
She’d been found at the edge of a wood that covered the entire west side of Preacher’s Bend. He, at first, had asked for directions just to get here. And for a man having to ask for directions? Doing so had taken him a few steps backwards in the evolutionary department.
Once he’d swallowed his masculinity and figured out asking was a whole lot easier than running around in circles as if his head cut off, Saber bet his luck on a wild card, winning without trouble. Not many of the residents in Preacher’s Bend trust strangers. Most of them gave him the third degree on why he’d wanted to find Julia in the first place. And why he thought he had a right to do so.
Apparently, Gill had made his rounds rather quickly, telling anyone who would listen that a strange man was trying to ruin his daughter’s life; and that he’d done what damage he could to that stranger’s face before his own flesh and blood threw him out of the boarding house.
Saber rolled his jaw, the pain still there. Every ounce of available charm when encountering a sweet darling by the name Theodora Rosebud, became more than he’d been willing to use to locate Julia’s secret hiding spot. It had taken the old woman two full hours to give out the precise location; and throughout their entire conversation, she’d continuously referred to Julia as ‘Little Julia Hillard’.
Jesus! If he’d known she was in the old hag’s backyard, he would have come here straight away.
Saber again looked at her tempting backside then smiled. There wasn’t much little to her. She was well filled, in all the right places. Damn, as far as he was concerned, there wasn’t a thing wrong with the woman, other than a malfunctioning pancreas that a proper dose of insulin would temporarily fix, and a healthy diet to go along with it.
She was truly more than he deserved.
That was the real problem, wasn’t it? Julia Hillard was a grown woman; he was a grown man, particularly, a horny man who was turned on by only watching the woman weaving her way home. If that did not speak ‘In Need of Shrink’, nothing ever would. Saber Patterson, MD wasn’t a shrink. He was a heart surgeon, for Pete’s sake. Or, at least he had been until he chose to give it all up; choosing, as Liddy had put it, to hide from the world.
Thankfully, Liddy hadn’t been able to tell Julia what he was. Or, what his deep dark secret was. He’d wasted precious moments of his time to talk to Mrs. Giotti, only to make certain of this.
He now had another secret keeper in another small town; another lie added to all the others he’d been forced to make. How many more would there be? How many more women would want to ask him about something he had no desire to talk about?
Dr. Patterson did not perform miracles. He’d been trying to save the life of his own son. And he had, until his darling ex-wife upped the ante.
She’d taken him, and everything he’d ever had in his life, away. In the end, she purposely destroyed an innocent child with her dangerous lies; thereby destroyed the very life he would have put his entire career on the line to save.
Just to spite him, she ripped apart what was left of that career into a billion shreds by dragging his good name through the courts.
Women could be evil when provoked. As Saber watched Julia Hillard move through the dark with the ease of an alley cat, he knew women could be quite cunning, too.
He quickly erased this diseased thought from his head. Julia Hillard wasn’t evil. And she most definitely did not have a cunning bone in her body. Stunning? Yes. Incredible? Oh, yes, in every way imaginable to a man. Intoxicating? Without a doubt. Saber was feeling a bit lightheaded just watching the sway of her hips.
Was she the most desirable woman met thus far? A most definite Yes! to that. Julia was as desirable as they came. Red hair, blue eyes, and the cutest mole on her left cheek, she was in need of a good man in her life; one that wouldn’t hurt her.
But was he looking to be that man, that savior of all?
Not on your life!
Riding bulls was the only thing he dared want in his life. At the moment, to be tossed into the dirt proved something to those who could not. Without the rodeo, without sweat, grime, dust and pain, he had nothing. There was no family to speak of; other than a few larger than life uncles who roamed about loose, rich, and unstoppable, wreaking havoc and mayhem in small towns like Preacher’s Bend. He no longer had a profitable career in heart medicine. No happy, fulfilling marriage to go home to. Now, there was no child to call his own. The only one he’ll ever have was buried in a cemetery back in Miami.
According to his calculations, he’d failed the most important person in his life. Saber failed his son. So, without the rodeo, he had nothing.
But wasn’t that exactly how he wanted it? Nothing had always been good enough before coming here—before he met Julia. Why was he getting a change of heart now? Surely it could not be that he wanted to be this woman’s savior. Or, that a pretty set of blue eyes could make him forget ten years trapped inside a terrible marriage. Even forget the very reason his son had to die.
No. Nothing could ever make him forget grand betrayal to mankind, or so much utter devastation. He would rather cut out his own heart than feel the kind of pain from the ultimate betrayal of a vengeful woman.
Chapter Twelve
Over a cup of coffee, after a rather boisterous unplanned dinner of takeout chicken from Rachel’s Café, with four aging men and one extremely gorgeous Eight Second Wonder, Julia took her only opportunity of the evening to glance at the man seated at the far end of the table. His glance back was alarming, to say the least. He looked almost sinful; too good to feast the eyes upon. In fact, he looked as if he was thinking of nothing other than how he could take off most of her clothes without getting his lights punched out.
Gill was on his way to Ohio. Young Cody in tow. Brittany Hillard was out of town. Ms. Theodora Rosebud was fast asleep in her nice warm bed. There was no other Hillards around to punch out the man’s lights—if somehow Mr. Patterson felt inclined to follow the actions of his heated gaze. And Julia, unfortunately, was no longer in the mood to stop him if he dared. She was even egging him on.
They shared a brief illness together, a few chaste kisses, and a lot of light teasing. They’d shared a sunset and simple confessions, for lack of a better word. No one else within her life had ever willingly shared or wanted to share a sunset with her. As well, remain mute until it was over.
His earlier actions of the evening had spoken volumes to her. He really was a good guy, one worth keeping.
He’d not tried to kiss her again. Surely, the one he’d given her under Theodora’s oak tree would be good enough to sustain her for the remainder of her days. Hot. Passionate. Beyond imagination. Then why did she have this deep unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach about the man? As if he was merely a shell of whom he was actually saying he was.
Was he hiding behind a mask of charm and charisma, and very large bulls, and the danger that came with those bulls? Was Saber just a shell of a man who could hurt her badly? Could this be possible?
Stranger things had certainly happened in Preacher’s Bend.
But, if not, why was she even questioning every move this man made? Like now. Mr. Patterson was taking a huge second helping of biscuits and laughing at what one of the other four men was saying to him. A little too forced, she suspected. He looked right at home at her kitchen table, as though he’d been there for years.
Julia was barely listening to their conversation to give this much more thought than just a mere second or two. Her head was stuck in the spin cycle, and a clogged drain was at the other end. The men were talking a
bout what was coming to town in less than two days, of who was to do what when the big trucks arrived; each were planning every detail down to the very last man.
It was a good thing she had another room to rent out otherwise this conversation would’ve taken place over at the Café under Rachel Rosebud’s watchful eye. Once Rachel’s claws sank in, it took an awful lot to get them to retract.
Even the kindhearted Saber was offering his services to help set up the rodeo. The more hands, the better. Given that he was one of their prized bull riders, he didn’t need to lift a finger and help. But Saber was a good guy. He’d quibbled he had a perfectly useable pair of hands to aide, so long as he did not damage those hands in the process.
Julia sat at the far end of the table reviewing in her head her week thus far; gave little to the thought process toward the setting up of a rodeo. And Saber was just that, a stranger to her. She knew very little about him. He came from Miami. A lot of people came from Miami. He had an Uncle LeRoy. Lots of folks have Uncle LeRoys. He liked fried chicken. Who wouldn’t? Staple of American cuisine. He was one hell of a kisser. At his age he damn well should be.
Sure, he had gorgeous silver-blue eyes that could change shade at the drop of a hat. He could kiss so incredibly wonderful that he made her feet start on fire. Nevertheless, she did not know much more than simple superficial things about him.
Christ! Even Liddy knew more about Saber than Julia did. And Liddy was saying very little. Almost as if when Julia had left the room to make the three of them a cup of coffee, Saber and Liddy had made a pact to keep quiet about his identity. But that could not be, could it?
Again, he moved his attention toward her.
Julia pulled her gaze away quickly; lest he read her thoughts and use them against her in some way. Her throat lodged when he set down a half-eaten biscuit, pinning her with a silver-blue stare to melt the polar ice caps. Seconds later, he rose from the far end of the table and moved toward her.
Seduction of Saber (Saving the Sinners of Preacher's Bend #3) Page 9