Fannin's Flame

by Tina Leonard

  There. Business totally unmixed from pleasure.

  He had her on the run. His brothers would be proud.

  KELLY WISHED SHE didn’t feel so guilty! Fannin was so much more man than she’d expected him to be—and he was making her nervous. False pretenses were obviously not her game. She sighed, watching the truck ahead carefully. Fannin was a careful driver, and he seemed equally careful with his heart. What had possessed her to say that he might be a horse’s ass? The moment she had, he’d gone distant on her. She hated that! She was always sticking her size-ten shoe in her mouth.

  Then she’d had to fall back on the professional excuse, so it wouldn’t seem like she’d been chasing him when all he wanted from her was a day’s worth of work. What had gotten into her to stand there drooling like a madwoman? If her mouth hadn’t run off with her chances, she would have been in danger of losing all self-respect and throwing herself at that poor unsuspecting man.

  Wouldn’t he have been surprised to find her wrapped around him like a well-worn sweater? “Maybe all he really wants is a secretary, Kelly. You assumed he wanted a date, even though he never asked for a date. You thought he was going to make a move on you, and when he didn’t, your sex signals tripped a major breaker. You need to settle down and be professional, be a good representative of Julia’s Honey-Do Agency.”

  Joy had certainly not carried any inhibitions. Her baby was still in Fannin’s jacket, nice and warm and secure. Of course, things were a lot less complicated in the animal world. Dogs didn’t bog themselves down with overthought. They looked for love and comfort, and they got it where they could. “Of course, I can’t exactly fit into his pocket,” Kelly murmured. Nor his life.

  Then she noticed he was stopping up ahead, suddenly. She thought she had the steering wheel firmly in her hands, but she must have been trembling. The car went over something hard and bumpy in the road, something large, and the steering wheel jerked from her fingers. Gasping, she overcompensated and slid into the ditch. “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Mentally, she checked for broken anything—everything felt fine. Except her pride, of course, as Fannin’s truck door slammed on the embankment above her.

  “You all right?” he called.

  Not if you count my humiliation level. “I’m fine,” she called back.

  “Anything hurt?” Fannin slid on his feet toward the car and opened her door to gingerly help her out. “Move slowly. Make sure everything’s in one piece.”

  “I’m fine,” she said weakly, becoming more unsettled now that the adrenaline was wearing off. “I hit something.”

  “A deer.”

  “A deer! I didn’t see a deer.”

  “It’s lying on its side in the road. Probably was meandering across when someone accidentally hit it. That happens around here sometimes. You’re lucky it was just a small one.”

  She shuddered. “How come you didn’t hit it?”

  “I saw it, but my truck’s set up higher than your car. I didn’t have time to warn you.”

  His fingers felt good as they massaged her neck, her shoulders, her arms, checking her over and steadying her. “I’m fine, really. It was my own stupidity. My mind was a million miles away. I saw you stop, but my reaction was slow.”

  “You wouldn’t have been expecting a deer in the road,” he said kindly.

  All she wanted to do was melt into his arms. “Where’s Joy?”

  “I left her up in the truck. She’d made a nest in my jacket and was perfectly happy not to come back out into the cold. Are you sure you’re fine?”

  Looking up at him, she said, “Well, having never hit a deer before, I think I’m woozy.”

  He frowned. “Woozy?”

  “Yeah. Isn’t that funny? I feel light-headed.”

  “Maybe you have a concussion.”

  She could hear the instant worry in his voice. “No,” she said slowly, “I didn’t hit my head. I think I’m just envisioning poor Bambi—”

  “Hey.” He took her into his arms and held her close. “Don’t think about it, okay? The deer was dead and didn’t feel a thing. You didn’t hurt the deer. In fact, I heard a rumor that it was an evil deer, out looking for little forest creatures to lure from their warm, snug homes. You did the world a favor. Okay?”

  “Evil deer?” But she giggled, in spite of herself. “Thanks. I’m feeling better now.” More from his chest and his solid warmth than his silliness, but that felt good, too.

  “Good. We’re going to leave your car here, until I can come back with my brothers so they can help me tow it back up this embankment.”

  “Oh, no. I don’t want you to go to the trouble. I’ll call a service.”

  He laughed, and she loved the sound of it coming from deep in his chest.

  “We are the service in this town. Didn’t you see the size of my truck?”

  “I hadn’t looked.” She’d only been looking at him.

  “Other people buy bling-bling. We bought the biggest trucks they had on the market. Therefore, we became the towing service by default. We even pulled Shoeshine Johnson’s bus out of the pond when it slipped in.”

  “How does a bus slip into a pond?” This man was telling her whoppers just to get her to calm down, and it was working better than wine.

  “That’s a story for another time. Come on. I need to get you warm. Easy up the hill,” he said, more carrying her than letting her walk.

  “I’m fine, Fannin. I can walk. Really.”

  “Yeah, but it feels good to push on your behind. Unprofessional, but we’re outside of working hours. Right?”

  She giggled. “I guess so.” The feel of his hands all over her was too good to complain about, anyway. He made her feel dainty.

  “In fact, I’m grateful to that evil deer. Without him, I wouldn’t be having this much fun.”

  He helped her into the truck, tucking a blanket around her legs. As promised, Joy was nestled into his jacket, completely undisturbed by the excitement her mother had just suffered. “Thank you,” Kelly said. “I’m perfect now.”

  Nodding, he said, “You were perfect from the start.”

  And then he leaned in to kiss her, just a soft kiss, but it started fireworks in her heart. Kelly groaned, wishing she didn’t feel her self-control slipping, but she did and she wanted more. Suddenly, the redhead inside of her took over as she turned her legs to the edge of the seat and locked them around his waist.

  “Kiss me, cowboy,” she said. “Kiss me like you’re on fire for me.”

  “I think I burst into flames when I had my hand on your butt,” he said before kissing her hard. “I know parts of me were definitely not feeling the wind chill.”

  She moaned, a sigh of pleasure, but he pulled away to look into her eyes. “Are you sure you’re not hurting anywhere?”

  Only my heart, she thought, and then she pulled him back to her mouth. “I want you,” she said against his lips.

  He stiffened with surprise, but only for a second. Then he shoved her skirt up her legs, rubbing her thighs above her knee-high boots. “Are you sure? You’re okay with this?”

  I’m as okay with this as any thirty-year-old redheaded, six-foot woman could ever be. She had hot, horny cowboy between her legs—he was such a strong man—she’d never be in this fantasy again in her whole life. “I know I’m not what you ordered, but—”

  “Forget what I ordered. I’d say you more than meet the requirements,” he said gruffly, unbuttoning her ladylike sweater. “You’re too beautiful for words. You should always wear sweaters.”

  She giggled, slightly nervous about her size. He unsnapped her red bra from the back and then buried his face in her breasts as if he hadn’t had a decent meal in weeks, and Kelly relaxed, throwing her head back, gasping as he feasted. She ran her fingers over his shoulders, burying them in his hair and knocking his hat to the ground.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, but he stopped her apology and awkwardness by kissing her until she was breathless. A storm rose inside her, and she sque
ezed her eyes shut until she felt his fingers stroking inside her thighs, creeping inside her red thong. She was slick, and that was embarrassing, so she shifted, trying to pull her legs together so he wouldn’t find out. But he did. And he groaned, loud, deep, and Kelly stiffened, wondering if he was disappointed. Turned off.

  But he slipped his fingers inside her, his mouth all over hers, his tongue licking inside her, and all Kelly could do was hang on to him as he pushed her to some edge she’d never been to before. Wave after wave of pleasure hit her, freezing her unexpectedly, making her cry out against his mouth.

  He moved his hands to shove his jeans down, but he didn’t remove his mouth from hers. In fact, he seemed to kiss her harder, as if he needed her for his very breath. She heard something like paper tearing, and Fannin muttered, “It’s old, but please, let it still have staying power,” and the next thing she knew, he’d moved his hands to her hips and was slowly pulling her thong down her thighs. She didn’t make him do any more of the work after the thong left his hands. Moving to the very edge of the seat, she took hold of him, guiding him to her opening. He groaned again, that deep sound she loved, and then he entered her, his own passion making him thrust eagerly.

  Stars of pain blinded her, but she didn’t cry out. She clutched his shoulders tighter, wrapping her strong legs tightly around him, loving the feel of his passion for her. Tears came to her eyes and fell down her cheeks, but they were soaked up by the flannel of his shirt.

  And then he cried out, a sound unlike anything she’d ever heard. When he slumped against her, she cradled his head to her. “Fannin?” she whispered after a moment.

  “Mmm?”

  “Are you all right?”

  He kissed her lips tenderly. “Yeah. You?”

  She was sore but happy. “Fine.”

  “You’re pretty resilient for a woman who drove down an embankment.”

  She smiled into his eyes. “I come from sturdy stock.”

  “I’ll say.”

  Her gaze lowered as she remembered her mother. What would she think if she saw her daughter throwing herself at a Jefferson male like this—any man, for that matter? Slowly, she reclasped her bra and buttoned her sweater while he pulled his own clothes together.

  “I…can’t find your, um—”

  “It’s okay,” she said quickly, not wanting him to mention her thong. Rearranging her skirt, she pulled her knees forward into the cab.

  He shut the door.

  Kelly closed her eyes. Oh, Lord. Fannin was everything she’d ever wanted in a dream-come-true sexual fantasy. Of course. That’s what her mother had said: the Jefferson men had that effect on women. She remembered the stories. Desperate women. All wanting exactly what she’d wanted. The brothers acted like horses’ patoots, and the women chased them down anyway, so they never had to change their ways. An occasional brother got caught, but not often.

  Fannin was going to be very unhappy when he discovered who she was.

  And now, with her car in the ditch, she couldn’t back out and go on her merry, anonymous way.

  Chapter Three

  “Fannin,” Kelly said, her voice tight. But Fannin held up a hand, then started the truck.

  “Hang on,” he said.

  They sat and listened. He could feel Kelly staring at him like he’d lost his mind. “I thought I heard something.”

  “Maybe it was my conscience ticking,” she said. “Fannin, I should have told you this sooner—”

  “That’s what I thought.” He grinned at her.

  “What’s what you thought?”

  “Hear that sound?”

  “No…”

  The low, roaring sound backed up behind them. He whipped around to peer out the back window. “That would be your rescue party.”

  “My rescue party?”

  “Yeah. While we were driving, I called my brothers to check to make certain they were taking good care of my date.”

  “Your date.”

  “Helga.” He waved a hand. “It’s not important. Anyway, they were already on their way back. About that time, you slid into the ditch. I mentioned they might swing through here on their way home and see if they could pull your car out.” He turned to grin at her. “Of course, I thought we’d be long gone by now.”

  She looked a bit pale in the darkness of the truck interior. Whoops filled the background as the brothers stared down into the ditch. The sound of the two truck motors behind them was loud enough to unsettle owls. He could see why this fragile girl would be unnerved by all of it. “Don’t worry. My brothers won’t eat you. C’mon and meet the family.”

  Fannin hopped out of the truck. Kelly went out her door, coming around to the truckbed. Most of his brothers were staring down into the ditch, except for Last. And Helga, of course, probably because she was too smart to get that close to a slick edge.

  “Kelly!” Helga cried out.

  Kelly went flying into his housekeeper’s arms. Last glanced at Fannin in surprise. Fannin shrugged, mystified. The two women embraced as if they’d known each other forever.

  Finally, Kelly turned. “Fannin, this is my mother, Helga.”

  “My baby,” Helga said.

  Only Kelly was no baby. At least he sure didn’t think so. Fannin felt his jaw sagging. “Baby?” he repeated dumbly. “Mother?”

  Last turned to him. “I think that tall redhead who was in your truck said that Helga was her mother.”

  Fannin’s heart caved. “That can’t be possible. That would not be a good thing at all.”

  Last shook his head. “I wouldn’t want those genes, either.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I—” Fannin halted. “I mean, that would put me in a very bad spot.”

  “Did you know who she was? How did you meet Helga’s daughter?” Last asked.

  Fannin shook his head, thinking through their conversations on the phone and in person. Had Kelly ever mentioned it? He was positive he’d remember something like Helga is my mother.

  “Dude. How are you going to fire her now?” Last asked.

  “Fire who?” Fannin’s thoughts were so tangled, he couldn’t keep anything straight.

  “Helga. Remember? We took her out tonight for the last supper, so to speak, so that you could meet your dream date—great choice, by the way, Helga’s daughter and all. Makes for weird drama, doesn’t it, bro?” Last slapped him on the back. “And in return for us giving up our time, you were going to speak to Mason about punting Helga over to Mimi’s house.”

  Fannin felt ill. “I don’t think I can exactly do that now.”

  “You have to! It was…dude, you don’t understand what it was like taking Helga into Dallas. She wanted to stop and look at every point of interest, every history marker between here and there. We gave up on the movie and took her to a German restaurant instead. She had a blast, by the way.”

  “I’m going to have to renege.” He felt fairly certain that one didn’t sleep with a daughter and then turn around and fire the mother. That would not be cricket. It would definitely put him in bad with Kelly, a place he did not want to be. That redhead had given him a wicked treat—and he definitely had plans for winning more of the same.

  “You can’t renege.” They looked on as Kelly took her mother carefully to the side of the road to peer over, watching the brothers swarm her little car to assess the damage and develop retrieval scenarios.

  “I have to. Last, I can’t do it.”

  “Why? You don’t…you don’t like her, do you?”

  “Helga? No more than you do, but—”

  “That girl.” Last stared at him. “You don’t have the hots for Helga’s daughter, do you?”

  Fannin wanted to crawl under a rock to get away from Last’s piercing gaze. “She’s a really nice girl.”

  Last gasped. “You realize you’re putting yourself on the road to ruin, brother. Intervention may be required. You haven’t thought this through.”

  “Hell, I haven’t thought about anything! I ju
st now found out myself!”

  “Whatever you do,” Last said, drawing close enough so that no one could hear him, “do not sleep with her. Understand? If you’re not capable of thinking this through, then let me explain it to you in simple turns. H-e-double-hockey-sticks-ga would be your mother-in-law.”

  Fannin felt Last’s sincerity blazing from his eyes.

  “And if you don’t know what they say about nosey, interfering mothers-in-law, you can dial up Frisco Joe and ask him what he had to do to get away from her when he was laid up with a busted leg.”

  “I remember,” Fannin muttered.

  “And mothers-in-law.” Last shuddered, waving his hands for emphasis. “They are the fount of the future. You can see everything in that fount. Look closely, bro. That’s what your bride would look like someday.”

  Fannin blinked at Last’s intensity.

  “And you know what they say about getting along with the in-laws and the out-laws. If you did such a thing, Fannin, that would put Helga in our family forever. Forever. She’d be ours.” Last hung his head dramatically. “I could not endure it.”

  Fannin felt bad for his brother, even though he was a maestro of soap opera effects—until Last kicked at something on the ground.

  “What’s this?” Last asked, turning over a piece of red, lacy stuff on the ground with his boot.

  “Nothing,” Fannin said, bending to scoop Kelly’s errant thong into his pocket.

  “Looked like a…thong to me,” Last said, his voice amazed. “Wouldn’t that be strange? You see shoes all the time sitting in the middle of the road, sometimes one, sometimes two, and I always wonder who they belong to. Who so carelessly abandoned them?”

  Kelly came walking back over to the truck with Helga, and Fannin growled, “Last, shut up.”

  “Seriously. Someone needs to do a study on how shoes get into roads, particularly at intersections in big cities. They’re almost a tourist attraction in themselves. Sometimes they’re hanging from telephone wires like they just got up there by themselves. I know the world is changing now that it’s undergarments in the road….”