Cowboy Tough

by Stacy Finz

  “Charlie?”

  “Yes. Please,” she croaked, ready to beg if he didn’t hurry.

  He pushed up with both hands, captured her mouth with his, and entered her in one powerful stroke. He started out slow, letting her get accustomed to him. Charlotte spread her legs wider and he slid his hands under her bottom and cupped her butt so he could go deeper.

  “This okay?”

  “God, yes.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and met him stroke for stroke.

  “I want this to be good for you,” he whispered in her ear. “Tell me what you like, what you don’t like.”

  “So far, I like it all. Just don’t stop.”

  He nibbled on her earlobe and kissed her neck, the whole time moving inside her. Pulling in and out in a steady rhythm that quickened with time. His hands moved from her butt to her breasts and his thumbs circled her nipples.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said against her mouth. “So incredibly beautiful.”

  “So are you.” She held each side of his face, staring into his blue eyes. “You’re such a good man, Jace.”

  He didn’t respond and Charlotte got the sense that he didn’t feel like such a good man but had reached the point of no return. She gave small thanks because she couldn’t bear it if he stopped. She wanted him to replace all the bad Corbin memories. But it was more than that too.

  She simply wanted Jace for Jace.

  He changed his position, pumping his hips harder. Faster.

  She hooked her ankles around his waist, trying to keep up. “Oh, that’s good. So good.”

  “Tell me when it’s too much. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I’m not a porcelain doll, Jace. I won’t break. More.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He drove into her again and again, each thrust bringing her closer to climax.

  “Jace! Jace!” she yelled out as she clenched and her breathing became ragged.

  “Whenever you’re ready, just let go. I’ve got you.”

  She clung to his shoulders while he reached between her legs and worked her with his fingers as he continued to thrust inside her. Charlotte ground into him one last time, called out his name and trembled with such exquisite release that for a beat she felt like she was floating.

  Jace pistoned his hips a few more times, threw his head back, and grunted before collapsing on top of her.

  They lay there for a long time, entwined in each other’s arms. She buried her face against his chest and listened to his heartbeat as her eyes filled. The power of their intimacy, the sheer glory of it, had left her a mass of quivering emotions.

  He gently lifted her face “Hey, hey,” he said softly and wiped away a tear. “You okay?”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been better.”

  He rolled them to their sides, keeping her enfolded in his arms. “Then why are you crying? Was it too soon?”

  Not soon enough.

  “No.” She reached up and kissed him, running her hands through his thick, dark hair. Then she stared into his eyes, wanting to hold on to this moment and remember it forever. “It was perfect, Jace. You’re perfect.”

  Chapter 15

  Jace drove back to the station in a daze. He wasn’t sorry he and Charlie had slept together—far from it—but it sure the hell did complicate things. Once wasn’t going to be enough for him, not even close. It had only been twenty minutes since she’d left the house for town, and he was already hankering for her again.

  But he was raising two boys, and jumping in bed with their live-in babysitter every chance he got wasn’t exactly what he’d call being a good role model. Then there was Charlie, who still had her bags packed and her boots by the door. Once Ainsley was out of the picture, she’d leave, go back to San Francisco or Portland, and take up the life she left behind.

  And where would that leave him?

  History repeating itself, that’s where. He was already more than infatuated and so damned tired of the people he cared about walking in and out of his life. Letting Charlie in too deep was setting himself up for more heartache. He just didn’t have it in him to go through it again. Not with the tax bill due in April, a June primary on the horizon, and two boys who needed raising.

  Nope, he had to keep her at arm’s length, which meant no more sleeping together. Yeah, right. Even he didn’t have that kind of willpower.

  His phone went off, dragging him from his thoughts. When he saw it was Charlie his pulse picked up. Since the restraining order had been served, everyone was a little on edge.

  He answered on Bluetooth. “You okay?”

  “Travis isn’t in school. The school secretary says I called him in sick this morning.”

  “We both know that isn’t true. He ditched.”

  There was a long pause, then, “What if it’s Corbin?”

  “It’s not Corbin.” Jace didn’t think Ainsley was stupid enough to kidnap a sheriff’s kid. It would destroy his strategy of discrediting Charlie and making her look like a depressed nutjob who’d run off with his unborn child. “I’m wagering a guess that a certain young lady was also absent today. Are you still at the high school?”

  “Yes. Grady is here too. And we’re both sick with fear. He’s never done anything like this before. Jace…”

  “Hang tight while I make a call. I just pulled in to the sheriff’s station and can be there in less than five minutes.”

  As soon as he got off the phone with Charlie, he called the school. As he suspected, Tina’s “mother” had also called her daughter out sick. The question was where were they and why hadn’t Travis shown up in time to be picked up? While Travis was a far cry from a criminal mastermind, he was usually better at covering his tracks.

  He pulled into the school’s circular driveway behind Charlie’s Honda. Both she and Grady were standing on the lawn. The moment they spotted him, they came running to his window.

  “What did you find out?” Charlie had lost all trace of her postcoital color. Before she’d left to pick up the kids, her cheeks had been rosy, like a woman well sated. Now, she was pale, like she’d just witnessed a longhorn gore a dog.

  “He’s playing hooky.” Jace pinned Grady with a look. “You know anything about this?”

  “No, sir.”

  Jace studied his son, searching for any guilty tells. “You sure?”

  “Yes, sir.” The boy couldn’t lie to save his life and it was clear he was as worried about his brother as the rest of them were.

  “Okay.” He got out of the SUV and squeezed Grady’s shoulder. “I’m guessing Travis lost track of the time.” And when Travis realized he’d missed pickup he was going to have an oh-shit moment. Jace only wished he could be there to witness it. “Why don’t the two of you go home. Travis can figure out his own ride.” Which ultimately meant he’d have to call Jace and grovel.

  “Shouldn’t we look for him?” Charlie chewed her bottom lip.

  “I’ve got some ideas.” Jace had been a horny high school student in this town once too. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He couldn’t help himself and pulled Charlie in for a hug and kissed her briefly on the lips. Either Grady was too consumed with Travis or was simply oblivious, because he didn’t react.

  “I’ll find him,” he said. “Go on back to the ranch.”

  Charlie reluctantly got in her car and Jace watched them drive off before getting in his sheriff’s SUV. He nosed out onto Main Street and went in the opposite direction of the police station. From Highway 49 he hung a left onto Sweet Bay. It wasn’t far from where he’d found Charlie seven weeks ago.

  The two-lane road was flanked by forest on both sides and dead-ended at a trail that led to Dry Creek, where there was a sandy beach and a popular swimming hole. Jace parked in the lot at the trailhead. Besides an Outback with a ski rack and a R
av4 with Arizona plates, the lot was mostly empty. The state park attracted tourists and locals alike but was less traveled in the winter. Back in the day, though, it was where Jace and other kids went to make out, drink beer and party, year-round. It was a hike from the high school but definitely doable on foot if one was determined enough.

  He took the trail for a half mile. A thick copse of redwoods blocked the sun and he wished he’d worn his jacket. But it sure smelled good. The wet bark, the crisp air, and the slight fishy odor of the creek reminded him of why he lived here. Why he never wanted to leave.

  There was a rustling in the trees and he stopped to watch a doe and her two babies take off through the woods, then continued his trek to the swimming hole. A wooden sign with an arrow guided the way, but he didn’t need it. The well-worn trail was as familiar to him as Dry Creek Ranch.

  At the end of the road, the forest opened to a clearing where the creek widened and an outcrop of rocks formed a natural pool. There was a sign posted that cautioned visitors to swim at their own risk. Jace couldn’t remember there ever being a drowning. The worst incident he could recall was a man who had suffered a heart attack and the paramedics couldn’t get to him in time.

  The beach was empty, save for two people lying on a woolen blanket at the other end of the beach. From Jace’s vantage point he couldn’t make out whether one of those people was Travis. He circled around, noting that the pair didn’t move. As he got closer, he could tell it was a male and female but still had trouble identifying any of their features because their faces were turned toward each other and they were covered to their necks in jackets.

  He did, however, recognize Travis’s backpack. A black JanSport with a compartment for a laptop and a Future Farmers of America sticker on the front. Next to it was a tote bag with an iron-on emblem of a barrel racer.

  Bingo!

  He walked right up to them and toed Travis with his boot. No movement.

  Jace cued up “Reveille” on his cell phone and played it in Travis’s ear.

  “What the . . ? Shit!” Travis knocked off his jacket in an attempt to fasten his pants. The dim bulb had clearly forgotten to completely dress before he drifted off to sleep.

  Tina came awake and in both their foggy states hadn’t yet realized that Jace had caught them doing God knows what, though he had a fairly good idea.

  “You’ve got ten minutes to get your asses to my SUV.” He turned his back on them so Tina could straighten her clothes, or put them on. Jeez, he didn’t want to know.

  He could hear rustling in the background and started back to the trail. “Ten minutes,” he yelled.

  Not eight minutes later, they climbed into his back seat without saying a word. Jace started the engine and drove to the highway.

  “Mr. Dalton…Sheriff…are you going to tell my parents?”

  “Yep.” He was keeping words to a minimum until he cooled down.

  “They won’t let her ride in the semifinals if you do,” Travis said.

  Jace presumed he was talking about a barrel racing competition. “Then you should’ve thought about that before one of you impersonated Charlie and Tina’s mom, skipped school, and scared the hell out of us.”

  He gazed back at them through his rearview mirror. “Tina, do you still live on Honey Comb?”

  “Yes,” she said and exchanged a glance with Travis.

  Don’t look to Travis for help, Jace wanted to say. He’ll be doing hard time until he’s twenty.

  He jumped onto the highway, passed a broken-down motorist, and called it in.

  Tina’s house was a white stucco ranch with tile arches that reminded him of a Mexican fast-food drive-through. There were no cars in the driveway and Jace remembered both her parents worked. Her mother was a real estate agent in Grass Valley and her father was an electrician. He’d done some work at the ranch a few years ago and was a good guy, as Jace recalled. He’d have to phone them later, when they got home.

  Tina bolted out of the back seat as soon as Jace cut the engine. Travis started to follow her but Jace told him to get back in the car. Jace got out and followed Tina, who searched her bag for her key.

  Tina’s older brother, Donovan, opened the door before she found it. He stepped outside, took one look at his sister, and said, “Is there a problem, Sheriff?” then craned his neck around Jace and Tina, spotting Travis in the SUV. Jace could see him putting the pieces together.

  Tina dropped her gaze to her boots.

  “Are your folks home?”

  Donovan moved aside to let Tina go inside the house. “They’re at work. You want me to have one of them call you?”

  “That would be good. You’ll keep an eye on her until your mom or dad gets home?”

  “Yep, I’m off shift.”

  Jace had forgotten that Donovan was now a firefighter in Placer County. He still thought of the kid as the star running back at Dry Creek High.

  “She’s okay, right?” Donovan looked back at Travis in the truck. “Nothing big, just kids’ stuff, I hope.”

  Is that what they were calling it these days?

  Hell, Jace didn’t know why he was being such a prude. He’d lost his virginity at fifteen with Barbie Russel underneath the Penn Valley rodeo stands. Last he heard, Barbie was married, had three kids, and taught science at a junior college in Southern California.

  “They skipped school. Have your folks call me, okay?”

  “Sure. Thanks for bringing her home.” Donovan glanced at his watch. “My mom does a carpool with the Wagstaffs. Or a lot of times, Tina’s got junior rodeo.”

  Jace nodded. No one was blaming Donovan for not keeping track of his sister. “Take it easy, Donovan.”

  Jace got back in the SUV. “Come up front, Travis.”

  Travis got out and came around to the passenger seat with his head hung low.

  “Put on your seat belt.” Jace backed out of the driveway. “I thought we talked about this. About you and Tina just being friends.”

  “We are.”

  Jace shot him a look. “That’s not what it looked like at the swimming hole.”

  “Maybe not to you.”

  Jace didn’t like the sharpness in Travis’s voice. “You want to watch that attitude?”

  “Or what? You’re gonna ground me? You’re gonna ground me anyway.”

  The kid had a point. He was definitely getting grounded.

  “Look, Travis, I can’t stop you from making bad decisions in life. We all make them. But there are consequences when you do.” He slid his son a sideways glance.

  Travis rolled his eyes. “Why do you have to make a capital case out of everything? If you tell her parents she’ll get in big trouble and they probably won’t let me see her anymore.”

  “That’s okay, you’ll be plenty busy for the foreseeable future, mucking stalls, soaping tack, stacking hay, and washing my truck.”

  Travis didn’t try to argue, which Jace gave him points for.

  “In the meantime, do we need to have another conversation about safe sex?”

  “Give me a break, Dad.”

  Jace decided to spare him the talk. For now, anyway.

  “Phone.” Jace held out his hand.

  Once Travis gave it up, they rode the rest of the way to the ranch in silence.

  When he came up the driveway, Charlie and Grady ran out of the house onto the porch. Charlie’s expression went from concern to relief the moment she spied Travis in the front seat.

  Travis got out of the SUV, slammed the door, and made a beeline for the house.

  “Where were you, Travis?” Grady trailed after him.

  Charlie came down the porch stairs and looked at Jace questioningly.

  “He was with Tina at the swimming hole, a spot in the state park where all the kids go. He’s fine but his phone privileges have been revoked.” Jac
e opened his door and held up Travis’s cell. “And he’s not to leave the house other than to do his chores.”

  “Thank goodness you found him and he’s okay.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I was so worried. You must’ve been a wreck.”

  “Come here.” He crooked his finger at her and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you for looking out for my kids.”

  She tilted her face up so they were staring into each other’s eyes. That’s when he kissed her. It was rushed because if he lingered there was no telling what he’d do. Carry her off to the barn again.

  “I’ve gotta get to work,” he said as he forced himself to pull away.

  “Will you be home in time for dinner?”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  He watched her as she walked to the house, then hung a U-turn in the driveway and headed to town.

  * * * *

  Charlotte knocked on Travis’s bedroom door. “Can I come in?” When there was no answer, she pushed open the door just enough to stick her head in. “You’ve been in here all afternoon. Are you hungry?”

  “No.” Travis was on his bed, his head propped up on a pile of pillows, staring at the ceiling.

  She went in and sat on the edge of his mattress. “You want to talk about it?”

  “You’re not my mother, so quit trying to act like you are. Just because my dad looks at you all the time doesn’t mean you’re anything more than the babysitter.”

  She flinched. Where had this come from? While Travis could sometimes be surly, he’d always been polite.

  “I thought we were friends,” she said.

  “Why? You’re just going to leave as soon as my dad arrests your old boyfriend. Everyone knows it. Why do you think my dad’s being such a jerk?”

  “Because he took your phone? Come on, Travis.”

  Travis sat up. “Because he’s gonna tell Tina’s parents. They’re really strict, they’ll take away her horse, won’t let her barrel race anymore, and they’ll stop her from seeing me.”

  “That’s on you and Tina, Travis, not your dad. You’re the ones who decided to lie to school administrators, disappear for a day, and scare us all to death. He’s simply doing what any good parent would do.”