Cowboy to the Rescue

by Stella Bagwell

  “Must be? Oh, baby, we’re like two matches striking off each other.”

  Yes, she felt like a match that had just exploded into flames. Heat was still tingling in her hands and cheeks, her breasts and loins. It was scandalous how her body had reacted to his.

  “Setting a fire isn’t always a good thing,” she tried to reason. “It could get out of control.”

  “Yeah. But I’d rather be singed by a wildfire than frozen by a blizzard.”

  Turning away from him, she walked over to the edge of the patio and wiped a hand across her damp brow. Never in her life, not even with Mike, had she ever had one kiss fill her with such longing. When she’d had her hands on Lex’s shoulders, when his hard, warm body had been pressed against hers, it had felt right and good. As though he’d been made for her and she for him.

  But that thinking was crazy, she mentally warned herself, and she had to stop it before her heart got all mixed up with physical desire. She was here on the Sandbur to do a job and nothing else.

  Once again she felt him walking up behind her, and this time when his hand touched her shoulder, a thick lump filled her throat.

  “I wish you wouldn’t run away from me, Christina.”

  She was probably a fool, but there was something in his voice that sounded almost vulnerable, that drew her to him in a way that frightened her. But she was determined to resist it—and him.

  “I’m not running from you.” Bracing herself with a deep breath, she turned to meet his gaze. “In fact, I was about to ask you if you might take off work one day this week and take a little trip with me.”

  Her suggestion floored him so much that for a moment or two he didn’t speak.

  “A trip with you? Are you kidding me?”

  Suddenly feeling as though a tight band had been lifted from her heart, she laughed softly. “No. I’m serious. I’d like for the two of us to drive down to Corpus Christi.”

  He placed his palm against her forehead. “I think I should call Nicci and have her come over here and examine you. A bug or something must have bitten you.”

  She’d been bitten all right, but it wasn’t by any bug. “I feel very well at the moment. And I need you.”

  Impish grooves appeared near the corners of his mouth. “Now you’re talking, honey. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

  How could a woman resist a man who was so playful and sweet? It was impossible, she thought. It was even more impossible to keep a smile from curving her lips.

  “I was talking about your mind,” she told him. “And your mental support.”

  He must have sensed the change that had come over her in the past few moments, because he seemed to know that she wouldn’t pull away when his hands rested gently on top of her shoulders.

  “I’ve never had a woman want me for my mind,” he said, with a chuckle, then his expression sobered as he brushed the back of his forefinger beneath her chin. “I think I kinda like the idea. And who knows, you might just get to needing the rest of me.”

  Everything inside her was turning to a melting, quivering mass, and she had to fight to prevent her arms from sliding around his neck, her mouth from seeking his.

  Clearing her throat, she said, “And you might decide I’m not worth the effort.” Before he could make a reply to that, she eased a step back from him and quickly added, “The trip is about Paul. Not you and me.”

  Lex was hardly about to let that squash his optimism. No matter what she said, he’d felt things in her kiss that she couldn’t deny. Longing and hunger and a plea for him to appease those needs. But was making love to this woman all he really wanted? No, he wouldn’t think about that now. He didn’t want to think anymore tonight; he simply wanted to enjoy having her home again.

  “I’d already concluded that.”

  “Then you agree to go?”

  As if he could deny her anything, Lex thought wryly. One long, hot embrace with the woman had left him feeling like her puppet. It was downright scary, but in a very irresistible way.

  “I do. But I am curious as to what you think this trip will accomplish. Besides a pleasant visit to the beach.”

  She gave him a short smile. “I’ve discovered that the same bait house where your father and his friends regularly bought bait is still in existence. I’d like to question anyone that might have remembered seeing the quartet that day or even on any of their other fishing trips.”

  “The police didn’t do this originally?”

  “There’s one brief interview on record with a man working at the bait house, but it was hardly enough to satisfy my curiosity.”

  “You can’t do this over the telephone?”

  This time her smile was patient. “I’d rather do my questioning face-to-face. You can pick up on things that you’d miss over the telephone.”

  “I see. But don’t you think it’s doubtful that anyone would still be working at that same bait house after nearly twelve years?”

  She shrugged. “You have to start somewhere. If not, we’ll hopefully find someone from the shop still living in the city. Besides, that’s not all I want to do. I also want to charter a boat to take us out to the coordinates where Red, Harve and Lawrence said your father went overboard. At least, the coordinates they gave to the police.”

  Lex’s mind was suddenly jerked away from the lingering pleasure of her kiss. “Why in the world is that important? There’s nothing out there but water!”

  “You’ve been there?” she questioned.

  “Well, no. Seeing where my father died isn’t particularly something I’ve ever wanted to do.”

  She reached out and curled her hand over his forearm. The feel of her fingers against his skin was oddly comforting and provocative at the same time.

  “You don’t have to go on the boat with me. But I need to get a sense of where Paul and his friends were fishing at the time of the incident. How far they were away from land or a shipping lane where boats might have been passing.”

  Lex grimaced. “The police report stated that no one else witnessed the accident.”

  “According to Paul’s friends,” she replied. “They also state that they radioed the Coast Guard for help, but if you look at the time that call was made and the time they arrived on shore, they’re only a few minutes apart. That doesn’t jive with me.”

  “I don’t find that overly suspicious. Could be the men were too caught up in trying to pull Dad from the water to think about calling anyone.”

  “Could be. But I want to take a look down there just the same. When do you think you might be free to go?”

  “Tomorrow, I have a buyer coming to look at bulls. And Thursday, we’re starting a roundup for a herd of cattle I’ve sold to a ranch in Florida. Then on Saturday, Matt wants me to go with him to an auction.”

  “So that means you won’t be free until Sunday?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, Christina. This is a particularly busy week for me.”

  Her expression turned thoughtful. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a busy schedule, too. Something has come up on another case that requires me to go back to San Antonio. While I’m there, I’m going to use any extra time I have to try to interview Red, Harve and Lawrence.”

  She had to leave again. The news disappointed him. And the idea of her going alone to see his dad’s old boating buddies left him a little uneasy.

  His fingers curled around her upper arm, then slid slowly to her elbow. “Are you sure you have to go back so soon?” he asked. “You just got back here.”

  Her gaze flickered shyly away from his, and Lex wondered if she was thinking about their kiss. The idea stirred him almost as much as touching her. Yet he realized that now wasn’t the time to press her for another. Hopefully, if he gave her time to think about the two of them together, she’d begin to come to terms with wanting him as much as he wanted her.

  Her gaze traveled back to his, and this time he could see a soft light flickering in the blue orbs, tenderness bending the corners of
her lips. He didn’t know what he’d done to find a bit of favor in her sight, but whatever it had been, he hoped to hell he could repeat it.

  “I’m afraid so,” she answered. “Work calls. But if all goes well, I’ll be back here Thursday evening.”

  To Lex, that sounded like an eternity. Especially when all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and make slow, sweet love to her. “The roundup is going to be an overnighter, so I’ll probably be out on the range when you return. But I’ll catch up with you before our trip to Corpus.”

  She nodded, then cast him an awkward smile. “I’m glad you’re going with me, Lex. And I’m glad you’re not making a fuss about this.”

  He chuckled softly. “Why would any man make a fuss about taking a trip with a beautiful woman?” he asked teasingly, and then suddenly his smile faded and his voice turned sober. “These past few days I’ve decided I want to prove to anyone and everyone that no matter how Dad died, he was always a good, honest man.”

  Her fingers reached up and squeezed his forearm. “Whatever your motives, it’s good that you want to know the truth.”

  That bit of praise caused his gaze to drop awkwardly to the toes of his boots, which only made Lex feel more like an idiot. Compliments from other women rolled off his back like rain on an oiled duster. At thirty-five, he’d been to town more than once, and he was wise enough to know that it was easy for the opposite sex to say pretty words when it suited their cause. So why did he believe Christina’s were sincere? Why did they leave him feeling sheepish and susceptible?

  Because she was that sort of woman. The honest, open kind. The kind that made good daughters, wives, mothers and sisters. The family kind.

  Lifting his gaze back to hers, he said, “I’ve been thinking about your brother, Christina. Do you believe you’ll ever find him? Or do you think that he’s…not alive anymore?”

  A pensive shadow fell over her lovely features. “In my darkest moments, I fear that he’s gone. But then I hear of other cases where missing people have been found alive after many years and my hope bubbles up all over again.”

  His heart suddenly ached for her. “Hope is a good thing, Christina.”

  “Yes, and I’m doing my best to hang on to mine.” She carefully eased her arm away from his grasp. “I need to go in now, so I’ll say good night, Lex.”

  “Good night.”

  She turned and walked back to the house. As Lex watched her go, he realized he wanted her to be happy. He cared about her feelings, her life. So what did that make him? A sap? Or was he finally beginning to see what an emotional relationship with a woman could be?

  Either way, the answers shook him. And what bothered him the most…was that he kind of liked it.

  Two days later, just as the sun was dipping and the broiling temperature beginning to ease, Christina parked her car at the west end of the ranch house. She was tired. The past two days had been filled with frustration and roadblocks of every imaginable sort. The tip she’d had on the missing person’s case had turned out to be fruitless, just wishful thinking by a desperate relative.

  As for Paul Saddler’s so-called friends, she’d not been able to catch up with any of the three. Red Winters had been away on a trip to Vegas with his second wife. Harve Dirksen had been out of town on a business trip. The maid who’d answered his door had told Christina that her boss was a land developer and had his hand in building strip malls.

  As for Lawrence Carter, she’d only been able to talk to his wife. Second wife, that is. A large, blustery woman with a poodle dog under each arm. From what Christina could gather from her, Lawrence now worked as an investment advisor for a local bank in San Antonio. Only he’d been sent to Dallas, to a sister bank, and wouldn’t be home for another week.

  Usually, Christina expected her job to include such delays and obstacles. She made it a point to never let them get under her skin. But these past two days, her work had only been a part of the reason for the weariness settling over her. The whole time she’d been in San Antonio, her mind had been on Lex. She’d missed him and imagined him in every possible scenario, including being in her arms, kissing her the way he’d kissed her beneath the arbor of honeysuckle.

  Trying to shake away that tempting thought, she fetched a small leather duffel from the trunk of the car and entered the house by way of the kitchen.

  She found the usually busy room empty, with everything cleaned and in perfect order. A note from Cook was attached to the refrigerator, telling her that Geraldine was out of town, Lex was on roundup and that there was a shepherd’s pie in the fridge if she wanted to heat it.

  Sighing, Christina left the kitchen and headed upstairs to her room. The house felt so empty without Lex. And even though she’d known that he’d be away on roundup this evening, a tiny part of her had hoped he would remember she’d be arriving and take the time to be here to greet her. But that was foolish thinking. The ranch was huge, and he was probably miles and miles from the house. He had lots of work to do, and she wasn’t that important to him.

  Do you want to be that important to him?

  As Christina stepped out of her linen dress and tossed it on the bed, she was trying to answer that question, trying to convince herself she wasn’t falling for Lex Saddler when a knock suddenly sounded on her bedroom door.

  “Christina? Are you in there?”

  Lex’s unexpected voice jolted her, and she hastily reached for a silk robe and headed to the door.

  “Yes! Uh…just a moment.” She fumbled with the tie at her waist, then made sure she was modestly covered before she partially opened the door and stuck her head out. “Lex, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be out with the other wranglers.”

  His gaze slipped to the spot between her breasts, where her hand was gripping the edges of the robe together, then back to her face. “I was out with the men. I’m sorry if I caught you at a bad moment. Have you been here long?”

  “All of ten minutes, maybe. Why?”

  He suddenly smiled, and Christina felt the weight of the past couple of days melting away.

  “Then you haven’t eaten?”

  “No. But I’m not that hungry.”

  He laughed, and she realized it was a sound that she’d missed, a sound that filled her with good feelings.

  “You will be. Pull on a pair of jeans and boots, and meet me out on the patio in five minutes. I’m going to take you to a bona fide cowboy cookout.” As he turned away from the door, he tossed over his shoulder, “And bring a bag with whatever you can’t do without for one night.”

  “A bag? What for?” Christina called after him.

  As he headed down the hallway to the staircase, he called back to her. “Tonight we’re going to sleep out under the stars.”

  Sleep under the stars? Was he crazy? Or was she crazier for following his orders? she wondered as she hurried to the closet to find a pair of jeans.

  Minutes later, the two of them were in one of the ranch’s work trucks, barreling across rough pastureland. As they jostled their way toward the spot near the river where the men had camped, it dawned on Christina that Lex hadn’t once asked her about what, if any, information she’d found in San Antonio. And to her surprise, she realized that she was glad he wanted to be with her for no other reason than her company.

  “It would have been nicer to have ridden out here on horseback,” he said as he steered the truck around a patch of blooming prickly pear. “But since we didn’t have time for that, we’ll have to do it another time.”

  Another time. Did he think there would be other times they’d be together? she wondered. Did he think that once her job was finished, she’d ever return to the Sandbur? No. She didn’t want to think about that now. Tonight she was on an adventure, and she was going to enjoy it.

  “Do you have roundups often?” she asked, her gaze sliding over to where he sat behind the steering wheel. His jeans and gray chambray shirt were dusty, and his hat was so coated, it looked more brown than black. Spurs
were strapped to his boots, and between them on the seat lay a pair of worn bat-wing chaps. He was in his element, she realized, and doing something he was born and bred to do.

  “Three or four times a year. Depending on how many cattle we decide to sell.” He pointed to a spot in the distance. “There’s the camp. And if the men have already eaten, they’d damned sure better have left us some cobbler.”

  As they grew nearer, Christina could see an actual chuck wagon with a canvas cover and a campfire with several men milling around it. Nearby, a dozen or more horses were tethered to a picket line. Christina recognized one of them as Leo, the paint that Lex usually rode. Saddles and horse blankets dotted the ground, and the smell of burning mesquite and strong coffee filled the air. It was a scene right out of the western movies Christina often watched.

  Since she’d spent some time exploring around the ranch yard, she’d met most of the hands that were working the roundup. The ones she’d not met, Lex quickly introduced to her, then wasted no time in leading her over to the chuck wagon, where they filled red granite plates with the traditional cowboy fare of steak, potatoes and barbecued beans.

  “Let’s take our meal down by the river,” he suggested. “It might be a bit cooler there.”

  “Lead the way,” she told him.

  The riverbank was steep, but once they reached the bottom, the ground leveled out to a sandy wash shaded by willows and salt cedars. Lex found a short piece of fallen log to use for a seat, forcing them to sit close together as they ate the hearty food.

  “It’s so nice and quiet out here,” Christina said, with a sigh. “No traffic or technical gadgets ringing or beeping.”

  “That’s what I like about it the most. When I have to travel and jump from one plane to the next or answer a dozen messages left on my phone, I long to get back on the ranch and in the solitude like this. ’Course, I suppose it would get boring for a woman like you.”

  Not if I’m with the right person. Keeping that thought to herself, she said, “I’m not easily bored, Lex. I love the outdoors.”