Margaret’s expletive exploded through the phone, probably heard all over White Fork. Then she reined in her temper and said, “Be there soon.”
Drew was very quiet while they waited. Ray told her and Erica to stay inside the comfortable Lexus while he climbed out to flag Margaret down.
Margaret arrived in a remarkably short time, considering she’d driven from the other side of Riverbend, and totally ignored Ray as she exited her SUV.
“I’m here for your sake, Miss Paresky,” she said as Drew and Erica scrambled from the Lexus. “Ray’s an idiot.”
Drew looked shocked that an employee would speak that way to her employer, but Margaret never kept her opinions to herself. Plus, she’d been hired by Ray’s mom and considered she worked for her. Ray and Kyle she still viewed as the teenage nuisances who hung around the office.
They settled into Margaret’s SUV, Drew in the front, Ray and Erica in the back.
“Can I take you to the B&B?” Margaret asked Drew with great politeness as she pulled onto the highway.
“No—my car’s in Riverbend.” Drew explained about why they’d brought the Lexus to White Fork. Margaret listened skeptically, casting her eye at Ray in the back seat.
“Huh,” Margaret concluded, but she said nothing more about it.
Margaret sped along the straight roads, risking Ross Campbell’s speed traps, but they saw no law enforcement tonight. Or maybe the deputies ran for cover when they saw Margaret behind the wheel.
Margaret dimmed her lights as she pulled up next to Drew’s car. “You go on home and get some sleep,” Margaret told Drew. “I’ll drop Ray off.”
“It’s no trouble,” Drew said quickly. “I can drive him home.”
Margaret gave Drew a keen stare as Drew climbed out and half-lifted Erica from the back, Erica sagging against her in exhaustion. Ray slid out as fast as he could, knowing Margaret might simply gun it once Drew and Erica were safe.
Margaret transferred her sharp look to Ray and nodded. “Good night then. See you at the office, Ray.”
As soon as Ray shut the back door, Margaret was off, moving swiftly and silently back to the main road.
“I like her,” Drew said. “Guess we should get you home.”
She gazed at Ray with her sweet blue eyes, her lips parting as though she wanted to say something more.
Erica slid from Drew’s arms and crawled tiredly into the back seat of Drew’s car, the girl half asleep. Drew’s expression turned resigned, and she started up once Ray was buckled in, keeping her lights off until they’d left Dr. Anna’s street.
Drew pulled up at Ray’s dark ranch house. She hadn’t needed to follow the directions he rumbled, because she’d driven out here before, curiosity leading her.
She hadn’t been brave enough that time to turn onto the drive that led to the ranch house. Now she looked around eagerly, though the darkness hid the bulk of the house. A light illuminated the front porch, the inviting wicker and wooden furniture on it indicating this home was cozy and lived in.
Drew stopped the car and slid out when Ray did. Erica snoozed in the back, the adventure over.
“Thanks,” Ray said as Drew quietly closed her door. “I shouldn’t have bothered you.”
“It was no bother. How will you get to your own truck in the morning?”
Ray shrugged as though leaving his truck parked at the bar was the least of his worries. “I’ll have one of the guys drive me in.”
“You going to be okay here?” Drew gazed up at the house. While it looked welcoming, it was also silent and empty. Ray would be all alone.
“Sure. Kyle and I tough it out.”
He sounded more amused than worried. Of course he didn’t worry. This was his home, where he’d been raised, the place where he belonged.
Drew felt a twinge of wistful envy. She’d never had a house of her own, always renting an apartment or someone else’s house until her job changed or the rent was raised, forcing her to move to yet another rental. She’d always planned to save for a down payment on a house, however small, but she hadn’t ever quite managed it.
The B&B was now her home, for better or worse.
She wanted to ask Ray to come back to it with her, to spend the night. Or for him to invite her in, to find Erica a room to sleep in while she wrapped herself around Ray down the hall.
Too soon, she told herself. And too much to hope for.
Ray stepped to Drew and brushed one knuckle over her cheek. “You go home and get some sleep. Lots of work to do tomorrow.”
Drew made herself nod. Work. That’s what they had in common, what they clung to. Their excuse to see each other.
Would there be a time they didn’t need an excuse?
“Yeah,” she said softly. “Good night.”
Drew started to turn away, but Ray caught her. His hand was big, callused, strong, but his touch was gentleness itself.
So was the touch on her face, the brush of his fingertips on her lips. Ray leaned closer, his breath on her skin warming.
The kiss, when it came, was the merest touch, as though Ray wanted to learn what only the brush of her lips felt like.
The next kiss was harder, Ray’s hand on her back. His mouth was firm but again tender, as though he feared to hurt her.
Drew leaned back on the car, her toes in sneakers digging into the soft earth. Ray came closer, his legs against hers now, the power of his body making hers ache.
A third kiss parted her lips. Drew slid her arms around him, surrendering to the moment. Ray curved over her, his strength amazing, but he didn’t frighten her. She felt protected by him, sheltered from the night.
Ray opened her mouth, his tongue moving on hers. Her body reacted, the space between her legs softening and becoming needy. She longed to have his weight on hers in a bed, the hardness she felt in his jeans pressing inside her, opening and completing her.
Drew wanted it so much, she took a sharp breath. She expected Ray to break the kiss, but he tightened his grip on her, slanting his mouth across hers to taste her fully. He made a small sound in his throat, one of need that matched hers.
If they’d been alone, without Erica curled in the back of the car, no glimmer of light from distant trailers where his ranch hands must live, Drew would have wrapped her legs around him, urging him to lift her in his arms, positioning herself directly against him.
She’d kiss the hell out of him and maybe have at him right here, on the hood of her old car. Then drag him into his house and do it again. It had been a long time since Drew had been with a man—years. She figured she’d forgotten how to have sex, but she was willing to relearn with Ray.
His kiss burned. Hands found her waist, her hips, her buttocks. She tasted him, his tongue hard against hers, the muffled groan in his throat sounding in the night.
Ray put his hands on her shoulders and pushed them apart.
They stared at each other, breathing hard. Ray’s lips were parted and red, her own tingling and tender.
Ray released her, his fingers curling to his palms. “Guess I better say good night.”
Or they’d stand out here kissing until dawn? Drew wished with all her heart they could.
“Yeah.” She gave him a smile. “Lots of work.” And pasts, and issues, and present difficulties. A new relationship on top of everything might be a little too much.
Or would it? Would being with Ray prove stressful and nerve-wracking, like her marriage to Philip? Or would there be long, slow silences on a Texas evening, and hot leisurely loving all night?
Drew gulped, tamping down these pleasant visions with difficulty. “See you tomorrow.”
He hesitated, and she wanted to bite her tongue. Drew’s statement assumed Ray had nothing better to do than hang out all day helping put her house back together.
A smile flickered across his face. “See you tomorrow.”
Before Drew could do anything foolish, like fling herself into his arms, she opened the car door and got inside.
Ray leaned on the open window as she started the car. He glanced at Erica, oblivious and asleep, and then back at Drew.
“Drive carefully, now.”
That was all. But the words were a caress, and might have been the gentlest endearment in the world.
The next morning, Ray, half-hung over and groggy, grabbed a ride from one of the ranch hands headed to the feed store. Ray could walk to the bar from there and fetch his truck.
Then he’d go to Drew’s. Her parting words—See you tomorrow—had made his heart pound, even more than the fantastic kisses she’d given him before that.
She wanted to see him. Figured it was natural for him to arrive at her place in the morning. Like he belonged with her.
No awkwardness, no evasion while each tried to guess what the other wanted, or didn’t want. No waiting for her to signal that she’d like him to ask her out, or him signaling that he wanted her to signal him. The strange and fucked-up mating dance.
Instead, she’d simply said, See you tomorrow, and the world was right.
When they arrived at Fuller’s, Ray spied the gleaming new pickup Blake Haynes had bought for himself. The Hayneses were pains in the ass, had been for years, and Kyle was pretty sure they’d caused Sherrie Duncan’s accident.
The moment after Ray spied the truck, he saw Blake and Jarrod Haynes trying to pound the shit out of Kyle.
“Hey, now,” the ranch hand, an older guy, called to the tangle as he and Ray boiled from the truck.
Ray knew damn well neither Haynes would listen. He strode rapidly to the fighting mass and plucked Jarrod, the younger brother, away from Kyle. Jarrod struggled until he realized who held him, then he twisted away in panic and ran. Asshole.
Ray moved to take care of Blake, but Blake must have decided two against one weren’t his odds. He released Kyle, sent Ray a savage look, and ran after Jarrod, who’d already started Blake’s pickup and was screeching away.
Blake’s face was bloody—Kyle must have gotten in some good punches. Blake dove into the truck’s bed, heaving himself up to yell back at them.
“Still need Ray to save you, Malory. Just like …” The pickup charged around the corner and was gone.
Ray helped Kyle to his feet. Kyle’s face was covered in blood and bruises, and his nice new suit was a mess.
“You okay?” Ray asked in concern. “You look like shit.”
Kyle wiped his mouth as Ray steadied him, his hand coming away red.
“He was trying to say ‘just like high school,’” Kyle said, voice grating. “And all the times you helped me kick their asses.” He grinned, his eyes full of an animated joy that had come from more than just the fight. “Thanks, Ray.”
Drew didn’t like how often she peered down the road that morning, waiting to see a glint of Ray’s pickup, or dust rising to announce his arrival. Didn’t like how her heart sank when the road remained empty, the sky clear.
Grace Campbell came to pick up Erica right after lunch. Drew had an appointment to enroll and start Erica in school on Monday, and she hoped Erica would be more enthusiastic now that she already had a few friends to go with. She and Grace discussed driving schedules, though most kids took the bus. Erica listened without comment, impatient to get to the ranch and the horses.
Grace also retrieved the pan she’d brought the enchiladas in, washed and cleaned by Drew. Drew waved Erica and Grace off, and emptiness settled on the B&B.
Drew continued with her painting, but when she caught sight of the photos of her grandparents Erica had propped on a shelf, she took a break and studied them again.
Her grandfather and grandmother leaned on the porch, smiling in confidence. They’d been so young, so full of optimism.
Drew remembered her grandmother only as an elderly woman, seemingly happy with her children and grandchildren. She’d never remarried, but had many friends of both genders.
Erica was much like her, everyone said, outgoing and gregarious. The woman in the photo showed the resemblance.
Had Drew’s grandfather loved her grandmother so much he couldn’t let go of this place once she’d gone? Too many memories of her? No matter how far it went to ruin?
Drew would like to talk to Mrs. Kaye again, and others who might have known her grandparents. There must be a reason her grandfather had stipulated that Drew keep the property and restore it.
She growled and threw down the photos.
“Something wrong?”
“Ray!” Drew had never been so happy to hear a rumbling voice. She took a few steps toward him but checked herself. Dignity. She still had that. Right?
“Sorry I’m so late,” Ray said. “Had to take my brother to the clinic.”
Drew halted in concern. “Is he all right?”
Ray looked unworried. “He is. Got his ass kicked a little bit by the town bullies, but nothing broke. He’s home recovering.”
Drew blinked. For some reason she imagined she’d leave violence behind in the big city, but people lost their tempers everywhere, she supposed. She hoped Kyle was okay.
“Did he say how it went with Dr. Anna?” she asked, thinking of the Lexus in front of the dark house. “None of my business … No, to heck with that. I want to know.”
“He was still wearing his suit this morning and got in the fight because one of the bullies badmouthed Anna.” Ray rubbed his chin, as though thinking about it. “I’d say it’s going okay.”
Drew shared his smile. “I wish them well.”
“I wish they’d get on with it. Anna’s house is small, so they’d be better off living at the ranch, and it wouldn’t be so quiet.”
“So easy to solve everyone else’s problems,” Drew said with a little sigh.
“Yep.”
Because emotions didn’t get in the way when Drew wasn’t directly affected. They clouded and confused when the problem was her own.
The philosophical question was interrupted by Drew’s phone. Erica. “Hi, honey. Everything okay?”
“Everything’s wonderful. Faith wants me to spend the night, and Grace and Olivia say it’s all right. Please, Mom? Pleeeeze?”
“Of course it’s all right.” Drew had never been this confident leaving Erica with anyone before, but Grace Campbell was an angel. “Remember not to be a nuisance, and help clean up.”
“I know all that stuff. Tell Ray hi. Is he there?”
“He is now.”
“Hi, Ray!” Erica yelled, and Drew painfully lifted the phone from her ear. Ray grinned. “See you, Mom. Thank you. Love you so much.”
“Love you too, honey.”
Erica had already hung up. Drew laid down the phone, and then her amusement died.
“It’s always so quiet when she isn’t here. Not sure how I’ll get through a night by myself.”
She rubbed her arms, glancing out the window at the long, endless stretch of green.
Ray was next to her, his warmth easing her sudden chill. “I can stay with you. In fact, I’d rather. I don’t like the thought of you out here alone.”
Chapter Ten
Ray waited for Drew to withdraw, throw him out. He knew she hadn’t been hinting for him to stay—her confession of loneliness had come from the heart.
Wasn’t anything for Ray to go home to either. Kyle was pissed off at the Hayenses and uncertain about Anna, which made him growly and short-tempered. Ray would take the peace and quiet of Drew’s place anytime.
Drew gave him a quick nod. “Okay.” Her smile returned. “You’ll need a toothbrush.”
“I’ll run into town later and grab a few things.”
Drew looked grateful and then worried. They were both feeling their way.
“I’ll get back to work on the porch,” Ray said. “After I snag me one of these.” He snatched up one of the cupcakes Grace had brought when she’d picked up Erica, and took a huge bite. It was yellow cake with girly pink frosting, but Ray didn’t care. Grace’s cupcakes tasted good no matter what they looked like.
Drew regarde
d him with merriment. “You have frosting on your face.”
Ray shrugged, loving the light in Drew’s eyes. He couldn’t answer with his mouth full of cake.
He grabbed his tools and headed downstairs before he could do anything stupid like smear the frosting on Drew so he could have the pleasure of licking it off.
Drew decided to cook. If Ray was staying over, she could be hospitable and fix him a meal.
She’d like to wow him with Chicago-style Italian food, best pizza in the world, but she didn’t know where to get the ingredients. Not that it was tomato season anyway.
From what she’d seen since arriving, Riverbenders liked barbecued anything and Tex-Mex. Drew didn’t have a grill, so she decided on Tex-Mex. She’d seen plenty of ingredients for that at the local grocery.
While Ray worked, she went shopping, bought what the woman who ran the grocery store advised, and brought the food home. He disappeared to town himself after she returned, probably to pick up his things for the overnight.
Drew’s awareness thrummed as she worked, sorting the groceries and deciding on a recipe. Nothing too complicated but something more than simply stuffing meat into a taco shell.
Ray returned as she was contemplating the mysteries of chile peppers.
“The grocer told me these were better for seasoning than chili powders.” Drew sorted the peppers by size—a large, elongated dark green one, a narrower, lighter green one, and a small dark green one. “But I don’t know which is which, or what is hot and what isn’t. At home, when I made Mexican food, I used powdered seasoning from a packet.”
Ray set down a backpack on one of the cracked barstools they’d found in the garage. “We use packets too. She’s messing with you. I bet you asked her how to make it authentic.”
Drew had to nod. “She was so helpful.”
“Huh. I’m sure. That is a poblano.” He pointed to the largest pepper, dark green and fresh-looking. “Those are fairly mild. This one’s a jalapeño.” His finger went to the small dark green one. “A little bit hotter—you’ve probably heard of them.”
Ray: Riding Hard Page 9