A Knight In Cowboy Boots (6 page)
They both seemed to be stuck on the obvious. Maybe it was the shock. Whatever it was, he could practically see her defenses crumble. She looked at him in confusion, as though she couldn’t believe he wasn’t going to hang her from the highest yardarm and use her for target practice. She finally nodded. Zach was afraid she’d bolt if he said the wrong thing.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
He could practically see the lump in her throat. “I need a job.” Her words emerged in a bare whisper.
He remembered her comment in the bar. “Bartending?”
“There’s good money in it,” she said softly as though just as afraid to say the wrong thing as he was.
His sister could make that happen. “I’ll talk to Rachel.”
He saw comprehension dawn in her eyes. She must have seen Rachel when she’d walked through the hotel lobby. “Oh, crap. She works for the concierge, doesn’t she?”
Zach’s chuckle was a little breathless. The wound wasn’t serious, but it still hurt. “She
is
the concierge. That’s how come I stay here when I’m in town. Free room.”
Maddie’s face fell. “She’ll never let them hire me then.”
“Why not?” Zach held his wounded arm, trying to find a position where it would hurt less.
“For starters, how about I just shot her brother?”
“Oh, hell, you just did what she’s wanted to do since she was eight.”
“It’s not funny, Zach.”
But she looked a little less frightened, and Zach liked that. Could he get her to stop focusing on having shot him? “It will be when our kids ask how we met.”
She pulled back in surprise. “You must be kidding!”
He lifted his arm to pull her back to him, but a stab of fresh pain forced him to arrest the motion. Zach fell back on the bed and closed his eyes. He realized he couldn’t stop her from walking out the door if she decided to, so he played the only card in his arsenal. “I promise not to press charges if you’ll see me again.”
“Are you crazy? You want to see me again?” He didn’t open his eyes, but her disbelief was plain in her voice.
“Wanna take you dancing.” And hold her close and make love to her. Maybe he was a little bit crazy. Maybe getting shot had scrambled his brains. Then he looked at her and knew there was nothing crazy about wanting her.
Maddie’s laugh was edged with hysteria.
Rachel would be back any minute, and she could blow any chance he had right out of the water. “You probably oughta go before Rachel gets back. It’s gonna take a bit of work to get her over her mad.”
“Okay.” Maddie picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. The way she hefted it, she obviously missed the weight of the gun.
“Maddie.”
“Yes.”
“Would you write your phone number down and put it in my pocket?”
She found a tablet and a pen in the nightstand drawer, both emblazoned with the hotel’s name. With trembling fingers, she wrote down her number, no name, ripped the sheet off and folded it in fourths. When she bent over to tuck it into the breast pocket of Zach’s shirt, her scent filled his nostrils. His good arm caught her around the back of her neck. He pulled her lips down onto his. The iPod was playing “No Rush” again, but that wasn’t the message he wanted to send. Her lips seemed to melt under his. She made him think of ripe strawberries and cream.
Zach finally ended the kiss, but his hand remained on her neck. He licked his lips, trying to capture the lingering flavor of her. “You best go and take care of that little one of yours,” he said before releasing her completely.
He watched her walk away, closing the door gently behind her. His hand went to his pocket. The paper with her number crinkled softly.
Chapter Four
“But she
shot
you!” Rachel argued, setting her toast down on the edge of her plate.
“That was your fault,” Zach said, unable to understand why she didn’t understand that. He cut awkwardly into his biscuits and gravy then stabbed the bite, not trusting his ability to balance anything on a utensil held in his left hand. Forking it into his mouth, he watched Rachel sit up straighter, her eyes narrowing.
It would take some doing to get his sister to use her influence to get Maddie a job in the bar. Sitting over breakfast in the hotel dining room was a perfect place to work on her. Rachel would never let both barrels loose on him in front of her coworkers.
That would be unprofessional.
“What do you mean,
my fault
? You can’t go blaming me for this.”
“Hey, she hadn’t even thought of shooting me ‘til you called my room.”
Rachel sat back in her chair, her eyes still narrow with suspicion. “What’s that got to do with it?”
The pretty brunette waitress slid up to their table. “Refill?”
Rachel clamped her mouth shut and frowned, but the girl was watching to be sure she didn’t overfill Zach’s cup and didn’t see it. As she tipped the coffee carafe back up, she lifted her eyes to meet his. Not shy, this girl. In her sultry look, Zach saw she knew he’d been checking her out while she poured and that she had no problem with that. Rachel thanked the girl in a tone that was disapproving in its correctness.
Zach glanced at his watch. Ten in the morning. The dining room closed between
:
and
:
. As concierge, Rachel had special privileges, but they should have been getting their own refills.
Somehow he didn’t think the waitress had stayed over her shift to make points with his sister.
He watched appreciatively as the girl sashayed away.
Nice.
“Zachariah!”
“What?” He pulled his attention back.
“I said, how is me calling your room cause for this girl to go and shoot you?”
“Well, what would you think if you were with a man and some woman calls his hotel room and starts raggin’ on him? You’d think he was some kinda slime, cheatin’ on his woman. Just like Maddie did.”
“But I wouldn’t have gone and shot him.”
“I ain’t taking that bet. You think Sol’d take that bet? Or Jake maybe? Hell, I’ll bet even Daddy wouldn’t even take that bet.” Zach’s fork stopped on its way to his mouth. “Face it, girl. You’re a born-shooter if I ever saw one.”
“I’d never shoot a man, just because he was scum.”
“You’ll never have to,” Zach said around a mouthful of biscuit. “That kinda scum ain’t dumb enough to piss you off that bad. That don’t mean they ain’t out there, pulling that crap on other women.”
Rachel sat back and looked at him for several long moments. The sadness on her face almost made Zach wonder if he knew her as well as he thought he did. He dismissed the idea though when her face took on the annoyed cast he was so used to. “She’s one of your damaged strays, ain’t she?”
Zach hid his smile behind his coffee cup. As hard as Rachel worked to talk like a city girl, she still fell into the old
East Texas
ways when family came around. “What do you mean?” he asked innocently.
“You know what I mean. All your life, you’ve been a soft touch for the bird with the broken wing, or the pups someone dumped on the side of the road, or the kitten old man Hazlett’s dog chewed up. You’re the one who oughta have gone to vet school.”
“There wasn’t enough money when I finished school. You know that.”
“You’d’ve had the money if you hadn’t spent what you earned on the oil rigs keeping the ranch afloat.”
“And if Daddy’d lost the ranch? We wouldn’t need a vet. Jacob’ll be a good vet. He’s got the calling. ’Sides, could you see me spending eight more years in school?”
Rachel shook her head. “If I don’t get your chewed up kitten a job here, you’ll just figure out another way to help her, won’t you? So I guess it might as well be here. At least when she shoots you again, I’ll be around to bandage you up.”
Zach took another sip from his coffee cup, careful not to meet Rachel’s gaze. “By the way, she wants her gun back.”
“Oh, good God.” Rachel rolled her eyes. “Just make sure she doesn’t have any bullets for it, okay?”
*
Zach thumbed Maddie’s number into his phone, hoping she hadn’t fake-numbered him. The air seemed to grow thin as he listened to the ring.
Suddenly, Maddie was answering. She sounded distracted, but she’d answered. Zach breathed easy again. “Mornin’,” he said. “When do you wanna start work?”
“Zach?”
He had her attention now.
“Good mornin’, sweet Maddie. Didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No such luck.”
“Damn. Sounds like something I’d like to do.”
She made a disparaging noise. “Am I going to have to shoot you again?”
Zach threw back his head and laughed. “I sure hope so, darlin’.”
“Are you serious about the job?” She sounded hopeful but afraid of being disappointed.
“Yeah. It happens that the day bartender is pregnant and her doctor’s threatening to put her on bed rest ‘til the baby’s born, so they need someone in training right away. Rach’s going to put in a good word for you. You’ll still have to meet the bar manager, but unless you shoot her, too, you’re pretty much in.”
“Since I don’t have a gun at the moment, I can promise I won’t shoot her. When do they want me there?”
“Can you make it this afternoon? About two?”
“This afternoon?” Her voice was high with panic. “I—I can’t. I don’t have a babysitter.”
“What’s the job pay?”
“What’s it— I don’t know. I figured the tips would—”
“I’m not talking about bartending. I’m talking about the babysitting gig. How much does that pay?”
“I—I—”
Zach couldn’t help smiling at having caught her so unprepared.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Maddie asked abruptly.
“Why do you think?” Zach knew his voice betrayed his smile.
“Because … you want something.”
Zach’s smile faded. She was right, of course, but he hated that she was so suspicious. Something in her past had made her as skittish as a colt in a lightning storm. He liked the way they played together, but if it was always going to come back to this every time, to her being afraid to trust him beyond a certain point, then it was time to let her see his hand.
“Look, I like you; not much point in lying about that. I think you’re lightnin’ in a bottle.” Zach was gratified to hear her giggle and discovered he liked making her laugh. “If something happens between us, Maddie, I’d like that a lot, but this, today … there’s no strings attached. I don’t expect anything in return. In fact, I’ll be disappointed if you only see me again out of gratitude.” He put a smile into his voice, knowing he was about to say something she didn’t expect to hear. “Don’t lead me on, girl, if that’s all you feel.”
A long silence followed his speech.
“Maddie? You still there?”
“I’m here.”
He waited for her to say something. Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer.
