B00DVWSNZ8 EBOK (18 page)

She was a mess. Her emotions had been in turmoil since this morning, yet she, Jude Strayhorn, who was known for saying what she thought, was unprepared to talk about her feelings, couldn't even define what they were.

The radio seemed to be playing louder. The afternoon sun burned through the windshield, and they both put on sunglasses. With her eyes hidden by dark lenses, she stared at his profile.

She might be wallowing in confusion, but
she had to clear the air, though the idea of not seeing him again, not spending time with him, felt as heavy as a stone in her stomach.

When she saw a freeway sign noting that Abilene was fifty miles ahead, she reached over and switched off the radio. "I feel I should tell you something."

His eyes stayed focused on the highway, but she could see a tic in his jaw. She heaved a breath and said, "I don't want you to feel obligated because of last night. If I hadn't started it, I know you wouldn't have—I know
we
wouldn't have—"

"Don't worry about it," he said flatly. No expression that she could discern.

Rattled by his dispassionate reaction and her own chagrin, she forged ahead, letting words fall out of her mouth without forethought. "I know it didn't look like it last night, but, uh... I'm not necessarily looking for a, uh... boyfriend. Daddy and Grandpa have never allowed me to even go around the bunkhouse. If they knew where I've been the last two days, it goes without saying they would be really upset. I've never...I've never even dated one of the ranch hands, much less—"

"I figured all that
out before I agreed to take you with me." He looked at her across his shoulder, but with him wearing sunglasses, she couldn't see his eyes. "As for anything else, I wasn't holding up a sign saying I was looking for a girlfriend, either. The last thing I can afford is a woman. I take this whole thing to be a no-strings-attached deal."

She flinched inside. She must mean something to him, because she'd had experience with two men to whom she personally had meant nothing. What had meant something to them was her family's wealth. Being with Brady had felt somehow different. "Right. It isn't like you kidnapped me or something, is it? Or that we pledged undying love."

"That's how I see it," he said.

She wanted to curl up and wail, but she turned back to the sunny day gliding past the passenger window. Gradually that and the dull monotony of the Chevy's big engine lulled her to sleep.

With Jude having dozed off, Brady was alone with his thoughts. And that was damn sure where he needed to be. Princess Jude Strayhorn had sure as hell put him in his place, hadn't she?

He shifted in his seat in an effort to stay awake. Having gotten almost no sleep, he, too, would like a nice long nap, but he had no time for it today. The interstate and two more hours of driving stretched ahead of him
. Then he had chores to do at the 6-0.

He went over a checklist in his mind. He had to unload the boxes in the truck bed. The fence around the small pasture attached to the barn was in decent shape, but rust and dry rot had done a number on the gate. The old hinges needed some strengthening. That should take him less than an hour. He would still have time to get in touch with Jake and find out where he could get some extra hay. If they reached Lockett early enough, he might still be able to haul it tonight.

He dared to glance at Jude, sleeping like a baby, her chest rising and falling evenly. She had on the same black bra she had worn last night. Her arm was positioned so that a small pillow of flesh pushed above her tight little top's neckline. A wide strip of black lace lay seductively over it. And today, he knew just how soft that mammary flesh felt filling his hands and how sensitive her nipples were to his fingers and mouth.
Damn!

He tried not to look at her, but his eyes seemed to have a will of their own, just like last night in Lupe's. She was beautiful. And fearless. And unruly. She had a wildness inside, barely restrained by family loyalty and tradition. She reminded him of Sal. He had kept that horse for those very qualities. But Jude was a hell
of a lot more threatening to his well-being than any horse.

He turned his eyes back to the road, trying to wrestle his thoughts away from last night. But the effort proved fruitless. The landscape flanking I-20 wasn't much to look at and it didn't compare to the view of Jude's lush naked body astraddle his hips. She had ridden him as if he were a bucking bull that was hers to conquer. That full-frontal vision of female perfection, her head tilted back, her swollen lips parted and wet, her hands burrowed in her wild and thick-as-a-mane hair, would be
a poster in his mind for a good long while.

He shifted in his seat again, his pants suddenly too tight.

Jesus Christ.
Minutes ago, he would have sworn he didn't have the energy for a hard-on.

He thought about irony. Besides the unexpected meeting with Jack Durham, there was the even more unexpected encounter with Mark Howard, one of his former Fort Worth subcontractors and a hunting buddy. What were the chances of running into him at a Denny's halfway between Fort Worth and Lockett on a Sunday afternoon?

He and Mark knew each other well enough for Mark to give him an elbow nudge and ask who Jude was.
Judy Strong. She’s from Abilene
, Brady had answered, which was just plain dumb. One lie only led to another.

With so many sightings,
he would be amazed if his lost weekend with Jude didn’t get back to the Circle C. He puffed his cheeks and blew out a breath.

A small sound came from
her and he glanced at her again. She turned toward him and resettled herself, still sleeping. Her shiny hair fell over her shoulder like a silky waterfall, and the black lace continued to peek at him.

Looking on the bright side, if one could be found, maybe he had nothing to worry about. Jack didn't know Jude, and Brady could think of no reason for him to call up the Circle C's horse wrangler and discuss her. And Brady was sure she wouldn't be telling her daddy or anybody else around Lockett where and how she had spent Saturday night. Plus, hadn't she made it clear she didn't expect to be seeing Brady Fallon again?

... I'm not necessarily looking for a, uh... boyfriend.

He should be happy about that. But he wasn't.

Jude opened her eyes to familiar surroundings. A change in the pickup's engine noise had awakened her. They had left the interstate, which meant they were around a hundred fifty miles from Lockett. She blinked herself awake. "Are we almost home?"

"Good thing you were asleep. Dodging all those semis with my eyes closed was hair-raising. I
ran off the road four times."

She looked at him with a start. "You
did not."

The corners of his mouth tipped up in a grin.
"No, but I sure could use a nap. You ever pulled a horse trailer?"

She gave him a thin-lipped scowl. "What do you think? Would you like for me to drive?"

"Would you mind? I'm barely able to stay awake."

"I'm refreshed now. I can drive."

He slowed, eased to a stop on the shoulder and they switched places. Once they were moving again, he turned on the radio and fell sound asleep.

Jude
turned into the 6-0's driveway in the late afternoon. They stepped out of the pickup to a pleasant temperature, familiar scents of sage and fresh air and the ever-present breeze. After standing in the trailer all day with no water and exercising only once since this morning, the horses needed to be unloaded and watered immediately. Brady went about the task and Jude felt obligated to help. Together, they led the three animals behind the barn to the aluminum water tank kept full by the windmill where they drank long and deeply.

Jude stared into the water tank. “The water well’s okay?” she asked.

“Seems to be. I poured some Clorox into it Friday, just in case.”

She nodded.

"I want to check the fence one more time," Brady said. "Then I'll get your truck out of the shed."

"I'll help you," Jude said.

Going in opposite directions, they left the horses and began to walk the perimeter of the small fenced pasture attached to the barn. Part of Jude dreaded the end of the chores and going home. This was a new and confusing idea. She had never dreaded going home to the Circle C.

After
Brady was satisfied with the fence, they returned to the front of the house. He opened the pickup door and lifted her duffel and purse off the backseat. As she took them from him, her heart suddenly swelled in her throat again and she glanced up and caught him looking back at her in an odd way. The air shimmied between them, just as it had the first day she saw him in this very driveway.

"I appreciate your going out of your way to take me to Fort Worth, Brady. At least I won't have to lie to Daddy about the painting."

"I didn't mind. I enjoyed those museums. Thanks again for helping me in the trailer. But I already told you that."

Emotions ping-ponged within her. This distance between them was insane. They had spent hours making love. His hands and mouth had been all over her. Hers all over him, too. He had been inside her, had taken her to places within herself she didn't know were there. "Brady—"

He raised a palm, stopping her. "Don't, Jude. Neither one of us is looking to get into something complicated. We had a good time, but it would be dumb not to end this right now."

A good time?
She hesitated, fearing she could be on the verge of an all-out breakdown.

"If you'll give me your keys, I'll warm up your truck and back it out of the shed," he said.

She dug in her purse and handed him her pickup keys. He reached out and brushed her cheek with his rough thumb, his eyes holding hers in a gentle embrace. "Remember, J.D. and your grandpa are waiting for you. I'm sure they want to hear all about that pretty painting."

She tried to laugh, but her nose was suddenly so plugged, she could scarcely draw a good breath.

"I'm gonna go get your truck," he said. "You gonna be okay?"

She nodded and looked away.

He walked off and soon she heard the clatter of her pickup's diesel engine.

He drove the Dodge over to where she stood and stepped out. A corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. "Guess I'll get initiated tomorrow. J.D. said they're starting to wean the spring calves. Do you help with that?"

She let out a shaky breath. "No. Daddy and Grandpa won't hear of it. Grandpa says a woman doing that kind of work is un-ladylike. Never mind that his mother did it. And Daddy says it's dirty and dangerous."

"I'd say that's all true."

"Please. Now you sound like them. Those are only surface excuses, anyway. The real reasons go much deeper." She managed a pathetic laugh. "They don't think I'm totally worthless, though. They let me buy bulls, so in a way' I've got some control."

"If a man's in the cattle business, the bull buyer's pretty important."

"Yeah, I know." She climbed behind the wheel and buzzed down the window. The thought of driving out of the driveway and parting from him filled her chest with pain. Why couldn't she just simply go home and tell Daddy she had found someone she wanted to be with, someone she enjoyed more than she had ever enjoyed Webb Henderson or Jason Weatherby? What was wrong with that someone being a ranch hand?

But those were silly questions. She knew what they would find wrong. She had heard it from both of them since she was old enough to know the difference between girls and boys.

Brady hooked his hands on the windowsill. "You take care, you hear?"

She looked him in the eye. "You, too."

He stepped back from the door. She buzzed up the window and drove away. She took forty minutes to make the twenty-minute drive from the 6-0 to the Circle C. Doing it without tears had to be one of the greatest feats of will she had ever accomplished. By the time she reached home, through sheer willpower, she had gotten a handle on her emotions.

It was nearly suppertime when she parked in the garage, but she wasn't hungry. What she really wanted to do was slink up to her room, bathe and bury herself under the covers
of her king size bed. But trying to escape supper without hurting Grandpa's feelings was more trouble than it was worth.

She pulled down her visor and checked the whisker burns on her face again. They were less obvious now. The cream she had used this morning had helped.
She could cover them with makeup. Then it dawned on her: She had no bags and boxes from a shopping spree.
Damn.
Now she had to make up another lie.

Daddy and the aroma of Tex-Mex spices met her at the back door.
He was smiling and happy to see her. He pecked her cheek, but she broke away from him without a hug, fearing he would detect that she smelled like sex.

"How was your trip?" He took her duffel from her hand.

"Exhausting."

"Where's your loot?" He looked around her, obviously seeking something else to carry for her.

"Oh, we didn't go shopping. There was a good movie playing, so we did that."