Be My Guest (2 page)

Her chin came up defensively. "Okay, I
apologize. But if you used one of those disability placards on your
rear view mirror, people would know you have a problem."

"Lady, my problem is that you stole my
parking space," Will Harrison said coolly. He lifted his left leg
so that the cast-encased foot rested on the seat facing them, then
swiveled to gaze at her.

Aurora inhaled the cowboy's after-shave
mixed with the clean scent of his breath when he turned his face
toward her. His stone gray eyes met hers. She saw anger drain from
his eyes, replaced by stunned amazement. He leaned toward her.

Her awakened senses rocketed into response.
Each thread on the sleeve of his blue chambray shirt seared where
it touched her arm. For a moment Aurora had the astonishing thought
that this cowboy might lean further forward and kiss her right here
in public. Equally astonishing, but fleeting, came the thought that
she wouldn't mind a kiss from this man. Her tongue flicked across
her lips and she gave herself a mental shake, unable to turn away
from his mesmerizing gaze.

What can you be thinking? You have
absolutely no business falling for some good-looking cowboy out
here in the middle of nowhere. Get a grip on yourself.

Her heart quelled the voice of reason within
her mind. Aurora’s her stomach somersaulted from butterflies to
flip-flops as she stared into the cowboy's wide gray eyes. She
broke his gaze and peered at her folded hands a second before she
raised them in capitulation.

"Okay, Okay. I just don't know what came
over me. I know you saw the parking space first, but I'm on
Bubba-overload. Look, it's a long story, but it's been a real
killer morning. Once again, I apologize and plead temporary
insanity." She placed both hands palms down on the table.

His gaze raked over her, and one eyebrow
elevated. "Well, well. I'm almost convinced there's remorse here.
Almost--but not quite. Would you like to explain to me what
'Bubba-overload' is and what it has to do with me?"

"Listen, I apologized. Let's just drop it.
Okay?" Surprised at the petulant tone in her voice, she adjusted
the dark green scarf that held the hair back from her face.

The man peered at her steadily, his voice
polite but firm when he spoke. "No, ma'am, we can't drop it. I
deserve an explanation after that 'Bubba' line. It sounded very
much like an insult to me."

This man obviously had his hackles up and
wanted a full explanation. After her morning's adventures, she
found herself impatient with this cowboy, even though her mind
recognized his request sounded reasonable. Finally, Aurora swiveled
at her waist to face him as much as the limited space allowed. "Oh,
well, if you insist. You wore that western hat and were in a pickup
truck. At a glance, you looked like the typical red-necked Bubba.
All you lacked was a big wad of tobacco bulging in your cheek."

She raised her hand and shook a finger at
the man as if he were a delinquent school boy. "Listen, I've had my
fill, and then some, with you guys. You follow me, whistle at me,
lean out a truck window to sing to me, shout, or wave to me. I even
receive various very rude gestures and get mooned. Believe it or
not, I do nothing either to initiate or encourage any of this
behavior."

A skeptical smile appeared and he raised his
eyebrows. A flush of color heated her face at the memory of her
behavior in the parking lot. She held up one hand to stop any
comment he might make before she continued.

"Oh, I know, I acted brashly with you
outside just now. Let me assure you, that's entirely unlike me. In
fact, it's truly a first. I've never, ever done anything like that
before."

She shook her head in wonder. "I don't know
what came over me. As I said, it must have been temporary insanity
due to Bubba-overload."

She pinched the fabric on the leg of the
neatly creased blue denim jeans she wore. "Look at me. My jeans
aren't skin-tight. They’re not painted on me." With a tug at the
hem of her hunter-green knit top, she added, "My shirt isn't too
tight, it has three-quarter sleeves, and the neck isn't low or
revealing."

Aurora moved her knees and elevated a foot
to display canvas shoes. "I'm wearing my little Keds, not flashy
pumps with stiletto heels. All in all, I'm dressed very sedately
and not at all in a provocative way."

The cowboy slid his glance slowly up and
down her then back to her face before he smiled a slow, lazy smile
that lit up his eyes and brought a dimple to his cheek. He reached
over to grasp her untouched water glass and took a drink from it,
his eyes returning to her face as he sipped the icy water.

Her own mouth opened as she watched his
mouth against the rim of the glass. The tip of her tongue slid
against her upper lip as the water slid into his mouth. She could
almost feel his lips as they received the liquid. To hide the
rising turbulence in the pit of her stomach, Aurora glared at him.
In vain she tried to avoid thoughts of his stare or the dimple that
appeared with his smile.

She forced herself to concentrate on her
defense. "Um, I just drive along in my little blue Ford Mustang,
enjoying the scenery and minding my own business. I do nothing to
call attention to myself. I even try to be a good sport about the
immature behavior some guys display."

She took a deep breath. "I try to take it
all in stride and just keep on schedule but"--Aurora slammed her
hands against the top of the table--"this morning, two very
frightening Bubbas tried to run me off the highway and hijack me or
my car or both."

His eyes widened and his mouth gaped, but
she continued, "I'm only here because a State Trooper happened by
in time to interrupt my abduction. Frankly, that scared the life
out of me. The longer I thought about it, though, the angrier I
became. By the time I reached this restaurant, the terror had faded
and I’d completely lost my cool."

Aurora took a deep breath and gazed at her
hands. She recalled the fright that consumed her when she realized
the two men followed her. Only quick thinking on her part prevented
the two ruffians from succeeding at their attempt to run her off
the road and get her out of her car. She shuddered to think what
might have happened if not for the State Trooper. And never, never
would she forget the faces of those two men.

She waved her hands in a fluttery motion.
"When I saw you in a truck the same color as the one that ran me
off the road...well...I guess I just went bananas, berserk, crazy,
loco. That's why I'm pleading temporary insanity." Aurora leaned
back and crossed her arms in front of her.

At this moment the waitress appeared with
their food. Aurora stared in amazement as the waitress set the
burger, fries and Dr Pepper in front of her and a duplicate of the
order in front of the man beside her.

The waitress flashed the man what she
probably thought of as her most seductive smile. In a low, honeyed
voice, she asked, "Anything else today, Will?"

He seemed unaware of the invitation in her
voice or the hopeful sparkle in her eyes. "Not right now, Norma
Sue, thanks. Go ahead and leave the check now and save yourself
time."

When the disappointed waitress left, Aurora
appraised Will. How could he fail to notice the waitress’ blatant
invitation? Had he any idea how attractive he was? Hold on, this
guy might be too good to be true.

Aurora gazed over he shoulder at the
departing waitress. "How on earth did she know what to bring you?
When did you give her your order?"

"When I came in." He leaned across her to
get the salt and pepper. Will paused to flash her a truly
breathtaking smile and the bottom fell out of her stomach again. "I
also told her you would pick up the check. In view of your morning,
however, maybe I'd better withdraw that statement. You've had a
very trying day already."

Aurora nodded as hunger asserted itself.
Food always rated a high priority with her. The smells of the food
in front of her increased her hunger. She immediately gave all her
concentration to her delayed lunch.

Will watched in amused disbelief as the
gorgeous woman took her hamburger apart to add several large blobs
of catsup. She spread catsup evenly on the top half of the bun.
After placing the tomato slice precisely in the middle of the meat
patty, she spread the lettuce evenly. Next, she scraped off half
the onions and part of the mustard from the bottom half of the bun.
With a satisfied sigh, she reassembled the hamburger.

Catching his eyes on her actions, she
explained, "It's easier to redo a burger than to explain it when I
order. No matter how detailed the explanation to the waitress, no
one ever gets my hamburger right." With a toss of her head she sent
her auburn curls bouncing across her shoulders.

Will shook his head. "I had no idea a
hamburger could be so complicated. I can hardly wait to see what
you do with the French fries."

In a more serious tone he asked, "Tell me
what happened with the two guys in the truck this morning."

Aurora repeated the story she had already
told several times to law enforcement officers. "I drove toward
Snyder on one of the small roads rather than the main highway. The
wild flowers are so pretty in spite of the drought and I've never
driven through this area before. I took my time and enjoyed the
scenery. I didn't even realize those two followed me until this red
pickup pulled up behind me, then bumped the back of my car. When I
sped up, they sped up and bumped me again. I thought they wanted to
pass me but they pulled alongside and forced me off the road. It
happened so fast I didn't have a chance to use my cell phone or get
the license number of the truck.

"When I saw them open their truck doors and
step down from the truck, I shifted to reverse. But I waited until
one man had his hand on my door handle before I spun the car in a
reverse half-circle. With the accelerator pressed against the floor
I drove fast as I could in the opposite direction."

She paled and the tension of the morning
showed on her face. She brushed a weary hand across her forehead.
"They followed and gradually closed the distance between us. The
State Trooper turned on his lights and siren when I passed him, and
the truck dropped back and turned around. By the time I told the
Trooper what happened, the men had disappeared. The Trooper
followed me to the Snyder city limits to be sure they didn’t
reappear."

Will face was grim. "Man, I hate to think of
that sort of thing going on around here. We've always had a pretty
safe and friendly community." He took a sip of his Dr Pepper and
asked, "Can you identify them?" He had given his entire attention
to her while she spoke, but now picked up his hamburger and took a
large bite from it.

"You bet I can! Since I have no license
number for the truck, I don't expect that to happen. You know how
many red trucks there are in this state." She gave a shrug of
dismissal. Without more details than she offered authorities, she
knew the chance of locating the truck and the two men to be almost
nonexistent.

"There must be thousands of pickups in West
Texas that fit that description." He gave her a searching
appraisal. "Well, at least you got away."

Aurora hated thoughts of those two men. Even
more, she hated their escape. They might try the same thing on
another woman, with more success next time. She waved her left
forefinger in the direction of his cast and changed the subject.
"So, what about you? What did you do to your leg?"

He took another sip of his drink and
straightened the cutoff jeans above his cast before he explained.
"About two months ago, we moved some cattle from one range to
another. This one big cow and her calf took off in the wrong
direction and I rode around to turn her back."

A flush of embarrassment crept across his
face. "I watched the cow's progress instead of mine. My horse
jumped a bush, not realizing a big drop off waited on the other
side of the bush. One minute I sat on my horse, the next minute the
horse lay on me. We both landed in a gully on a giant red ant
bed."

He looked with disgust at his leg. "I'm
stuck with this thing on my leg for about another month or so."

Her green eyes held total innocence. "Oh,
my. That's too bad. I do hope the horse is okay."

Will flashed a sardonic grin. "The horse is
fine, thank you." He should be angry at her goading. The truth
struck him that her impish grin and sparkling green eyes made him
forget he ever experienced anger at her.

He watched her as she very carefully put a
mound of catsup on her plate. With great care she dipped just the
tips of her French fries into the catsup. Damn, this woman was
crazy, he reasoned. Well, yes, his heart countered. It's a nice
crazy, though, and she makes you feel a little crazy yourself.

He contemplated these new feelings with awe.
After more than three years of life by remote control, he acted
like a randy kid again. The flick of her tongue across her lips to
catch an errant bit of catsup sent his dormant hormones boiling to
the surface. He shook his head slowly. What in hell’s happening to
me?

He shook his head before he saw twinkling
emerald eyes regarding him with amusement. "I thought good guys
wore white hats and bad guys wore black. Why is your hat gray? Does
that mean you can't decided whether you're good or bad?"

Damn! This redhead really had his blood
pressure rising. If she could read his thoughts, she would realize
just how appropriate her question seemed. He adjusted his frame on
the booth’s seat and grinned.

"I'm not a bad guy, just a good guy who's a
little worn around the edges." Is that interest sparkling in her
eyes? Damn! If it is, what do I do about it? Harrison, you’re too
out of practice for this verbal parrying.