Cowboy to the Rescue (20 page)

His narrow eyes cut across her face, and then his gaze turned to the house behind them. Whether he was thinking about the luxurious digs or the loud wife inside was impossible for Christina to guess.

“I don't have twelve million dollars,” he muttered.

“You work for a bank. You can get it.”

Spluttering, he jerked his gaze back to her. “That sort of money is difficult to get. It might take weeks, even months!”

“Geraldine doesn't have that long to wait. We're giving you two days.”

Pure venom was etched upon the man's face. “The woman doesn't need money! I've never had a fraction of what she's got!”

Rising to her feet, Christina said, “It's not the money she wants. It's retribution. And this is her way of getting it.” She pulled a card from her handbag and handed it to him. “Here's the time and place we'll make the exchange. Red Road Inn—it's just off I-10. Make sure you're there no later than three-thirty, or we're going straight to the police.”

He read the information on the card, then jerked his attention back to her. “This is a busy truck stop! Are you crazy?”

“What sort of meeting place would you prefer? A quiet, dark alley? We're not the crazy ones here, Mr. Carter.”

With that, she swished past him and began to walk toward the front of the house, where she'd left her car. Before she'd taken five steps, he caught up to her.

“Does anyone else know about this?” he asked in a hushed voice. “Has Geraldine told her family?”

Christina summoned all the acting ability she possessed. “Your questions are getting stupid—especially for a supposedly smart man like you. Do you think she'd want her family to know she's committing blackmail? No. Only she and I know, and that's the way things will stay. Once we turn the evidence over to you, that will be the end of this. You'll be out of Geraldine's hair, and we'll be out of yours. Deal?”

He hesitated, but only for a moment. “Yeah. It's a deal.”

 

Later that night at the Sandbur, Cook served Christina and Lex a special dinner of shrimp jambalaya, along with an assortment of fresh seafood. The mini feast was meant to be a small celebration for uncovering the truth about Paul's death. But Lex hardly appeared to be in a celebratory mood.

Throughout the meal, he remained quiet and only picked at the food on his plate. God knew, he had plenty on his mind, Christina thought. He'd already expressed his concern over the plan she'd hatched to allow the police to catch Lawrence red-handed. But a part of her wondered if his sober demeanor might have something to do with the talk he'd requested that morning. He'd seemed so serious when he'd said they needed to talk. Was he going to tell her he'd lost interest?

He could have sex with most any woman he wanted. He doesn't need to wait around on you.

That little voice inside her head had pestered her throughout the drive back from San Antonio and was still gnawing at the back of her mind, making it impossible to think about little else.

Maybe she'd been wrong all along by putting a halt to their physical relationship. Their night together in Corpus had rocked her, transported her to the closest thing she'd ever experienced to heaven on earth. But even more than that, she'd felt a connection to Lex that superseded anything she'd ever imagined. She didn't want to lose that. Lose him. Yet she didn't want to let herself slip into a relationship that might never go further than the bedroom.

The two of them had just finished dinner and were retiring to the living room when Lex's sister Mercedes stopped by to discuss the progress they'd made on Paul's case. While she and her brother talked, Christina excused herself, stepped out on the front porch, and made a phone call to Geraldine to let her in on the plans she'd made with the authorities in San Antonio to attempt to catch Lawrence. Geraldine was eager to have the man convicted and put behind bars, but she was also concerned about Christina's welfare.

She reassured Lex's mother as best she could and ended the call just as brother and sister emerged from the house.

The pretty blonde walked over to where Christina was sitting on a wicker love seat.

“I wanted to thank you,” she said, “for what you've done for our family. It was very hard for me to hear that my father was murdered. Especially by that creepy Lawrence. But at least we know the truth now.”

Christina smiled gently at Lex's sister. “It's not completely over yet, Mercedes. But I promise I'll do everything I can to help convict the man.”

“I wish I could be more help,” Mercedes said as her hand slid protectively to her belly, “but I've not exactly been feeling up to par here lately.”

Rising from her seat, Christina gave the woman's shoulders an affectionate hug. “You shouldn't worry about that for one minute. The important thing is to take care of yourself and your baby. Besides,” she added impishly, “Lex has made a great Dr. Watson.”

Mercedes turned an affection grin on her brother. “Lex is a man of many talents—when he wants to be. You should get him to tell you about riding broncs on the college rodeo team. He was a wild man in those days.”

“Mercedes!” he scolded lightly. “Christina doesn't want to hear about that.”

Laughing now, the woman stepped off the porch. “I'm heading home. Gabe will be worried if I don't show up soon.”

She waved goodbye, then climbed in a black pickup truck and drove away.

Once she was gone, Christina sank back onto the love seat. “I like your sister very much. I wish I could've gotten to know her under better circumstances,” she said.

Lex strolled across the porch and took a seat beside her. When he reached for her hand, Christina felt the gentle touch all the way to her heart, forcing her to bend her head to hide the emotion on her face.

“I like my sister, too, but I've been counting the minutes until we could be alone,” he said quietly. “I was so relieved when I saw you return to the house this afternoon. I kept having this awful vision of Lawrence trying to harm you.”

She looked up at him, and it suddenly struck her that he had been well and truly frightened for her safety. The idea made her heart want to hope that he might actually care for her, that his caring might one day turn to love.

“Whenever I told Lawrence that your mother wanted money, I honestly believed he could have put his hands around my neck and choked the life out of me. But I knew he wouldn't. The man is the epitome of a wimp. Still, he's dangerous. I have no doubt about that.”

His fingertips began to slide gently against the back of her hand. “I kept imagining him following you, maybe trying to run you off the highway. Sometime back, that happened to my cousin, Luci. And she could have easily been killed.”

“Well, thankfully, neither he nor anyone else followed me. Now we've got to hope that Lawrence will be desperate enough to show up at that restaurant with a satchel full of money.”

With a slight shake of his head, he tightened his fingers around her hand and leaned his face toward hers. “I don't want to talk about that anymore tonight, Christina. I want to talk about you—us. You said you wished that you'd met Mercedes under different circumstances. Well I can't help but wonder how things would've been if we'd met some other way.”

“I'm not sure we would have met. I live in San Antonio. You live here. Our paths would have probably never crossed.”

“No. You're wrong about that. We were meant to meet.” His eyes softly roamed her face. “I've been thinking a lot, Christina, about that night we spent out on roundup. You seemed like you really enjoyed being outdoors with the cowboys and the horses—and me.”

She looked away from him while wondering why her heart was hammering, why she suddenly felt so scared. Funny how she'd faced plenty of dangerous situations during her years as a law officer, yet none of them shook her like the thought of never having this man's love. In some strange way, the night they'd spent sleeping in bedrolls under the stars had affected her even more than the night they'd actually made love. Something about sharing that part of his life had given her an even deeper glimpse of the man than being physically connected to him had.

“I did really enjoy it,” she told him, then tried to laugh to ease the turmoil in her heart. “I thought sleeping on the ground would kill me, but it didn't.”

His fingers continued to massage the back of her hand. “Not very many women like the ranch. Not after they're on it for any length of time,” he admitted. “It's very isolated.”

“I don't think of it as being isolated. The ranch is always full of activity—a little settlement unto itself.”

His eyes grew warm and tender, but then he quickly looked away, as though he was embarrassed that he'd let his emotions show. “You're different, Christina. From the moment I met you, I realized that, but I didn't want to admit it to myself.”

His gaze turned back to her, and this time there was a hint of regret on his face. “I've been looking at everything—at you—in the wrong way.”

Christina couldn't stop her groan. “Oh please, Lex, don't expect me to believe that you've had this sudden emotional lightning bolt hit you and you think it's love. I—”

“I wasn't going to tell you that I love you. I wouldn't do that unless I was sure. I'd never lie to you like that. Besides, you wouldn't believe me if I said such a thing to you.”

Feeling as if she was being torn to shreds, Christina rose to her feet and walked to the edge of the porch. With her back to him, she said, “I'm glad you realize that.”

Long, pregnant moments passed before he moved behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. “I guess I want you to understand how important you've become to me.”

Christina was suddenly trembling all over, as though she was standing on a dangerous precipice and the slightest breeze might topple her over. Everything inside of her was urging her to turn to him, to tell him that she loved him. Loved him utterly and completely.

I've had more than one woman fall in love with me.

The words Lex had spoken to her in the attic were suddenly spinning through her head, blocking the vow of love from spilling from her lips. He'd been told by more than one woman before that he was loved, but that obviously hadn't brought out any sort of commitment from him. And like he'd said, it certainly hadn't made him love the women in return. It would be stupid of her to think that telling him she loved him would somehow fix anything.

Bending her head, she pushed the next words past the lump in her throat. “I believe that, Lex.”

Instantly, he turned her toward him and fastened his lips over hers. As soon as the soft, moist curves yielded beneath his own mouth, hunger struck him hard while, at the same time, joyous bells clanged in his head. She was the very thing his heart, his soul, had been searching for. He didn't just want this woman; he
needed
her.

Once the kiss threatened to completely steal his breath, he broke the contact between their lips and mouthed against her neck, “You can believe me, darling.”

Suddenly her hands were in the middle of his chest, levering a small, cold gap between them. The forced separation had him looking questioningly down at her.

Her beautiful features were full of pain, and the sight totally confused Lex. The only time he'd ever made women miserable was when he'd given them a final goodbye. Yet Christina seemed to be just the opposite. The closer he tried to get, the more miserable she appeared to be.

And it suddenly struck him that making love to Christina, hearing her say their relationship would keep going, was only a tiny portion of what he wanted. He wanted her to be happy, deep-down happy. He wanted to love her. Really love her.

Oh God, what was happening to him? he wondered. And what could he do about it now? She'd never believe he was falling in love with her. He wasn't even sure he could believe it himself.

“I—um, I'm sure you're very tired,” he said gently. “And I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Maybe we'd better say good night.”

The relief on her face actually stung him, but then she gave him a wobbly smile, and his heart felt like a piece of iron that had just been thrown into a smelting pot.

“I think you're right,” she said, then carefully eased out of his arms. “I've got a busy day tomorrow, too, getting things coordinated with the Bexar County Sheriff's Department.”

To his surprise, her eyes suddenly turned watery, and for one split second, he started to jerk her back into his arms, to beg her to listen to what had just dawned in his heart. But she needed time, he realized. And he did, too. Time to figure out how to prove his sincerity, his newfound devotion to her.

When you love a person the way I loved your father, you just know.

A few days ago, Lex couldn't comprehend what his mother had once told him about falling in love. But now the meaning of her words was crystal clear to him. He loved Christina, and because he did, he saw more, felt more, understood things that had only been mysteries to him before. It was like stepping into a new world, and even though the path was scary, he realized he had to keep walking ahead.