Leaving Liberty, a Western Romance (Book 5) (Texas Hearts) (9 page)

Coward. Yeah, she was being one. But Jackson was the first man she’d met that made her question the choices she’d made months ago. The fear she felt now was unlike anything she’d felt, even before her decision had been made many months ago.

“I’ll make sure you get inside okay and then I’ll tend to the animals,” he said, getting out of the truck.

He walked across the front of the truck over to the passenger side. She pushed the door open on her own and climbed out before he could extend a hand. If nothing else, it was clear Jackson was a gentleman, something her mother would have noticed and made sure Libby did as well. But it was hard not to notice every little thing about Jackson Gentry.

“I’m fine,” she said, looking at him. “I am. I’d appreciate you taking care of the animals. I can make us some dinner.”

“Libby you—“

“I can at least do this, Jackson. I’ve never been a woman to just sit while the men worked. Neither was my mother. Even when she had cancer, she’d get herself up and do something. Life isn’t worth living unless your dare to be a part of it, she’d say. I’m not going to sit in bed and forget that I’m still here.”

He looked at her for a long moment that dragged on longer than she could stand. She hadn’t meant to lecture him, but it sounded exactly like that. And now all she could do is look at his questioning gaze. Those eyes could pull any woman within a hundred feet of him into a drugged daze. She’d definitely fallen under his spell.

“Okay,” he finally said. “I look forward to sampling some of that cooking you were bragging about the other day.”

She sputtered. “You doubted me?”

“No. But I’m also not picky. I could eat a whole cow right now.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He offered up a crooked smile that made her head dizzy.

“Don’t mention it.”

Libby turned and walked slowly to the house, listening for the sound of his boots on the dry pavement. She only heard hers. When she got to the door, she turned around. He was waiting for her to get inside. Gentleman. Her mom would have loved him.

* * *

Of all the times to be stupid, Jackson thought as he saw the trail of blood on his arm. First Libby’s fainting and now his stupidity.

His hands were filthy from working in the barn so he walked to the faucet, and used the cold water to wash his hands and clean the blood off his arm. The scratch on his arm didn’t look too bad upon inspection. Libby most likely had a first aid kit in the house. He’d patch himself up before dinner.

With all his work done, he gave a quick look inside the barn. The animals were either eating or content in their stalls. He closed the barn door and headed to the house.

When he reached the back door, he paused at the doormat and scraped his boots, something his mother had drilled into him and his brothers when they were little. Once inside the mudroom he took his boots off and set them next to Libby’s smaller ones. There was another set of larger men’s boots next to hers. He paused for a second thinking they might be Cole’s. But then Jackson remembered. They were probably her father’s and Libby hadn’t summoned the courage to remove them yet.

The weight of seeing two sets of boots side by side hit Jackson hard. In the mudroom back at the ranch, the boots were lined up in a row. The house was always overflowing with cowboys. But Libby’s entire family was gone. No wonder she was driving herself hard.

At least, he hoped that was all it was. The burning in the pit of his stomach told him otherwise.

Libby took one look at him and dropped the serving spoon in the frying pan. “I leave you alone for five seconds and look what you did?” she said, walking over to inspect the trail of blood on Jackson’s arm.

“I went head to head with a rusty nail.”

The kitchen smelled wonderful. Jackson didn’t know what she was cooking up for dinner but it sure smelled good.

“You’ve been busy,” he said, watching her drop a first aid kit on the table and pull out gauze and tape.

“Not really. It’s an easy recipe. Don’t expect much. You need a tetanus shot.”

“I had one last year. Job hazards and having to deal with all types of situations make it necessary I keep up to date on my shots.”

She walked over to the sink and ripped open a large piece of gauze, running it under the warm water to soak it.

“Come here,” she said.

Jackson did as he was told, holding his arm over the sink. The soft touch of her hand against his skin made him lightheaded and made the sting of the hydrogen peroxide she poured over the wound less noticeable.

“Are you going to pass out on me?” she teased.

“Only one fainting per day. We’ve reached our quota.”

She chuckled as she inspected the cut on his arm.

“You’ve done this before,” he said.

“A time or two.”

“Your medical box is filled with supplies.”

“Always good to be prepared. Now you can sit down at the table so I can patch this up.”

He glanced down at his arm. “A little bandage will do.”

“I want to cover it good. If this gets dirty it will get infected. Don’t argue.”

Sitting in the chair, he had to look up only slightly to see Libby’s face as she concentrated on her task. Her beauty caught him off guard and stole his breath away, making it hard to look away.

There’d been beautiful women in his life who loved being with a Texas Ranger for any number of reasons. Carol, a young girl from Amarillo, had wanted to feel safe after a breakup with an abusive boyfriend. Nice girl, but it hadn’t lasted long. Jennifer only wanted everyone she knew to know she was dating a real Texas Ranger. He couldn’t run from her fast enough. There’d been others not as memorable for many reasons. But Libby…

He kissed her and yet that had a way of burning in his mind more than any other woman he’d made love to in the past. His dreams of Libby had a way of keeping him up at night as he lay in bed in his motel room. The feel of her hands on his skin, the heat from her body close to his, was nothing in his dreams compared to what he was feeling now. But unlike his dreams, they both were fully clothed.

As she brushed her fingers across his forehead, he felt his body respond.

“How’d you get this one?” she asked.

“What?”

“This scar above your eyebrow. It’s faint but it looks like it was a nasty one at one time.”

Pulled from his thoughts of the two of them naked in a heated embrace, Jackson focused on what Libby was saying.

“Beau hit me in the face with a shovel. He said it was an accident.”

“Your brother did this to you on accident? And you believed him?”

He shrugged. “That’s what he said.”

“What was her name?”

“Excuse me?”

“It had to have been about girl for you to be talking so casually about it. So what was her name?”

Jackson laughed, drinking in the scent of her. Libby had taken a quick shower and her hair was still a little wet. She smelled like lavender and something more. Feminine. Good God he wanted to kiss her again.

“Actually, I think it was female. But it was a horse. I was eleven and Beau was ten. There is a reason he rides broncs and I don't.”

“Ah, well priorities at that age.”

“Exactly.”

Her expression changed and she had a faraway look that told him she wasn’t in the room with him at all. She’d gone somewhere else.

“Hey, come back to me.”

“What?”

“You went somewhere.”

“I was just thinking.”

“It’s just a scar. Just another story to tell.”

She touched her hand to the scar again. “Is that how you see them? Stories?”

“Living on a ranch you’re bound to get a few of them. I have my share.” He smiled up at her. “You must have them, too.”

She didn’t smile in return. “I have a few,” she said quietly.

“Yeah, any interesting story to go with them?”

“That’s for another time.” She turned away and snapped the lid to the first aid kit closed. “Dinner is almost ready. Why don’t you wash up a bit and I’ll get the food on the table.”

She turned away from him, leaving him dizzy and cold and wanting to reach for her. But he didn’t. He just walked to the washroom and left her to her busy task of feeding him. At least the house was cool and he didn’t have to worry about her falling down from heat exhaustion.

It hadn’t been Libby’s idea to have him stay the night. But he was glad he was here. Everything about her from the little tilt of her nose to the way she played with the end of her ponytail sometimes all the way to those crazy socks she wore, intrigued him.

And yet, even when he was standing close to her, like he had in the kitchen, she felt so far away. He decided that was something he very much wanted to change.

# # #

Libby looked at Jackson across from the dinner table. He’d found a set of candlesticks in the cabinet when they were setting the table and insisted they dine by candlelight. When she told him they were having Shepherd’s Pie, hardly a candlelight dinner meal, he still insisted. Libby decided maybe a little romantic atmosphere wouldn’t hurt.

“You surprised me today,” she said.

Jackson’s face glowed against the low light of the candles. His hard features would be menacing if she didn’t find him so handsome. He didn’t have the typical chiseled look of a stud from a magazine ad peddling cologne or some other product. Jackson was real. And he was here with her. Libby fought to keep from making a fool of herself by sighing or doing something equally as silly as that.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You don’t even know what it is that surprised me.”

“That you noticed anything at all about me is flattering.”

A blush burned her cheeks. She didn’t want to be here with Jackson Gentry like this. Aside from Cole, she’d never been alone in this house with another man. She wasn’t a teenage girl with her father watching over her, making sure no boys were taking liberties they shouldn’t. She was a woman.

“What?”

She hadn’t realized she’d chuckled, but seeing the quizzical look on Jackson’s face, she realized she had.

Shaking her head, she said, “I was just thinking about my father.”

She loved Jackson’s expressions. They changed so readily that she couldn’t imagine how he could ever play poker and win. You knew his emotions just by looking at him. Right now, all she saw was deep sympathy in his beautiful blue eyes.

“What were you thinking?” he asked.

“That he would have liked you.”

His eyebrows raised. “Really?”

She nodded. “My father didn’t like games. He was honest to the core. As annoying as this investigation has been for me, he would have liked your straight forward approach, making sure the job got done right. He admired that in a man.”

“That’s a nice compliment.” Jackson looked away as if he were hiding a blush and then shook his head with a smile. “Two compliments in one night. I don’t know if I can stand it.”

She laughed then. “You’ve reached your quota, Ranger Gentry.” She reached across the table and picked up her empty dish and glass. He did the same.

“I’ll get it,” she said.

“Isadore would whip me.”

She laughed. “Sounds like Isadore ran the show at your ranch.”

He shrugged. “My mother did, but Isadore was a close second. And after mom passed…”

“Your mother must have been quite a woman.”

He cornered her at the sink. “You’re quite a woman, Libby.”

She’d seen desire in him before, fleeting in between his professionalism. He’d always pull back and remain distant when talking about her father’s case. But the attraction between them was always there. And it was there now. Except this time, like in the barn, Jackson did nothing to hide it.

She watched the rise and fall of his chest as he stood beside her. Then as his hand reached up and touched her cheek, slowly moving along her delicate skin, sending shivers through her body.

Still, she did not look away.

“I didn’t plan on this,” he said.

“Does anyone?”

He kissed her lips lightly and then pulled back with a smile. She wanted more, but the playfulness of his smile had her curious.

“Come to San Antonio with me,” he said.

Her mouth dropped open. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I asked nicely,” he said, revealing his deep dimple with his smile.

“You’re out of your mind.”

“I’m not denying that. But I have a reason.”

“I can’t just go skipping off to San Antonio.”

“It’s a two and a half hour ride. You can sleep in the car to rest.”

“What’s so big about San Antonio?”

“Aside from getting to spend a whole lot of time with me, my brother and his band are playing at a club in San Antonio. He just texted me when he found out I was here in Liberty. I haven’t seen him in a while because he’s been on the road and recording some new music. You said you liked his music.”

“I like a lot of music.”

“Are you always this difficult?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes. I hear I get it from my mother.”

“That’s funny. On more than a few occasions I could swear you were looking at me with that same scowl your dad has in that portrait hanging over the fireplace.”

“I don’t scowl.”

“If you say so.”

“I…don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Of course you don’t. You don’t think anything that has to do with me is a good idea. But let me put it this way. You’re not going to get rid of me regardless. I’m either going to be here working with you where, as I now know, you intend to drive yourself into the ground. Or I’ll be with you on the way to San Antonio where you will get a much needed break from killing yourself with work. I’m sure Dr. Gordon will be only too happy that I am dragging your backside out of town for the day.”

“Chores still need to be done.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I called Dane and asked if he knew of some ranch hands who wanted some extra work. Luckily for you, he did. His three nephews just came back to Liberty for a visit with his sister.”