Lies That Bind (6 page)

“Thank you, Ethel.” Tessa placed her age at around fifty, but that was only going by what she’d heard from others. Ethel was trim and fit. Not a gray hair marred her brunette pixie cut. “Now’s not a good time. Derek’s attorney is here.”

Something akin to a sneer flashed over Ethel’s mouth, then quickly disappeared. “I understand. I know you must be tired out from your long trip. But I had to give you my sympathies in person.” Sad blue eyes backed up her words. “And to bring you this.” She lifted a large aluminum pan. “Nothing much. Just homemade macaroni and cheese. Comfort food.”

Tessa pushed the screen door open to accept the offering. “Thank you. You’re always so thoughtful.”

“You need anything just let me know.”

“I will.” She exchanged an awkward embrace with the woman and waited at the door until Ethel drove off.

“Now…was that so difficult?” she asked the men when she went back inside.

“No, but that will be.” Rex pointed to the disposable pan in her hands.

“Ever consider feeding it to the javelina?” Nate asked. “It might help get rid of them.”

“Don’t tempt me.” Tessa tossed the pan into the kitchen trash, then returned to the living room to find the men on their feet, pacing about. The only exception being Kevin, who shuffled his papers into smaller piles. “So, what now?”

“Want me to see what I can find out?” Nate asked.

Some measure of relief finally filtered into her bones. Good thing Nate had come along. Or was this the reason he’d insisted in the first place? Maybe he suspected something or his network of connections had hinted at a problem.

Tessa shoved the rambling thoughts aside. “Yes, thank you.”

“I’m presuming you’re qualified to snoop?” Rex braced his hands on his hips as Nate slipped his sunglasses in place.

“I am.” He left it at that and poked Tessa’s shoulder. “You good?”

She gave him an absentminded nod. “Just need a little privacy.” Time to order her jumbled thoughts and emotions.

Nate pulled a stick of chewing gum from his jeans pocket, peeled off the foil, and popped it into his mouth. “Got any transportation I can use?”

Rex pointed toward the kitchen beyond the adjacent dining room. “Derek’s pickup is out back. Keys are on a hook by the kitchen door.”

Tyler crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. “The heat dried up things fairly quick after the storm, but there are still muddy spots a truck might not manage. Even our backhoe loader had a hell of a time yesterday burying Rosie. Taking a horse is better if you’ve got the expertise.”

“I do.”

“Good.” He clapped Nate’s shoulder. “Let’s set you up with a mount. I’ll go with you. I sure as hell can’t sit around here. I have to do something. Besides, it’s not good for you to go alone. Javelina can be aggressive and very dangerous. And I know the property better. Big spread. You don’t want to lose your way.” He snickered. “Or, God forbid, somehow wander onto the Turnbauer spread. The Turnbauers and the Fords have been frenemies since way back. Tito wouldn’t bat an eye about arresting you for trespassing on Turnbauer land. The town’s growing but still maintains a small-town mentality with ties that bind. Up until recently, we were still considered outsiders. Hell, we probably always will be. These people could close ranks fast.”

“Or turn on each other just as fast,” Nate said. “Two pairs of eyes and ears are always best. I appreciate the company.” Nate jerked his head toward the rack of cowboy hats by the front door. “Don’t suppose you’ve got a hat I could borrow.”

Tyler snickered. “That’s like asking to borrow a man’s woman. But”—he shot Tessa a glance from the corner of his eye—“I’m not averse to sharing, under the right circumstances.”

He slid his hat on slow and easy. Tyler’s gaze did an equally slow pass over Tessa’s body that sent shivers through her. The invitation he extended when he tipped the brim her way was obvious.
Come get me. Have your way with me.

“Nothing to share there as far as I’m concerned.” Nate grabbed a hat from the rack and slipped it on. “I’m not Tessa’s boyfriend. I’m just a friend who didn’t want her to fly all this way alone. End of story. So now you can all kiss and make up.”

“Don’t worry. We will.” Rex edged up right behind Tessa. His intent was very clear in the ripples of heat she felt curling around her, touching yet not touching.

The lure crumbled what little remained of Tessa’s resistance, even while she cursed Nate for having given her up. It was a meager defense at best. She’d been without them too long. Probably shouldn’t have left in the first place. But damn it, she had her dignity.
Pride
. Right was right. Derek deserved this land more than she did. If Rex and Tyler really cared, they would have followed her. They would have understood.

Now here they were, almost together again. Tension and want swirled around her. If left alone with them, how long before they moved in to take what they wanted? It would be no-holds-barred, and in seconds, she’d find herself pressed between them.

Safe.

The word and the feeling that went with it jolted her wayward thoughts to a standstill. Her heartbeat was another matter. It raced in time with the boot steps thudding across the polished wooden floor and out the kitchen door.

“Anything else, Kevin?”

Rex’s question pulled her into the present.

“We’ll talk more business tomorrow.” Kevin stacked his documents into one little pile. “Tessa, you’ll need to make sure your estate is in order, advise your attorney, and—”

“As you said, tomorrow is fine.” Tessa snapped the words out without intending to. Her control was slipping. The thought of having to deal with one more thing, one more revelation, was too much.

“I’ll call you. You’ll need to make funeral arrangements and—”

“Kevin, please.” She gripped her hands before her, trying to stay calm. “Not now. I need some time to process all this.”

“Don’t we all.” He shoved the papers into his briefcase, snapped it closed, and hurried off.

Tessa felt like the biggest bitch in the world. Kevin was only trying to do his job. Derek was his client. He’d be feeling the loss too, though he locked his emotions behind an anal-retentive wall of professionalism. Very similar to her own actions. The realization didn’t sit well.

“I think we could both use a few minutes to collect our thoughts.” Rex skirted around her, skimming his fingers over her back as he went.

Though he was a good two feet away, he felt too close yet not close enough. Ache crawled inside her. Why didn’t he take what he wanted? Unless he didn’t want her anymore.

“Want something to drink?” he asked. “Coffee? Iced tea?”

Tessa forced herself to stand still, hoping it would break the pull his body had on hers and guard her heart. It didn’t help. She wanted to be alone so she could order her thoughts, cry out her grief, scream at the injustice…calm her raging hormones with an orgasm or two.

“Don’t you want to go with Tyler and Nate?” A breathless whisper threaded itself into her words.

“For whatever reason, someone killed Derek. I’m not leaving you here alone.”

Safe
. Yet her insides trembled.

Rex loomed over her now, barely two inches between them. The heat was enormous, sweet in its own bizarre way.

She stretched as high as her sneakers allowed. It wasn’t enough to reach his tempting lips, and Rex did nothing to correct that. No arm hauling her closer. No dipping in to kiss her. It hurt, and it was no one’s fault but her own.

Tessa eased back down, fighting to erect walls around her emotions. “I’m capable of taking care of myself.” Rex stared her down. She fought not to look away. It wasn’t easy.

“Is that why you brought a guard dog? Tell me…did you fuck him?”

She refused to lie, but telling the truth nearly killed her. “On occasion. Tell
me
… Did you two do without this entire year?”

He stared down his nose at her. “That became none of your business the day you took off.”

“If it didn’t matter, why ask about Nate?” Rex’s eyes narrowed. Tessa knew he hated being trumped.

“You brought a stranger to this ranch.
Your
ranch. How are we to know he’s not the new Mr. Tessa Fairchild? Our welfares are at stake.”

“I quitclaimed everything to Derek.”

“I don’t believe you. He would have filed it.”

She splayed her fingers at the base of her throat. “Are you calling me a liar?”

He flipped his palms up. “Let’s see… You said you loved us, then blamed us for something we had no part of. You said you wanted nothing to do with this ranch or us ever again. Now you’re back with your fuck buddy—”

“Goddamn you, Rex!” She clenched her fists at her sides to keep from lashing out. “I did love you.”
I still do, and it’s killing me inside
. “I did do right by Derek. And if we’re talking lies, well, you’re just as much to blame. You said you loved me back, yet neither of you came after me.”

“We’re cowboys, not cavemen. Pardon us for not realizing you wanted us to drag you back to a place you hated.”

She shoved her face in his. “I didn’t want you to drag me back. I wanted you to leave it behind.”

Rex dropped his arms on a long exhale. “You place a high price on your love, Tessa. A selfish one too. Tyler and I put everything we had and then some into making Rustlers a success. Blood, sweat, money, and more than a few tears, thanks to you. And you expected us to give it all up because your pride got stung?”

There it was, that word again. One her conscience had flung in her face moments before. “Pride?” she screamed. “Mike Ford shattered my world. My mother and I barely speak. The man I knew as my father isn’t. My brothers and sisters—”

“If you’ve let this affect your relationship with your family, then that’s on you.”

Tessa reared from the verbal slap in her face. The hell of it was…Rex was right. She staggered under the weight. It was Rex’s hot hand pressed gently against her lower back that kept her in place. The way he pulled her into him without really doing so.

“I need…” Tessa swallowed past a throat gone dry.

“What? What do you need?” Rex traced his fingers up her back.

The resulting shivers buckled her knees, and she struggled to regain balance. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tight against him and that delicious swell of cock.

“I need to hurt something right now, and I’d really prefer that not be you.” Tessa needed the stress relief. To vent at the unfairness of it all and the rift that kept them apart the last year. The rift she’d caused.

“I know how you feel.” His hot hand brushed down to her ass. “Not that I would ever direct my anger and frustration toward you.” A slow gaze wandered over her features.

“Only Nate?” she asked with a tiny smile.

He replied with one of his own. “Do I really need to state the obvious?”

“You should.”

His eyebrow quirked with his lips. “Please allow me some semblance of dignity. Although, the fact you didn’t correct my presumptions should be considered a spanking offense.”

She cocked her head to one side and peeled away from his body. “So should the evil glare of death you shot my way. How was I to know it wasn’t directed at me?”

Grinning, Rex swept his gaze down her body, setting off more shivers Tessa struggled to hide. “Then I guess that makes us even.”

“Does it?” Tessa dropped her gaze to his crotch and the erection stretching the confines of his worn jeans. She could draw him closer, fish his cock out for her pleasure, and give him the blowjob of his life. Remind this cowboy who was really in charge. She stepped forward, coming within inches of slithering against his long body.

Another sigh. “Yeah, there’ve been others since you left. But it was a hollow release.”

Soft, sad words that held despair with every syllable. Something Tessa knew all too well.

“I know,” she whispered. “So what do we do about it?” A stupidly obvious question.

“You know damn well how this is going to play out, sweet cheeks.”

Fire flared in his eyes, sending another jolt through Tessa. She barely held her ground. Subtle pressure against her back closed the distance between them. Rex was hard and hot against her, setting her afire…melting her, as crazy as that sounded.

“I do,” she managed to say.

“As great as this foreplay is, there’s still the issue of us needing to vent,” he said. “Bottles and cans at ten paces? The guests and hands are away. The corral is ours and all the privacy that goes with it.”

Tessa managed a small laugh and patted his solid chest. “Be forewarned. I’m a little rusty with a whip right now. I might need you to show me all over again.” That fire in his eyes doubled. She was playing with dynamite and loving every second.

His smile was slow in forming, as was the gleam in his eyes when he leaned her way. “My pleasure.”

She skimmed her hand over his hard chest, loving how his nipple thrust into her palm. “We could always skip the foreplay and move right to the main event.”

Rex cupped her ass and yanked her close. “Pleasure is meant to be savored.”

Tessa swore her knees buckled. “Then by all means…let’s go.”

He gave her butt a squeeze, then released her and strode forward to open the door. “Coming?”

His smirk layered the word with not so subtle innuendo. That was fine. She could give as good as she got. And she’d missed the giving as much as the receiving.

“In due time.” She flashed a smirk of her own. “Providing you’re up to it.”

One hand braced on the doorknob, he shot a glance at the bulge in his jeans. “Sweetheart, I’ve been up to it since you stepped off the plane.”

Tessa rubbed her chin. “From the glower on your face at the time… Well, can’t judge a book by its cover.”

“I might be agreeable to letting you riffle through the pages. Hell…I’ll even let you read a chapter or two.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. Tessa loved the play of words. “I wouldn’t mind a peek. Just to see what I’m getting into.”

Slow steps brought him her way. “Don’t you mean what’s getting into you?”

He swatted her backside, then walked through the door, leaving Tessa wanting so much more…and fighting the urge to drag him back over the threshold.