Renegade (20 page)

“Excuses, excuses…” She tugged on his neck and brought his hard mouth down onto her parted, yielding lips.

“Tippy,” he protested.

But he wasn't fighting very hard, she noticed. She smiled under his mouth as she tugged harder.

In the end, he couldn't resist her. He sank down into the hammock against her, and his mouth became hungry and invasive.

She kissed him back ardently, but in seconds, she felt the pain in her ribs…and another source of discomfort digging into her belly.

She protested weakly.

He lifted his head. “What?” he asked blankly.

“Your pistol,” she whispered.

He looked down. The holster was digging into her stomach.
He lifted away from her with a helpless laugh. “I told you hammocks weren't designed for this. Hurt your ribs, too, didn't it?”

She sighed wistfully. “I wish I were well.”

“That makes two of us.” He wrestled his way out of the hammock and stood up, adjusting his uniform and the holster. “See what you get for trying to seduce men in plain sight of the world?”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “Want to arrest me for lewd behavior?” She held out both hands. “You could cuff me. Then you could read me my rights. We should do it inside, though.”

“That won't work,” he said with twinkling eyes. “I know what would happen if you got me alone. Those ribs wouldn't let you do what you want to do.”

She shrugged. “I guess you're right,” she said sadly. “Okay. I give up. Until I'm completely healed, at least.”

He smiled. For a woman with a scarred past, she was doing very well. At least she was able to feel desire. That was a milestone, considering her background. He remembered uncomfortably the long, exquisite lovemaking session in her bed at Christmas. It had almost obliterated his nightmares. Almost. It was hard to live with the things he'd done in his life.

“Now you're brooding again,” she said gently. “I only looked at the ring. I didn't buy it.”

He scowled. “How did you look at a ring?”

She grinned. “I went on the internet and looked for rings. I'm not quite comfortable enough with my face to go into town yet.”

“You don't look at all bad,” he said genuinely. “In another week or two, you'll look just as you did. I doubt if you'll have any scars at all when you heal completely. The doctors did a good job.”

“You don't think Joel will replace me, do you?” she wondered uncertainly.

“Not a chance.” He checked his watch. “I really do have to go. I only stopped by to check on you. Don't do this again,” he added quietly. “Even in Jacobsville, it's not safe.”

“Okay,” she said, moving unsteadily to her feet. “I'll go in the house and order some racy videos to watch. I need pointers.” She gave him a speaking glance. “There has to be some way to get through your defenses.”

He couldn't help laughing. It was ironic. She had a damaged sexuality, but she spent an uncanny amount of time looking at ways to seduce him. It was the one true measure of her affection for him.

“At least you're smiling more. That has to be a positive thing.”

“More positive than you know,” he pointed out. “I'm not the smiling type.”

She wasn't really listening. She was studying his handsome face and wondering what their child would have looked like if it had been born. The thought was acutely painful. She turned away.

Before she got two steps, he was right behind her. “You closed up like a water lily in the dark. Why?”

“It's nothing,” she said at once.

His lean hands smoothed down her bare arms. “You were thinking about the baby,” he whispered huskily.

She bit down hard on threatening tears. “You're just guessing,” she said tautly.

“No. I don't think I am.” His hands contracted gently and his lips brushed the top of her head. “I should be shot for the way I spoke to you the day you phoned. I always expect the worst of people. It's a hard habit to break.”

She swallowed again, trying to avert tears. The warm strength
of him at her back was intoxicating. Involuntarily, she leaned back against him with a long sigh. “I've been that way most of my life. Trust comes hard when you've been betrayed.”

“Yes.”

She stared straight ahead, at the house. Something occurred to her. “Why did you buy a house and not rent one?” she wanted to know.

He hesitated. “It does seem odd, doesn't it?” he mused aloud. “I don't really know.”

“You wouldn't be trying to put down roots or any thing?” she fished.

He was very still. He was scowling, but she couldn't see that. “I've never tried to belong anywhere,” he said. “In a way, I've been a professional outsider since I was a kid. I don't like getting close to people. Especially women,” he added curtly.

“That isn't hard to understand,” she agreed.

“You've never given me a reason not to trust you,” he said after a minute.

“I never will,” she said simply. “Nothing you ever did or said could make me hate you.”

“Think so?” He laughed cynically. “Maybe one day I'll tell you the story of my life and you can try to prove that.”

She turned around and looked up into his hard face with soft, caring eyes. “If you care about someone, it isn't because of anything they've done or not done, Cash,” she said. “It's because of what they are. Actions are not character traits.”

He scowled. She made him feel odd. Young. She made him feel hope.

She lifted her fingers to his mouth and caressed it. She smiled. “I've already told you that I don't believe you could do something out of evil intentions.”

“I'm…not the man I was once,” he faltered. “But I've done some unforgivable things…”

She searched his eyes evenly. “Nothing is unforgivable.”

“I wish that were the case,” he murmured.

Terrible memories were in his eyes. They were in hers, too. If he had secrets from her, she certainly had secrets from him. But to produce them for inspection would require a lot more trust than either of them had. It was too soon.

“One day at a time,” she said softly. “That's how we have to live.”

His lean hand went to her cheek and pressed there tenderly among the fading bruises and healing cuts. “Our lives haven't been easy, have they, honey?” he thought aloud.

“We pay for pleasure with pain,” she replied philosophically. “Considering my own account, I would say that I'm past due for a lot of pleasure.”

He chuckled, as she did. “Maybe that's true for both of us.”

She stood on tiptoe and brushed her mouth against his. “Sandie's making chicken and dumplings for supper.”

“I like that.”

“I know,” she said wickedly. “I suggested it.”

He lifted his chin and gave her a mock glare. “I won't be seduced over dumplings, however good they are.”

“There you go again,” she complained.

“On the other hand, a man can withstand just so much temptation,” he added obligingly.

“Thank you. I'll look over my stash of sexy night gowns and perfume.”

“I'm going back to work while there's still time,” he told her firmly, putting her gently away.

“I'll go watch movies.”

“That's my girl,” he said in a soft, husky tone. He looked at her with real affection, with tenderness.

She could have walked on air. Her whole body felt warm,
as if it were cradled in loving arms. They ex changed a long, soulful look that made her toes curl up with pleasure.

“What the hell,” he murmured, moving closer. “One little kiss couldn't hurt anything. Right?”

The last word broke against her soft lips. He didn't dare pull her too close for fear of damaging her ribs, but his mouth was ardent. She sighed and melted into him, floating as the kiss grew deeper and more insistent.

There was a strange silence around them. Perturbed by it, even through the haze of pleasure, Cash lifted his head and looked around.

A squad car was stopped in the middle of the road be side the driveway. An unmarked car, with Judd Dunn in it, was sitting beside the sidewalk. A fire truck was stopped on the other side of the road. A telephone repair crew had placed cones in front and back of their truck, but they weren't doing anything. On the sidewalk, two elderly ladies were just standing, watching, smiling.

“Well, that's what you can expect when you kiss a famous movie star out in the middle of town!” Judd Dunn yelled at Cash.

“I am not kissing her!” Cash called back. “She's kissing me!”

“A likely story!” Judd returned.

“She offered to buy me a ring!”

There were amused cheers.

“Now I've got witnesses,” Tippy said pertly.

Cash let her go, shaking his head. “I had more privacy in boot camp,” he muttered.

“Don't stop because of us, Chief,” one of the firemen called to him as they started up their big truck. “We know where we can get some tickets…”

Cash threw up his hands, bent to kiss Tippy's flushed cheek, and went back to his squad car.

 

D
ESPITE
T
IPPY'S APPEARANCE
, Cash coaxed her into going with him to a fund-raiser for Calhoun Ballenger. She clung to him like ivy, smiling shyly at other people, but it was evident that she only had eyes for Cash.

When the band struck up, and Cash took her onto the dance floor, it was like watching one person move to the music. Tippy felt happier than she'd ever been in her life.

The next morning, she got up enough nerve to go shopping for groceries, using a little of her spare cash to get ingredients for a lasagna supper for Cash. She dressed sedately and wore a scarf over her head. With out makeup, and wearing a light coat, she didn't look like a famous movie star.

But while she was in line at the cash register, she noticed a lurid front-page story. Its headlines read, Actress In Hiding After Kidnap Stunt To Provoke Sympathy For Loss Of Love Child. Underneath was a photo of Tippy warding off photographers when she'd been released from the hospital in New York.

Stunt! She was barely able to get around; she'd al most been killed. And the media was calling it a stunt!

While she was getting over the impact, she heard two women behind her talking in whispers.

“She's living with the police chief!” one told the other. “First she sacrifices her own baby to keep her job, then she lies about being kidnapped to save face. Then she moves in with a man! Right here in Jacobsville. It's outrageous, I tell you!”

“Some women don't want kids, I guess,” the other one said sadly. “Her looks must mean a lot to her…”

The remark was interrupted because she was suddenly looking right into Tippy Moore's furious green eyes.

“I lost my baby because a director lied that the stunt was safe and I couldn't afford to lose my job. I don't make a lot of money these days. Can you guess why?” And she pulled off the scarf and used it to remove some of the makeup covering her scars. “What's wrong?” she asked caustically. “Don't I look like a movie star to you?”

Both women had gone red in the face. “Miss… Miss Moore, I'm sorry,” the older one said at once.

“I wanted my baby,” she choked out, tears threatening. “I've never wanted anything more! My mother's boyfriend kidnapped my brother, and I traded places with him, to save his life. That's how I got these!” she pointed to the scars. “That tabloid is the best expression of poisonous gossip that exists in the world. And if you believe it, you're no better than the people who write such lies!”

With that, she turned, paid for her purchases and stalked out of the store, leaving several women and at least one man speechless.

T
IPPY WAS GLAD
that Mrs. Jewell was away for the day, so that she wouldn't be seen crying her eyes out. She put the meat in the refrigerator and sat down in the living room until the tears abated.

She'd just made herself a cup of coffee when Cash drove up in the yard. At the same moment, two women knocked at the back door.

Tippy went to answer it, wishing her eyes weren't red.

The two women in the grocery store were standing there, looking miserable. One had a basket of cheese and crackers tied with a bow, the other had a small bud vase with a yellow rose in it.

Tippy's mouth fell open.

“We wanted to say how sorry we were, for the things we said,” the elder of the two said quietly. “You were right. We do believe things when we see them in print, even when they're
not true. But we don't believe those lies anymore, and we're making it our business to see that nobody else in Jacobsville believes them, either. Here.” She pushed the basket awkwardly into Tippy's hands.

“This, too,” the younger woman said with a wan smile. “We won't keep you. We just wanted to apologize.”

“Thank you,” Tippy said, and she smiled back. “It means more than you know.”

The women glanced over her shoulder at Cash. “We're pretty proud of you, too, Mr. Grier,” the elder said. “We hope you won't let that scalawag Ben Brady take away your job, or those policemen's jobs, either.”

“I won't,” he promised.

They smiled shyly and left quickly.

When they were in the kitchen with the door closed, Cash looked at the gifts in Tippy's hands and her red, swollen eyes. “What happened?”

“I went to the store,” she confessed. “They made some comments about the front page of the latest tabloid.”

“I saw it. That's why I came home.” He took her by both shoulders and looked down at her. “I've already taken measures to stop it.”

“You have? What?” she asked worriedly.

“Something public. You do realize that our best bet is to draw that third kidnapper down here and deal with him on our own ground?” he added quietly.

She sighed. “Yes.” She hesitated, though, because it would mean that Cash could get hurt defending her.

He tilted her face up to his. He bent and kissed her with breathless tenderness. “Everything's going to be all right. Don't cry anymore.”

She managed a smile. “Okay.”

“Want to go to a political rally with me tonight?” he added
with a smile. “It's for Calhoun Ballenger. You can meet some of the local aristocracy.”

“I don't look good enough to go out.”

“Nonsense. You're a heroine. You'll look great.”

She was thrilled that he wanted people to know she was with him. “Okay, then. I'm making you lasagna for supper,” she added.

He grinned. “My favorite.”

“I noticed. Be careful out there.”

“You know it.” He winked and left her alone with her thoughts.

 

C
ALHOUN
B
ALLENGER'S
political rally was held at Shea's out on the Victoria Road. It was a roadhouse and bar, but always well policed and it had been quiet since the recent trouble with the notorious Clark brothers. John Clark was killed in a shootout with Judd Dunn and a bank security guard up in Victoria, while attempting to rob a bank. His brother Jack tried to gun down Judd Dunn in revenge, hit Christabel Gaines instead, and ended up in prison for life for the attempted murder of Christabel as well as the revenge murder of a young woman in Victoria who'd had him sent to prison for rape.

Cash introduced Tippy to the other guests, his pride in her very obvious. She smiled and shook hands and entranced every man under fifty. But, as always, she had eyes only for Cash, and it showed.

When they got out on the dance floor, she melted into his arms. It hadn't been a long time since Cash had fascinated the populace doing Latin dances with Crissy Dunn. But that was before she married Judd and gave birth to twins. He knew Tippy wasn't up to fast dancing, so he kept a gentle pace on the floor.

She lifted her green eyes to his dark ones and looked as if she
couldn't bear to look away. He smiled at her. The gossips got busy. Where there was smoke, they assured each other, there was fire.

Cash was still worried about the third kidnapper, who might come after Tippy. He beefed up patrols around his house and cautioned Tippy about locking doors when he wasn't home. He couldn't bear to think of anything happening to her.

The week before the hearing of his officers at city hall, Cash came home from work to have lunch one day and found Tippy in the kitchen preparing food. She was barefoot, wearing a long full circle denim skirt and a simple blue checked button-up blouse. Her long glorious hair was in a ponytail secured by a rubber band, and she wasn't wearing makeup. She looked as fresh as morning itself, and Cash paused in the doorway, just filling his eyes with her as she put a jar back in the refrigerator.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, and her green eyes danced with delight. “You're early,” she exclaimed. “I'm making a spice bread loaf to go with a tuna salad…it's almost done.”

“I've got time,” he said easily, slipping off his duty belt and looping it over the back of his chair. He stretched largely, displaying formidable muscles in his arms. “I can have an hour for lunch, if I like. I'm the chief,” he added with a grin.

It made her heart lift when he smiled at her like that. She felt young and carefree. Her eyes couldn't stop looking at him. He was handsome, vital, physically devastating.

He noted the expressive glance and his chest swelled. “Drooling over me again, huh?” he teased softly. “Why don't you come over here and do something about it?”

She lifted both eyebrows and grinned back. “Wouldn't you just faint if I did?”

“Let's see,” he taunted.

She pursed her lips, put down the dishcloth she was holding, and went right up to him, putting both hands flat on his muscular chest. “Okay, buster,” she teased, “let's see what you can do with a real woman,” she added in her best vampy tone, batting her long eye lashes at him.

His willpower slipped suddenly. She smelled of flour and spices, and close up, it was obvious why she'd been chosen to grace magazine covers. Her bone structure was perfect. Her eyelashes were reddish-gold and very long. Her eyes were wide, a clear green with darker green on the outside rim. Her nose was straight, her mouth a beautiful soft curve that made a man's lips hungry for it. Her skin was exquisite. He had a hard time when he remembered the silky warm feel of it in the darkness. His heart raced madly.

She noticed the barely visible signs of his excitement with wonder. He always seemed impervious to disturbances, but he was just good at hiding what he felt. Close up, he couldn't quite hide everything.

Feeling rapt with power, she stepped against him deliberately and felt delight at the immediate reaction of his body.

“Careful,” he said in a deep, husky tone. “Mrs. Jew ell's hanging out linen in the backyard.” He nodded to ward the open window, through the screen of which she was visible.

“Mrs. Jewell sings to herself,” she said, unperturbed. “We'll hear her coming.”

He swallowed hard. He wouldn't hear her. His ears were full of his own furious heartbeat.

She reached up with her hands and tugged his head down. “Live dangerously,” she whispered.

His big hands went to her waist. She flinched, and they moved to her hips instead, avoiding her rib cage. “Sorry,” he murmured. “I forgot the ribs.”

“Me, too,” she whispered back, smiling. “Come on, come on, give it all you've got…”

“Pest,” he groaned, bending.

She smiled under the sudden hard, sweet crush of his mouth over her lips. She wasn't the least intimidated by him these days. The memory of their past encounters only made her hungry for more of them.

The feel and smell of her weakened him as much as her headlong ardor. In the end, he backed her gently into the kitchen wall and lowered himself fully over her in a furious escape of passion that he couldn't control.

She laughed softly, wickedly, at his hunger for her. She reached up, winced as the movement hurt her ribs, and then forgot even the pain when his mouth opened and his tongue penetrated the line of her lips with forceful intent.

“That's the spirit,” she murmured.

He kissed her more intensely, feeling his body go rigid with pent-up desire. “It's suicide,” he bit off. His hands riveted her hips to his as he nudged her legs apart under the skirt. “I don't even have anything to use…!”

“Mrs. Jewell was in on a robbery bust Monday,” she noted breathlessly. “It included two boxes of prophylactics. I'll bet she's got one or two tucked away. Let's ask her…!”

He burst out laughing. “Tippy, for God's sake, I only get an hour for lunch!”

She drew back with dancing eyes in a flushed face. “We still have forty-eight minutes…!”

He pushed away from her, struggling to get his breath back. “I can't do justice to you in forty-eight minutes!” he said huskily.

She gave him an exasperated look. “Here I am offering you everything I've got…”

He smiled slowly. “Wonderful things happen when you least expect them. Wait until next week,” he added.

“What's happening next week?” she asked at once.

“Some surprising things,” he promised. “I won't tell you. You have to wait and see. But you'll like at least one of them. I promise.”

She laughed softly. “Okay. If you say so. Sit down and I'll feed you.”

“How did you know I liked tuna casserole?” he wondered aloud as he sat down at the kitchen table.

“Mrs. Jewell told me,” she replied. “She's an encyclopedia of information about you. Did you know she was a deputy sheriff? And that she can shoot a gun?”

“Yes.” He gave her a curious look.

She grinned at him. “She didn't sell you out. I saw the gun in the bathroom and asked her about it. She said you didn't want me to know about her background. She's going to protect me in case one of Sam's guys comes looking for me, right?” she added matter-of-factly.

“That's about it,” he confessed.

“It's nice that you worry about me,” she said, putting food on the table and pouring coffee into his cup. “Thanks,” she added huskily.

He drew her mouth down to his and kissed her gently. “While you're here, I'm responsible for you,” he told her. “I know you can look out for yourself most of the time, you're a grown woman. But this threat is more than you can handle alone. I'm not going to let anything or anyone hurt you.”

She felt warm all over. She felt a jolt in her heart, and she smiled helplessly at the tenderness in his dark eyes.

He saw that and started getting cold feet. He started easing her away from him, gently but firmly. “Don't start talking
about engagement rings just because I worry about you,” he cautioned when she opened her mouth to speak.

She sighed. “Spoilsport. You're the one who mentioned surprises.”

He grinned. “Yes. And you won't read these in my mind,” he told her.

She only smiled. She had some inkling of what was happening at city hall, because Mrs. Jewell told her things. There was a lot of talk about Senator Merrill's daughter being in big trouble, and even more about the danger two city councilmen and the acting mayor were in. There was more talk about the upcoming state elections and the city's special election for mayor.

“I hope Mr. Ballenger wins that state senate seat,” she said out of the blue.

“I think he will. You're coming with me to the disciplinary hearing Monday night, aren't you?” he asked in voluntarily, because he really wanted her emotional support. He wasn't going to admit that.

“Of course I am,” she replied without thinking. “I wish Rory could be here, too.”

He didn't say another word, and he did his best to hide a secretive smile from her.

But she saw it anyway, and she wondered what he was up to.

 

T
HE COMMUNITY WAS SHOCKED
a day or two later with the news that incumbent Senator Merrill's daughter Julie Merrill was lodged in the county jail for attempted arson. She was Calhoun Ballenger's most outspoken critic on her father's behalf, and she was already in trouble for slandering him in television ads. Now she'd sent one of her family's hired men to burn down the house of Jordan Powell's girlfriend, Libby Collins. Her bail hearing was set for the following Monday morning, the same day of the
city council meeting and the disciplinary hearing for Cash's officers. The would-be arsonist was singing like a canary and other charges were pending against Miss Merrill, people said.

Cash had hinted at some political derring-do at the affair. Tippy had been very curious, and he'd been secretive. But Sunday afternoon, he left the house for an hour and came back with Rory.

“I can't believe it!” Tippy exclaimed, holding her young brother close. “Oh, what a surprise!”

“I can't believe it, either. Cash said you were sad and needed cheering up, so he talked the commandant into letting me take my exams early. I'm here for as long as I can stay,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows at Cash.

Cash chuckled. “You can stay as long as Tippy does,” he promised, without adding that he had something in the works on that subject, too.

Tippy, though, took the words at face value. She was healing nicely. Soon, she'd be able to go back to work, when she heard from Joel. But she hadn't yet. She wondered if Cash was getting tired of having her around.

 

T
IPPY AND
R
ORY HAD A GOOD TIME
riding around the county with Cash that Sunday afternoon, looking at the scenery. The trees were just putting out green leaves and some wildflowers were already blooming. On a whim, Cash drove by the Dunn ranch so that Tippy could see Christabel and the babies. Judd was out running errands for Christabel, but Christabel and the babies were home.