Seduction of Saber (Saving the Sinners of Preacher's Bend #3) (4 page)

Yet, throughout her complicated life, she’d heard
plenty about men like this one—those whom rode the back of angry bulls for a
living. She’d be standoffish too if a strange man came knocking at her door,
wearing a shirt that said what his did, on a Sunday morning before the sun
barely covered the town.

“But you’re more than welcome to stay and board for
the week,” she continued; her thoughts headed swiftly toward
‘stay and never
leave’.

Now where in the world had that come from?

Julia let go of her white-knuckled death grip to the
back of her great-grandmother’s sofa, and there was no doubt in her mind her
father was going to kill this one with his bare hands. But he’d have to find
reason to kill the man, now wouldn’t he?

Julia Hillard, get your head out of the gutter!
No one is killing anyone
without there
being a viable reason for it
.
And no viable reason is ever going to be
made!

Her brain screaming at her, the
rest of her body moaned inwardly to this fact. She
wished there could be a viable reason. It would certainly spice up her stagnant
existence.

“Ya’ll want me to leave and come on back a little
later on, Little Darlin’?” he asked.

Julia slammed on the brakes; her attention drawn to
his face.
Leave? Gracious no!
Yet he did look serious about this turn in
their conversation, so she had better act quickly.

“No. Heaven’s no!” she rushed out, barely
feeling her feet touch the floor, thereby her outburst producing a million watt
grin between his much dimpled cheeks. The man’s eyes had turned to quick-silver
gray, touched with only the slightest of blue coloring, too.

“You’re lookin’ as if you think I’m about to jump over
a sofa and attack you to within inches of your life, Little Darlin’.” His grin
faded. “I could go on down to the diner at the far end of the street and come on
back a little later on? When you’re a bit more ready for visitors, that is.” He
made a slight move for the door, hat in hand.

Julia rounded the sofa in near record time. She
grabbed her early morning visitor by his upper arm, sinking her fingers into
hardened muscle. Oh, God, he was just as thickly built as she’d assumed him to
be. “No! I mean no.” She smiled. “I’m fine. You’re fine.”
Ain’t that the
truth
! “Now is fine. You being here, um, you being here is fine. Everything
is just…fine.”

Damnit!
If
she did not stop saying the word
fine
, she’d hang herself by her own
tongue. Nothing was fine. This wasn’t
fine
. This was incredible! He was
incredible. And she’s a complete idiot. An idiot with very little useable brain
cells in her head capable of having an intelligent conversation with a man.

Somehow, she just knew she was asking for trouble with
this one. But wasn’t trouble her middle name? It surely had been in her wild
and reckless youth.

“Okay, Little Darlin’, whatever you say.”

He hurried a glance at the sudden death grip she had
on his flesh and his dimples sunk deep.

**

Women don’t normally grab Saber Patterson by the upper
arm to stop him from leaving. Normally there was never a reason for him to
leave.

Normally,
they grabbed him in a whole lot of other places.

Then each would apologize convincingly afterwards,
followed by the sly handing over of a phone number and a twirl of the hair in
case he hadn’t noticed the desire in her eyes. If he was lucky, the bat of the
eyelashes came last, as though it would help the cause.

Yet there was always a first for everything these days;
a first to be shocked at the action of an attractive woman; a first to even consider
that it mattered; a first in a very long time for Saber to even care.

And this woman was definitely attractive: long red
hair, startling blue eyes, and a cute little mole on her left cheek.

He had to ignore the sudden pull of heat that pulsed
through her fingertips, as best he could, while clearing his throat; an intense
heat headed straight to his insides, directly to where it could do him some
hefty damage.

She let go of his arm and smiled. “Sorry about that.
It’s just that I don’t want you to leave.” She then gave his arm a tender,
sisterly pat. She’d miscalculated her strength since he could feel the claw
marks on his skin.

Saber cleared his throat, willing his body to settle
down. He wasn’t so certain staying here was such a good idea any more. The more
her fingernails had sunk into his flesh, the easier it was to convince him of
this lie.

Now that she’d let him go, his body’s reaction to the
release was throwing him for a loop.

Julia did not want this man to leave. Besides,
there was plenty of room inside the boarding house for another to stay. So what
if she would need to rearrange a few things? Vacate her room, for a start. She
needed the money. One more boarder wouldn’t hurt anyone. Anyone that is, except
her rather angelic conscience, and her father’s worrisome attitude.

It’s just that rearranging rooms wasn’t on her to-do
list for the day, when having other issues labeled as priorities.

“Can’t go anywhere without a ride,” he said, stepping
away from her.

Julia pulled her gaze from his without hesitation.
“Oh. Yeah. That.”

The only real reason for wanting him to stay exactly where
he was, now that he was here, was she didn’t want the likes of one very
sinister Rachel Rosebud to sink her claws into this man. His money was as good
as anyone else’s. And she did not want to lose him on the account of being too
jittery…or too awestruck! He might be gorgeous, but she could certainly get
past that. And Niagara Falls was a tiny trickle over a few rocks. She wasn’t
kidding anyone.

“As I said, I could come on back a little later on,
Little Darlin’. Ain’t a big deal, and would probably do my legs a bit of good
to get a mile or so of walking into them. Lord knows I’ve been sitting on my
backside long enough.”

“You’re here. You will stay.” Determination to this
came quickly.

God! She was making a mess of this windfall. And he
was looking at her as if she was a stark raving lunatic gone hog wild.

“How about this? You just sit down again and I’ll go get
something to drink. That is,
both
of us something to drink,” she politely
corrected. “Then, I will try and scrounge up a big red book I need you to sign.
Rooms are three hundred dollars for the week; this includes breakfast, but only
breakfast.” Her frown subconsciously pinched her lips, Julia hating its
presence. After this week, she might have to raise the price of the rooms. She
couldn’t handle all these men and no woman in sight.

But…she’d have to get past this week first, wouldn’t
she?

“I have only a single bed to offer you,” she said.

He gave her a hasty wink. “That’s very appreciative.
But could you make mine a double?”

“Excuse me?” She must be plundering her way through this
conversation because she’d lost track of what they were really talking about.
A
double what?

“The offer of a drink—a double would hit the spot.”

Jeez! For a moment she’d thought he meant something quite
different, and it wouldn’t have been a
something
she would be able to deal
with. Perhaps when the air wasn’t so incredibly thick inside the room, and she
could gather her scrambling thoughts, since being able to breathe with a man like
him so near was turning itself into a task beyond doable.

“I was just teasin’, Little Darlin’. Whatever you’re
havin’, I’ll be havin’.” His smile turned contagious, and very tempting.

“Is orange juice acceptable? With you, that is?” Damn.
She’d almost fallen for his trap.

“Orange juice is great, Darlin’. Thanks a bunch.”

A quick nod of her head, an even quicker escape to the
relative safety of the kitchen area, Julia stuck her whole body inside her
great-grandmother’s well-used refrigerator, hoping to cool her rising temp. He
could get her this hot, and she didn’t even know his name yet? Well, there were
far worse things to endure in life than having a lack of information to a man’s
name.

Once cooled to satisfaction, she poured two glasses of
orange juice and carried them straight to the living room. She found the man
stuffing his mouth with one of her muffins. He swallowed what remained inside
it, looking guilty.

“Sorry. I was starvin’ from unfortunately a late night.”
The words jumbled on the account of crumbs still lingering on his tongue.

“No need to apologize for taking one of the muffins.
Help yourself. That’s what they’re there for, to eat. They weren’t made as a
decoration.” She sat opposite him on the other floral printed sofa. She didn’t
dare trust herself to ask why his night had been so late, for it was none of
her business. But she could sure as hell guess at the reason by the shadows
around his eyes.

“Can I keep you all to myself, Little Darlin’?” he
suddenly blurted, helping himself to a second muffin. Apple flavored this time.
The first he’d tried was blueberry.

Julia nearly dropped his glass of orange juice onto
the thick-piled carpeting while handing it over to him. “Excuse me?”

For a second there she’d thought he’d said “
Can I
keep you
?”

“These are the best damn muffins I’ve ever tasted. If
I can keep you all to myself, I’d get these little morsels every day, and die a
very happy man.”

Good God! He actually did say what she just heard!

He gratefully accepted the glass from her hand,
brushing his fingers against hers, then smiled, using all the punches by
producing those intoxicating dimples she suddenly felt the need to drool over. Little
fireballs of white hot lightning shot through her entire system—as he’d
probably wanted to happen. Those fireballs ignited an ember in her heart pushed
to the bottom for far too long.

Her Sunday stranger had lit a match to an untamed
inferno, affecting her quite badly. Was she really that sex starved? No, of
course not.

Yes.

NO!!! An independent woman shouldn’t
need
the
touch of a man to get the juices flowing—and the blood rushing to her head.

She’d certainly been touched before, and more
intimately. Julia was no longer a virgin. Nor was she
that
desperate.

Really, was she that desperate?

“Thanks, Little Darlin’,” he said, winking again. He then
brought the glass to his lips and tipping it back, swallowed the entire eight
ounces within ten seconds flat.

Julia sat on her sofa, mesmerized by the way his
throat worked the fluid down; an unconscious sigh came out at a pleasurable
sight.

“Do you always do everything in your life with
breakneck speed?” she said, speaking her mind without thinking too far in
advance, then gasping, once she’d realized she’d asked it …Good grief,
out
loud!

With a college degree and a couple of years of
teaching tucked into her back pocket she certainly knew better when to keep her
mouth shut and when not to. But this was probably one of those times when all
the smarts in the world wouldn’t matter a hill of beans; because good looking
guys had a tendency to tie up a well-educated tongue quick as a wink.

He smiled in answer to her enormously impolite
question.

“Not
all
things, Little Darlin’.” He then focused
his attention toward the living room window, in slow motion brought it back to her.
“There are certain things in a man’s life that should be done at a much slower
pace. Want me to name a few?”

Positive her cheeks were as flaming red as her hair by
a seemingly easy comment slipping off the sly devil’s tongue, was when she
heard the clearing of another man’s throat directly behind her back. She
visibly jumped out of her skin at the intrusion.

Her about-to-be new boarder stood up quickly as though
caught with his pants around his ankles. “As I live and breathe! How’s it been,
Old Man?”

The older gentleman in question moved into the living
room as the two men gave each other a hard clap across the back and an equally
hearty handshake. “What’s it been, Uncle LeRoy? Two? Three years?”

The older man nodded. “Three. But you young guns tend
to lose track of time on more occasions than not, leaving us withered old geezers
in the dust.”

Uncle LeRoy?
Julia’s
brain refused to believe in such a coincidence. This man was her boarder’s
nephew?

LeRoy’s unannounced entrance into the living room had
forced her to stand up, but she was on slightly uncooperative legs all of a
sudden. Her lightheadedness returned tenfold.

“I sure as the devil hadn’t known you’d be stayin’ in Preacher’s
Bend,”
Sexy Guy
added.

Julia had yet to know his name so she’d given him the
temporary title of
Sexy Guy
. It seemed to fit.

“Circuits been pretty tight-lipped most days,” LeRoy answered.
“Guys tend to keep their whereabouts a deeply guarded secret for some strange
reason. I even lost track of Mickey for a while. Damn little twit went and got
himself hitched during hiatus. He’s on his honeymoon right now, and I’m quite
sure riding something far less mean than his last bull.”

Uncle LeRoy turned his attention to Julia, but his
words were for his nephew. “I came into town a full week ago. The boys and I are
gettin’ a real good feel for the place. Ain’t no better a place for a man to
stay. The rooms are respectable. Not to mention, pretty gosh darn cheap. The
food is superb. And the company is damn near perfect. Ain’t that right, Red?”

LeRoy had been the first to pick on the color of her
hair and the only one to stay home and watch TV late last night, while his
buddies went out, painting the town.

“You plannin’ on shackin’ up with us too, boy?” LeRoy
gave a pat to his nephew hard on the back, lurched the six-feet-four cowboy
forward to where
Sexy Guy
looked as if sufficiently put in his place by
his elders.

“I plan to do just that, if she’ll have me.”
Sexy Guy
smiled, glancing over at Julia.

This made her blush all the more.

“Oh! She’ll have you, all right.” Uncle LeRoy
chuckled. “She’ll be havin’ ya gettin’ good and fat on those great tastin’
muffins of hers. She’ll have you makin’ your own damn bed.” He grimaced
playfully at the only requirement she’d put into place for her boarders. “And
she’ll have you wrapped around her little finger by ten p.m. tonight. Ain’t
that right, sweetheart?”

Julia needed air that did not include these two highly
amusing men. For some strange reason the living room walls were closing in on
her. No one was
havin’
anyone. Not now. Not ever! Not until she could
breathe.

She wasn’t anyone’s
pet,
or,
sweetheart
.
Nor was she anyone’s
Little Darlin
’. And she sure as hell did not
intentionally wrap men around her fingers simply because of her gender. But she
did have a rule about making their beds. LeRoy was right about that particular.
This wasn’t a hotel.

As Julia’s head started spinning in circles, her
newcomer caught sight of her likely paling face, his brows rising.

“You don’t look so good, Little Darlin’. How about we
move you on outside? Get you into some fresh air.”

All Julia could do was nod. She didn’t feel so good,
either. She felt warm all over, flushed from head to toe. And the very second
he put his gentle hand on her upper arm to guide her to the front door she
nearly fainted right where she stood. He easily picked her up in strong,
capable arms and with great care laid her out on one of the sofas.

“Don’t think we’re gonna make it outside, are we?” he
asked.

Her eyes had followed his every move. Her right hand
was in a death grip to the front of his T-shirt. There was sweat rolling down
her back and she felt as though about to puke up muffin all over her late
great-grandmother’s carpeting. Technically, now the Hillard family’s carpeting;
even more technically her carpeting, but all beside the point.

The point was Uncle LeRoy looked a wee bit concerned
for her well-being, yet not as much as the man staring at her face did.

“Do you need me to get you something, sweetheart? Glass
of water? Cool rag?” LeRoy asked from behind her head.

Julia could only nod while LeRoy’s nephew ran his hand
up and down her right arm, supposedly trying to make her feel better; his touch
doing the exact opposite.

She rarely, if ever, fainted. But life had taken
stranger turns for her as of late. She wouldn’t be surprised if she passed out
on these two concerned gentlemen. She felt very close to doing exactly that. His
gentle touch to her arm was sending even more tingling sensations throughout
her entire body, making her feel much,
much
worse. She wasn’t ready for
tingling sensations to run through her. She wasn’t ready for any of this. But
it was part of her life now. And it was making her hate what she had to deal
with on a daily basis.

“Name it. Whatever it is, we’ll get it for you,” the
nephew added. His steely gaze directed into her unfocused eyes, breath that now
smelled of blueberry muffins instead of cigar as it had before, fanned her
face.

Hadn’t he taken the apple?

Oh, that’s right,
he’d had two
.
And he wanted to keep her
!

Julia wished with all her heart she did not have to
tell either of these wonderful, considerate men what it was she needed, but
time was running out. She had no other choice than to confess.

“Refrigerator, Insulin, and orange juice.”

Their shared silence and matched groans couldn’t be
missed.