Texas Tango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2 (25 page)

“Five in the morning.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Hey!” Travis snapped at him. “Watch your language.”

“Sorry,” Noah said, but he didn’t sound like he meant it.

Neither Caroline nor Travis decided to address it. It’d been a long day for all of them, and the night wasn’t over for her and Travis yet. She moved to where Noah stood by the chair and hugged him. “I love you, Noah. I really do.”

She thought she heard him sniff. “Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”

Travis came over and put his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “I’ll knock on your door in the morning. Now get some sleep.”

Caroline shut the bedroom door and looked at Travis and grinned. “I can’t believe you got his cell phone.”

Travis returned her grin. “It was kind of a test…a how-bad-does-he-want-to-stay test. Apparently, he wants to stay pretty bad.”

Caroline rubbed the tense muscles in her neck. “I guess so.”

“Let’s go talk,” he said on a long sigh.

Chapter Fourteen

“Well,” Caroline said as they walked back downstairs. “Today has certainly been…”

“Eventful?” Travis suggested.

She gave a sad chuckle and then sighed. “Yeah, I guess that’s one word for it.” She stopped to look over her shoulder at him. “Can you believe he just showed up here?” Turning back, she continued down the stairs.

“I kind of feel for him. I mean, did you see the look on his face when your uncle and aunt said they would come get him? Pure panic.”

“Want to head to the office to talk?”

“Sure.”

They made sure the outer door leading to the rooms in the master suite was closed as well as the door to the study. Caroline collapsed onto the sofa, stretching her legs out in front of her.

“I wish I had a beer,” she said.

“Sorry.” He opened the mini-refrigerator. “I can offer Dr. Pepper, Coke or water.”

“Water.”

“Catch,” he said and tossed her a plastic bottle.

She cracked off the top. “Thanks.”

He popped the cap off a bottle of Dr. Pepper and took a long drink. Then he walked over and sat by her.

“What’s your plan, Stan?” he said with a grin.

“Don’t make jokes, Travis. This is serious.” She raked her hand through her hair. “What are we going to do?”

He took another long draw of his soft drink. “Continue to be married is my suggestion.”

His words made her heart flip even though she knew he didn’t mean them the way they came out.

“But how?” She stood to pace, but he caught her waist and pulled her back down.

“I know you pace when you’re nervous, but I’m too exhausted to watch you wear a rut in my rug tonight.”

Bending her left leg onto the couch, she turned to face him. “This is getting out of control.”

He shrugged. “Life happens. You have to play the cards you’re given. We had a plan but now that’s shot to hell. We’ll have to adjust.”

“What do you suggest?”

“We stay married.” And then he added in a rush, “At least while you’re still here. After that?” He shrugged again. “We make a new plan. That’s how life works.”

She stood. “Give me a minute to process. This isn’t at all what I wanted.” She walked away, her final words hanging in the air like a bad smell. She whirled back. “That last statement didn’t come out right. What I meant is that I wasn’t trying to trick or trap you into an unwanted public arrangement.” Heat rose up her throat to her face. When he smiled at her obvious discomfort, relief flooded through her. “You know what I meant, right?”

He nodded. “But we’re here now, so what we thought we were doing or what we had planned is out the window.” He patted the sofa cushion. “Sit.”

Dropping heavily beside him, she sighed. “It’s going to get out we’re together. I saw the gleam in your mother’s eyes. I’m leaving soon. Once I’m gone, I’ll be a memory, but you’ll be staying here. I don’t want to do anything that would hurt your reputation in the community.”

He laughed heartily. “Are you kidding? I couldn’t care less about my reputation in the community, as you put it.” He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “We’re married in the eyes of my family. We’ll stay that way until we decide to change things.” He leaned over and kissed her. It was a soft, non-demanding kiss. A reassuring gesture one might give a skittish virgin, but she wasn’t a virgin.

Wrapping her hand around the back of his neck, she pulled him down for an open-mouth kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth, she hoped sending him a message that she missed their nights together. Message received, he changed the angle of his head and took the kiss deeper. He threaded his hands into her hair to hold her head steady for his plundering tongue. She pressed her free hand flat against his hard chest. Beneath her palm, his heart beat a fast, steady thrum. Hers was flying, a locomotive with no brakes. She walked her fingers up his chest until she reached his shoulders…broad and hard under her palm. His shirt was hot from his body heat. Her nose was filled with his scent. Sexy. Hot. Masculine. Raw sex magnetism.

She pulled back and stared at him. She flicked her tongue out to lick her lips. His gaze went to her mouth and then back to her eyes. His blue eyes were dark and flashing with lust.

She took a scary leap. “I’ve missed you over the past couple of weeks. Missed your bed.” Her heart kicked painfully at her ribs as she awaited his reply.

He traced his thumb across her lower lip. “I kept thinking you’d come back.”

“I kept waiting for you to ask.”

“Well, lucky for us your brother made the decision for both of us.”

Like every time he touched her, the kiss shook her to the core. Trembling from the kiss’s effect, she touched her fingertips to her lips.

“You pack a powerful punch, Mr. Montgomery,” she said with a smile.

“We’re supposed to be married,” he said, his voice a gravelly rasp. “We have to be able to touch each other without one of us shrieking.”

“Hmm,” she said. “I might need a little more practice.” She grinned at him.

“Right. Practice time. I’m pretty sure I can work that into my schedule if you can.”

She laughed and kissed him again. “Let’s get serious for a minute.”

“I’m always serious when I’m talking about kissing and sex,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes. “But okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“Living arrangements.”

“What about them?”

“I really do need to stay in town on nights when I’m on call.” She looked at him. “But it’s not right that I dump my little brother on you and not be here. And taking Noah to my house in town doesn’t make sense.”

He rubbed the spot between his eyes with his thumb. “No, Noah should stay here. No doubt about that.” He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “As a newlywed couple, we have to live in the same house.”

“I know. I know.”

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do. When you’re on call you’ll stay in town. The other nights, you’ll be here in the master suite. We’ll work it out. I want to work it out.” He brushed her hair away from her face. She couldn’t help it. She melted at his touch. “Don’t forget tomorrow night. We have to make an appearance at the dance, and I can assure you the news of our marriage will have spread by then.”

She dropped her forehead to his chest. It was like hitting flesh-covered rock. “Can we skip?” She hoped he’d say no. After all, she had that killer dress.

“Nope. Family commitment.”

Yes.

“Besides, you’d better get used to those for the next four months. The Montgomerys are nothing if not civic minded. The fall seems to be the worst for worthy-causes functions. Dances. Dinners. Silent auctions. You name it and we’ll probably have to be there.”

“I don’t have the clothes for all those fancy occasions. I see some shopping in my future.”

“Maybe, but we do have the most awesome car to drive.”

She rolled her gaze up at him. “I swear. If you’re staying fake married to me so you can drive the Rolls, I’ll neuter you while you sleep.”

He kissed her forehead. “I’ll never confess to anything. It’s getting late. Maybe we should get some sleep. I’m sure it’s common for new brides to have dark rings under their eyes but—”

She stepped on his toe. “I don’t have dark circles under my eyes…do I?”

He laughed. “No.” He gave her a soft kiss on the mouth. “Want to go to bed?”

Oh God, yes.

“It is getting late, and since you’ve already mentioned I’m getting dark circles—”

She screeched as he swept her up into his arms. “Honey, you better learn you don’t argue with a man who can pick you up.”

He grinned as he carried her to the master bedroom. He dropped her in the middle of his king-sized poster bed.

“Oh, no,” she said, letting her head fall on a pillow.

“What’s wrong?”

“Now everybody will know we’re sleeping together.”

He laughed. “I think they might have figured that out anyway, what with the way you eat me up with your eyes.”

She threw a pillow at him. “Stop it. I do not.”

He caught the pillow and tossed it back with a deep chuckle. “Come on, raccoon eyes, you need some sleep.”

“Sadly, you’re right. I have to get up in…” She rolled over to look at the clock. “Oh crap. I’ve got to be at the hospital in a few hours. I’ve got rounds in the morning.” She started to get undressed and stopped. “Do you have a T-shirt I could borrow?”

He opened a dresser drawer and tossed an extra-large tall shirt. “That do?”

“Perfect.” She slipped her feet over the edge of the bed, kicked off her shoes and slid off the bed. “I’m heading to the bathroom for a quick shower.”

He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into a chair in the corner. “Fine.”

She turned around to say something, but all the words in her head melted when she got a good look at Travis’s upper naked body. Thick, muscular upper arms that shifted and bulged when he moved to unbuckle his belt. Pale, coarse hair covered his rock-hard chest, running down his flat abdomen until it disappeared into his slacks. The area between her thighs grew warm. Good God. What a perfect male body…or at least what she could see at the moment. Lucky for her, she knew the rest of it was just as delicious.

He looked up with a lifted eyebrow. “See what I mean? If you don’t stop looking at me like that, neither of us will get any sleep tonight.”

“What?” she was able to rasp out. She grabbed her water bottle and took a long swallow.

Damn if he wasn’t right. Just looking at him kicked her libido into overdrive. Those tutu-attired hippos weren’t just twirling in her stomach right now. They were doing flips and cartwheels and flying ninja kicks to her gut. And the idiot man knew exactly the impact he was having on her.

He took a couple of steps toward her. “Darlin’?”

She snatched the T-shirt up against her body. “Shower,” she said and raced from the bedroom, his knowing laugh following her.

She was surprised that Travis wasn’t in the bed when she came out from the bath. After flipping off the light, she slipped in his bed, her body practically cooing with pleasure. In a couple of minutes, the light in the hall flashed off and the mattress dipped as Travis got into the bed. She rolled toward him and he wrapped her in his thick arms before kissing her.

“Go to sleep,” he said in a whisper. “This will all work out. I promise.”

His breathing quickly became regular. She envied his ability to drop off to sleep so easily.

Her cell phone vibrated on the wooden bedside table. Caroline threw out her arm to grab it only to realize she wasn’t near the edge of the bed. As consciousness began to sweep the sleep fog from her brain, she realized she was draped over a firm, hot male body. Her head rested on his chest. Her legs were braided through his like a rag rug.

Her phone vibrated again. Reluctantly, she disengaged her legs from his, trying to move slowly so to not wake him up. As she was congratulating herself, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He pressed his face into her neck and nuzzled. He moaned a couple of words and his death grip around her lessened.

Slowly, she lifted his arm and slid across the bed and then gently placed his arm back on the mattress. Very sly.

She stood, letting his enormous shirt fall around her knees.

“You know I’m awake,” he said.

She jumped and then slammed her hand over her heart. “Don’t do that. You scared me to death.” She remembered their sleeping position and wondered if he’d been aware of how she’d plastered herself to him probably all night.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to know your legs were all twisted up with mine and that you used my chest as your pillow.”

Thank goodness for the dark
, she thought as the warmth of an embarrassed flush climbed up her neck. Apparently, she had no restraint when it came to Travis, whether she was awake or asleep.

The lamp on Travis’s side of the bed lit up the room.