Wild for the Girl (14 page)

He looked around the elegant dining room of his father’s four-star hotel and smiled. But he knew what she meant. There was no symphony in Barringer’s Pass, no historical museum, and no sailing regatta. And he didn’t care. “I didn’t know it. I guess I had to come back here to realize a few things.”

Not about their relationship—he’d known that much back in Boston. But about the natural beauty of the mountains and the friendliness of the people. He’d had only a taste of them growing up, and he realized now how much he’d missed. And how much he wanted it.

He’d found something else he’d missed here, too, something more important than the scenery. Something precious. He swallowed the pain and made himself look at the situation objectively. He still didn’t like what T.J. had done, but his knee-jerk reaction might have been unfair. She’d been mad, but she’d also been hurt. Hurt in the way she feared most, by being abandoned in favor of his other life and another woman. Maybe hurt enough to look for sympathy and companionship wherever it was offered. Reese should have been there for her, but he’d chosen to go to dinner with Caroline and Chaz. Tad, the lucky bastard, had seen his chance and stepped in.

It had been a stupid move on both their parts. Was that enough reason to throw away what they had?

He pushed his chair back and stood. “Excuse me, but I have something important waiting for me.”

“Reese.” Chaz stood, too, tossing his wadded-up napkin aside as he stared him down. “I suggest you think twice about what you’re throwing away, boy.”

“I have, Chaz.” He just hoped he wasn’t too late to save it.

*   *   *

Reese checked Tad’s room first, using a passkey when his knock wasn’t answered. They were gone. He tried the barn next, but knew he wouldn’t find her when he saw that her pickup was gone.

He’d expected that; it was late and she hadn’t sounded like she’d been willing to wait for him. It might even be better this way, since they wouldn’t have an audience at her house.

He went over the argument in his mind as he drove. She probably wouldn’t want to listen, so he’d have to be persistent. There wouldn’t be tears—T.J. wasn’t the type to let people see her cry—but he might have to dodge a few farm implements, because she also wasn’t the type to hold back her temper. But when he told her he was extending his stay in order to spend more time with her, she’d finally understand that he didn’t give a damn about Caroline. She wouldn’t pretend to pout for a day, either—T.J. didn’t play those games. He might very well be having make-up sex within the hour.

He parked the Porsche near her back door and rang the bell. When she didn’t answer, he pounded and called her name, but still got no response. Frustrated, he stepped off the porch and looked around. Her truck wasn’t in sight, but she usually parked it in the garage. He’d started toward it to peek in the window when he realized where she was. It was dusk, which meant she was at the barn, feeding her horses.

He jogged to the barn and flipped on the lights. “T.J.?” he called.

No answer. He walked past the stalls. They were clean, but empty. Checking outside, he found her four horses in the small corral attached to the barn where she often turned them out for the night. She’d been here, fed the horses, and left. He had no idea where she’d go.

Obviously, she didn’t want to see him.

Too bad; he had things to say to her. He wasn’t going to duck out of her life, leaving her to think she’d been nothing more than a time filler until he could get back to Caroline. She was more important to him than that.

Way more. The realization grew stronger every minute. He had to tell her.

He walked back to the Porsche, resigned to going with plan B. She’d have to come home tonight, certainly by tomorrow morning when the horses had to be fed again, and he was going to be the first thing she saw when she drove up. Slipping into the car, he moved the seat into the most comfortable position he could find, and prepared to wait as long as necessary.

*   *   *

T.J. cracked her window to the cool night air, letting the bracing air keep her alert for the short drive home. It was still summer, but the nights already hinted at a fall that would come fast and hard in a matter of weeks. Another change. More welcome than the one she’d endured today.

Getting back on the horse she’d fallen off of had proved to be easier said than done, even when the horse was more like the pony ride at the kiddie park. The Backstreet Bar in B-Pass was known for its wild night life, but a couple of drinks and a few dances were all she’d been able to manage. When her last dance partner had suggested adjourning to his pickup truck to take things a few steps further, she’d thanked him for the lovely invitation, told him they’d have to hurry before her bastard ex-husband got off duty at the station and came looking for her, and sipped her beer as she watched him leave. She left right after him. Getting back on the horse wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

The night out should have taken her mind off Reese, but she’d ended up comparing every man there to him. They were either too dumb, too crude, too slick, or too drunk. Or they were decent and smart and good-looking, but they just weren’t Reese Barringer and, damn it, he seemed to be the only man she wanted to be with. That is, if she could stand to see him right now, which she couldn’t.

She slowed at her driveway, turned onto the gravel, then hit the brakes so fast her seat belt locked, slamming her against the seat. At the far reach of her headlights, beside her house, a small black car gleamed darkly. Reese’s Porsche.

What the hell? What was he doing here at one in the morning?

Waiting for her, obviously. Panic rose in her chest. She wanted to yell at him for being a cheating bastard,
needed
to yell at him, but deep inside she knew she wasn’t ready yet. It would have to wait until she could do it without tears. She might have lost her heart, but she still had her dignity. She’d lose that, too, if she let him know she’d been dumb enough to become emotionally involved. The last thing she wanted was his pity.

She didn’t have a house key hidden outside, so he must be waiting in the car, but he hadn’t stirred. Backing out slowly, she cruised past her house as she dialed a number on her cell phone. A sleepy voice answered, “’Lo?”

“Carrie, it’s me. I’m really sorry to call so late. Can I crash at your place tonight?”

“T.J.?” Her friend’s voice was suddenly more alert. “What’s wrong?”

She took a deep, steadying breath. “No big deal, I’ll tell you later. Is it okay if I come over?”

“Sure, absolutely.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you in ten minutes.” Making a U-turn on the empty road, she started back toward town and her friend’s house. In the privacy of her truck, an embarrassed flush crept over her cheeks. Running was cowardly, and unlike her. She was tough and practical, and stood up for what she believed. She’d certainly never been afraid to tell a man exactly what she thought of him.

She’d also never loved a man this much before. So much that losing him shook her to the core.

She smacked her hand angrily against the steering wheel and sniffed back the threatening tears. If she didn’t want Carrie to demand the details tonight, she couldn’t let her see her like this. She just wanted to go to sleep, and a night on her friend’s couch would be far more comfortable than the night Reese would have in his stupid little car. She hoped it was uncomfortable as hell. And if he was still there in the morning, she knew who to call.

*   *   *

A knock on the driver’s window woke him. Reese blinked, then winced and reached for his neck, rubbing at the stiffness as he stared at the man outside his window. Turning the key to engage the battery, he lowered the window.

“Morning,” the man said.

Reese frowned. “Good morning. Who are you?”

“Seems like I could ask the same thing. But seein’s how you’re looking all foggy, I’ll go first. Name’s Aaron. I’m a friend of T.J.’s. She asked me to take care of her horses this morning.”

“Goddammit.” She was going out of her way to avoid him. It hit him like a punch in his empty stomach, making him feel angry and sick at the same time.

“She didn’t say why, but I’m thinkin’ you might be the reason.”

He banged his head against the headrest and repeated, “Goddammit.”

“Uh-huh.” The man stepped back, taking a long look at the Porsche. “Nice car.” He grinned. “You ain’t from around here, are ya?”

God, the Porsche might as well have “City Slicker” written on it.

Reese wasn’t about to give him the Barringer name, which raised all sorts of preconceived notions about power and wealth. “No, I’m from Boston.”

Aaron nodded, as if that answered a lot of questions. He straightened and folded his arms as he looked down at Reese. “’Spect you’ll be going back soon.” When Reese didn’t answer right away, he added, “Real soon.”

Reese gave him a long look, and concluded the guy was more than willing to persuade him to his point of view. “You must be a good friend.”

“Yup. T.J.’s a nice girl. She’s got lots more friends, too.”

Jesus, the guy was running him out of town. He might laugh if the reason for it wasn’t so depressing. She didn’t want to see him again. Ever.

Reese didn’t give up that easily. He started the car and looked at Aaron. “It’s a small town, and T.J. can’t stay away forever. You tell her I’m not leaving until we clear up something she misunderstood.”

“She didn’t sound confused to me. How do you know you’re not the one who misunderstood?”

The words irritated him for a second, then made him go still. He stared at Aaron, numbness spreading through his body.
Had
he misunderstood? Had she walked away simply because she’d been pissed off, and it was that easy to drop him?

The world tilted as everything shifted in his mind. He’d assumed she’d been crushed at the thought of losing him, but that could be his big ego getting in the way. Maybe she didn’t want to talk to him because there was nothing to say. Maybe it had been easy to sleep with Tad because it was over with Reese, and she was moving on.

It was a revelation he didn’t want to accept, but feared he had to. If she didn’t want to see him, she must not want an explanation, which meant that what had happened didn’t matter much. He didn’t matter.

Clenching his jaw against the stabbing pain in his chest, he put the car in reverse. “Never mind,” he told Aaron. “Tell her she doesn’t have to worry about running into me. I’m gone.”

He let gravel fly as he pulled out of her driveway, planning ahead. His dad was getting around well and probably ready to get back to work, which suited Reese just fine. He’d left his life on hold in Boston; it was time to get back there. Time to get his priorities straight.

14

T.J. didn’t see any sign of Reese during the next five days as she transferred the stable operations to Michael’s new manager. When she finally asked someone from the front office, she was informed that Michael was back at work and Reese had returned to Boston. Fresh pain seared a hole in her stomach at the news, but she tried to let anger override it. The son of a bitch had sneaked out of town without ever having faced her wrath. Anger helped, a little.

So did taking on two new horses for training. With seven horses in the barn and another two coming next week, she was back to doing what she loved full-time.

T.J. hummed to herself as she dropped hay from the loft into each stall, smiling at the soft nickers of anticipation from Jack, in the stall below. “I didn’t forget you,” she called down to him as she dropped two flakes into his feed rack. She laughed as the nickering stopped, followed by quiet swishing sounds as all seven horses dug into their hay.

She was still smiling as she stepped into the center aisle of the loft and caught a flicker of movement. She stopped dead. A man stood at the far end, near the stairs, lounging against a center support post, one booted foot crossed over the other. Her heart skipped wildly while the rest of her remained frozen in place, taking him in. The bare bulb overhead lit him clearly, so she knew he wasn’t an illusion.

“Reese.”

“Hello, T.J.”

T.J. struggled to order her scattered thoughts into the ripping lecture she’d imagined, but had to ask the obvious question. “What are you doing here?”

“Talking to you. You’re hard to pin down, but I knew you’d be here at feeding time.” He pushed away from the post and walked toward her, his long, lazy stride making her lick her lips. Damn, he looked good. It made it hard to remember that she hated him.

She held her ground, working on a cool, detached attitude as he approached. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Boston?”

“No.” He reached out to brush a wisp of hay from her arm and she froze, mostly because part of her still responded to his touch with yearning. “I quit my job.”

It threw her off balance again, but she recovered quickly, absorbing the news without comment. Quit meant
got fired
. He’d told her Caroline’s father could cause problems with his company, and it looked like he’d been right. She wasn’t about to feel sorry for him. He deserved a little pain in his life. “I’m sure your girlfriend’s daddy will get you rehired as soon as you do what he wants.”

“He can’t.” His gaze made a slow pass over her hair, her long-sleeved shirt, and back to her face, causing shivers to ripple down her back. “I took care of that before I left B-Pass,” he said. “I made it clear to both of them that Caroline and I did not have, and never would have, a relationship.”

She squashed the hope that tried to rise inside her. “Well, there’s your mistake,” she told him, which for some reason he seemed to find amusing. She ignored his smile. “You insulted the princess, and Daddy slapped you down. I guess you’re not as good at finessing things as you thought.”

“It wasn’t a mistake, T.J.. I knew I’d lose the job. In fact, I had already called to tell them I was quitting.”

Confusion was chipping away at her cool, throwing her off her stride. “You planned to quit your job before you left B-Pass?”

“I
did
quit,” he corrected. “I tried to tell you, but you weren’t answering my calls.”