Cowboy Country (12 page)

"Under the covers you go," he said, sliding in beside her and pulling the thick comforter over both of them. "Ah. Now this is perfect." He wrapped one arm around her shoulders to pull her against his side.

"Have you ever been married?"

"Where did that come from?"

She shrugged her shoulders and kissed his chest. "Curiosity. I don't know much about you is all."

"My full name is Tucker Alan Marshall. I'm thirty-two. No, I've never been married. Close, but we didn't make it to the altar."

"Why not?"

Silence filled the air for a moment as he had to decide how much he wanted to reveal to her. "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to."

"I found out about a week before the wedding, she only wanted my money, not me. I knew Darla liked pretty things—expensive things, but it didn't really hit me until I got a phone call from where she'd purchased her wedding dress. They couldn't quite understand why I adamantly refused to pay the five thousand dollar outstanding bill."

"Wow," she murmured. "It must suck having to worry about those types of women all the time."

"Yeah, it does. Your turn."

"Jacie Margaret Hawkins. Twenty-eight. Been driving eighteen-wheelers for five years now."

"What made you want to drive trucks?"

"My parents and my non-traditional woman personality. I didn't fit into their mold of what they thought a young woman should be. I wanted independence. You know, no one telling me what to do. I did two years of college, and it was enough to make me realize I didn't want to sit behind a desk."

"How come you never married?"

Her fingers twirled in the hair on his chest as her warm breath washed over his skin, leaving behind the need to fuck her again.

"I haven't found the right guy yet. I need someone who won't try to change me. He has to be okay with me the way I am. I'm just me. What about you? Where are your parents? Any siblings?"

"My parents live in Houston in a small house they've had since before my birth. I have two siblings. One sister and one brother. Both are married and live near our parents."

"So you didn't come from a money background, huh?"

"No. They had enough for us to live, but not any extra. My dad worked in a factory until he couldn't anymore. My mom is a housewife. I take care of them now, but it's not easy. My father resents me giving them money. His retirement and social security for both of them, won't pay the bills even though I paid off their house several years ago."

"Money can make people do things they wouldn't normally do or say things they don't mean."

"What a very wise woman, you are." Silence enveloped them for a few moments. "Do you have siblings?"

"Yeah, three sisters. Four brothers."

"Big family. You said you're from Tennessee."

"Yep. My folks own a place out there, but I have my own small house. I'm not home much so there's no use having big digs. You know. I park my rig at my parents when I'm home." A huge yawn opened her mouth. "Wow. I'm sorry. I didn't realize how tired I am."

"Sleep. You need your rest," he whispered against her hair while his fingers danced on her arm.

The trailer warmed up nicely. Within moments, he heard soft snoring coming from the woman lying on his chest. He smiled. Normally, he wanted to get far away from all females after he had sex with them, but Jacie was different. She didn't ask for anything from him and he knew she never would. The way she'd fought him over the tires in Littleton, proved her animosity for taking something from anyone without paying for it. Her independence meant everything to her. Obviously she wore her pride like a cloak. Her smile warmed his heart. The need he felt for her scared the shit out of him. Having sex with her felt right and perfect. He hadn't really thought she would give in so easily, but she had, opening like a morning glory when the sun warmed its petals. Hell, sex with the same woman more than once never happen to him very often. He avoided entanglements like the plague, but here he was, all tangled up with a free thinking, take-no-shit-off-nobody, quick witted woman who made him think more than twice about her and how perfectly she fit him.

I need to get those thoughts right out of my head. The last thing I need is a woman in my life on anything more than a temporary basis.

The rounds of events he needed to attend during the rodeo surfaced in his mind. "Mmm. I do need someone to be the little eye candy on my arm in Vegas for all those parties and hobnobbing with the PBR bigwigs. Who better than a woman who doesn't like being arm candy, but who can stop a man in his tracks when she's all dolled up?"

CHAPTER SIX

The warmth of the skin beneath her cheek lulled Jacie into a peaceful, half-dreamlike state. It had been so long since she'd cuddled with a man. It felt foreign, but nice. The rough pad of his fingers crawled over her arm leaving goose bumps rose in their wake. Morning daylight peeked through the curtain, lighting the room slowly.

"You awake?" he whispered.

"Uh-huh." She rolled over to stretch her arms above her head. "What time is it?"

"About six-thirty."

"We should get up and get rollin'. If we don't have to stop much today, we can probably spend the night in Flagstaff." She flipped the comforter off and squealed when the cold air hit her skin. "Damn, it's cold in here."

Tucker laughed. "You could have stayed under here with me where it's warm until I kicked on the heater again. The thermostat is set to go down at midnight to sixty."

"Well turn it up. It's freezing in here. My nipples are gonna fall off," she said rubbing her arms trying to warm them up a little while she looked for her clothes. The T-shirt she'd worn to bed and her underwear lay in a pile on the floor near the closet.

"I doubt it, but it might be interesting to see," he replied with a chuckle.

He jumped out of the bed and cussed at the cold, making her laugh. The heater kicked on with a touch of his finger to the thermostat. Clothes flew in several different directions while he tried to find something to wear.

"How far is it to go all the way through to Vegas?"

She slipped her T-shirt over her head. "Sin City is another five hours or so on the other side of Flag."

"It would be doable to go clear through then, right?"

"No, not hauling animals. They have to get out to stretch. There aren't too many places we can let them out, but we have to. Plus, we'll be hitting weigh stations and stopping for food. We won't need gas again since we filled up before, but we might want to top off in Flag. It's best we stop there." As she wiggled into her underwear, she shot a look at Tucker when she heard a soft hiss. Lust darkened the ice blue of his eyes and his hands curled into fists at his sides.

"I'll bow to your expertise."

The mirror behind him gave her a clear view of his naked ass while he pulled up his jeans.
Commando, huh. Mmm…interesting. I love a cowboy who goes commando.
The reflection also showed her the wicked grin on her lips and the delicate arch of her eyebrow over her right eye.

Tucker turned to see what she was looking at and grinned when he noticed the mirror behind him.

"You had a nice view, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. Very nice, but we need to get a move on," she said, changing the subject. Falling into bed with him could be a real possibility if they didn't get going.

"Damn woman. Are you always such a slave driver?"

"Yep, with a load onboard, I do. Move your ass cowboy or I'm leavin' you behind," she said, brushing past him as she moved out into the main living area of the trailer. "There is a God." Coffee had already been started automatically sometime in the last hour. She found two mugs and poured some in each as she eyed her cat dozing in the mussed fold-out bed she'd only used for a short time the night before. While he finished dressing, she put everything away so she could fold the couch back into a sitting area.

"Cream and sugar are to your left if you need it," he called from the bedroom.

"How do you take yours?"

"Black."

"Typical cowboy," she grumbled under her breath to Macy as she strolled toward her.

"What did you say?"

"Nothin'." Coffee had become a staple of her life since she started driving trucks, but she couldn't handle it black.

"You are an angel," he said taking the cup from her hand.

"I didn't make it. You must have already had the coffeepot set up." She sipped the hot liquid fast so they could get moving.

"It's on a timer, but you poured it for me." He took two or three sips and grinned. "Nectar of the gods."

"All right. Enough dillydallying. We're burnin' daylight." The door popped open with a flick of her wrist as she grabbed her coat off the rack by the door. "I'll get my mare so I can load her first. I can back the trailer into the paddock there. We can drive the bull into the trailer once it's set."

"If we throw some hay into the rack, he'll go in without any trouble."

"Good. The easier, the better."

The front door of Phillip's house opened and he rolled out onto the porch. She raised her hand to wave, but he ignored her.
I guess I've burned this bridge.
Her mare whinnied from the stall. "I know you're ready to get out of here, huh, baby girl." The horse bobbed her head pushing against her shoulder. "Let's blow this popsicle stand." She flipped the latch on the stall to lead her mare out to the trailer. Brandy loaded without any trouble, just like Jacie knew she would. Now, the bull…he could be something totally different. The only bulls she knew were ornery and difficult to work with, but she had to trust Tucker knew what he was doing.

Once she'd loaded Macy and climbed up into the cab of her truck, she started the engine and slipped it into reverse. The trailer moved right where she wanted the back—exactly between the fence posts, giving the bull nowhere to go but inside the trailer. Tucker threw some hay inside the bin and with a clomp of his hooves, the bull took his spot as Tucker shut the door behind him.

A few moments later, Tucker climbed into the truck with her.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yep. The sooner we get away from your glowering friend, the better."

"He wasn't glowering, was he?"

"I'm sure if he could have caught me, he would have tried to ring my neck for getting too close to you." Tucker fastened his seatbelt and she popped the truck into gear. "You never had a relationship with him, did you?"

"No, but apparently he wanted to. I don't know if you heard our conversation last night or not, but he thought I wouldn't sleep with him because of his injuries. He couldn't understand. I'm not in love with him. I don't want anything more than friendship." She shrugged her shoulders, checked her mirrors and pulled out onto the highway. "I guess he wants more."

"I'm sorry if I made things awkward between you two."

"You didn't. He probably would have come onto me at some other time. I still would have had to set him straight." She glanced across the cab at him. "No one has made me feel the things you do when you touch me."
What the hell made me admit something like that?
"Don't get me wrong, Tucker. I'm sure you've been with tons of women in the past and I know I'm nothing special, but you sure know how to get a girl wound up. You sure know your way around a woman's body."

A cocky grin spread across his lips as she rolled her eyes. Their conversation lulled for a few minutes and to fill the empty space, she started some music. The CB to her right crackled with conversation between truckers. She could see Tucker concentrating on what they talked about like he wanted to figure out the lingo.

"I should make you a list of all of the jargon so you can figure out the conversation."

"It would be helpful, yes, but it's interesting to listen to anyway."

"Would you rather I turn the music off?"

"No, but thank you. I can still hear what they are saying even if I don't understand a word."

Even so, she turned her tunes down a little.

They stopped twice—once to let the animals out to stretch in Santa Rosa, New Mexico and once in Holbrook, Arizona for something to eat at a truck stop diner.

If the showers had been private, she would have invited him in. Taking a shower with him sounded intriguing.
Maybe in Vegas before we split up.
The thought of climbing into her truck without a shower, didn't appeal to her at all. Her hair felt matted and greasy and even though she'd put on deodorant after she got in the truck, she still needed a nice hot shower. His trailer was luxurious, but the showers in those things left something to be desired. Room for two didn't come into play.

He must have remembered to keep his mouth shut about her driving because never once did he say anything. Not even when some small foreign made sports car cut her off and she cussed like a sailor while she blew her horn at the jerk. She laughed a couple of times while they listened to the talk over her CB and she had to explain what they were saying.

One CB'er mentioned a crack 'em up several miles ahead as a string of cuss words spilled from her mouth, Tucker asked what they meant.

"An accident. Not a good thing. We're on a tight schedule to make Flag tonight."

"Is there any way around it?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Interstate forty doesn't have a lot of side roads truckers can use. I hope it's not too bad."

Five miles up, the freeway came to a complete and utter stop.

"Shit. I was afraid of this," she grumbled. She put the truck in park and shut the engine off.

"Shouldn't you leave it idling?"

"No. Saves gas if it looks like we are gonna be here a while. Right now, I'd say we'll be in this spot for some time."

Talk came over the CB again giving information on the accident. Sure enough, the interstate had been closed completely going westbound, by an overturned semi. The load the trucker was carrying consisted of chickens. Lots and lots of chickens. There were chickens everywhere. Along the side of the road, in the corn field across the small highway, running down the center median and standing on cars still sitting on the highway. The chuckle on her lips couldn't be contained as it burst into a full-blown, gut-rolling laugh. Tucker couldn't help but join her. His deep chuckle and gorgeous smile made her shiver. Small crows-feet appeared next to his expressive eyes with his smile, but the heat in his gaze when it stopped on her, left her breathless.