Have a Little Faith (10 page)

“They look cute together,
” Alex commented when she and Sam were alone. “Want to help me hook them up?”

Sam smiled. He had known Alex since they were children. He had nothing but affection for her, perhaps now more brotherly affection. They had shared so much in the past including a one night stand that had brought them both a beautiful daughter for three months.

They had grieved together when they lost her and in the seven years since Faith, they had shared a close bond. He recognized Alex’s discomfort the minute she spotted Lane in the bar. He
felt both compelled and responsible to look out for her welfare.

“Alex, tell me what’s going on
.”

Alex dropped her gaze then brought it back to Sam’s just as quickly.

“My mom’s selling the ranch.”

“What?
”

“I know, I should have told you. But I kept thinking it was just a whim. I thought she would realize how ridiculous it is to sell. But she’s selling. And Lane’s buying it. The papers are in
Tuck
’s office and… and—”

He took her
hand
when her eyes filled and pulled her outside into the warm September night. He wrapped his arms around her and held on.

“It’s all right, Alex. Go ahead, tell me.”

She couldn’t tell him about the marriage proposal. She was too ashamed to admit that she was considering it. But with the ranch on the line, she had to consider all
of
her options.

Her mother was right, however. She was ruined and would never receive a better offer. Alex took a deep breath and willed the unshed tears away. Stronger now, she straightened and smiled at her best friend.

“It’s just that I’m so tired. I’ve worked so hard t
o turn everything around after—”

“I know you have.” Sam placed his hand on her cheek and Alex let the tears come. She didn’t weep, she couldn’t. But tears came silently and abundantly.

“Sam, I can’t leave Faith there.”

Sam went rigid. How in the hell hadn’t he thought of that? Images of the perfect little girl he watched come into the world swirled into his mind. Instead of the pain and long
ing this time, anger came.

“I’ll b
uy that acre from you right now,” h
e said between his teeth.

Alex shook her head. “You know my mother won’t sell to you. Sam, he’s going to turn it into some kind of amusement park. I’ve tried everything. I can’t stop it.”

“We’ll think of something,” h
e vowed and kissed her forehead absently. “My break
’
s over. You should go home and get some rest.”

“Okay. Thanks, Sam.”

Alex waited for the door to close and drown out the upbeat tune that blurted from the club speakers before she slumped back against the building.

Her head was pounding now from the margarita’s she had
drunk
. She never drank, she berated herself. Her father loved his liquor more than anything
else
and look where it
had
got
ten
him. She wasn’t her father, she told herself and jerked up right when the bar door opened and Lane
stormed
out.
He looked murderous, she thought. Warmed by several margaritas, however, she just couldn’t be bothered to care.

Wordlessly, he walked up to her and wiped a tear from her cheek.

“What the he
ll happened?”

Alex wiped her face with the back o
f her hands and sighed.
“N
othing.
I just want to go home.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“Sam? No, Sam would never hurt me.” Alex walked around him and climbed into the passenger seat without a backwards glance.

It was nearly midnight by the time Lane pulled the truck into the driveway. Alex was asleep in the passenger seat. Instead of waking her, Lane rounded the truck and cradled her in his arms.

Alex burrowed into his chest and made a sleepy sound that had Lane’s muscles tightening
with desire
. He carried her into the house and upstairs into her room.

With his elbow, he flicked on the light switch and then gently laid her on her bed. He carefully removed her boots and saw a pink and white patch quilt bunched up beside her head. Taking it, Lane spread it out over
her
.

He walked over to her window and pulled the curtains closed so that the morning sun wouldn’t wake her. Taking advantage of her unconscious state, Lane walked idly around her room.

It was simple, he mused
,
without any frills or femininity. Her walls were painted
a clover green and framed photos
of horses
hung throughout the room
.

A small black desk sat in the corner littered with papers. There were no personal pictures anywhere in her room just as he had
noticed there were none through
out the house.

He wanted answers, he thought pacing.
Things inside him were progressing much faster than he anticipated. She mattered too much not to know, he realized.

He wanted to shake her until she woke up
,
then
shake her until she gave him the answers
he wanted. But as any business
man knows, Lane knew how to bide
h
is time. But time, Lane thought
—
pressing a kiss to Al
ex’s forehead—
was running out.

Alex awoke with a jolt and shot up into a sitting position. Her skin was clammy as it always was after a nightmare. She wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her head on them. Concentrating on breathing,
she
waited for the tremors to pass.

It was always the same, she thought. She could hear her father’s voice. Loud and deep, he would call her those filthy names. Then he would raise his hand, or his belt. Sometimes, he hit
her with both. She would run, oh she would run as
fast
as she could. But in every door she would open, in every hall she would turn, he would be there waiting.

With one last shudder, Alex stood up from her bed and turned on the lamp. She was still in her clothes. Lane had taken her boots off, she realized with a
smile.

She remembered how he carried her all the way from the truck when she had been drifting in and out of consciousness. She remembered feeling protected and taken care of for the first time by a man other than Sam.

She pinned her hair up and changed into a pair of flannel pants and a tank top, then slipped into her tennis shoes. With a backwards glance at the clock on her dresser, she knew she had about
three hours before Jerk made his
first call before the sun rose.

She grabbed her quilt, the one she had made for Faith years ago and walked
to
the barn.

She lit a lantern and dimmed the flame before climbing onto her cot and bundling Faith’s blanket in her arms. Gently, she ran her hand over the mate
rial. She hummed absently as
she would to a child as she recalled the nights she had stayed awake w
hile she was pregnant
, sewing that quilt.

She remembered how her belly
swelled
and grew ripe with her child. How it felt to have her baby kick her from inside her
womb
. She remembered the worry she had over the prospect of labor and delivery. It turned out to be easy for her, she mused with a small smile. Ten hours with no complications was more than she could have hoped for at sixteen.

So long ago, Alex thought desolately. She was so young, so inexperienced. She had dreams and plans. Hopes and fears.
With
a sigh, Alex dropped her head into the blanket and breathed in the familiar smell of jasmine soap.

She wondered longingly if she would ever have
any more
children. If she were to consider
Lane’s business proposal for marriage, would he allow her to have
a baby
? Would she want to bring
a child
into a cold, loveless marriage?

As if the thought of him brought him to her, Alex jolted when the barn door opened and Lane stepped in. He wore the same clothes as he did to Brewster’s, she noticed. He must not have
gone
to sleep, and followed her out to the barn.

Alex sto
od up, gripping her quilt in her
rigid fingers. It wasn’t
fear.
She
told herself she wouldn’t be afraid of him. It was awareness, caution that had he
r
backing up a step.

“What are you doing out here?” s
he asked before she could stop herself.

He closed the door with a thump, slid the lock into place, and walked slowly into the room. “I was going to ask you the same question. Are you intending to sleep out here?”

The way he worded the question and the tone of voice he used
put
her back up. “I s
leep in here often, actually,” s
he told him defiantly.

A muscle w
orked in his jaw while his
eyes seared into hers. She reminded him of the way she looked that morning when she
’d
learned of the marriage proposal. This time, however, she looked like a cat backed into a corner
,
ready to hiss
and scratch him at any minute—n
ot a tiger on the prowl.

Banking down on his own temper from the fact that he had just found out why he never saw her in the house, Lane closed the distance between them.

“Why do you sleep out here?”

She jerked a shoulder and fiddled with the straps on her tank top. “I always have.”

Deciding he liked the way he made her nervous, Lane touched a finger to the underside of her wrist where her pulse was scrambling.
He hated that he had scared her the other day, but her nerves were a pleasant surprise.
With the lightest touch, he trailed his finger down to her elbow
then back up to link his hand with hers. With his free hand, he brought her chin up and
held her there. Her eyes closed;
her lips parted and waited for his.

“Look at me, Alex.”

She felt his breath on her face before her
eyelashes
fluttered open. He seemed to be searching he
r face for some hidden secret; t
aking her in as if she
was
the only thing that mattered. Her muscles went lax even as her breath quickened. Finally, his lips curved before he brought them down to hers.

Her eyes clothed instinctively. His lips were firm and warm on hers, only tasting the surface. Alex thought she would die from the bliss of it. He brought her hand to his chest and held it to his heart. She felt
it
pounding brutally in his chest. Her heart rate matched his beat for beat.

His
tongue shot out and traced
her
bottom lip. He swallowed her gasp before he deepened the kiss. The hand on her chin wrapped around her
waist
as he crushed her to him. She brought her other hand to his chest and grabbed hold of his shirt, tilted her head to deepen the kiss further.

A moan tore from his throat as he backed her up against the wall. Panicked excitement consumed her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Here was strength that wouldn’t
bruise,
she thought dizzily
,
riding each new wave of passion. Here was a power that would drown her in ecstasy.
At last.

Lane slipped his hand under her shirt and found skin. She was as smooth as the undersi
de of a rose petal and tasted of
dark secrets. His hand crept up until it found her breast.

Her breath hitched as he left her mouth to trail wet, open mouthed kisses down her throat, to the front of her
neck—
all the while his thumbs teasing the sensitive flesh.

She bit her lip to bite back a moan, but couldn’t quite muffle the sound.
He
caught
her
earlobe
between his teeth while
he
worked to get the pins out of her hair.

Blind with sensations she had never felt before, Alex reached for him.

He
pressed his face to the side of her neck and fought to get his breathing under control. He wanted her badly enough to beg at that moment. Something, God knew what, had him stopping to ask.

“Tell me yes or no while you still have a choice,” he panted out.