Hill Country Hero (14 page)

CiCi had never given much thought to seduction, but she was willing to give it a try. And somehow she managed to pull off the striptease. Piece by piece, she alluringly (she hoped) removed her clothing with a bare shoulder here, a provocative pose there.

She wasn’t quite sure it was working, until she got a good look at Jake’s face. He was in terrible pain. Poor, poor man, and wasn’t that wonderful?

“I can’t take any more of this. Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and she continued to strip, except this time he was an active participant.

Jake was a man with a slow hand—a very slow hand that instinctively knew where to stroke and caress and gently tweak. Making love with him was alternatively hot and tantalizing and hard and fast. In other words, it was perfect.

T
HE SEX WAS AMAZING
. Nope, that was too mild a description. It was so mind-blowing Jake thought he was going to stroke out. And now CiCi was curled up against him like a contented kitten. Her head was on his shoulder and her hand was doing wicked things with his chest hair.

“That was nice,” she purred.

He propped himself up on one elbow. “Nice? I almost keeled over and you’re calling it nice!”

“Actually, I’ve never experienced anything quite like it.”

“Really?”

“No kidding.”

“So…” He gave her a hopeful grin. “Are you ready to see if practice makes perfect.”

“Oh, yeah. That sounds
nice,
” she murmured, and that was the last intelligible sound she made for quite a while.

T
HEY WERE DRESSED
in matching fluffy bathrobes and enjoying a fajita dinner from room service when CiCi took him by surprise. “Did I pass?”

Jake paused in the middle of slathering salsa on his tortilla. “Pass what?”

“Pass the test.” She took a sip of her margarita and waited for his answer.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He figured when in doubt, go with a white lie.

“Oh, please. You took me to the trailer park to see if I passed the snob test. Don’t try to deny it.”

He was toast. “Well, uh…”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She lifted her glass in salute. “I’m insulted but not enough to send you packing.” She whacked him on the arm. “I like you, silly. Your background made you the man you are, and to that I say good going.”

If Jake hadn’t been in love with her before, he was now. Head over heels, knee-knocking in love. And that was scary as all hell. He couldn’t come up with a response so he put down his fork, determined to show her exactly how he felt. They adjourned to the bed for some nonverbal communication.

Much later, Jake decided it was time to initiate a conversation that might be uncomfortable, but was necessary at this point in their relationship.

“Would you like to tell me about your marriage?”

M
AC WAS THE ONLY ONE
who knew the whole sordid story, but CiCi realized it was time to share. “I told you that he was sleeping with a librarian and left me. But that’s not totally accurate. I think he mentally checked out long before he made his first visit to the Lincoln County Library.” CiCi shrugged, thinking about the way their marriage had started unraveling shortly after their first anniversary.

“We had completely different goals and desires. I wanted a baby, he didn’t. I wanted a job, he wanted me at home. I wanted to spend more time with my family, he didn’t like them.” She paused. “I gave in more than I should have. To be completely honest, I made more than my share of mistakes, too. But that’s okay and I’m fine now. Actually, I’m doing amazingly well.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Jake expressed his appreciation with a kiss.

“Not to be trite, but turnabout is fair play.” CiCi snuggled up close. “Tell me more about your family.”

For a moment she thought Jake hadn’t heard her. He cleared his throat before answering. “My mom and dad never got married. I think he already had a wife, but Mom won’t own up to that. I haven’t met him, but I guess that’s all right.”

“When I got my first signing bonus, I bought her a house in a Houston suburb. Not that I can ever repay her for everything she did for me. She worked two jobs to keep us afloat and I intend to make sure she doesn’t ever
have
to work again, unless she wants to.”

“And what about Aunt Pallie?”

“Aunt Pallie kept an eye on us while Mom worked. Like I told you, she made sure we didn’t get in real trouble.”

“You bought her that trailer and the car, didn’t you?”

Jake grinned. “Yeah, I did. I tried to buy her a house but she wouldn’t move. She said she liked it where she was.”

“I can certainly hear her saying that.” CiCi thought about
the feisty old lady who was ready to take on the gangs to protect her chicks.

Jake was a combination of past and present elements, with all sorts of things between. Regardless of what she might have thought of him before, CiCi intended to peel back those layers to reveal the real man.

The next Wednesday was a typical Central Texas summer day—hot, sunny and so humid you could almost wring the water out of the air. CiCi was sitting on their private bench down by the river, contemplating the recent turn of events.

Would Jake have introduced her to his oldest friends if he didn’t think she was special? Probably not—no, definitely not. He had a public persona—the free-wheeling bachelor, but she knew now that was only a smoke screen for the real Jake Culpepper. Jake had a private side he rarely shared, and that was the man she loved—the guy who took care of old ladies and was loyal to lifelong friends.

And most important of all, he was nothing like her ex. Tank Tankersley was a mistake she never wanted to make again.

Camp was going to be over in a couple of days. Would she and Jake continue to see each other when they got back to Houston? This had been a terrific summer interlude, but could it become something permanent?

CiCi was still pondering all this when Jake joined her on the bench.

“A penny for your thoughts.” He ran a finger up her bare arm.

“I was thinking about our trip.”

“That’s good.” He flashed her a cocky grin that al most took her breath away. “So what do you think of this?” Jake
slid her onto his lap and went for a slow, sensual, oh my God kiss.

“Hmm.” CiCi’s cognitive powers had taken a hike and that was about as much as she could manage in terms of a response. As much as she hated to admit it, she was so much in love with him it was sometimes hard to breathe.

Jake’s hand trailed up under her tank top, edging toward her lacy Victoria’s Secret bra. Keep going, big boy!

“Ms. Hurst, Ms. Hurst.” CiCi’s walkie-talkie squawked to life. “Your parents called and said they’ll be here in thirty minutes.”

She punched the on button and answered. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

Darn it! She slipped off Jake’s lap. “Rain check?”

“You’d better believe it.”

E
XACTLY A HALF AN HOUR LATER
, Texas Bob pulled into Camp Touchdown.

“Son, have you seen this?” The man was waving a copy of the
Texas Tattler
. Why was he babbling on about some newspaper?

“CiCi.” Marianne Hurst quickly joined her husband near the lodge and hugged her daughter. The woman might be a size two, but she was a larger-than-life presence. A trickle of tears accompanied her hug.

What was going on?

“You should buy waterproof.” CiCi touched her mom’s cheek.

“What?” Marianne seemed baffled but then she figured it out. “My mascara is running?” “Yep.”

“Winston, get over here and console our daughter. I have to go inside.” She made a beeline for the ladies’ room.

“What’s happening?” Jake asked.

CiCi shrugged. “Beats me.”

“Baby girl.” Texas Bob enfolding his daughter in a smothering embrace.

“Daddy, I’m fine.” CiCi’s protest was muffled by Texas Bob’s girth.

“Sir, Mr. Hurst,” Jake said. “I think you’re suffocating her.” If CiCi had been any shorter, she probably would have passed out from lack of oxygen.

“Sorry, sweetheart. Mama and I almost freaked when Mac showed us this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This spread in the
Texas Tattler
.” He opened the paper to a picture of CiCi and Jake in a telling embrace.

“It starts out with a story about the river rescue and quickly goes to hell. I might just sue them.”

“Let me see that.” CiCi snatched the paper out of her dad’s hand and read the headline: Is the Heiress Trying to Snare the Football Hero?

The more she read the more she wanted to smack someone, preferably the idiot who wrote this tripe. According to this…this yellow journalism, she was a spoiled deb without a brain who was out to seduce the poor dumb jock, who also happened to be some kind of superhero.

“Bull hockey!” CiCi crumpled up the paper and was about to throw in the round file when Jake grabbed it.

“If I get my hands on that idiot with the camera I’m going to rip his head off,” she said.

J
AKE HADN’T SEEN
this particular side of her personality. It was cute, in a tread carefully kind of way. He couldn’t believe what he was reading. And how had they found out about the night in San Antonio?

He put his arm around CiCi’s shoulders. It was as much to console her as to stake his claim. He tilted her chin up for
a kiss. If the boss man didn’t like it, that was too bad. Jake’s first hint of doubt came when he realized she was as stiff as a marble statue.

“So that’s the way it is.” Texas Bob whipped his Stetson off his head and slapped it on his leg.

“Yes, sir, it is,” Jake said. He didn’t much care what Texas Bob thought. Being a free agent wouldn’t be all that terrible. And if he was relegated to catching passes in the Arctic, so be it.

CiCi didn’t say a word, and her deer-in-the-headlights look didn’t do much to bolster Jake’s confidence. What if he’d risked his career and she didn’t give a flying fig about him?

He didn’t have a chance to ponder the question before Marianne Hurst returned.

“Mama,” Texas Bob said, “it seems our little girl and Mr. Culpepper are an item.”

“Oh. Why don’t we go inside and discuss what we should do next.” Marianne addressed her husband, but Jake knew Texas Bob wasn’t her primary audience.

“Come along, Mr. Culpepper, this involves you.”

Marianne Hurst’s expression didn’t bode well for the upcoming conversation, but Jake took it like a man and followed the family to CiCi’s room. It would help if CiCi would give him a sign—a nod or a wink, something to confirm they were a team.

CiCi plopped on the couch with her parents bracketing her, leaving Jake the rocking chair.

“So how did the paparazzi get these pictures?” Texas Bob put his hands on his knees.

“It had to have been the guy we ran off. He obviously came back.” CiCi shook her head. Jake was glad the pictures were as innocent as they were. It could have been so much worse.

“Don’t worry, we’ll weather the storm,” Marianne said with a decided nod. “You’re consenting adults and what you decide to do is your business.”

Jake would bet his bottom dollar there wasn’t a person in the Hursts’ social circle stupid enough to mention the article.

She turned to Jake. “I’m sure you’ll be glad to get back to Houston, won’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He hesitated for a moment, but decided to clarify the situation. “Your daughter and I have a very special relationship and I intend to keep seeing her when we get home.” He waited for CiCi to back him up, but she didn’t say
a word. Okay, she’d been under a lot of stress. For now, he’d give her a pass.

“I presume CiCi told you about her marriage.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He was
not
going to let a petite mom intimidate him. “I’m not Tankersley and I do
not
plan to hurt your daughter. You have my word on it.”

Marianne was about to say something when CiCi interrupted. “Hey, I’m right here. Stop talking about me like I’m invisible.”

“Oh, honey. You’re certainly not invisible.” Marianne raised her hand in contrition. “I’ll be quiet.”

C
I
C
I COULDN’T BELIEVE
she was behaving like such a brat. First she’d pitched a hissy fit, and then she’d totally clammed up. When Jake told her folks they were an item, she hadn’t said a word. And when Jake announced he wanted to date her when they got back to Houston, she still couldn’t speak. Obviously most of her brain cells had gone MIA.

A
COUPLE OF DAYS LATER
the counselors were helping the kids pack and the buses were scheduled for an early morning pickup. Although the teens were griping, the college kids were all smiles. It had been a very long summer and they were ready to get back to their normal lives.

After she finished packing, CiCi and Sugar Plum wandered down to the park bench that was her and Jake’s special place. She was being sappy, but sometimes a girl had a right to get mushy. As she expected, Jake was there.

“I thought you might come,” he said, patting the bench.

She sat next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. “This is the first place you kissed me.”

“I remember.” He was wearing that cocky grin again. “I plan to do it again.” And he did.

Kissing Jake was the most natural thing in the world. At
times it was so hot CiCi was afraid her head would explode. Occasionally it was soft, sweet and more comforting than sensual. This kiss, however, was far removed from anything before.

It was cerebral consummation.

It was bliss. It was…whew!

Jake was the first to pull away. He rested his forehead on hers. “I want to take you out on a real date when we get home.”

That was exactly what she wanted to hear. CiCi’s greatest fear—and one she hadn’t expressed, even to herself—was that he’d relegate what they had to summer fling. No matter how enamored he thought he was now, with all the names in his Rolodex, there was always the chance he’d go back to his old life and she’d never hear from him again.

“You mean, like go out to dinner, museums and the opera?”

Jake laughed. “Dinner’s good, but not the opera. I’m afraid that’s a no-go.”

CiCi threw her arms around his neck. “I don’t like it, either.”

“Was that a pop quiz?”

“Yep.”

“And I passed?” He was acting like a kid expecting a blue ribbon.

“With flying colors.”

Sugar Plum put her head in Jake’s lap. She wanted some attention, too.

“I suppose we need to go to bed.”

Jake finished her sentence. “Together?”

“Not tonight.” She gave him a playful punch. “We have to get up early to get the little darlings on the buses. But soon.”

“Promise?” He shot her that expectant grin again.

“Absolutely,” she said, diving in for a delectable last taste.

Sugar Plum wanted to get in on the action so she nudged her head between them, and she was a hundred and twenty-five pounds, so they had to let her.

“I’m sorry I freaked out about the tabloid newspaper.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why it upset me so much. The only thing I can say is I thought it would scare you off.”

“Aw, sweetheart, I realize I’m fair game. I just ignore that crap. But I hate that it upset you.”