Indulgence (316 page)

“So what is it?”

“We get our trucks out in the big mud bog down near the
fishin’ hole and race around in it. It’s a blast! You get mud in places you
never thought you’d see mud.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Let’s head back to the ranch. I need to do a little work
today if we are gonna get everyone to cut out early tonight. Mom and Dad will
probably go, too. Hell, they might even invite all the guests. We sometimes get
people settin’ up their lawn chairs out there just to watch. Some of the guys
from town come out too if they know we are doin’ it, just to join in.” Joel
helped her into his truck before he went around to the driver’s side. “This is
gonna be fun. We haven’t been muddin’ in several weeks. It’s been too busy at
the ranch.”

“Are you sure it’ll be okay?”

“It’ll be great. It’s been kind of slow at the ranch this
week so Mom and Dad shouldn’t have a problem with it.”

He started the truck and backed out of the spot at the
western wear store.

Several minutes later, he punched the code into the gate at
the front of the ranch. “Why do you lock the gate?”

“Mostly to keep unwanted visitors out. We have a pool and
some of the local kids want to come by and swim. We don’t have a lifeguard, so
for liability issues, we keep the place locked. It also keeps out the people
wandering around looking for ranches to check out. We’ve had people poach our
cattle before.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah. We have the longhorns who roam the ranch, but we also
have the beef cattle we use to sell for meat.”

They pulled up in the front of the main lodge as Nina
stepped outside. She waved and started for the truck. “I’m going to the barn,”
he said once they stood in front of it.

“Chicken.”

“Yep. I don’t want another lecture from my mother about our
love life.” He reached over and kissed her. “I’ll see you after while. I’ll get
the guys set up for muddin’ later. You just wear somethin’ you won’t mind
gettin’ all dirty in.”

“Yes, Sir.”

His left eyebrow rose. “I like when you say that. We’ll work
on it more later.” He kissed her again just as Nina reached the truck. “Later,
Mom.”

“Where are you goin’?”

“To work.”

“You haven’t done anything all morning, young man. What’s
makin’ you start now?”

He grinned and started to whistle as he made his way toward
the barn without answering her.

“Where’d you two go? I didn’t see you at breakfast.”

“We went to the diner in town since we were late getting
up.”

Nina grinned. “I’m glad you two are gettin’ along much
better.”

“Not that you had anything to do with us not talking to each
other yesterday and then getting into a big fight so we would make up.”

“Me?”

“Playing matchmaker, Nina?”

“I just want my son to be happy. You make him happy.” She
shrugged. “I haven’t seen him in such a good mood in a long time.”

“We’ve come to a mutual agreement.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. We aren’t going to talk about anything past this
week.”

“What happens after this week?”

“We don’t know at this point. We’re playing it by ear, so to
speak.”

Nina tilted her head, giving Mesa a look like her mother
would. “What do you want to happen?”

“I have a life in Los Angeles, Nina. Joel is a great guy and
we get along fine, but I don’t think there is anything beyond this week for
us.”

“I’m sorry to hear you say that, Mesa. I think you two are
fabulous together, but I understand where you are coming from. Moving all the
way here would be a huge mistake on your part. I mean what happens if things
don’t work out between you and Joel?”

“I’ve been telling myself the same thing for the last couple
of days. I’m glad you understand.”

“I really do, but let me tell you a story.”

“Okay.” Mesa took a seat on the picnic bench as Nina sat
across from her.

“I wasn’t born and raised here.”

“But you’re Native American.”

“Yes, I am, but Texas is not where I came from. I met the
boys’ father when I traveled with my own father to Washington on a business
trip. He was high counsel in our tribe. The trip was to try to talk the
government into giving us more money for schools and medicine. We didn’t have
access to a clinic for the young girls to go for birth control and my father
wanted me to talk to them as a teenager on the verge of womanhood with all the
sexual urges of a budding young lady.”

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

“Did you meet Mr. Young there?”

“No. He worked for the government agency and was sent to the
area to do a report on our needs after my father gave them his plea. He was a
suit and a half when he walked into our home to talk to my father. I’d never
seen such a man before except for those in Washington. The only people I’d seen
were those of our hometown in New Mexico.”

“You two were so drawn to each other, he moved out here,
bought the ranch, and moved you to it to raise your family.”

Nina laughed. “Oh, if only it were so romantic. No. I hated
him on sight. He was arrogant and self-righteous. But he kept coming back. We
saw him several times over a two-year period. I came to realize he wanted to do
what was best for us no matter what the government said we needed. He helped us
in ways no one knew. I turned eighteen the last summer he came. We got to talking
one day out by my parents barn. He reached over and kissed me. Shocked me
somethin’ fierce. I didn’t know what to make of it. You see, I’d never been
kissed before. I held onto my virginity like a sacred vow to the gods and I
wasn’t going to give it up to just anyone. James swept me off my feet, but then
he didn’t come back. I didn’t see him again for five years. He went back to
Washington and left me in New Mexico without a word. He never wrote, never
called, nothing.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was for the best. I wasn’t ready to be anything but a
young girl when he was there during that summer, but when he returned I knew
what I wanted. I wanted him and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I knew
he liked me or he wouldn’t have kissed me.” She laughed. “I made him work for
it though. No, I wasn’t easy to catch when he returned the bit older man. You
see, he’s ten years my senior so at eighteen, I wasn’t old enough for him, but
at twenty five, I knew what I wanted.” Nina took Mesa’s hand in hers. “All I’m
saying is if you want Joel, don’t let him go. He might not be there when you’re
ready for him.” Nina patted her hand and climbed to her feet. “I have a feeling
there is more between you than either of you is willing to admit. Just don’t
let it be too late. I got lucky.”

Nina moved off toward the house leaving Mesa to think things
through on her own. Thinking wasn’t part of the plan though. Thinking meant she
had to feel and she wasn’t sure she wanted to let her heart do the talking.

The roar of the trucks sent tingles down her arms as they
sat on the edge of the mud pit waiting for the signal. Joel sat in the driver’s
seat with her buckled into the passenger seat. Her heart raced in excitement.
She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wondered if she really would get
as muddy as Joel suggested. She kind of hoped so. This would be one hell of an
experience to add to the authenticity of her cowboy romances.

“Ready?” he asked, flashing her a wide grin. His eyes
sparkled like blue topaz in the dim light of the truck cab.

She could tell he was totally in his element here amongst
his brothers and friends with their beer, trucks, mud to their elbows, and
country music turned up so loud she could hardly understand the words.

“Yeah.” She gripped the
oh shit
handle so tight, her
knuckles turned white.

The girl holding the flags on the other side of the pit
threw her arms ups and they were off. Mud sprayed the sides of the trucks
practically obliterating the view out the windows. They slipped and slid around
in circles. Mesa laughed as Joel kept the truck upright. She never had so much
fun in her life.

After they had their turn at the pit, they drank beer,
roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the open bonfire, told stories, and
laughed until their stomachs hurt. Some of the trucks from town even came out
when they heard the Young family was havin’ a muddin’ party.

Mesa had mud in her pants from when Joel tossed her in
before diving in after her. Not to mention the muck in her hair, down her shirt
and everywhere in between but she hated to see it end.

The mud had begun to dry on her skin, pulling it tight. She
couldn’t wait to get back to her room and into a nice, warm shower. Her eyes
began to droop as she snuggled up into the curve of Joel’s arms. He’d sat on
the ground with his back against a rock, drawing her into the cocoon of his
embrace.

“Ready for bed?”

“Hmm. Yeah, if you’re in it.”

“I hoped to be. I need a shower first though.”

“Me too.”

“How about we head back to my place, shower, make love, and sleep
until noon tomorrow?”

“Yeah, right. You’ll be up with the chickens.”

“True, but one can dream, right? I wanna hold you tonight.”

“I need to stop by my room and get clean clothes then.”

“Okay.” He stood up, drawing her up with him. “We’re headin’
back to the house. See y’all in the mornin’.”

The good-natured ribbing brought a smile to her face. Not
like anyone in the group knew for sure, but they had an idea what would happen
when they made it to a bed.

“You got condoms, brother? I think you’re gonna need a few.”

“Don’t worry about me, Jeremiah. I’m prepared. Trust me.”

The group laughed as she blushed to the roots of her hair.
Good thing they couldn’t see her face in the dark.

“We’re going to get the interior of your truck dirty.”

“It washes. I got leather interior for a reason. This is
what we do around the Hill Country.”

“Tonight blew my mind, Joel. You guys were great. I can see
why you love it here so much.”

“I do. It’s where I was born and raised. I can see bringing
up my kids here.”

“You want kids?”

“Someday, yeah. A couple. Nothing like my parents. Wow. I
couldn’t handle nine boys, I don’t think. I don’t know how they did it.”

“I can’t imagine it either. I mean I have a couple of
siblings, but nine…”

They pulled up in front of the house. “I’ll just be a minute
if you want to wait here.”

“I’ll walk with you. I’ve been walking this ground my whole
life. I know every pot hole, rock, and nook in this yard, but there are still
dangers of walking out here at night and I have a flashlight on my key ring for
just this purpose.”

“Always prepared, huh?”

“I try to be, but you’ve thrown me for a loop more times
than I can count.”

“Me?”

“Yes, ma’am. I wish I knew what to do with you.”

“Just love me.”

He tripped over a rock and she laughed.

“So much for knowin’ every rock.”

He grinned as he swatted her butt.

She took off at a run up the steps of the house and through
the doorway. They laughed as he chased her up the stairs to her door. With a
hand on either side of her head, he trapped her against the door.

“Now you’re mine.”

Her lips parted on a sigh. “I’ve been yours from the moment
I rode behind you on your horse.”

“Are you, because I need to know.”

“Yes.”

He bent his head to take her lips in a soul-searing kiss
meant to curl her toes, which it did. She tangled her fingers in the hair at
the nape of his neck. His tongue tangled with hers, spreading warmth from her
mouth to every part of her body. Her belly clenched in need. She needed this
man with every breath in her body.

When he lifted his head, his eyes were darker blue and
burning with lust. “We can shower here.”

“Let me get the door.”

“I want you, Mesa,” he whispered against her ear when she
turned around to unlock the door. Shivers rolled down her back as goose bumps
flittered across her arms.

They stumbled through the doorway.

“What the hell?” they said in unison.

Every drawer on all the furniture was open although nothing
seemed disturbed in the drawers. She looked around the room, but nothing was
missing.

“It had to be the ghosts.”

“Ghosts?”

“Yeah, they’ve been bugging me since I got here. Knocking on
my door when there is no one there, voices, arguing, the cowboy who
disappeared.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. You know about them, right?”

“Yes. They don’t usually bug people or do this kind of stuff
though. They get a little noisy sometimes, but I’ve never had them open drawers
like this.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re here. He won’t bug me
tonight.”

“He?”

“Yeah, the cowboy or the guy who argues with the women next
door. I think it’s her knocking on my door sometimes, but I’m not sure. There
isn’t anyone there when I answer.”

“You’re okay with all this?”

She shrugged as she removed his cowboy hat and threw it on
the bed. “I have to be, Joel. They are part of this house. If they leave me
alone, I’m fine with sharing their space.”

“You’re an amazing woman, Mesa.”

“Thank you, now get naked.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned, unzipping and stepping out of his
jeans after he pushed them to the floor.

His full length made her mouth water to taste, but she burst
out laughing.

*****

“What the hell is so funny?” he asked indignation rushing
through him while he watched Mesa double over in a fit of giggles.

“You…mud…on…your…”

He smiled when he looked down and saw mud caked on his cock.
Well, it wasn’t a good muddin’ trip if there wasn’t mud everywhere. “Shower
now, woman.”