Just Down the Road (30 page)

“I walked over from my … I mean the Rogers place. I told the sheriff I needed to pick up a few of my things, and she texted the huge guys you’ve got babysitting so they’d unlock my gate and turn off the alarm for an hour so the chime wouldn’t wake Jamie and frighten him. Once I parked in front of my house, I walked across the field in the moonlight.”

“It’s not your gate anymore, or your house. You moved into town, remember.” He hadn’t had time to ride over and see if she’d left anything, but ghosts probably left more clutter than she did. He closed the stall gate and tossed a latch so Jamie couldn’t accidentally open this one. “What did you forget?”

“This,” Addison whispered as she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Surprised, he took a step backward and bumped into the gate. She came right with him.

This time it was Tinch who stood frozen as she pressed her lips to his and leaned her body against his.

When he didn’t react, she pulled away. “This is me attacking you again and, if you don’t want what I’m offering, you’d better start fighting, cowboy, ’cause I didn’t come all this way and tell a half dozen lies not to at least get one last kiss.”

Logic told him if he had any sense left he should push her away. She was a heartbreak gift wrapped in long legs and soft skin.

Only, Tinch knew he couldn’t turn away. Not now. Not like this with her body already against him.

“Convince me, Doc,” he said with a slight smile.

She took the challenge. She kissed him for a long while before whispering, “Hold me like you don’t want to let me go. Hold me so I don’t just fade from your life.” A slight cry escaped as she added, “Hold me, Tinch, so you’ll never fade from my memory.”

His arms wrapped around her and lifted her off the ground as he kissed her. “No chance of that, lady,” he whispered against her lips. He didn’t set her down when he broke the kiss but moved to her ear and added, “I don’t want to let you go. Not ever.”

Holding her off the ground, he crossed into the shadows at the back of the barn. She moved her fingers through his hair, pulling his head down so she could rub her cheek against his, needing the feel of him as dearly as he needed her.

Kissing her softly, he reminded himself to tell her sometime how much he loved it when she attacked him. When she bit his neck, he knew the period for gentle kisses was over.

He sat her down on a workbench and broke the kiss long enough to whisper, “How long do we have?”

“Only a few minutes,” she answered as he shoved the jacket off her shoulders. “Those two guys sitting in your living room will come out if I take too long.”

Leaning into her, he opened her knees so he could be closer. With her sitting on the bench and him standing in front of her, they were the same height.

For a moment, his mouth demanded more and he could feel her rock against him, giving him just what she knew he wanted. His hand found the front of her shirt and pushed her away roughly. Then, without hesitation, he balled the front of the flannel shirt in his fist and freed the snaps to her waist. Before she could cry out in shock, he covered her mouth once more and ended any protest.

When she turned molten in his grip, he leaned her back against his arm as he moved down her throat with light kisses, loving the taste of her.

She moaned softly as his free hand roamed over her. When she silently begged for more, he leaned her back on her jacket and spread his hand wide just above her waist to keep her still. He was advancing fast and hard. He needed to know she was with him.

One look into her eyes told him all he wanted to know. His fingers dug into her hair, pulling her head back, exposing her throat to his touch, to his mouth.

She rocked back and forth, wanting more.

Straightening away from her, he studied her in the shadowy light. The thin lace of her bra did nothing to hide her body. “You’re beautiful, Addison.” When he put his hand over her breast and tightened his grip possessively, she arched toward him and closed her eyes. He opened his palm over her and pressed gently before he circled her breast once with his fingers and gripped her tender flesh with rough work-hardened hands. She moaned with pleasure, as he hoped she would. “You come so alive at my touch. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.”

He kissed her completely then and left her gulping for air as he unbuttoned the first few buttons of her jeans. He knew if he went any further, he’d be going all the way with
her, and he couldn’t do that. He wanted Addison, but he wanted her body and soul and he wanted hours, not minutes, to make love to her.

All he could do tonight was brand his touch on her skin and leave her longing for more. His hand slid over her as she opened her mouth, waiting for his next kiss. No matter how far she traveled away, she’d always dream of this night, of this kiss, of his touch, and she’d know she’d left something unfinished between them.

He bruised her lips with the passion of the next kiss as he pulled her to him. She was warm, liquid passion in his arms. He found himself being rough one moment, demanding more, then so gentle she cried out in need. She seemed to ride the waves, loving every level.

He buried his fist in her hair and tugged her back so that he could see her face. He wanted to remember her with passion in her eyes and hunger on her lips.

“More?” he whispered.

“More,” she answered, trying to move closer.

“Then say you want me.”

She laughed. “You know I do.”

“Say it.”

“I want you.”

He moved his thumb over her bottom lip. “Are you sure you don’t just want a man, any man?”

“No. I want you, Tinch. All I’ve been able to think about since I left was how much I needed you to hold me.”

He kissed her then and somewhere amid all the passion, Addison crawled into his heart.

Maybe he could show her how he felt, even if he couldn’t talk about it. He was afraid if he did, he’d say far more than she was ready to hear.

After several last kisses, Tinch saddled a horse and carried her back to her car, parked in front of the old Rogers place. He wished he could move slower, but he knew their time was up. All he could do was hold her tight as they rode.

When he slid her off the saddle, he didn’t kiss her. He knew if he did, even once, there would be no leaving.

“Don’t come back until this is over.” His word came out hard, but his touch was loving along her back. “Promise me, Addison. It’s too dangerous.”

“I promise. You’re right. I probably shouldn’t have come tonight.”

“I’m glad you did.” He swung back in the saddle and was gone before either could say another word.

In the darkness between their two places, Tinch slowed and took a deep breath, but the smell of her had gotten into his lungs just as the feel of her against him had left an impression so complete that now she was gone he felt something missing, something wrong.

They were from two different worlds. They didn’t belong together. They didn’t fit.

Tinch stared at the sky wanting to yell and cuss until half the county heard him. If Addison wasn’t meant to stand beside him, to lie beside him, to stay beside him, how could she feel so right?

T
UESDAY

O
CTOBER
11

N
OAH
M
C
A
LLEN FLEW INTO
A
MARILLO WITH A NEW SILVER
belt buckle to add to his collection and a check in his pocket that would pay the taxes on his little ranch near Harmony for five years. Only, he hardly noticed either. His mind was on Reagan Truman. It had been nearly a week since he’d left her.

After their dinner in the apple orchard, he’d told himself if he moved at all, he’d move slowly with any changes in their relationship. He’d almost lost her as a friend and he didn’t want that to happen again.

Only, when she’d kissed him good-bye at the airport, she’d kissed him on the mouth. The kiss had been polite, even proper for an airport kiss, but to his way of thinking it was more than a friend’s kiss. Maybe he should just give up thinking about changing anything between them and let
her set the pace. He’d called her every night since he’d been gone, and the talk had always been as friends. By the end of the week he’d decided he’d misread the last kiss.

He swung his bull rope over his shoulder and walked through the sleepy terminal. No one ever seemed around to welcome the last flight. In other parts of the country someone taking a saddle or a bull rope as a carry-on might seem strange, but not here.

He’d cleared the checking station when he saw her walking toward him, her hair flying around her in fiery curls. He made it two more steps before he dropped the carry-on and rope. He caught her in midflight as she ran toward him.

It might have been only five days since he’d seen her, but he closed his arms around her and held on tightly as people circled around them.

“I missed you,” he announced honestly.

She smiled. “I missed you too.”

Then she kissed him again. That on-the-mouth friendly kind of kiss that he couldn’t quite read.

His mind had trouble figuring out what the kiss meant as she asked questions about the flight and the rodeo and the weather in Houston. Noah wasn’t even sure he answered the questions in order, but she didn’t seem to notice as they picked up his gear and moved toward the parking lot, where she’d had a devil of a time trying to park his long pickup.

Without much discussion they stopped for a bite to eat at an all-night place near the airport. The food was barely edible, but neither noticed. After three cups of coffee he decided he was awake enough to drive through the rain toward home. They settled into the truck, listening to music as they talked of their days apart.

Halfway there she mentioned a feeling she’d had for days that someone was following her. She said she hadn’t had time to think about it seriously, it was just a feeling rather than anything based on fact. She’d noticed a car parked on Lone Oak Road where no one would stop. Twice
a car had come up on her right after she turned toward town.

Noah turned off the highway onto the service road and noticed car lights half a mile back doing the same. A few minutes later he pulled back on the main highway and thought he could make out the car repeating his turn. The rain made it impossible to be sure.

Twice more the car followed his turns.

Reagan told him it was probably coincidence. With the rain it was impossible to tell if the headlights were even from the same car.

Noah let the subject drop and concentrated on his driving. He would have liked it if Reagan had sat close to him, but she seemed miles away on the other side of the bench seat. He’d promised himself that his days of trying to talk or push her into anything were over. If she wanted to stay the virgin all her life, he’d sign on as the fool who stayed her best friend. He knew she’d hate it if he mentioned it, but in his mind she was his girlfriend. She always had been.

They talked of the weather and the harvest. He told her all about his win and, of course, made himself sound grand. She laughed.

By the time they reached the turnoff to Truman land it was after midnight and she was dozing on his shoulder. Noah thought he saw a car slow behind him just as he turned into the dirt road to her place. He hesitated at the farm gate, but the car didn’t pass. When he looked back, the night was black once more, no headlights. The driver had either turned around or flipped off his lights so that Noah wouldn’t notice anyone watching.

Glancing at Reagan, he knew it would be wise to get her home before he confronted whoever it was. It could be just a nosy neighbor who’d wondered why Noah McAllen’s truck was turning off at Reagan Truman’s place. The Trumans, Mathesons, and McAllens had been the town’s longest-running soap opera since Harmony was founded. Old Jeremiah Truman was dead and folks still talked about why he never married Pat Matheson when he came back
from the war. Noah’s sister, Alex, and Hank Matheson kept the gossip going until they finally married and settled down. Now, Noah guessed it was his turn.

Reagan would probably laugh, but there was also the possibility that the car behind them was a fan of his. Since his rides had been on TV, more and more folks were coming up to him and asking for autographs. With this latest ride there was talk that he might be the world champion if he could stay uninjured for the rest of the season.

“I’m beat,” he said as he pulled up in front of her place. “Thanks for picking me up so late. After I get about a dozen hours’ sleep, how about I come help you pack the last of the apples?”

She looked at him as if he’d become deathly ill in the last thirty seconds. “You’re offering to help with the work?”

“Sure.” He tried to look insulted.

“All right.” She bit her bottom lip as if silently debating with herself. “You want to come in for milk and a slice of pie?”

Noah smiled, wanting to tell her any other woman in the world would invite him in for a drink. “No, thanks. Right now all I need is sleep, and you look like you could use a little yourself.”