Lies That Bind (3 page)

Ten minutes ago, Rex would have shouted
Hallelujah!
over that news. After all, it’d been what they’d hoped—that Tessa wouldn’t want anything to do with the ranch. Now?

“Good.” A lie. Nate’s news didn’t set well. It only fueled Rex’s worries and frustration. The ache in his loins before was nothing compared to how he felt now.

Images and possibilities of how he could win her back played through Rex’s mind, and the order to fetch her suitcases still lingered. Her command grated against Rex’s nature. She’d given him an order, not asked nicely. That attitude wasn’t going to cut it.

Sweat trickled down his back. At least he could rectify this version of
hot
. Not giving a shit who watched, he stripped down to his white T-shirt, bunched the western shirt in his fist, and strode toward the truck. It pissed him off all the more that she didn’t bother to spare him a single glance when he walked up to the rear door. Which probably wasn’t a bad thing, considering his erection threatened to trip his feet.

He grabbed the handle, pulled the door open, and filled the frame with his body, one arm draped on the scorching roof, the other blocking any exit she might try to make. She looked at him now, damn it, her eyes wide behind those sunglasses.

“My mama and daddy always told us to say
please
and
thank you
, Tessa. Words you used to know well.”

Rex was barely conscious of Tyler whipping around in the driver’s seat. His focus was on Tessa. Her pulse fluttered at the base of her throat, begging to be licked. There was a slow plunge along her neck and her throat as she swallowed.

“Please.”

The barely whispered word empowered Rex in a way he hadn’t anticipated. He eased away from the door and returned to the plane, where Nate still stood, green paisley suitcases at his feet.

“Thought I’d save you a little effort.” Nate slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and took the smaller bag, leaving the larger one.

Rex muttered his thanks and wrapped his hand around the handle. They walked in tandem to the Suburban, then stashed the luggage in the back. Nate wasted little time claiming the front seat, leaving the back next to Tessa free. Rex hesitated for a second, wondering if this was a test or a trick, then decided he didn’t care. She wouldn’t get to him. Not this time. Not ever again.

Her breath caught a bit when Rex opened the rear door on the driver’s side, and heat poured into the air-conditioned vehicle. But he swore he saw goose bumps on her arm. Her reaction played havoc with Rex’s control.
The hell with manners
. He wanted to drag her into the third-row seating. To press her beneath him, wrap her legs around his hips, and hump her through their clothing.

His obsession added to the blood threatening to split his erection. It grated on Rex’s nerves, frustrated the hell out of him. The fact she’d seemingly turned her nose up at him made it all the worse. Rex wanted to haul her over his knee and teach her a few manners, dip his fingers between the wet heat of her thighs. Right here. Right now.

Tessa burrowed under his skin with every second he was near her. It didn’t help that she smelled like blackberries ripe from the bush. She made him nervous, antsy…horny as hell. Why did she have to bring her damn boyfriend? All he could think about was her all tangled up with Nate. All he could think about was the jealousy eating him from the inside out. All he could think about was peeling those figure-hugging jeans off her hips and…

Tyler twisted around in his seat. “I hate to throw this at you, Tessa, but apparently Derek was very specific about what he wanted and when he wanted it in the event of his death. Hence, he wanted his will read as soon as you got here.” He waved his hand toward the ranch house.

Rex rolled his eyes. Good God, Tyler was using words like
hence
now.

“His attorney’s waiting for us,” Tyler added.

Tessa pulled in a slow breath and turned toward the window. How could anyone look so strong yet vulnerable at the same time? Now Rex wanted to wrap his arm around her and tell her it was going to be all right, even though he suspected they were about to find out that she had them by the balls. There were really no surprises forthcoming, as far as they knew. Nothing in Derek’s will could undermine operations. Only Tessa could do that. The question was, would she?

“Hey…” Tyler leaned over and slid his hand over her knee. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when I spoke to you on the phone. We were told Derek didn’t want you to know.”

Why was that? Because she wouldn’t have come if she suspected Derek named her in his will? Maybe there was hope after all. Maybe she really didn’t want any part of this, and things could go on as they always had. Again, the thought didn’t please him as much as it should have.

At Tessa’s nod, Tyler scuffed his palm over her knee. She relaxed a little—or was that a shiver?—and settled into the seat as Tyler turned to start the vehicle. It was a little too late for sympathetic gestures now. Rex had already made an ass of himself. The best he could do was move forward from here.

“Has there been any further word on what exactly happened to Derek?” she asked.

It killed Rex to talk about it. He hated even more the lack of information. “It’s sketchy and pure conjecture for the moment. When he came out to get the bod…to get Derek, the medical examiner suggested he might have broken his back or neck. We have no idea why he chose to ride out at the crack of dawn with rain still threatening. The best we can figure is that he went out to evaluate the logistics of selling hunting leases in the hopes of cleaning out the feral pigs. Those damn javelina are still creating havoc, tearing up the fields, rooting three feet deep in some places. Looks like Derek’s horse hit one of those divots and fell. The wind kicking up like it did might have spooked her into running. Ranch hand found him a couple hours later.”

Tessa hugged her arms around her midriff. Rex had the sense that she would’ve curled into a ball if it weren’t for the seat belt holding her in place. The image nailed him right in the heart. He slipped his hand over her shoulder, expecting to draw back a bloody stub either from her or her companion in the front seat, but Tessa accepted his touch, and Nate didn’t budge, though his gaze tracked them in the visor mirror.

“The horse?” Her voice quivered.

“Rosie was old, and it was a bad fall. Took out both forelegs. Derek had a .45 in his hand. Horse took a shot to the head. We can only hope he was able to put her down before…” Before the javelina got to them both.

A furrow appeared between her eyebrows. “If he’d broken his back or neck, how could he have drawn and used a weapon?”

They’d been asking that same question. All they knew for sure was that Derek was lying next to his horse with the gun near what was left of his hand, and there wasn’t much left. Judging from the condition of the horse, they’d guessed both had taken a hard fall. Rex prayed Derek had died from his injuries before the pigs went in.

“He was far out. With that and the wind and lightning, we never heard the shot. Never realized he’d gone until…” Until way too much time had passed. The guilt was killing Rex, eating a hole in his gut the size of Texas. And he sure as hell wasn’t horny anymore.

Tessa looked as beat down by it all as they were.

Rex wanted to pull her closer, shared grief and all that. Wanted to drag her under the covers and bury himself in her body and forget the world for a while, maybe forever.

“I’m going to want to see him,” she said.

Rex pulled away. “No, you don’t.” He wished he could wipe the image from his memory.

Tyler cleared his throat. “Exposure, animals, insects. Among other things.”

“The javelina found him first.” Her words came out on a whisper, like it was too horrible to imagine much less say aloud. It was.

The pigs had been eating on him for awhile. Any longer and there wouldn’t have been any remains at all—the bad weather had been good for something. Those were details he didn’t want Tessa to know. It was bad enough he and Tyler had seen Derek in that condition.

“Yeah,” he replied softly.

Tessa sucked in a breath but didn’t let it out.

Rex leaned her way and cupped her shoulder. “I know.”

She released her breath in a barely perceptible sigh that shuddered through Rex.

“I know exactly how you feel.” He turned as far as the seat belt allowed. “I’ve felt that way since yesterday.” And it’d doubled since she’d arrived. That unable-to-breathe-or think-straight feeling.

“Do you need to get out?” Tyler asked.

Tessa slowly shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m fine. Everything just hit me.”

Rex could see the strength that suddenly seemed to shimmer over her body, taking control. It chased away
pretty
and replaced it with
beautiful.

Nate twisted around in his seat. “It’s been a hard time for everyone, and the next couple of days aren’t going to make it any better. Let’s get your meeting with the attorney over with. You’ll all feel better for it.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” She hugged herself again.

Rex saw that her short nails had been buffed to a high sheen. And each one dug into her skin. It was a wonder blood wasn’t trickling down her arms by the time Tyler pulled to a stop in front of the ranch house.

Tessa wasted little time exiting the vehicle. Tyler was by her side in an instant, cupping her elbow in a show of support. Sure strides took them up the granite walkway and the steps to the deep-set porch. There she paused to push the hanging swing into motion and watched it, lost in thought. Memories assaulted him. The three of them on that swing, happy, with not a care in the world.

Rex cursed Mike Ford a thousand times over.

Tyler opened the screen door and pushed the inside door open. She acknowledged the courtesy with a small smile. Rex saw Tyler freeze and was glad to see he wasn’t the only one affected by the woman. Tyler’s gaze followed Tessa into the depths of the house. Rex took a step back to give Tyler some time to compose himself. Nate came up beside him.

“There’s something you need to know.”

“Whore!” a woman shouted from inside.

Tyler slammed the door against the house and rushed inside. Rex took the four steps in one stride. Nate was on his heels. They jerked to a stop at the living room entrance, forming a guard around Tessa as she faced down the rotund woman struggling to the edge of the love seat cushion—Derek’s aunt by marriage, Carmen. Her son Heath sat beside her. Rex was hard-pressed to say which of them was the lazier. Maybe it was a tie. Heath was edging up on forty and couldn’t hold a job. But then, Carmen was near sixty, and work wasn’t in her nature. The fruit didn’t fall far from the tree.

Derek’s attorney sat on the couch across from them, forearms braced on his knees, papers spread on the coffee table in front of him. Moisture from a glass of iced tea soaked the cork coaster underneath it. Yet Kevin Drummond had the nerve to sit there in a gray pinstripe suit and tie and not break a sweat. Even his dark blond hair looked fluffy and freshly washed.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of their company?”

Rex heard the cold disdain leach from Tessa’s voice as she made her way to the worn leather recliner like a queen picking her way through a field of daisies.

Kevin tapped one of the papers before him. “Derek wanted them here for the reading of the will to make sure there were no misunderstandings.”

Carmen smirked, though she looked as if she were wringing the skin off her hands. Heath’s look said
fuck you
. A look Rex had no problem returning in full force. They were vultures, here to pick over the bones of the dead. Derek had a pretty soft heart, but Rex couldn’t believe he’d been foolish enough to leave the money-grubbers anything. They’d fallen on hard times yet again a while back, and Derek had briefly taken them in. Not one of his better moves. Heath was worthless around the ranch. Carmen had been just as bad, trying and failing to do some housekeeping for the retreat. Hell, she hadn’t even tried. The arrangement lasted less than a month. Rex hadn’t been sorry to see them go.

“Very well, then.”

Tessa smoothed her hands over the armrests and kneaded the soft brown leather like a cat settling in…or preparing to sharpen her claws. Nate edged up behind her, arms crossed, on guard, looking badass all over again. Rex resented him having the prime spot behind Tessa.

He slung his sunglasses onto the half-moon junk table just inside the entrance and plopped into one of the two dining room chairs Kevin had placed in front of the wall-sized entertainment system—the only truly modern furniture in the place. Everything else was early-American style, a hideous faded gold floral design that dated back to the seventies. At least it was better than the red laminate fifties-era stuff in the kitchen.

The chair creaked with his weight and wobbled. He prayed it stayed in one piece. Tyler had better luck with his.

“It’s been a long day already, Kevin,” Tyler said. “Tessa Fairchild, Kevin Drummond.” He motioned between the two of them with his halfhearted introduction. “Now could we please get this over with?”

Kevin gave Tessa a nod. “Ma’am.”

She acknowledged him with a tilt of a nod as well.

Kevin passed his gaze over all of them, then said, “All right.”

Dread formed a knot in the pit of Rex’s stomach.

“I’ll be quick and cut to the chase.” Kevin touched the document front and center. Even from a distance, Rex could see the words
Last Will and Testament.

“It’s simple,” Kevin said. “I can read it verbatim if you like.”

Everyone shook their heads. Carmen licked her lips, like a hyena anticipating a fresh carcass. Hard breaths heaved her massive bosom. Greed personified.

Kevin’s eyebrows lifted with his intake of breath. “Derek’s interest in the lodging business known as Rustlers Retreat Inn goes exclusively to his partners, Rex Williams and Tyler Coltrane.”

Relief melted through him. They were good. Thank God.

“All personal bank accounts and stocks held by Derek are to be divided equally between Tessa Fairchild, Rex Williams, and Tyler Coltrane. ‘To the best friends a man could ever have.’”