Texas Hustle (14 page)

He stepped back. “Your stirrups are fine.”

She looked at him with a knowing smile. “If you’re finished feeling up my legs, let’s go.”

He swung up onto Trailblazer and the stallion danced a little to the side.

“Whoa, boy,” he coaxed the horse.

When the horse settled, he squeezed his calves and moved Trailblazer out of the yard at a walk. Porchia followed and then caught up behind him.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

“I am. Can we go a little faster?”

He chuckled. “Why don’t you get used to riding and then we can.”

“Which way?”

He pointed to the left. “Down this lane about half a mile and then there’s a trail we can follow.”

“Great. So tell me about growing up in Florida.”

They rode along talking about Florida and how the family ranch in Florida differed from Texas ranches. When they came to the trail that led off the road and into a pasture, Darren noticed Porchia had no trouble getting Oreo to go where she wanted. In fact, the more he watched her, the more impressed he was with her innate horsemanship.

“How did you end up in Whispering Springs?” he asked. “I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned your parents.”

The look she gave him was full of mischief. It reminded him of times he’d seen something similar on his brother’s face just before they did something questionable.

And then she was gone. Oreo was flying across the field in a full-out gallop. Porchia’s posture was low and settled into the saddle as she moved in concert with the horse.

Darren sat stunned momentarily, then he nudged the dancing stallion and raced after her, sure Porchia was going to be furious at him for putting her on such a dangerous horse. His heart pounded painfully against his chest in rhythm to Trailblazer’s hoof beats. If something happened to Porchia, he’d never forgive himself. It’d be all his fault.

But as he and Trailblazer closed the gap, he could hear Porchia’s laughter.

Oreo came to an abrupt stop and, with an obviously experienced touch, Porchia whirled the mare around in a graceful arc. Her face glowed with happiness. Her laughter was high and loud.

“Gotcha,” she said.

Darren reined in the stallion, both his and the horse’s breaths sounding harsh. “You know how to ride.” There was no question in his comment. He was positive of the findings.

“I do.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She arched one brow in a saucy and sexy manner. “You never asked. You just assumed I was a townie, didn’t you?”

He shook his head, embarrassed that he had made assumptions about her without bothering to ask. But still, he had to chuckle. It was exactly like something he’d have done. “I ought to turn you over my knee and spank you. You scared at least ten years off my life.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

He laughed. “Travis wanted these two exercised. Want to give them a little workout? Maybe something less than a full-out run?”

“Sure.”

Setting off at a canter, they moved through the field, Darren comfortable that she didn’t need to be helped or monitored.

“I suppose you know how to saddle up also?” he asked, remembering how he’d tried to impress her with all his knowledge about saddling a horse.

“Yep, I do.” She tossed him a cheeky grin. “But I’m not as fast as you are.”

“Well, at least that’s something. There’s a creek up ahead. Want to stop and let the horses get a drink?”

“Sure.”

After securing the horses, Darren tossed a blanket on the ground near the creek. Porchia grinned. “Not your first rodeo.” She sat and stretched her legs out in front of her.

“No, ma’am,” he said as he lowered himself down beside her.

The sun was low in the sky. The warmth of the day was fading with the dropping sun.

Darren sighed. “A beer would be great right now.”

“Or a bottle of wine.”

“Or a bottle of wine,” he agreed.

“You know, Mr. Montgomery, you’re doing a really lousy job of seducing me.” Porchia leaned back and braced herself on her forearms. The position pushed her breasts up and out, each breath moving them slowly.

Each of her breaths pushed more blood toward his groin. Darren bent one leg and rested his forearms on his knee. The action gave him time to process her comment as well as loosen the denim over his cock, which needed the extra space.

“Am I trying to seduce you?”

Her smile was sly and knowing. “Aren’t you?”

He shifted his position, moving his hands to the ground on either side of her waist, effectively trapping her between his arms. Her gaze fell first to his right hand and then to his left. When she raised her head, her eyes met his.

“Better. Much better, Mr. Montgomery.”

Chapter Eleven

Porchia didn’t recognize the alien who’d taken over her body and voice. She’d never teased a man like this, but if the excited whirl in her gut was any indication, she liked it. Once Darren had her trapped between his arms, it was all she could do to not nibble on one of his bulging biceps. She swallowed as she studied them. They were like handing a fresh box of chocolates to a dieting woman…impossible to pass up.

Seduction was not a game Porchia understood or played well. Should she lean up to kiss him? Lean back and hope he followed her down to the blanket? Would he think her crazy if she took just a little bite of his muscles that bulged with each movement? Did her voice sound sexy or like she’d been fighting a cold for a week?

In the end, she only had to remain in place, because Darren leaned toward her. His mouth touched hers and released a string of firecrackers in her heart. And then she just stopped thinking so hard. She caught his lower lip between her teeth, bit it and then soothed the bite with the tip of her tongue.

A deep groan rumbled out of Darren. His heavy hands landed on her shoulders and pushed slightly. Porchia unbraced her arms so she could wrap them around his neck. As she lowered to the ground, Darren followed, their mouths never losing contact.

Her shoulder, heated from his touch, cooled in the late afternoon air when he slid his hand down until his fingertips brushed the top of her breast. Breath catching, she waited for him to caress her flesh. When his palm finally covered her breast, she pushed up, pressing herself firmly into his hand.

He moved his mouth off hers, leaving a trail of hot kisses along her chin and up her cheek until he reached her ear. His breath was warm and damp on her neck, sending a galaxy of shivers down her spine.

“I want you, Porchia. Let me love you like you’ve never been loved before.”

She didn’t have time to answer or even give a thought to what she should say. A loud bell gonged from her pocket.

“Ignore it,” he said and began nibbling on the large tendon in her neck.

“I can’t. What if it’s the bakery? I promised I’d be available.”

“Damn it.” He rested his forehead on her shoulder.

Her phone gonged again before she had time to even pull it out. Maybe she could ignore it. It’d be hard to do anything from the middle of nowhere.

As she began to dig in her pocket for the phone, Darren’s cell rang. She laughed and he rolled his head side-to-side across her clavicle bone.

“The universe hates me,” he said and sat. He pulled out his phone and answered.

Porchia clicked her text messages, saw who they were from and stood. She walked closer to the stream to give both of them privacy to answer the respective summons.

The first text message was from Slade.

ARE YOU TRYING TO PISS ME OFF? HOW HARD DO YOU THINK IT WAS TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU ARE? GOSSIPY LITTLE TOWN YOU LIVE IN. EVERYBODY GOT THEIR NOSES IN EVERYBODY ELSE’S BUSINESS. THEY ALL HAVE THE NICEST THINGSS TO SAY ABOUT YOU AND YOUR GRANDMOTHER. WHAT WILL THEY THINK WHEN THEY FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR PAST? SO YOU HAVE FUN AT THAT LITTLE CAMPING TRIP. I’VE WAITED SEVENTEEN YEARS FOR WHAT’S DUE ME. I’LL STILL BE HERE WHEN YOU GET BACK WITH MY MONEY!

The second text was from him also.

AND YOU WILL HAVE MY MONEY, WON’T YOU? TICK-TOCK.

A gun fired in close proximity to their location. Bark splintered from the tree to their left. Darren threw her to the ground and placed himself on top of her, shielding her from whatever was going on.

Another shot fired. This time, a small limb dropped from above, landing on Darren’s legs. It wasn’t large enough to do damage but was enough to convey the message that the shooter could hit wherever he pointed his gun.

The third bullet scattered the leaves in the tree above them, but this time only twigs fell on them.

No more shots came. They lay there for a minute, their breaths coming in anxious gasps.

“You okay?” Darren asked.

“Fine. You can let me up.” When he didn’t move fast enough, she added, “I’m really okay.”

Darren rolled to the side but pulled her up next to him.

“I’m going to kill Cash and Singer.”

She frowned. “Why? You think they were firing at us? Why in the world would your cousin and the sheriff be shooting guns in our direction? Besides, didn’t they make it clear what area they would be hunting in so the rest of us wouldn’t be in the way?”

“Yes, but still. This is private property and no one else is hunting but those two.”

“We probably should head back and…”

The cell phone in her pocket gonged for a third time.

“What the hell is going on? Did the bakery run out of flour and sugar or something?”

Frowning, she nodded. “I’m sure the bakery is fine. Those texts were from that old school friend I told you about. Sorry he has my number now.” Surely it wasn’t Slade shooting at them. He wanted money, not to kill her, right? Dead would get him nothing.

The roar of ATVs broke into their conversation and within minutes, four machines tore into their area.

Reno climbed off the first one. “Are y’all okay?”

“Yeah, but which one of you idiots shot a gun our direction?”

Marc Singer shook his head. “Cash and I came back about an hour ago. As far as we are aware, no one from our party is out here.”

The acid in Porchia’s stomach tore at the lining. She wrapped her arms around her waist and bent over.

“Hey,” Marc said. “You okay?”

From her position, Porchia watched five pairs of cowboy boots hurry toward her. She raised her hand to stop them. “I’m fine…I think. Just a little nauseated.”

She recognized Darren’s scuffed brown boots seconds before she felt his warm, comforting hands rubbing her back.

“You’re okay,” he said in a deep whisper. “I’m going to kill the sick SOB if we find out who did this.”

She slowly rose back to upright and blew out a long breath. “Sorry,” she said. She gulped in some air.

Darren put his arm around her. “We’ll head back.” He looked at Singer. “If it wasn’t you or Cash, then someone is hunting here illegally.”

The sheriff nodded. “I agree. Come on, Cash. Let’s take a ride and look around.” To Darren and Porchia he asked, “Which direction did the shots come from?”

Both of them pointed south. Sheriff Singer nodded. “Got it.”

He and Cash got back on the ATVs and headed off in that direction. That left Travis and Mitch with the other four-wheelers.

“Why are you guys out here?” Darren asked.

“Travis and I wanted to try out the new four-wheelers. We just happened to be close when we heard the shots.”

“The horses?” Porchia asked. “Are they okay?”

Travis nodded. “Yep. Both are still secured.”

Porchia let out a breath of relief. If something had happened to those horses, she would have felt horrible. Slade was crazy if he thought shooting at her was a good way to scare her into giving him money.

“We better head back,” Darren said. “Give Cash and Singer time to check out what’s going on.”

Porchia nodded.

When her phone gonged again, Darren said, “You want to check that before we leave? It might be important.”

“Okay.” But she doubted Slade had anything to say that she wanted to hear.

Quick note to let you know we closed the bakery early. Tour bus in town. Sold out of everything! Have date with Chad tonight. Woot! Hope you’re having fun—Tina

She laughed, mostly in relief that the note wasn’t from Slade. Mentally, she crossed her fingers that the sheriff and Cash found evidence of poachers and not of an ex-con.

“What?” Darren asked.

“It’s Tina. Just giving me an update. Everything’s fine.” She pushed the phone back into her pocket. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“You guys want us to ride back with you?” Travis asked.

“No need,” Darren assured him.

Mitch gave them a salute and he and Travis headed out in the direction Cash and Singer had taken.

“Nothing like a few gunshots to interrupt my carefully constructed seduction,” Darren said.

Porchia rolled her eyes and added a snort for good measure. “And you were doing so well.”