Texas Lawman (28 page)

Her fingers wandered over him, exploring the way he was made. His ribs, the sprinkling of dark hair on his chest, and down over his flat stomach to the indent of his bellybutton.

“You’ll give me ideas again if you don’t stop right there,” he warned.

She hadn’t been aware that he was watching her, but when she looked up, his head was propped on his hand.

He gave a sexy grin. “But go ahead if you want. I don’t mind.”

Jodie tingled from head to foot, her body alive to every nuance of his - It was tempting, very tempting. But she controlled the urge. For now.

“You’re quite a lady, Jodie Parker,” he said huskily.

She smiled. “I could say the same about you, only change it to gentleman.”

He dropped back onto the pillow and pulled her with him, so he could continue to hold her. Her cheek rested against his chest. Minutes passed as he stroked the silky smoothness of her hair.

Finally he asked, “Did you mean what you said earlier?”

“Yes.”

“You love me,” he repeated.

“Yes.”

“Since when?”

“Since seventh grade.”

He raised his head to look at her. “You’re kidding me.”

“No,” she said, grinning. “You were my first love. I remember trying to get you to notice me and all I succeeded in doing was to get you angry. You threatened to toss me off the school bus several times when you were the driver. Do you remember?”

“You were a brat!”

“See?” She cocked her head and reminded him,

“You haven’t told me how you feel yet.”

“We’re here together, aren’t we?”

“Is that your way of telling me you love me? That you’d never do this unless you were in love?”

“I would’t do it with you.”

Jodie climbed partway onto his body and looked him straight in the eye. “I’d like t hear the words, if you don’t mind. Humor me.”

He dragged her the rest of the way up, until she was resting on him fully, then he cupped her face and said, “I didn’t think it was possible to love a woman the way I love you. Even if you are one of the high-and-mighty Parkers.”

“Since when?” she echoed ‘his earlier demand.

He frowned. “Now that’s a little harder for me than it was for you. It’s been a long time, I think. Only i didn’t know it. It kinda came to a head when you got back to the ranch this time.”

“You were still horrible to me.”

“When?” he challenged.

“You tried to give me a ticket!”

“You were drivin’ like holy hell!”

Jodie shifted position a little and received an instantaneous response.

“Jodie,” he warned.

She wiggled again and grinned. “What if I was ‘dri-yin’ like holy hell’ to get back to you? Would you give me a ticket then? Or would you”

Her question was cut short by the best kind of answer. At least from their point of view.

To LESSEN the distractions they both thought it prudent to get out of bed and get dressed before they talked. Jodie met him in the living room.

It felt a little strange at first. For them to have been so intimate,

then to come together for serious conversation. But Tate took it upon himself to put her at ease, crossing the room to kiss her sweetly before leading her to the only chair.

Jodie watched ‘as he brought in a kitchen chair for himself. And when he leaned forward to collect her hand, her heart warmed toward him even more. He was a thoughtful considerate lover, as well as a demanding one, And she knew that, as the future unfolded, their lovemaking would only get better.

“I realize you’d probably rather not think about this right now, and I wouldn’t, either. But, Jodie,” he said, his voice softening on her name, “we have to think about it. if we lived in a big city, no one would care. if we were both on our own, with no families to consider, no one would care. But that’s not the way it is for either of us. You have your family and I have my mother.”

“Does she dislike me?” Jodie asked quickly. “I always have the feeling that I’ve done something I shouldn’t. Something she doesn’t approve of. I know that’s a problem I have sometimes, and I’m trying to work on it, but with your mother, it’s really there!”

Tam studied her hand before looking up. “When I tell her I love you, she’ll like you. She’s already guessed, anyway.”

Jodie gazed at him. “She’s already guessed?” Tam nodded, smiling slightly. “And she didn’t tell you not to?”

“No. She knows better. And she doesn’t dislike you. She just doesn’t know you.”

“It’s because I’m a Parker. But I can’t help that. I am what I am, Tate! What is it she has against us?”

Tate ran a haBd through his hair. “It’s not that exactly, either. It’s more … Jodie, when my dad was killed, my mother and I had to wk our tails off to maintain a decent life. She’s resentful of people who have it easy, I guess. People who don’t have to work hard for what they have.”

“The Parkers do work hard! I used to be ashamed of that!” She shook her head. “I probably was the spoiled little brat you thought me to be. I was ashamed because all my friends’ families got to play with their expensive toys. They showed horses or went to gallery openings or were members of country clubs in their respective towns. They only came to their ranches on weekends or in the summer. And we were stuck here all the time.” She paused. “Rafe works as hard as any cowhand, probably harder. Aunt Mae did, too, until she got too old. LeRoy keeps all the ranch machinery running, and Thomas does all the ranch carpentry. My dad… well, my dad is at Aunt Mae’s beck and call at all hours, and that, believe me, is a tough job. Everyone does something. Shannon does the histories, Harriet writes children’s books”

“What about you? Are you going to find something’ to do or do you have other plans?”

Jodie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Are you going to stay on the ranch? Or go off back to Europe somewhere?”

Jodie tried to pull her hand free. How could he ask that when she thought . Oh, God, she hadn’t made another mistake of planning ahead too far, had she? Rio had disappointed her; surely Tate wouldn’t, too!

“I’m only asking’,” Tare continued, “because I’m

not gonna be here myself. ” He stood up, drawing her gaze with him.

Jodie’s heart skipped some beats. What was he trying to tetl her? “

“I’ve accepted a position with my old supervisor from Dallas. He’s heading up a task force that will have state-wide enforcement power, and he’s asked me to be a part of it. I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s something’ I really want to do.”

“Where … where will you be? Dallas?” Jodie asked quietly, her throat tight with dread.

“There or Austin. I’m not sure.”

“When?”

“I talked with Drew Winslow last night—he’s my old supervisor. I have six weeks. I’ve already handed in my notice to the county.”

Tate was leaving? Again? Jodie remembered the last time he’d left West Texas, first to go to school, then to the police force in Dallas. “Will it be dangerous?” she breathed. She’d worried about him before, on an unconscious level she was only now recognizing. But after today, she’d be petrified!

“Not any more than here, maybe less.” He squatted down in front of her and reclaimed her lifeless hand. “Jodie, I don’t have time for a personal life on this job. Like I said, I’m on call twenty-four hours a day—I’m surprised I haven’t gotten a call since I’ve been with you! One could come at any second and I’d have to leave. With the task force, I’d have regular time off. At least, the time off I’d have I could pretty well count on. I couldn’t ask you to be a part of the mess here,

ask you to let ave your family. Not when I was rarely home. But as part of the task force”

Jodie’s gaze lifted.

“–as part of the task force, I could. Now I don’t wanna rush you. This thing between you and me has come up pretty sudden. I don’t want you to feel obligated in any”

Jodie placed her fingers over his mouth.

He continued talking. “Just because we … you know, in there…” He indicated the bedroom.

As he’d done earlier at the fair, she substituted her lips, kissing him long and hard so he knew she meant it. “Just say the word and I’ll be there,” she said, smiling. !

“What about your family?” Tate asked. “How will they feel about me? I’m the outsider, a town person.”

“My family doesn’t care about that. It’s what’s inside that counts. The makeup of a person. And you, Tate, would pass any test. They already like you and respect you. Aunt Mae thinks you’re ‘such a nice boy.” And Harriet thinks you’re a hunk. And Rafe said you’re as good a sheriff as the county’s ever had. “

Tate smiled. “Then I’m in, but it’s a little different when I’m wantin’ to marry one of the clan.”

Jodie grew still. “Marry?” she repeated

Tate frowned. “What did you think I was talkin’

about all this time? Us shackin’ up together? “

“Well, I”

“If it makes a difference, if you don’t want to do it … well, that’s okay, too. I’ll take you any way I can get you, Jodie. Any way at all.”

The telephone rang and Tate went to answer it.

When he came back he said simply, “I’m needed.” Jodie started to stand up.

“Wait there. I have to change,” he said. “I won’t be a minute. Then I’ll run you back to your car.”

“It’s not out of your way?” she asked. “Where I’m headin’ is just down the road.”

He disappeared into his bedroom and seconds later Jodie followed him.

He’d already changed into his uniform pants and was just donning his tan shirt when she entered the room.

He turned at her footstep, a little smile on his lips. “Are you plannin’ on makin’ me late?” he asked.

Jodie slipped her arms around his naked torso. It was so wonderful to be free to touch him, to claim him for her own. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” she asked sweetly.

“What?” he asked, his arms coming around her, as well.

“The answer. It’s yes,” she said.

It took him a second to make the connection, then his smile grew brilliant. “You mean it?” he asked. “Tve never meant anything more in my life.” “When? Where?” He glanced in frustration at his half-donned shirt “Dammit, Jodie, I have to go! I can’t”

She smiled. “I understand. I only wanted you to know.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss his forehead, then stepped back. But Tate wasn’t satisfied with that.

“C’mere,” he growled, and spent the next few precious moments cementing their betrothal with a proper kiss.

After that, at he let her go and she laughingly helped him finish dressing. His tie was a little askew, his badge not perfectly centered. But h4didn’t seem to mind.

Then they hurried out the front door—although not as fast as they’d hurried in.

JODIE HAD WANTED a big wedding ever since Shannon and Rare had gotten married. The bigger the better, she remembered herself saying. But not now. All she wanted now was to marry Tate quietly and for them to get started building a life together.

Mae had been shocked at the news of their engagement. “But, Jodie, you just got back!” she’d exclaimed. “Are you sure you aren’t just jumping into this, too? I know you’ve changed recently, but doesn’t that mean it’s much too soon for you to be making another big change? And Tate Conne!ly! I like him, he’s a fine young man, but I had no idea…”

“If you truly love each other, you can wait,” Harriet had advised. “You want to be sure, Jodie, for both your sakes.” ‘

“Give it some time,” Shannon had agreed. “Rare and I waited over six months, and I don’t regret it, even though at the time it was hard.”

Even Christine counseled, “You want to be sure.” But Jodie was sure. And she grew surer by the day. She wasn’t jumping into this in order to jump away from something else. For the first time in years she knew exactly what she wanted. And because of that

she had an inner serenity that, in the end, even Mae couldn’t ignore.

Jodie gazed at herself in the full-length cheval mirror. She was in a short dress of white satin, frilled at the neck and cuffs with lace. She wore matching shoes and a bridal wreath of tiny white silk flowers. Her hair, a little longer now and freshly styled, was like a bright flame in contrast. She wondered what Tate would think.

She gazed at herself for another long moment, then slowly undressed. Tomorrow she would become Mrs. Tate Connelly. She’d be giving up the Parker name. The prospect wasn’t as welcome as it once would have been. In fact, she did it now with a certain sadness. She’d come late to an appreciation of her heritage, but despite her tardiness it was something she would always treasure. Jodie Connelly. Jodie and Tate Connelly. She loved the sound of it, even as she loved Tate.

It was beyond her understanding how she could ever have thought she loved anyone else. Or that she’d spent a year away in Europe, searching. Searching for what? Exactly what she’d found with Tate. All she’d had to do was come home.

A light tapping sounded on her door as she secured the last button on her pajamas. The dress had been carefully hung on her closet door.

Her father came in, glanced at her, then at the dress.

“You been practicing?” he asked, grinning.

“I love putting it on.”

Gib moved aimlessly about the room, looking at this and that she’d yet to pack. Almost everything was off her walls, and almost everything else had been put in

boxes to be sent on to her new home. He ended up at the dress again. “You, ah, don’t regret havin’ a small wedding, do you? I mean, I remember the last big one. Rafe and Shannon’s.” He shook his head good humoredly “Now that was something’! Everyone was here—all the relatives. All the neighbors. The governor even came, didn’t he? Or he sent a gift.”

“I think he sent a gift.”

“That’s Mae’s long reach. Wonder what it’s like for everybody in the state capital now that she’s slowed down. A lot fewer notes that it burns their fingers to read. A lot fewer irate visits.” He glanced at her. “I suppose you’ve noticed she uses the phone more often now. Used to hate it, but she’s finally come around. Saved me a few trips, I can tell you.”

Jodie sensed why her father was there. And it wasn’t to reminisce about Mae or even Rafe and Shannon’s wedding. She crossed over to him and hugged him tightly. “I’m going to miss you, Daddy,” she said quietly, emotionally.