To Wed and Protect (8 page)

“There you are,” Abby said as she rounded the side
of the house. “I was wondering where you disappeared to. Come on inside, honey. You don't need to be bothering Luke.”

“He's not bothering me,” Luke replied as he straightened. “We were just talking about tools and man kind of things.”

Jason's little chest puffed out. “Yeah, man things,” he agreed.

“Well, I just thought a certain little man might want some chocolate chip cookies and milk with his sister,” Abby said. Jason frowned, obviously torn between the allure of cookies and the appeal of watching Luke work.

“I know if I had the chance to eat cookies, I'd jump on it,” Luke said.

“You could come in and eat a cookie with us,” Jason said.

Luke could tell that Abby was as surprised by the boy's invitation as he was. Until this afternoon, Jason had remained suspicious, downright wary of Luke.

Luke set down his hammer. “I suppose I could choke down a cookie or two,” he agreed. He was only agreeing because he could use a little break, he told himself. The sun was hotter than a firecracker, and a few minutes of coolness in the house would revive his flagging energy.

Minutes later the four of them sat at the kitchen table, milk in front of each and a platter of cookies in the center of the table.

“Robert Goodman has a pet lizard,” Jason said.

“He brung it to school today so we could all see it.”

“He brought it to school,” Abby corrected.

“That's what I said,” Jason replied impatiently.

Luke grinned and listened as Jason extolled the virtues of owning such a creature. He tried not to notice how pretty Abby looked in a forest green T-shirt that did amazing things to her eyes.

He wanted her again. Sitting across from her at the table, seeing her laughing and interacting with the kids, the hint of a milk mustache above her upper lip, desire slammed into him. And just as suddenly, he couldn't remember why he thought he needed distance from her in the first place.

“I think we should get a pet lizard,” Jason said, drawing Luke's attention to the conversation.

“Sorry, there is positively, absolutely no way I'm having a lizard in this house,” Abby exclaimed. “Personally, I think they're a little creepy.”

“Then how about a dog?” Jason replied and Luke could tell by the expression on the boy's face that this had been the ultimate goal to begin with.

“A dog?” Abby looked at Jason, then at Jessica, who nodded eagerly, her eyes shining with excitement.

“I think they're ganging up on you,” Luke observed with a grin, then shoved back his chair. “And this sounds like a family kind of decision, so I'll just scoot outside and get back to work.”

Luke left the house to the sound of Jason promising all the things boys for an eternity had promised about taking care of a dog.

He'd wanted a dog when he'd been young, but he'd been afraid to get one, afraid that his father would hurt the pet to punish him.

He shoved the thought out of his mind and returned
to the work at hand. It was dusk when he finished for the day and packed up his tools. The porch was slowly taking shape but would require at least two or three more full days to complete. Normally he hired a high school kid to help him on the bigger jobs like decks, but with school in session, Luke had decided to do this job alone.

Besides, if he'd had a high school kid working with him he wouldn't have had the opportunity to make love to Abby. If he had a high school kid working with him, he'd probably never get an opportunity to make love to her again.

With his tools packed away, he walked to the back of the house and knocked on the door.

She stepped onto the stoop, the fading sunlight kissing her features with a golden hue. “Knocking off for the day?”

He nodded and grinned. “But I couldn't leave without knowing who won the battle.”

“The battle?” She looked at him, those green eyes of hers lit with curiosity.

Again he was struck by a swelling wave of desire for her as he remembered how her green eyes had shimmered beneath half-closed lids as he'd made love to her. He jammed his hands in his pockets to stymie his desire to grab her and pull her close, capture her kissable lips with his.

“The dog battle,” he replied, trying to focus on the conversation and not on his pulsing, pounding, crazy need.

She smiled. “The verdict is still out where the dog is concerned.”

“Dogs are good for kids,” he replied. He could vividly remember the taste of her lips…hot, sweet honey that had flowed through his veins as his mouth had possessed hers over and over again.

He took a step away from her, consciously willing his mind to stop its thoughts. “If you decide you want to get them a dog, let me know. There are a couple of breeders in the area, some that are reputable and some you should stay away from.”

“Thanks, Luke. For everything.” For a brief moment he saw in her eyes that she wasn't just talking about his carpentry work, that she, too, was remembering the morning they'd spent in one another's arms.

He nodded and took another step backward. “I'll see you in the morning.” He turned to leave, then whirled to face her. “How about on Saturday I come and pick up you and the kids and we go into town. We could get those guitar strings and maybe have lunch at the diner and I could show you and the kids the joys and secrets of our little town.”

The smile that lit her face nearly stole Luke's breath away. “That sounds nice,” she agreed.

“Great, we can finalize the plans tomorrow or the next day when I'm here.” He stepped off the porch.

“That sounds fine,” she returned.

He nodded and waved, then hurried toward his truck, wondering what on earth had possessed him to issue such an invitation.

I
t was a perfect day for an outing. Overnight a cool front had passed through, and the weathermen were forecasting a comfortable eighty degrees for the day's high temperature.

Abby tried not to dwell on the pleasure that swept through her as she discarded first one outfit, then another in an effort to dress for the trip into town. She couldn't help but look forward to spending the day in Luke's company.

She told herself it was because she had very little interaction with adults, that most of her days and nights were spent in the company of the children. It was only natural that she would be looking forward to a little adult conversation.

Looking at the clock and seeing it was a quarter to ten, she quickly decided to wear a pale pink sundress that she knew was both becoming and comfortable.

She checked her reflection in the bedroom dresser mirror, making sure her lipstick wasn't smudged and her hair was brushed, then left her room to make sure the kids were ready to go.

They sat in the living room on the sofa, wiggling and squirming with suppressed eagerness. Abby realized they were just as eager as she was for a trip into town. They had dressed themselves with care, and their faces were scrubbed shiny clean and their hair neatly brushed.

“You two look terrific,” she exclaimed.

“You look pretty, too,” Jason said, and Jessica nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, kind sir,” she said and curtsied.

“We'll be the best-looking family in Inferno today,” she said, and the two kids giggled.

At that moment a knock fell on the front door, and Abby knew Luke had arrived. He'd finished the porch the day before, and the last thing he had done was open the front door so it was once again functioning. She opened the door to greet him, and her breath caught in her throat.

Always before, she'd seen him dressed for work, wearing worn jeans and faded T-shirts or jeans and no shirt. This morning he was again clad in a pair of tight jeans, but instead of his customary T-shirt, he was wearing a gray-and-black-striped dress shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to expose his strong forearms, and the colors of the shirt enhanced the black-lashed beauty of his eyes.

“Good morning,” he said, his gaze sweeping over her with obvious approval. “Wow, you look terrific,”
he said, and the heat that flowed from his eyes caused a warmth to sweep into her cheeks.

“Thank you,” she replied. “You look really nice, too.”

He grinned. “When you go to town on a Saturday morning, it's good to clean up a bit. And I must say, Ms. Graham, you clean up damned fine.”

Again heat suffused Abby's cheeks, and at that moment the kids pushed past her and flew out the door.

“Let's go!” Jason exclaimed. “We want to go shopping and eat lunch at the diner and see all the stores.”

Luke laughed and gestured Abby out the door. “Looks like somebody is eager for a trip into town.”

Abby locked the house, then stepped off the porch, following Luke and the kids, who were just ahead of her. “Where's your pickup?” she asked as she realized a beige station wagon awaited them.

“At the ranch. We use this to transport guests, and I figured it was better to drive it than have the kids ride in the back of the pickup.” His eyes twinkled with humor. “Of course, if anyone sees me driving this thing, it's going to totally destroy my image. A black, shiny pickup is a babe magnet. A beige station wagon just isn't the same.”

“I'll tell you what, if we see any babes along the way, you can duck down and I'll pretend like I'm driving.”

Luke laughed.

Abby got into the front passenger seat while the kids got into the back. “Buckle up,” she reminded them as Luke slid behind the wheel.

Within minutes they were on their way.

“Nice day,” she said, fighting a wave of unaccountable shyness. She'd slept with this man, knew most all the parts of his body intimately and yet at the moment felt nervous and shy.

“Gorgeous,” he agreed. “It's always nice when autumn brings cooler temperatures.”

“I guess cooler is relative. Back home, autumn just meant the beginning of winter.”

“That's one thing we don't have here,” he replied.

“The winter months are our best months at the ranch. We stay fully booked from November through February with people wanting to escape winter.”

“It will sure be nice not to have to worry about shoveling snow or driving on icy roads.” She settled back in the seat and tried to relax. “So, you mentioned the other day you're going to show us all the joys and secrets of Inferno. What kind of secrets are there?”

“Is there buried treasure?” Jason asked from the back seat.

Luke laughed, the deep rumble shooting pleasure through Abby. “Not that I know of, Jason. If I knew there was buried treasure somewhere in Inferno, I would have dug it up long ago.”

Luke shot Abby a conspiratorial wink. “But I can show you real bullet holes in the side of the bank where a band of desperados tried to steal the bank's money.”

“Wow,” Jason exclaimed. “I can't wait to see that.”

“And what are the holes really?” Abby asked,
keeping her voice low so Jason and Jessica couldn't hear her.

“Oh, they're real bullet holes, all right, but they weren't put there by desperados,” Luke said, keeping his voice low, as well.

“So, how did they get there?” she asked, leaning slightly toward him in an effort to hear his quiet voice. Instantly she could smell the familiar scent of him, the woodsy, spicy male scent that had driven her half wild when she'd made love with him.

“Burt Holloway used to work as one of the tellers in the bank before he retired last year. One day his wife called him outside and held him at gunpoint against the side of the building. Seems she was miffed because she'd heard a rumor that he was flirting with one of the waitresses down at the Honky Tonk.”

“So she shot him?” Abby asked incredulously.

“She unloaded a six-shooter into the wall behind him but didn't hurt him none. Just put a touch of fear into him. Old Burt, he hasn't been back to the Honky Tonk since.”

“What are you guys whispering about?” Jason asked, a touch of indignation in his voice.

Luke wheeled into a parking space in front of the diner, shut off the car, then turned to look at Jason. “We were trying to decide if you were going to drink one or two chocolate shakes at lunch.”

“Two!” Jason exclaimed.

“Then we'd better get sightseeing so we can work up an appetite,” Luke said.

The four of them got out of the car, and Abby and
the kids looked at Luke for direction. “Let's see the bullet holes first,” Jason said.

“Is that okay with you, Jessica?” Luke asked, his tone infinitely gentle with the little girl.

She nodded affirmatively and grabbed Abby's hand.

“Then we'll begin our tour of the lovely town of Inferno at the bank.”

Minutes later the four of them stood in the alley beside the bank, eyeing the six holes in the adobe building. “What are desperados?” Jason asked curiously.

“Bank robbers…bad guys,” Luke replied. “But don't worry buddy, bad guys go to jail.”

“And they stay there forever?”

Jason's question hung in the air for a moment, and Luke looked at Abby, as if wanting help in answering the question. “Most of the time bad guys stay in jail forever,” she replied, the tiny white lie told to still a little boy's fears.

“What you have to remember, Jason, is that we're the good guys,” Luke said. “And the good guys always win.” In one smooth movement he picked Jason up and placed him on his shoulders.

Jason squealed in delight as his arms locked beneath Luke's chin. “Look at me, I'm tall as a tree,” he said and laughed.

And that set the tone for the day. Luke took them in and out of quaint little shops. He took them to the fire station manned by volunteers where the kids got to sit on the shiny red fire engine and play with a litter of kittens that had taken up residency there.

Everywhere they went Luke was greeted with
friendliness. It was obvious he was adored by the women of the town, and liked by the men, as well.

And throughout the town tour, Abby found herself fighting the enormous attraction that had drawn her to Luke from the moment she'd first met him.

It didn't help that he seemed to have endless patience with the kids. He was sweetly gentle with Jessica and abounding with good humor in the face of Jason's endless curiosity. And to Abby's surprise she found those traits sexy as hell.

She couldn't help but realize that this was the way a family interacted, that to strangers on the street who didn't know either her or Luke, they appeared to be a perfectly normal, happy family.

And she knew the danger of those kinds of thoughts. She hadn't lied to Luke when she'd told him she had learned to expect nothing from men.

Certainly Justin Cahill had shown her the epitome of cruel indifference, and Ken…he had simply shown her that words of love spoken when blue skies abounded meant nothing when stormy seas lay ahead.

At least Luke had been honest with her, telling her that in seven months he was out of there, and he had no intention of allowing anything or anyone to stop his pursuit of his dream.

It was midafternoon when they finally stopped for lunch at the diner. The meal was accompanied by lots of laughter as Jason pled his case, once more, for a dog.

“I would clean my room twice every day,” Jason said. “And Jessica told me she would, too.” Jessica nodded vigorously in eager agreement.

“And we'd make you breakfast on Saturdays…your favorite, pancakes. And if we had a dog, Jessica and me would feed him and take him outside for walks and take care of him so you wouldn't have to ever do anything. We'd do everything around the house and you could just stay in bed if you wanted and—”

“Whoa.” Abby laughed and held up a hand to still the promise-spewing Jason. “I'll tell you what.” She grabbed her purse and got out a handful of change.

“Why don't you and Jessica go play the jukebox and let me think about it for a few minutes.”

Jessica and Jason scrambled from the booth, leaving Abby and Luke alone for the first time that day. Luke smiled at her across the table. “You know they aren't going to be happy until you get them a dog.”

“I know,” Abby agreed with a small laugh. “Jason has been unrelenting in his quest, and there's a small part of me that thinks it wouldn't be such a bad thing. I mean, I know the bulk of the work for a pet would fall on my head. But on the other hand, having a dog seems so wonderfully normal and right.”

“And you want wonderfully normal and right for the kids,” he said.

She nodded. “I do.”

He took a sip of his soda and gazed at the children, then back to her. “My offer still stands to help you find a good dog.”

“You've done too much for me and the kids already,” Abby replied.

“You keep wearing that killer dress and I'll keep trying to do nice things for you.” His eyes glowed
with a familiar heat that she hadn't seen since before they'd made love.

“And you keep looking at me like that and I'll try to do nice things for you,” she returned, her voice slightly breathless.

He laughed, not the full-bodied laughter he'd shared with the kids all morning, but rather a low, seductive laugh that held a promise that momentarily swept away her ability to breathe.

She broke eye contact with him and grabbed her glass of water, her mouth suddenly achingly dry.

“You feel it, too, don't you, Abby?” His voice was whisper soft, and again she looked at him, into the heat of his sexy eyes.

“Feel what?”

He smiled knowingly. “The desire to repeat what we did the other day.” Like powerful twin magnets, his eyes held hers, making it impossible for her to look away. “That dress is lovely on you, Abby, but all I've been able to think about all day long is taking it off you.”

Flames of heat warmed her cheeks at his words. “I must say, that surprises me.” She fought to control both her blush and the raging turmoil his words created.

He lifted a dark eyebrow. “And why should that surprise you?”

“If I am to believe that you are the womanizer people in this town have told me you are, then half the excitement of getting a woman in bed would be in the chase. I'm afraid I didn't give you much of a chase.”

“Abby.” He reached across the table and drew one
of her hands into his. “I'm the first one to admit that I like women and I've dated a lot of women. But I don't sleep with all the women I date and I definitely don't like to play the kind of head games so many people like to play.”

“I don't play head games, either,” she replied. “I just… I'm not very exciting and…”

He squeezed her hand to still whatever other protest she was about to make. “Abby, you have no idea how exciting I find you, and I'd like to make love with you again.”

“Let's change the subject. You're making it difficult for me to think.”

He grinned and released her hand. “Okay, tell me what you were doing before you started taking care of Jason and Jessica.”

“My life was okay. I was a third grade teacher.”

“That doesn't surprise me. It's obvious you love children. Okay, so during the day you were a teacher, and in the evenings?”

She shrugged. “I visited with Loretta and the kids a lot and I was dating a man named Ken Masters.”

Luke's eyes were opaque. “Were you in love with him?”

“No.” The answer came swiftly and with assurance. “I wanted to be in love and I tried to fool myself that I was in love with Ken. He was a high school coach and we had school in common. We attended school functions together, and it just seemed sort of natural that we'd eventually be together forever.”