Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Canyon) (16 page)

“CSA?”

“The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord. They go all the way back to the seventies.”

Her dark brown eyebrows went up. “Quite a name.”

“They’re white supremacists, anti-Semitics and polygamists.”

“Great. I guess they don’t like much of anyone.”

“Except their many wives.”

Her lips curved. She was so pretty when she smiled. Desire filtered through him and heat slid into his groin. Until the past few days, he’d been able to keep his mind off sex, but with Claire in the house, it was getting harder and harder to do. No pun intended.

“I hear you told the doctors you were my wife,” he said, just to get a reaction.

Her cheeks colored prettily and her chin went up. “
They
assumed it and I didn’t correct them. It got me in to see you. At the time it seemed like a good idea.”

“Take it easy. You did the smart thing.” He let his gaze wander over her, thinking he wouldn’t mind doing a little pretend husband-and-wife housekeeping right now. “You know that deal we made in Arizona?”

Her eyes widened. “No. I don’t remember anything about any deal in Arizona.”

He chuckled. The woman kept him entertained. “The deal where we had one night of hot, mind-blowing sex and promised never to talk about it again?”

“All I remember is the never-talking-about-it part. The part where we promised to forget it ever happened. You might try recalling that.”

He came up out of his chair and began to stalk her, Claire backing up a step for every step he took toward her. When she came up against the wall, he pulled her into his arms.

“I don’t want to forget. I couldn’t, even if I tried.”

She gasped as he bent his head and kissed her, settling his mouth firmly over hers, testing the fullness of her lips under his. For a moment, she pressed her hands against his chest as if she meant to push him away. Then those sweet lips softened and parted, and Claire kissed him back, her slender body melting into his.

He’d begun to wonder if she still wanted him, if her wild response in Arizona had been mostly his imagination. But the little mewling sounds coming from her throat and the diamond-hard points of her breasts said his desire for her was returned.

Ben nibbled and coaxed, deepened the kiss. God, she tasted like strawberry jam and sexy female. When she slid her tongue into his mouth, his breath hitched and so did hers. He cupped her breast through the T-shirt, ran his thumb over the sharp little bud at the crest, heard her moan.

He wanted to pick her up and carry her down the hall to his bed, but he didn’t think his side could handle it. He bit down on an earlobe, kissed the side of her neck.

“Let’s go to bed,” he whispered. “I’ll make it good for you, Claire.” He kissed her again and she swayed against him, kissed him back with growing urgency.

He figured she would have agreed if she hadn’t bumped his wound just then, eliciting a sharp grunt of pain.

Claire tore free. “Oh, my God, what was I thinking? Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”

“I’m fine.” That was a lie, but what the hell? A little pain would be worth it. He caught her hand, pulled her close and kissed her again. “Come on, let’s go.”

Claire jerked away. “No way, Ben Slocum. You aren’t in any shape to have hot, mind-blowing sex. You need to get well so we can find Sam.”

His groin was throbbing, aching more than his side. He was hard as granite, but, dammit, she was right. He couldn’t afford to do something stupid like tear out his stitches.

She was right—again. And he was getting damned tired of it. Being a know-it-all wasn’t becoming in a woman.

Well, usually. He kind of liked it in Claire.

“Okay,” he said. “For now. But once I’m good to go, the deal is off. Just so you know.”

“That’s crazy. What if I say no?”

His mouth faintly curved. “Then I’ll convince you to say yes.”

“What...what about working together?”

“We’ve done all right so far. We’ll manage.”

“I’m not agreeing to anything—just so you know.”

He smiled. He couldn’t help it. “I’ve always enjoyed a challenge.” He sobered. “Unless, of course, you’d rather go back to L.A.” Which was suddenly the last thing he wanted.

It was insane. She’d be safe, and so would he.

Claire squared her shoulders. “I’m not going back.”

Relief he shouldn’t have felt slid through him. “Then as soon as I’m well, all bets are off. You’re fair game, angel.”

She opened her mouth and closed it again. Turning, she started for the door. “I have to go. I have work of my own to do.” Leaving him frustrated and amused, Ben watched Claire walk into the hall and close the study door.

With a sigh of resignation, he returned to his desk and sat back down in his chair. His side was throbbing like a thousand hammers pounded away inside him. And yet he felt better than he had in days. Sooner or later, Claire would be his.

He waited for the little voice that told him he’d gone straight off the deep end, but the voice never came.

Seventeen

T
he wind blew all night and was still whipping the branches and terrorizing the shrubs late the following morning. Turning away from the window above the kitchen sink that looked into Ben’s leafy backyard, Claire poured herself a cup of coffee from the dregs left in the pot. The kitchen was small but neat, with four of everything: place mats, plates, cups, glasses and silverware. Clearly Ben didn’t do much entertaining.

He seemed to be feeling much better. It was good news and scary news—Ben wanted her, he had made no bones about it. He intended to seduce her. The question was what did
she
want to do?

She mulled the question over as she added some half-and-half to her cup, took a sip and winced at the bitter taste. She was wildly attracted to Ben. Just looking at his amazing body made her hot and shivery all over, embarrassingly aroused. She knew how good he could make her feel, hadn’t forgotten those incredible multiple orgasms. But Ben was a loner and as soon as he found his son, he would be ready to move on.

Even now, it was hard to think of him with another woman. Getting in deeper would only make things worse.

Still, it was tempting.

Claire rolled the idea around in her head as a light knock sounded at the door. Setting her cup down on the white tile counter, she made her way across Ben’s man-cave living room to peer through the peephole, saw Sage Cantrell, Maggie Rawlins and Annie Mayberry, the little blonde woman in her sixties she had met along with his other friends the first day of their return to Houston.

Claire smiled and opened the door. “Hello. Come on in. It’s good to see you all.”

“It’s good to see you, too.” Sage hugged her as she stepped into the living room, followed by Annie and Maggie.

“I could use a little female company,” Claire said. “Ben’s getting better, which means he’s as crabby as a caged tiger.”

“So he’s back to his lovable old self,” Annie said.

Claire grinned. “Getting close, I guess. Would you like a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea?”

“Tea sounds great.” Sage was dressed in an expensive beige suit with dark brown embroidery on the lapels, and a pair of very high brown suede heels. Annie wore a dark green pantsuit and flats, making the difference in their heights dramatic.

“I’d love some tea,” Maggie said. “I think we all would.” In black jeans and a lightweight turquoise sweater, Maggie Rawlins had pulled her fiery red hair into a ponytail, a few soft wisps escaping around her pretty face. She was a well-known landscape photographer. One of her pictures, a seascape at sunset, hung on the wall in Ben’s living room.

“I brought this.” Annie handed Claire a foil-covered plate. “I know how much His Grumpiness likes brownies.”

Claire smiled. “I love them, too. Thank you, Annie.”

As she carried the brownies into the kitchen, Claire glanced at the clock and realized that the morning was almost over and it was nearly noon. She poured each of the women a glass from the pitcher of tea she kept in the fridge, and the women sat down at the round oak kitchen table.

Annie took a sip and frowned. “Where’s the sugar?”

“Sorry. I forgot this is the South.” Claire set out the sugar bowl and teaspoons. “Ben’s working in his study. Let me tell him you’re here. I know he’ll be glad to see you.”

“In a minute,” Annie said, stopping her. “Truth is, we came by to see you.”

“You did?”

“We figured you could use a little moral support,” Sage said. “Ben isn’t the easiest guy in the world.”

“The man needs a guard dog instead of a woman to take care of him,” Maggie said with a smile.

Claire tossed her stale coffee into the sink, poured herself a glass of tea, carried it over to the table and joined them.

“Ben’s really not so bad. He acts tough, but that’s just his way of protecting himself. Actually, he’s a very nice man.” As if to make the point, Hercules wandered over, jumped up in Claire’s lap and meowed. She stroked a hand over his soft gray fur. “See. He’s a cat lover. That proves it.”

Sage laughed. “I don’t think most women would think of Ben as nice.”

“Maybe he just wasn’t nice to them.”

Annie harrumphed. “You can say that again.”

Maggie took a sip of her tea. “Did you know you’re the only woman he’s ever let stay in his house? At least that’s what Trace says.”

“Ben’s always been a one-night-stand kinda guy,” Annie said bluntly.

Something Claire had known that very first morning she’d seen him climb out of his SUV in his wrinkled black tuxedo. It was also the moment she’d been hit with a fierce sexual attraction that had only grown stronger every day.

“I know the kind of man he is,” she said, tracing a finger through the condensation on the outside of her glass. “If you’re thinking we’re involved in a relationship, we aren’t. We...umm...we’re just working together to find his son.”

Annie frowned. “We’re talking about Ben Slocum here, right? Gorgeous blue eyes. Six-pack abs. Rock-hard body. You’re not a lesbian, are you?”

“Annie!” Sage’s eyes twinkled. Maggie took a drink of her tea to hide a grin.

“I’m not a lesbian,” Claire said, fighting a smile of her own. “Of course I’m attracted to Ben. What woman wouldn’t be? But as you said, he’s a one-night-stand kind of guy. I’m not that kind of woman.” Except for that one wild night in Phoenix she was supposed to have forgotten but never really would.

“Good for you,” Annie said.

“Ben used to be different,” Claire said. “I know I shouldn’t tell you. I’m sure he wouldn’t approve, but when he was younger, there was a woman he loved. When it didn’t work out, he changed.”

“Sam’s mother,” Sage guessed.

“That’s right. Laura. Before she died, we became close friends.”

“So you’re saying this Laura is the reason Ben doesn’t trust women,” Annie said.

“They were madly in love, but according to Laura love wasn’t enough. Ben found her in bed with another man three days after they got engaged.”

Sage leaned back in her chair. “I knew there was something. I never could quite put my finger on it.”

“Please don’t tell him I told you. He can’t handle another woman’s betrayal and that’s the way he’d see it.”

“We’re family,” Annie said firmly. “Family doesn’t hurt each other.”

Sage reached over the table and caught Claire’s hand. “Ben thinks a lot of you, Claire. When he was in the hospital, he asked Jake and me to look out for you. He said you were amazing in El Paso, that you saved his life. He said he’d never known a woman like you.”

A feeling of warmth slid through her. “He really said that?”

Sage nodded. “He couldn’t stop singing your praises.”

“Of course at the time, he was high as a kite on drugs,” Annie added.

Maggie just smiled. “I’ve only seen the two of you together once, but Ben was clearly protective of you. Considering he thinks women are made strictly to satisfy his appetites, you’re definitely special. Of course if you ask him, he’ll probably deny it.”

“What will I deny?” Ben asked, strolling into the kitchen, looking ridiculously sexy in an old drab green T-shirt and jeans.

“None of your business,” Annie said, and Ben grinned.

All three women just stared.

“What?” he said.

“You don’t grin,” Annie said. “You’re the Iceman.”

His grin turned into a scowl. “What are you doing here, anyway? You come by to torture Claire?”

Annie grunted. “I imagine you can handle that all by yourself.”

“We just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Sage put in diplomatically.

Ben ran a hand unconsciously over his side. “Better every day. I’m coming into the office tomorrow morning. I want to work with Sol, do some brainstorming, see if we can think of another way to pick up Bridger’s trail.”

Annie’s voice softened. “You’ll find your boy, Ben. I know you will.”

Ben just nodded.

“You got a picture?” Annie asked.

Claire was surprised when he pulled out his wallet and slid out a photo of Sam. “I found it in an album Claire had in her living room.” He turned in her direction. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“I don’t mind,” she said softly, feeling a stab of the old guilt for giving Bridger a reason to want revenge and not protecting the boy.

Ben held the photo out to the women.

“He looks just like you,” Annie said.

Sage studied the picture. “Same black hair and those Iceman eyes. Sam’s a very handsome boy.”

Maggie took the photo. “He’s smiling. He looks like a happy kid. You’ll find him, Ben, and bring him home.”

A muscle tightened in his jaw as he took the photo from Maggie’s hand and slid it back into his wallet. “I need to get back to work. Thanks for coming by.”

The women watched him disappear down the hall.

“He loves the kid already,” Annie said.

Claire’s throat tightened. “I know.” She shook her head. “It’s my fault Sam’s missing. I should have told him how much I cared about him. I tried to adopt him myself, but the judge wouldn’t have it. I should have convinced him to give me time to work things out and find him a loving home.”

Sage squeezed her hand. “You did your best, Claire.”

She swallowed. “I promised Laura I’d take care of him. She didn’t think Sam’s father would want him, but I should have gone to Ben sooner, found out for myself. I let all of them down.” Tears swam in her eyes.

Maggie leaned over and hugged her. “You’ll find him,” she said. “You’ll bring Sam home.”

She nodded, wiped away the wetness. “We just... We need a clue, something that will tell us where to look. I’m coming into the office with Ben tomorrow. He won’t like it, but I’m coming anyway.”

The women exchanged glances.

“You’re coming anyway,” Annie repeated, a glint in her shrewd brown eyes. “Even if Ben doesn’t want you to.”

“He can’t always have things his way.”

Annie grinned. Sage and Maggie smiled.

Was Ben really that hard a man? But Claire knew that he was.

The women finished their tea and headed back to work, leaving Claire alone in the kitchen. As she thought back over the visit, she started smiling. She felt as if she’d been battered by a whirlwind and yet she hadn’t missed their concern. She really liked Ben’s friends. And she was beginning to think they liked her. Life was just full of surprises.

If they found—
when
they found Sam, she corrected—she had a big surprise in store for Ben.