Crazy Little Thing Called Love (15 page)

Still, she needed to give her body something
to work with if she was really sticking around the ranch. Living on
a ranch was hard work. She was going to need her energy as much to
deal with that place as to deal with her stubborn, difficult
father.

Blue wiped away a mascara stain under her
eyes only to realize it was a dark circle. She gave up all hope of
righting her face or her life right then. She couldn’t deal with
anything else until she had at least ten ounces of warm brown
liquid coating her stomach.

Apparently Fate had different ideas about
that though because when she stepped back out into the hallway she
came face to face with its one citizen she’d been set on avoiding.
Her mouth went dry and her eyes darted around the half-lit hallway.
She was semi-alone with Zach West and the last time that had
happened he’d had his hand in her panties. Damn.

No, double damn, because despite being
exhausted, despite being embarrassed, humiliated even, her body
still heated under his dark gaze. He was wearing slacks; something
he hadn’t even donned for the wedding, with dress shoes and another
polo. This one was a light blue and only emphasized his sun tanned
skin and the coiled muscles below.

Seeing him look so good she finally stopped
blaming herself for letting things get out of control the night of
Molly’s wedding. She was lucky to have come to her senses when she
did but it was staggering she’d been able to walk away from him
really. She deserved a good-girl medal or something.

“What are you doing here?”

His eyes narrowed, “Are you going to ask me
that every time we run into each other?”

She swallowed hard and shrugged. He had a
point. Couldn’t she think of anything else to say?

“It’s nice to see you again. You’re looking
well.”

“Thanks.” He snorted this time and his gaze
raked down her from head to toe and then back up, he met her eyes
when he said, “You look like hell.”

“Wow. Okay. Thanks.” She shook her head.
Obviously he was still upset. She was having a tough time caring
since she’d been thinking about how hot he looked and he was
telling her she looked like a mess.

“You run out of makeup or something? I think
they sell that stuff over at the pharmacy.”

Her chin tilted up of its own accord, “Thanks
for the tip.”

“Just trying to be helpful. Most of the
ladies around these parts don’t go out without the full arsenal of
liner and mascara and all that crap. Guess now I can see why.”

“Well so much for the gentlemen cowboy act
huh?” The words fell out of her mouth with a snarl before she could
think to contain them. She’d have slapped her hands over her mouth
if she’d thought fast enough. She shouldn’t have brought that up;
bringing it up only brought back other memories, ones she did not
want to discuss with him ever.

His green eyes flashed and a smile curled at
his lips but it wasn’t the same easy, flirtatious one she’d liked
so much on that handsome face. This smile was decidedly dangerous,
tinged in something darker. She knew her mistake the minute she’d
made it. She wasn’t dealing with the nice guy he kept on the
surface. The man towering over her now was unquestionably more
hazardous than that.

“I told you I wasn’t a gentleman but in case
you didn’t hear me, I think getting you off in a church parking lot
should have more than proven that point.”

Her cheeks flushed. She should have known he
was going to bring it up. He wanted to talk about it. Her life just
kept spiraling further out of reach.

“Then again, most ladies don’t run out on a
man after he gives her an orgasm without so much as a thank you so
I figure we’re about even on manners.”

“A thank you? That’s what this is about?” She
rolled her eyes, “Fine. Thank you Zach, thank you oh so very
much.”

“It’s a little late for that now baby-doll.”
His gaze lowered to her mouth. “And you still owe me one… actually
I guess that makes two now.”

Her mouth actually fell open, “You’re not
actually implying that I’d… because you…” She couldn’t make the
words come out. She was appalled.

He laughed, “An orgasm for an orgasm? Why
Bluebell, you’re going to make me blush. Ladies don’t talk like
that. I just meant that test drive of the Audi of course.”

She’d been raised to be a lady no matter what
he might think. Sure letting a virtual stranger up her skirt in a
church parking lot wasn’t exactly proper but she had manners. She
knew that when a person tried to rile her she was supposed to smile
sweetly, bless their heart and walk away. And he was trying to rile
her and doing a really good job of it, so much so that combined
with her exhaustion she couldn’t keep her smart ass response from
rolling off her tongue.

“You think that one orgasm is worth driving
the R8? Hardly.”

One corner of his mouth slid up, “Oh I
suppose you’ve had better?”

“Yep.”

“Bet none faster though,” his smile widened,
“I barely touched you and you went off like a firecracker.”

Damn him for pointing out the obvious. She
had never come from a man’s touch that fast. Ever. And that was
embarrassing to admit even to herself let alone the stranger that’d
done it to her.

“Your ego is too big for your own good.”

“My ego is backed up by the facts.” He took a
step closer in the small hallway, “And you already know how big the
rest of me is so it shouldn’t be that surprising.”

“You’re really not going to let this go are
you?” She stepped back and collided with the wall. Her funny bone
smarted but there wasn’t a thing she found funny about her current
situation. She winced and rubbed it with her index fingers.

“Blue? Bluebell are you back there? Your
latte is getting cold.” The sound of Maddie’s voice came closer and
she breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to put a
couple extra feet between herself and the overwhelming man in front
of her.

“Payback’s a bitch Bluebell.” He shook his
head and ignored the intrusion.

“I’m coming Maddie. Be right there.” She
called as the other woman stopped at the mouth of the hallway and
stared between them curiously. The last thing she needed was gossip
that she’d been in the back hall of the diner with Zach West making
the circuit. “I was just thanking Zach for asking about Daddy.”

“Oh okay.” Maddie shrugged but remained where
she was, waiting for her.

Zach chuckled that dark rumble that made her
insides ache, “Yeah. As I was saying… it’s good to know you’ll be
in town for a while. I’ll be seeing you around Bluebell.”

She bit her lip to keep from laughing. It
wasn’t so much a goodbye as a threat. She should probably have been
worried but she wasn’t. Zach was definitely a big, overwhelming guy
but she didn’t believe a threat coming from those lips no matter
how dark his edges might be. If he’d wanted to get payback he could
have grabbed her at the wedding, kept her from leaving. That wasn’t
his style.

“Bye Zach.”

She followed Maddie back to the front of the
diner and paid for her latte. Still, she was going to be in Fate
for a while which meant she’d have to do a better job of avoiding
him. It shouldn’t be that hard. It was a small town but she lived
on a ranch outside of town and so did he. Their paths wouldn’t
cross that often and she figured she’d held her own against him
pretty well even if it did.

That thought kept her company as she got in
the R8 and tore out of town. With the windows down and the stereo
blasting Carrie Underwood it was easier to pretend she was just out
for a drive, rolling down the road without a care in the world. It
was easier to pretend her life wasn’t falling apart all around
her.

The house was dark as she pulled to a stop in
front and for that much she was grateful. Arlene had been visiting
her father, taking her spot by the side of his bed while Blue was
away. Bobby had taken a load of cattle over to Lubbock. None of the
other hands would dare set foot in the house which meant she was
alone for a little while and could take a nice long shower and then
an even longer nap.

The quietness of the house when the big oak
door slammed behind her caught her off guard. She’d always hated
how quiet this house was. It hadn’t always been that way. Her
mother had often left music playing as she went from room to room.
She’d leave a television going in the background while she read a
book or cooked supper. Some of those instances were memories, she
was afraid most of them were simply stories she’d heard over the
years from Arlene and Alice though.

Much like her bedroom, nothing in the big
ranch house had changed in the years she’d been away. She hadn’t
really expected it to. Despite growing up in the house nothing in
it had been changed from the time she was five years old other than
her bed and her clothes growing with her until she left.

The same large framed photograph of her
mother, father and herself as a baby hung above the fireplace. The
same smaller pictures dotted the other tables, some from the baby
beauty pageants her mother had entered her in, some of her done up
in her rhinestone boots and cowboy hat with her father. This had
been home for the girl in those pictures; she wasn’t sure what it
was to her now.

She’d told her father she was home when he
tried to send her away. Had that been a lie? The truth she’d never
seen for herself? Nowhere else had ever felt like home either so by
default did that make this ranch and Fate her home?

Her condo in Denver was fantastic but it was
a rental property like all the others had been. She’d never owned a
piece of land or a house. She’d always known there was no point
because with her job she’d be moving again in a few years and she’d
just wind up losing money on it. It had worked for her for the past
few years.

But it wouldn’t keep working if she didn’t
get back to her job. She was freelance which meant she was easily
replaceable. She was a hard worker that always got the top projects
but they’d only hold the spot for her for so long before they were
forced to give it to somebody else.

And she didn’t know how long she was going to
be away. The doctors weren’t giving her any hard facts. They said
there was no way of knowing. Her father was in the final stages of
the disease. He was dying but that could take days, weeks or
months.

She was still trying to wrap her head around
what all that meant. She couldn’t begin to look at what it meant
once he was dead and what that would mean to her life. No mother,
no father, just a ranch that she’d never loved and had no idea how
to run.

She needed to talk to her father. She knew
it. He had to know it despite his stubbornness. So for now she had
to focus on getting him home and getting him comfortable. If she
could take care of that, maybe she could get him to finally open up
and tell her what she was supposed to do.

Another week passed before her father was
well enough to be moved home. Blue had taken care of all the
arrangements. He had a live-in nurse. He had a hospital bed in his
bedroom and the old oak set was taken into storage. He was home but
if she’d thought that would make him any easier to deal with she’d
been painfully wrong.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He woke
from another bout of sleep that had kept him out all night and half
the day and scowled at her.

She looked up from the magazine she was
reading. He looked just as he had every other time when he woke.
Unhappy, stubborn and annoyed, and all of it was directed straight
at her. She sighed and put the magazine aside.

“I’m looking after you Daddy. What else would
I be doing?”

“Your job for one. You still got one of those
right?”

She took a deep breath and let it out. Just
once she’d like for him to wake up and smile. Just once she’d like
him to wake up and be happy to see her. Why did he always have to
push her away and why did it still hurt so damn much?

“Yeah, I took a leave of absence.”

“Well that’s stupid.” He grumbled, “I don’t
need you here tending to me. I got the nurses and the doctors and
if I need anything Arlene or Bobby can get it for me.”

Yeah, he had everybody he needed, everybody
but his daughter. He didn’t want her here. He couldn’t make that
any more clear but she wasn’t going to let him die without his only
family member by his side.

“You should just go on back to Atlanta or
wherever it is you’re living these days.”

She bit her lip. Did he really think she
still lived in Atlanta? That had been five years ago. She lived in
Denver. They’d talked about her apartment and the view of the
mountains. They’d talked about John Elway for God’s sake.

“Denver Daddy. I live in Denver.”

“Same difference.”

“Sure.” She sighed, “Can I get you anything?
Water? The mail? Do you want to watch television?”

“I haven’t watched daytime television once in
my life and I ain’t going to start now girl.” He snarled, “Bobby’s
supposed to be coming by with some spreadsheets. Has he been
here?”

“I think I saw him talking to Arlene.”

“Well go get him already.”

He couldn’t send her back to Denver but that
wouldn’t stop him from trying to send her away. He did it as often
as he opened his eyes these last few days. She’d stopped trying to
breach the subject of the ranch or why he’d kept his illness a
secret from her. The last time he’d nearly pulled his IV out trying
to get away from her and cursed for a solid hour from the pain
afterwards. Their only conversations were him kicking her out of
his room.

“Okay.” She reluctantly stood and went to the
door but it opened just as she reached it and Bobby marched
inside.

“It’s about damn time Bob. You get done
flirting with Arlene and decide it’s time to work?”