Dream Lover (Denim and Spurs Book 2) (4 page)

“What are you doing?”

He removed his hat and crowded her into the corner. “Why are you trying to avoid me?”

“I’m not…I just…this isn’t smart.”

Reaching to his left, he smacked the “Stop” button then returned his attention to the woman between him and the walls. “Explain.”

“Are you crazy? You can’t just stop the elevator.”

He quirked a brow at her, daring her to do something about his actions. “I just did. Why are you avoiding me?”

“This…what if someone is waiting for it?”

“I’m waiting. For a response. Tell me and I’ll start it again. Don’t and we just hang out here. You and me. No cameras, no one else. Just. Us,” he whispered the last two words in her ear before trailing his tongue along the whorl. She shivered against him and he pressed closer still. Lord, this woman was making him forget basic good behavior.

“I’m not avoiding you,” she blurted, her voice breathy and faint. “I just am not looking for a relationship while I’m here. There, I told you.”

He nipped her earlobe. “So you did.” True to his word, he backed off and restarted the elevator. “Come riding with me.”

She inched back and shoved her hands in the front pockets of her jeans, hunching her shoulders in an attempt to hide herself more. “That’s okay, but thank you for the offer.” Laciee wouldn’t look at him.

The elevator stopped and he followed her from the car, down the hall to a room that had the door open a crack. She gasped and froze. Judd frowned.

“Is this your room?”

“Yes.” Her voice so low he almost didn’t hear her.

He stepped in front of her before opening the door the rest of the way. The mess astounded him. All her items had been jerked from her bags, the mattress pushed off the bed, bottles broken and the mirror had a message in lipstick. “Filthy Bitch. Whore.”

Fury shot through him instantly and he turned to find her staring at the mess as if she expected it. No surprise or shock on her face, only resignation. She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed.

“Don’t move,” he barked the order as he checked the bathroom to make sure no one was in there hiding. More mess, but no person. Probably a good thing for he would have torn them limb from limb. He shook from the force of his anger.

Whirling around, he paused as he looked through the doorway to where Laciee stood. Alone. That’s how she looked. So alone, and he lost more of his heart to her. He whipped out his phone and called the sheriff. Judd watched her as he spoke to the officer, the paleness of her complexion worrying him.

“Won’t do any good,” she muttered after he hung up.

“Why not?”

She shook her head. “I’m sure you have something else you could be doing.” Laciee turned, giving him her back, and made her way to duffle bag that lay on the floor.

“Don’t touch that, Laciee,” he ordered. “We’ll wait outside for the cops.”

He had to forcibly remove her from the room. She stood apart from him, arms still wrapped around her belly with a defeated expression on her face. The look morphed into one of disinterest when the sheriff and hotel staff appeared. Her hands were returned to her pockets as well as she straightened up. He knew the look, she was shoring up her defenses. Judd ended up doing the talking because she just stood there. When they went through her room, she remained out in the hall. He frowned over the men sifting through her panties like they had a right to touch them.

“We’ll do our best to find the person or persons who did this, Ms. Dupree,” Sheriff Bolton said, leaning against the wall beside her. “Where will you be staying so we can get in touch with you?”

“She’ll be staying at my ranch with me.” Both the sheriff and Laciee looked at him with wide eyes. He ignored the blue set and remained locked with the brown eyes of the woman he was taking home with him. There was no reason for that man to lean so close to her.

“With you?” Bolton questioned, some doubt in his tone.

“With me,” Judd replied, his voice hard. “And we need to get on our way.” He beckoned to Laciee. “Come on, darlin’, gather your clothing and we’ll get on our way.”

She listened and walked to his side. Placing his hand at the small of her back, he escorted her back into the room where he helped her shove things into a bag and suitcase. Then they left.

Chapter Four

Laciee wasn’t sure what to think as she drove her Malibu behind Judd’s large truck. The vandalism of her room, she expected. Judd Travers claiming she would be staying with him at his ranch, not so much.

She expelled a breath she’d been unaware of holding as they rattled over a cattle guard. He lived about a half hour out of Branchwater and in her estimation that was thirty minutes too close. If only she’d not agreed to stay.

“What if he’s got kids? Or a girlfriend.” Staring at her reflection in the rearview, she rolled her eyes. “Perhaps children.”

She wasn’t keen on going to his place but he hadn’t given her the option. “Either you ride with me and I send someone back for your car, or you follow me. Either way, Laciee Dupree, you’re staying with me at my ranch,” he’d said in a tone which brooked no argument.

Drained from the display in her hotel room, she hadn’t put up any fight. Perhaps a single night of good sleep was all it would take for her to find her sanity and head back to the hotel. To hell with the messages. She sure as heck didn’t want this stuff following Judd Travers.

His house came into view, and she released a low whistle of appreciation. A gorgeous farmhouse built of brick awaited them. She parked her rental beside his truck and got out, looking around The Flying T. Definitely had some improvements since she’d been out here last.

He appeared beside her, his hat shadowing the harsh angles of his face as he gazed down at her. Even so, she could feel the intensity of his appraisal.

“Nice house,” she muttered.

He grunted as he opened the back door of her car and grabbed her suitcase off the seat. That was followed by her duffle, and he shut the door with his hip before heading to the house. Pocketing her keys, she scrambled off after him, the air ripe with the scents that came with a ranch. What amazed her was how much being there apparently calmed her nerves.

She trailed him up the four brick steps. They stepped beneath an awning supported by four large white pillars and continued on to the large oak door. He pushed in and waited for her to pass him before closing the door behind her.

Moving by her again, he strode through the foyer and up the stairs on the right side, she went with him, doing her best not to be mesmerized by the way his jeans cupped his ass as he walked.

At the top, a desk sat in a small study area right in front of her, atop a gorgeous area rug. He went left, past some shelves and a balcony, and then by one door and finally to a second. The room had been done in colors that matched the bedspread—subtle sage and tawny enhanced by a deep cinnamon hue. It was beautiful.

“This is the largest bedroom I have set up. Bathroom is through there. No one else is up here so you don’t have to worry about sharing.” He placed her bags down by the bed and faced her. The seriousness in his gaze made her a bit nervous.

She had to try one more time to not let him get involved in this. “This is gorgeous, thank you. I’ll only stay one night.”

He crossed his arms, raking his gaze up and down her body before moving to the door. Judd paused there, long strong fingers curved around the frame, and he glanced back at her. “You’ll stay until they find this f…the one who did this. Or until it’s time for you to head back East. Make yourself at home. I’ll be downstairs.”

Was it her imagination or had he issued a challenge with what he said about her heading back East?

Alone in the room, she sank with a grateful sigh upon the four-poster queen size bed. The furniture in the room was a light maple that went remarkably well with the colors. She sighed and flopped back to stare at the ceiling.

She needed to go into town and do some laundry. Perhaps, Judd wouldn’t mind if she used his machines. All she knew was her clothing had to be cleaned after those people had touched it before she would wear it again. Not to mention, if she was staying for two weeks, she needed to get a few more articles of clothing.

After cleaning up in the bathroom, she walked along the upstairs halls. Another set of stairs headed down near her room yet she still made her way back to the set she ascended. The house amazed her. Masculine colors and decorations and yet she felt very comfortable there. Back by where the desk sat on the dark area rug, she peered over the balcony.

Open. Spacious. Just what she admired in a house. Her apartment was nothing like this. Granted, hard to find a place like this in New York City. Curving her hand along the smooth light oak banister, she made her way back to the first floor. Dark leather furniture filled the rooms, and the walls were white. Framed artwork dotted the walls occasionally and she paused before the couch facing the fireplace with its stone facing.

“Anything she wants, Rosa.”

“As you wish, Mr. Travers.”

The voices surprised her, and she glanced over her shoulder in time to see Judd walk in followed by a reed thin woman who wore a simple gray dress. Her hair, still a glossy black, had been drawn back into a tight bun.

“Laciee, this is Rosa. She basically runs the house. Anything you need, let her know.”

Rosa greeted Laciee in Spanish, and she responded in kind before reaching out her hand. There wasn’t any expression other than welcome in the woman’s gentle brown eyes as they shook.

“I have to get back out to the range, Laciee, so I’ll see you at supper.” He stared at her intently before striding over to her. “Don’t make me come after you,” he muttered in a low tone. “You’re safe here.”

She held his gaze and struggled to keep her refusal inside.
I should just take him up on this and move on. I’m safe here. I could use a good night of rest and face it all tomorrow.
Her instinct to do it all on her own pushed strong, but she tamped it down. This was time not to fight the dominant behavior he showed. “Thank you.”

Lord, that stare. Intense like nothing she’d ever seen before. It created a wealth of butterflies in her stomach. He whirled around and strode from the room, and a short time later, a door slammed shut. She was alone in his house with Rosa.

Wiping her hands down her jeans, she dragged her tongue along her lower lip. “Do you think he’d mind if I did some laundry?”

“I’ll do it for you, just let me get supper in the oven and I’ll be up to grab them.”

“Nonsense. I can do my own laundry, I just need—”

Rosa clasped her arm. “I understand. No one wants another’s touch all over their clothes. Just take the other set of stairs down from up there and it will bring you into the utility room. Call if you need anything.”

Rosa walked away, leaving her alone in the living room. Laciee blew out a breath and jogged back up to her room for her clothing. She paused at the large windows and stared at the dark clouds rolling up on them. A storm would be upon them shortly.

She propped one shoulder against the window frame and stared out over the plains, her mind drifting to the tall handsome cowboy who would be out in the weather.
Be safe.
Shaking her head, she grabbed her clothing and took the second set of stairs down to, as Rosa promised, the utility room.

Within moments she had her clothing started in the wash. From there she went to the kitchen where she found Rosa chopping up apples. She looked up with a kind smile on her face. “Find everything okay?”

“Yes, ma’am, thank you.”

The wood floors gleamed and the ivory cabinets with silver handles added style combined with the blue and ivory speckled countertops. The appliances were covered with the same wood design as the cupboards.

Sidling up to the island, Laciee placed her hands along the edge. “What can I do to help?”

“Nothing.”

“Please, I insist on doing something. It would make me feel so much better.”

Rosa stared at her for a while then got her a cutting mat, knife and slid the bowl of apples toward her. “Peel and chop these.”

Grateful to have something to occupy her time, Laciee picked up the knife and got to work. They worked in silence for about one apple. Then Rosa looked at her and said, “Why have you been gone so long?”

Judd tugged on the brim of his Stetson and barely even noticed any of the water that streamed down from it to the saddle horn. The storm was nasty and from the looks of things, only going to get worse. At least they were moments from being done. They’d moved the smaller herd from the back range to the pens. He had a truck coming for them in two days to take this lot to slaughter.

Sitting easily in his saddle, he watched as Joel closed the gate behind him before riding off to the barn. Judd turned his gelding toward the barn and with a touch of his heels, set him on his way. Before he rode in out of the rain, he gazed up to his house. The lights struggled to shine through the downpour. But that wasn’t all.

Laciee Dupree. She waited for him in there.

He’d still been pissed about what happened in her hotel room even when he’d ridden out to join his men. It didn’t bode well that she didn’t look at all surprised it happened, either. Regardless of the bland look she’d adopted, he’d seen the hurt and pain in her eyes before it had been masked.

Swinging down, he patted his gelding, Kilburn, on the neck and led him into his stall. It didn’t take him long to strip off the wet tack and store it to dry. Then he was back in brushing down his mount. Kilburn was by far one of his favorite horses, the one he rode most days. A chestnut Tobiano patterned American Paint.

“Sorry, boy,” he muttered as he finished checking Kilburn over. This gelding was eleven and Judd had no doubt could do the job asked of him without a rider on his back. Today there were times he was sure Kilburn did, given how Judd’s attention remained back at his ranch house. “Didn’t think it would get so nasty out.”

The horse whickered and nudged him with his head. Absently, Judd scratched it and thought about the woman in his house. Hell, it had been two days since he’d woken up in bed with Laciee and to him it felt as if it had been years ago. The feelings swarming within him were unlike any he’d felt before, and he didn’t know what to do with them other than keep feeding them.

“I want her back in my bed, Kilburn.”

Totally uninterested in things which didn’t involve him getting fed or scratched, his horse dipped his head in the bucket of water in the stall and drank, pretty sure he wasn’t getting anything from his owner. Judd took the hint and left, knowing the stable hands would be around to feed the animals within minutes. Slapping his hat against his leg, Judd walked to the door and paused. Lightning cracked the sky and he shook his head. Hadn’t counted on this coming through today. He shoved his hat on and strode through the downpour, up the steps to the door.

Shit. Rosa would kill him for tracking this all over her clean floors. He paused with one hand on the doorknob.

“A bit wet out there.”

He turned and spied Laciee seated on the cushioned bench seat, legs wrapped by a quilt and her hands around a mug.

“A bit.” He wanted to go to her, kiss her, hold her, and swear everything would be fine. “Settling in okay?”

“I’m fine, thank you. You, however, look a tad uncomfortable.”

To tell the truth, he’d hardly noticed the wet clothing the moment his gaze landed on Laciee. He shrugged. “Been worse.”

She stared at him for a few seconds. “I’m sure you have, but don’t let me stop you from getting into something dry.”

It was dismissal. He regretted leaving her. The lightning periodically illuminated her with its sharp light as it streaked across the sky, where it instantly softened. Her hair was unconfined and moved in the wind that blew around. None of the rain made it up onto the porch and she looked so delectable seated there. He wanted to join her.

“Probably should,” he muttered as he made his way to the door.

He took a record shower and dressed in dry clothing. Seeking the kitchen, he smiled as Rosa poured him a cup of coffee the minute he walked in the room.

“You’re staying until this weather dies down, right, Rosa?”

“No, I have to get home and fix food for my Alex.”

Judd frowned. “Be careful leaving.”

She gave him her patented smile. “Of course. Dinner is in the oven for you and Ms. Laciee to eat when ready. I’m sure you saw your Ms. Laciee out on the porch.”

His Laciee.
Yes, he liked the sound of that, more than he’d ever admit.

“See you tomorrow, Rosa.”

“Goodnight, Judd. Treat her right.”

Picking up the mug, he nodded before leaving the kitchen. Not much later, he made his way back out onto the porch where he walked over to where Laciee sat staring out past the porch railing. He lowered himself into one of the chairs beside her.

“Want to tell me what all that was about today?”

“Nope.”

He slanted his gaze at her, and she continued to descry the storm in all its glory. The only sign she gave of being uncomfortable was the slight tightening of her fingers around the mug.

“Does Rosa live here?”

“No, she’ll be leaving soon. Why?”

“I just didn’t see her car so I thought maybe she lived here.”

He stretched out his legs and stared at the tips of his boots. “She parks in the garage so on days like this she doesn’t have to go out in the weather.”