Lone Star Lonely (9 page)

He turned around. She had the nightgown on
backward. His heart made a funny lump in his chest that felt a lot
like a big lead ball of regret. He walked over to her and tugged
her arms out of the sleeves without lifting the nightgown any
higher than her knees. She sat just as docile as a lamb. He stood
her up, turned the nightgown around and helped direct her arms back
where they belonged. She grinned. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Did you say something about food
earlier?”

“You think you can cling to consciousness
long enough to eat it?”

She shrugged. Her eyes drooped. “Come on,” he
said, and he scooped her up. He didn’t set her down again until
they reached the kitchen. And by then her head was nodding toward
his shoulder and resting there every few seconds. He put her in a
chair. “Stay awake,” he ordered.

She giggled. “You’re still wearing that
towel.”

“Yeah. Hang in there a minute and I’ll fix
that.”

He scooped the chicken and vegetables onto a
plate, grabbed up a fork and set it all in front of her. “I won’t
bother heating it up. I doubt you’d notice, anyway.”

She smiled and dug in. Chewed, licked her
lips and started shoveling.

“I take it that means you like it?”

“Mmm,” she said with her mouth full.

He poured her a glass of milk and placed it
on the table. “Be right back.” She only nodded and kept on eating,
oblivious, he thought, to anything else.

Adam went to the foyer, where he’d dropped
his overnight bag when he’d come in. Taking it to the nearest
bathroom, he tossed on some dry clothes and carried the wet ones
back into the kitchen with him. It took him only five minutes. But
when he got back, it was to find Kirsten facedown on the table
beside an empty plate and a drained milk glass. And he guessed she
was down for the count this time.

“Come on, princess. Time for bed.” He picked
her up again. She was warm and totally limp in his arms. He carried
her up to her bed, tucked her in and stationed himself in the
overstuffed chair nearby. He didn’t expect her to get up and go
wandering off during the night—unless it was to the bathroom to
lose her dinner. But he figured he’d best err on the side of
caution as long as Joseph Cowan’s killer was on the loose.

He would like to pin a medal on the guy who’d
murdered the rich old bastard. But he would be damned if he let him
get his hands on Kirsten.

Adam settled into the chair and tipped his
hat down over his eyes. But sleep didn’t come easy, and when it
did, it was far from peaceful. He dreamed of Kirsten. Not the
sophisticated rich man’s wife, but the fun-loving girl he’d been
hell-bent on marrying. Then he saw her lying on her back, eyes
unblinking and cold, beneath that disgusting old man. He saw
Cowan’s hands on her. His mouth on her. Saw the light that used to
be in her big brown eyes slowly die.

She’d never loved the man. She’d never loved
any man but him. So why had she married Cowan? For the love of God,
why?

Kirsten woke up and wondered why her mouth
felt so dry and sticky. Then she moved, and her head swam and her
stomach writhed. She slammed her eyes closed, because the
brightness hurt. “Oh, God, I’m dying,” she moaned.

“Nah. Just hung over.”

She opened one eye. Adam stood beside her bed
with a big glass of what looked like tomato juice in one hand.
Damn, he was still here. “Why am I not surprised?” she
muttered.

“Here. Drink this. Guaranteed cure for what
ails you.”

She took the glass, sat up very slightly,
sniffed it. “What’s in it?”

“That’s a secret. Wes would shoot me if I
gave away his recipe.”

She blinked. Adam’s brother Wes used to be a
hellion. If anybody would know about curing a hangover, she would
bet on him. “I don’t usually drink something if I don’t know the
ingredients.”

“Well, you knew the ingredients of that Jack
Daniel’s last night, and I don’t see that it did you much good.”
She frowned at him. Her head throbbed. Adam went on. ‘“Course, if
you’d rather feel like hell all day….”

She tipped the glass to her lips. It was
good. Tasty and tangy, even though her stomach rebelled at the
first swallow. She forced it down, motivated by the dim hope of
relief. God, her head was spinning in the most sickening way.

She set the empty glass on the nightstand.
And then realized she was wearing her favorite flannel granny gown
and didn’t remember putting it on. Uh-oh. Lifting her head slowly,
she searched Adam’s face for a telltale satisfied smile but saw no
clue. “I…um… don’t remember much that happened last night.”

“We made out in the hot tub, and then I took
you to bed.”

“We…?”

He grinned and sent her a wink. He didn’t
look like a man who hated her guts. But she knew Adam too well to
think he would have engaged in sex with a woman too drunk to know
what she was doing. No way. The Brand boys had the market cornered
on honor. It wasn’t in him.

Odd that the one person she trusted pretty
much unconditionally was the man she’d made into her worst enemy.
The one she was lying to with every minute that passed without her
telling him the truth.

She closed her eyes, searched her memory.
Then they flashed wider. “My God, we did make out in the hot tub.”
She remembered it. She got hot remembering it. The feel of his
mouth devouring hers, his hands on her, his body pressing into
hers. She searched his face.

He shook his head. “Don’t look so mortified,
Kirsty. Nothing happened. Well, nothing much. I mean, I didn’t…we
didn’t….”

“I know.” She bit her lower lip. “Thanks. For
being a gentleman.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“And for the cure.” She nodded at the empty
glass. “I think I feel a little better.”

“Up to company?”

She blinked fast, and her heart skipped. “The
rangers are back? Already?”

Adam sat down on the side of the bed. There
was an edginess about him this morning. A tightness to his jaw that
hadn’t been there even when he’d been in the full throes of hating
her guts. What the hell had she said to him last night?

“No. You’re scared to death, aren’t you?”

She met his eyes, hated admitting to
weakness, and nodded anyway. “It’s tough wondering if they’re going
to come charging through the front door with a warrant for my
arrest at any second.”

Adam drew a breath, sighed. “Maybe I can help
with that.”

“How?”

“Well, my brother is the sheriff.” He licked
his lips, studied her eyes. “Tell you what. If you’ll give me your
word that you won’t make a run for it…I’ll ask Garrett to let us
know if things progress that far.”

She could not believe this guy. “You think he
would do that? Warn us if the rangers decide it’s time to place me
under arrest?”

“He’s my brother,” Adam said, as if those
three words not only answered the question but explained the
answer, as well. “That way you know you’ll have some advance
warning. Time to prepare yourself. And you won’t have to worry that
they’re going to show up at any time. Unless Garrett calls, you’ll
know they aren’t going to show up at all.”

She nodded, and another heavy weight seemed
to be lifted off her shoulders. God, why was he helping her? Why
was she letting him? Was it possible that Adam Brand still felt
something for her?

Something besides plain old lust, which still
flowed full force between them. They’d pretty much established that
last night. But Adam couldn’t feel anything beyond that. Not after
all she’d done, and all this time. It made no sense. He hadn’t felt
that much for her to begin with. Oh, he’d said the words, walked
the walk. But there had always been a part of himself that he held
back. A part he couldn’t share. A place she couldn’t touch. She’d
believed once that, given time, she would be able to reach that
spot inside him. But she’d run out of time. And she could never get
it back.

She blinked and brought herself back to the
present.

“So if it isn’t Officer Friendly and his
paddy wagon, who is the company?”

“A pair of Brands. Ben couldn’t keep Penny
away. The quicker you see her, the quicker he can get her back to
the ranch, where it’s safe.” He blinked. “If you were smart, you’d
pack a bag and let me take you back there, as well, Kirsten.”

“Yeah, well, I never claimed to be Einstein.”
She sat up, leaned over and rubbed her temples. “Go keep an eye on
her, will you? Give them coffee or something. Buy me some time
to–”

“Put the mask on?” he asked with a nod toward
the vanity and the makeup scattered all over it. Then he turned
back to her. “You don’t need it anymore, Kirsty. Cowan is dead.
It’s just us here now. And there’s nothing you need to hide from
me.”

He didn’t have a clue to all the things she
had to hide from him. She tried not to look scared. “Just buy me
some time, would you?”

With a sigh, he nodded. Then he gave her one
last searching glance, got to his feet and headed downstairs to
join his brother and sister-in-law.

He was seeing too much. More than she wanted
him to see. He’d already gotten past her icy-bitch persona and
touched the woman she used to be, the one she’d thought was dead
and buried. Nobody had ever been able to get to her the way Adam
had. God, she’d loved him to utter distraction once.

She forced herself to get up, choose clothes.
A cool frosty green sleeveless jumpsuit, white belt and flats. She
laid them on the bed and took a five-minute shower. Then spent
thirty more blow-drying and spraying and applying makeup. She
didn’t have time to do her nails, but yesterday’s white polish
didn’t look too bad, and it matched. Little white pearls on her
ears. Great. She glanced into the mirror. “The bitch is back,” she
muttered. But she wasn’t. Not really. Her eyes were soft with
something she really didn’t like seeing in them. Something she
didn’t even dare analyze right now. She wasn’t ready for what she
was glimpsing hints of in her own eyes.

Kirsten found Penny pacing the living room,
back and forth past the foot of the stairs, pausing every so often
to glance up. Catching sight of Kirsten, she threw her arms open
and raced up to meet her. That warm hug almost brought Kirsten to
tears, but she hugged Penny back. Penny, the woman who’d been her
best friend, then a total stranger who not only didn’t remember her
but mistrusted her, and finally her friend again, and closer than
before. And even she didn’t know the truth. Her husband, Ben, knew
part of it…but not all. If he knew it all, he would hate her,
too.

“Sweetie, are you okay? My God, it’s terrible
about Joseph.”

Kirsten met her friend’s eyes, glanced past
her, didn’t see Adam or Ben nearby. “You know things were bad
between us, Penny. I’m not exactly broken up over his death. It’s
almost a relief.”

“I know. I know, but…honey, you’ve got to be
scared to death, staying here with a killer on the loose.”

She shrugged. “Adam won’t leave. I suppose
I’m safe enough with him around.”

Penny eyed her. “Yeah. I’m finding that one
pretty puzzling myself.”

“Tell me about it,” Kirsten said. Then she
had a thought that frightened her. “Where is he? With Ben?”

Penny nodded. “In the kitchen.” And when
Kirsten started to rush past her, Penny caught her arm. “Ben told
me, Kirsten. About…about what you confided to him that night at the
dojo. And I imagine by now he’s told Adam, as well.”

“No. He wouldn’t have…he gave his word he’d
keep it between us.”

“Maybe he thinks the stakes are higher now
than they were when he made that promise.”

Kirsten sank onto the bottommost stair,
lowering her head. “What…what did he tell you?” What’s he telling
Adam?

“He said you were blackmailed into marrying
Joseph Cowan. That Joe had something on you, and that you were
hoping to get something equally damaging on him and force him to
let you go.”