lori king rough ride romeo (22 page)

not interested in you and I never was. Just like Franki has never been and never

will be a whore. If I ever hear you insult my girlfriend again I swear to God I’ll let

Bran lock me up just to have the chance to slap you silly.”

Abby glared at him, “I’m not surprised you’d hit a woman, Romeo. After all,

you’ve got terribly low standards.”

“That’s enough, Abby.” The cold hard voice of Brandon Bowers stopped

everyone nearby, and even Abby winced.

“Sheriff, it’s good to see you again. I’d appreciate it if you’d stay here with

me. Roman was just threatening bodily harm—”

“I heard him.” Bran cut her off and glanced at Roman. Franki thought for a

moment that Roman was truly going to get himself into trouble, but then Bran

turned his anger on Abby. “I heard everything. And for the record, if you run

your mouth again it won’t be Roman I’m locking up. I’l arrest you for

harassment. Do you hear me?”

“What? Are you kidding me?” Abby snarled. “I’m just trying to protect our

town from being invaded by whores—” This time both Roman and Bran growled

low in their throats, cutting off the woman’s words. She seemed to think better of

her anger, and quickly made her escape. Stepping off through the crowd as

though nothing had happened leaving Franki bewildered about the whole thing.

“Well that was interesting,” Hawke observed when he joined them.

“Thought I was going to get to see a cat fight for a minute and then the dogs

busted in.”

His joke lightened the mood, and everyone around them laughed as they

went back to their business. Franki turned to face Roman whose face was still red

with anger, and she rose on her tiptoes, drawing him down for a kiss. It was the

first time she’d kissed him in public, and she heard a few catcalls and whistles

around them before they broke apart. When she opened her eyes, his anger had

vanished completely, and he looked at her like she’d hung the moon.

“What was that for, baby?”

“Just thanking my man for standing up for me,” she said softly, hugging him

to her. “Now I don’t have to bloody her nose.”

“Next time. I promise.” Roman assured her.

Bran rolled his eyes, and shook his head. “You two are going to keep me on

my toes I can feel it already.”

“Damn right, Sheriff.” Franki said, “Did you hear I got my bike back? Vin

finished fixing it up, and I promised Marilyn a ride.”

Bran groaned as Drannon and Vin joined their circle and chimed in with

their own opinions of a woman on a motorcycle.

“Damn sexy.”

“Scary as hell.”

“Schedule an ambulance to be on cal for Roman because he’ll have a heart

attack.”

Roman seemed almost offended, “Hey now! I’ve known about the bike since

I met her.”

“Yeah, but you haven’t seen me ride it yet,” she said. “The best part about

being outside of the city is the open roads. The wind in my hair, and the—”

“Bugs in your teeth?” Hawke threw out.

“Wait...wind in your hair? Please tell me you wear a helmet?” Bran asked,

rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

Franki glanced away guiltily and changed the subject. “So what duty did you

boys end up with?”

Vin groaned and said, “We’ve all been assigned to the dunk tank.

Apparently, Marilyn forgot to mention that she picked out our duty when she

volunteered us.”

Laughter followed the small group as they made their way to their assigned

booth, and Franki teased them al about dunking them just for fun. For a few

minutes she forgot about Vivi, and al of her troubles, and just enjoyed herself.

For that one moment in time she figured she owed it to herself to just live her life.

Later she’d feel guilty and sad, but for now, she was going to dunk her man in a

big tank of water and enjoy every second.

Chapter 18

For Roman, walking up to the apartment behind Franki was a lesson in

patience and keeping his mouth shut. Logic told him that she needed to do this,

but instinct made him want to protect her from it. Revisiting what was left of her

life in St. Paul was going to be painful. The last several days had been busy at

Crawley Creek. They’d fixed up the study into a temporary bedroom for Destiny

so that she would be on the main foor until she was moving around better, and

just in time, too. She arrived Monday morning in the care of Bran and a social

worker.

Bran had stuck close to the injured woman all day Monday, but by Tuesday

he had to get back to his duties. Even though Destiny assured everyone that she

would be okay; Marilyn hovered over her. She was moving slowly and clearly still

in pain, but the worst part was seeing how emotionally withdrawn the poor

woman was.

While Destiny settled in, Franki had been busy making arrangements for

Vivi’s memorial, and making plans for them to come to St. Paul for the weekend.

Every moment she wasn’t spending planning something, she was coercing him

into bed. They’d made love in the barn in the middle of the day, on the front

porch in the middle of the night, and even in the pasture yesterday afternoon

when he was supposed to be checking fences. Roman understood her need for

physical companionship, and she treated him like he was important to her, but he

still had an underlying fear that once she moved past losing Vivi, she’d realize

she’d only been using him for comfort. She meant too much to him to lose her

now.

Franki didn’t hesitate as she knocked sharply on the door then stepped

backwards into his chest. Resisting the urge to clutch her to him, he simply rested

his hand lightly on her hip and kept his footing firm.

The door opened and a middle-aged woman with graying hair stepped out,

“Francesca! It’s good to see you. Were you able to track down Vivienne?”

Under his hand, Roman could feel Franki relax, and his own tension eased

when she reached for the stranger with a hug. “Hi Dottie. Can we come in to

talk?”

“Of course dear, you know you’re always welcome.” Dottie stepped back

and made room so that they could crowd into her tiny living room. It was like

walking back a couple of decades in time, and Roman’s nose twitched at the

heavy scent of cat in the air. “I hope you weren’t planning on taking over your

apartment yet Francesca. Those tenants sublet it for three months. I can’t very

well push them out on the street.”

“No, Dottie. Actually I’m only back in town to tie up some loose ends. Um, I

was able to find Vivi, but I…” Her voice broke, and she swallowed hard,

clenching her fists at her side.

Sadness swamped the room and Dottie look at her sympathetically. “Oh no,

what happened?”

Franki’s eyes met his, and he could see the plea for help in their depths, so he

finally broke his polite silence. “Roman Freemont, ma’am. I’ve been helping

Franki through this trying time. You see, Vivi’s body was recovered last week.

We’re planning a memorial service back on my ranch in Montford, North

Dakota, for her. If you’d like to attend, I’m sure Franki would appreciate it.”

“Dead? Vivienne is dead?” Dottie gasped and dropped to the foral sofa

behind her, clutching her hand to her breast. “Oh, my dear lord. How is that

possible?”

Franki joined Dottie on the sofa. “Goat was apparently part of something

much bigger, and much worse than just kidnapping Vivi. She was forced into a

sort of hostage situation, and she didn’t make it out. I tried to get to her, but I

didn’t make it in time.”

Dottie had tears in her eyes as she reached for Franki, holding her close as

the two women shared a bond of emotion for a woman Roman had never met.

Franki had explained to him that Dottie had helped her mother out when she was

a single mom with two young girls to raise by providing a discount on rent and

offering up the occasional shift of free baby-sitting. Dottie was like a grandmother

to the two Scott sisters.

“I wish I could have saved her. I should have saved her.” Franki murmured

as she cried into Dottie’s shoulder.

“I’m sure you did everything you could, dear. Don’t talk yourself into being

guilty of a crime you didn’t commit.” Dottie said through her own tears.

“Vivienne wouldn’t want that for you.”

Roman couldn’t have said it better himself, but somehow coming from

Dottie, Franki seemed to hear it better, so he just perched on the edge of a small

chair and let the two women cry it out. Franki explained in somewhat vague

terms what had happened to Vivi, and Dottie declined their invitation to the

memorial.

“I’m not able to travel anymore, my dear Francesca. In fact, my doctor has

advised against it because of blood clots or some other such nonsense. I’m going

to be selling the building and moving into a facility soon. One of those retirement

centers where the old men chase the old women with canes and walkers.”

“Oh Dottie, you’re too young for that,” Franki argued.

“Thank you sweet child, but we both know that’s not true. It’s time for me to

move on as much as it is for you to move on. With Vivienne gone you have

nothing holding you back anymore,” Dottie said, patting her eyes dry with a

tissue.

Franki gave her a startled frown, “Vivi didn’t hold me back.”

“Of course she did. You’ve been protecting that girl since you were small.

Always giving up what you had to make sure she had more than enough. I

thought for sure she’d grow up when your mama passed, but she just seemed to

fall further off the wayside. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, but you

were blind where Vivienne was concerned.” Dottie glanced at Roman. “From the

looks of it, you’ve got a good reason to move on.”

Roman nodded his thanks, and Dottie smiled. “You’re a handsome one,

aren’t you?”

He could feel the warmth of a blush creep up his cheeks under her scrutiny,

but he winked back. “Those gentlemen at the center are going to love you,

ma’am.”

“Damn right they are.” She agreed with a laugh. “Now go with your man,

sweet Francesca. Mourn your sister, but don’t die with her. Your mama and

Vivienne would be happy to see you happy.”

“Thank you, Dottie,” Franki whispered, hugging the woman tight before

they said their goodbyes and returned to the hotel they’d booked for a few nights.

Franki remained quiet as they put their stuff away and ordered in room service

for dinner.

Roman had so much he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure how to say it. He

wanted to beg her for answers, push her for a commitment, but that would only

make things tense. She needed time. Everyone told him that she needed time. So

he forced himself to settle on the bed and turn on the TV as she stared mutely

out the window at the St. Paul skyline.

~ ~ ~ ~

Franki felt lost. Back at Crawley Creek she’d know her place. Here in St.

Paul where she’d grown up and spent her whole life, she felt like she was a

stranger. Roman treated her with kid gloves, and now, hearing that Dottie was

moving away threw her into a tailspin. Nothing would ever be the same. Vivi was

dead. Mama was dead. Dottie was moving. And that left her.

Who would she be in Montford, North Dakota? How long would Roman’s

interest last? She’d heard the stories about his playboy antics. She knew what she

was getting into, but she never expected to lose her heart to him. She’d only

wanted to experience the passion between them before she moved on. Now she

didn’t know where she’d go even if she did move on.

She had nothing left to go to. No one to lean on besides Roman and his

family. What if he wasn’t as serious about her as she was about him? What then?

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him sprawled out on the bed, his straw

cowboy hat on his stomach, and his long locks messy from his fingers. He was the

epitome of sexy cowboy. Long, lean limbs that she knew were corded with muscle

and sinew, and a heart of gold. Could he love her?

He glanced her way catching her staring and gave her a wink that made her

laugh.

“That’s what I like to see,” he said playfully.

“What’s that?”

“You smiling. I wasn’t sure if you would smile at all while we were here.

That was an emotional visit for you, and then you were doing all that deep

thinking as you spaced off at the window…”

“Spaced off ? Deep thinking?”

He nodded. “Definitely. I saw smoke coming out your ears you were thinking

so hard. Probably burned up a few brain cells on that one.”

She sat down heavily on the bed and hit him with a pillow. “Whatever. I was

just lost in my head for a minute.”

“Try twenty.”

“Twenty what?”

“Minutes.”

Her eyes went wide as she looked at the clock and realized he was right.

She’d been gathering cobwebs for more than twenty minutes while he waited her

out.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Sometimes you need time to think. I’ll be here

when you finish. Lord knows I don’t waste my time on thinking,” he teased.

A knock on the door signaled their food, and he leapt up to retrieve it. The