Shoulda Been A Cowboy (8 page)

“
It doesn't sound like I'm the one
having doubts.”

“
I'm not.” He bent to kiss the hollow
of her throat. “I still say you're too good for a broken
war bum like me.”

“
Trust me, Deputy, I know a thing or two about
being broken.” Domini didn't wait for his response before
she climbed in.

Chapter Four

Domini mashed herself next to Cam in the cab. The air
from the open window blew wisps of her silky hair across his cheek,
teasing him with a reminder of her fragrant softness. It was damn
close to heaven being alone with her, with dust kicking up behind
them and miles of grazing lands on the horizon in front of them,
beneath the cloudless Wyoming sky.

She hadn't said much on the drive out to his
place. Most women would be compelled to fill the quiet with mindless
chatter. Not Domini. Her silence wasn't unsettling. In fact,
Cam found it comforting.

Cam parked on the concrete slab in front of the garage
and shut the truck off.

Domini faced him and smiled softly.

Every time she gazed at him as if she could read his
soul, his breath stalled in his lungs.

“
Thank you for the moment to clear my head.”

“
No problem.”

“
Are we going to talk first? Or…”

“
Or what? You think I'm gonna truss you up
and fuck right out here in the truck? Give me some damn credit,
Domini. I do have some damn restraint.”

“
Too much restraint sometimes.”

In another bout of silence between them, his dog yipped
along the fence.

“
Gracie,” he yelled out the window. “Hush.
We'll be there in a sec so you can sniff her and make sure
she's not a threat.”

Domini's whole body went rigid beside him.

“
Are you afraid of dogs?”

“
Yes. You probably think it's silly—”

“
Hey.” Cam bent his head to peer into her
alarmed eyes. “Nothin' silly about it. I'll keep
her in the yard if it'll ease your mind.”

“
If you do that, the dog will have another reason
to hate me.”

“
Luckily Gracie doesn't hate anybody.”
He smiled. “Just let me know when you're ready to meet
her, okay?”

“
You aren't going to assure me she is the
best dog ever and I will immediately love her?”

“
No. Although she
is
the best dog ever, I'm serious about not pressuring you about
her. I know what it's like to have that ‘just get over
it' mentality thrust at you.”

“
Thank you.”

Cam's gaze descended to her lips. He couldn't
resist stealing a kiss. Her mouth was so warm and supple moving
beneath his that he stole another one. And another.

She sank into him, welcoming his attentions with a
dreamy sigh.

After several long, deep, wet kisses, he playfully
nipped her bottom lip. “Let's take this inside.”

She paused at the base of the stairs. The bottom was
divided into two sections. Half was a set of steps, half was a
wheelchair ramp. “I've never seen you use a wheelchair.”

“
That's because I don't use one.”
Ever.

“
Then why have a ramp?”

“
It's a daily reminder I could end up in a
chair if I don't work hard every damn day at staying out of
one.”

“
Did you build it?”

Cam shook his head. “Blake did at Colt's
request. Right after I got back to the States and was discharged.”

“
Did Colt think you wouldn't walk again?”

“
No. But he knew I needed a place that was
accessible just in case.”

She curled her palm over the handrail. “It must be
nice to have that kind of unconditional support from your family.”

“
I guess. But living around all of them can drive
me nuts.” Domini didn't avert her eyes as Cam ascended
the stairs, and oddly, her scrutiny didn't bother him. He
opened the door. “After you.”

Domini ducked under his arm and stopped on the edge of
the carpet, taking it all in.

Cam tried to see his refuge through her eyes. His
cousins Chet and Remy West had gutted the inside of the house after
he'd purchased it from Colt and Buck. Any resemblance to the
infamous Boars Nest party house had been completely eradicated.

The structure of the living room hadn't changed
much, besides replacing the sagging bay window with a newer, larger
window. Modern track lighting ran along the center of the ceiling.
The rectangular room was anchored at one end by a gigantic flat
screen TV and a stack of audio/visual components, and on the other
end by a fireplace. A wood coffee table was centered between
reclining chairs and a plush, oversized couch the color of tobacco.

“
This is awesome. Did you pick out the colors and
the furniture and everything?”

“
Keely helped. Said she didn't want me
living in a man cave with white walls, a TV and cheap bean bag
chairs.”

Domini laughed.

“
Come see the kitchen.”

The wall between the formal dining room and the kitchen
had been demolished, creating one large open space. New appliances,
pine cabinetry, bigger windows and tile flooring showcased modern
amenities, yet the eat-in breakfast bar uniting the two areas
retained a rustic, country feel. A sliding glass door led to an
enormous covered deck that wrapped around the entire backside of the
house.

“
Please tell me you use this fabulous kitchen for
more than zapping microwave meals and cooking frozen pizza.”

“
Um. Not really.”

She scowled at him.

“
What?”

“
I wish you would've taken the cooking
lessons you won. It would be a dream to teach you to cook in this
kitchen.”

Cam slid his hands around her hips to cup her ass and
urged her lower body against his. “You really think we would've
gotten any cooking done? Or maybe I just would've spread you
out across my table and feasted on you. 'Cause princess, you
look mighty tasty.”

A shuddering breath left her lungs.

He kissed the corners of her mouth. “I want you
like crazy. I wanna tie you to my bed for days. But before any of
that happens, we need to get some things straight.”

She nodded. “Can we sit outside and talk? It's
such a beautiful day.”

“
Sure. Would you like a beer?”

“
A beer would be fine.”

“
Head out onto the back deck and I'll bring
it to you.”

Cam heard the sliding glass door open, forgetting Gracie
was penned in the backyard until Domini shrieked. He turned just in
time to see Domini leap on the antique oak table.

Gracie barked and raced around excitedly, thinking it
was a game.

“
Gracie! Sit.”

A disbelieving whimper sounded and then the Border
collie obeyed.

“
Good girl.” Cam crossed to the dog,
ignoring Domini crouched like a cat about to pounce. He ruffled
Gracie's silky ears. “Listen up, pup. Domini hasn't
been around dogs as cool as you, so give her some time to adjust. Be
on your best behavior and before you know it, you'll have
Domini sneakin' you treats and rubbing your fat belly.
Understand?”

Gracie barked twice.

“
Good girl. Stay.” Cam grabbed a new rawhide
chew out of the pantry. The second Gracie saw it her tail thumped.
Her tongue flopped past her gums in a doggie version of a smile. He
couldn't help but grin. The damn dog cracked him up. “If
I let you out in the pasture, you can't be sneakin' up on
Colby's cattle.”

A tiny, sad noise hummed from Gracie.

Domini said, “She'd do that?”

“
Yep. Her breed is great for herding. Since I
don't have cattle she tries to herd everyone else's
cattle. Back here. The first couple times my brothers were amused.
After that, not so much.”

Gracie whined pitifully again.

“
I mean it, Gracie. No chasing cows.”

Two more barks.

Cam shot a look over his shoulder at Domini. “Be
right back without the mutt. Grab the beer and I'll meetcha
outside.” He whistled loudly and Gracie raced out of the house
hell bent for leather.

When he returned, Domini had curled up in a lounge chair
in the far corner of the deck. Sunglasses covered her eyes and she'd
wrapped both hands around a bottle of Bud Light.

He snagged a beer and eased himself into the chair
beside her. “Sorry about that.”

“
Not your fault I freaked out about a dog. I
should be apologizing because I jumped on the table like a spooked
cat.” She muttered in Ukrainian and gulped her beer.

“
We all have fears, princess.”

“
Even you?”

“
Especially me.” Cam pried her fingers away
from the beer bottle so he could hold her hand. “But maybe you
oughta come clean about what happened that makes you so afraid of
dogs.”

Domini gazed off into the distance, as if gauging her
words. “When I was six, we were relocating from Kiev to Kharkiv
because everything was in chaos due to the Chernobyl incident. We
were waiting outside the train station, when two Soviet policemen
showed up with a German shepherd police dog. A big, mean, snarly
attack dog. Although I'd done nothing wrong, I…ran.”

Cam's throat closed up.

“
The dog chased me until it caught me. By the time
the police and my parents separated me from the dog's jaws, I
was already bleeding badly. I remember little of the hospital except
the excruciating pain when they stitched me up. The next day the same
Soviet police came by and wrote my father a ticket.”

“
For what?”

“
Some trumped-up missing paperwork charge. Mostly
they needed an excuse to explain why a dog that was supposed to be
protecting people, attacked a child unprovoked.”

“
Jesus. The police twisted it around so it was
your fault?”

“
Stuff like that happened all the time when we
were under Soviet rule. Law enforcement there is nothing like it is
here. So, we had to stay in Kiev another three weeks, during which I
got an infection.” She shuddered. “I ended up back in the
hospital and almost died. I've had…issues with dogs ever
since, which is why my first instinct is to run.”

Rage filled him. Yet he managed a calm, “Where did
the dog bite you?”

“
You asked, I answered, so can we drop it now? It
doesn't matter.”

Cam stood. He braced his hands on the armrest of her
chair and demanded, “Where did the dog bite you?”

Her pale eyebrows lifted above the rims of her
sunglasses. “The first mark is on the back of my left shoulder
and the second one is on my hip.”

“
Lemme see.”

“
Cam. It's not important.”

“
Then it shouldn't be such a big goddamned
deal to let me see it.” Why was he pushing her on this?

Because you want her to be physically scarred, same
as you. You want to see it so you don't feel like such a freak.

In angry, jerky movements, Domini slid the shirt down
her left shoulder. She dropped her chin to her chest, leaving the
nape of her neck exposed.

Oh fuck. His stomach clenched. The jagged edges of the
white scar tissue showed where the dog had ripped a huge chunk of her
skin off. Whatever sawbones had treated her in the Ukraine managed to
piece it together, but not very well. How had he missed feeling those
ridged scars last night?

Because you were selfish and then you were gone.

Seeing that broken section of her skin broke something
inside him. He placed his mouth against her warm, sweet-smelling
flesh and tenderly pressed kisses across every inch of the scar. And
when he finished the first pass, he did it again.

Domini's breath caught.

Cam dragged his mouth over the sexy arch of her neck,
pushing aside the baby-fine strands of hair. He brushed his damp lips
to her ear and murmured, “See, that wasn't so hard,”
before easing back and retaking his seat.

She hadn't removed her sunglasses, but he knew she
was watching him very closely.

“
So what's churning inside that pretty head
of yours, princess?”

“
I was just thinking I still run from situations
that scare me. Dogs. People.”

“
Do I scare you because I'm a cop?”

She shook her head.

“
Good.”