Staking His Claim (2 page)

She needed to escape, but somehow, she
managed to be polite. "No, sir. I favor my father's side of the
family." She wanted to put space between them and hoped the small
inflection she put on the word '
sir'
would do the trick.

Right after the slightly accented word came
from her lips, her hand was dropped, but his intense scrutiny
didn't leave her.

"What's your last name?" he asked.

"Ruiz."

"Hispanic." It wasn't a question.

She replied automatically. "
Si
."

"Home from where?"

"School."

"College?"

"Yes."

The need to know her age was paramount. "What
year?"

"First year."

Raul felt a deep hit of disappointment when
he received that answer. She
was
just a baby. And he needed
to remember it.

"What are you studying?"

"Nursing."

"What school?"

"University of Texas." She elaborated, "San
Antonio."

"So you're close by." In the wide expanse of
Texas, anything less than seventy-five miles was close by. "I
assume that's why you're staying here for Christmas?"

Her bottom lip trembled. "That and because
Janie's the only family I have left."

"I'm sorry, baby." His rough voice dropped an
octave.

She felt his heated sympathy wash through
her. The presumptuous way he called her
baby
ignited both
agitation and weakness within her. She couldn't afford to be weak
so she steeled her spine and lifted her chin. "Not your fault, Mr.
Vega, but thanks anyway."

Her words were sharp and didn't leave room
for more questions of an intimate nature.

She lifted her backpack to her shoulder.
"It's late and I'm not up for a party. It was nice to meet you."
She turned to go.

His eyes continued to watch her. "Goodnight,
Miss Ruiz. It's been a pleasure."

His dark voice was still clamoring in her
brain as she walked down the hallway to the bedroom that now
belonged to her. She wearily sank down on the bed and dropped her
backpack beside her. She was intensely tired, her body physically
and mentally worn out by the struggle of living through the months
and years just passed.

Her mother had developed breast cancer at the
end of Elaina's senior year in high school. With the help of Aunt
Janie, Elaina had managed to stay in school and graduate. But her
mom had been in and out of the hospital after that, and Elaina had
taken on the responsibility of her care as her mother fought the
fight that had ultimately taken her life.

Elaina had wanted to do anything she could
for the woman who had single-handedly raised her after her dad had
died fighting in Iraq. Nursing her mother as much as she could from
home had been a loving chore that she had eagerly undertaken.

Her mom hadn't wanted her to delay college,
but there had been no other option in Elaina's mind. The love she
had for her mom was too strong to let her care go to strangers.
Elaina knew, rightly so, that whether her mom won the fight or not,
that her own life could always continue later. This might be the
only time she had left with her mom, so she had effectively put her
own life on hold, and for over three years she'd virtually stayed
at home and nursed her ailing mother.

When exactly she had promised her parent that
she would become a nurse, she couldn't remember, but she
had
promised
, and now that pledge was weighing heavily on her
heart.

She'd never had an affinity for the sick
room, and admitted to herself she never had the calling to become a
nurse. She'd promised her mom solely because the older woman
thought she'd make such a good health-care professional, and it
seemed to put her mind at ease visualizing what her daughter's life
would be like when she was gone.

And now Elaina was trapped, with just one
semester of nursing school under her belt, she knew she didn't want
to go back. She'd been struggling with it for several months now.
She didn't want to be around sick people any longer. If push came
to shove and she had to nurse another loved one, she knew she could
find the inner strength somewhere, but as a career choice, it
wasn't going to work. She didn't want to be around death and
sickness; she desperately needed a break.

The semester had started only two weeks after
her mother had died. Before she had time to think or plan, with the
urging of Aunt Janie, she had found herself enrolled and going to
school. Going to school for something that she didn't aspire to be.
There were many wonderful nurses; she knew that and was thankful to
them all for the care her mother had received in the hospital. But
it was a calling that unfortunately, she didn't have.

She was just
so
tired. Tired of it
all.

She needed some time off, some time to
herself, where she didn't have to constantly be going to school and
studying. She didn't mind getting a job, and in fact was looking
forward to earning her own money, but she needed something that
would give her the evenings free, so she could just be herself and
chill.

Was that too selfish a thing to want?
Guilt ate at her knowing it would be going against her mom's hopes
and dreams for her. But what about
her
hopes and dreams?
What about having friends, being young,
dating?
She hadn't
even had a date since high school.

She'd met a few people at college, young men
who had been interested, but for the first few months her grief was
still too fresh to even consider it. And lately, the crushing
workload left no time for a social life.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

She just wanted some peace for awhile.

On Monday, mid-morning, Elaina stood next to
her uncle's farm truck at the feed store and watched it being
loaded. This small town was the nearest one to the ranch, and at
ten miles away, it boasted less than a thousand people in
population. She'd been here several times in the last six months
since her mother had died and Janie had married Brian. She really
liked the small town.

For the first thirteen years of her life,
Elaina had been raised an army brat. Just as soon as she made
friends and got used to a school, her father upped and moved them.
It hadn't been easy. She longed for a real home and solid
roots.

Everyone in this small town was friendly, and
as she wanted to be helpful, when the subject came up, she had
quickly offered to make the drive for supplies.

She stood and chatted with the boy loading
the truck, enjoying the laid-back moment having nothing more
pressing than getting back to the ranch with the supplies.

He was about her age, maybe a year or two
younger, maybe older. This was the third time in the last six
months she had spoken to him since making her temporary home with
her aunt and uncle. It was also the third time he had asked her
out. She was actually contemplating saying yes this time. He was
good-looking and he wasn't too pushy.

Although he didn't make her heart beat
faster, he was sweet and cute and seemed to be someone she could
enjoy spending some time with.

She continued to smile softly at him as he
tried to cajole her into going out with him. "You know me now. You
can't keep using that excuse forever."

She was vaguely aware of a big, black pickup
truck pulling into the parking lot as she answered with a smile in
her voice. "It's not an excuse. I only found out your name today,
Trevor
." She stressed his name, trying out a soft, flirty
tone that she hadn't wanted or attempted to use in almost four
years.

She watched the muscles ripple under his
dusty red t-shirt as he dropped another fifty pound bag of deer
corn in the back of the truck. He turned back to her, lifted the
next bag, and stared down at her. "I'll take you to Uvalde tonight.
We can catch a movie and--"

A dark, hard voice from behind them cut him
off and intruded on the personal conversation. "Can't do that,
Trev. I need you this week. I've got forty protein feeders that
need to be filled."

She didn't turn to face the man behind her,
but she recognized that voice easily. Raul Vega stood behind
Elaina, his hard words interrupting her peace. Tension jolted
through her from the impact of his body so close to hers. She
shifted restlessly but continued to face Trevor as a frustrated
expression crossed the younger man's features.

"Damn, Raul--"

"You were supposed to get to it last week."
His voice was dark, too smooth, too controlled.

"Yeah, I know. Mac needed me late every
night," Trevor answered.

"You still want the extra work? I can find
somebody else,
easy
, if you don't," Raul softly
threatened.

The younger man let out a puff of air. "Yeah,
I want the work." Trevor glanced down at Elaina and his face
softened as his eyes ran over her. "Another time, pretty girl."

Elaina felt tension radiating from behind
her, but she managed to smile back. "Sure. Rain check," she said
softly.

"Yeah. Rain check." Elaina felt Trevor's blue
eyes on her, both disappointment and anticipation shining in
them.

Trevor threw the last bag of corn up in the
bed of the truck and as he turned back, Raul slammed a computerized
list at his chest. "Need this quick-fast, Trev."

"Sure." Trevor's gaze lingered on Elaina one
last time before he turned away and jogged back into the store.

Elaina closed her eyes and knew she had no
option but to turn around and face Raul Vega. Best just to get it
over with.

Twirling the keys in her fingers in a parody
of relaxation, she attempted to compose herself as she swung in a
graceful motion to face the man who twice now had messed with her
insides. Trying to exude a calm she wasn't feeling, she pasted a
false smile on her face and spoke lightly. "Hey, Mr. Vega."

He cut to the chase.

"You planning on taking a ride with a kid
who's a stranger to you?" he blasted out.

Her muscles tensed as she lifted her chin.
"He's not a stranger. I know him. Evidently, you do, too."

"You didn't know that before I drove up."

For whatever reason, his audacity didn't
surprise her in the least. She inhaled deeply and took her best
shot, answering him in slow, firm words. "I may seem young to you,
but I assure you, I'm an adult and can make good decisions."

Raul steeled his guts against the lust that
consumed him once again and gave her his opinion. "I don't think a
freshman in college is an adult, baby. Maybe your definition is
different than mine." He looked her over, his eyes going from the
silky hair again in a ponytail, to the t-shirt that molded her
feminine form. His eyes stalled on the slender hips encased in skin
tight jeans, and ended up at the dusty orange Ropers on her feet.
Orange
. Shit. She was just a fucking kid and he was goddamn
lusting after her. He needed to get his head out of his ass and
fast. His voice snarled at her but the reminder was for himself,
"You need to grow up some before anyone in their right mind can
call you an adult."

Elaina felt a
frisson
of anxiety slide
through her.
First year. Freshman in college
. She was just
about to begin arguing with him that it wasn't any of his business
when it dawned on her that he thought she was a teenager. The first
time she met him, it hadn't occurred to her that he might think she
was younger than she actually was. But twice now, he'd seen her
without any make-up, wearing scruffy, beat-up clothes.

Maybe she should keep him in the dark. Maybe
the age difference would put a wall between them, protect her from
him. Did she need protection from him? Did she even
want
protection from him? Heat slid through her as his dark gaze stayed
on her, his countenance filled with anger and something else she
was simply too distressed to fully acknowledge.

She didn't have loads of experience with men,
but she was smart and the female intuition banging loudly in her
head was telling her she was going to at least need all the
distance she could get from him.

She let the comment go and moved to get away
from him. Suddenly, she didn't feel quite safe. "Thanks for your
concern. I promise I'll be more careful."

She turned away from him, left him standing
alone, his hands clenched into fists. She slipped into the truck
and pulled out of the parking lot.

It wasn't until she was nearly home that she
realized she should have been thinking about Trevor. But she hadn't
been. Her thoughts were consumed with one man only.

Raul Vega.

****

Three days later, Raul's cell phone rang and
he flipped it open. The display read
Brian
Canton
.
"What's up?"

"Raul, I hate to bother you, man, but shit,
Janie's about to freak."

Raul cradled the phone to his ear and began
ripping the leather work gloves from his hands. "What's the
matter?"

"Elaina's car broke down three miles from the
house and we're in San Antonio. She doesn't mind walking back, but
you know Janie,
she's a
city girl
, she's freaking out
thinking something might happen to Elaina."

Raul felt immediate and unintentional heat
fuelling his blood. "No problem. She on the south end of county
road?"

"Yeah, probably half a mile from you. Thanks,
man. Drop her at the house. We won't be home for a couple of days.
Buying supplies for another damn party. Just leave the car, I'll
get Earl to pick it up and take it to the garage."

"You got it." Raul closed his cell and walked
to his truck, pissed at himself for the uncontrollable and sudden
heat of arousal pumping through his veins. He tried to rein in his
lust in a futile attempt as he reminded himself repeatedly,
she's too damn young.