Whiskey Rose (Fallen) (13 page)

“
Are you alright
?
” he asked softly. She flashed him a small smile briefly then it was gone.

“
I’
m fine
.
”
 
She turned around to put bottles on the shelf and he nearly sighed. He did
n’
t like that her mood could affect him so much.

“
The front of the building is finished
.
”

“
It is
?
” She perked up ever so slightly.

“
You want to see it
?
”

“
Yes
.
” She quickly pulled off her apron and followed him out the door
.“
Oh Matt It looks fantastic
!
” He had painted the whole front red but then he painted all the trim pieces white. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug
.“
Thank you
,
” she whispered.  He was surprised by the gesture but he squeezed her.

“
Yo
u’
re welcome
.
” He pulled back and kissed her softly. She did
n’
t pull away be she looked a little surprised when he looked into her eyes. They were clear and bright and just a little red rimmed.  He left his arm around her as they walked back to the saloon
.“
Is Katrina alright
?
” Rose took a deep breath and then she just shrugged.

“
I do
n’
t know, I think sh
e’
s going to be alright. I hope so
.
”

Rose felt like she was suffering from an emotional hangover. She felt hollow. She and Pam had had a plan for the future. When Pam died she had redoubled her efforts and thrown herself headlong into completing their mission. Now she was beginning to falter. She was beginning to wonder if she was doing the right thing. She had been so focused on doing what she had to she hadn’t let herself focus on the fact that Pam was gone. She was going to be doing this by herself. It had been three days since she had spent the afternoon with Katrina and she hadn’t been able to shake off the experience. Not completely. Pam was gone but she wasn’t doing this alone. She wasn’t even doing it for herself. She needed to see Clay, she needed the renewal it would give her. She just had to figure out how she was going to do it.

Matt watched Rose cleaning up as he stacked the chairs. She wasn’t quite herself, or at least she wasn’t what he had come to anticipate her to be. He really wondered what had happened between her and Katrina. He hadn’t seen much of Katrina but that was normal. It was Rose he was worried about. He swept the floor and stood watching her when he was done. She was preoccupied, completely lost in her own thoughts. He hadn’t even been able to tease her into a response he couldn’t get a rise out of her.

Rose heard a soft twang and looked up. Matt had the guitar in his lap softly strumming the strings. The instrument was across his knee and he had his arms round it. It looked as if her were cradling it. It brought to mind the few times he had held her cradled in his arms.  She took
down a chair and sat in front of him. She didn’t say anything she just watched his fingers as they moved over the strings. Despite his vow to seduce her he really hadn’t tried again. She was beginning to wonder if he had lost interest or if it was just all part of his plan. He could be letting the anticipation soften her up. If that was his plan it was certainly working. She could remember clearly the way his lips had felt. The roughness of his beard growth. The gentleness of his fingers. When he said he would prove she could be seduced she had expected a sensual onslaught. She might have been able to withstand that, but this was torture. She was tempted to kiss him just to remember what it felt like.

“
Sounds like it is coming back to you
,
” she said when he stopped playing.

“
Nah I was just messing around
.
”

“
Well it sounded nice anyway
.
” She smiled
.“
How did you learn to play
?
”

“
Cows
.
”

“
I beg your pardon
?
”

“
It calms the cattle. Some cowboys sing. I found this to be preferable
.
”

“
When did you work with cattle
?
”

“
Oh, a long time ago
.
” His fingers began absently strumming the stings again
.“
My brother had it in his head that we would hav
e
… I do
n’
t know the biggest ranch in Texas or something. So we worked the drives
.
”

“
So what happened? How come he is a rancher and you are a Ranger
.
”

“To tell the truth I never really wanted to be a rancher.  At the time I enjoyed the drives a lot more than the a
ctual ranching. Luke understood. He knew I didn’t have the same passion for it he did.” He stood up and put the guitar back then put his chair up. He held out his hand to her and she took it. He pulled her to her feet and put the chair up.  He put his arm around her and she leaned against him.  He led her into the bedroom and shut the door. She looked at him and he smiled and made a point of locking the door. She reached up and began pulling the pins from her wig and he stepped forward.

“
Let me
,
” he said softly. He took out all the pins and lifted off the wig. He grinned as he watched her shake out her hair.

“
So how did you become a Ranger
?
” she asked picking up the thread of their earlier conversation, oblivious to his fascination with her hair.  

“
I went after a cattle rustler
.
”

“
A cattle rustler
?
” She sat down on the bed and began taking off her shoes.

“Yeah he and his crew hit a drive that my brother was the drover on. Killed a couple of men made off with a couple hundred head. So I went after him. He wasn’t hard to track, that many cattle leave a nice trail.” He sat down and lifted her foot into his lap. He began rubbing it as he was talking. “The problem was
, when I caught up to them it turned out to be a much bigger operation than what I thought. They had twenty five to thirty men and a couple thousand head. I couldn’t take them on myself so I went to the Rangers for help. They sent me in, undercover with the gang. Long story short they got every one of them. After that I guess I was hooked. They hired me on and I haven’t looked back.” Until now he thought but didn’t say that aloud.

“
Is that when you met your partner
?
”

“
No
.
” He laughed
.“
I met him a couple years after that. I was looking for a vaquero down around the boarder and he literally got in my way
.
” Rose smiled at that
.“
I almost shot him. He did
n’
t look like any Ranger
I’
d ever met. He looked more like the vaqueros I was chasing. Except for the stupid hat. He swore h
e’
d never wear a sombrero. It really threw off the look
.
” He smirked and she laughed.

“
How did he get in your way
?
”

“
He was after another vaquero and he thought my guy would lead him to him
.
”

“
Were you fast friends
?
”

“
No, not at all. I almost shot him after I knew he was a Ranger
.
” He laughed and she grinned. Our superiors mandated that we work together to bring them both in. It did not go well, it took two weeks longer than it should have probably because we fought about everything and I do mean everything
!
” He chuckled.

“
So, did you get the vaqueros
?
”

“
Of course we did
!
” He was slightly offended by the question and she giggled.

“
What happened to make you friends
?
”

“
Not really sure
.
” He shrugged
.“
He saved my hide, I saved his. It turned out that we actually made a pretty good team
.
” Rose smiled. She had both her feet in his lap and he did
n’
t want to break the connection.

“
Alright your turn, I have a question for you
.
” He saw a moment of panic in her eyes
.“
What is with the blond hair
?
” He pointed at the wigs. He saw her relax a fraction.

“
Well because I wanted straight hair, and the colo
r
… well I guess the color was for Pam
.
”

“
Why do you want straight hair
?
” She lifted her hand and pointed at her head and the riot of curls popping out in every direction. He did
n’
t think that was an explanation
.“
Uh-huh, why would you want straight hair
?
”

“
Do you know how much effort it takes for this to not be a giant frizzy mess? Especially when it is humid out
.
”

“
Actually I have no idea how much effort that would take
,
” he said, and she laughed. He leaned forward and put his hands behind her back and pulled her closer so that she was nearly sitting in his lap. He carefully separated one section of hair and wound it around his finger. He slipped his finger out the bottom and it stayed in a perfect ringlet.

“
Straight hair ca
n’
t do that
,
” he said triumphantly. She smiled. Her heart was still beating erratically from his having pulled her so close. She pushed her hands into her hair high on top of her head and shook it then squeezed. She pulled her hands out but the hair stayed puffed up on her head.

“
It does
n’
t do that either
.
” She grumbled but she was smiling.

“
I like it
.
” He grinned. She could feel the color creeping into her cheeks. She had always hated her hair. She had worn wigs all her adult life, keeping her hair hidden from the world. She drew courage from the way he was looking at her and reached out and touched his face. His whiskers were more short beard than whiskers now. He had been clean shaven when he got there but he had
n’
t shaved since.

“
Are you growing it out
?
”

“No, I just really hate to shave. I shave it when it starts to itch.” She smiled
and slid her hand down his face. She swept her thumb over his lower lip. She saw a subtle change around his eyes almost as if they focused.  Unconsciously, she pulled her lower lip in running her tongue over it. He saw it. She didn’t even realize what she had done until she saw what it did to his eyes. She could see the hunger. She had seen the look before. Usually it was a sign to avoid the situation. This time she was tempted to see where it took her. He leaned forward very slowly so slowly that she moved forward and met him. He didn’t seal his lips against hers, he stopped a half a breath away and ran his tongue across her lip in the exact same place she just had. She shuddered, her breath coming out in a stuttered sigh. She felt his hand on her cheek but then she felt his arm around her waist. He half pulled and half lifted her and then she was sitting fully in his lap. She griped his shoulders suddenly a little off balance but she didn’t pull away.  She felt queasy as his tongue met hers. She never would have thought she could feel queasy in a good way but she was. His hands felt strong and tight as he gripped her waist. It felt as if a tight band was moving up her body. She felt his fingers bite into her ribs as he continued to plunder her mouth. Then his hands were on her breasts and she nearly jerked away but forced herself to stay as her heart rate accelerated. He moved from her mouth kissing down her neck. She felt him begin unbuttoning her blouse and she started to panic. She couldn’t breathe, she felt as if she were about to cross a line that she couldn’t come back across. She jumped off his lap and lunged for the door, barely managing to flip the lock before she wrenched it open.