Waiting on a Cowboy, page 20
Tate caught her before her knees buckled and wrapped her in his arms, her head pressed to his chest.
She put her hand over her stinging cheek and stared at Clint’s limp body.
Drake came up beside her. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks for coming to the rescue.”
Adria appeared at Drake’s arm and put her hand on his shoulder. “I saw someone sneaking into the stables, sent Drake, and called Tate.”
Tate brushed his hand over Liz’s hair. “I grabbed Declan and hauled ass down here.”
Declan didn’t even have his boots on. “I called the cops.” Declan notched his chin toward Drake. “Better put that away before the cops get here.”
Drake handed the rifle to Adria and pushed Clint over onto his stomach with his booted foot, none too gently. He grabbed a rope off the wall and tied Clint’s hands behind his back.
Tate walked her away from Clint. He pulled a paper towel from the holder on the wall above the sink across from them, wet it, and pressed it to the cut on her face.
She hissed in pain. For such a tiny thing, it stung like hell.
“It’s not bad. Probably heal in a day or so.”
She leaned into Tate’s hand. “Why the hell would he come here? He had to know it would only get him in more trouble.”
Tate pulled her into his chest and held her tight. “Christ, Liz, I thought he might hurt you before I got here.”
She pushed out of his arms letting her adrenaline-fueled anger reign. “I should be able to walk around my home without worrying about being jumped by a drunk ex, for God’s sake.”
Tate gave her a silly and completely out of place grin.
“What?”
“Your home?”
“I live here. With you. So why the hell does he think anything he does will change the past or the future. I’m here. I don’t want to even see him let alone be with him again, so what the fuck!”
“He’s a serious threat.” Drake stated the obvious, and the impact of it hit hard. “He’s bold enough to come here knowing you’ve got the three of us to protect you. Even if he didn’t count on me and Declan, he knew Tate hasn’t left you alone outside of work where you’re surrounded by people since Aubrey’s death.”
Liz waved her hand out toward Clint. “He’s drunk. He wasn’t thinking.”
“This time. Next time . . .” Tate left the rest unsaid, because there was no telling what Clint might do.
Declan waved the sheriff’s deputy inside and met him halfway, explaining what happened with an angry, disgusted look on his face and a pointed finger at Clint lying on the floor.
Tate held her hand as the officer approached.
“I’ll need to take your statement and a picture of your injury.” First, the officer and Drake helped Clint sit up. Drake muscled Clint up with his hand hooked under Clint’s armpit and practically plopped him on his feet with a thud. Clint wobbled, spotted her again, and tried to come after her. Drake held him in place and frowned at the sad, drunken attempt Clint failed to pull off without looking stupid and weak.
And it made him even more dangerous.
“This is all your fault. You’re going to pay for this.” The slurred words didn’t erase the veracity of the threat.
The officer tugged Clint away from her with a “Keep tacking on the charges, buddy.”
It took ten minutes for all of them to give their statements separately. The officer laid out the charges—trespassing and assault the only ones that carried any weight—Clint would be in and out of jail in a day. If that. Especially if Clint did the smart thing and got a lawyer.
Drake and Declan offered to finish off the three horse stalls she hadn’t done.
Lost in her swirling thoughts, she headed for the house.
Tate caught up to her in the driveway. “Hey, where are you going?”
“I’m going to shower and head over to my place to get some clothes and other things I need.”
“I’ll drive you.”
She shook her head. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I want to.”
Frustration got the better of her. “He’s in jail. I can drive myself.”
Tate’s lips tilted in a dejected half frown that made her feel guilty for snapping at him. “I’m sorry.” She raked her fingers through her messy hair and tucked it behind her ear. “I’m tired of not being able to do what I want, when I want. I can’t even do chores on the ranch without him mucking that up. He ruined a perfectly great morning.”
Tate reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. “I know, sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. He’s the shithead who can’t take no for an answer. And he blames me! I’m supposed to pay because he’s a jerk. What the hell did I do?”
“Nothing.” Tate’s even tone only irritated her more because it proved she’d lost her mind and was yelling for no reason.
She sighed out a huge breath. “Sorry. I’m doing exactly what he does—taking out my anger on someone who doesn’t deserve it.”
“I’m pissed, too. I can’t even protect you on my own property. He got close enough to hurt you.” Tate brushed his thumb over the barely anything scratch. “What if he’d done worse? Or he took you. Hell, he had enough time to shoot you.” Luckily, only Drake brought a gun, just in case.
She put both hands on his chest. “Tate, I’m fine.”
“He took Aubrey without anyone seeing him. He got her up to that bridge and pushed her off.”
The nightmare image that evoked sent a chill through her.
Her first instinct was to soothe Tate by telling him they didn’t know that for sure, but in her heart, she knew. Clint was capable of much worse violence. She saw it in his flat eyes and heard it in his heartless words. He didn’t express any sympathy or remorse for what happened to Aubrey or what he did to her and others.
He never apologized for accosting her in her condo.
Everything was someone else’s fault.
“It’s not your sole responsibility to guard me. I know you want to—”
“I want to lock you in a room until he’s behind bars for life or dead.” Tate glanced down to the stables. “If Adria hadn’t seen him coming . . .”
“I had a shovel at hand and a bunch of tools. Like the one you used,” she pointed out. “I’d have screamed for you. I’d have run.”
Tate’s eyes filled with a plea and dread. “And what if none of that was enough?”
“I don’t know. But I can’t spend my whole life worrying about what if and not living my life.” She patted his chest before he went off again. “I’m not saying I won’t be careful. More so now that I don’t even feel safe here.”
Tate’s head fell back before he looked at her again. “I hate that.”
“Me too, but I’m going to take Detective Valdez’s advice and press charges. Hopefully, I can get a restraining order.”
Tate waved that off. “A piece of paper isn’t going to stop him.”
“I don’t think so either, but I want to have everything in place for the next time he comes after me.”
“He’s not going to stop.” Tate’s obvious statement held all the inevitability they both felt.
“This isn’t what you signed up for.”
“Yeah it is. Good times and bad. That’s the deal, right? You and me and whatever comes our way.”
She went up on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hugged him tight and didn’t let go. “You are the best man I know. Whatever happens, I’m so lucky we’ve shared this amazing thing between us.”
“Don’t talk like it’s going to end.”
“Not if I can help it.”
He stepped back and took her by the shoulders. “We’re going to have everything we talked about this morning and more.”
She gave him a quick kiss. “I hope so.” With that, she walked up to the house and went up to the room they shared together. They dreamed of making the cabin home. A space for the two of them to spread out and fill with their things and their memories.
If Clint thought he could jeopardize that or take it away from her, he had another think coming. She was tired of playing defense. Time to take action.
So she showered, changed, grabbed the empty duffel bags so she could pack up more of her things and bring them here, and headed out.
Of course, Tate spotted her coming and met her by her car. “I’ll take you into town.”
“I’m doing this on my own. Need anything?”
“Just you.” The sweet talker, he always knew just what to say.
“I’ll be home soon.”
He smiled that she called this place home. Truthfully, she’d be at home wherever she was with him.
They shared a goodbye kiss that promised there’d be a lot more of them waiting for her when she returned.
“Don’t be too long. I won’t have anything fun to do here while you’re gone.”
She beamed. “I like the fun things we do.” She purred out the words to tempt, tease, and flirt, and also to let him know she had her feet back under her after Clint knocked her for a loop this morning.
She tossed the bags in the back seat, jumped in behind the wheel, waved to Tate, and headed out. A surprise waited at the end of the long driveway and just a few hundred feet down the main road where Clint’s car was being pulled out of a ditch where the front end had struck a tree. Not much damage from what she could see, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse. The winding road was dangerous at night with deer and other animals crossing. You had to be alert. Driving it drunk—she shook her head—stupid and careless. He could have killed someone, or been killed if he slammed into a deer.
Well, she wasn’t going to be stupid or careless about the situation with Clint.
She had a few ideas of ways to protect herself.
Clint might think she was an easy target. If he came after her again, he’d find out differently and regret it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tate spent the last four hours with his gut tied in knots. With Clint in jail, he didn’t need to worry about him confronting Liz. He called Detective Valdez to make sure he knew about the arrest. Valdez assured Tate he was working on making a murder charge stick. So far he had no witnesses who had seen Clint with Aubrey out by the lake and bridge.
The trespassing and assault may be the only thing that stuck to Clint.
Tate wanted to hit something.
Liz had woken up happy and excited about their future. Five minutes with Clint and he ruined another day for her.
“She’s back,” Declan called from the front of the stables where he signed off on a hay delivery.
Tate left the tractor carburetor he’d been cleaning on the workbench, grabbed a rag to wipe off his hands, and headed for the door.
“She looks tired.”
Yeah, well, they didn’t get much sleep last night and she had a rough morning. But he planned to make sure she had a good night.
Declan slapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll finish with the tractor. Go take care of her.”
Tate appreciated it, but hated to leave even more work for Declan, who put in more than his fair share of hours. “I’ll finish up before I take her to dinner.”
Declan gave him a shove toward the house. “Go make her smile.”
“My favorite thing to do.”
Declan seemed to catch the innuendo and headed in to finish putting the tractor engine back together. The last thing Declan needed right now was more things to solve. If the fix worked, Declan could end his day on a high note.
Ask him, Declan needed someone to tinker with instead of the tractor and this ranch.
Liz pulled two stuffed bags out of the back seat of her car and headed up to the house. He followed, hoping to brighten her day. He had a few ideas up his sleeve on just the right way to do that. After all, he knew her better than anyone.
He thought about proposing tonight, but didn’t want to tie their engagement to what happened with Clint this morning.
He wanted Liz to look back on the day he proposed and smile and not have a single thing darken the memory.
With Clint haunting her life, Tate wondered how long it would take to find the right moment.
Fuck that. He wasn’t going to let another man dictate when he proposed to the woman he loved. But he did have one thing to do before he asked her. Maybe it was old-fashioned, but his mama raised him to do things the right way.
He walked up to the house and found Liz in their room hanging some of her clothes in the closet. It did something weird to his stomach to see her clothes hanging next to his.
She turned and jumped back, pressing her hand to her chest as she gasped with surprise. “You scared me.”
“Sorry. I thought you heard me coming up the stairs.”
She dropped her hand. “Lost in thought, I guess. How was your day?”
“It sucked. I didn’t spend it with you.”
A fleeting smile tilted her lips. “I took some time to clean up my place in addition to packing some stuff, which led to sorting out my clothes and bagging some things up that I’ll donate. I’ve got way more than I need.”
“Said no woman I’ve ever known.”
Another quick smile. She was warming up and getting out of her head. “Oh yeah? Are you going to build me a huge closet with the addition to the cabin?”
“Anything you want.” He tilted his head. “Well, within reason. But I promise your closet will definitely be bigger than mine.”
This time the smile lasted a few seconds longer. “What did you do today?”
“Not much. Fixed a busted gate on the bull pen. Checked on the cows in the south pasture. Rescued a cow that got stuck in some mud. Helped the farrier shoe a couple of the horses and trim a couple others’ hooves. Tore apart the tractor engine. What else did you do besides sort and pack your clothes?”
“Stopped by and saw my parents. I updated them on the whole Clint situation. They’re worried, but happy I’m here with you and your brothers looking out for me.”
That made him feel better. “How are your mom and dad?”
“Good.”
“Did you mention moving in here with me?”
She stopped pulling clothes from the bag and looked at him. “Not specifically. Like your brothers, they think it’s inevitable we’ll be together now.” She set a pocketknife on the dresser by her phone.
“What’s with the knife?”
“I thought I’d carry it with me now. Just in case. My dad gave it to me when I moved in to my own place. It’s been in a drawer ever since. But now . . .” She thought she needed it to feel safe.
She’d spent her whole life living like nothing bad would ever happen to her. Not anymore.
Yep. He should have beat the hell out of Clint this morning.
“You know what? Let’s go out to dinner.” Tate moved past her and went to the closet and pulled out the sexy black dress she’d hung up. He turned and held it out to her. “Put this on.” He found a black lace bra stacked with the white and nude everyday ones in the drawer and handed it to her. “And this.” He let his gaze roam down to her hip-hugging jeans. “Panties optional.” He gave her a wicked smile. “Surprise me.”
The smile stayed on her face this time. “How long will that dress stay on me?”
“Most likely through dinner. Once you’re back in the truck, I can’t make any promises.” He tossed the dress onto the bed next to piles of T-shirts and pants, flung one side of the bra around her waist and caught the end with his free hand, and used the bra to pull her in close. “Put on that sexy dress, go to dinner with me, and let’s forget about everything but you and me for a little while.”
She clasped her hands at the back of his neck. “You are always the best part of my day.”
The kiss they shared nearly buckled his knees and had him tumbling her onto the bed. But he held it together and took a step back even though he wanted to strip her bare and get closer.
He released one side of the bra and draped it over her shoulder. “I’m going to shower off the day.” He smelled like motor oil and horses. “Get ready.”
She had a better idea and hooked her hand in the front of his jeans and tugged him close. “I could use a shower, too. Wanna share?”
“I’ve been sharing my cookies, French fries, and life with you forever. Why not a shower,” he teased.
She reached over his shoulder, grabbed a handful of his sweaty shirt, and dragged it over his head and down his arms as he leaned over. Her eyes landed on his chest and that glint of appreciation in her eyes made him hard and hungry for her.
She tossed the shirt on top of the laundry pile, took his hand, and pulled him toward the door. Once she had him in the bathroom and the door locked, clothes went flying. He appreciated her expediency and thoughtfulness to turn the shower on to heat wearing nothing but pink with white polka-dot panties while she watched him drag off his boots and jeans. He didn’t know why, but those dots drove him crazy. Everything about her made him want her these days. And he loved it. And her for being perfect for him.
He kept the condom he pulled out of his jeans in his hand and stepped under the hot spray. He let his gaze follow those dots down her thighs and legs until she kicked the panties away and stood for a second just so he could look at her.
He took a step toward her, hooked his hand at the back of her neck, and coaxed her into the shower. “Come here.”
Skin met skin and warmed under the hot water sluicing over them as his tongue slid along hers in a deep kiss he dragged out just so they could enjoy being this close.
Liz hooked her leg over his hip. He slid his hand down her belly and dipped it between her spread thighs and found her wet and slick with desire. Her hips rocked forward and met his wandering fingers. He slid one, then two inside her. She nipped his shoulder and her nails bit into his back. He had her panting and moaning against his neck as she rocked against his hand and shattered with a scream he captured with another deep kiss. She leaned into him and he slid his hand up her body to cup her breast and sweep his thumb over her tight nipple.
