Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (25 page)

"He might have management, he and Kenny grew up on a huge ranch outside of
Phoenix
that their daddy owned.  Kenny didn't help him much, but I think Wade did
,
"
Sabrina told him.

"Just let him talk to Wade, sugar," Cole grated out shortly.  "You don't need to sell the man to him."

"And you watch your tone with me Cole Jackson," she said with narrowed eyes, pointing a finger at him.

Luke hooted then took a sip of his tea when Cole cut him a glance, before looking back at Sabrina, his face recomposed into a mask of happiness.  "Sorry, sugar...I know you say he's a good man, but I've yet to see his good side.  Maybe if he's around more, and I get to know him, I'll change my opinion."

"Much better, darlin'," she told him then leaned across the table to give him a kiss.

Gabe could have sworn he heard Luke snort and mumble 'pussy' when Sabrina walked off, but if he'd said it, it had been for Cole's ears only.
  Cole's happy smile faded when Sabrina walked off too and he told Luke, "I don't like it...
.
"

"Well, get used to it...if he's good, I'm hiring him," Luke told him matter-of-factly, then added, "I've interviewed six men so far that the office at A&M sent me, and I have to tell you, I wasn't impressed.  They had the schooling, but they were green as grass, and had never actually been on a working ranch.  I need to find someone...tomorrow is Bud's last day.  He's leaving Sunday for
Wyoming
."

"I know...and Sabrina's suggesting him for the job was a good call, but I don't have to like it."

CHAPTER TEN

Karlie was excited
about seeing
Dixie
and Kate at the barbeque today.  Tommy was bringing them to the event, and they should be there any minute.  Karlie was sitting on the front porch swing, watching every rig that pulled down the dusty road and parked in the front of the house, and there were a lot parked there for sure.  Cassie had run an open invitation to the town in the local paper and it looked like everyone and his brother decided to come out for the free food a
nd drink at the retirement
party.

There were huge tents set up in the pasture, with a live band under one, food under another, and a
third with a
dance floor with bar stations
, all had seating, but there was another with just seating, so people could get out of the
hot sun and talk.  Two enormous barbeque pits had been set up outside and
the caterers
had been grilling meat, since early this morning.
  Carl Bellamy and Bud
Parsons
were retiring with a bang.

Someone walked up on the porch steps with a long-legged stride, their boot heels clicking a tune, and Karlie looked up and her jaw dropped.  Gabe stopped
in front of her grinning, with his hands on his hips.
 

Karlie whistled, then
dragged her gaze
over his body, taking in the white western shirt, unsnapped to between his pecs,
his western belt with the engraved buckle,
then
his Wrangler jeans that cupped him in places that made her mouth water, down to his shiny new
brown
snakeskin boots.
  On his head he had a brown, cut leather
,
patchwork cowboy hat that suited him perfectly.  He looked perfectly Texan,
and
definitely
good enough to eat,
but so not her Gabe.

"Wow..." she said breathlessly.

He chuckled then walked to the swing and sat down beside her
and dropped his arm over her shoulders
.  "Is that a good wow, or a wow what an idiot, wow?" he asked her self-consciously, then leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Wow
.
..you look damned hot
, sugar
...
good enough to eat
," she purred, then added with a grin, "But
I'm going to have to beat the cowgirls off of you
,"
then
she
leaned up and kissed his neck, flicking her tongue over his earlobe."

"I just thought maybe I'd cowboy up a little...thought you might like it," he said and turned his mouth to find hers and give her a heated kiss.

"Honey, I like you any way you come, you don't have to dress up for me...I prefer you undressed," she told him
,
and before she knew what was going on, he'd jerked her into his lap and was kissing her silly.  Her arms went around his neck, and she knocked his hat off so she could run her fingers
through
his hair.

Karlie heard boot heels click on the porch, then a smug voice said behind her,
"
Congratulations, Kelley, looks like you're getting a piece of the
infamous
wi
ld chil
d
...you're a lucky man...all I got was a smiley face drawn on my dick
, and a weeklong hard on
.  Or is that the 'mild child', I can't tell them apart, dressed
or
undressed.
"

Gabe pulled back from her and she slid off his lap to stand up and face Wade Roberts, her hands fisted at her sides.  Gabe vaulted off of the swing and grabbed Wade by the collar
.
"What the fuck do you mean talking about my girlfriend like that, Roberts?"

Wade pulled Gabe's hands away from him then stepped back with his hands up.  He notched his chin at Karlie, then grinned,
and told him,
"Her and her sister thoroug
h
ly squashed my twin fantasy
one night in
Tulsa
...
ask her about it
.
"
H
e laughed then tipped his hat and walked inside the house.

Spinning around Gabe pinned her with his eyes and grated, "How do you know Wade Roberts
again
?"  His face was red and his eyes sparkled dangerously.

"Um...he's a pro bronc rider in the rodeo, the same circuit Katie and I were in."

"
Obviously you know him better than that, don't feed me bullshit, Karlie, spill it
...
now
," he told her his breathing short and sharp.

Karlie felt blood rush to her face and she swallowed then shrugged
, and admitted,
"One night we were drunk
in the hotel bar
after a competition
,
he was twice as drunk,
and he told us
about his
twin fantasy
. 
He didn't leave it there though, he
pushed
us
to
o
far
, so we taught him a lesson."

She heard a low rumble start in Gabe's chest then he took a step
toward her and
leaned down close to her nose,
before he
asked through gritted teeth, "What did you two hellions do?"

"We were all adults, Gabe..."
her voice squeaked when
she told him
,
then
she
took a step back, because it felt like the anger radiating off of him was going to scorch her.

"
Did you have
sex with him, Karlie?"
Gabe flinch
ed
as if the thought hurt him,
then
swallow
ed, before adding,
"Did
both
of you have sex with him?"

Karlie didn't answer for a minute, she didn't want to, but when his face got even redder, she finally raised an eyebrow and admitted, "Sort of, but not really..."

"How do you fucking
sort of
have sex with someone, babe?  That was a yes or no question, I asked
. Did you and Katie have sex with Wade Roberts?
" Gabe roared then grabbed her shoulders.

Katie and Tommy
Tucker
walked up on the porch at that moment, trailed by
Dixie
who had a new puppy in wiggling in her arms. 
Karlie saw she had
bedazzled the dog, just like her golf cart, and the poor thing had on a little rhinestone collar and a pink doggie western shirt.
  Katie put her hands over
Dixie
's ears then leaned down to whisper to her and the little girl
nodded then
went inside the house.

Tommy's eyes were wary, and she saw Katie's face had flushed red.  "What's going on, Karlie?"
her sister
asked her and took a step away from Tommy.

Karlie groaned then told her sister, "Wade Roberts is here..."

Katie's face got redder
, almost as red as the shirt she had on with her shorts,
almost the same outfit Karlie had on.  It was funny how that happened with them sometimes, but she didn't find much humor in the situatio
n they were both in right now.

Tommy
was
staring
holes in
Katie
,
with his hands on his hips.
  "Who the hell is Wade Roberts?" he asked
her, but was
looking
at Gabe.

Gabe clenched his fists and grated,
"Answer my question, Karlie...
and Tommy's, while you're at it."

"I think this is a private matter between you and me,
Gabe,
and I'm not talking about it, until you calm down, and we're alone," she told him and folded her arms over her chest. 

There, maybe that would buy her time, and she could avoid the embarrassment of having to finish explaining in front of Tommy.  "If Tommy wants to know, he'll need to ask my sister...and it's up to her whether she tells him or not."
 

Lifting her chin, Karlie brushed past Gabe, then past her sister and Tommy and headed down the front steps as fast as her boots would carry her.  She
was
halfway across the yard, when Gabe caught up to her and took her arm, propelling her toward the barn.

When they got inside, she saw it was empty, except for the horses, because Bud and all the hands were at the party.  "Now, we're alone, tell me what you did with that asshole, and what he means to you."

He wasn't going to let her slide, that much was obvious
, so s
he might as well tell him t
he whole ugly story.
Taking a deep breath, she started,
"We didn't have sex with him, but we did make out
with him to get
him worked up and naked
in his hotel room
."

Gabe threw his head back
and sucked in a deep breath
,
then blew it out
, before he looked back at her and
ask
ed
, his eyes fill
ed with disbelief and anger, "How worked up? And were you naked too?"

"
Only partially naked..." she
admitted,
then gnawed her lip and continued,
"And w
orked up enough that he let us tie him to the bed."
When Gabe's face turned purple, and it looked like he was about to explode, she hurr
i
ed on to explain,
"
After that
I got a little creative with the magic marker I found in my purse
.
"
Karlie hoped
Gabe would
fill in the blanks from what Wade had said up on the porch.

"A smiley face?" he asked then his shoulders relaxed a little, and the corner of his lips twitched.

Karlie nodded
,
then giggled and covered her mouth with her hand to wipe her smile away.  "
W
e left him tied to the bed for housekeeping to find him
, and took his clothes with us when we left.  H
e was yelling so loud
,
h
alf the cowboys in the rodeo found out about it
,
then
told the other half.  W
e didn't hear much about twin fantasies anymore...from any of them."

Gabe shook his head and dropped her arm, then leaned back against the wall and started belly laughing like he wasn't ever going to stop.  "Lord, have mercy, you two are a me
n
ace to the male population," he said breathlessly
,
then started laughing again
.
  When he finished his eyes were filled with tears of mirth and he pulled her to him and said, "Thank, god that one isn't at the top of my list...poor Wade," he said then chuckled again.

"Poor Wade nothing, he wouldn't let up with it...he got what he deserved
," Karlie said sulkily then leaned into Gabe's chest and put her arms around his waist.
  She looked up into his glistening dark blue eyes and asked, "Are you mad at me?"

Gabe shook his head then leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss. "No, baby, I'm not mad at you.  I was jealous if anything...and I'm
not
jealous now," he told her with a chuckle, then
asked her
, "
Did you know that Wade is Kenny's older brother?
"

Shock charged through her system and she pulled back from him, with her jaw hanging.  "No, way..." she said incredulously,
then
shook her head
putting
her hand over her mouth.