Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (39 page)

Gabe knew one thing for certain, Karlie
hadn't mentioned a condom in there, either. 
Most women who didn't want to get pregnant would think of that right away, if they weren't on the pill.  Not her, she'd just tied him in knots then welcomed him into her body bareback
,
without a thought.
  Then said 'so what', when he mentioned it...the only explantion he could think of was that she
wanted
to get prenant
, so he'd marry her
.

Well,
Gabe
was not ready to get married, and she could put that right out of her head...he might never be ready, and she needed to know that.
  They'd never talked about it...other than him asking her to move in with him, which was a far cry from being married.
  It was time for that talk, to be blunt with her.

"Karlie--sit up and talk to me.  I need to tell you something,"
Gabe said firmly, but she didn't sit up, instead, he saw her body relax, then heard her soft snores.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Gabe couldn't sleep, and he didn't want to lay in the bed with Karlie, because he knew he'd want to touch her, and that wasn't happening
, until they came to an understanding
.  So, he worked off excess energy by unloading the groceries and putting them away, then watching some stupid program on late night TV
.  That finally made him a little sleepy, so he stretched out as much as he could on the small sofa, shoving a hard throw pillow under his head.
 

When that got uncomfortable, Gabe
tried laying on his side to see if curling his legs up would be
better. 
That position only made him feel
like one of those ga
g-gift snakes shoved in a can,
that would pop out if someone opened the lid,
so
he
put one leg off the sofa and bent the other at the knee and finally dr
ifted off into a fitful sleep.

A little while later, he thought he woke up, but everything looked like he was seeing it through a haze, so he wasn't sure.  Unless the cabin was on fire, he was still asleep, but what he saw wasn't the c
ottage.  He
was at the Double B, and had just taken Sabrina's hand in his to walk her down the white runner to meet Cole by the gazebo, where they'd gotten married.  He looked at Cole
while they walked
for a bit, then glanced back at his
 
sister
,
and was shocked because her hair was
a fiery
red now,
not brunette,
but he couldn't see her face clearly under the veil she wore. 

They walked on and he
looked at the faces of the people in the rows as they passed and saw they weren't smiling, they were shaking their heads. 
When they
finally
reached the end of the runner, he looked back up and instead of Cole, Wade
Roberts was standing there
waiting for them
. 

Confused, but knowing he had to do it, Gabe put her hand into Wade's r
eluctantly, then Wade lifted her veil, and Gabe's legs buckled when he saw it was Karlie smiling up at Wade.
  His heart felt like it was trying to claw its way out of his chest and a roar started at his toes and worked its way up his chest then out of his mouth.

Karlie was woken up from a dead sleep by a
guttural
wail that sounded like an injured animal.  She sat straight up, her heart pounding in her chest.  Grabbing the edge of the covers
she threw them back, then
yanked off a sheet and wrapped it around her, before running down the hall into the living room.  She heard moaning and thrashing, then ran over to the sofa ready to find Gabe engaged in a fight to the death with someone.  He was fighting alright, but not a live person, he was fighting his demons again.  His face was pale and his
skin
beaded with sweat, his fist beating the sofa beside him. 

"
No--you can't
have her!
"
he yelled
to the monsters behind his eyelids
, then said in a low guttural moan, "
Please don't leave me...
."

With tears in her eyes, Karlie
went around the sofa and knelt beside him, slapping his cheeks lightly.
"Wake up, Gabe...it's a dream, baby
,
"
she repeated over and over until he opened disoriented blue eyes and looked at her.  Fear and horror filled him
eyes
when he
evidently
recognized her.

Gabe sat up and pushed her away, then ran a hand through his hair.  "I've got to get out of here," he told her then stood up
and walked
toward the kitchen
.  "I'll be back later
,
"
he told her then grabbed three or four beers from the refrigerator and put them in a bag.  Without another glance in her direction, Gabe headed out the door to the deck.  She ran to the slider and watched him stumble down the steps o
f
the deck, then down to the dock
.

Karlie was afraid he'd take that boat out there and drink those beers then fall out and drown.  Not caring she was only dressed in a sheet, she ran across the deck, then down the stairs,
and caught his arm, "Gabe talk to me," she begged him.

He shook off her arm then turned around to face her, his
eyes were glazed and his
face was a mask of misery and anger, when he hissed, "You want me to talk to you, Karlie?"

She nodded then swallowed down the wail that wanted to escape. "Tell me what's wrong, Gabe...I want to help you," she said in a watery voice.

"I don't give a fuck if you're pregnant, I'm not marrying you...I'm
never
getting married. 
So your little plan isn't going to work,
"
he yelled and it echoed over the lake
and in her ears.
Karlie
didn't respond, because she was so stunned
, s
he had no idea what the hell he was talking about
,
and was trying to dig around in the sludge filling her brain to figure it out.

Gabe didn't wait
for a response
,
his lips twisted then he said, "
Last night you never m
entioned a condom, Karlie
,
and
it
was as much your responsibility as mine.
..and holding out on moving in with me
...all that was y
our attempt to get me to put a ring on your finger, right?
"

Her jaw flapped, but she couldn't force words past the rage that clogged her throat, so Gabe pushed right on,
hissing
"
I had a lot of time to think about it last night, and I
see what you're up to now
...
the gig's up, sugar.
"

Karlie felt a scream building inside her c
hest and stepped closer to him.  Putting a finger into his chest, she poked him and he took a step back.  She
moved forward so her face was close to his,
and
narrowed her
eyes as she grated, "You don't know
Jack
, asshole.  I wouldn't marry you if you were the
last
man on the face of the Earth," she told him and then poked him again, so he stepped back
once more
, then she spat "A
nd as far as me being responsible?
I got on the pill after you,
Mr. Responsibility
, used a dry-rotted condom." 

If Karlie wasn't so pissed off at the arrogant asshole, she would have laughed at his shocked, pale face, instead she poked him yet again, and he stepped back,
so he was
almost where she wanted him.
  She dropped the sheet from her body and kicked it aside, so she was standing there in the rising sunlight, buck naked and madder than a wet hen.

She raised her shoulders and told him,
"Take a good look,
you sonofabitch
...because this is the
last
time, you're gonna see the sun come up on
this
," she
told him
then pushed her hands
hard
against his chest and he flew backwards
off the end of the dock
, his arms flailing, before he hit the cold water.

When he came back up sputtering and wiping water from his face, she screamed, "
I h
ope that cooled you off, you arrogant bastard
.  G
o find yourself another
fuck buddy
,
because
this one is d
one,
" then spun on her heel and sashayed her ass back up the dock, and up the steps to the deck.

Karlie went straight to the bedroom, and yanked some clothes out of her suitcase and threw them on, then
she
packed up the rest of her stuff, and walked into the living room to grab her keys
and cell phone from
of the coffee table, where she'd seen them earlier.  Without a backward glance, she walked out of the front door and straight to her car.  She opened the door and stuffed the suitcase into the passenger seat, then got behind the wheel and cranked up Freddie, revving the engine a few times, because the growl
he
made her feel better.

The front door of the c
ottage
flew back on its hinges and Gabe ran out on the porch, but she didn't wait to see what he had to say, she threw Freddie in reverse and gunned him backing all the way down the drive, with Gabe running after her.  When she hit the street, she stuck her finger out the window and gave him a
Texas
howdy, then threw the car in drive and peeled out.  She glanced in the rearview and saw him standing at the end of the drive with his hands on his hips.  He'd need his hands on another part of his anatomy soon, because Karlie was well and truly done with that dumbass.

She got to the Double B in record time, and parked Freddie in the yard, then grabbed her bag and went into the house.  Cassie was in the kitchen at the table with Luke and they both looked up at her curiously when she stomped in there.  Sarge was by Luke's feet and ran over to jump up on her leg. 

Karlie
leaned down and scratched him, then said, "If Gabe Kelley calls here, comes by here, or asks about me, tell him to get lost...I'm none of his business anymore.
  I'm going get changed, then I'm going to work.  I'll be either in the barn or the arena, if you need me.
"

Luke and Cassie looked at each other, then buried their noses in the cereal bowls in front of them. 
Karlie went upstairs and put her stuff away, then dressed in jeans, her spare boots and a sleeveless western shirt.  She pulled her hair into a ponytail, then plopped a straw hat on her head, then headed
downstairs
.
 

Seeing the phone in the alcove, she stopped and called Cole to tell him if the Texas Rangers needed a statement from her, they could find her at the Double B.
..he asked her why she wasn't at the lake house and she told him to butt out
, and
that she and Gabe were done.  She also told him he might want to go pick up his deputy, because he didn't have a ride.
 

When she hung up, the phone rang again, and she picked it up.  When she heard Gabe's voice asking for her, she hung up in his face, then went outside and straight to the barn.  Wade was there with Titan in the cross-ties grooming him.  When he saw her walk in, he looked up with a smile,
and
she forced herself to smile back.  "Hey, how's our beautiful boy today?" she asked then walked up and scratched Titan on the nose,
then
he nuzzled her hand, then licked it.

Wade stood up and threw the brush in the grooming kit, then pulled a hoof pick out of his back pocket.  "Thought you were going to be gone this week?" he asked her with a raised brow, then added, "Man your face looks bad, sugar...your ex do that?"

W
ith a fake laugh, she winked at him and said
, "Yeah, he thought he'd add a little color to my cheeks, mainly blue and green."

Wade didn't laugh, he put the pick back in his pocket then walked over and pulled her against his chest.  "I'm sorry, honey...that bastard needs his ass whipped."

Her arms went around his waist and she absorbed the comfort he was trying to offer, then she didn't know why, but the dam suddenly burst and she was crying like a lawn sprinkler against the front of his shirt.  His body stiffened like he didn't know what to do with a bawling woman, but he didn't let her go, he just rocked her against his chest and whispered comforting things in her hair.
 

Finally, when she was ab
le to pull herself together, she pulled back a little and looked up at him then said, "Thanks, I'm sorry I got you all wet...so damned much has happened lately, I guess I just finally couldn't hold it in anymore."