Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (5 page)

"A bull
rider and a bully.
..my ex-boyfriend.
  He's the reason I left the rodeo, and can't go back.
  I left Katie in the lurch, so she may not help me sell JoJo
either
.
"

Cole's face got red and he grabbed her shoulders.
  "Did he hurt you?"

"Just pushed me around and tried to cut me off from everyone...even Katie
,
outside of the arena.  Things were getting worse, and I was afraid he
would
hurt me
.  He
wasn't going to let me break up with him I knew,
so I left.
  I was ready to quit
roping
anyway,
"
she told him trying to convince him
and
herself yet again.

Cole
shoved a hand through his thick dark blond hair then told her, "Well, the good news is Gabe reduced the charge to resisting.  That's not a felony, so the bail is a lot lower.  I think he's tearing up the tickets he gave you too."

Shock and relief flowed through her.  Why had the deputy done that, she wondered?  He had no reason to show her mercy...she hadn't
shown
him
any
when she left him on the road defenseless.  "Wow, that's awfully nice of him...but even if it's twenty-five dollars, I'd still be here until it goes to court."

"You're that broke, sugar?" Cole asked and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yep, he took every nickel I had...except for what was left in my savings.  I
had
transferred most of
my savings
to my checking account, because I was going to buy a new
horse
trailer
, and he took it all
.
 
What I left in my savings was what I
used to get here.
"

"Have you called the police on that jerk?"

"I was scared to...I didn't even tell Katie about what he was doing,
because I thought he'd probably hurt her too if she said something to him,"
Karlie admitted then added, "
S
o
,
she thinks I just flaked out on her."
  That was what she regretted the most about leaving the tour
, s
he'd let her sister down, put her in an awful position.

Cole took her arm and stood, pulling her to her feet with him.  "C'mon, let's get you back to the Double B," he said then walked her to the cell door.

Although Karlie appreciated his gesture,
she couldn't ask Cole to let her out.  She wasn't going to let him pay her bail, and she deserved to be in here because what she'd done was damned wrong.  The generosity the dark-haired deputy had shown her was too much already. 

Digging in her heels, Karlie pulled her arm out of his grasp and took a step away.  "I didn't tell you that to make you feel sorry for me, Cole.  I appreciate what you're trying to do, but your deputy has already done enough
by
reducing the charges.  I deserve to be in here for what I did to him.
  It was stupid and thoughtless...
"

"I agree that it was stupid, Karlie
, b
ut I'm not letting you out, because I feel sorry for you.  I need your help and we'll get the charges dropped altogether...I'll talk to the judge."

"You need my help?" Karlie couldn't imagine how she could help him.

"Yep, you're going to do community service...our
two
patrol cars need servicing and the cruiser Gabe was driving needs more than that.  I know you can do that, right?"

Relief swamped her and she huffed out a breath, "Hell, yeah, I can do that," she told him with a large grin.
  "Might even soup them up, so you can catch a hot rod
Lincoln
."

"Honey, that thing runs like a scalded ape, there's no way you can make those cruisers fast enough for that."

"Watch me," she said and grinned again.

***

Gabe didn't know why he was headed out to the Double B ranch
.  He
was off duty and didn't really have a reason to go there, but his
patrol
car seemed to have a mind of its own, since he'd gotten it back from Karlie Upton
a week ago
.  The woman had possessed him
and
his patrol car
, it seemed
.
  Her bright blue eyes
,
red hair and curves had been flitting through his mind constantly the last few days.
 

Karlie had
told Cole she was going to hop up
his car,
so it could catch her
Lincoln
, and she hadn't lied. 
He was enjoying the hell out of the modifications she'd made to the car. 

For shits and giggles, h
e'd taken it out to a smooth country road and got down on it, and the thing had wings.  He grinned thinking of the fun he'd have if she tried to outrun him again.
..he almost wished she would, so he could have a do-over stopping her.

The community service deal that Cole had worked out with her was perfectly acceptable to him. 
It let her off the hook, but still drove the point home that what she'd done wasn't going to be tolerated.
  The punishment fit the crime
.
..and h
e got
his
patrol
car fixed and then some.

That woman had some strange talents, and was damned good at them too.  Roping and mechanics sure didn't go together, and neither of those talents seemed to fit the leggy cowgirl.  He wondered about other hidden talents she might have, that he'd certainly enjoy discovering.

Shaking his head, Gabe turned onto the dirt driveway leading up to the house.  He parked his car out front and got out, but didn't walk to the porch, instead he walked like he was in a trance toward the outdoor arena
out back
where he saw a woman on a horse cornering a calf.
  It couldn't be Cassie, because she was pregnant and couldn't ride, so he figured it must be Karlie.

Gabe walked up to the fence and put a boot up on the bottom rail and leaned on the top to watch.  Her lithe body moved with the horse like they were one, and strangely it did something for him. 
Sexual tension charged through him, and he fought the images that seized his brain, of her riding him like that...giving him that kind of focus.

It was like a dance they were doing, the calf moved right, and the horse moved quickly to cut him off, then moved to guide him back to the other side.  Karlie didn't even notice
Gabe
was there, she was totally focused on the horse and the calf, a lariat in her hand. 
The calf backed up then turned and started running and she kneed the palomino horse and took off with her loop swinging in the air
. 

The loop
went flying through the air when she tossed it and landed perfectly over the calf's neck.  She looped the rope on the saddle horn, then slid to the ground and ran over and tossed the calf as if it weighed nothing, then took a rope from between her teeth and bound the calf's legs together, before throwing her hands up and pushing back to her feet.

She untied the calf and removed the rope from the horn, then looped it over her shoulder.

Finally looking up, she noticed he was there and she frowned.
  Her hips swung enticingly in the tight blue jeans she
wore
with a checkered shi
rt
.  As
she walked toward him
, he c
ouldn't help watching her appreciatively.
  When she reached him, she pulled off the tan gloves she'd been wearing and stuffed them in her pocket then said, "Howdy, Deputy...
something wrong with your car
?"

"Gabe," he told her dumbly.  She thought he was here, because of a problem with his car, how the hell was he going to tell her he was there, because he had this driving need to see her again?

Her full lips cocked up into a smile then she said, "Okay,
Gabe
, is something wrong with your car?"

"Nope...it's
amazing
what that car can do now," he told her then improvised, "I just wanted to come out and tell you thank you."

"No need," she looked down and fiddled with the rope, "I owed you that and a lot more."

"You owe me enough t
o
buy me a beer
?" Gabe wasn't passing up the opportunity to ask her out without asking her out.
  It kind of put the odds of him not getting shot down in his favor.

Something flashed in her beautiful eyes, then she shook her head
and said,
"I'll have to take a raincheck..."

"Why
's that
?"
he asked, disappointed that, regardless of the odds,
he had definitely just been shot down.

Her peachy cheeks flushed and she looked away from him
then
gnawed her lower lip,
and
told him, "I don't get paid until Friday...I'm kinda short right now."

"I was just kidding about you buying, sugar...I want to buy you a beer to say thank you for the extras you did to the car."

If she
was
so damned good at her job though,
Gabe
wondered why she was broke...and why she was in
Bowie
, instead of running the country with the pro rodeo
tour
.  The more he knew about Karlie Upton, the more questions he had.  Gabe was good at getting answers, and he planned on doing just that with her.

She gave him a wide toothy smile then said, "I'd like that...thank you."

"You ready then?"

Her face paled and she looked down at herself and said, "Um...no, I need to go get cleaned up. It won't take me long."

"I'll wait,
no problem...mind if I come in,
while I wait?"

"Not at all..." she told him then walked off in front of him giving him a spectacular view of her perky backside.

They walked into the foyer and she pointed to the living room.  "Just have a seat in there, and I'll be ready in a sec."

Karlie wondered what the sexy lawman was up to.  There was no way he wanted to go out with her, not after what she'd done t
o
him, she thought
,
then s
hook her head
.  No man, could be that forgiving.  He had to be getting teased by his co-workers mercilessly, and she felt really bad for putting him in that position. 

Whatever his reason
though
, Karlie
could
use a beer and some conversation.  Relaxation was something she hadn't had in a long time.
..not since before Jake.  With him
,
she
had
lived
in a constant state of edginess, and they never went out.  He wouldn't allow it.

Running into the bedroom Luke had given her, she hefted her duffle bag up on the bed then unzipped it and pulled out fresh underwear
,
then ran down the hall to the bathroom.  Ten minutes later, she blow dried her hair then went back to the bedroom and dug through her duffle again and pulled out a blue jean skirt and sleeveless black western shirt. 
Adding her
b
lack dress boots and black hat to the pile, she got dressed then glanced in the mirror over the dresser.  Her face looked really pale, so she
grabbed her purse and threw on a little makeup and lip gloss.

With one final look, she put on a silver concho belt then ran downstairs. 
Although s
he'd only been gone fifteen minutes or so, when she went into the family room, Gabe was sitting on one of the ov
erstuffed sofas sound asleep, his butt on the edge and his long legs spread out before him.
  S
arge was asleep with his head on Gabe's thigh
, and his hand was
on
Sarge's
head
. 
Karlie's heart clenched at the sight
, before s
he walked over there and bumped him with her knee. "Hey, cowboy...you pooping out on me?"