Read Ranger's Wild Woman Online

Authors: Tina Leonard

Ranger's Wild Woman (9 page)

Everything. “Why do you wear toeless tennis shoes?”

“They’re different.”

He digested that. “Why do you color your hair that way?”

“I like to be different. Do you like it?”

He nodded. “Surprisingly, I do. It suits you. So, do you mind me asking about your folks?”

“They’re…different,” she murmured.

“I know, everything about you is different. So tell me.”

“They’re faith healers, for starters. And hippies, for the big finish.”

His brows went up. “You sound as if you disapprove.” He couldn’t resist a peek at her expression, which was very unhappy.

“As a child, I wasn’t allowed to see doctors.” She shrugged. “I developed a medical condition in my late teens involving my female organs. My parents
felt everything could be healed with prayer, and that I must not be praying hard enough. Believing hard enough. Being good enough. In the end, I couldn’t take it anymore. I left home; I went to several doctors, who all agreed there was nothing to do but remove everything that was ruining my life. For me, that also included my parents.”

“Hannah—”

She shook her head. “It’s fine now. I had the surgery, and I started living my life over. Not with my parents, of course. I couldn’t survive in their world.”

His lips compressed. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’d like to say it’s okay, but it wasn’t. I was the only child, so one day…I think I’ll have to go home and forgive them. I’m just not ready to. I call them every once in a while. But our worlds are just too different, and I can’t have children, so we don’t have much reason to forge a future. Except that they’re my parents…”

He was sorry he’d made her talk about it. “I shouldn’t have asked. Let me change the subject.”

“It’s all right. You told me about your father.” She patted his arm, and her hand lingered for a second before moving away. “You’re the only person I’ve ever told about my parents, except for my almost-fiancé.”

Instantly, he couldn’t help worrying that this ex-boyfriend meant more to her than she was letting on. And then he told himself not to be so insecure. He should be glad she’d had someone to lean on.

He wanted it to be him. “Hannah, I wish I’d known you then.”

“No, you don’t. I’m just now settling down. I’ve been a rebel all my life.”

“And you don’t want to get married.”

She shook her head. “I really can see no purpose in it for me.”

“But you like me.”

The smile she gave him melted his heart. “I do, cowboy. Sort of. Keep your eyes on the road.”

“Okay, so I’ll just come with you for a while and amuse myself on the riverboat. And protect you from leches.”

“And when you get bored?” she softly asked. “Because you will. You’re not suited for just hanging around.”

“I’ll jump overboard and swim back to shore. Then head for the military.”

“Just a break in your action?”

He matched her light, airy tone with a shrug. “Sure. Why not? It’s great weather. You’re fun. You beat me at strip poker.”

“Ah. You associate me with diverse things.”

“I associate you with weirdness. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to marry you again, so keep it cool, wild thing.” He kept his tone light in a desperate bid to be smooth.

She nodded. “No marriage.”

“No broken body parts. Just fun.”

“That’s right. Something different.”

And then Ranger stopped the truck. “I’ve driven so many back roads that I’ve lost my sense of direction.”

Hannah cocked a brow at him and put the window down, sticking a bare foot out into the breezy air as she reclined. “I’ll figure out the map if you crack me a soda.”

“You’ll figure out the map?”

“You got us lost. Should I trust you further? I do have a boat to catch,” she pointed out. “He leaves tomorrow.”

Ranger’s head swiveled so he could stare at her full-on. Big brown eyes meeting inquisitive ones. “Why didn’t you mention that before?”

“It wasn’t important. Was it?”

It was important to Ranger. They were lost. They could stay lost. The riverboat could leave without them. More importantly, the boyfriend could sail off without Hannah.

Her eyes were luminous as she tried to outthink him. But he worked on that poker face, keeping his dishonorable thoughts to himself. When they’d left Lonely Hearts Station, he’d kept an eye on her in the rearview mirror while she frolicked in the back seat with Archer. Even then, he’d itched to know more about her. His gaze wanted to be on her every second.

What he was thinking now was tantamount to…well, girlnapping, he told himself sternly. It would be like days of old, where the scoundrel took his young maiden at will.

They’d both agreed to have fun with each other. Nothing deep, nothing dangerous. But something about this girl made him think like a caveman. He
had
married her in a cave….

But he wanted her in this truck—or, actually, anywhere he could have her.

“Ranger,” Hannah said thoughtfully, “you have suddenly developed a damned convincing poker face.”

Chapter Nine

“And we both like it that way,” Ranger said. “Don’t we?”

“I’m not sure.” Hannah stared at the new Ranger evolving in front of her. “I think you’re scaring me. I like the you I could figure out. Bring him back at once and never go schizo on me again.”

He laughed at her, tugging at her hair. “Now, Hannah, you are the elder in this truck. You are the card dealer who can figure out her customers at a glance. Surely you have this all figured out.”

And then he pulled her into his arms, kissing her as if her lips were his final destination in life. She groaned, leaning into him to get closer. Her lips seemed to have a life of their own; her body wanted to go places she would have denied herself. Warmth spread over her, turning to sizzling heat. “More,” she gasped when he pulled back for a moment to stare into her eyes. “Don’t stop. I haven’t been kissed like that before, cowboy. I want my eight minutes in the saddle.”

“Seconds,” he corrected, his gaze amused.

“I want
minutes.

He laughed and pushed her gently back into the seat. “Hannah, I think we should change your last name.”

Already miffed that he was acting so nonchalantly about a kiss that had set her on fire, she retorted, “I thought we agreed no marriage.”

“Oh, we did. I’m only suggesting that maybe you should change your last name to HotKiss. Hannah HotKiss has a certain
ring
to it, don’t you think?”

Her jaw dropped at his flippancy. She wanted to push him down a hill herself. He was
teasing
her—and it only served to sharpen her sexual attraction to him! His eyes gleamed, no longer hiding his thoughts, and she saw that he knew he’d turned her on with a vengeance.

“I want to call you a bad word with a French pronunciation, but I’ll restrict myself to helping you find the proper road,” she said, reaching for the map.

The sun was going down, and the truck was getting warm. Or she had gotten hot.

He took the map from her and dangled it outside the window, before reaching into the console with his free hand.

“What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously, her blood starting to thunder with a little nervousness, a bit of trepidation and a lot of wet, hot desire.

“Lighting you a fire.” He took out a lighter and
set fire to the map, which flamed up faster than a girl could pucker her lips. “It gets
real
cold around here at night.”

 

O
N THE RIVERBOAT
, Cissy anxiously watched the road leading to the dock. “Maybe we should call them,” she said to Archer. “They should have been here by now. Shouldn’t they?”

Archer sighed. “Could you let it go? They’re fine. Why aren’t you worried about Hawk? We dropped him off in a roadside forest near a small town with a name I can’t remember, so he could track something. Why can’t he be a normal male—get dropped off in a bar to track women?”

“That’s your idea of normal?”

Archer shook his head and went back to the issue they were really arguing about. “Ranger and Hannah would have called us if they were stuck. Maybe they stopped to look at landmarks.”

Cissy’s eyebrows went up. “Landmarks? I don’t think so. Hannah was in a hurry to be on the river. Said she had some things she needed to think about. Or, not think about.”

Archer crossed his legs and leaned into the rail. “Chiefly my brother, right?”

“Girls never tell on their gal pals. Don’t ask me.”

He laughed. “She digs my brother. I could tell.”


Digging
is not an appropriate word for a woman’s feelings,” Cissy said primly.

He laughed again.

“Let’s call them.” She scanned the road again. “Jellyfish said we’re leaving at nightfall.”

“I still can’t believe his name is Jellyfish. And Hannah nearly married him.”

“There are reasons for everything,” Cissy told him sternly. “And not always those that the male pea-brain can comprehend.”

Archer shook his head and squinted his eyes with concentration. “We’re in Mississippi. There are no jellyfish here. Explain that to this country boy, because where I come from, we call a man what he is. And if his name is Jellyfish, well, that indicates a problem.”

Cissy giggled. “All your Texas tough talk, a-spade-is-a-spade stuff. His name is Jellyfish. That’s what it is. Get over it.”

“Hawk. Jellyfish. I feel like I’m stuck in a cross between ‘Wild Kingdom’ and
The Crocodile Hunter.
Can’t they have normal names?” He scowled.

Cissy lasered a stare on him. “Oh, yeah. Well, it’s so much better to be named after towns or states. Like, if your brother ever gets amnesia, when he comes to and they want to know his name he can just say, what state is this? And they’ll say Texas. And he can say, ‘Dude! That’s it! I’m Texas from Texas!”’ She turned her head to scan the road leading to the dock.

“You think about him a lot, don’t you?”

“Mind your own business.”

“Hey. Did you talk to your customers like that?
Because if you did, I’m amazed that any returned at all.”

Cissy was feeling very snippy, and it had to do with Tex. And she didn’t want to be teased about it. Her half-hearted playfulness gave way to a defensive shield. “This from a man who’s so conversationally stunted he has to have an e-mail relationship with a gal in Australia. For all you know, Archer, it was a guy you were corresponding with for all those months.”

His jaw dropped. “A guy!”

“Yes, a guy,” she mimicked. “Now either you call and check on my friend, or I’m going to push you overboard and leave you without a paddle.”

Archer was disgruntled, but he pulled the cell phone from his pocket. “I still think we shouldn’t bother them. Ranger knows what he’s doing.”

She sighed. “I know. It’s a Jefferson thing, to know what he’s doing. Right. Dial.”

“Here, you talk.”

Cissy snatched the phone from him impatiently. Really! If he weren’t Tex’s brother, she’d be inclined to stomp his boot. They were all hardheaded men—and maybe unattractively so! “Hello? Hannah?”

She listened for a moment to the garble on the other end. “What? The map’s on fire? Where are you? What do you mean, you don’t know? It was a straight shot from Hawk’s place! We can come get you—”

Slowly, she pulled the cell phone away from her ear. Turning it off, she handed it back to Archer, who
was staring at her quizzically. “They won’t be making the riverboat,” she said. “Ranger’s got them so lost they don’t know where they are.”

Archer laughed out loud. “Good old Ranger,” he said.

Cissy rolled her eyes and went to find Jellyfish.

 

A
T
M
ALFUNCTION
J
UNCTION
, Mason headed over to check on Sheriff Cannady. Although, truth be known, the sheriff ought to be checking on him. Mimi’s father was one of the fittest men he’d ever known—once, he’d seen him take down two beefy brawlers, one in each arm, knocking their heads before tying their feet together, heel-to-heel. The sheriff was a tough guy. Mimi might have a tender heart, but she had her daddy’s nerves of steel, that was for certain.

No one answered his knock, so he opened the front door and peered in. “Sheriff?” he called. “It’s Mason.”

There was no reply. And yet, he’d seen the sheriff’s truck out back in its customary spot. “Ah, sheriff,” he called from the base of the stairwell.

He thought he heard a muted reply from upstairs. Frowning, he said, “I’m coming up, sheriff.”

Slowly, he headed up, giving the man a chance to dress if necessary. It was going to be plain embarrassing if the man had company and Mason had butted in like a greenhorn. And yet, his promise to Mimi sent him on.

“Sheriff?” he said in the hallway, inching forward
past Mimi’s bedroom, which had been totally overhauled. Gone were the girlish flounces and stuffed animals. A man’s decor warmed the room, with rich paisleys and deep, elegant stripes. Jealousy fired at the base of Mason’s skull, but he strode on. “Sheriff?”

He definitely heard a moan, and it didn’t sound like one of pleasure. Taking a deep breath, he swung the door open. Sheriff Cannady lay in bed, where he’d obviously been all day.

“Sir?” Mason said, approaching the bed. “I’m sorry for…” He stared down at the man’s gray face, eyes sunken with pain. Mimi would never have left for Hawaii with her father in this shape. Something had happened in the night. Fear swept over him. The sheriff was ill, and he needed a hospital
now.

“Hang on,” he said, “I’m calling for help.”

 

B
Y THE TIME
the ambulance arrived, a group of Jefferson brothers were in the sheriff’s hallway, waiting anxiously. Bandera led the paramedics upstairs, and then they all stood around helplessly watching as the sheriff’s vitals were taken. Mason shifted his hands into his pockets. Matters weren’t good, he could tell that by reading the paramedics’ faces.

He was going to have to call Mimi. His heart turned over inside him. She’d said she really needed this honeymoon with Brian. As much as that sent pain through him, he’d heard the urgency in her voice. He
knew she would try hard to make her new marriage a happy one.

“I’m going with the sheriff,” Last called from the stairwell as the sheriff was bundled off.

“I’ll follow,” Mason replied. “I guess I’d better call Mimi.”

Tex turned to look at him. “What are you going to tell her?”

“That her father’s gone to the hospital,” he said on a heavy sigh.

“Maybe you should wait until you know more.”

Mason nodded. “I’d rather put it off, that’s for certain.” He scratched his jawline. “You don’t suppose he’s in danger of…”

“No. Dying isn’t in his plans. He’s just real sick,” Tex said. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t exactly know. Mimi asked me to keep an eye on him. And I laughed it off because the sheriff’s always been such a workhorse. I don’t think he’s ever had a day of sick leave in his life.”

“I know what’s wrong with him,” Navarro said, meeting them on the stairwell as they went down after the ambulance driver had cleared away. “He’s got liver disease.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he’s got to have a new liver. Or else.”

Mason stopped in his tracks and looked at his brothers as they gathered around. “Or else what?”

“He dies,” Navarro said simply. “That’s what the
paramedics got from the information on the sheriff’s ID bracelet and a call in to the hospital.”

They stared at each other as the bright morning light showed worried faces, eyes full of pain. Overhead, a bird called. Mason could only register the sound and not the type of bird. His mind simply would not process. “Die?” he repeated. “Sheriff Cannady?”

And that would explain Mimi’s reluctance to take care of the Jefferson boys the way she always had. It was the reason for her quickfire marriage. It crystal-clear illuminated the urgency of her trip to Hawaii. If the sheriff was terminal—and from what Mason knew at this moment, the man’s odds were slim—Mimi would want her father to see his only child married. Happy.

And most of all, she’d want her father to have a grandchild.

Mimi was trying to get pregnant.

“Mason?” one of his brothers said, but he couldn’t look up.

So fast. It was all happening too fast. She’d just gotten married. And yet, she was desperate, he realized. Maybe for the first time, she had not confided in him. Their relationship had shifted, and he was no longer the brother-in-fun he’d been. She’d tried to tell him, with her voice and her absence and her tense expression. He hadn’t listened. He’d been too busy avoiding the marital noose with a girl who was, to
his mind, his best friend. Everyone said they belonged together, but he hadn’t wanted to see her that way.

He really could not see himself married. There was plenty for him to handle as it was. He had enough family, and Maverick’s shadow was ever in his mind.

But now he wished he’d been just a little less protective of his heart. Because by protecting his, he’d forced Mimi to protect hers.

Other books

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Breaking the Rules by Lewis, Jennifer
Crash and Burn by Maggie Nash
Alien Sex 103 by Allie Ritch