Splinters (5 page)

Oh, shit
. I squeeze my steepled fingers until my knuckles ache, but I can’t make myself stop. Is that bipolar? PTSD? Something violently sociopathic?

“You think he could’a done this?”

I try not to shift around in my seat.
Oh, God
.

Duke rubs at his eyes. “He’s done some stupid shit, but I don’t know why he’d do somethin’ like this. If he’d wanted someone hurt for what I told him, he’d come after me, not drive into Houston and plan all this out. He…reacts. He doesn’t do that premeditated thing.”

Someone drugging me with an eye to violating me in some way could be a crime of opportunity. He had the stuff on him, he saw me, he used it on me. The forethought is in going out with roofies in his pocket in the first place. But somebody who isn’t rational without medication doing all that? Well, sometimes crazy probably got it right.

But surely not. I mean, surely Duke would know or be able to sense something like that from his own brother. So it’s just a coincidence.

Smoot drops the angle on Dean and moves on to something I should’ve asked Duke myself if I was able to think with my big head whenever I look at him.

“What made you head on out where you found Mr. Seville?”

“Laughlin called early. Said he had two of mine in his herd. I figured I had a fence down up that way. Thought I could get them later, so I went out for the fence to keep any more from wandering.”

“Cows?” I ask, and then clear my throat.
That’s
my first question here?
For heaven’s sake, Allan
.

Duke sits back again and gives me a little grin. His dimple caves in and he just looks happy. I like that I’ve put that look on his face.

“Cattle,” he says.

I shrug. “So what’s that mean? Hamburger instead of milk?”

The both of them chuckle at me, but that’s fine. I have no problem owning my city slicker status.

“We sell to Wendy’s exclusively now. It’s our second year doing that.”

“Congratulations?”

He nods and tips an invisible hat to me in thanks, still grinning. Gosh, he’s cute.

“Well,” the sheriff says, “you let me know when you hear from Dean. I need to talk to him, too.”

Duke loses his smile. “Yessir.”

“Now, I need to talk to Toby and Ray. Where they at ’bout now?”

“They’ll be up checking the herd.” Duke stuffs his hand into his pocket, probably going after his cell phone since he says, “I can call ’em. Have ’em come back in.”

“How far are they from where you found Mr. Seville?”

Duke pauses. “A mile or so.”

“Have ’em come on over to us there, then. Two birds and all.”

Smoot gets up and steps over to Duke. He puts a hand on Duke’s shoulder and catches his eyes. “Don’t make no difference to me who you sleep with, son. It’s the twenty-first century; them old ways of thinkin’ need to end and I’m fixin’ to see they don’t hold water in my county.”

Duke looks young and grateful as he stares up at the sheriff. Then he nods, whispers his thanks, and sighs again as the sheriff walks out. I reach over and take Duke’s hand, happy for him that someone whose opinion obviously matters still accepts him.

“I didn’t have anything to do with this, Al.”

“Oh, I know.”

His eyebrows hike up.

I shrug. “You’re just not the type to take that route. I mean, you wouldn’t have had to scheme to get me alone.”

A little smile quirks up his lips as he grunts. “I knew you were in Houston. Wanted to head over there and get a look.” He laces our fingers together. “Didn’t figure you’d notice me, but I’d’a taken a shot.”

I smile because this big guy all bashful is so sweet. “I’d have noticed you, cowboy.”

The look he gives me then just about melts me on the spot. I want to cuddle into him, kiss him, lose myself in simple physical affection that I don’t have to question. I
want
that, to just give in to sensation and forget my troubles while I learn Duke’s every taste and texture. But there’s the sound of boots coming back through the house, so I let that thought and Duke’s hand go. I stand up when he does.

“All right,” Smoot says, now with Vaughn beside him. “We get anything new, we’ll let you know. Either of you think of anythin’ else, you let us know. There’s a possibility one of them Houston boys might come ’round to have a chat, Mr. Seville, but we’ll try and let you know ahead of time.” He nods at Duke. “Send your boys over to that spot, and we’ll get on outta your hair now.”

“Yessir.” Duke takes out his cell phone and starts tapping.

Smoot looks to me. “You gonna be stickin’ around? Or headin’ back to Houston?”

I stare at him, my mouth hanging open. I’d talked to Elsie, but hadn’t said a word to Duke yet. I offer Duke an apologetic smile. “Would it be all right if I stayed here for a while? Just the day. Elsie’s on her way here. She was in New York, but she’s flying out.”

Duke looks pleased. “Of course you can. She’s welcome, too.”

“Okay. Thank you.” A blush blazes its way across my skin.

Smoot huffs a laugh, adjusts his belt, and heads for the door. Vaughn joins him, then Mia, Duke and I troop out onto the porch to watch the lawmen drive off.

“Well, I guess I’ll get on with the day,” Mia says and walks back inside.

What am I supposed to do now?

Duke hooks a thumb at the barn off to the left where we stowed his horse earlier. “I still need to go check that fence. How ’bout you—”

“Can I go with you?”

“With me?”

“To check the fence.”

“Don’t you want—?”

“I need to
do
something, Duke. Sitting around thinking will make me go crazy.” I lean in close. “And no one will be happy if I’m made to do housework.”

He chuckles and puts an arm around my waist. I like that he doesn’t hesitate to do it. “Sure. Let’s get you some boots and a hat. You ever ride before?”

“Oh, sure. Just this morning, in fact.”

“So advanced experience then.”

“Never been thrown when I was riding. Not once. Even when it’s rough, I keep my seat.”

He stares at me in that way a man will when I’ve just diverted most of his blood to points south of the border. I grin when he slowly shakes his head and smiles like I’m incorrigible. I’m distracted from my troubles seeing him looking at me like this. I go with that and follow him back inside.

addles 
are not comfortable. Earlier, I’d thought maybe that was simply because I’d had nothing but part of a cotton shirt between my ass and the leather. Nope. Even with a pair of too-large jeans covering me from waist to ankle, I feel rubbed raw in places that shouldn’t know this much friction. But, seeing as I’ve spent years in excruciating poses or constricting outfits without uttering a word of complaint, I endure this saddle.

Especially since I’m wearing a cowboy hat while riding a horse beside a man named Duke who makes ol’ John Wayne look like a sissy. This makes me smile very happily and wiggle a little in my seat.

Quite suddenly, my previously trudging horse starts picking up the pace. I hold up the reins in one hand and flap the other at Duke. “W-w-what’s it d-d-doing?” I can barely speak for the jolting bounce. “Put it back in n-n-neutral.”

Duke’s laughing seems to urge the damn horse on, even as Duke comes alongside of us and reaches for the reins. I hand them over and grab the blunted horn thing on the saddle. My legs are stiff and my feet in the stirrups stick out like naked chicken wings. I grimace and try to lean back as my balls get smushed and pounded now. My hat jostles forward, covering my eyes.

“Stop this! Stop it
now
.”

I can’t see what he does, but the horse finally knocks it off and stands still. Pushing my hat back into place, I turn a glare on the hyena formerly known as Duke. “That was not funny. Your horse is defective.”

He snorts, one of those caught by surprise, utterly humiliating laugh-noises, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Certainly doesn’t stop him. I cross my arms. It wasn’t funny. I mean, maybe from his point of view it was, but not from mine. My ass is probably going to bruise. I nearly had a heart attack. He tapers down to giggling like a boy. I bite my bottom lip because I’m not going to laugh.

He leans on his saddle bump thing and wipes at his eyes. With his hat tilted back and a big smile on his handsome face, he’s hard to resist. I smile, just a little, but stick my nose in the air. Duke snickers and then exhales hard like he hasn’t laughed so much in years.

“You done?”

He clears his throat. “Don’t squeeze Suzy with your knees like that.”

“I didn’t squeeze her.”

“Don’t have to be much, but that’s how she knows to hurry up.”

Suzy bobs her head up and down. Of course, she agrees with him.

“I thought you had to whistle and slap their butts or something.”

“Might be you’ve seen too many movies there, Al.”

I glare. “Might be you have a weird horse.”

He chuckles and sits back. For a moment, he’s really quite beautiful in the way he’s so comfortable where he is. I’m clinging to this temperamental beast, but Duke looks like he’s one with his horse. How cowboys should be, I suppose. There’s grace and confidence in his every movement.

I sigh. “So no squeezing.”

“Right.” He hands me back Suzy’s reins.

He gets his horse out front this time, and Suzy seems happy to follow. My sigh now is decidedly dreamy because he just looks so
good
on horseback. An object of real masculine beauty. But with the silence that settles in, even the sight of him can’t distract me from my thoughts.

Between golden grasses and wide-open sky is the wrong place to be if you don’t want to think. There’s so much space and quiet out here, my thoughts are everywhere. There’s nothing to stop them.

Was it a mistake to stay? I feel safe here, I honestly do, but maybe the right thing to do would’ve been going back to Houston and talking to the cops there. Not that I think Smoot doesn’t know what he’s doing, just that Houston is the scene of the abduction and everything.

Should I go home to Manhattan? I’m imposing on Duke, thrusting myself and my problems into his already complicated life. I’m sure he has better things to do than wander out here with a tourist who doesn’t want to go home because…because I’m
lonely
there. I put a hand over my heart.
I’m lonely
. Oh, I hadn’t realized. But now, not even twenty-four hours in Duke’s presence, I feel more connected to someone than I have in a long time. There’s something about him that lifts me in ways I didn’t know I needed. I don’t want to leave.

And I’d been assaulted here. Is a cure for loneliness really that good of a reason to stick around? That’s not normal behavior. When Elsie arrives, I should get in the car and drive right back to the airport, go home.

Suzy stops suddenly, and I look up to see Duke standing on the ground holding the reins of my horse and his own. I completely missed him getting down and I’d wanted to see that since I don’t think I did it right this morning. I’d nearly nutted myself and dislocated a hip.

He cocks his head at me. “Thought you didn’t want to think?”

“Yeah, well…” I shrug.

He lets the reins fall from his hands and comes over to squeeze my calf. “Come on down. You’re lookin’ ’round, but I don’t think you’re seein’ it.”

“Seeing what?”

“Where you are, city boy.”

I’m not sure what he means. What’s to see? But I let him talk me through getting off the horse in one piece. Lean over, twist, lift leg, fall into a cowboy’s arms. Perfect dismount. At least it feels like I’m charming the hell out of him when he laughs and stands me up straight.

“Save a horse,” I mumble as I realize I’m feeling a little bowlegged. I
did
dislocate my hips. Damn.

“What’s that?”

Oh, walking helps make the bowed feeling stop. I’ll live to catwalk again. “Save a horse, ride a cowboy? You have to have heard that before.”

“I do my best riding in bed.” He winks, wiggling his ’stache, too.

I snort at him. “Not much of a top here, hon.”

“I am.” He squints at me.

“No kidding.”

“Can still ride a man, though.”