Texas Hustle (15 page)

If her upbringing had taught her nothing else, she knew how to put on a good front when necessary. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t pissed at the thought that Slade could be out in the bushes somewhere right now, maybe even watching them.

“I’m assuming helping you onto Oreo is unnecessary?” Darren asked, busting into her musing.

“Unnecessary maybe, but it was definitely enjoyable.”

Once they got the horses loose from their ties, Darren put his hands on her waist and helped her into the saddle, not that he had any real work to do.

When he started to walk to Trailblazer, she called, “Don’t you need to check my stirrups again?”

The grin he gave her was wickedly suggestive. She settled her feet securely. “Never mind. I’ve got it,” she said and turned Oreo toward the trail.

Darren and Trailblazer were at her side within moments.

Light puffs of dust rose behind them as they started down the trail toward the main campground. Guilt nibbled at Porchia. She really should tell Darren more about Slade. If Slade was the shooter, and he was still in the area, the man was dangerous. There was no telling what he could do.

Plus, she should probably talk to Singer. The sheriff needed to know what he was getting into.

“Darren, about that gunshot—” She broke off as Reno came galloping toward them.

“Hey. Slow down,” Darren said. “What’s up?”

“Headed out to where the rest of the guys are. I think they’ve got the shooters.”

“Shooters?” Porchia asked, grabbing on to the word like a lifeline. If there was more than one, it couldn’t have been Slade, or at least that’s what she hoped.

“Yeah,” Reno answered. “Some teenagers. Shooting at God knows what, but definitely not
at
you. Apparently, when they realized y’all were in the area, they freaked out and ran.” He looked at Darren. “Want to come along? I’m sure I can get the rest of the guys to look the other way while you kick some asses for scaring you and your lady.”

“Do you mind?” Darren asked Porchia. “You’re not afraid to go back alone, are you? I can ride back with you and then meet the guys.”

“Of course not,” she said. “I’ll take care of Oreo when I get back.” She smiled. “Unless you want me to wait until you can give me step-by-step instructions while I watch.”

He barked out a laugh. “I’m not falling for that again.”

The men rode back the way Porchia and Darren had just come, and Porchia continued on the short distance to the camp site, not really scared but definitely urging Oreo on at a healthy clip.

It’d been a while since she’d unsaddled and brushed a horse, but the muscle memory remained. She worked through the process without having to think about what she was doing. Her hands knew what to do and just did it.

As she dragged the brush down Oreo’s back, she let go a long sigh. A calm washed over her, something she’d not experienced in years. She’d missed riding, missed giving the care to her horse post-exercise. She hugged Oreo’s neck. She’d owned a horse like Oreo once. Her parents had given her Patches when she was eight, along with the equestrian training her mother felt every well-bred young lady should have. But her parents had sold him when Porchia had been sent to live with her grandmother. Not being able to stop her parents from selling him was one of the biggest loses in her life.

When her maternal grandmother died, she’d left Porchia a small inheritance, enough to start her bakery, but that was about it. From day one, Porchia had put away a little money each month, trying to get the down payment for a small farm or ranch and another Patches. She was determined to make it on her own. If only she had access to her trust fund.

However, the harsh reality was that she’d be ninety before she’d have enough money amassed for a down payment for a place like she wanted. Land around Whispering Springs was priced as though rock was gold nuggets and water was oil.

So she’d changed her plan to save enough to buy a horse. Of course, she’d need somewhere to stable it. She could afford to rent a stall, just not buy the whole barn.

After putting Oreo back into the pasture with the rest of the horses, she headed to the lodge to check the baking progress of the rolls. A mouth-watering aroma of cooking beef met her as she neared the fire pit. Grey smoke oozed from under a cover. Patriarchs Lane and Clint sat nearby, bottles of opened beer near their elbows. Clint sprang from his chair as soon as he saw Porchia.

“Are you all right?” He hurried over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “That must have been terrifying.”

“I’m okay. Well, I could be doing better.” When concern flashed on both men’s faces, she hurried to add, “If you’ve got another one of those beers.”

Relief flooded Clint’s face. “You bet. Here. You take my seat. I’ll drag over another chair.”

Lane cracked the cap on a bottle of beer and handed it to her. “Any woman who gets shot at under my watch gets all the beer she wants.”

Porchia took the beer and sat. “I’d love to tell you how brave I was, but frankly, I was scared to death.” She looked at Clint. “Darren was wonderful. He made sure I was safe before he worried about himself. You’ve raised quite a man, Clint.”

Clint’s face lit up with pride. “I’m sorry you went through such a horrible experience, but thank you for saying that about my son. His mother and I are mighty proud of what he and Reno have done with their ranch, starting from scratch and not taking anything from us. They’ve done it all on their own when it would have been easy to look to me and their mom from time to time to bail them out. Of course, we’re proud of all our children,” he hastened to add.

“Thanks, Dad. I wondered if I was going to get a mention.”

Clint chuckled.

Porchia looked over her shoulder. KC stood with her hands on her hips and wearing a wide grin. She winked at Porchia.

KC hauled over another chair and joined the group. “Glad you’re okay,” she said. “The good news is Drake called. They caught the shooters. A trio of would-be teen desperadoes. They’re waiting for the local sheriff’s department to come pick them up.”

Relief flooded through Porchia. Tension she didn’t realize she’d been holding released and she sagged against the back of the chair. “Reno told us he thought it was teens.” She thought about the tragic mistake of her past and added, “I’m sure they didn’t mean any harm. Probably didn’t even know we were here. I hope the sheriff doesn’t come down on them too hard.”

KC accepted a beer from her uncle. “You’re nicer than I’d be.”

Porchia shrugged. “I did some stupid stuff when I was growing up. I wouldn’t want to wreck their lives over something where they didn’t mean harm.”

KC leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “Really? Porchia has a past. Who’d have thought it? Tell us more.”

“Not on a bet,” Porchia said.

“Leave her alone,” Clint said. “She’s been through enough without being interrogated by you.”

KC rolled her eyes. “I was just teasing, Dad. We’ll talk later, Porchia.” She sneered at her father. “When we’re alone.”

Porchia arched an eyebrow, took a draw off her beer and then snapped her fingers. “Darn. I was headed to the house to check on the rolls and see if they needed any help.”

KC gestured for her to remain seated. “Just came from the lodge. They’ve got it under control, so we aren’t needed right now.”

Porchia sat back and enjoyed listening to Lane and Clint talk about growing up, along with some hysterical commentary from KC. The aroma from the prime ribs on the grill had her mouth watering and her stomach growling.

When Darren hadn’t returned after an hour, she excused herself and headed for her cabin to get dressed for dinner. The combination of grill smoke and horse smell would do nothing for anyone’s appetite at the table.

She’d finished her shower and was drying her hair when the cabin front door slammed.

“Darren?” she called. “That you?”

She fastened the towel around her more securely.

“With you looking like that, it’d better be me,” he said and leaned in the doorway with his shoulder pressed against the door jam. “Damn,” he said and then whistled. “If I’d known you were naked, I’d have headed back sooner.”

“I’m not naked. I’m wearing a towel.”

Their gazes caught in the mirror. His look was pure lust, his pupils dilated and dark with desire.

She licked her lips, which seemed terribly dry. Probably because every drop of liquid inside her had rushed to her sex.

He groaned. “The way I see it, we have two options. In one, we’ll be late to dinner. The other is I leave and sit on the porch until you tell me it’s safe.”

“My choice?” Her voice cracked.

His Adam’s apple visibly moved up and down with his swallow. His breathing was audible with a choppy rasp. His nostrils flared. Then he stood and whirled around.

“I’ll be on the porch,” he said in a strangled voice.

Chapter Twelve

It was somewhat amazing that a man with a dick as hard as his could even walk to the porch, much less sit down, but somehow Darren was able to do both. When he’d found Porchia wrapped only in a towel, every cell in his body had demanded he take her, right there, right then. Lust had roared through him, every inch of muscle and flesh hardening at the sight of Porchia’s soft skin still dewy from the shower.

The chains holding the swing creaked when he sat and continued to give squeaking protests each time he pushed off with his foot. Around him, the sounds of nature blended with the voices of his family. He decided this vacation, the one where he finally got Porchia all to himself, would most likely be one of his favorite memories.

The front door cracked open.

“Can I join you? I come bearing beer.”

Darren glanced up and smiled. Dressed in black slacks and a black sleeveless knit top, Porchia stood holding two bottles of beer. The dark clothing only served to magnify the ivory tones of her flesh. A soft pink tinged her cheeks. Her blond hair fell loosely down her back. Florescent-orange toenails peeked from under the hem of her pants.

In short, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. And nothing she did or said could ever make him want her any less.

“I think one of those bullets must have hit me,” he said, “because there’s an angel serving me beer. This is heaven, right?”

She chuckled and handed him a beer. “Idiot. Don’t even joke about what happened today.”

He patted the swing. “Sit. I’ll tell you the whole story.”

She sat. “I’m ready. What happened?”

“Four kids. About fourteen, I’d guess. They were shooting cans. There wasn’t anyone staying here last week, and they found a gap in the fence where they could come onto the property. So they came back this week to do target practice. They had no idea we were here. By the time Reno and I caught up to the group, Marc and Cash had the boys under control, sitting on the ground waiting for the sheriff to come.” He chuckled. “Seems one of the boys is the sheriff’s son and to add to the trouble they’re in, they’d borrowed one of the sheriff’s guns from his lockbox. There won’t be any charges, but it did sound like extended grounding with numerous hours of community service are on the docket for these four.”

“I’m glad you found them. Their punishment sounds about right. Heaven knows, we all did some stupid stuff growing up.”

“Really?” He draped an arm on the back of the swing behind her and leaned in to take in her scent. He drew in a deep breath and whispered in her ear, “Tell me more about your wicked, wicked past.”

“Well,” she said with a long drawl. Her face lost all playfulness as her mouth quirked up on one side and she tilted her head. “I guess I should tell you about the time I eloped.”

She’d been married? The information was a sharp spear in his gut.

“You’re married?”

She shrugged. “No. Not now.”

“Divorced? Widowed? Did he die?”

“I’ll tell you if you’ll stop asking questions.”

Reflexively, he drew back. “Okay.”

“I was so in love. I knew he was the one and only for me. Know what I mean? His name was William Hunter, but everybody called him Bill or Billy. He was a little older than me. When he kissed me, I almost died. We decided that we’d be together the rest of our lives.” She let out a long sigh. “But it didn’t work out.”

“What happened?”

“His dad got transferred to California and his mother made him move with them.”

He studied her face and caught the twitch at the corner of her mouth.

“I see,” he said. “Sounds quite tragic. Exactly how long ago was this?”

“Well, let’s see. Hmm. Must be twenty-seven years ago or so.”

He laughed. “You were five years old? Six?”

She grinned. “Age doesn’t matter when you’re in love.” Then she produced a dramatic, fake sniff.

“Oh, babe.” He hugged her. “I can hear the loss in your voice.”

Elbowing him in the ribs, she laughed. “Well, it was tragic at the time. It took me almost a full week to replace him with Jimmy Webb.”

“Ouch.” He rubbed his jabbed spot and chuckled. He snapped his fingers. “You were starting to tell me something this afternoon when we came upon Reno.”