Undeniable (2 page)

“Campbell! Was wondering if you were planning on showing your beat-up old face around here. Not that I couldn’t have gone the rest of my life without seeing it.”

Dax let the screen door slam behind him before he turned toward Bubba Taylor, who was just as gap-toothed and curly headed as he’d been in high school, though now carrying a gut that appeared over the years to have never met a beer it didn’t like. “Now, Bubs. I don’t think my face is any more beat-up than your wife’s.”

A chorus of sharp snickers and a couple of guffaws punctuated Dax’s words. Bubba, proud of getting in the first shot, seemed at a loss for another, which pretty much reflected the IQ Dax remembered him displaying most of the time.

Josh Lasko, another classmate who, word had it, had taken over running the store from his dad, made his way out from the register, his boots clomping on the worn plank floor. He offered Dax his hand for a hearty shake. “Good to see you, Dax. Damn good, but c’mon. Cut Bubba some slack. It’s a wonder he’s got a wife at all when you look at the face God gave him.”

Dax pretended to consider the ugly mug of the man in question, asking Josh, “You sure it was God?”

That loosened Bubba’s tongue. “Hey now. What’s with all the ganging up on Bubba here?” Hands out, he looked to his posse for help. Getting nothing but murmurs and shrugs, he dug for a comeback, snickering. “I ain’t the one who screwed myself out of a hilltop mansion and into a ranch so rundown it ain’t worth a salt lick.”

Dax had done plenty of screwing, true, and the fallout hadn’t done a damn thing to help his situation at home. But neither his history with women nor that with his folks had squat to do with his partnership in the Dalton place. “That’s the difference between you and me, Bubs. I know the value of a salt lick. You want to insult my property, you’ll have to do better than that.”

“It wasn’t your property I was aiming for,” Bubba tossed back, turning to his cronies with a smirk at having gotten in the last laugh.

Dax let him have it. The hours he was working these days, catching up with friends he might want to see already took time he didn’t have. Wasting it on the likes of Bubba Taylor wasn’t a luxury he cared to indulge in.

“Gentlemen.” He nudged his hat brim up a notch, gave Bubba his back, and walked to the register with Josh. “Wondered how long the woodwork could hold them back.”

Josh gave a single shake of his head. “Might’ve been a bit longer
if you’d picked up any manners out wherever the hell you’ve been.”

It had been five years since he’d last counted the places he’d worked. Before that… He didn’t even want to think about the miles he’d driven, the horses he’d rode to ground, the cattle he’d herded. “I’ve been everywhere, man. I’ve been everywhere.”

The corner of Josh’s smile dimpled. “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”

Dax shrugged. He was who he was. “I left in a hurry. Didn’t have time to head back to the hilltop mansion for etiquette lessons.”

The other man leaned forward on both elbows, his head low as he spoke for Dax’s ears alone. “Bubba and his bunch? You gotta expect some of that, leaving like you did, then coming back to take over a property a lot of folks could’ve been putting to good use. Rain’s been in short supply. Makes grass hard to come by. Too many animals being sold at a loss because of it.”

Nothing Dax didn’t know or hadn’t seen employers face over the years. Ranching ran in the blood of a lot of families, but that didn’t keep hearts from breaking when troubles bit deep. “I came back for Tess and Dave. And for my boys. Not because I had some grand dream of ranching in Crow Hill.”

“And not because of your family?”

He’d been back a week, Boone and Casper a couple weeks longer. He hadn’t seen his folks or his sister yet; he hadn’t seen much of anything but the back end of cows and the bottom of bank accounts, but the inevitable was on its way. “Found an attorney in Dallas to take care of my third of the partnership papers. His legal advice didn’t cost me an arm and a leg
and
a soul.”

“I hear that,” Josh said, giving Dax cause to wonder if his old
man billed clients a price similar to what he’d demanded from his only son.

But Josh didn’t give him time to ask. “So what brings you to town today? That lawyer of yours get you up to speed on your payables? ’Cuz I was thinking of taking a ’round-the-world cruise, and if you pony up, I can do it.”

At least Josh’s reminder of the state of Tess and Dave’s affairs didn’t grate in the way of so many others. Josh’s grandfather had wrangled cattle on the King Ranch with Dave Dalton, years before the two made their way to south central Texas. That had Josh counting the Daltons as family, too, the Dalton Gang an extension.

But it didn’t mean Dax and the boys weren’t still on the hook for the debt. They did, however, have a secret weapon in Boone’s sister, a loan officer at the First National Bank. “With the budget Faith’s got us on, you should be able to afford the drive to the port in Galveston real soon. Maybe even the gas to get back.”

Josh straightened, laughing, but the sound was cut off by a loud round of catcalls rising from the corner. Dax looked over his shoulder in time to see Bubba and his bubbas nearly topple the barrel holding their card game as they jockeyed for position at the window.

Elbows gouged and shoved. Bootheels landed on boot toes. Hats were jerked from heads to clear lines of sight. Reminded Dax of a bunch of bawling calves jammed into a chute. “Looks like someone needs to put a lock on the beer cooler.”

“Nope,” Josh said. “Looks like lunch.” He circled the counter and headed for his own window, this one tucked on the far side of an old wardrobe now stocked with square cans of unguent and dark brown bottles of antiseptics and thick leather gloves.

Curious, Dax followed, leaning a raised arm along the window casing and squinting into the glare of the sun. The view that finally came into focus looked like way more than lunch to Dax.
The woman bent across the front seat of the pickup, dragging a big, brown, grease-spotted grocery bag into her arms, had the most gorgeous ass Dax had seen in weeks. Course, the only asses he’d seen during those weeks belonged to the calves he’d been working, but still.

All he needed now was for the front side to be as outstanding as the back. She straightened, wrapped one arm around the bag, and turned. Her dark jeans rode low on her hips and bunched around her boot vamps. The shoulder-hugging sleeves of her T-shirt showed off some mighty fine guns. But it was the way the same shirt lay flat against her belly and scooped low on her C-cup chest that made his mouth water.

He blew out the breath straining his lungs to bursting, not exactly proud of the groan that came out on its tail.

Hallelujah, and come to Papa.

Josh chuckled. “You know who that is, don’t you?”

Dax lifted his gaze to her face. Dark wavy hair, shoulder length, shining like strong coffee in the sun. A wide mouth with sweet peachy lips, and big bright eyes. Green, he’d bet. To go with the freckles on her nose.

And no. If he’d seen this woman before, the two of them would be acquainted in the most intimate of ways. “Not a freakin’ clue.”

“Then let me be the one to fill you in on some of the better things that have happened since you’ve been gone.” Josh slapped Dax on the shoulder before walking away. “That, my man, is Arwen Poole.”

N
ATURALLY THE ONE
day Arwen decided to make the feed store run, it was Bubba Taylor and his goon squad who’d placed the order. If she’d thought to check the ticket before her spur of the moment decision, she would’ve gone after Dax another time.

The problem with working the Wild Wild West were the predators that hovered at watering holes. And Arwen hated feeling like prey.

A quick scan of the parking lot failed to turn up a truck door sporting a D hooked over a T that was the Dalton Ranch brand. What she did see—and sense crawling all over her—were a half dozen pair of shifty eyes, Bubba Taylor’s being the beadiest.

She hefted the bag higher, holding it directly in front of her as she climbed the wooden steps to the porch. Both creaked beneath her weight, but neither was as loud as the hinges groaning when Bubba pushed open the screen door.

“Hey, Arwen.” He winked, taking up space she needed to get by. He kept his hand on the wooden frame, the torn-away sleeves of his plaid shirt revealing a thick tuft of hair and his disregard of deodorant. “Long time no see. Thought Amy might be delivering today.”

Arwen shoved the bag into his hands, causing him to step back and out of her way. Only then did she take another breath. “Sorry, Bubba. You’re stuck with me.”

“I don’t mind.” He looked her up and down, settling his gaze in her cleavage, and then he actually licked his lips. “As long as you don’t mind getting what’s coming to you.”

Because, of course, that’s why she was here. To be sexually harassed by Bubba Taylor. “Money, Bubba. Cash. Preferably before you eat.”

Bubba sneered. “Ah, well. If that’s all you want, then lemme pass the hat for donations.”

Rolling her eyes with a muttered, “Lord save me,” Arwen headed for the register, fresh air, and the safety of Josh Lasko. He was leaning into his forearms where they were crossed on the counter, and he smiled as she got close.

“How’re things, Josh? Your daddy doing okay?”

“He’s getting there. Doc’s put him on enough meds to choke a bull. Cut him back to one rib eye a month.”

A cowman facing a beef-restricted diet was not a pretty thing. Arwen sympathized. “Sorry to hear that. We’ve got a mean veggie burger on the menu if he wants to stop in and give it a try.”

But Josh wasn’t having it. “I’m afraid he’s made his last trip to the saloon. At least for a while. Dad’s not a heathen like Bubba Taylor, but he’s still got an eye for the gals, and that ticker of his might not stand the strain of your Kittens.”

She laughed at Josh’s sidestepping effort not to call his father a dirty old man. “Tell you what. Next time he’s in town, let me know and I’ll bring a veggie burger over.” When Josh briefly eyed the fit of her shirt, she added, “I’ll even find something less heart-stopping to wear.”

“Well, it’s not that I really want to see that happen, but for his sake, I appreciate it.” His face coloring, he looked quickly away, nodding over her shoulder. “Looks like Bubba’s collected enough to pay you, though I hope you weren’t counting on anything like a tip.”

“It’s Bubba Taylor,” she said, resigned to this trip being more hassle than mission accomplished. “I’m not even counting on getting out of here with my virtue intact.”

“I’m happy to help you run that gauntlet.”

The voice came from the shadows. It was a voice Arwen knew well, though it was seasoned now, deeper and richer, as if hung up to age. She tried to swallow, found her throat had swelled. Tried to breathe, found her lungs fighting her heart for the room.

Was he leaner? Rougher? Hard-edged and worth all the years she’d waited?

He’d never been soft, but his body had matured, his build less a cocky teen learning the fit of things and more the cowboy he was now. His was a long, rangy strength defined by lean hips and
a purposeful swagger, by a narrow waist and wide shoulders and the sharp relief of tendons and veins. He needed every bit of the weight he carried, and she wondered if he’d outgrown his love of excess.

But then she met his gaze, and she was taken back to eighteen when she’d lusted after the things he’d made her feel as much as she’d lusted after him. And, oh,
oh
, but the lust was grand, her pulse ticking wildly, her skin tingling, her sex anticipating and growing damp. There were so many things she wanted him to do.

Beneath his hat, his hair was shaggy, a darker blond than she remembered, and as careless as was the scruff of whiskers he hadn’t bothered to shave. His jaw was square, bold, his mouth wide and wicked as he smiled. His eyes were the intense blue of high summer skies, and hot. Texas sun hot.

“Dax.” It was all she could say. Her mouth was bone dry.

“Arwen.” His voice rolled over her, the one word, her name.

She didn’t know if she’d ever heard him say it. She didn’t know if getting him out of her system was going to be as easy as she’d thought. She did know if she let him walk her to her truck, she wouldn’t be driving away alone.

Sounded like a hell of a plan. “I’d better get Bubba’s money before he finds something else to spend it on.”

Dax came closer. He didn’t speak. He just smiled, his dimples cutting crescents in the stubble covering his cheeks. He didn’t ask when he took hold of her upper arm and turned her toward the door, or say anything as Bubba silently paid her.

On the way out, he moved his hand to the small of her back. He kept it there as they crossed the porch and walked down the steps. Once in the parking lot, they turned toward the long row of pickups along the side of the store, and that’s when his hand drifted lower, his thumb inching under the hem of her shirt, his fingers slipping beneath the waistband of her jeans.

She glanced up, wondered if his eyes would give away what he was thinking, if hers would tell him that he was why she was here. This was what she wanted, but he didn’t have to know that, and she didn’t have to make it so easy on either of them. Yet she didn’t dislodge his hand. And she didn’t pretend his presumption put her off.

All she did was cut her gaze over his shoulder toward the window, asking as she looked back, “Are you invading my personal space for the benefit of Bubba and his boys, or for your own?”

He paid no attention to their audience, his gaze holding hers, a rope pulling tight, choking. “You left out the third option.”

He’d lassoed her. If not for the onlookers fogging up the store’s window, she would’ve stripped to her skin then and there. But he didn’t have to know that either. “Which is?”

“I’m doing it for you.”

“That so.”

He nodded, his gaze sliding from her eyes to her mouth before moving lower, lingering along her scooped neckline as if he had all the time in the world. As if he would
take
all the time in the world. She couldn’t wait to find out if he would, but he didn’t have to know that most of all.