On the other hand, it might be interesting to consider this guy instead of rebelling just because she thought he might be Bye and Four’s choice. “Is this new guy in town the reason you so readily agreed to come here with me today?” she asked, trying to sound more annoyed than she was.
“No ulterior motives, sis, I promise. Vampire needed exercise and I wanted to come here and enjoy a few minutes with my busy wife.” Bye held the swinging door for Deidre and followed her inside the nearly empty bar and restaurant.
* * * * *
Stomping snow off his boots before going inside the office from the landing strip at the edge of town, Les set down his bag and took off his jacket. Damn it was cold, but at least the snow had stopped and the wind didn’t seem quite as frigid as it had for a week, since Christmas afternoon. His eyes ached from over an hour looking out over the brilliant white landscape from the cockpit of Doc’s Piper Cub, so he sat at his desk and laid his head on his forearms for a moment before switching on a lamp, putting on his reading glasses and continuing the endless chore of familiarizing himself with Doc Baines’ antiquated patient record-keeping.
After an hour he’d had all he could take. He took off his reading glasses and closed his eyes, then massaged his aching temples. Doc had never moved into the world of computers and didn’t intend to do so as long as he was still around and kicking. As soon as the old guy retired Les would have the records computerized—hopefully before his eyeballs popped out of his head from trying to review Doc’s scribbled patient notes, which had been tossed haphazardly into dog-eared manila folders.
Hey, I’ve actually decided to stay here.
Les still complained occasionally about the vast, unchanging scenery and the lack of big-city conveniences, but truth was that Caden was growing on him. He was coming to like the wide-open spaces and the rugged, hardworking people who seemed to appreciate what he tried to do for them far more than the masses of sometimes pathetic humanity who had passed through the doors of the Houston.
Although he hadn’t run across a woman who made him think about wine or roses or forever, he’d found an acceptable sexual outlet at the Neon Lasso, playing with several club subs who seemed as anxious as he to avoid establishing emotional connections. In less than three months, he’d settled comfortably in a small house located within walking distance of the office, where he could hang his hat when he needed privacy.
When his mentor poked his head through Les’ office door he said, “Hey, Doc, I think I’ll break for lunch. Afterward, if you want, I’ll make the rest of the house calls for you.” He couldn’t help noticing how tired the older man looked, or the way he seemed to be growing frailer by the day.
“No thanks, son, you took your turn this morning. Going to see the housebound patients who live within driving distance makes me feel useful.” He frowned, showing how it troubled him to have failed the physical required to renew his pilot’s license just before Christmas. “Besides, most of my older patients would think I’d deserted them if I sent my associate instead of going myself.”
Les sighed as he took off his lab coat and shrugged on a shearling jacket to ward off the chill from the fierce winter wind. Wishing, now that he’d pretty much decided to stick around Caden, that Doc would slow down the way he’d said he wanted to during the pre-hiring interviews, Les headed next door. Seeing two fine pieces of horseflesh tied up in front of The Corral, he couldn’t help grinning. As he’d felt the day he’d arrived here, he could almost believe that he’d just stepped into a piece of the Old West.
Caden certainly was different from the lazy,
warm
west Louisiana town where he’d grown up. So far, though, he liked the people he’d met and the relaxed atmosphere of a community where everyone pretty much knew and depended on everybody else.
Inside The Corral, he waved a greeting to Bye Caden and Bye’s wife Karen, one of the two lawyers who shared office space above The Corral. Then he saw her—a hot, gorgeous blonde whose shoulder-length hair kissed her rosy cheeks. The woman who was sliding into the booth opposite Karen and Bye more than did justice to her snug jeans. A flannel Western shirt fairly caressed firm, high breasts he’d like to examine up close—for pleasure, not business.
“Hey, Les, come join us,” Bye said, motioning toward the empty seat next to the blonde. He noticed that they’d taken the best spot in the place, in front of a window that provided a view of the town’s main street—its only street worthy of the name.
Les wasted no time sliding into the booth, or breathing in a strangely arousing mix of the blonde’s musky, sweet cologne and saddle soap. He must not be playing at the club often enough, because just her nearness had his cock swelling in his pants.
“What’ll it be, Doc?”
Les looked up at the hovering bartender. “I’ll have a sliced barbecue sandwich, Mac, and coffee.” He told himself the spicy beef on a bun was no less healthy than the crawfish pie and gumbo over white rice that his mom’s cook had often fed him back home.
“Deidre, this is Les Fourchet, Doc Baines’ new associate. Les, meet my sister Deidre.” Bye had one hand on Karen’s knee and the other on the handle of a pitcher he was using to fill an empty mug with foaming draft beer. When the mug was half full, he pushed it toward Les. “Help us finish off this pitcher. We’ll be switching to coffee too.”
“Better not, I’m seeing patients this afternoon. Thanks anyhow.” As he slid the mug back toward Bye, Les was still processing the fact that the blonde was the only daughter of the man who owned the ranch that surrounded the town of Caden on three sides and extended for miles in all directions. “I’m glad to meet you, Deidre. I have a cousin whose name is Deidre too.”
That seemed a strange name for such a vibrant woman. Les remembered his mother saying the name meant sorrow or grief. This Deidre seemed anything but troubled, with her winsome smile—until he noticed a fleeting look of sadness in her beautiful blue eyes.
When she held out her hand he enveloped it between his palms. It was soft and slender, but in her hand he felt the tensile strength of a person who was by no means idle. He envisioned her astride that palomino tethered outside the door, controlling the magnificent animal as easily as he had topped a club submissive last weekend at the Neon Lasso.
Would she want to control a man as firmly as she controlled the magnificent animal she rode? Les looked into her eyes but didn’t sense that driven quality he’d finally recognized in Jessica toward the end of their relationship.
Her smile was warm, not challenging. “My mother named me for her grandma. I’ve always liked the name because I don’t run into a passel of Deidres every time I turn around. It’s nice to meet you, Les. Are you going to take care of me if I get sick?” Her low, teasing words came out with an accent that revealed her local roots but also hinted at a bit of out-East culture. Les didn’t doubt that she’d spent a few years hanging around Ivy Leaguers. That didn’t surprise him, since it was obvious that the Cadens were richer than God.
This one is way out of your league.
The voice in his head came through clearly but he brushed off the warning. Deidre touched off unfamiliar emotions in him, as well as lust, so he wouldn’t let the differences in their stations scare him off. He’d toss his brand-new Stetson into the ring. After all, she couldn’t do any worse than toss it back at him and laugh at his impetuousness.
He shot her his best come-on smile. “I’d much rather take care of you when you aren’t sick,
chéri
. Would you like to go out to dinner with me sometime?” Where they’d go he’d have to figure out. The nearest city worthy of the name was Lubbock, at least a half-hour’s drive beyond the Neon Lasso, which made it an hour and a half trip from here. He assumed since he’d never seen her at the Neon Lasso that she wasn’t involved in the sexual kink that seemed to be the main source of social interaction for the younger adults in the community.
Her dazzling smile nearly took his breath away. “Since you put it so nicely, I’d love to go out with you. Here or someplace a little more interesting?” This time the smile reached her pale-blue eyes and made them sparkle.
Deidre Caden obviously would expect to be taken somewhere way classier than The Corral, though she seemed right at home here. “Is there someplace else nearby?” Les didn’t recall seeing any eateries that had looked promising when he’d driven over to the hospital in Lubbock to be interviewed for admitting privileges. There had certainly been nothing at all that he thought would impress a princess, but maybe she knew some place he hadn’t passed by. “We could always drive over to Lubbock if you don’t mind the stench of the feedlots.”
She wrinkled her nose as though Lubbock wasn’t exactly her favorite date destination. “The Corral’s fine. I’ve been coming here ever since I can remember. If we’re going to go somewhere else, I vote for Dallas.”
Les still hadn’t gotten used to the vastness of this northwest corner of Texas, where ranch acreage often ran into the mid-six figures and folks seemed to think nothing of going hundreds of miles to shop or see a show. He’d driven through Dallas on the way here and the trip had taken nearly six hours. “It’s a long drive there, but—”
“I imagine Deidre’s talking about flying,” Karen said, shooting an indulgent smile her husband’s way, then zeroing in on Les. “I’m sure it must seem weird to folks who come from places where things aren’t so spread out, but around here flying out for a dinner date is just about as common as driving a car. It takes some gettin’ used to, for sure, but at least you go up in Doc’s small plane all the time to go see patients. Obviously you’re not afraid of flying, the way I was the first time Bye took me up in the Cessna.”
“Karen feels more secure when we use the Bar C’s Learjet, don’t you, sugar?” Bye leaned over and gave his wife a kiss that practically sizzled.
Deidre looped her arm through Les’ and stroked the back of his hand, a gesture that made his cock stand up and take notice even before she smiled and spoke in a husky, sexy-as-hell tone. “Don’t mind those two. They haven’t come out of heat since before they got married.”
The sexual electricity between Bye and Karen Caden was evident now, if not as obvious as when they’d indulged their shared taste for exhibitionism at the Neon Lasso for other members’ pleasure as well as their own. It was also as contagious as the flu that had been keeping him and Doc busy since the week before Christmas.
Les wondered briefly if Deidre might share her brother’s lack of inhibition, even though he’d never run into her at the club. “I don’t mind them showing affection in public, do you?” he asked, his tone light.
“I guess not, except seeing them mess around the way they do sometimes makes me wish I had a relationship like theirs.” She paused, her expression pensive before she brightened and shot another thousand-watt smile his way. “If you want to fly over to Dallas for dinner or a show, we can take one of the ranch’s Cessnas. I’m not qualified to fly the jet, and even if I were Daddy wouldn’t let anybody take it up without a copilot. That would be him or Bye, or Mike. He’s the ranch’s pilot and resident aviation genius.”
Les had known since his first week in Caden that the Bar C had a plane. He hadn’t been aware it owned more of them than the sleek twin-engine jet with the distinctive Bar C brand painted on its tail. He had noticed that one pretty regularly as it soared over the courthouse on its way to or from some distant destination.
Although he knew he might never amass enough spare cash to buy his own plane, he loved to fly, even when he used Doc’s ancient Piper Cub to visit housebound patients on distant ranches. “I have a commercial ticket for prop planes with one or two engines. That’s one reason Doc picked me from a handful of potential associates. As Karen said, it’s pretty hard to get around to sick patients in a car.”
Deidre looked at him as though she thought he’d hung the moon. “Wonderful! Let’s go early enough that we can take in some of the sights and sounds of Dallas. We can spend the night and fly back on Sunday morning. Four won’t dare tell me we can’t use the plane, since you’re as qualified to fly it as I am.”
She shot Bye a triumphant look. “Don’t you dare say something like I can’t go somewhere with someone I’ve just met on an overnight. I’m a grown woman.”
“That’s true enough,” Bye said mildly, but he gave her the eye that reminded Les the guy was a pretty serious Dom at heart. “But Les has been working the area for a few months, and Four and I both know he’s solid. I trust him to take care of you.”
Though Bye hadn’t said it, the “unlike other guys you’ve picked up” hung in the air. Les saw Deidre flush, and he made an effort to appear simply pleased that they were going even though he wanted to strangle Bye for having made him sound like a total square. Her speculative look, as if she might be regretting her decision already, inspired him to take the reins himself.
“I appreciate the confidence. I will take good care of her. Any man in his right mind would.” Les gave her a smile, saw the flush turn into something a little less like embarrassment and more like pleasure at the attention. He even dared to stroke his hand along a lock of that blonde hair, give it a playful tug to ease things up. Then he glanced back at Bye. “Who’s Four?”
Bye laughed. “That’s what everybody calls our father. Deidre and me included, most of the time.”
“Bye is Byron Caden the Fifth, but the nickname ‘Five’ never stuck on him. Our mom didn’t like it.” Deidre reached over, grabbed Les’ half-eaten sandwich and took a bite. “Mmm, this is good. It’s been a long time since I tasted Mac’s barbecued beef. We all ate chicken today since we so rarely have it at home. Let’s pop over to Dallas on Saturday if the weather’s good.”