Lord help her, she was starting to weave fantasies that included Gabe. Sure, his marriage had ended because his wife was too dependent and now he lived like a vagabond who didn’t seem to want any ties, but as Amber said, people change.
In the darkness, with only the dashboard lights illuminating their faces, she felt easier about prob inga little more into his life. “Do you… have any family in Tucson?”
“Just my sister.” His answer was short, but not unfriendly
“Your folks live somewhere else, then?”
“No, they’re dead.”
“Oh, Gabe, I’m sorry. There I go again, butting in.”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s been ten years.”
She wanted to ask how they’d died, but didn’t have the nerve.
After a brief silence, he continued. “It wasn’t very pretty. Some guy d been arrested for a hit and run, and he posted bail. Then he took off, but his car quit on him, and he flagged down my folks on the highway.” His fingers tightened, but his voice remained steady. “My dad was the type to stop and help anybody. They gave him a lift. He directed them off into the desert, shot them and took off with their truck.”
“That’s horrible.”
“A bounty hunter helped track him down. I went to thank the guy and learned a lot about bail enforcement Seemed like a hell of a lot better job than digging stuff out of the ground.”
She took his clenched hand in both of hers. “That explains a lot.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” His hand relaxed in hers. “I suppose a shrink would say I’ve been avenging my parents ever since. That might have been part of it at first, but the truth is, I was bored with working in the mine, and I love this job. I couldn’t go back to a regular routine for all the gold in China .”
Or all the love in my heart? She hit the wall of reality once again. How many times did he have to warn her that he was an untamable rogue before she finally started to listen?
GABE HAD BEIN EXPECTING the question about his family A cautious woman like Dallas would want to know a guy’s background before she got too involved with him. She might even have some crazy idea he’d give up his job if she asked him to. But if she wanted him, she’d have to take him as he was. He didn’t think there was much chance she’d do that, but he’d always been drawn by a long shot.
If she’d give up her notion that all of life fit into neat little compartments, they might, just might, be able to build something together. For now he was satisfied with little victories, like that spontaneous lovemaking session today and convincing her to kiss him at Rowdy Ranch.
He wished she’d take Parnell more seriously, but apparently the scum ball wouldn’t come around as long as Gabe was in residence. That was okay. He liked being in residence. Probably liked it more than was good for him.
“I doxi t think Parnell followed us out here,” he said as he disengaged his hand to swing the truck into its parking space. “I’ve been checking the mirror, and no black Corvette showed up. Not that he couldn’t drive out later, but I doubt he will .”
“He seems pretty involved with Beth.” “don’t be fooled by that.” He turned off the engine. “A guy like Parnell gets tired of a woman who makes a conquest too easy for him.”
She gave him a smile that made his heart feel tight in his chest. “How about you? Do you get tired of a woman when there’s no challenge?”
He wanted to take her right there, on the seat of the truck. Tired of her? Not in a million years. “I’m not like Parnell, he said, climbing down from the cab. The vision of seeing her naked on the rumpled sheets of her bed made him tremble as he helped her down from the truck and opened the gate.
“Watch out for Gretchen; she warned, grabbing the dog’s collar.
He shoved the gate closed behind him and took her hand. “I must admit Gretchen’s not my top priority right now.”
She got that shy, excited note in her voice that he loved. “Maybe I should leave Gretchen out in the yard for a little while.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea.” That hesitant sexiness of hers made him want to beat his chest and yell out a wa ming to any male within ten miles that this was his territory. A primitive reaction, and one he wouldn’t admit to her, but true, nevertheless.
“I’ll get her lighted collar, so I can see she’s okay out here.”
She could get a rhinestone overcoat for the dog as far as he was concerned. Just so she did it in a hurry.
The three of them went in the front door and Gabe took off his jacket and hat while Dallas opened a drawer in the kitchen and took out a studded collar. She buckled it around Gretcheris neck and flicked a small switch. G abe shook his head in amazement. What had looked to be studs were really little red lights that blinked in sequence, like a Las Vegas sign.
“There.” Dallas opened the door and Gretchen bounded back out, her collar signaling her whereabouts even though the darkness swallowed her up. Dallas closed the door and glanced out the window. “I feel better when I can see where she is .”
He admired the way her denim shorts cupped her firm bottom. “That’s not exactly what would make me feel better.”
“Oh?” She turned, a gleam in her gray eyes. Then she took off her hat and combed her fingers back through her hair. “And what would make you feel better, cowboy ?”
He stared at her, mute with need.
With a soft chuckle she hung her hat by the door. Turrung back to him, she removed her fringed jacket with deliberate slowness, rolling her shoulders back to peel off each sleeve in a gesture that thrust her breasts forward against the white cotton of her shirt.
His mouth went dry, his palms grew moist. This demand to lie with her was growing greater, not less. “Why do I always feel as if it’s been weeks?”
“Einstein said time is relative .” She began unfastening her shirt one slow button after another.
He stepped toward her. “He must have been watching you undress. “
“Impatient, Gabe?” She arched her eyebrows, obviously reveling in her power.
“Not me : He forced himself to stop, to leave his arms at his sides. “An impatient guy would never have made it through all those shampoos, all those haircuts, where you ran your fingers through other guys hair. Then there was that line dance while you wiggled your tush right in front of me.”
“As if you weren’t doing the same; she retorted, but her lips parted and her breathing quickened. He’d evened the balance of power.
“Then I waited through the interminable balancing of the cash register receipts, he said. “There was a tiny drop of perspiration that slid down between your breasts while you were totaling the final figures. An impatient guy might have tom your shirt off and licked that little drop away, but I didn’t.”
She swayed, and he closed the gap between them. She filled his arms as no woman ever had. The blood roared in his ears. She arched against him as his mouth found hers; his tongue plunged into the soft, moist She began struggling, and he held her tighter. What was wrong? Why was she trying to get away from him?
“Gretcheris barking,” she said, breathless as she pulled free.
He shook his head to clear it. The dog was barking. He stepped to the side of the window and glanced out. Dallas’s dusk to-dawn light illuminated the huge shape of the Saint Bernard-wolfhound mix outside the fence. “It’s lover boy, he said. “Probably thirqlcs this is the red-light district.”
“Very funny.” Dallas joined him by the window, her hand holding her shirt together in front. “Let’s shoo him away. He makes me nervous.
“
“I’ll do it.” He started toward the door just as he heard a metal clinking sound. Dumb dogs were probably trying to push through the fence. The sound came again.