Читать книгу Marrying the Cowboy - Trish Milburn - Страница 12

Chapter Three

By the time Pete woke the next morning, the sun was streaming in the window and the little digital clock read 10:30 a.m. And despite the fact that he was in an unfamiliar bed, he didn’t think he’d slept that well in months, so much so that he didn’t want to move. Since he didn’t have to work until the afternoon shift, he lay right where he was for several more minutes, making a mental to-do list. He’d rather go out to the stables for a ride, but he didn’t have time. First thing he needed to do was find some cheap transportation. He’d get an insurance settlement eventually, but he couldn’t wait that long. He had a mess to clean up next door, and that required a truck.

Though he hated to do so, he forced himself to get up. Nothing on that to-do list was going to get done if he stayed in bed all day. It was likely that Elissa and Verona had been up for hours. But when he stepped into the hall, the house was quiet. Elissa was probably already out at the nursery, and Verona wasn’t a woman to sit idly at home when there were things to do and people to help.

He pulled on the clothes he’d taken off the previous night and made his way to the shower. He’d been standing under the hot water for a few minutes when his thoughts drifted to the night before. He’d listened as Elissa moved around in her room, how she seemed to be tossing and turning a lot after she went to bed. He’d gotten the distinct sense that something was bothering her. No doubt it was thoughts of the destruction to her business. Other than that, Elissa had always been carefree and perpetually happy.

As he shampooed his hair, for some reason his thoughts went back much further, to when Elissa had first moved in with Verona at the beginning of their freshman year. He’d been instantly in love. Well, as in love as hormonal teenage boys could get. But he’d also been the world’s biggest chicken when it came to girls and had never let her know how he felt, not even when they’d been paired up in history to create a diorama.

They had worked long hours creating the Coliseum in Rome filled with gladiators on the sand and bloodthirsty spectators in the stands, but he still hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask her out. Eventually, the crush had faded away, leaving a close friendship. They’d worked together at the nursery in high school, and she’d been the one to encourage him to apply to the state police academy after his mother’s cancer went into remission.

He swallowed hard against the pain that still felt fresh, the knowledge that the cancer had returned and taken her life. He might be a grown man now, but there were times when he still felt like an orphan with both of his parents gone.

Pete shoved the thoughts away as he turned off the water and grabbed a towel. He had enough current problems to worry about without dragging up old sorrows. When he dried off, it hit him that he needed to address one concern before even a new vehicle. Clothes.

He stared at the rumpled jeans and T-shirt he’d had stowed in his locker at work. Without them he’d still be running around in the shorts and tee he’d had on when the storm hit. He had some new uniforms ordered, but he needed nonduty clothes pronto. Hell, he needed everything. Which meant he had to first go to the bank and get a new debit card. Damn, life was a pain in the ass when everything you owned blew away.

He rummaged in the cabinets until he found an unopened toothbrush. He needed to shave, too, but he’d wait until he could buy his own razor. It was bad enough that he was pilfering a toothbrush. Something about that act caused the events of the past couple of days to slam into him as he finished brushing his teeth. He cursed and shook his head. After rinsing the brush and his mouth, he stood with his hands pressed against the countertop for several seconds as he allowed himself a mini pity party. But then he turned on the faucet, splashed his face with cold water and toweled it away.

Feeling sorry for himself had never worked to his favor, so he wasn’t about to start now. Instead, he pulled on his worn jeans, thankful at least that there was one more clean T-shirt in the guest room.

He opened the bathroom door and was greeted with a yelp.

* * *

ELISSA COULDN’T BELIEVE she’d slept so late. After she’d finally gone to sleep the night before, she didn’t remember anything. Usually she woke up at least once in the night, but not last night. She’d slept like not just a log but a petrified log. She rubbed her hand over her face, trying to wipe away the groggy feeling.

As she reached for the bathroom door, it opened. She came fully awake with a cry of surprise. Her heart hammered against her breastbone until she realized it was only Pete and not some burglar who’d had to take a tinkle break before robbing her blind.

But as she looked up at him and noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt, her heart refused to slow its frantic pace. The bare skin was damp and probably warm from the shower. And when did Pete Kayne get so ripped?

“Sorry, I thought you were gone already.”

At the sound of Pete’s voice, the voice of her friend, she snatched her gaze away from his chest to find an awkward, embarrassed look on his face. She half turned and gestured vaguely toward her room. “I think I sort of slipped into a coma last night.”

“Me, too.”

She forced herself to meet his eyes as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on, that she hadn’t just ogled the pectorals of one of her best friends. “Are you late for work?”

He shook his head. “On this afternoon.”

She glanced at the bathroom behind him.

“Sorry,” he said again, this time moving out of the doorway to give her access. “I’ve got errands to run.”

Pete hurried past her toward the guest room. Unable to help herself, she glanced over her shoulder. Damn, his back was every bit as well cut as his chest, a fact that she would have been much better off not knowing. Even after he slipped into the room and shut the door behind him, she didn’t move. Memories started tumbling through her head, and she realized she’d never seen Pete without a shirt on. And now she feared she’d never be able to forget the sight.

With a shake of her head, she entered the bathroom and locked the door behind her. It wasn’t as if she thought Pete was going to suddenly burst in, but she had the strangest feeling that she needed that extra barrier.

She pressed her hand against her forehead to see if she was feverish. Warm, yes, but she had the awful sense that the warmth had nothing to do with sickness and everything to do with embarrassment.

Even when she shucked her pajamas and stepped into the shower, she couldn’t stop thinking about how Pete’s lean muscles and toned skin had beckoned to her, begging her to run her hands up and over them. And then her traitorous brain shifted to thoughts of how Pete had stood in this shower naked only a short time before. Her entire body heated up more than could be accounted for by the stream of hot water.

Good grief, either she was having the strangest dream ever or she seriously didn’t get enough rest last night despite the fact that she’d been asleep twice as long as usual.

She hurried through her shower, but by the time she’d finished in the bathroom Pete was gone. Even with the house empty, she closed her bedroom door once she stepped inside. She sank onto the side of her bed. Her strange reaction to Pete had to be because of the stress she was under. All she needed was to work, get the nursery up and running again, return life to normal. Her being off-kilter, that’s all her weird reaction to Pete was. Nothing more.

With a shake of her head, she dressed and headed to work. When she arrived, she discovered India and Skyler walking back to India’s car.

“What are you guys doing here?” Elissa asked as she pulled up beside them.

“We came to see if we could help,” India said.

Not so long ago, India wouldn’t have been able to be away from her boutique during the middle of the day. But since getting married and becoming a stepmom, she’d hired some help to give her more flexibility with her time.

Elissa eyed Skyler as she got out of the SUV. “Not really the type of work you need to be doing.”

Skyler crossed her arms above her gently rounding belly. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”

“Okay, okay. Grouch.”

India laughed a little, earning a glare from their hormonal friend. “What? She’s right. You are grumpy.”

Skyler pointed toward India’s stomach. “Just wait until you get pregnant.”

India didn’t say anything in response, but the way her mouth twitched at the edges gave her away.

“Oh, my God,” Elissa said. “You already are, aren’t you?”

The twitching turned into a smile as India nodded.

Elissa and Skyler squealed at the same time and wrapped India in a group hug.

“Wait,” Skyler said as she took a step back. “You knew and didn’t tell us?”

“I just found out yesterday.”

Elissa swung a pointed finger between her two friends. “That’s it. No heavy lifting, no stooping, none of that for either of you.”

“Well, how are we supposed to help?” India asked.

“Name your babies after me?”

“What if we have boys?” Skyler asked.

Elissa smiled. “Mason’s a nice name.”

Skyler rolled her eyes.

Elissa laughed. “Those cowboys of yours don’t waste time, do they?”

“Bound to happen when we stay in bed half the time,” India said.

All three of them snorted with laughter. It felt good to laugh, to have good news. It felt normal, and that was exactly what Elissa had told herself she needed to get past her temporary lack of sanity earlier.

“It’s your turn, you know.”

It took Elissa a moment to realize that Skyler was talking to her. “What, to have a baby? Uh, no.”

“There’s nothing wrong with babies,” India said.

“Not when they’re someone else’s little booger and poop factories.”

India shook her head as if saying Elissa was silly to protest. “You would love a baby if you had one.”

The image of Pete’s bare chest and arms came to mind, along with the crazy thought that she at least wouldn’t mind the process of making said baby.

Good Lord, she had somehow misplaced her last brain cell. Maybe it had blown away in the storm and was floating in some Louisiana bayou.

“Is something wrong?” India asked.

Elissa shook her head, perhaps too vigorously judging by the curious looks her friends were giving her. “No, not if you two keep your matchmaking endeavors pointed toward someone else.”

“It’s not us you have to worry about,” India said. “You seem to forget who you live with.”

“No, I’m well aware I share a house with the Cupid of Blue Falls. But I’ve become adept at avoiding her arrows.”

Lord help her if Verona were ever privy to how Elissa had responded to the sight of Pete’s half-naked body. Heat whooshed through her at the mere thought of Pete’s name and the word naked in the same sentence.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” India asked.

“Yeah, just got to get to work. I’m late getting started as it is.”

“Tell us what to do.” India turned as if she would follow Elissa inside.

Though their trio spent a tremendous amount of time together, today Elissa just wanted them to leave. Until she purged herself of inappropriate thoughts about their mutual friend, it was too dangerous to be around them. They knew her just a touch too well.

“Really, there’s nothing suitable for two pregnant women to do. You really want to help me, go suggest someone to Verona to focus her matchmaking hoodoo on. That’s the last thing I need right now.”

“Fine, but you’re coming with us to the music hall tonight,” India said. “There’s a band from Dallas playing that Liam says is really good.”

“I don’t have time.” She gestured toward the damaged building as well as the two demolished greenhouses out back. “As you can see, I have a lot of work to do. And the insurance adjuster is supposed to be here today, though I don’t know when.”

“You’ve been going almost nonstop since the storm,” Skyler said. “You need some downtime.”

Elissa started to protest again, but Skyler held up her index finger to indicate she wasn’t finished.

“Plus, it’s common knowledge that you don’t refuse pregnant women. We get whatever we want.”

Elissa raised an eyebrow. “Does Logan know this?”

“Intimately,” Skyler said with a wicked grin.

Damn if that image of Pete didn’t pop into her head again. Her friends were right. She needed to get out, have a night of fun, dance and purge her head of troubling thoughts. Be the person she always was, the life of the party.

But by the time she finished work for the day and dragged herself home, she wondered about the wisdom of agreeing to meet her friends at the Blue Falls Music Hall. After all, there would be time for dancing and flirting after she got the nursery back up and running.

“Hey, honey,” Verona said as Elissa stepped into the house. “Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes if you want to shower and get ready.”

Elissa gave her aunt a questioning look.

“The girls told me you all were going dancing tonight.”

“I’m too tired.”

“I know you’re tired, but it’ll be good for you to go out. Pete’s already finished with the bathroom, so it’s all yours.”

“Pete?”

Verona smiled. “Yeah, he’s going, too.”

Elissa’s lips pressed together as she took a calming breath. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

Elissa didn’t buy the innocent look Verona shot her. “You know what.” She glanced toward the hallway to make sure Pete was out of earshot before returning her gaze to her aunt. “Pete and I are friends.”

“Which is why it’s perfect. You already know you like each other.”

“As friends. Jeez, that would be like dating my brother.” Well, not exactly. If she had a brother, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t dwell on the contours of his chest and abs.

“Just give it some thought.”

“No,” Elissa hissed as she heard Pete coming up the hall toward them. “Not one word.”

Verona sighed and went back to stirring the spaghetti sauce on the stove.

Elissa turned to head to her room, where she was seriously considering locking herself, but she ceased moving when she spotted Pete. He’d obviously gone shopping because his old, worn clothes were gone, replaced by a new pair of jeans, boots and a chocolate-brown shirt. He held a new tan Stetson in his right hand. She’d seen him in similar outfits hundreds of times, but the increase in her heart rate made her feel as if she were looking at him for the first time. Her friend had grown ridiculously handsome without her noticing. And it felt really weird to even think that.

She forced herself to act normally, which was way harder than it ought to be. “Hit the ShopMart?”

“Yeah. Not likely I’m going to find my old clothes.”

“You probably wouldn’t want them anymore if you did.”

“True.”

When Elissa met Pete’s eyes, she had the distinct impression he, too, was remembering their awkward run-in at the bathroom door that morning. She hated how her easy camaraderie with Pete felt as if it was slipping away, but she was determined to get it back and put this odd bobble out of her mind.

“Well, if I’m going dancing, I better clean up. I’m wearing about an inch of dirt. Doubt I’ll get many dance partners like that.”

As she moved past Pete, she pictured herself dancing with him. She mentally cursed. She’d danced with Pete a zillion times, and it had never been anything other than two friends goofing off and having a good time. As she stepped into the bathroom, she wondered how in the world she was going to avoid dancing with him until the image of his naked torso didn’t taunt her every time she looked at him.

* * *

AN HOUR LATER, Pete followed Elissa into the music hall. Even for her, she was walking faster than normal, as if she wanted to get away from him. He couldn’t help wondering if it had anything to do with him startling her that morning. But that shouldn’t have bothered her. It wasn’t as if he’d strolled out into the hall buck-naked.

But something was definitely up because as soon as they stepped inside she scanned the crowd and headed straight for India and Skyler. Fellow deputy Connor Murphy had to do a quick sidestep with his beer to keep from getting mowed down by her.

“What’s up with Elissa tonight?” Connor asked as he approached Pete. “She’s moving like she’s on her way to a fire.”

Pete shrugged. “Who knows? Pressing girl talk, I guess.”

Connor shook his head. “Women.”

Exactly. Just when you thought you had one figured out, she up and started acting strange.

“You been cleaning up your place yet?”

“Haven’t had time. Got to get a truck first, but haven’t gotten around to that, either. Had to go buy a new life today. It’s bad when you’ve got one pair of underwear to your name.”

“Ask Greg. He probably knows someone who has a truck for sale.”

Pete nodded. “Good idea.” In fact, he saw Greg over by the bar, not too far from where Elissa stood. “I need a drink.”

“Later.”

Pete made his way around the edge of the dance floor, crowded as usual with locals and tourists. His gaze connected with that of a pretty blonde who smiled at him. He gave her a small smile back but continued on his way to the bar instead of asking her to dance.

“Hey, Pete,” India called to him over the sound of the crowd and the band.

He waved, but she motioned for him to come over. As he drew closer, Elissa slipped onto the stool behind her. There it was again, the subtle moving away from him. Or maybe he was imagining it. But why would he be? Shaking off the questions, he directed his attention at India.

“Liam’s organizing another rodeo to benefit the tornado victims. Do you think you could get us a list of those affected?”

“Sure.”

“And include yourself, okay?” Skyler said.

“I’m fine. I’ve got insurance.”

Elissa shifted forward on the stool. “You know better than to argue with Skyler, even before she was pregnant and grumpy.”

“Someday when you get pregnant, I hope you have triplets. And that they’re hell on wheels.”

Elissa shot Skyler a look of horror. “Bite your tongue, woman.”

India laughed, and Pete found himself smiling at the familiar banter between Elissa and Skyler. Whatever weirdness had taken up residence in Elissa seemed to have disappeared, thank goodness. It was bad enough he was forced to invade her home, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable while he was at it.

Someone touched his arm. When he turned, the pretty blonde stood there.

“Would you like to dance?”

The crazy urge to look at Elissa gripped him, but he resisted. Trying not to read anything into his reaction, he instead smiled and offered his arm to the blonde. “Lead the way.”

As his dance partner told him her name was Candace and she was in town for a wedding the next day, he tried to pay attention. He was beginning to wonder if he’d been knocked on the head during the tornado because it was hard to pay attention to her. But he made the effort, even pulling her a little closer.

Before he even thought about what he was doing, he turned his gaze toward where Elissa had been sitting, fully expecting she’d found her own dance partner. Instead, she still sat on the stool, staring right at him.