Lingerie and Lariats (Rough & Ready#7) (2 page)

She spilled a little tea onto the counter and grabbed a napkin, which she proceeded to drop. As it fluttered to the floor she bent to pick it up. At the same time Dan crouched to retrieve the napkin and they bumped heads. They hit hard enough that pain shot through her skull and she swayed.

“Ow.” Renee laughed as Dan grasped her by her upper arms, steadying her.

“That was my fault.” He smiled down at her as he continued to hold onto her arms as they rose to stand.

She looked into his gaze and felt unsteady again. This man made her feel completely off balance in an entirely different way. She found herself wanting to step closer to him and imagined the warmth of his embrace and the feel of his lips against hers.

“What’s going on?” Jerry spoke from the kitchen doorway, jerking Renee’s attention to him.

Face burning, she immediately took a step back from Dan who released her arms. “I dropped a napkin and Dan and I bumped heads when we both bent to pick it up.”

Jerry had a hard look to him. “That wasn’t what it looked like.”

Dan frowned. “That’s exactly what happened.” He picked up his glass of unsweetened tea and handed Renee her glass of tea with lemon and sugar. “We’d best be getting back.”

She bit the inside of her lip as she looked at Jerry. She tried for a smile. “Would you like more tea?” she asked him.

“Yeah.” He handed his empty glass to her. “That’s why I came in here.”

Renee had the feeling that wasn’t the only reason Jerry had come into the kitchen. He’d wanted to check up on her and Dan.

Dan headed back to the living room as Renee set down her tea and filled Jerry’s glass. Jerry narrowed his eyes. “You thinking about screwing that sheriff?” he said in a low, angry voice when they were alone.

She shook her head as her face heated. “Of course not.”

He gripped her by her upper arms and put his face close to hers, causing her to draw back which only seemed to anger him more. He clenched his jaw and started to say something when someone cleared his throat.

Both Jerry and Renee cut their gazes to the kitchen doorway. Dan stood there watching them.

“Is there a problem?” Dan said in a slow drawl that seemed deceptively calm.

Jerry released Renee and she took a step back. She knew her face must have been a dozen different shades of red.

“Of course not.” Jerry narrowed his gaze. “We were having a private discussion.”

Dan studied them but didn’t move.

Jerry picked up both glasses of tea and handed one to Renee. He put his free arm around her shoulders and guided her to the kitchen doorway. When they reached it, Dan stepped aside. Jerry ignored Dan and put on a smile before he and Renee entered the living room. She breathed a sigh of relief as they sat on the couch and tried not to stiffen as Jerry kept his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him.

It wasn’t too long before she relaxed and started to enjoy herself again.

Dan Cooper settled into his seat and let his gaze drift over Renee as she laughed at a story Zane was telling. Something inside of him stirred. He hadn’t felt anything like this for a woman in a hell of a long time. She was fun, intelligent, vibrant, and had a great sense of humor.

Her beauty, charm, and demeanor had him damn near mesmerized. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She’d grown into an amazing woman and he wanted to get to know her better.

A hell of a shame Renee was taken.

Dan watched Jerry Nelson without looking directly at him. Nelson had joined in on the conversation and on the surface he came off as a nice guy. Yet Dan had a strong feeling something was off about him. The way Nelson had reacted when he saw Renee in the kitchen with Dan and the look in Nelson’s eyes had seemed a little extreme. The way he’d gripped Renee’s arms and had been glaring at her had been enough to make Dan want to step in and set the man straight.

What was Renee doing with a guy like Nelson? The way he’d treated her in the kitchen was a red flag as far as Dan was concerned.

Maybe he was envious of Nelson for having a claim on Renee. But Dan couldn’t help the feeling in his gut that something wasn’t quite right about the man. She sure as hell didn’t deserve the way he’d treated her earlier.

One thing he was certain of was that Nelson had a jealous streak in him. The man hadn’t moved his arm away from Renee from the moment she’d taken her seat beside him. It was as if Nelson thought of her as a kind of possession.

That thought didn’t sit well with Dan. Not one bit.

He studied her as she interacted with everyone. Her long brown hair fell down to her waist and he imagined how it would feel, running his fingers through the silken strands. It was a rich chestnut color with gentle red highlights and her eyes were a beautiful cinnamon brown.

Her skin was smooth and fair, like she didn’t get a lot of sunshine. He thought about the young girl with skin golden from the summer sun as she played tag with the boys long ago. She was a petite package and the gentle swell of her breasts gave way to a small waist.

A baby’s cry jerked Dan from his thoughts. The conversation stopped as the cry caught everyone’s attention.

“That’s Timothy.” Jessie got up from the couch where she’d been sitting just as her and Zane’s daughter, Chelsea, came into the living room.

The little redhead went straight for her daddy and climbed into his lap. She rubbed sleep from her eyes with her fist. If Dan remembered correctly, she was a few months or so over three.

“Timothy was your father’s name, wasn’t it?” Renee asked in her soft, sweet voice as Jessie left the room to get the baby. “And Chelsea was your mother’s middle name.”

Zane gave a nod. “Mom never liked her first name, Maria, so we picked her second name.”

Jessie walked into the room holding Timothy against her shoulder. She had the glow of a proud new mother and Zane had the same proud daddy look about him.

“Can I hold him?” Renee asked.

Jessie smiled and carried Timothy to Renee. “He might get a little cranky. It’s about time for him to eat.”

Renee took the baby into her arms and cradled him. She made soft cooing sounds and he waved his hand and grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled, causing Renee to laugh.

The moment Jessie transferred Timothy to Renee, Jerry removed his arm from around Renee’s shoulders and distanced himself by a few inches. He didn’t seem to want anything to do with the baby.

Renee didn’t seem to notice as she smiled and cuddled the baby close to her.

“That’s my baby brother,” Chelsea said in a clear voice. She slid out of her daddy’s lap and went to Renee and Timothy. The girl stroked the baby’s hair. “He’s only three months old.”

Renee looked at Chelsea and smiled. “I bet you’re a really good big sister.”

Chelsea nodded. “I help Mommy and Daddy all of the time.”

“When I was a little girl, I had tea with my favorite dolls right out there on that porch.” Renee inclined her head in that direction. “Do you like to play with dolls?”

Chelsea gave another vigorous nod. “Mommy makes us sandwiches or cookies and tea. Sometimes my daddy will sit and have tea with me and my dolls, too.”

Renee flashed a smile at Zane. “Funny, but you never had tea with me and my dolls when we were kids.”

Zane laughed and shook his head.

Renee held Timothy close as she paid attention to Chelsea and talked to the girl about her favorite things around the ranch.

Dan leaned back against the couch as he watched Renee with the little ones. Judging by the way she cuddled with the baby and talked to Chelsea, it was obvious Renee would make a good mother.

On the other hand, Nelson didn’t seem to be the least bit inclined to have anything to do with kids. He wore a fixed expression as if he was trying to look engaged when it was the last thing he wanted to do.

Timothy started to fuss and Jessie took him from Renee. “Time to breastfeed.” Jessie sat in a rocking chair and put a blanket over her shoulder, obscuring the baby and her breast from view. She rocked and made soft sounds to Timothy as she fed him.

“Why don’t you join us day after tomorrow?” Jessie said, as she looked at Dan. “We’re putting together a barbeque for the bunch of us in honor of Renee’s visit.”

Dan gave a nod. “Sounds good.”

Renee’s gaze met Dan’s and they held eye contact longer than they should have before Renee turned to watch Jessie feed Timothy. The longing in Renee’s eyes caused Dan’s gut to tighten.

He had to stop thinking about having kids of his own and how attracted he was to a woman he couldn’t have.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Jerry snarled as he and Renee drove from the Cameron home later that night. “You treated me like shit the whole time we were there.” She shook her head but he went on, “You’re thinking about screwing that sheriff.”

Renee flinched. Jerry wouldn’t hit her, but his words always cut right through to the bone. “Of course not.” She held her hand to her belly as it gave a sick swoop. “Dan is an old friend. That’s all.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit.” Jerry’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel and glanced at her. “I saw the way you and that bastard looked at each other.”

Renee’s scalp prickled. “That’s not how it was.”

“We’re not going to spend any more time bullshitting with that bunch of hicks,” Jerry said as the truck hit a pothole and the lights bounced off the grass and bushes. “We’re not going to any fucking barbeque with more of them. It was bad enough having to sit through that crap.”

Her eyes widened. “I already told them we’d go.”

“You didn’t ask my permission, did you?” Jerry glared as the truck shimmied down the dirt road.

Renee straightened in her seat. “You said we could visit for a few days.”

“I changed my mind. And as long as you’re with me, you’ll do whatever I tell you to do.” Jerry ran a stop sign as he headed toward the freeway.

Well, maybe I shouldn’t be with you,
she thought but couldn’t get the words out.

“Damned kids.” Jerry’s scowl deepened. “I hope you’re not thinking of having any screaming brats because we sure as hell are not.”

Renee’s lips parted as she tried to absorb what he was saying. First, they’d never talked about a future together beyond dating. Second, she’d had no idea that Jerry didn’t like children until this moment. She’d noticed that he’d withdrawn when she’d held the baby and talked with Chelsea, but she had just figured that he was uncomfortable around children because he wasn’t used to them.

She couldn’t find any words, couldn’t think of what to say. He could be so cruel sometimes when she did something to upset him, yet he was so attentive the rest of the time. Mostly he would get upset because he was jealous of another man. She’d never given him any reason to doubt her but he still became angry if another man even looked at her.

Jerry had prevented her from making a bad investment with the half million that included what she’d inherited, plus what she had made when she sold her stepfather’s shop. He’d been kind and attentive, and had increased her portfolio by ten percent within two months.

She’d never been so excited sexually as she was with Jerry. At least at first. She had let the intimacy form what she had thought was a bond between them.

Things had been changing over time. Looking back, she realized that he had caught her at a lonely time and she had ignored the obvious signs because she liked his company and attention. He was becoming more and more demanding, possessive, and jealous, and he’d grown almost violent at times. He didn’t trust her any longer and was always calling or dropping in on her to make sure she was where she’d said she would be. She had never done anything to violate that trust and would not.

She didn’t have the slightest idea what to do about any of it. She’d hoped the trip would bring them closer together again, but that wasn’t turning out to be the case.

She felt trapped.

Another stop sign flashed by as Jerry pulled onto the highway. The truck’s tires squealed on asphalt as he gunned the big motor.

At the last minute she saw oncoming lights and she shouted, “Watch out!

Jerry yanked the wheel to the right and the truck swerved. The tires slid off the side of the road.

The next thing Renee knew the truck was rolling.

She screamed as the truck flipped over and over. Metal crunched. Glass shattered. Her body was tossed like a rag doll even as her seatbelt held her tight. Everything happened so fast yet she felt like the truck was moving in slow motion.

The truck came to a hard stop. Renee blinked, dizzy and disoriented, and realized that she was hanging upside down. Her heart pounded and she heard the rush of blood in her ears. Her breathing came hard and fast.

A groan from her right told her that Jerry was alive. She looked at him and saw that he was upside down, too, but the steering wheel was against his chest. The airbag on his side had deployed and was now deflated over the wheel.

“Jerry, are you okay?” Her voice shook as she spoke.

“What the hell do you think?” he said as he looked at her, a scowl on his face.

He didn’t ask her how she was. Instead he’d given her a sarcastic response when she’d asked him if he was all right.

She heard the sound of voices and then someone was down on the ground and peering in through the passenger door window frame that no longer had any glass. She couldn’t see the person, but she recognized the voice the moment he spoke.

“Renee?” Dan said with concern. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

A feeling of relief went through her. She was alive, Jerry was alive, and help was here.

Blood was rushing to her head and she braced one hand on the top of the cab and worked her seatbelt buckle with her other hand. She dropped hard in the midst of crumpled metal and shards of glass.

She heard the sound of someone trying to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. At the same time she heard people working on Jerry’s door and talking to him.

“Can you crawl out here?” Dan peered in again. She could see him as he looked through the window now that she wasn’t hanging upside down any longer. “The door is jammed.”

She eyed the mangled opening. She was small and it shouldn’t be too hard to wriggle her way out. “I can make it.”

Dan brushed away glass so that no jagged edges were sticking out. She shouldered her way through the window frame and shifted so that she could work her body out of the truck’s cab. When her shoulders were through, two strong hands clasped her upper arms and helped her slide the rest of the way out of the vehicle.

When she was standing, she saw blue and red lights flashing from Dan’s official sheriff’s department SUV and lights from two other parked cars—one of which was likely the vehicle they’d almost hit. Two people stood and watched while three others worked to open Jerry’s door.

“Are you all right?” Dan grasped her by her upper arms as he looked her over. “You need to sit down. You might have internal injuries and you could have hurt your spine.”

“I feel fine.” Her hair was in her eyes and she pushed it out of the way. “Just shaken up. Jerry’s the one who needs help right now.” She glanced up the embankment. “Was anyone else hurt?”

“Thank God no other vehicle was involved.” Dan put his arm around her shoulders and led her up the bank of the ditch that they’d rolled down. Someone handed him a blanket and he put it around her before leading her to his SUV and putting the tailgate down. “Lie here and don’t move. Understand?”

She nodded as he made her lie down. He gave her one last concerned look then jogged back down the incline to where the truck had settled after its roll.

Everything had a surreal feel to it as the SUV’s red and blue lights flashed off of the other cars and the truck, illuminating everything. Someone shone a bright light onto the driver’s side door as they worked to get the door off.

They were so far out in the San Rafael Valley, far from the closest emergency services, that it would take some time before paramedics and deputies from the sheriff’s office arrived. Dan must have left the Camerons’ home not long after she and Jerry had headed off for the bed and breakfast they were staying at in Patagonia.

She shivered and held the blanket closer as she watched the men. Despite Dan’s orders, she pushed herself to a sitting position. She felt fine considering the accident they’d just been in.

Metal crunched and then the door was jerked away. A few moments later, Jerry was being helped out of the truck. Two men half carried him to the soft grass at the side of the road.

Jerry shook off the men. “I can walk,” he said.

“You could have some serious damage to your neck and spine,” Dan said. “We need to have you lie down.”

“No.” Jerry sounded surly and pissed off. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

Dan glanced at Renee and saw her sitting up and frowned. In the distance she heard the sound of sirens. Dan approached her as the sirens came closer. “It’s not smart to be sitting up after being in an accident like that.”

“I feel fine.” She gripped the blanket tighter. “Really.”

“That’s the adrenaline talking.” Dan sat beside her on the tailgate. “You’re going to feel it real soon.”

“Don’t worry so much,” she said as she looked at him.

“Something tells me that I’ll never be able to stop worrying about you,” Dan said then frowned like he’d said something he hadn’t intended to.

She felt warmth in her belly. His concern for her was so different from Jerry just thinking about himself. Jerry clearly hadn’t cared whether or not she’d been hurt.

“Think you can make a statement now?” Dan asked.

Prickles ran up and down her spine. She hadn’t thought about having to make a statement and what that might mean. The accident had been Jerry’s fault. How could she tell the sheriff that Jerry had run the stop sign and swerved into oncoming traffic?

How could she not?

She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure what happened. It all went so fast.” She rushed her words. “I saw oncoming lights and then we were rolling.” That was the truth. She just hadn’t mentioned the running the stop sign part of it. As long as no one else was hurt, then who needed to know?

Dan studied her. “You’re leaving something out.”

She lowered her gaze before looking at him again. “That’s what happened.”

He gave a nod. “I need to get Nelson’s statement now.”

The ambulance and fire truck arrived along with two deputy’s cars. Paramedics immediately went to both Jerry and Renee. She had a cut on her cheek but no other outward signs that she’d been in an accident. She was likely to be bruised from being tossed around and from the seatbelt. The paramedics wanted to take her to the hospital but she declined.

Jerry refused to go to the hospital, too. He made it to the SUV where she was still sitting and he eased onto the tailgate beside her.

“What did you tell the sheriff?” he asked.

She swallowed and reiterated what she’d told Dan.

“That’s it?” Jerry asked.

She nodded.

“I need to see your driver’s license,” Dan said to Jerry as he came up to stand beside them.

Jerry scowled. “You don’t need to see anything. We were in an accident and no one else was involved.”

“You lost control of your vehicle and you were in a serious accident.” Dan had a hard look in his eyes. “You had a passenger who could have been killed or another vehicle could have been involved. If you don’t give me your license, I’ll have to take you in.”

Jerry hesitated then slipped his hand into his back pocket and brought out his wallet. With a glare he pulled out his license and handed it to Dan.

Renee frowned. What was the big deal about giving the sheriff his driver’s license?

Dan gave a nod as he took the license before leaving and going to the front of his SUV. Jerry had his arms crossing his chest.

A few moments later Dan returned, his expression grim as he looked at Jerry. “There’s a warrant out for your arrest.”

Tingles prickled Renee’s skin and her eyes widened. A warrant for his arrest?

Dan handed Jerry his driver’s license. “Looks like you’ve got over a hundred unpaid parking tickets.”

Jerry shrugged. “Just haven’t gotten around to paying them.”

“Law says I have to take you in,” Dan said.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Jerry folded his arms across his chest again.

“One way or another you’re heading down to the county jail,” Dan said. “Either you come willingly or I add the charge of resisting arrest.”

Jerry glared at Dan who studied him with an unflinching stare.

The whole time Renee watched the interaction, she couldn’t believe what was happening. First an accident that was entirely Jerry’s fault, and then this?

“Sit tight,” Dan said, then called over a deputy and explained that Jerry was to be taken to the county jail.

Dan told Jerry to stand and the deputy cuffed and escorted Jerry to one of the deputy’s cars. When Jerry had slipped into the back seat of the car and disappeared from view, Renee let out her breath. He was going to be so angry over the whole incident, especially since it was Dan who’d arrested him. Jerry wasn’t going to be pleasant to live with once he was released.

She watched the deputy’s car leave. “I suppose I should go down and pay his fines.”

“The earliest he can be released is tomorrow.” Dan met her gaze. “He’s just going to have to spend the night in jail.”

Renee bit her lower lip and looked down.

“Hey.” Dan touched her chin and raised her head. “This was his own doing. He should have paid those tickets instead of ignoring them.”

“I know.” She sighed. “It’s just that he’s going to be so angry—” She snapped her mouth shut. She shouldn’t be talking about anything personal when it came to Jerry.

Dan frowned. “Does he hurt you?”

She shook her head.
Not physically, just with words
, she thought but didn’t say aloud.

“You can tell me.” Dan held her gaze. “I want to know if he hurts you.”

“No.” She shook her head. “He doesn’t hit me.”

Dan’s expression was hard to read and she was thankful when he changed the subject. “If you won’t go to the hospital, I’ll give you a ride to where you’re staying.”

The truck was now being pulled out of the ditch with a tow truck. She shivered. Things could have turned out a lot worse.

She turned her attention back to Dan. “That would be great. Thank you.”

Dan had to take care of a few things before they left so she sat on the tailgate of the SUV and watched. Aches and pains were starting to make themselves known. She wasn’t going to get out of this without some consequences from being banged up. Once the truck was on the side of the road, Dan retrieved her purse for her.