The Cowboy's Summer Love (14 page)

Breathless, she looped her arms around his neck while he ran his hands up and down her back, setting ribbons of heat aflame every place his fingers touched her.

“You know something?” Travis’ lips were dangerously close to her ear, dangerously close to making her forget all the reasons she needed to keep her distance from him.

“What’s that?” Tess asked, barely able to speak through the emotion clogging her throat and addling her thoughts.

“You’ve always been my honeybee,” Travis rumbled before placing a warm kiss on her neck.

 “Travis, I…” Tess felt a tremor roll up from her toes that ended at the top of her head. “We better…you should…”

Travis put a finger on her lips. “Shh, baby, don’t talk. Just feel.”

That was the problem. If the fire blazing to life in her middle and rapidly spreading outward was any indication, she was feeling entirely too much. In her wildest dreams about Travis, Tess never imagined being held in his arms, the object of his desire, would be so intense and wonderful.

Sinking his hands into her hair, Travis groaned and edged closer. Tess felt her knees go weak when he started trailing slow, enticing kisses along her jaw.

“Tessa,” Travis whispered her name before his lips settled softly, gently on hers. It was the most tender, wonderful kiss Tess had ever experienced. 

Travis teased her lips, kissing her with growing intensity. When she opened her mouth to protest, he plunged right ahead and in that moment, Tess was forever lost. She melted into Travis’ arms, melted against his strength, melted her resistance, and knew she’d never be the same.

Unable to think of anything but how altogether right it felt to be pressed against Travis she gave herself to the kiss, returning what he was offering.

Travis finally found his home. Held tightly against Tess, there was no pain, no past, and no unrelenting tension. There was only the beautiful woman clinging to his chest, so soft and warm, who made him feel whole and complete.

When she jerked back, he fought to keep control of his emotions.

“Travis, I … I can’t do this,” Tess said, turning away from him and burying her face in her hands.

“Honey, it’s okay. I just wanted to kiss you,” Travis said, misunderstanding her reaction. He didn’t intend to get quite so carried away, but kissing was as far as he was willing to let things go.  Pulling her back against his chest, he ran his hands up and down her arms slowly.

“You can’t kiss me. I can’t kiss you. I can’t want…” Tess said, crying openly.

“You can’t want what?” Travis asked, turning her around and trying to move her hands so he could look in her face.

“Just let me go, Travis,” she sobbed, tugging away from him. “Take me home, please.”

Travis wrapped her in his arms and let her cry. “Tessa, tell me what’s wrong. I thought you were enjoying our kisses. Did I hurt you?”

“No, not yet, but you will.” Tess whispered against his chest. “I can’t do this with you, Travis. I can’t. I want you. I’ve always wanted you, all of you, but that’s the one thing you can’t give me. Don’t you understand?  I can’t let myself fall in love with you.”

If Tess had dumped ice water on Travis it couldn’t have shocked him more than her words. Letting his arms fall to his sides, he took a step back and without saying a word, packed up the fishing gear and helped her into the pickup.

They drove in silence to the Running M Ranch where Travis got out and held her door.

“Tessa, I’m sorry, I…” Travis tried to apologize, tried to make things right between them, but it was too late to go back to just friends, not that they had been that for a good long while. He could see the fear and hurt on Tess’ face when he opened the pickup door for her.

“Travis, I…” Tess looked in his eyes, filled with anguish and regret. Taking his face in both her hands, she captured his lips with hers. She kissed him with all the longing, the wanting, she’d had for him since she was old enough to know Travis was the only boy she was ever going to love. Releasing him, she jumped from the truck and ran into the house, slamming the door behind her.

The next day Tess moved to The Dalles.

Chapter Nine

Love is not a matter of what happens in life. 

 It's a matter of what's happening in your heart.

Ken Keyes

Travis was feeling the need to release some of his tension. Lindsay suggested he use her weight equipment and he took her up on the offer. Slamming his fists into the punching bag made him feel marginally better, at least for an hour or two. When he was in the service, the guys used to joke about how he would beat out his tension while they’d go find a willing female companion or drink themselves into oblivion.

The only girl Travis wanted then, and still, was Tess. As for the drinking, getting drunk once was more than enough for him. He hadn’t touched a drop of liquor since and regretted that he’d ever let the guys talk him into it the first time. His mother would have boxed his ears royally if she’d known.

“You thirsty?” Lindsay asked, poking her head in the door as Travis punched the bag again and again. Stopping, he accepted the bottle of water she held out to him.

Sweat ran in streams down his back and chest, but he still felt the need to do something physical. He was going to have to find some way of blowing off some major steam soon or he would explode.

Since he’d kissed Tess the other night, he’d felt even more tense and tormented. He should have known better, should have resisted the temptation, but she felt so right and good in his arms. Their time spent in each other’s arms, their shared kisses, had been one of the most wonderful things he’d ever experienced. He knew she felt it, too.

Instead of exploring what could happen between them, she ran away. Kissed him with more passion than he’d ever dreamed possible and then disappeared.

“Trent says you’re a whiz with computer graphics. I was wondering if you’d mind helping me design our wedding invitations. I can’t find anything I like in the wedding catalogs and we really want to make ours more personal,” Lindsay said, leaning against the door, watching Travis gulp down the water.

“Sure,” Travis said, swiping his forehead against his shoulder to try and keep the sweat out of his eyes. “Just let me know when you want to work on it and I’ll help you.”

“Thanks, Travis. I really appreciate it. Would you have time one evening this week?” Lindsay asked, looking at him hopefully.

“How about tomorrow? You could stick around after dinner and we’ll figure out what you want,” Travis said, taking off the gloves he wore to protect his hands from the bag.

“Perfect,” Lindsay said, stepping over and patting him on the arm.

Travis studied his future sister-in-law. Lindsay was a stark contrast to Cady. Small boned and of medium height, Cady had wavy dark hair and hazel eyes. Lindsay, on the other hand, was just an inch shorter than Travis with an athletic build, straight blond hair and pale blue eyes. They were both very pretty in different ways and Travis could see they shared a lot of the same characteristics like being kind, smart, funny, gracious, loyal and loving, to name a few. His two brothers were more blessed than they knew.

“Tomorrow it is, then. If you have some ideas you like, bring them along and I’ll see what we can put together.”

“Where did you learn to do graphics?” Lindsay asked as she walked Travis out to his pickup.

“I liked to mess around with it in high school. One of my buddies was really good at it and showed me a few tricks. I also got some training in the service. What I used the training for is a long way from creating wedding invitations but the basic skill set is the same,” Travis said with a laugh. He didn’t think Lindsay would appreciate his ability to whip out a detailed tactical plan for her wedding and put that on the back of the invitation.

“I haven’t seen Brice or Tess around lately. Everything okay with them?” Lindsay asked, not knowing that was a sore subject with Travis.

“Yeah. Brice has been really busy on a construction job and Tess, well, she moved to The Dalles,” Travis said, rubbing his hand on his neck.

“Oh, when did that happen?”

“A couple of days ago,” Travis said, jumping in his truck and starting it up. “Thanks for letting me use your bag. See you tomorrow.”

Lindsay watched Travis drive away, wondering what exactly she said that brought a dark scowl to his handsome face. She hesitated to ask Trent because any mention of Travis seemed to set him on edge.

She and Cady both wished the Thompson brothers would discuss whatever was bugging them and all get back to normal. Instead, the three of them could hardly be in the same room together without little sputters of anger going off and tension radiating around them.

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“Denni, I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here while I figure out what I want to do,” Tess said as they sat down to the dinner she made.

When Tess packed her bags and told her parents she needed to be in town for few weeks, she had no idea where she was going to stay. After work that evening, she happened to think of Denni and called to see if she could come over. Denni insisted she come for dinner and then, when she found out Tess needed a place to stay for a while, offered her the guest room. They both were enjoying the arrangement.

“You’re most welcome, sugarplum. You know you’ve always been like a daughter to me and I appreciate getting reacquainted,” Denni said, taking a bite of the casserole Tess made. “Besides, it’s nice to have someone share cooking and cleaning duties with me.”

“I’m more than happy to cook or clean. I could stay in a hotel, but it’s much more fun being here with you,” Tess said, thinking about how much she loved spending time with Denni. She’d always been like a second mother to her and Tess was grateful for the opportunity to get to know her as a friend. “You haven’t mentioned I’m here to anyone have you?”

“Just Cady,” Denni said with a smile. “I barely get to talk to those boys of mine and when I do, they usually want to know if I’m fine, if Nana’s fine, and that’s about it.”

Tess smiled, imagining the brief conversations. It would be similar to the ones Brice and Ben had with her mother.

“Oh, Brice is insisting I have dinner with him tomorrow at that new restaurant. Do you want to join us?” Tess said, looking forward to going out to eat.

“No, you go ahead. Brice must miss your time together when you were commuting. I think it’s nice he wants you to eat with him,” Denni said.

“I suppose,” Tess said, wondering if Brice had seen Travis and how he was doing. She could ask Denni, but decided some things were better left alone. It was a bit ironic of all the places she’d run away to hide from Travis, it would end up being at his mother’s home.

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Travis was trying to think of something to do to Brice to make him pay for the unrelenting suffering he was going to be forced to endure for the next few hours. Whatever he decided on, it was going to be big. Very painful and very big.

Brice texted him that morning and asked him to do him a huge favor by picking up his date and bringing her to The Dalles for dinner. Brice said he had someone special to be Travis’ dinner date who would meet him there.

He didn’t want to go out on a date and he certainly didn’t want to spend the evening fighting off the pawing hands of the little blond twit who was the current object of Brice’s affections. She was one of the groupies that followed him around at rodeos and races. The sound of her voice made his neck tense up and she was clinging to him with more tenacity than a static-charged sock to a pair of fleece pants. Stephie didn’t seem to be able to understand that he was not her date, just the mode of transportation to get her there.

Thinking about it, Brice hadn’t mentioned having a thing for the girl before. For whatever reason, he was quite adamant that today, of all days, he was going on a date with her and Travis had to help him out by getting her to town.

Travis came in from work early, showered and shaved, before changing into a nice shirt and creased jeans. Slapping on some aftershave, he polished his boots, brushed off his good Stetson and told Cady he didn’t plan to be late as he headed out the door. Taking a little detour to Rufus, where Stephie lived, he picked her up and made good time to the new restaurant where Brice told him they’d meet.