The Trouble With Love (3 page)

His tone doused the heat she was feeling
, and she said shortly,
"
Sit still, and
maybe I can get
the damned thing
off
."

S
abrina
helped him get his arm
the rest of the way
out of the sleeve, then leaned close to his shoulder to slide
the shirt
behind his back, and accidentally rubbed her breasts against his shoulder. 
S
he sucked
in a breath w
hen her body automatically responded to the contact
, and she heard him groan
.  Jerking back, she stood
up
then went around to the other side of the chair and pulled
the shirt
from there, without touching him. 
Cole
transferred the peas to his other hand and held his arm out for her
to slide it off
.

W
hen his shirt came off, she managed to stifle
an appreciative moan, but just barely
.  The man was built like a rock, she thought he must work out a lot. 
The urge to
lick her way
up
from his was
h
board abs to his firm pecs
hit her so hard her tongue tingled.
Shaking her head, she
reminded herself that all that
working out was probably to impress his multitude of girlfriends
. 
A vision of the hot blond he'd been with last
at the bar
night floated through her head
cooling
her impulses quickly.  She threw his shirt down on the floor, then picked up an ace bandage
from the table
with a trembling hand
.

Removing the clip from
th
e flesh
-
colored elastic bandage,
she unwound it, glanced back at him, then shook her head
again
. 
God, she
was acting
like she'd never seen a man's chest before.
..she'd seen plenty of nice chests before.  Kenny had had a nice chest...nothing like Cole's but nice enough. 
S
he needed to get a grip on herself
now
.  This was not a man she needed to be appreciating
.
B
ecause as nice as the packaging was, she knew the man inside
wasn't
some
one
she appreciated
at all
, and on top of that
he was a cop.

"Stand up," she instructed him in a firm voice.  He put his hand on the table and pushed himself up
.  Sabrina stepped forward and
put the leading edge of the bandage
right above
his navel,
holding it in place
with a finger
, then unrolled it around his waist to his center back,
trying not to touch him more than necessary
. 
Realizing this technique wasn't going to work, she reassessed her options and decided t
he only way she was going to get the bandage on him was to put her arms around him and roll it forward from both sides. 

Sabrina
swallowed thickly then stood still
for a moment dreading what she had to do...but anticipating it at the same time.
  She took one step forward and put her arms around him until they met in the back and he groaned when her breasts pressed against his chest.
  "I'm sorry if I'm hurting you...I've got to make sure it's tight."

"You're not hurting me..." he growled and tilted his head back holding the peas tighter against his nose and eye.

When
she leaned into him and her hip brushed the front of his pants, she realized he wasn't groaning because he was in pain. 
She knew she had to get this over with quickly, or they'd have more t
rouble than just his injuries.

With a tremble to her hands, she quickly moved
forward with both ends then brought them together in the middle
of his abs to and tucked the end under the wrap
.  She made several more circuits
around his chest and ribs until she ran out of bandage. 
Picking up the clip from the table, she secured the end then stepped back a
little out of breath.  "Do you want me to put the other one on too?" she asked not at all thrilled about having to do it.

"No!  I'm
good
," he shouted and removed the peas from his eyes to glare at her. 
His eye wasn't shut as she first thought, it was just very swollen
now
, and his nose had stopped bleeding.

"Let me at least clean you up, you've got blood everywhere."

He held up his hands, one with the bag of peas in it and said, "No, thank you...you've done enough.
  I'll clean up when I get home.
"

"I'll drive you...you need to keep those peas on your face, or you're go
ing to look like Shrek tomorrow,
"
she said and snorted.

"I'll get Luke to drive me home," he
told her
and took a step
backward
.

"Luke is probably about to leave for his honeymoon."

"Aw, shit...
you're right,
"
he said with a groan,
then bent to pick up the tux coat and shirt
.  He gasped and
wrapped
his
arm over his waist
, but
he
didn't try to stand back up.
His breaths were short and sharp and his face was clenched in pain.

Sabrina stepped over
to him, putting her
arm around his back
she
turned him
toward the chair and helped him sit back down
.  He sat down and moaned then looked up at her.  "Guess, you'll
have
to bring me home,
huh?
"

Sabrina gave him a smug smile and nodded.
"Yep...so
stop being an ass and let's go.
"

CHAPTER TWO

Sabrina had gone upstairs and grabbed a t-shirt for Cole to wear before they left, so she didn't have to stare at his chest the whole way to his house. 
Thank goodness she had, because just being inside of the SUV with him was bad enough without that. 

Whatever it was, pheromones, hormones or just plain lust, she was attracted to the infuriating man and couldn't do a damned thing about it.
  Yes, it had been eighteen months since she'd had
real
sex
, but her reaction to him was ridiculous
.
..but not so much. 
 
He
sent out more signals to her libido than a satellite orbiting the
E
arth sent to NASA.

Her fingers gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and she clenched her jaw.  She only had to be in this vehicle with him another few minutes, then she'd be fine, she reassured herself.  Just follow his directions and get him home
then this ordeal will be over
.

"Take a left at the road coming up.  It's gravel, so be careful," he told her.

"I thought Cassie lived out in the boonies...I think you have her beat," she said with a short laugh.

"
Texas
is big, sugar.  Everywhere is the boonies when you live in a rural area.
..and it works for me, I like my privacy.
"

"Privacy is one thing, this is like you're one of those survivalist nuts, hiding in the hills and living on the land.
..I bet you even have
ten-foot razor wire fence around your
compound
,
"
she teased.

And his heart
too
probably, she thought.  As much as this man tried to act carefree, Sabrina thought his casual smile, and easygoing charmer attitude hid things he didn't want revealed to the world.  When they'd been talking
, when he was in
Phoenix
helping Cassie and Luke
they'd talked a lot,
she'd seen that smile slip sometimes and wondered.

H
e snorted, "City girl."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with that in
Phoenix
..." she said only half-joking.

He lifted the bag of peas from his eye and glanced over at her.  "I don't have a problem with it now...just have a problem with your attitude."

"
My
attitude?" she barked incredulously.

He
sighed then
dropped his head back against the seat again
,
and put the peas back over his eye.  "You seemed to like
me
well enough in
Phoenix
, but
since you've been in
Bowie
you've been
...
I don't know...different."

Sabrina snorted and told him, "Could it be because you've been
different
?"

He lifted the peas again and studied her, his eyes intent.  "I'm the same guy I was in
Phoenix
, darlin'.  Nothing's changed...what you see is what you get with me."

That was a joke. 
If he was as
attractive
on the inside as he was on the outside, she wouldn't
have
a problem with him...or
have
an attitude.
"I beg to differ with you..."

"How've I changed then?" He
asked
seriously, acting as if her answer was important to him.

"You've been an overbearing abrasive ass," she informed him and lifted her chin a notch.

He hooted then groaned and laid back against the seat to put the peas back in place. "And you've been a
ray of sunshine?"

Well, maybe she had been a
little
confrontational and thin-skinned, but he put her in that defensive mode.
  "My attitude is a direct result of your
eighteenth-century attitude about women
."

That got a reaction from him
.  Cole
sat straight up in the seat to glare at her.  "I'm a very open-minded man, sugar.  You won't find a more
liberated
guy than me," he said defensively.

"That's a scary thought
,
"
Sabrina said and glanced
at him
then
chuckled
"Sit back, Cole before you hurt yourself.  How much further do we have to go?"

"Bout a half mile...next driveway to the right."

Driveway?  She knew
now
what to expect
,
it would be a pitted dirt road that would have her bouncing all over
road
, probably into a ditch.
"Just relax then, you'll need your strength for the ruts
with those cracked ribs
."

After a bit, Sabrina slowed the SUV down to look for the turn.  An asphalt road appeared out of nowhere breaking up the thick trees lining the road and she swerved at the last minute to turn. 

Cole jerked in the seat and groaned.
 
"Think you can try
that turn on
four wheels next time?" he said
in a breathless pained whisper and clutched his side.

She straightened out
the wheel and looked over at him.  "You might want to consider putting up a sign or something, the driveway just appeared out of nowhere!"

"Like I said, I like my privacy."

When she broke through the trees, she saw fenced pastures on both sides of the long road, and a huge house at the end of the road.
..and a
huge plantation style mansion that took her breath away.  "Wow..." she said without thinking.

She heard him chuckle and then he sat up and reached for a remote clipped to the sun visor above her head.  His face clenched in pain and he sat back against the seat taking short breaths, before his breathing evened out again.
  "See any razor wire?"

"Not a strand...lots of barbed wire though," she told him with a twist of her lips.
"Where are the cattle?"

"Don't have any here.  Only have twenty acres with the house.  I sold the rest after my dad died."

Her eyebrows raised and she asked, "The rest?"

"Yeah, about a thousand acres.  Didn't have time to keep the cattle operation going here
," he told her then pushed a button the remote
.
  "
Just pull into the garage
.
"

"You live out here all alone?" This place was huge for one person...and it would have to get awfully lonely.

"Yeah...but I'm hardly ever here.
  Have a cleaning lady out once a week, but she doesn't have much to do," he chuckled.

She imagined from what she'd seen of him since she'd been in
Bowie
, he probably stayed at a different woman's house every night, which could explain that statement.
  Her heart twisted a little in her chest at the thought.

Sabrina
stopped in front of door number four of the garage, which was slowly lifting.  When it raised fully she pulled inside then shut off the engine and handed him the keys.  She glanced to the right and gasped.  There was a mint 1964
Mustang
Fastback
in one of the bays,
its glossy red finish calling to her to run her fingers over it. 
It was a lot like her first car, but hers had been half-bondo and not nearly the showroom quality of this one. 
The other two bays were occupied by a huge dually truck and a
bad ass
Harley motorcycle. 

God, she'd love to ride that bike...especially with him.  Her mouth dried up just thinking of the handsome Sheriff
decked out in
leather riding that
thing, her sitting behind him with her arms around his waist, like they'd been when she was bandaging his ribs.
  But that was not something that was going to happen.  She wasn't going to let it happen.

"Nice bike," she said off-handedly trying not to clue him in to her thoughts.

"Thanks...hardly ever get to ride it," he told her then pulled the door handle to get out.

"Why not?"
she asked looking over at him.

"There's always something going on with work...some problem that I have to deal with," he said then groaned when his feet hit the ground.

"Hang on a second, let me help you." Sabrina jumped out of the truck and shut the door then ran around to his side. "Put your arm around my shoulders," she told him then slid her arm around his back and kicked the door shut.

He looked down at her and his green eyes, the one she could see that wasn't almost swollen shut, sparkled with humor
and his lips kicked up in a half-grin
.
"You don't have to tell me
that
twice, darlin'
,
"
he said in a low sensual tone.

Sabrina huffed out a frustrated breath, then
moved toward the access door across the garage, with him leaning on her for support.
  His nearness made her heart rate pick up and tingles flow along her nerve endings.
"You have the key?"

"Don't need one, it's not locked."

She jerked her eyes up to his, "You don't lock your doors?"

He chuckled and squeezed her shoulder. "City girl..." he taunted and shook his head
then grabbed the knob and opened the door
.
 

They walked in
to
a mud room that was about the size of her
living room
in
Phoenix
, and that wasn't very large
as far as living rooms went, but for a laundry room, it was huge
.  Top of the line appliances lined both sides of the wall,
two washers and two dryers,
and there was a long folding table and lots of cabinets.
  Ranching must've paid very well before they sold off the land, she thought.

The mudroom led into the kitchen and her breath caught in her chest
and she stopped
.  There was an enormous curved island in the center of the room with an indoor grill and sink there, along with a lot of workspace on either side.  The countertop looked like gold-flecked marble.
 

She looked to her left and saw an eight-burner stainless steel stove and sub-zero refrigerator built into the wall, and more counter space.  The ornate copper hood that hung over it, was inlaid with tile and scrollwork and was absolutely beautiful.
  The whole room was painted a rich cream color and was accented with terra cotta and deep blue tiles that matched the ones on the range hood.
  As large as the room was, the overall effect was warmth and coziness.  Across the room she saw an oak breakfast table surrounded by floor to ceiling windows sitting in an octagon-shaped nook.

"This is amazing, Cole," she said breathlessly.

"My mom liked to cook
,
"
he told her with a small
smile
and
a
sad
expression on his battered face.

"She must've been a good cook too, huh?" she asked trying to replace that sad look with a fond memory.  She knew what it was like to lose your parents...and a husband.