One Night with the Texan(8)

“It’s a...a spider.”

“What?”

“A sss-spider,” she sobbed, becoming aware that she was sitting on the ground, almost naked, her T-shirt hanging from a tree limb and her pants flung to the side. She wasn’t immediately sure what had happened to her shoes.

He took a deep breath and blew it out. Shoving the gun into the back of his jeans, he rose. “Stand up,” he ordered, catching her upper arm and pulling her to her feet. Extracting a small flashlight from his pocket, he checked her hair. Then she felt his large hand move lightly across her shoulders and down her back. Turning her to face him, he shone the light on her face, down her neck and over her breasts, which thankfully were still clad in her bra. His face remained void of expression, even as he shined the light on her stomach and legs.

“I don’t see anything,” he said, a trace of annoyance in his tone. “How about you stay with me tonight? There’s plenty of room.”

He reached up and disentangled her shirt from the overhead branch, then picked up her jeans, shook them out and handed them back to her.

“Where are your shoes?”

“I...I’m not sure.”

Without another word, he scooped her into his arms and began walking through the dried leaves in a direct line to his truck. Nestled against his broad chest, Tallie’s arms instinctively came around his neck. He was so muscled, his chest and shoulders hard and unyielding. She’d only felt one other man with as much strength and power as this man had. Maybe that was the reason Masters reminded her of the guy in New Orleans. Like that other man, he moved gracefully, and carried her as though she weighed nothing at all. The heat rolled off his body, a warm caress against her back, arms and legs. He smelled faintly of hickory and something else she couldn’t immediately define, but it was spicy and very appealing. And that was something she didn’t need to notice. And there was still, at the back of her mind, the feeling she’d met this man before. But how was that even possible?

With the spider out of the picture and adrenaline no longer pumping through her veins, she felt more than a little foolish. She shouldn’t let her phobias overrule her common sense.

A couple of feet from his truck, Cole paused. Tallie waited for the reprimand to come, for him to call her every kind of fool. But no words came.

She watched his eyes as he scanned her face, his intense expression a mixture of concern and something else she couldn’t quite put a finger on. His lips, full and sensuous, were so close. For one crazy minute she thought he was going to kiss her and her breathing all but stopped. Then he turned away, pulled open the door and set her down on the passenger seat. Tallie sat, holding her shirt and jeans against her chest.

Within minutes Cole pulled up in the parking area near his house. They both got out of the truck and headed inside, past the enormous pool and waterfall.

The house was massive. The den was big enough to land one of his helicopters with room to spare. The walls were natural wood up to the third-story ceiling with an impressive natural-stone fireplace serving as the wall between the den and the kitchen.

Tallie followed him up a curving staircase. On the second floor they walked silently down a long hallway until he stopped and opened a door on the right. At that point, she lost the ability to describe the beauty of the room in front of her. It was carpeted in soft cream with walls painted to match; all of the accents, including the crown molding, internal doors and the fireplace mantel were mahogany. The king-size poster bed with its intricate scrollwork matched perfectly.

“The towels are in the cabinet, as are the shampoos and bath salts. Come downstairs when you’re finished. Andre is just starting supper, so take as long as you want.”

She nodded, noticing the sparkle in his eyes that lit his handsome face. His full lips were pursed as though he was holding back a grin.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

The bathroom boasted a huge whirlpool tub and a brown marble shower that could probably fit ten people. She had read about these thermostatic shower systems. This one had six shower heads plus a bench and steam jets that could turn it into a sauna. There were dual sinks in the same brown marble. The cabinets contained all the basic necessities: towels, washcloths, shampoo and soap. A lower drawer held an assortment of clean black and navy T-shirts, all size XXL.

Selecting one of the washcloths and a towel, she managed to turn on the water in the shower. Quickly stripping off her bra and panties, she stepped under the warm spray, languishing in the wonderful feel of it cascading down over her shoulders and back.

As much as Tallie would have liked to prolong this moment, she didn’t intend to outstay her welcome. She washed, lathered then rinsed her hair, and turned off the water. Stepping out of the shower, she quickly dried herself. She hated putting on the same dirty clothes, and still wasn’t convinced the spider had vacated her pants. Could she borrow one of Cole’s tees?

She pulled a navy blue T-shirt from the drawer and quickly pulled it on over her head. It reached to her knees. Feeling adequately covered, she gathered her dirty clothes into a bundle, hung the towel to dry, combed her hair and went downstairs to the den.

Settling on the oversize sofa, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. It was then the nausea hit, hard and fast. She ran back up the stairs and into the bathroom she’d just used, not stopping until she was standing in front of the toilet. She hated the daily sickness. Hopefully when she went into her second trimester it would stop. She thought back to how Dr. Sterling had tried to talk her out of coming here, concerned about her safety. But Tallie wouldn’t break the promise she’d made to her grandmother. She reasoned that wherever she was, she would still be sick.

The bout of sickness over, she rinsed her mouth then took a cooling sip of water. Better. She grabbed a new toothbrush from inside the cabinet and brushed her teeth, hoping it was over for the day.

She couldn’t blame anyone but herself for her condition. When you got tipsy in New Orleans and were approached by the man of your dreams, this was what could happen. And in her case, it had happened. But even when the doctor had confirmed her condition, she’d still had a tough time grasping it. A baby. A tiny new soul.

The one thing that still angered her was how the man had just disappeared before the sun rose the next morning, not giving her a chance to learn his identity. Just who in the hell did he think he was to degrade her in such a manner?

Cole was waiting for her when she returned to the den.

“Can I get a ride back from you?”

He stood staring at her for the longest time. “Are you ill?”

She shrugged and prayed he couldn’t see the blush that crossed her face. “Just a bug I picked up somewhere. It’s better now.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here? We have plenty of room.”

“Thank you, but I would prefer to return to the little cabin. I can walk if you don’t have the time.”

“Walk? Through a mile of trees and wheat until you find another spider or stumble over a snake?” He shook his head at the idea. “If you insist on going, let’s go.”

With a small white bag holding her clothes, she followed Cole out to his truck.

“You do know that attempting to live in that old shack puts you in every kind of danger. Why don’t you just pack it in for now and come back in the fall when the weather is cooler and there are a lot fewer bugs? The camping conditions will be better.”

In the fall Tallie would be caring for her newborn baby.

“I’m afraid I have other commitments then,” she said. “Besides, by then I won’t have access to the area. We both know as soon as I leave construction will commence.”

He didn’t argue with her. Masters just wanted her gone and apparently he would say or do anything to achieve it.



The next morning she had just finished dressing when she heard the sound of men’s voices coming from the direction of the dig site. She stepped outside onto the cabin’s porch and, sure enough, there were three men with shovels standing around the dig. She pulled on her boots and headed in their direction. Before she could close the distance, the men put their shovels to good use.

She broke into a jog. As she grew closer she saw where they had already churned her carefully laid out site in three different directions.

“Stop! Please stop!” she called out as she got to the men, who immediately halted their digging. “What are you doing? Who are you?”

One of the men removed his hat. “We work for the Circle M Ranch. Cole sent us up here to help you out. He said take some shovels and dig at the spot you had marked out.”

“If you aren’t careful, you might destroy something that’s hundreds if not thousands of years old. What I’m looking for...it’s very old and fragile.”

The man who’d spoken looked at the other two and they all shrugged. “We’re just doing what we were told to do, ma’am.”

“And unless we hear differently from our boss, we have to keep digging,” the second man chimed in.

“That’s ridiculous.” She faced the third man, who appeared to be the oldest of the three. “I’ll go and speak with Mr. Masters. Until this is straightened out, please stop digging.”