Dead Man's Bluff (20 page)

“Hey,
the doctor said no stress. We can talk about your ink later,” Drew insisted.

Her
fingers stroked his hand. “I need to tell you this, before I change my mind.
You might not be able to tell it now, but I used to be quite an attractive girl
and I learned early on how to use that to my advantage. I was wild and out of
control.  I’d find some successful, powerful man, convince him he had to have
me, and then split with a nice chunk of his money once his guard was down.” She
inhaled a calming breath.

“When
I showed up at the ranch thirty eight years ago…I was on the run. The kind of
men I’d been involved with all had shady histories. They were violent and not
the sort to give up easily. William Stratford had just taken over the
ranch…well, him and his brother Paul had.” Stratford had never told Megan any
of this. “Their father had had a stroke and was no longer able to manage the
place. Paul preferred big city life. He always had. His older brother, William,
had an unusual way with horses…” She squeezed Drew’s hand, her gray eyes
glistening, “Just like you. I knew instantly the man was different from the
others I’d encountered over the years. He was tender. Loving. At first I tried
to fight our instant attraction to one another. I didn’t want to care about
him, because I knew sooner or later my sordid past would come back to haunt me.
Ultimately, Will made me want more out of life than scheming and running.” She
inhaled and exhaled deep breaths, her chest rising and falling quickly. She waved
off Drew’s concern as he urged her to relax.

“I
need to get this out. I’m the one who found him that day…out in the field.” She
lifted her arms letting go of Drew’s hand for the first time, cradling her arms
to her chest as if she was back there, in the past. “I’d held his broken body
in my lap. He’d stared up at me, blood bubbling along the seam of his mouth…and
I knew he would take his last breath there in that damn field and I would never
love another man the way I loved him.” Her palms smeared away the steady flow
of tears. “At first I wanted to run, just like I always had, but I was older
and the ranch was the only place that still held a part of him, and then Tink
showed up…and then there was Paul’s refusal to deal with the ranch after his
brother’s death making it convenient for me to stay, the rest you already
know...” her gaze slammed into Drew’s, “You were drawn to that ranch…just like
Tink, Griffin, Emma, Ms. Susan and even you, Meg. I’d been wrong though. Will
and I spent many happy years together and my past never caught up with me…not
until two years ago when I ran into one of the men I’d stolen money from in
town. He’d followed me out to the ranch and threatened to harm the people I
loved if I didn’t give him back every cent I’d stolen from him.”

“How
much do you steal?” Drew asked, his jaw muscles working under the skin. Megan
felt a sudden rush of panic at the thought of Drew going after the man Birdie
was explaining.  Thankfully, Birdie must have sensed the direction of Drew’s
thoughts and his need to protect. She refused to give the man’s name.

“He
wanted two hundred thousand dollars. All I had was a hundred thousand dollars.
I thought that would be enough to satisfy him…and it was for a while, but then
he came back demanding the rest…”

“Why
didn’t you tell us?” Megan murmured. “Or the police?”

“If
I go to the cops and this gets out, more of my past will come back with a
vengeance.  These are dangerous people. The fire, it wasn’t an accident just a
glimpse of what will happen if I keep ignoring him. I can’t prove he started
the fire, but he’d warned me what would happen if I kept ignoring him.”

Drew
laced his fingers behind his head and paced by the bed, and then suddenly he
kicked at one of the chairs sending it tumbling over and skidding into the
wall. Megan flinched, her palm covering a gasp. She knew what was going through
his mind. Tink’s death.

Birdie
sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’ve spent months trying to come up with the rest of his
money. My times running out. ” She laughed out a cry, desperation. “When I
thought my past would come back to haunt…I had no idea it would be now…”

Bracing
his hands on the side of the bed, Drew leaned placing a kiss on Birdies wrinkled
forehead. Her gray eyes widened, following his every move. “Don’t you go doing
anything stupid! Whatever idea you have bouncing around in that head of
yours…forget it Drew Mackenzie!”

He
offered Birdie a crooked smile that shot an uneasy feeling across Megan’s
chest. “I’m not planning anything…except paying him his damn money…right after
I rearrange his fucking face.”

If
possible Birdies eyes widened even further from shock. “How are you going to
come up with a hundred thousand dollars? You gonna shit it out of your ass?”

Drew
nearly choked on the old woman’s bluntness. His gaze collided with Megan’s and
she knew…knew exactly where the money was coming from. He was going to forego
what he wanted for someone he cared about, deeply.  ♠

Twenty-One

Steam consumed the bath from the beating shower.
Megan stood under the water, closing her eyes while the heat warmed her body
easing the tension in her slumped shoulders. She squirted some of her lavender
scented bath wash on the cloth, applying the rich lather in smooth circles
starting at neck working her way down to her toes.

All she could think about was Drew’s selfless act of
giving Birdie the money. It wasn’t a very Mackenzie-like thing to do and it had
caused a feeling deep inside her that she was afraid to acknowledge.

Admiration.

They’d hardly spoke on the way home. He’d opened her
car door, pressed a palm to her lower back leading her inside, and then
disappeared.

Turning off the water she stepped out onto the cool tile,
draped a towel over her back and was in the processes of drying off when the
bathroom door squealed opened letting in a rush of cool air. Her gaze lifted
from the puddle she was causing on the floor to his eyes, which were not on her
face at all, instead his eyes were aimed lower! She stood there, frozen, arms
out holding the corners of the towel, which was nothing more than a back drop
for naked body. Beads of water trailed down over her skin most of it coming
from the damp hair clinging to the sides of her neck. She squealed, quickly
wrapping her nude body with the towel. “What are you doing? You knew I was in
here!”

“I…” His brown eyes lifted to hers, his brows pulled
together as he muttered a curse under his breath. Air gushed from his lungs as
if someone had punched him in the stomach.

Her heart raced and her body trembled as she waited
for him to say something. Anything. He never did; she started to explain, but
before she could he turned and pulled the door back closed just as it had been.

She panicked and rushed forward reaching for the robe
hanging from a hook on the bathroom door, the black satin sliding over her damp
flesh, falling mid-thigh. Her body was visibly shaking. Tying the belt around
her waist snug she went after him. All she could think about was the sweep of
his dark lashes as he’d focused on her scar, and the stony expression that took
over after that. Dammit! Why hadn’t he knocked!

Her bare feet made little sound through the house,
out the front door, down the steps, across the dew covered grass as she ran,
knowing exactly where he’ disappeared to. The barn. She hadn’t been in the barn
since Tink’s death, and as she neared it and slowed down her heart raced, warm
breath through parted lips. The blood heated under her cheeks and she had the
notion to turn back.  All the feelings from that night came rushing in along
with the sweet smell of hay. She remembered Tink’s hunched form in the yellow
slicker, tugging at the end of the rope, fighting a horse and the storm that
day. She remembered the grey-blue color of his eyes of the old man’s eyes.

The door straight ahead was swung open showing a
black sky full of stars, but also drawing in a gentle breeze, the only thing keeping
her from hyperventilating. Every stall was empty except for one…Angels. Drew
stood by her stall. The horse nuzzled his side affectionately, tossed her head and
snorted, black orbs flickering in direction of the sound of Megan’s light
footsteps. Drew didn’t glance up. Even though he knew she was there. He stroked
the horse’s neck in long slow calming strokes, murmuring sweet words while she nibbled
at the feed in his cupped hand.

“You bought her back? When?” He didn’t answer. “You’re
going to have to talk to me eventually, Drew.”

He was wearing a pair of faded jean, holes starting
to show through in the knees, and a black T-shirt, the sleeves tight around his
cut biceps.  He ignored her, his head staying down, his shoulders rounded,
making him look like someone the world had finally got the best of.

“Please, Drew, say something!”

The sound of his deep voice resonated throughout her
body. He asked, “You’re sick?”

“Was sick.”

“Breast Cancer?”

“Yes.”

“Can the…” He stepped back from the stall door, laced
his hands behind his head, twisting at the waist as if he was trying to expel
some of the tension. “Fuck! I can’t even say it!”

She shrank back from the intensity in his eyes when
they collided with hers. “Can the…can it come back?”

“There’s never any guarantees,” came out small,
small like she felt, small like she’d been shown she was. Absently she fingered
the ends of the satin belt tied around her waist, swallowing thickly as she attempted
to make light of the situation. That’s what you do. If you carry too much of
the, why me? attitude around it only wears you down, makes you weak. Angry. Instead
you have to ask the question…why not me? Her lips edged up into the faintest of
grins, one she’d worn for two years now. “If the CANCER does come back, since
you’re going to be all pouty about it…you’ll be one of the first to know next
time, okay?”

She had no problem saying the word. CANCER. Cancer.
Cancer.  But then again she’d had plenty of time to get used to the feel of it. 

His gaze narrowed on her face, “You think this is
funny?”

“Not at all.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Didn’t you think I at least
deserved a phone call? I mean what if…” He doubled over, clutched his knees
with his hands, the cords of muscles running up his arms and across his
shoulder blades flexing.

“Why?” she asked. “What was I supposed to do…hunt
down some guy who’d obviously moved on and say, ‘hey, I have cancer…wanted to
let you know in case you give a shit?’ ”

“Why!” He unfolded, furious, shoving a hand through
his hair. “Why the fuck would I want to know you could possibly die… Come on,
Filly, give me a fucking break!” He jabbed a finger in the direction of the
house, “After today what happened with Birdie!” He shoved a hand through his
hair exhaling a long breath. “Shit, it kills me to think something could have
happened to you and I wouldn’t have been there! I’m not the
cold-hearted-bastard you make me out to be!”

They stood only inches apart, both of their chests
rising and falling with quick angry breaths. Her head screamed ‘walk away, put
as many miles between you and him as you can and never look back!’ But dammit,
she could not make her feet move from the spot they were rooted in, nor could
she be the first to break eye contact. She didn’t know which she wanted more,
to slap him hard enough to convey all the hurt she’d felt the day he walked
away. Or Kiss him.

Some people are just drawn to each other. No matter
how hard they try to fight it, no matter how much it might hurt them in the
end, they just can’t seem to stay away. And she couldn’t stay away. Not when he
made her feel so alive.

As if he knew what she was thinking his gaze darkened
lowering to her mouth and he might as well have caressed her mouth with his for
the jolt that one look caused in her. How was it possible that he could make
her feel so much intensity and desire, without ever actually touching her? She
would never feel this with Conner. Never.

“Megan?” He choked out, his voice thick. “Unless you
want me to kiss you…”

She couldn’t remember who made the move first, and
it didn’t matter. Okay, she made the first move first.  She had to. They struck
each other hard, their mouths crushing together. One of his hands furiously
tangled in her hair, his fingers curving around the contours of the back of her
head, keeping her from changing her mind last minute. She was too far gone to
change her mind. The taste of his tongue moving over hers pulled a moan from deep
within her. He laughed into her mouth knowing he’d won and lifted her from the
ground her legs snaking around his hips as he pressed her hard into the barn
wall. She could feel his erection under his jeans stroking her center eager to
be inside her. Her fingers curled into the meaty flesh of his ass begging for
more. His mouth left hers, gasping, moving down the column of her exposed throat
as she arched into him.  He thrust, grinding his hips between her trembling
legs, a sampling of what was ahead. Angry. Hot. Bruising. Sex.