Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (17 page)

"Go away!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, and Karlie could tell she was crying.  "I don't need anybody to oxify me!"
she added then Karlie heard something bounce off the door.
 

"You were
helping
me, baby...I wasn't just occupying you.  Come on, open up the door, Dix...
we're friends remember?
"
  Karlie pleaded with her palm on the door.

"You're not my friend, I don't
have
any friends!"
Dixie
yelled then said in a wobbly voice, "Just go away and leave me alone."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Tommy behind her, his eyes sad and concerned.  "This is what I've been dealing with...I'm sorry," he told her then ran his hand through his dark hair.

Rage boiled up inside of her and her fists clenched at her sides.  Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she told Tommy
in a lowered voice
, "She doesn't want to be bad, she's scared, Tommy...nothing in her life is under control in her mind.  She acts out to try and make sense of it, to
control
things, not because she
wants
to be bad."

Tommy put his hands on her shoulders then said with compassion filling his warm brown eyes,
"You sound like
you know from personal experience
."

"That's
exactly
how I know, so you can take it to the bank.  She heard what you said and thinks you hate her...that she's worthless."

Pulling her into his arms, Tommy hugged her to him and said into the top of her hair, "I'm sorry, sugar...I'll make it up to her.  You're right this is all my fault.  I need to watch what I say around her."

Someone cleared their throat behind them and Karlie leaned around Tommy's shoulder and saw Gabe standing there his fists in knots at his side, and his jaw tight.  His blue eyes glittered with hurt and anger.  "I was just coming up here to make sure you were okay...looks like you're fine," he said in a gravelly voice then turned and went back down the stairs quickly.  Karlie followed him, but he was too fast, and almost slammed the front door in her face, when he went outside.

Flinging it back on its hinges, Karlie
ran out then
slammed it behind
her
,
and ran
after Gabe
.  He was almost inside of the patrol car with the keys in his hand when she caught him.  "Don't be an ass, Gabe..." she said out of breath from running behind him.  "That wasn't what you think."

She saw him take two deep breaths, then release them, but his breathing was still erratic.  He looked at her and his eyes were so hot and pained, she flinched.  "What did I think, Karlie?"

"The same thing I saw when I thought you were making time with my sister at the bar in
Bowie
," she told him sassily then sobered, "We were talking about
Dixie
...that's all, Gabe.
  I don't think about Tommy like that.  Like you said
about Katie
, he does nothing for me.
"

Gabe heaved out a huge shuddering sigh, then closed the car door, before pulling her into his arms.  When his mouth claimed hers in a heated kiss, her arms slid up around his neck and she leaned into him.  This is what she'd been missing, and it felt like heaven. 

After a minute, she pulled back to put sweet kisses at the corner of his lips, and she told him, "God, I've missed you," then licked his lower lip, before sliding her tongue inside his mouth and sealing her lips over his again.

His hands found her ass and he pulled her tighter against his steely erection and she ground her hips against him.  She couldn't help herself, she wanted him so badly, had missed him so much
even just being gone two days
.  No matter how long they'd known each other, she wanted
this man
, and she was going to have him soon.
 

"Mmm...Gabe, you feel so damned good, darlin'...taste so damned good," she whispered in short jerky breaths against his mouth
, rubbing her breasts against his chest
.
  "I want to climb you like a cat on a scratching post."

His hands stilled her hips and he groaned then swallowed, before he said, "Honey,
keep talking like that and I'll
embarrass myself
right here
."  She felt his heart pounding against her breasts and saw he was gritting his teeth.  He took a deep breath then stepped away from her.  "Let's go take a walk so I can get things under control.
..we need to get that
Paint
horse put up anyway.
"

Taking her hand he started walking toward the outdoor arena and she fell into step beside him.  "So what are we going to do about our 'situation'?" she asked him heatedly.

Gabe snorted then looked at her, "You sure are blunt, aren't you, darlin'?"

"As a brass tack..." she said then laughed
and added with a wink,
"Gets me into some
trouble
sometimes too...
but some of it's the kind I like
.
"

CHAPTER SEVEN

After a fitful night of dreaming about Gabe and worrying about what would happen today, Karlie woke as the first ray of sunshine peeped through the window of the large bedroom she'd slept in.  T
ired and grumpy
, she threw back the covers, rubbed her eyes, then forced her feet over the side of the bed
and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and pee
.
 

Like a zombie looking for a new brain, Karlie schlepped down the stairs to find a cup of coffee, the magic fluid that would reassure her she was actually still alive.  She found
Gabe sitting at the breakfast bar
in the kitchen
eating a bowl of cereal and drinking a cup of coffee
, and he looked up and smiled that sexy smile of his, but
she walked right past him to the coffee pot.
It was too early, and she was too tired, for sexy smiles.

"Morning to you too, sugar
,
"
he said with a chuckle.

She grunted, then pulled down a mug and filled it to the brim, then drank half
of it
down black, before she added a spoon of sugar and a little cream.
  Her eyes opened a little then she looked at Gabe again and
then they
widened
more
.  The tight white t-shirt he had on accentuated every muscle o
f
his broad chest and made her hungry for a lot more than
waffles
.  Karlie was sure if he'd been beside her last night, she'd have gotten much less sleep, but she'd be in a much better mood this morning.
 

The sexy smile
reappeared
on his handsome unshaven face,
and seeing it
ratcheted up her grumpiness a notch and she asked him, "What the hell has you smiling like a bucktooth beaver this morning?"

Gabe stopped chewing and his eyes bulged then he swallowed and dropped his spoon, before
throwing his head back and
let
ting
out a booming
belly laugh, his arm going across his stomach.  He laughed a good half-minute then looked back at her, his eyes filled with mirth, "God, Karlie, don't say shit like that when I have my mouth full.  I almost painted you with
my
cornflakes."

She gave him a half-smile, "You'd have been in big trouble, mister.
..
"
then blew on her coffee and took another sip.  "Yellow isn't my color."

"Okay...so what has you in such a grumpy mood this morning, sugar? 
Today is the day w
e're going to get your sister back, and get Jake Johnson off of your back for good."

"For one, I didn't sleep well last night,
thanks to you,
" she told him and raised an eyebrow for emphasis
.
"Secondly, I'm worried about Katie and what's going to happen today."

"Nothing is going to go wrong...don't even go there.  Stay positive, and stop worrying
,
"
Gabe told her then got up from the bar stool and carried his bowl to the sink and rinsed it out
, then refilled his coffee mug
.
  His cheerfulness was
positively
making
her
want to toss her coffee at him.

"Easier said than done, sugar," Karlie told him and shook her head.  "I just have a bad feeling here," she said and put her hand to her stomach.
  He walked over and put his hand over hers and his other arm around her waist, then he leaned down and put kisses along her neck to her ear.  Shivers danced along her spine and her hair stood on end.

"Still worried?" he asked then licked where he's put those kisses
, before sucking
her earlobe into his mouth, his hot breath brushing her throat.

"About what?" she
groaned
then turned around in his arms and put her mouth over his, and her arms around his neck. 
God, she could really go for some morning sex with this sleep tousled, but sexier than hell, beautiful man.  She felt the evidence of his own desire pressed against her, through her thin sleep shorts and moved her hips against him.

He groaned and deepened the kiss
, his hands skimming along her ribcage, until his thumbs were at the underside of her breasts
.
  His tongue licked over the seam of her lips and when she opened for him, he plunged inside and loved her with his mouth, as his thumb slid over her nipple, and she whimpered pressing against him. 

Breathing heavily, she pulled back
and said in a fierce whisper
, "I need you, Gabe...
let's sneak back upstairs...
I can't take this teasing much longer."

"Tonight, darlin'...when this is all over, I'm going to love you until we're both so tired, we can't see straight," he whispered near her ear, then licked it again
, and flicked her nipple
.
 

Karlie
sucked in a breath then
groaned and stepped back from him.  "Promise?"

"
Yep, and it's o
ne I can't wait to keep, sugar
,
"
he told her holding her gaze with his glittering dark blue eyes.
  He leaned in for one more quick kiss then told her, "Now, let's go get dressed so we can get this over with."

The
y
all gathered at the breakfast bar in the kitchen
an hour later
, and Tommy had a map spread out on the breakfast bar, showing them exactly where the park was
,
and where it was in relation to everything else.  Gabe was only half-paying attention, the other half of his attention was on Karlie who was pacing behind them like a caged cat. 
He
could almost feel her nerves vibrating.

"So, the playground is here," Cole asked him and pointed to an area south of where they were meeting Jake Johnson.  "And you're sure nobody uses the tennis courts anymore?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Nope, they were closed a couple of years ago to be rehabbed, but the park officials haven't gotten around to it yet.
  If something happens, I'd suggest you guys run this way," he pointed east to a place where there w
as
supp
osedly some woods and a creek.  "It's a trail riding area, and y
ou can circle back to the road here," he pointed to the edge of the woods.
  "I've ridden there before, and there's cell coverage there, so you can call the police."

"Karlie
,
pay attention to this in case we get separated, honey." he said over his shoulder to the agitated redhead.
 

She leaned over his shoulder and took a look, her eyes scanning the map, then she went back to pacing.  "Got it.  I wish you'd have gotten me that damned taser, Gabe.  It sure would make me feel better."

He chuckled, and told her, "Somehow
,
I think you'd have used it on
me
,
before you got to use it on Jake Johnson."

"I'm not kidding
, Gabe
...I have a bad feeling, and don't like it," she told
him with her hands on her hips.

"Take your lariat, that should scare the shit out of him...I know it does me," Gabe told her then threw his head back and laughed.
  Cole joined in and Tommy just looked at them with a curious smile.  "Remind me to tell you the story of how we met Tommy...you'll understand then."

"There's no time for stories now!" Karlie said and her face turn
ed
almost as red as her hair.  "This is serious stuff!"

Gabe pushed up off of the bar stool and pulled her to his chest, hugging her tightly.  "Calm down, baby...we're just trying to lighten the mood a little.  I know this is serious business, trust me."

She nodded against his chest then he felt a tremor pass through her, then she told him, "I do trust you."

Tommy piped up then, "Okay Cookie is here to watch
Dixie
while we're gone, so I'm ready
when
you are.  We probably should go early, and scope things out, because it's been a while since I've been out there," he said and looked at his watch.  "It's ten forty-five now, so we should probably get going."

"You go get Sarge, and we'll head out," Gabe told Karlie with a kiss to the side of her head.

"I've decided not to bring him," she told him
firmly
.  "I don't want to put him in danger, or take the chance that Jake will snatch him."

"If he doesn't at least
see
Sarge, he may not let Katie go, darlin'.
...
"
  Gabe told her then shoved a hand through his hair.

"She'll come with us anyway.  He can't stop her
,
"
she replied then gnawed her lower lip.

"Yes, he can...he could hurt her, and it could make things get ugly
." They'd already worked out the plan, he wondered why she was changing things now.  It could make it a lot harder for them to get her sister back safely.  The plan was to use Sarge as bait, but not hand him over to Jake Johnson.

"Ugh
...
let me go get him
," she said then
mumbled
when she turned toward the stairs, "
I hope I don't regret this
."

Gabe hoped the same thing about using her and Sarge as bait.  This thing had
all
the markings of a goat fuck, and he didn't like it.
..two
unarmed
women, two cops and a cowboy trying to pull off a bait and switch with a mean ass sonofabitch
,
who might be armed.
He wasn't afraid of Jake Johnson, he was just afraid of all the things that could go wrong here.

They drove three vehicles to the park, the patrol car, Karlie's
Lincoln
and Tommy Tucker's big dually truck.  Like Tommy said, the tennis courts were abandoned, and the tall fences around them padlocked.  The gravel parking lot was pretty large, so they parked the truck and patrol car under some trees, out of sight from the road, and
then
parked Karlie's
Lincoln
right in the middle of the lot.
 
He saw Cole and Tommy get out of their vehicles and walk around front
to
talk for a second, then
Cole
point
ed
in different directions, before they split up and walked into the woods. 

When
Karlie
stopped the car, Gabe checked his gun and took off the safety, then put it back in his shoulder holster.
  She
looked over at
Gabe
and asked in a trembling voice, "You, scared, sugar?  I sure am."  Sarge popped up over seat and licked the side of her face, and she patted the side of his head.

"If you're not scared
in a s
ituation
like this
, you get cocky and things can go wrong.  I have a healthy dose of fear about the things that could go wrong, but I am not scared of Jake Johnson, darlin'
,
"
he told her matter-of-factly. 
The twenty-five minutes they had to wait for Jake Johnson's big black pickup
to appear
was spent in contemplative silence, but when he turned into the drive of the park, he heard Karlie whimper, and saw her fingers start trembling on the steering wheel.

"Calm down, darlin'.  The best thing you can do is show him no fear...he's the type that feeds off of
it
.  He's not going to hurt you, I'm not going to let him," Gabe reassured her.

Jake Johnson pulled up nose to nose in front of Karlie's car, effectively blocking her from leaving the lot, unless she backed up first.  And Gabe saw she hadn't left a helluva lot of room to maneuver the big boat of a car backwards.  He ground his teeth, because he hadn't thought to tell her to leave more room. 
Through the tinted windshield he could see the outline of  a big cowboy hat, sitting on the head of a big cowboy, and Katie in the passenger seat.  He couldn't see her face through the totally fucking illegal tint on the
windshield
, but he could see someone else on that side of the truck.