Give Him the Slip (30 page)

Maddie stirred, rolled over, and settled against him, her head
pillowed on his chest, her hand resting on his hip. His heart did a funny
little catch and a whisper of temptation floated through his thoughts.

He could stay in Brazos Bend.

Luke closed his eyes. He could stay in Brazos Bend. He didn't have
a job to get back to. Didn't have responsibilities to meet. He had the money to
live wherever he wanted.

But he didn't have the stomach to live in Brazos Bend.

His mouth flattened into a grim line as he eased out from beneath
Maddie and climbed from the bed. He went into the bathroom and turned on the
shower. While he waited for the flowing water to turn hot, his gaze focused on
a basket of lavender-scented bath salts sitting beside the tub.

Without any effort at all, he could see Maddie's shampoo in his
shower. Imagine her pink-handled razor sitting beside his blue one. Her girly
doodads would be spread all over. Before he knew it he'd have pantyhose hanging
over the shower rod.

Along with that red bra.

Hmm...

Strange words flitted through his brain. Relationship. Commitment.
Family.

Home.

"Shit."

Luke wondered whether too much sex affected a man's brain. Had he
just considered the ultimate, unforgivable act of actually living in the shadow
of his old man? Giving up his boat for heart and... oh, God... hometown? What
the hell was the matter with him? No way would he stay in Brazos Bend! That'd
make his father as happy as a pig in a peach orchard, and he'd rather go metro
in a pink shirt and tie to P-2 on a Saturday night than please his father that
way.

But even aside from that, he wasn't sure he could give Maddie what
she wanted. What if it didn't work out? He'd only disappoint her, and God
knows, she's had enough of that in her life.

So why the hell did you take what she offered last night?

Conscience stung like a bull nettle as he realized that loving and
leaving made him no better than those other dick-wads she fell for.

Luke stepped beneath the tepid shower spray. But what was the
alternative? Brazos Bend? Christ.

No, what he had here was a case of postcoital brain freeze. What
was he thinking? He'd already broken his vow by stepping foot in this town. He
wasn't going to obliterate it based on a couple weeks' acquaintance with a
woman. His brothers would kill him. This situation wasn't like Matt's, whose
land purchase would be a thorn in Branch Callahan's side. Hell, he couldn't
forget that Branch had sent Maddie to him to begin with.

No, he by God wouldn't hang around Brazos f'ing Bend. He'd find
the killer and ensure Maddie's safety. Then, he'd sure as hell leave this
sorry-ass place.

Luke soaped and rinsed and reached to turn off the water when
another thought struck.
Maybe Maddie could leave with him.

His heartbeat picked up as the idea turned in his head like a
roulette wheel. She could come with him, move onto the
Miss Behavin' II.
They
could take a few months, maybe float along the coast and spend the winter on
the South Texas coast. Did that sound like heaven, or what?

Hmm. Luke had never lived with a woman before. Did he want that?
Was he ready for that? It'd be a commitment. It wouldn't be fair to ask Maddie
to give up her life here in Brazos Bend if he didn't intend to make the
situation long-term.

He grabbed a towel and dried off. Tried to separate his wants from
his shoulds. He
should
remember that the time the two of them had spent
together didn't qualify as normal, and who knew if they'd even like each other
on an everyday basis?

But he wanted her.

He
shouldn't
forget the turmoil of the last few months and
recognize that now probably wasn't the best time for him to be making life
decisions.

But he wanted her.

He
should
remind himself that she had a life here that she
said she loved and had desperately wanted to protect. Then there was the little
detail of her family connection. He
shouldn't
forget just who this woman
was.

But, dammit, I want her.

He wrapped the towel around his waist and went downstairs to
retrieve their bags. When he entered the bedroom, Maddie was awake and sitting
up against her pillow, the sheet covering her breasts. With her hair tousled
and her eyes heavy with sleep, she offered him an uncertain smile.
"Hi."

"Hi." Luke felt awkward, something unusual for him the
morning after. Ordinarily, he'd pull out smooth and debonair. Today, his
debonair well had run dry.

Maddie pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and started to chew on
it. Watching her, eyeing the graceful curve of her shoulder and the creamy
swell of her breasts rising above the sheet, he wondered why he'd ever left the
bed.

"I... um... guess I'll... um... take a shower," she
said.

Luke felt himself start to go hard again, and he opened his mouth
to tell her not to budge, but only a single word emerged. "Okay."

She rewarded him briefly with an excellent view of her delectable
ass and legs as she shifted off the bed before covering herself with the sheet.
Now, why did she have to go and do that? Had he not just spent the night doing
a whole helluva lot more than looking at every square inch of her body?

Again she gave him one of those unsure smiles. "My bag?"

"Oh, yeah. Here." He thrust it toward her.

When she disappeared into the bathroom, Luke raked a hand through
his hair. Hell. He felt as awkward as a three-legged dog.

Needing something—anything—to do, he yanked on clothes, then went
downstairs to make coffee. While the water dripped, Luke stared blankly at the
slowly filling pot and tried to wrap his brain around the notion of what to do
next.

Breakfast. He'd fix breakfast.

Luke looked into the fridge for the breakfast casserole Annie had
promised to leave for them. Finding it, he read the directions taped to the
glass, then stuck it into the microwave. While he set the table, poured juice
and milk, he decided that after their meal, he'd talk to Maddie about her situation
and clue her in to the fact that she wasn't safe yet. Then he'd go back to
work. The sooner he found Jerry Grevas's killer, the sooner he could head back
to Louisiana.

Alone.

Well, hell.

Maddie entered the kitchen just as the microwave dinged. She wore
white capri pants, a black-and-white polka-dot top, flat black sandals, and
that damned hesitant smile. "The coffee smells good."

Luke opened his mouth to ask her to pour them both a cup, but the
words that emerged were different. "Come with me."

She glanced around the kitchen. "Where?"

"To the boat. My boat. I'm thinking we could take the
Miss
Behavin' II
to South Padre, winter along the coast."

Maddie grabbed the back of a kitchen chair and her face registered
shock. "You're asking me to take a vacation? Now?"

"Uh... well... sort of."

She drew a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Regret laced her
tone as she said, "Luke, I appreciate the thought, but I need to get back
to work. You know that. While it sounds lovely—truly it does—I can't afford
another week away from Home for Now."

"All right. Okay. Except... you see... a vacation isn't
exactly what I had in mind."

"It's not?"

"No."

Her brow creased with a frown. "Then I don't
understand."

"I, uh, I thought... I want..." He blew out a breath.
"I'm talking something longer than a vacation."

Awareness dawned slowly in her expression. "You're asking me
to what? To live with you?"

No. His stomach rolled. "Well, yeah. I am."

Time hung suspended as he waited for her response. He waited so
long that he could have run up to the corner convenience store and bought a
six-pack of beer. Then yearning filled her eyes and a smile flirted with her
lips. Luke's pulse rate tripled.

Then Maddie gave her head a shake. "Luke, that's crazy."
Well, yeah. He knew it, but still... "Why do you think it's crazy?"

She ticked off on her fingers. "For all intents and purposes,
we only just met."

Okay, he'd thought of that.

"Plus, the time we've spent together has been completely out
of the ordinary. We know how we get along under stressful circumstances, but
how would we deal together when life is ordinary?"

So, he'd hit on that one, too. Doodads and pantyhose in the
bathroom. He smothered a sigh.

"On top of that, you've just had a major life change, what
with losing your partner, quitting your job. Now isn't the time for you to be
making such a huge decision."

Hell, they were three for three.

"That doesn't begin to address my issues." Now her toes
began to tap. "I've told you how important my life in Brazos Bend is to
me. Do you think I'd just walk away from it? Because a man asked me to? It
isn't like I haven't had that lesson shoved down my throat before."

He tried not to scowl. "I thought you'd do it because I asked
you. I'm not one of the assholes in your past, Maddie."

Not exactly, anyway.

"Oh? And how are you different, Luke?" She braced her
hands on her hips. "You're asking me to run away and shack up on a boat,
for God's sake. How irresponsible is that? I finally have my life on track and you're
asking me to give it up? At least when I ran off with Rip and Liam and Cade, I
didn't leave anything but trouble behind."

Ouch.

"Can't you see how important all this is to me? My life here
in Brazos Bend? My job? It's normal, Luke. I want normal. I
need
normal.
I can't just pack up and leave because a man crooks his finger at me. That's
something Baby Dagger would do. Well, Maddie Kincaid won't. Not this time.
Never again."

His jaw clenched, Luke looked away. Dammit all, she had a point.
This hadn't exactly been his finest moment. He didn't think it through; he let
his emotions—and, admittedly, his dick—prompt him to speak precipitously. He
couldn't give Maddie Kincaid normal. He barely knew what normal was. Normal,
safe, comfortable—that had all died with his mother.

"All right. Okay. I hear you. I guess you're right."

Her eyes widened with frustration. "You
guess?"

He folded his arms. "It's probably not a good time for me,
either. I'm at a crossroads. I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of
my life. Now is probably not the time to make a long-term decision."

She lifted her face skyward and shook her head.

"And yet..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Last
night was... dammit, it was the best. It seems a shame to walk away from it.
Are you sure you can't carve out a few weeks for a little vacation?"

She dropped her hands to her sides, and the wistfulness that
played across her face served to soothe his ruffled feathers a bit. "It's
tempting, Luke. You don't know how tempting. Ten years ago, I'd have gone along
in a heartbeat. Five years ago, I'd have taken a minute to think, then I'd have
jumped at the opportunity. But I'm not the same person I was five and ten years
ago. Life has changed me. Men have changed me."

"This is about those dickwads you dated."

"Well, yes. Some."

Luke's lips tightened. God, he hated being lumped in with those
assholes.

"I trusted them, Luke. I loved them. Foolishly, it turned
out, but I gave each of those men a piece of my heart. I've learned to guard
the pieces I have left."

Luke didn't like hearing that she'd given away pieces of her heart
to men who damned well didn't deserve it. Not that he'd deserve it, either, but
still...

Needing something to do, he grabbed the hot casserole from the
microwave and set it on the table.

Maddie took a step toward him. "Luke, neither one of us has
even floated the L word. Why would either one of us think it's a good idea to
jump off and do something so reckless at this time?"

He had to admit she had a point. He'd always shied away from using
that four-letter word. "Is that what you want to hear, Maddie? The L
word?"

An emotion he didn't want to name flickered in her eyes, and he
warned himself of dangerous ground. He wasn't going to say it. Never had said
it to a woman. Probably never would. He didn't want to hurt her, but he wasn't
about to lie to her, either.

Once that word was spoken, there was no taking it back. Luke
wasn't about to commit the mortal sin of morning-afters and use the L word
without thought to the consequences. Sex might have confused and rattled him a
bit, but it damn sure didn't fry his last coherent brain cell.

As the silence between them dragged out, he realized that she
wasn't ready to say it, either. Good. That was good.

He tried hard to mean it.