Josh's Justice, Cowboy Romance (Bad in Boots, Book 4) (13 page)

How could he overcome her reservations about dating a fireman? The loss of her father in a fire was a damned hard memory to overcome. And at the same time, he knew he couldn’t give up what he “needed” to do. Firefighting meant a lot to him.

The thought that she might leave and he’d never see her again made his chest burn. As they entered the Lonestar property, he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist.

They’d just started down the Lonestar drive when a black truck drove past them, kicking up dust behind its wheels as it sped along the driveway toward the house. Josh tensed. He recognized Jackson Riley’s truck. His presence on the Lonestar only spelled trouble. “Hold on,” he said in a low voice in Sabrina’s ear, then kicked his heels in Ace’s side so the horse would pick up his pace.

“Isn’t that the officer from the hospital speaking to Nan? Officer O’Hara?” Sabrina asked as they approached the ranch.

“There they are,” Nan called out from the porch as Josh stopped Ace and slid off his back. He kept an eye on Jackson as he wrapped the reins around the porch post, then helped Sabrina down.

The older man with salt and pepper hair climbed out of his truck and put on his black Stetson. “Hey, Josh.” He nodded as he walked past them and stood at the bottom of the stairs staring up at Nan.

“What is it now, Jackson?” Nan asked in a curt tone.

“I came by to see what all the commotion was about last night.” Jackson slid his gaze to the partially burned stables then back to her with a raised eyebrow. “I heard the fire trucks. What happened?”

“Someone attacked Miss Gentry last night and set the stables on fire,” Renee answered matter-of-factly. “Did you happen to see any strangers lurking around your property last night, Jackson?”

Jackson eyed Sabrina for a second, then shook his head. “Nah, tried to go to bed early, but all the blaring sirens woke me up.”

Renee gave a firm nod, then turned to Sabrina. “How are you feeling today? Have you remembered anything?”

Sabrina touched her head and sighed. “I’m still a bit sore back there but, I’m sorry. I don’t remember what happened.”

“You were attacked here last night?” Jackson turned to them, his expression surprised.

Sabrina nodded.

“Who attacked you?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. It all happened so fast.”

Putting out her hand, she smiled. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Sabrina Gentry, here visiting my friend Elise.”

Jackson stared at her for a second, his brown eyes assessing her before he grasped her hand and shook it. “Jackson Riley. My property neighbors the Lonestar land.” Looking around, his brow furrowed as he shrugged his stocky shoulders and dug his hands deep in his back pockets. “Speaking of the Lonestar…when’s Colt coming back?”

“He and Elise are due back tomorrow,” Josh lied. He knew Jackson didn’t have a sincere bone in his body. He didn’t trust the man, nor did he want him to think the owner of the Lonestar was going to be absent for long.

Acknowledging Josh’s answer with a grunt, Jackson looked at Sabrina once more, squinting against the bright afternoon sun. “You Elise’s sister?”

Sabrina shook her head. “No. Just a college friend.”

“As Josh said, Colt isn’t here, Jackson. If you wish to speak with him, call ahead next time,” Nan interrupted in a dry tone, letting him know she wanted him to leave.

While Jackson’s lips tightened at the abrupt dismissal, Josh didn’t bother holding back his grin at Nan’s blatant dislike of the man. The older woman never was one to mince words.

Jackson stared at her for a second, then turned on his booted heel and headed for his truck. As he got in his vehicle and drove off, Nan mumbled, “Pain-in-the-ass old coot.”

Renee nodded her understanding. “There’s always one in the bunch.”

Josh turned to Renee. “Did the escapee confess yet?”

She pulled a notepad out of her back pocket and said cryptically, “No. But I have a few more things to follow up on. By the way, what time is Colt due back tomorrow? I’d like to ask him a couple of questions.”

“They aren’t due back until day after tomorrow.”

When she gave him a questioning look, he shrugged. “Their arrival time is none of Jackson’s business.”

She glanced at Sabrina as she pulled the pen from the spiral and jotted down a number. “If you remember anything, here’s my cell. You can call me direct, okay?” When she finished, Renee tore off the piece of paper.

Sabrina stepped onto the porch to take it from her. “Thanks, I will, Officer O’Hara.” As she started to shove it in her pocket, the note fell out of her hand and the wind blew it across the porch’s floorboards. The paper skidded and came to a halt as it hit a railing, spun, then fell off the edge right behind the bushes that butted up against the porch.

When Josh started to go after the note for her, Sabrina said, “No, I’ll get it.” She quickly took the stairs down to the ground and went around to the front of the bushes. “It’ll be easier to reach from under here, I think.”

Stretching her arm under the thick hedge, she felt for the crumpled paper and stood up smiling as she shoved it in her jeans pocket. As she stared up at Renee on the porch, she grimaced. “I just wish I could help more.”

Renee gave a rare smile. It made her look much younger than her thirty-one years. The kindhearted smile she gave Sabrina certainly didn’t mesh with the tough investigative officer reputation she’d built over the years. But seeing her smile like that made Josh realize just how attractive she was. No wonder Dirk was pissed at him.

Renee walked down the stairs and put a hand on Sabrina’s shoulder. “It’ll come to you. Don’t push it.”

After Renee left, Josh and Sabrina had dinner with Nan. While they ate, Nan poked and prodded Josh several times, but Sabrina kept steering their conversation back to the Tanner brothers, Nan’s favorite subject. Nan entertained them with stories of Colt and his brothers’ antics. He knew some of these stories, but not all. Her tales made Josh grin; not only were they amusing, but he’d absorbed tons of future ribbing material.

Once the meal was over, he and Sabrina walked back outside on the porch. She put her small hand in his and looked up at him with a smile on her face. Damn, she tugged at his heart already.

“Ready to go home? Uh, I mean back to my house?” he asked. Why did it feel so easy to think of it as
their
home?

Without skipping a beat, she said, “Yes.”

Yep, he was a goner. Now he needed to make sure she fell just as hard.

Chapter Eight

“So what’s the deal with Nan’s dislike of Jackson Riley?” Sabrina asked as Josh pulled himself up behind her on Ace’s saddle.

He put his arm around her waist and nudged the horse into a walk back down the driveway toward Double K land. The warm Texas sun beat down on them, making her squint and appreciate the fact she’d braided her hair to keep it off her neck. He pulled her closer and said in a low tone, “I’m glad I didn’t put a hat on you. Gives me an excuse to pull you close so my hat can offer some protection from the sun.”

Sabrina chuckled at his excuse to hold her close, but appreciated the bit of shade his cowboy hat provided.

“In answer to your question, Jackson has spent a good portion of his life making Colt’s family miserable for daring to own the land Jackson’s father lost in a poker game.”

“What land?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Colt’s land. Colt’s uncle and dad bought the land from the winner of the poker game that Jackson’s dad lost. That land is where the Lonestar ranch now stands. For years Jackson tried various ways to drive Colt’s daddy and uncle apart; they each owned half of the land. Then there’s the unexplained batches of bad water for the animals, maimed bulls and cattle, and several downed fences have occurred over the years.”

“Um, I’m no rancher, but doesn’t all that stuff happen sometimes on a ranch?”

She felt him shake his head behind her as he urged Ace into the woods back toward his property. “True, but not with the frequency that Colt has experienced it over the years. Did you know Elise inherited Colt’s uncle’s half of the Lonestar land when he died?”

Sabrina nodded. “Yeah, Elise told me Colt wasn’t too happy when his uncle didn’t leave the land to him as he’d promised he would.”

Josh nodded. “I heard Jackson tried to buy the land from Elise, but then she met Colt. I’m sure their marriage annoyed the hell out of Jackson.”

Sabrina snickered, then frowned as she considered Jackson Riley. Leaning back against Josh as Ace started to climb uphill, she asked, “Why hasn’t Jackson been arrested for all that he’s done?”

Josh snorted. “His last name should’ve been Wiley instead. For all the mischief he’s caused, he’s never been caught doing any of the things I mentioned. So it’s just Colt’s word against his.”

“Man, that’s got to suck for Colt,” she sighed. “That’s such a shame to have a neighbor like that. To never feel like he won’t ever give up.”

“He hasn’t done much in a while,” Josh mused. “Maybe he finally gave up once Elise married Colt. Because by doing so, she finally brought the two halves of ownership of the land back together after all these years.”

Josh’s hand slid up her waist, then grazed the side of her breast before his thumb traced her nipple lightly through her clothes. “Enough talk about Colt. There’s only one man I want you thinkin’ about,” he said, his voice husky, insistent.

Sliding his thumb slowly back and forth across her nipple, he continued, “You see, there’s only one woman on my mind, and I want to see her lying naked in my bed, her gorgeous black hair spread out over my pillows. That’s my fantasy,” he rasped, his aroused tone washing over her in a wave of tempting seduction. “Ready to make it a reality?”

* * *

Sabrina awoke the next morning to Josh staring at her. He was lying on his side with his head propped up in his hand. She let her gaze skim every part of his gorgeous body she could see. His messy blond hair and morning beard made him look sexier and even more like the bad boy she knew he could be.

“Morning,” he said, his chest muscles flexing as he trailed a finger down her collarbone to the curve of her breast peeking out from underneath the white sheets and quilted comforter.

“Morning back.” She rolled over in the bed to face him. Noticing the time on the clock, she said, “Ohmigod, is it really ten-thirty?”

Josh nodded, grinning. “Yeah, I’ve been up since dawn. Fed and exercised Ace and came back to bed to wait for you to wake up.”

She wasn’t sure what to say after the afternoon and evening they’d just spent together. She’d never been so physically in tune with another guy like she’d been with Josh. He seemed to have this ability to bring out the wild woman in her whenever he touched her. That’s the only way she could explain how uninhibited she’d been with him.

“Sleep good?” He cupped the back of her head and pulled her up against his hard, naked chest as he leaned down and nuzzled her neck.

“Hmmm, hmmm,” she responded, enjoying the smell of outdoors and leather mixed with his overall masculine scent. The rough feel of his whiskers on her neck and jaw made her heart race. “Though I am a bit sore from all the
extra
exercise I got yesterday.”

“Daily exercise is good for your heart.” He lifted his head and winked. “I recommend at least three times a day to keep you in shape.”

She rubbed her hand across his scruff, eyes wide. “You mean three would be enough for you?”

He shook his head, an adamant expression on his face. “Uh-uh, darlin’, that’s just to get us start—”

The phone rang, interrupting him. Josh sighed and answered, his tone brisk, “Josh Kelly.”

Sabrina half listened as she looked around his bedroom.

“I took the day off, Sam.”

The surprisingly large room held very little furniture—a queen-sized bed with a mission-style wood headboard and a chest of drawers.

What she did like about the room was the extra-wide French doors that led to a brick patio facing the woods. She’d seen deer outside last night and a few rabbits. She loved being so close to nature.

“Okay, I’m on my way.”

She turned to Josh with a questioning look as he hung up the phone.

“I’m sorry, Sabrina. There’s a huge fire on the outskirts of town and they need all available firefighters on site.”

As she watched Josh climb out of bed and make his way over to the walk-in closet, panic set in. Her heart raced, feeling as if it were going to burst from her chest. He couldn’t have delivered more upsetting news to her. She rubbed her suddenly damp palms on the sheets and then gripped the cloth against her naked chest as she sat up.

“Do—do you really have to go?” She tried her best to keep the pleading out of her voice, but it seemed to creep in despite her efforts to suppress it.

Josh poked his head out of the closet, pulling on a white T-shirt. “Yeah. When the Chief calls, you know it’s got to be important.”

“But you did take the day off.” She knew she must sound like the most selfish woman in the world while people’s lives were in peril, but damn it, Josh’s life was more important to her. Fear for his safety was uppermost in her mind. That combined with the realization of just how attached she’d grown to this man in such a short time hit her hard.

Josh came out of the closet pulling on a pair of firefighter pants, his brow furrowed as he looked at her. “I’m sorry I’m having to leave you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He walked out of the room then came back in and handed her a phone. “Here’s my cell. Keep it with you and call me if you need anything.” He grinned as he touched her upturned chin. “And it even has a built-in GPS. That way I can keep track of your whereabouts so I can immediately know which room I’ll be ravishing you in when I get home,” he finished with a devilish smile.

She pushed a button on the cell phone and stared at the lit-up display. “Is the GPS really that precise?”

He chuckled, then rubbed his thumb along her bottom lip. “Nah, but I like to think about the possibilities of certain rooms we’ve yet to christen.”