Laredo's Sassy Sweetheart (14 page)

When Marvella walked in towing the three Jefferson cowboys, Cissy knew there was trouble in Texas. Marvella was up to her tricks, and someone was going to get hurt.

There was always an injury in Marvella’s shenanigans. Cissy was afraid that if Marvella kept up with her attack, the injury this time was going to be Katy.

Why should she care? she thought. Katy had never been especially warm to her. Not that she’d ever given Katy a chance—and she did try to steal her cowboy.

Maybe that’s why she cared. She hadn’t felt right about what she’d tried to do to Katy. For some reason, once she’d made love with Tex, her heart had changed. If anything, she wanted to look good in his eyes. Oh, he’d never see her as anything more than a soiled dove, but…even soiled doves craved respect.

Without saying a word to anyone, Cissy slipped outside.

T
HE KNOCK ON
K
ATY’S DOOR
stopped her packing. It didn’t sound like Delilah’s tap or Hannah’s bang. Certainly it wasn’t Laredo’s unannounced entrance. She supposed that since they technically were splitting a room, he didn’t feel he had to announce himself. Then again, that’s just how Laredo was. Unannounced.

But one never knew, and she didn’t want her plans brought to light. Quickly she pushed the suitcase under the bed. “Come in,” she called.

Cissy Kisserton walked in. “Hi, Katy.”

“Cissy?” Katy couldn’t dampen the surprise in her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to warn you about something.”

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to know.” Uncomfortably she wondered if good manners demanded she offer Cissy a chair. No, she decided.

“You’ll want to know this,” Cissy assured her.

“Does it have anything to do with Lonely Hearts Station, cowboys or the rodeo?”

“It has to do with Laredo.”

Spears of pain shot through her. “I definitely do not want to know about him.”

“You don’t?” Cissy’s tone crept high with dismay. “Why not?”

“Because. It doesn’t matter.” It did, in a peculiar way she couldn’t explain, but she couldn’t let him matter to her.

“Oh. I beg your pardon. I shouldn’t have bothered you, then.”

Katy warily watched her prepare to leave. What
exactly had been the purpose behind Cissy’s visit? “He’s…all right, isn’t he?”

“Oh, yes. Healthwise, he seems very fit.”

That was all the assessment she wanted from Cissy, thank you very little. “Then that’s all I need to know.”

Hannah walked into the room, her mouth gaping when she saw Cissy. “What do you want?”

“Relax, Hannah. This is just a civil conversation between Katy and me.”

Hannah glowered at her. “Well, I’m here now. It’s no longer civil. What are you up to?”

Katy held up her hand. “Hannah, it’s all right. Cissy was just leaving. She came to tell me Laredo is all right.”

Hannah raised a brow. “We know he’s all right. Since when did you become the Good News Fairy?”

“Since Marvella just dragged him and his brothers into her salon,” Cissy said. “But since y’all don’t want to know—”

“Wait a minute,” Katy said, grabbing hold of Cissy’s sleeve. “Spit it all out, every bit of it, or Hannah holds you, and I take a hot curling iron to your hair. You’ll look like the dippity-do-dog when I get through with you if you don’t stop playing Miss Who-Me?”

“There’s no need to get violent!” Cissy said, snatching her sleeve away.

“And you could be the Trojan horse. Spare us the melodramatics and get on with Marvella’s hijinks,” Hannah instructed. “I saw a curling iron downstairs
that’s been left on for three days and looks hot enough to brand cattle.”

“I don’t know what her plan is! I just know Delilah was there earlier, and the two of them had words. Exactly what words, I don’t know, because when Marvella has a guest, we are not allowed to see or be seen. We all went upstairs and left the two of them alone. But the tone of it wasn’t friendly, as anyone who knows Marvella would understand. And then Marvella walked in with Tex, Laredo and Ranger, and I thought Katy should know.”

“Why Katy?” Hannah demanded.

“Because I owe her one,” Cissy snapped. “Okay? Virtuous enough reason for you?”

“Guilt,” Katy pronounced.

“Precisely,” Hannah agreed. “Unless someone else is sucking up to Laredo right now and you want even.”

Katy’s heart skidded inside her. Could that be the case?

“No one’s sucking up to anyone right now. Marvella’s plying them with mint juleps and snacks.”

“Then maybe she’s just turned over a new leaf, like you,” Hannah guessed. “After all, Tex did ride for her. He did make her a lot of money.”

Cissy flipped her long, straight hair. “I’ve said too much. I’m leaving before I get seen in this salon. What you do with this info is up to you. And for whatever it’s worth, while I do hope we win again on Saturday, I never wanted anyone to get hurt.”

She left, her high heels clipping down the stairs.
Hannah turned to Katy. “What do you make of that?”

“I don’t know. She expects us to do a search-and-rescue on the Jefferson brothers,” Katy said. “But I don’t think I could.”

“Nor me,” Hannah said carefully. “I don’t think men appreciate being dug out of their caves, do they? Isn’t it kind of like roaches? They skitter away from the light and don’t want to be disturbed?”

“Hannah,” Katy said, laughing. “This is serious. Marvella is planning to shanghai all the cowboys this time, just to spite Delilah. That’ll leave me to do the riding, and I’m not physically up to it. Nor emotionally, I might add. I like having my feet on the ground, not over my head.”

“We
could
go save them from themselves,” Hannah said thoughtfully. “But you’d think grown men would have more class. More panache. More common sense.”

“Why would anyone think that?” Katy asked. “You just compared them to roaches.”

“I was only trying to get inside their minds, and the only species I could think of that liked the dark and liked multiplying and liked not being disturbed was roaches.” Hannah shrugged. “The point is, you’d think they’d know better.”

“We could just let them suffer the consequences of their stupidity,” Katy suggested. “It’s not our fault if they louse up their chances of riding and winning.”

But the cowboys didn’t know Marvella like
everyone else did. And like all men, they were suffering under some delusion that she was probably okay underneath all that faux charm.

What they didn’t know was that the faux charm covered a layer of war paint so hard it was like a layer of steel sheeting.

“I don’t know,” Katy said with a sigh. “I can’t always be rescuing Laredo. I’ve got to think of myself now. Back to packing.” She retrieved her suitcase from underneath the bed.

“And I can’t save the other two. In pairs, they’re almost drawn to misadventure.”

“So, that’s that.” Katy tossed some more things into the suitcase. “I’m going to do a little more packing, and then I’m going to sleep. It sounds as if I’ll have my bed to myself tonight, and I intend to enjoy it for the last night it will be mine.”

“I’m going to miss you, Katy,” Hannah said softly. “I can’t believe you’re going to leave so soon.”

“I’ll miss you, too, but the truth is, I’m really looking forward to moving on with my life.” Katy snapped the suitcase closed, putting it at the foot of her bed. She arranged her traveling clothes on top. “I’m ready for my own adventure.”

S
OMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT
, Tex awakened aware of two things. He was alone, which was a relief, because he felt very stifled somehow. Two, the mint juleps he’d drunk weren’t like lemonade, as he’d
surmised, judging by the fact that his head felt two sizes bigger than normal.

Where were his brothers? Feeling around, he switched on a bedside lamp. And then he remembered! He was supposed to occupy Katy’s bed tonight while Laredo girlnapped Katy! Holy smokes! He’d probably overslept the whole plan. No wonder he was here alone.

Sneaking out of the room, he quietly went down the stairs. Gently he worked the front door of the salon open, praying no one would awaken. How could he have ended up in such shape when Laredo needed him? Most times in the Jefferson household, it was every man for himself, but when it came to brotherhood, they stuck together like soles to boots. He didn’t agree with Laredo’s plan, necessarily, but he was going to help execute it and let the chips fall where they might.

Laredo’s truck was gone from its parking place. Dang! He must have already left with Katy. Tex needed to get a serious move on. He didn’t even know what the heck time it was, but he had a mouse to baby-sit and a voice to mimic.

Ever so silently, he took the key Delilah had given him and Ranger and unlocked the Lonely Hearts back door. He crept up the stairs with his boots in his hand, making certain not to make any noise, not even a groan, which he felt like doing. Damn mint juleps! Never again was he falling for some innocent-looking southern libation.

Slowly and silently, he opened Katy’s bedroom
door. With cautious feet, he moved to the end of the bed, noting its outline by the light of the streetlamp shining through the window. So far so good. Now, to fall into her bed and sleep until Saturday.

Well, he might get up to swallow some aspirin tomorrow. And then he was hibernating until he knew for certain the coast was clear.

Something at the foot of Katy’s bed caught his boot, and to his surprise, he toppled over like a great, drunken redwood tree. He fell right onto something soft—and shrieking.

“Aii—”

“Shh!” he told the shrieking thing, clapping a hand over its mouth. “It’s only me!”

“Laredo?” Katy asked.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Sleeping, you dope! What are you doing here?”

Considering that he was Tex and not Laredo, nothing good. Dang! He was in big trouble now. Did he exit gracelessly? Or did he wait for Laredo to appear and help him bundle Katy off?

No, that would make him a girlnapping accessory, something he didn’t want any part of. Bed-sitter was one thing; hands-on accomplice was something else. “It’s Tex,” he said, choosing the coward’s option. “Go easy on me.”

Instantly she relaxed. “Oh. Were you looking for Hannah’s room?”

Ah! An easy out! “As a matter of fact—”

“Down the hall,” she told him. “But I wouldn’t fall on her the way you fell on me. She’s been
known to wallop men who’ve tried to sneak into her bed before. Try the gentle, romantic approach.”

“I didn’t mean to fall on you, Katy. Did I hurt you? I actually tripped over something at the foot of the bed—”

“My suitcase. I shouldn’t have left it there. I wasn’t expecting visitors—”

“Your suitcase? Why do you have your suitcase out?” Did she know Laredo was planning on sweeping her off her feet? Wouldn’t that just jangle Laredo’s nerves if he showed up to snatch Katy and she said, Hold the phone, cowboy, while I get my jammy bag?

“Don’t tell anyone, but I’m leaving town,” Katy confided.

He knew that already, but maybe it was best if he appeared ignorant. “Oh. Send us a postcard to Malfunction Junction,” he said. “We don’t often get anything except bills. Well, gotta run.”

Trying to appear relaxed and focused, he got out of Katy’s bed. He stood up straight, and with as much balance as possible, made his way to the door. “Good night, Katy.”

“Good night, Tex.”

He left, keeping his pride barely intact. Whew! That was a close one. Only he wasn’t certain what he was supposed to do.

Best to leave that in his twin’s capable hands. Laredo was the one with the screwy plan, after all.

With a glance at Hannah’s door, he told himself not to borrow any more trouble and went into the upstairs den to find the sofa.

Tex no sooner hit the sofa than he realized there was a bigger problem on his hands, one that the mint-julep haze had disguised. If Katy was in her bed and not girlnapped by his twin, and if his twin’s truck was gone, then where the heck was Laredo?

Something had gone awry with the plan, and he wasn’t sure how to cope with it. He checked his watch, seeing by the lit dial that it was now actually Friday morning. That, he remembered, was Katy-snatching day.

Getting up, he trudged down the stairs, as quietly as possible. Surely Laredo wasn’t too far away. He shouldn’t be, if he knew how soft Katy was in her bed. Soft and gentle. Although he hadn’t gotten a good sense of her—she was after all his brother’s desired, and he had landed on top of her with all the finesse of a sledgehammer—he’d been able to tell enough to know that Laredo was lagging behind when he should be barreling ahead.

“I have to show him everything,” Tex muttered.
“The dummy who said that twins are on some emotional wavelength was an idiot.”

He went outside just as Laredo’s truck pulled up. Ranger and his twin got out.

“Where have you been?” Tex demanded.

“We went for a drive,” Ranger said.

“Without telling me?” Tex was totally put out. “Hey, am I in this plan or not?”

“You were at Marvella’s. We didn’t want to disturb you,” Laredo said reasonably.

“Disturb me! I was sleeping off a southern green buzz! Didn’t you all feel the kick of those stupid julep things?” Tex demanded.

Ranger and Laredo glanced at each other. “Nah. I didn’t drink mine.”

“Me, neither,” Ranger said. “I’m a beer drinker, though I didn’t tell Miss Marvella that.”

“Well, I must have taken a little nap.” He frowned, thinking about Cissy. Where had she been, anyway? He couldn’t remember having seen her but for a split second. In fact, if his memory served, she’d left the salon for a while. “Y’all haven’t seen Cissy, have you?”

“Nope. We’ve been by ourselves since we snuck out,” Laredo said. “Are you ready for the big moment?”

“Uh—” Tex tried to sort his scrambled thoughts. “I just came out of Katy’s room and she’s in there.”

“Hey!” Laredo said. “I didn’t give you the signal!”

“Sorry. It was the juleps. Anyway, she’s already packed and ready to go.”

“What are you talking about?” Ranger asked.

Tex shrugged. “Guess she’s on to the plan. Or she’s leaving Lonely Hearts Station. She definitely said she’s leaving. I just thought she meant with you.”

“That little minx,” Laredo breathed. “She did call that dang photographer! She’s leaving to pose!” He sucked in air. “Cover me, brothers. I’m going in.”

He took off running toward the salon.

Ranger shook his head. “He’s lost his freaking mind. She’s going to kill him when he goes busting in her door.”

“Yep,” Tex agreed, thinking about how disagreeable a female who’d already been awakened and landed on once would be. “She’s gonna slap him stupid. So much for avoiding further head trauma.”

“Dude,” Ranger said, “if I ever fall for a female, please, please, stop me. I do not want to be that insane. That bizarre.”

“Hey, it’s a deal. We’ll commit emotional hara-kiri.” They clasped hands, nodding solemnly over their pact, as Laredo came out the door bearing a screeching Katy in his arms.

“Put me down!” she commanded. “Put me down!”

“Go get her suitcase, Tex! She wouldn’t let me carry both things at once.”

Tex took off at a run, and Ranger started the
truck. “Now, Miss Katy,” Ranger said as Laredo put her into the truck, “you be sure and wear your seat belt.”

Katy stared at him. “You have all lost your minds. You’ve been to Marvella’s, and you’ve lost your minds.”

“It was the mint juleps,” Laredo said. “Never drink anything that sweet. It clogs the brain.” He got behind the wheel as Tex tossed her suitcase into the truck bed. “See y’all tomorrow.”

He sped away, thoroughly pleased with himself. So far, everything was going according to plan.

“Laredo,” Katy said through steely teeth, “if you don’t take me back right now, I promise to make your life so utterly miserable you’ll think Bloodthirsty Black was a friendly sheep in bull’s clothing.”

Uh-oh. That didn’t sound promising. “Katy, I’m doing what’s best for you,” he said, trying to sound soothing.

“What’s best for me?”

“Yes. Now you just calm down. We’ll be to the ranch soon enough.”

“You’re taking me to your ranch.”

He nodded.

“Laredo, you are a dunce.”

Wincing, he said, “Well, you and I are fighting, and this is the only way I know to win. It’s because you’re so darn stubborn, Katy.”

“I’m stubborn?” She couldn’t believe her ears. On the other hand, she was somewhat flattered that
he cared enough to steal her. She had to admit it was much nicer than being jilted. “Why did you tell your brothers you’d see them tomorrow? Are you bringing me back in the morning?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “I’m going back.”

“You’re riding in the rodeo,” she said on a gasp. “You stole me so I couldn’t leave to pose, but you’re riding anyway.”

There was no reason to lie. He shrugged.

Rational thought left her. She was trapped. He had played the cards all his way. Just like all the Jefferson men: their way or no way.

It was maddening.

He was watching her for her reaction, and she had one for him—the reaction of a woman who’s been pushed to the edge.

She took off her top, and tossed it out the window.

“What are you doing?” Laredo demanded, sounding like something was pinching his throat.

She took off her bra and tossed that out the window, too.

Laredo’s jaw dropped, and he slammed on the brakes. “I’ll go get it,” he said, averting his gaze. “It’ll only take me a second. It’s such a windy night, we should shut the truck windows.”

She laughed at his babbling. “Laredo,” she said, “I want you to make love to me. I want you to stop making up excuses. Be brave and make love to me.”

“I…I can’t.”

“Oh, yes, you can,” she said. “I always said you’d have to make the first move, but I know you’ll
never make it. And if you think kidnapping me so you could have your own way was a good idea, I’ve got a twist for your plan.”

He was staring at her breasts, transfixed. “Yes, you do. I’m feeling very twisted.”

“You cannot have your cake and eat it, too,” she told him.

“I don’t want any cake right now. I want you to tell me where you want me to make love to you. Name it, anyplace you ever fantasized about, and I’ll get you there. Paris, Las Vegas, wherever.”

“The creek,” she told him. “I think the creek would be very nice.”

He tried to think if that was appropriate for Katy’s first time. Shouldn’t there be satin sheets and wine and roses—

“Laredo,” she said, “either you start driving or I lose another layer, and as you can see, that would be my shorts.”

“Katy, I’m driving as fast as I can!” He floored the truck, turning down the road toward the creek. Never had he felt that his truck didn’t have enough horsepower, but he couldn’t get it to go fast enough. God, she was gorgeous. And she wanted to be his.

It was enough to drive him past sane thought. All his reasons for not making love to Katy flooded out of his mind. He had to stop her now from the foolishness of her plan, and the best way to do that was to keep her very near him.

His
plan was foolproof.

He parked the truck at the creek’s edge. It was
dark and silent. The trees moved gently in a light breeze. Stars overheard flickered like tiny lights in an inky sea.

“You know, if I was a smart girl, I’d send you down to the creek to check for snakes, steal your truck, go back and collect my top and bra and leave you here,” Katy told him. “You deserve it.”

He stared at her suspiciously. “Maybe, but…you wouldn’t, would you?” Unable to help himself, he drew her to him, touching her lips with a finger, then tracing down to her breasts. “I think I’d blow a fuse if I couldn’t have you, Katy Goodnight.”

She smiled up at him. “I was hoping you’d feel that way. You’ve stuck so hard to your plan it was hard to jimmy you loose.”

“Well, I’m way loose now.”

She opened the truck door. “Come on.”

He was out his door in a flash and pulling down the truck gate. Grabbing the blanket from the back, he spread it onto the truck bed floor, then shaped another one into a pillow. Extending his hand, he pulled her up into the bed with him.

“Now, your shirt,” she said, gently pulling his off him.

And somehow their lips met, touching, pressing and then pulling. Then all over again, until Katy found herself gasping. “Whew. I didn’t know you could kiss like that. Why didn’t you do it sooner?”

“I’m questioning that myself right now,” Laredo said, gasping as well. “But I’m trying not to think too much about it in case you change your mind.”

“My mind! I’m the one who’s been trying to get you to do this for weeks!”

“Very unvirginal of you, too, thank heaven,” Laredo said, swiftly removing her shorts. “I should have listened to you sooner.”

She tugged off his shorts. “You should have listened to me about a lot of things.”

“We’re not talking anymore,” Laredo said, pressing her to the blanket. “There’s been way too much of that. All we’re doing is feeling. This,” he said, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples, “and this,” he continued, suckling each of them.

“And this,” Katy agreed, running her hand down his chest, down the flat of his stomach, until she reached that part of a man. Taking him in her hands, she treasured the feel of him. “Laredo, I don’t really know what I’m doing at this point.”

“Argh,” he said against her neck, where he’d rested his head when she’d taken hold of him. “What you don’t know seems to be a good thing. Don’t stop.”

She giggled as he kissed down her breasts to her belly. He licked into her belly button, drawing a jerk of surprise from her, then he slipped his tongue inside her, and Katy froze. “Oh, my,” she whispered. Any seduction she’d ever planned imploded as he stroked her, building magic feelings she couldn’t even put a name to.

When he lifted her higher, giving him greater access to her, strange feelings she’d never felt seemed to freeze her. “Oh, oh,” she murmured.

And then she slid over some mysterious brink, hearing herself call Laredo’s name like she was afraid to lose him.

Gently he laid her back down, spreading her legs wider and settling himself in between. “Katy,” he murmured, “I’ve dreamed of this for more nights than I can tell you.”

He parted her, and slid inside, filling her past the point she thought she could take. She started to cry out, but he covered her mouth with his, taking her breath, taking her pain, and then he began to move inside her, and she mimicked his rhythm, wanting so much to feel his passion. It hurt, but nothing like the emotional things in her life had hurt. To Katy this pain was closeness, and it brought pleasure.

Inside her she felt Laredo growing. A sigh filled her, or least she thought it was a sigh, until the same brink built inside her. Wrapping her legs around Laredo, she buried her face against his shoulder. “Laredo,” she murmured. “Laredo!”

“I’ve got you,” he said, holding her tighter, moving deeper inside, penetrating her, driving her into his arms so that she would never want to leave. “Give it to me, baby,” he told her. “Relax and let it go.”

She trusted him to be there for her. With a surprised cry of rapture, Katy squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the sweet spasms take hold of her.

Her pleasure seemed to excite Laredo all that much more. “Katy,” he whispered against her lips. “Oh, sweetheart.”

“Laredo, you mean so much to me,” she said, kissing him as she felt him beginning to tense. Recognizing that the brink that had claimed her was about to claim Laredo, she held him tighter, squeezing her inner muscles against him.

He moved inside her more fiercely, then suddenly cried out. Katy clung to him as he collapsed against her. Over his shoulder she could see the stars in the heaven, and she knew that all her life she would remember her one night with Laredo.