Laying Down the Law (4 page)

Perhaps in exchange he’d give her clothes and money so that she could make a graceful exit.

Zuri crowded closer to his knees, tilting her chin.

Colt’s lips curved slightly at the corners, and although his gaze remained narrow, he scooted back.

She climbed over his lap, facing him, her thighs sliding over the outside of his, not saying a word, following her instincts although they’d led her down treacherous paths before. She slipped her hand alongside his neck, felt the heavy thrum of his pulse and bent down, her mouth hovering above his. “Think you can keep this uncomplicated, cowboy?”

A deep, throaty groan seeped between his lips, and she leaned into him, settling over the ridge throbbing beneath the placket of his jeans. She could do this. She could take what she wanted from him without losing her heart again. It was just sex. Just an arrangement for shelter, for time.

She had no illusions that she’d be sought by the law and soon. Her job would report her missing. The police would check her apartment and her background. But Detective David Satterly might want her involvement kept under wraps until he’d gotten to her…that might work to her advantage.

As Colt’s arms closed around her back, he lowered himself to the bed and brought her with him.

Sighing, she let her worries slide away. For now, she’d enjoy this little interlude. Accept the pleasure she knew he could deliver. She was older, had learned a few things about how to keep a relationship light. It was just sex.

But then he slid his hand beneath her shirt and scraped his callused palm upward to close around her bare breast. The sandpaper rasp of his thumb across her nipple lit a spark.

Their kiss turned instantly carnal, tongues stroking deeply, lips latching desperately together. Their bodies ground together, frustrated by the clothing separating them.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Ignore it,” she whispered.

Colt sighed. “Can’t. Gabe’ll just barge in. Have to explain it to him first.”

She sat, still straddling his hips. He slid his hand slowly from under her shirt and she climbed off. She turned her back to the door as Colt’s footsteps tapped across the bare wood.

Behind her, the brothers’ voices whispered too low to make out the words, but the rapidity of their exchange, short-bulleted bursts, told her Gabe wasn’t happy with her being here.

Keeping her back to them, she glanced into the dresser mirror and ran her fingers through her damp, tousled hair. Then her gaze fell on the jumbled items resting in a wooden tray. Keys, change. Silver gleamed. She stepped closer and plucked up a metal badge,
Sheriff
etched on its surface.

Zuri’s hand closed around it and the sharp edges dug into her skin. The one man she’d thought she might seek refuge with was the last she could trust with her secrets.

Chapter Five

Dinner was an uncomfortable affair. Gabe and Tommy offered her surly glares, but kept their opinions about her presence to themselves as Colt held out her chair to seat her at the large plank table. The quiet that followed spoke volumes of the brothers’ disapproval.

Zuri did her best to ignore the vibes, concentrating instead on the meal.

The wrangler named Eddie had thrown together a pot roast, potatoes and carrots. Fluffy biscuits glazed with butter sat in a basket. Tea was served, so sweet her teeth ached at the first sip, but the men gathered at the table didn’t seem to notice as they wolfed down the meal.

She didn’t exactly pick at her food either. As soon as the plate was placed in front of her, her stomach remembered it had only had spoons of peanut butter she’d scrounged from the cupboard in the cabin since breakfast the previous day. She tucked into her meal, not looking up until she’d mopped the last drop of gravy only to find all eyes resting on her plate. She’d finished her meal first.

Embarrassment warmed her cheeks, but she gave them a fierce glare, which sent their gazes back to their own plates.

“Still hungry?” Colt asked, handing her the basket of rolls.

Zuri plucked one from the basket and swiftly rose, ready to leave the oppressive atmosphere. “Thanks, Eddie. Dinner was great. I was hungrier than I thought,” she murmured.

Then she swept out of the kitchen, heading straight through the living room to the front porch. But not quick enough to escape the angry outburst that followed her outside.

“How long’s she staying?” Tommy ground out.

“Enough,” Colt said quietly.

Zuri tried not to care that the brothers seemed to despise her. She sat on the top step and bit into the buttery biscuit, sighing with pleasure.

A soft whine behind her drew her attention to Colt’s dog, which lay facing her, his gaze intent on her biscuit.

“He wants you to toss him pieces,” Colt’s voice came from behind her.

“Too bad for him. I’m not sharin’.”

“Missed a few meals?”

“Somethin’ like that.”

His footsteps scuffed across the concrete. He settled on the step below hers and leaned back on an elbow, staring out at the paddock and the moon rising quickly overhead. “You’re in trouble.”

She startled, wondering if he knew more than he was letting on. But he couldn’t. Not yet. “Nothing I can’t handle,” she said, keeping her tone light.

“Where’s your car?”

She took a deep breath. “Somewhere downriver.”

His head whipped toward her, his gaze boring into hers. “Downriver from the cabin?”

“I was headin’ there when I got caught in a low-water crossing.” She shrugged, acting as if it wasn’t a huge deal and that she hadn’t been scared to death. “Didn’t think you’d mind if I stayed in the cabin for a couple of days. I seem to remember you and your brothers only use it during huntin’ season.”

“That wasn’t the only time I made use of it, Zuri,” he said, his voice a deep rumble.

Her heart skipped a beat at the low, throaty sound, but she continued nonchalantly. “Didn’t figure you had to hide your women from pryin’ eyes these days.” Not since his parents had passed. Something she’d heard from a friend of a friend a while back.

“I don’t. And you’re right. We don’t use it much. But the cabin’s pretty rough. Can’t imagine you bein’ comfortable there. Why didn’t you stop here?”

“I didn’t want to put anyone out. And it’s not like we kept in touch.”

Colt’s rugged features tightened. “True. So your car’s in the river. You weren’t hurt?”

“Hardly a bruise.”

His brow furrowed, and his gaze losing a little of its steel. “I’ll set my people lookin’ for it.”

Zuri nearly choked on her next bite of her biscuit. Clearing her throat, she replied as casually as she could manage, “They won’t mess with it, will they? I have some personal things in the trunk and glove box.”

“I’ll make sure they know not to go through it when they find it. I’ll have a wrecker take it to a garage, and you can deal with it.”

“Thanks,” she said, knowing she couldn’t say more without alerting him that something was up. As it was, she was taking a huge risk.

“I’ll need the make and model and approximately where it went into the river.”

She nodded. “That sounded so official,” she said, pretending she hadn’t already figured out he was
the man
.

“I’m the sheriff here now.” His gaze rested on her face, likely looking for clues that she was alarmed by that bit of news.

But forewarned was forearmed. She didn’t flinch. “Congratulations. I never knew you were interested in law enforcement.”

“I got my training in the Army. Seemed a waste not to make use of it.”

He’d been in the Army. Travelled. How ironic. She’d wanted to see the world when she left Caldera but hadn’t made it any farther than Houston.

“Is there anyone you need to call?”

She shook her head. “No one.”

“Not a soul will be worried about you?”

The way he said it, slowly, considering, made her wonder if he’d read more into her admission than she’d intended. “I live alone. I don’t answer to anybody.” As his gaze darkened, she tossed the rest of the biscuit to Scout, her appetite gone. “Look, I know it must be a habit for you, but could you leave off with the interrogation?”

Pushing off the step, she started to rise, but his hand wrapped around her ankle. “What kind of trouble are you runnin’ from, Zuri?”

“Why does it have to be trouble?”

One dark brow rose, and she blushed. She’d had a reputation for scrapes with authority when she was in high school. But that had been a long time ago. Her life since, up until the past few weeks, had been unremarkable.

He tightened his hand, and she knew he wasn’t going to let go until she gave him something to chew over. She took a deep breath. “I’ve had some problems. With a man.”

“Did he hurt you?” he asked softly.

“Not physically. But he’s been watchin’ me. Stalkin’ me. He left pictures he’d taken when I didn’t know anyone was watchin’, and left me notes—first in my mail box, then under my door…” She drew a deep, shattered breath. “And on my pillow.”

His eyes narrowed. “You file a report?”

She snorted. “I told my neighbor. He’s a cop with the Houston PD.”

“He didn’t help you?”

“Said he was. He helped me fill out reports at my kitchen table.”

“Why are you hesitatin’?”

Her eyes filled, and she ruthlessly blinked away the moisture. “I think he’s my stalker. I think he intimidated me in order to get closer to me.”

He hardened his grip. “What’s his name?”

She shook her head. “I don’t want trouble. I don’t want you talkin’ to him.”

“Don’t tell me. You’ll handle it.” He snorted. “You have a funny way of confrontin’ your problems. You’re runnin’ again.”

She pressed her lips together to still a sudden tremor. “You think everyone is brave like you? I’ve learned to be cautious. And I don’t trust cops.” She took a steadying breath, and her gaze fell away from his. “Sorry. I didn’t mean you.”

He grunted and looked away. “Why not? It would make us even. I don’t trust you either.”

Zuri stiffened. He was getting ready to show her the door. Why had she thought he might have softened over the years, maybe learned a little compassion?

“You still want to stay?”

Her head came up, her gaze clinging to his expression, which was set in firm lines that didn’t give away a thing he was really thinking. “You haven’t changed your mind? Your brothers didn’t talk you out of it? I’m bad news, remember?”

“I don’t answer to them. You willin’ to stay on my terms?”

She shook her head, not understanding him—angry and unbending one moment, offering her a carrot the next. “Why are you doin’ this?”

One side of his sexy mouth curved upward. “I haven’t a clue.”

The screen door creaked opened behind them. They both turned. Gabe gave her a hard, pointed stare, and then turned to Colt. “You have a call. It’s the station.”

Colt sighed and shot her a look that said he wasn’t satisfied, not by a long shot. “We’re not done.” Then he stood and walked back into the house.

Gabe lingered on the porch, standing behind her, making her uncomfortable enough with his silent disapproval that her hackles raised.

She kept her gaze resolutely on the roofs of the outbuildings just beyond the paddock. “You have somethin’ you want to get off your chest?”

“He’s not a kid anymore. He won’t be fooled twice.”

Zuri shook her head and aimed a narrowed glare over her shoulder. “You sound like I did somethin’ to him.”

“Just givin’ you fair warnin’.”

She lifted her shoulders. “I’m not here to start anything with him. I just ran into some trouble and need a place to stay for a couple of days.”

“Where you plannin’ to sleep?”

She arched one brow. “Why don’t you ask him?”

“I don’t want him gettin’ stubborn.” Gabe snorted. “He never had a lick o’ sense when it came to you.”

“I don’t get it, Gabe. I never did a thing to you.”

“You mess with one of us, you have the whole family to answer to.”

“Again, I’m drawin’ blanks. I never hurt your brother. I couldn’t. He didn’t give a damn about me.”

Gabe’s lips tightened. “Your father back in jail?”

Leave it to Gabe to say the one thing sure to get her back up. “I don’t know where my
stepfather
is. Haven’t talked to him in twelve years.” She lowered both brows, letting him see just how much he’d angered her. “You know, I never would have taken you for the prejudiced kind. I shared his roof. Not his bad habits.”

“So Colt always used to say. Funny how he suddenly stopped defendin’ you.”

“Gabe.”

Both of them froze as Colt stepped onto the porch.

He was still dressed in blue jeans, but he’d swapped his tee for a button-down shirt. His badge hung on the breast pocket, and he carried a cream-colored cowboy hat in his hand. “I have to head into town. Wade’s on call and has his hands full with a wreck on Silver Tree Road. I’m headin’ into the office in case anything else goes down.”