Royal Trouble (23 page)

But old man?
  He thought he had shown her last night he was up to any challenge she could throw at him...and then some.
With a growl, he stomped toward the living room. 

He'd show her old man
.

Plopping down on the sofa, he propped one calf on his thigh, because he needed the room in his jeans.  His eyes darted over to her in the recliner, and he almost fell off of the sofa.  She had thrown her leg over the arm of the chair, and the hem of her skirt was bunched up at the top of her smooth thighs, exposing her soft pink folds to him.  She
didn't
have on fucking underwear! 

Fire shot to his crotch, and Wes groaned. "Didn't your mama teach you how to sit like a lady?" he asked as if he were the old man she had accused him of being.

Leigh Ann popped the last piece of sandwich into her mouth, then swallowed a long drink of her beer, exposing the long column of her throat, a place he had concentrated on licking last night, before looking at him. 

Lust slammed into him like a fist to the stomach, when she turned the full power of those intense bright blue eyes on him, as she flicked the volume button on the remote to turn it down.  "Did you say something?" she asked shifting toward him in the chair, thrusting her hips forward, which gave him a full on view of the pretty pink folds between her legs.

Desire rocked him and Wes shot to his feet and shouted, "Close your damned legs!"

Her hands flew to her chest and her eyes widened.  Leigh Ann batted her eyes twice as if not understanding, then let her hands drift down over her breasts toward her lap, her fingers brushed her nipples and they hardened.  So did Wes, painfully so.

"What?" she asked innocently.

Wes gritted his teeth.  "Close your legs, Leigh Ann.  My son is in this house!"

"He went outside, didn't he?" she asked and batted her eyes again.

"Just close your damned legs," he repeated in a higher pitched voice.

Her full lower lip stuck out then she bit the side then said, "I was hot."

She was fucking hot all right, hot enough that she had him sweating.  Wes wasn't sure, but he had a niggling suspicion she was doing this crap on purpose.  For what reason he had no idea.  She said she didn't want to have sex with him again, but here she was teasing him out of his mind.

"I'm going outside with Trey," he growled then took a step toward the back door, but his phone rang in his pocket.  Wes stopped in the dining room and pushed the button, "Yeah?" he answered gruffly. 

It was the manager of a farm on the north side of town who had two cows that broke out of their pasture.  The animals had injuries and the manager thought they needed to be looked at tonight.  Wes had never been happier to be called out to work.  He told the man it would be forty-five minutes or so, before he could get there.

He hung up the phone, then announced, "I've got a farm call, I'm calling my mother to come and get Trey."

"I can watch him until you get back," she offered sitting up in the chair to pull her skirt over her legs.

"I don't think that's a good id--" he started, but she stood and held up her hand.

"He can stay here with me," she insisted.  "We'll be fine.  There's no sense in bothering your mother."

Wes thought about it, studied her for a second then decided she was right.  His mom had just come off of vacation, and was most likely doing laundry.  She was probably bone tired.  Pointing a finger at her though, he said, "Don't corrupt my son!  Get some underwear on, please.  He needs a bath and to be in bed by ten o'clock."

Her face flushed, but the corner of her mouth kicked up as she told him, "It's Friday night, Wes...ten o'clock?  Really?"  As if he were the old man she had accused him of being.

"Ten o'clock," he repeated firmly.  "I'll probably be back by then anyway," he said gruffly on the way to the front door, where he mumbled, "Thank you."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Leigh Ann had no idea why she offered to keep Trey while Wes went on his farm call.  Other than she liked the kid, really liked him, and wanted to spend a little more time with him before she left here.  He was funny, and charming and so innocent.  The world through his eyes was a wonderful place.  So unlike his jaded father.

Like a broken record, Wes's words to his mother had been playing in her mind all afternoon.  The more they played, the more irritated she became.  How dare he, do that to her, say those things about her as if knew her.  The man evidently didn't know a damned thing about her.  She was not selfish, she cared about people too much.  Many, many times in her life, she had put their needs above her own. 

She didn't cheat or lie, either like his ex-wife had done.  Well, except for the tiny lie by omission.  She still hadn't told him about being Miss Texas.  Because she had promised her sister she wouldn't.  But Leigh Ann was a good person, there was no reason for him to think that about her.  She hadn't done anything to make him believe that about her.

He wasn't any better than the men she had been engaged to before.  They had all used her, or wanted to do that.  The only difference was at least those four men treated her with respect, and like they thought she was worth something other than a good time in bed.  Even if that was only decorating their arm, making other men envy them, and making them feel important, when she was with them.  Wes treated her like she was worthless, a waste of his time.  He would get rid of her, but not before he paid for being such an ass. 

Leigh Ann wasn't vindictive, before now she didn't have a mean bone in her body.  She let everyone walk all over her, and smiled while they did it.  Not anymore, she was changing that.  Today.  Wes had done her a favor by making her mad enough to find her backbone.  She would need it to find her independence, and maybe then her sister would respect her at least.

The front door flung back on its hinges and Trey ran inside, waited for Silas to follow him, then slammed it behind him.  His sneakers squeaked across the floor, and he skidded to a stop beside the sofa. 

"Hey, Miss Leigh Ann!" he said with a grin then put his hands on his hips. "Where'd my daddy go?"

"He had a farm call," she informed then wrinkled her nose.  "What's that smell?" she asked swallowing hard as her sandwich seesawed in her stomach.

"Silas found a dead coon, and rolled on it.  He likes to do that." With a shrug of his shoulders, he added with a small smile, "I tried to stop him..."

Gagging a couple times, Leigh Ann realized it was both the boy
and
the dog that reeked.  "Goodness, ya'll stink," she said pinching her nose.

"You'll get used to it," he replied with a giggle.

"I don't think so, sir....ya'll both need a bath.  You go upstairs and get in the tub, and I'll bathe Silas outside."

"Okay," Trey said as he ran for the stairs.

"Wait!" Leigh Ann shouted behind him.  She went to the kitchen to get a garbage bag from under the sink, then handing it to him instructed, "Put your clothes in this bag and tie it up."

"Really?"  His hazel eyes looked unsure, but he took the bag.

"Yes sir, I'll wash them later."  Trey needed to wash up right now though, the smell was overwhelming.  Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes watered, as she pointed a finger at the stairs and ordered, "Tub...now."

Trey took off for the stairs, and Silas tried to follow, but she grabbed his collar and dragged him toward the patio doors.  "Oh, no you don't...we're going outside to clean you up," she informed the filthy hound dog, as she stopped to open the door and pull him outside.  He put on the brakes on the concrete, and she tried to pick him up to carry him to the side of the house where she had seen the hose, but he was too heavy for her to lift.

Evidently the dog knew what was coming, and wasn't on board with the idea.

"Come on, Silas, work with me here," she grumbled and got a better grip on his collar, managing to get him to the steps.  A bottle of dog shampoo, sitting in the corner caught her eye, and she figured this wasn't the first time he had been bathed out there, probably for the same reason. 

Leigh Ann released his collar and met the dog's eyes to give him a glare.  Pointing, she told him firmly, "Stay!"

The dog dropped on his rear to sit there staring at her.  Keeping her eyes on him, she walked across the deck and picked up the shampoo, then brought it back, before leading Silas down the steps and around the side of the deck. 

Bending, she picked up the nozzle of the hose, and turned it on.  Water shot from the nozzle in every direction, the stinging spray hitting her in the eyes, and drenching her clothes at the same time.  Sputtering, Leigh Ann dropped the hose.  Like an angry snake, it swung wildly across the grass, soaking her from head to toe.  Swiping at her eyes, she heard Silas bay loudly, then watched him make a dash for freedom toward the woods.   

"Damn!" she cursed, pulling her wet tank top away from her breasts.

Stomping across the yard, Leigh Ann scanned the yard for the grossly odoriferous dog.  At the edge of the unfenced back yard, she spotted him near the tree line.  Stiffening her shoulders with purpose, she headed over there as she yelled, "Silas, come here you bad dog!"

He dropped to the ground, and rolled onto his back in feigned submission.  She got nearer and Leigh Ann got suspicious when Silas rocked back and forth on his back, his face a picture of ecstasy.  The closer she got, the stronger the smell became, until it was beyond overwhelming.  Ten feet back from the dog, she stopped and gagged, covering her nose and mouth with her hand when she realized he'd found the coon again. 

With a muffled curse, she shouted, "Get your ass over here, Silas, I'm not coming to get you!"  The dog stopped rocking and looked at her.  She would almost swear he was grinning and taunting her with his big brown eyes.  Dogs didn't grin did they?

"Come here, Silas!" she shouted again.

With a sound that resembled a human harrumph, the dog rocked once more then rolled to his short stumpy legs and ambled over to her.  She grabbed his collar then bent to duck-walk him back toward the porch.  That turned out to be entirely too up close and personal with the stinky animal, and she gagged again.

Leigh Ann's toe snagged on a hole, then she felt herself falling.  The collar twisted in her fingers, Silas yelped, and Leigh Ann hit the hard packed ground losing her breath.  A gentle breeze teased the back of her legs and Leigh Ann suddenly realized her skirt was up around her waist.  The no underwear thing had been funny at the time, when she decided to tease Wes with it.  Now?  Not so funny, she thought, as she quickly pulled the skirt down to cover herself.

She rolled onto her back and covered her eyes with her forearm while she caught her breath.  A cold wet tongue licked her cheek, narrowly missing her mouth.  Leigh Ann sputtered, swinging her arm wildly.  "Ugh, back off, Silas." 

Something heavy landed on her chest, Leigh Ann opened her eyes.  The dog's nose was almost flush to hers, his doggie breath smelling almost as bad as the raccoon funk.  He got this goofy look in his eyes, and Leigh Ann thought he was about to try and kiss her again.  She shot up and the dog rolled off to sit there staring at her. 

"Disgusting!" she wailed, brushing herself off, as if that was going to help.  Now she had dog saliva all over her face and smelled like the decomposing raccoon too, wonderful. 

Huffing out a breath, she grabbed his collar, holding it tight as she dragged him back over to the hose.  Yanking the nozzle up again, she ignored the stinging spray on her own body, figuring she needed a bath too right now.  She went to work on the filthy animal, while he bayed and tried to get away from her.

By the time she finished bathing him, Leigh Ann was soaked to the skin, but knew she didn't smell any better.  But Silas did, so she was making progress.  It might take a fumigation process like she had gone through with Ethan at the R & R to make her smell better.  She sure hoped not though.  Leigh Ann never wanted to see a can of tomato juice again.  It was just a little raccoon funk, right?  Not skunk spray. 

Where was Ethan when she needed him? He would know what to do.  He was probably making love to her sister.  Why the hell couldn't she be so lucky? 

Roxanne had found a good man to love, Leigh Ann was starting to have serious doubts about that ever happening for her. 
Wes is a good man
, her subconscious whispered, but her conscious mind rejected that.  Wes Jepson was a damaged, callous man who thought she was a throwaway woman.

It's not like that, mama.  She's not the type of woman I want, or need.  She's just my assistant, nothing more. 
Those words were burned into her brain, because they were brutally honest.  But the man sure hadn't had a problem making love to her.  She was good enough to sleep with, but he wanted another kind of woman for a relationship.  And he didn't even have the balls to tell her that to her face.

Like his mother, Leigh Ann wondered what kind of woman that would be.  Whoever the unlucky woman was, Leigh Ann wished her luck breaking through that hard shell he used to protect himself.  She was starting to think maybe his ex-wife had removed his heart, and taken it with her when she left him.

Leigh Ann just needed to forget about the man and move on. 

Her eyes burned again, but this time it wasn't from the dead raccoon smell, it was from the scent of her decomposing heart and self-confidence. 

Focusing on the problem at hand, Leigh Ann dragged Silas up the steps to the back door, grabbed the leash from the small table beside the door then clipped it on.  She couldn't take the dog into the house soaking wet, he would ruin the carpet, so she put the loop of the leash under the leg of the table.

She was still bending over when Silas shook his body violently.  His ears spun like a fan and directed the water from his coat directly into her face.  With a curse, she swiped her face with her arm, then pushed open the heavy sliding door.  The cool air inside the house mixed with the water to chill her to the bone.  She shivered, wrapped her arms around herself then heard Trey's feet as he scrambled down the stairs.