Texas Kissing (15 page)

Lily

There was a violent jolt as Carl stamped on the brake, cursing.

I’d been staring down at my lap, imagining my fate. Now I looked up, between the front seats and through the windshield.

Bull was standing in front of the car, his hands planted on the hood. His cowboy hat was pulled low against the sun, throwing his eyes into shadow. But I could sense those bright blue orbs staring right at me.

“Who’s this?” asked Carl.

I didn’t say anything. I was too busy staring back at Bull. Willing him to run. Willing him not to.

“Get out of the way,” called Carl through the windshield.

Bull kept his hands planted on the hood. “Right after I speak to my girl there.”

I expected the icy wave of dread. This was exactly what I’d been worried about. What I didn’t expect was the swell of emotion, right in my chest, at those two little words:
my girl.

Carl muttered something and put his foot back on the gas. I guess he figured that he’d inch forward and force Bull to get out of the way.

What he actually did was remove any doubt, in Bull’s mind, that I was in trouble. The car crept forward maybe half an inch. And then Bull growled and leaned forward, muscles bunching...

...and
pushed.
The car stopped moving.

Carl cursed again and pressed harder on the gas. The engine roared and we edged forward.

Bull frowned. I saw his massive shoulders tense. And then he pushed again and I heard the rear wheels slip and kick up dirt.

Carl cursed and put his foot to the floor. The rear wheels spun in place. Bull grunted as he took the strain. “You know why they call me Bull?” he yelled over the roar of the engine. “‘Cause I’m built like one. I can do this all day!”

Carl took his foot off the gas and started to get out of the car, cursing. Before the heavy in the back could stop me, I threw open the door on my side and jumped out.

“You okay?” asked Bull as he straightened up.

I stared at him, still torn. I was debating whether to lie in order to get him out of there safely. But it was too late—the look on my face was enough. Bull’s eyes narrowed.

Carl was still getting out. Bull stepped forward and pushed his door closed with one hand, trapping his neck between the door and the car. “Are you
crazy?
” spluttered Carl.

Bull jerked his head, nodding me over to him. I ran around the car to stand beside him. Meanwhile, the two heavies were looking helplessly at Carl. Every time they started towards him to help, Bull squeezed the door against Carl’s neck in warning and they stopped again.

“You have any idea who you’re dealing with?” Carl croaked, struggling to get free.

“Do you?” rumbled Bull.

Carl glared at him. He wasn’t a small man but Bull was a full head taller and much, much bigger. He stopped struggling.

“Now me and Lily,” said Bull, “are walking out of here. You got any sort of problem with that...I don’t much care.”

Carl glared at me and started to say something
.
But he glanced at Bull’s face and bit it back at the last minute.

Bull let go of the door and slid his arm around my waist. He stepped out of the path of the car and, as soon as Carl and his heavies were back inside, it roared off in a cloud of dust and muffled cursing.

When I looked around at Bull, he was staring straight down at me. I stepped back—only an inch or so, just so that I could have enough room to talk to him. But he used the arm around my waist to pull me in tight against him.

“No,” he growled. “Not this fucking time. This is the part where you tell me everything.”

Lily

I bit my lip as I stared up at him. Part of me was already sliding, instinctually, into full-on denial mode.
It’s nothing! A misunderstanding. Goodbye, Bull.

Except...now that the danger was over, I was shaking from how close I’d come to being badly beaten or even killed.
Really
shaking. I shook my head to indicate that I couldn’t speak, turning from him, my lip trembling. Shit, I was going to—

And suddenly, he was gathering me into his arms, turning me back to face him and wrapping me against his chest. I gave a sort of hiccupping groan and then the tears started.
Shit!
I didn’t want to cry, not about business.
That’s so goddamn weak! Don’t let him think you’re weak!
But I kept thinking of Carl’s fake smile and being driven out somewhere lonely by him and no one looking for me—

“Shh,” said Bull, almost as if speaking to a timid animal. “
Shh—shh.”

I tried to speak but still couldn’t. Eventually, I just pressed my face to his shirt and clutched at the warm, solid muscle of his sides with both hands. I needed something strong and stable and he was the strongest thing I’d ever felt. I sobbed but, instead of spilling down my cheeks, my tears soaked into his shirt. That made me feel better, as if I wasn’t on my own.

When I was all cried out, I gently moved back and looked up into his eyes. The look of concern I saw there almost started me crying all over again.

I knew he’d still want an explanation and that any lie I told wasn’t going to convince him. Not after what he’d seen. And the relationship between us had changed again. Just like when he’d saved my life from the bull, I felt that I owed him.

I hesitated for another moment. I’d kept my work a secret for two long years. Telling Bull was like taking a willing step over the edge of a precipice.

I nodded to my car. “Get in.”

***

Bull looked ridiculous with his massive body folded into the passenger seat of my little Toyota, but he didn’t complain. Nor did he badger me with questions on the short drive out to the bus, which gave me time to compose myself.

When we arrived, he spent a moment just staring at my home. Inside, he eyed the improvements—the kitchen, the stairs down to the bathroom...the bed. Particularly the bed.

To say I hadn’t been expecting guests was an understatement. No one had set foot in the place but me for two years. I kept it pretty clean, but maybe my norms were all off, after two years alone.

“You did all this yourself?” he asked at last. He didn’t sound surprised that I’d managed it; he sounded impressed.

“Yeah,” I said shyly. Then, “I had some time on my hands.”

He nodded slowly, still gazing around. “So what do you do, Lily, that involves assholes like those guys?”

I took a deep breath. I was way past lying, now. Opening up, after so long, was intoxicating. I folded back the bed and revealed my desk.

Bull took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair as he stared. He stepped forward and brushed his fingers across the partially-completed passports, fingering the covers, examining the bundles of special plastics and the strips of holograms I used. He gave a long, low whistle. “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit,” I agreed.

Bull picked up one of the finished passports at random
.
The gold letters on the dark red cover were in Cyrillic. He opened it. “Grigori Arsenyev,” he read.

“His real name’s Yuri. Bodyguard of a Russian arms dealer—Luka Malakov. Yuri managed to get himself on a watch list so now he needs a little help getting into the country.”

Bull turned and stared at me.

“What?” Then I realized I’d said it sort of nonchalantly. This stuff was just normal, to me.

“Just…” he shook his head. “I thought you were all done surprising me.”

I allowed myself a little smile.

He opened another passport. “Mexican. I guess the drug cartels?”

I nodded.

“And Russian arms dealers...” he mused.

“Also the Yakuza, sometimes.” I said helpfully. “The Colombians. I don’t discriminate.” I was smiling. But then the mood changed.

“So you do passports for
anyone?!”

I crossed my arms. “Of course not
anyone.
I check my clients out. Personal recommendations. No one I think is a terrorist. I’ve even tipped off the FBI a few times. Anonymously, of course. And that German asshole today was selling women.” I shuddered. “That’s why I said ‘no’.”

Bull shook his head again. “Jesus, Lily….”

“What?” I could hear the defensive note creep into my voice.

“I just can’t believe you’re mixed up in all this.”

“
Mixed up
in it? What, you think I fell into it by accident? I didn’t get
mixed up
in it. This is what I do.” I held my chin up high.

“
Why?
I mean...you’re smart”—he gestured at the converted bus—”you work your ass off. Why do
this?”

I stiffened. “I found I was uniquely qualified. Most criminals aren’t too smart.” I considered. “Well, Luka’s pretty smart. But most of them aren’t. I’m good at it, okay? And I can do it quietly. I can stay hidden.”

He frowned.
“Why do you need to stay hidden?”

Shit.
I didn’t answer. Instead, I pointed towards my computers. “Most people think it’s just about the physical stuff—the passport, the driver’s license. But these days, those are the easy parts. As soon as they’re scanned, the online records are checked. If they don’t match up, you end up in a very small room at the airport, talking to some guys from Homeland Security.”

“So you’re a hacker, as well.”

I shrugged. “By now, it’s pretty much routine. I have ways into anywhere I need to get to.” It was the first time I’d ever been able to tell someone and I was surprised at how proud I felt. “If I don’t know, I know who to ask and who to pay. Some of it’s hacking, some of it’s favors for the right clerk at the DMV.”

He shook his head again. That stung—I’d been almost glowing with pride as I laid out my whole little empire. “Will you stop shaking your head at me? You wanted the truth.”

He stared at me, eyes blazing. Because he disapproved, or because I’d been keeping it from him? Neither alternative was good. At last, he slumped down on my couch. “Why do you need to stay hidden?” he asked again.

Shit.
I’d been hoping I’d distracted him from that one. I tried to come up with an answer that was both truthful—because I was sick of lying—and that would close down this line of questioning. “Things got complicated in New York. I had to leave.”

He stared at me. “You’re gonna have to do better than that,” he rumbled.

Bull

She shook her head. The way all that silky hair tossed around took the edge off my anger—damn it, I was mad as hell at her, but all I wanted to do was run over there and kiss her. Didn’t she realize what she was messing with? Mexican drug cartels? And a Russian goddamn arms dealer? I didn’t want a guy like that anywhere near my Lily.
Luka Malakov?
I imagined a pale blob of a man with thinning, greasy hair, his stomach straining at his suit. Probably leering at her as he tried to get her price down, and she’d feel she had to flirt with him to keep him happy….