Trish, Just Trish (9 page)

New mission: Find out who Shannon is.

“If I can get her to show up on time, then
yeah, she helps, but she’s only a tech. I need another licensed
vet. This town is small, but the properties are large. It’s not
easy getting from one side of town to the next in the same day and
I could use another body.”

I cut in, “I’d love to help you, but I’m not
going to be here for long, at least I don’t think, but I’d still
love to help while I’m here.” I refused to look at Tony who had
moved to stand at my side.

“Well, email me your resume. It’s my
practice, so I won’t be doing any formal interview, but I’d like to
have it just the same,” Shane said.

“She can’t,” Tony put in his two cents.

I glared at him.

“I can, though, it might only be for a month
or so,” was my response because I decided, right then and there,
that if Zacharias wasn’t caught before the month was up, I was
still leaving.

“You’re not doin’ it,” Tony said again.

“I’m doing it,” I said louder.

“Trish, we’ll talk about it later.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Tony--” I
started, but got rudely interrupted when he grabbed my hand and
tugged me off toward the stable.

“Let go of me,” I demanded as I yanked at my
arm.

“Think about it, Trish! The offer still
stands when you’re ready. It was nice to meet you!” I heard Shane
call out. I tried to look back, but Tony dragged me behind him so
fast that we were inside the stable in no time.

He pushed me inside an empty stall, shoved
me up against the wall and his hands dropped to my ass. His mouth
slammed down on mine.

He kissed me until I was panting and I
whimpered.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, laced my
fingers through his hair and held on. When I deepened the kiss, he
groaned against my mouth. We both fought for the upper hand until
suddenly, he pulled back.

“Keep fighting with me, mi reina. All it
does it make me want you more,” he whispered against my lips.

I froze.

I wanted this so much, but his endearment,
the one he used to call me all the time, slapped me in the
face.

“Let me go,” I ordered, as I shoved at his
chest. “You have some bitch stay the night with you while I’m
sleeping in the other room and you have the balls to touch me now?
And this morning?”

The look on his face spoke volumes. I knew
that he knew he’d fucked up, but he didn’t let me go.

“I know you want this too,” he said deep and
low.

“You’re right,” I whispered. “But I don’t
take what doesn’t belong to me.”

Our eyes met. His face still within an inch
of mine and his jaw clenched.

“I don’t belong to anyone,” he said, and for
some reason, his words really struck a nerve.

“Well, you never really did, did you? You
never belonged to me. I made one mistake and you used it to push me
away so you could continue chasing tail just like you did before
me.” I shook my head at the discovery. “I gave you the perfect out
back then and didn’t even know I was doing it at the time.”

This time, the muscle in Tony’s jaw didn’t
just tick, it jumped and I knew he was pissed because the next
words out of his mouth were ground out.

“I loved you and you fucked someone else,”
he said.

He actually believed that?

I was tired.

“You know what, Tony? I already told you
what happened, but you’re choosing not to believe me, which is
fine. Keep thinking I cheated on you if it makes you feel better
for abandoning me. Whatever helps you sleep at night. I’ve said it
and I’ll say it again. What I did was extremely childish and I’m
embarrassed by my actions, but you’re just as much at fault as I
am,” I hissed in his face because he still hadn’t moved back.

“I’ll never forgive you. Even if there was a
chance that I could believe you, I’ll never forgive you,” he
declared and I could have cried at the finality in his voice.

Tears burned my eyes, but, as always, I held
them back.

“Then the least you can do is stay away from
me while I’m here. I’ll stay here, I’ll find things to do to keep
me occupied, but only for one month. Whether or not this shit gets
figured out with that Zacharias guy, I’m out of here.”

“Mi reina
,
a
s
much as I hate
you, as much as I don’t trust you, I won’t be able to stay away
from you.” His face lowered and I turned mine away.

“I crave you,” he said as he turned my face
back to his.

I froze.

“I crave your mouth.” His lips brushed
feather light against mine before he nipped my bottom lip.

“I crave your body.” His hand lifted to the
side of my breast. He embraced me and my whole body begged for
more.

“I crave your attitude. When those big brown
eyes burn with so much passion it sets me on fire. I ache to put it
out for the both of us.” He ground his hips against mine and I
wanted them between my legs. His hand continued to caress my breast
through my shirt and I pressed deeper.

“You want it, mi reina
.
I want it and
I’m taking it. You fight me, you’ll only make it happen
faster.”

My body ached, but I wasn’t too far gone to
know this was wrong.

“I’ll never be one of your women--”

His lips slammed down on mine and cut me
off. My shriek came out muffled when Tony’s hands dropped to my ass
and lifted me up so fast, I would have fallen backwards had the
wall not been there. I wrapped my legs around his hips and held
on.

He swung us around, threw me down and fell
on top. Whatever I landed on was soft; prickly, but soft… hay.

His hardness ground into my softness and I
met his actions. When his hand tangled in the back of my hair, I
lifted my head to kiss him deeper; harsher. He groaned in my mouth,
which only fueled my fire. My hands found the hem of his shirt and
I yanked it up as far as I could.

“Jesus,” he hissed when I dragged my nails
down his defined abs to unbutton his jeans. I slid my hands around
his hips to find purchase deep inside his jeans to squeeze his ass
and I pressed my hips further into his.

He was rock hard.

“Wait,” he muttered, but that was the last
thing I wanted to hear. I held him tighter, but he managed to break
free and pull back. My hands slid out of the back his jeans and I
tried to hold him in place with my thighs because I did
not
want him to leave me, but he lifted completely and my hands fell
away.

Before I had time to think, he moved,
grabbed my shirt at the V of my neck and ripped it all the way down
to my stomach.

My breathing came wild and heavy, as I
watched him caress my body with his eyes. I couldn’t help but do an
internal happy dance that I wore my see-through, lacy pink bra.
When our eyes met, my breath caught at the absolute hunger
there.

“So damn beautiful,” he whispered as he
lifted his body higher. He lifted a hand and ran the palm across my
bare belly and his eyes left mine to trace the movement. When my
stomach clenched at the intimate, possessive touch, his eyes met
mine again.

“I need you,” he admitted, just before he
pulled down the cup of my bra. He lowered, dipped his head and
filled his mouth with my sensitive flesh. His tongue paid close
attention to the aching tip and I tangled my fingers in his
hair.

He moved to the other breast, played with me
and teased me until he licked his way up my chest, up my neck and
back to my mouth, the whole time fumbling to unbutton my jeans.

When he got the top button undone, our kiss
deepened.

“Welp! Nothin’ like gettin’ caught with your
pants down, boy!” I heard shouted out in an extremely loud,
extremely deep southern accent.

I wanted to die.

Larry!

Tony groaned, closed his eyes and moved to
rest his forehead on my shoulder.

“Oh my God,” I whispered. Tony lifted his
head, opened his eyes and stared straight into mine.

He looked furious.

“This is so embarrassing,” I whispered.

“You might wanna get outta there now, Tony.
We got riders showin’ up.” Larry called out again.

“Shit,” Tony hissed.

He lifted to his knees, stood, pulled up his
jeans and buttoned them while I moved to sit up and hold my shirt
closed. I watched with curiosity as Tony ripped his t-shirt off and
held it out to me, but I lost focus. My sights were now set on
Tony’s broad chest, the light sprinkling of hair between his pecs,
his six-pack and the love line started at his belly button and lead
into his jeans.

He was all man and my body screamed “Jump
him!”

I let my eyes travel back up to his. He was
grinning.

“Put that on,” he said through a chuckle and
I snatched the shirt out of his hand. I wiggled my ripped one free
and put his on; all while he watched. It smelled so good that I let
it linger for a moment too long. It smelled like detergent and I
wondered if he washed his own clothes because it didn’t seem like
something he would do. I wondered if he didn’t do it, then who did?
Then, I wondered if BJ did it for him.

I dropped the shirt like a bad habit and it
fell against my skin. I felt sick to my stomach.

“Don’t start,” he demanded, obviously
catching the look of disgust on my face. He held his hand out for
me. I took it and spoke the whole way up.

“I’m not going to start because we
started
the minute you pushed me up against the wall, but
whatever we
started
has just
ended
,” I stated before
I looked down to straighten out my clothes while I thought about
how good my little speech sounded. So, I was completely caught off
guard when Tony laughed. And not just any laugh, but the kind of
laugh that makes your eyes water.

“What the hell is so funny?”

“You. You’re outta your mind if you think
this is finished. Now, turn around and let me get the hay out of
your hair before someone sees you like this.” My hand immediately
flew to the tangled mess behind my head and Tony walked a few steps
closer to help me.

“Are you just going to walk out there
without a shirt,” I asked.

“Don’t have much of a choice; it’s either me
or you and if any one of those pretty boys see you naked I’ll be
fuckin’ pissed.”

I closed my eyes and my posture slouched.
His possessive remarks were really starting to get to me because I
liked hearing them too much. I wanted to be his and he knew it too;
especially after out little romp in the hay, but he didn’t have to
rub it in.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, my voice
quiet, my tone tired. When his eyes locked on mine, I continued,
“Are you doing this to hurt me back because I hurt you? I already
hurt, Tony. For two years I hurt and I don’t want to feel like this
anymore. Not a day has passed that I haven’t regretted what I did
to you… to us. But I want to be happy again. I want to move on with
my life. I want someone to love me, I want marriage and I want a
family… I’m not talking about with you, so stop panicking,” I added
when his face paled.

“You have someone else. I know you’ve had
plenty someone else’s since me, but Bobbie Jo is obviously
important to you. I’m not even going to think about what you two
did together last night, but letting you get between my legs the
very next morning, doesn’t say much about me. It’s not right and I
won’t be that person,” I finished softly, but with a little more
determination.

“You regret what we just did?” he asked.

“No. I enjoyed what we just did, but it was
wrong. I’m sorry,” I whispered. I couldn’t quite read the
expression on Tony’s face as he stared back at me, but as soon as
Larry shouted for us to hurry up again, his body snapped out of the
daze it was in.

He sighed long and hard, and his eyes were
pained. “I’ll walk you back to the house. We’ll finish this
later.”

I responded with a tight nod. It was for the
best. I refused to let myself be the other woman.

I started through the stall, turned to walk
out and looked up at Tony when I felt his hand rest on my lower
back. I decided to pay no attention to him and I focused the people
I assumed were the riders… or jockeys. They stared at us too.

I only imagined how odd we looked, a woman
wearing a man’s baggy shirt, and a man with no shirt on at all,
walking out of the stable.

“Can I use your house phone to make three
long distance calls since you so kindly tossed my cell?” I asked as
soon as we walked in the house. He raised one brow questioningly
and I rolled my eyes.

“I need to call the phone company to cancel
my cell, I need to check in with Lex and then I need to call my
parents.”

“There’s a phone in the kitchen. I’ll write
down my cell phone number and leave it on the counter. I have
things I need to take care of outside and I’m not sure when I’ll be
back, so make yourself at home and call me if you need me for
anything. And keep the doors locked,” he ordered.

He left to get another shirt and then for
work. I spent the next two hours making calls and giving
explanations. I canceled my cell first. Then, I called my parents.
Dad was work, so I got Gayle, which was for the best.

“I’m so happy he came to his senses,” Gayle
gushed and I had to put a stop to that.

“Gayle, I’m not here because Tony wants me
here… or he does want me here, but only because he’s trying to do
the right thing so he’ll have a clear conscience when this thing
with Zacharias is all over.” I’d explained the situation to her,
but her main concern seemed to be Tony.

“Honey,” she started softly, “You can’t make
a man do anything he doesn’t want to do. I have a feeling he wants
you there for more than just a clear conscience. I think you should
try to work things out with him.”