Trouble In Dixie (2 page)

Mostly, he missed being part of a couple,
having someone to talk to, be with, to trust that she'd love him no
matter what. Maggie had not only been his lover and wife, she'd
been his friend. They'd met in college, and had dated for two
years, before they got married. Who'd have thought three years
later, she'd be gone, and he'd have a daughter to raise alone.

After he finished his beer, Tommy threw the
bottle in the garbage then went back to lean on the post. He pulled
his hat down low over his eyes, and crossed his arms over his
chest, hoping that sent the message to leave him the fuck
alone.

Katie was still on the dance floor with the
same man, but now she was suctioned to his body like plastic wrap
on banana pudding. They rubbed together to the slow sexy rhythm of
the song the band was playing, and the longer he watched the more
agitated Tommy got, but he knew there wasn't a damned thing he
could, or would, do about it.

After the slow song finished, the band
started playing another two step, then he jumped when someone
walked up to his left and said, "Hey good looking, wanna dance?" He
looked down into Karlie Upton's bright blue eyes, the same blue
eyes as those of her twin sister, the ones that haunted him when he
closed his own at night.

Tommy studied the wilder of the beautiful
twins, and noticed mischief and purpose sparkling in her gaze.
She'd evidently seen what her sister was up to, and that prompted
her to ask him to dance. With a glance back at Katie on the dance
floor, still two-stepping with the cowboy, he thought, what the
hell, and grabbed her hand. "Sure," he said shortly, then dragged
her toward the dance floor.

Tommy spun her in two quick circles then
moved right into a two step, not missing a beat. Resting his hand
on her lower back, he guided her around the floor, looking deeply
into her eyes, with a pasted smile on his face. At every corner, he
spun Karlie, then pulled her back to his chest.

She leaned toward him and shouted, "Whew,
you sure do dance well, sugar. This is fun...where'd you learn to
dance?"

He pulled her a little closer and leaned
next to her ear and said, "My wife liked to dance, so I learned,"
he told her, then stood back up with hollowness filling his chest.
The pity in Karlie's eyes was almost his undoing, but she pulled
her gaze away from his and looked to the left.

Most women had the same reaction when he
mentioned his deceased wife, and it irritated him, because he
didn't want or deserve their pity. Maggie was dead because of
him
. That's not something he told anyone though...ever.

When the song ended, Tommy dipped Karlie,
and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then said near her ear, "Thanks,
darlin'...it's been a long time, and that was fun."

A slow song came on and Karlie grabbed his
hand and pulled him to the middle of the floor then wrapped her
arms around his neck. "If we're going to do this, let's do it
right. Can't stop with a two-step, we need to really give her a
show," she told him and tiptoed to give him a light, but lingering
kiss on his lips, then laid her head on his chest.

He knew that she was putting on a show for
her sister, and he appreciated the effort, but Tommy wasn't one to
play games with women, this time though, he might make an
exception.

"You're a mess, you know that?" Tommy told
her with a chuckle, then put his hands on her ass and pulled her
closer to him. "You and your sister are nothing but trouble,
sugar."

"But the kind of trouble you like, right?"
she asked with a saucy grin.

"It's starting to grow on me," he told her
then added, "I never realized how boring my life was until ya'll
came along."

It wasn't quite the truth, Tommy knew how
boring it was, there just wasn't anything he could do about it.
This was his penance for his part in Maggie's death, his former
mother-in-law had told him so at the hospital the night he made the
decision to save Dixie, instead of her daughter...being alone for
the rest of his life, raising his daughter alone.

She looked up into his eyes and smiled. "If
there's one thing that can be said about the Upton twins, we're
never boring, sugar," she said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Suddenly, he had to know about that
threesome thing, because thinking about it was driving him crazy.
These twins were driving him crazy. If Katie wouldn't tell him,
maybe Karlie would, so he asked, "Tell me about Wade Roberts and
what happened..."

"Just suffice it to say that he doesn't
think the Upton twins are boring either. We taught him a little
lesson he's not likely to forget anytime soon," she said with a
chuckle then added seriously, "We didn't sleep with him,
Tommy...."

Relief poured through him, then he huffed
out a breath and told her, "Thanks for telling me. I was worried
about the influence she'd have on Dixie, if I kept her on at the
Rockin' D. I have to be careful." He had to be careful to stay away
from Katie too, because every time he was around the beautiful
redhead, he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss that sassy
mouth of hers.

That would open a whole other can of worms
though, and his former mother-in-law would hate him even more...and
Tommy sure didn't need any more guilt. Tommy hoped one day she'd
let go of her grudge and have a relationship with her
granddaughter, but he didn't hold out much hope.

In the ten years since Maggie had died,
Edith hadn't spoken to him, or seen Dixie, although he'd tried to
get her to do that. Edith Preston was stubborn, and so buried in
her grief, she couldn't see how a relationship with Dixie, who was
the spitting image of Maggie, could help her deal with her
grief.

Surprised flickered over Karlie's face and
her brows drew together, then she pulled back from him a little and
asked, "So this isn't about you liking Katie? As a woman, I
mean?"

"Katie's a beautiful woman, and I like her a
lot, but protecting Dixie is my first priority."

Protecting Dixie would always be his
priority, but this was about a lot more than that. Tommy wasn't
going to tell her sister that though...she was already trying to
play matchmaker with this dance exhibition.

When the song ended, he pulled Karlie
against him and hugged her, then kissed her cheek, before he led
her toward the bar to get a drink. On the way there, they passed a
table where Katie was sitting, biting her lip and twirling a beer
in her hand.

Katie wouldn't look at either of them, she
just stared out at the dance floor and twirled that empty beer
bottle. The cowboy she'd been dancing with was nowhere around.
Tommy's shoulders relaxed a little, as they walked up to the bar
and he ordered a beer for both of them.

Karlie picked up her beer, then winked at
Tommy, and told him, "Follow me..." before she walked back to the
table and sat right beside Katie. Leaning close to her sister, she
asked, "Need another beer, sis?"

Tommy didn't know what Karlie was up to, but
he was sure he'd find out in a minute, so he stood back in the
shadows and watched. Karlie was up to something, that was obvious.
Katie didn't respond to her question for a minute, she just turned
her body away from her sister and folded her arms over her chest
Finally Katie told her sulkily, "Go dance and leave me the hell
alone, Karlie."

Karlie snorted, then told her "Looked like
you were doing enough dancing for the both of us...have fun dancing
with the jackass?" Tommy assumed she was talking about the rugged
looking cowboy Katie had been dancing with.

Katie grunted then told her in an agitated
tone, "That should be my question for you, sister."

Karlie looked back over her shoulder at
Tommy and grinned, then told her sister, "Yeah, Tommy is such a
jackass, huh? And just butt ugly...I swear if he didn't wear a hat,
buzzards would be gnawing on him..."

He saw Katie's shoulders tense and noticed
Karlie was barely holding in the laughter he saw in her eyes, when
she added smugly, "I swear there's not a cowgirl in Texas who would
hookup with that loser. I just danced with him out of pity," then
she finished for effect, "And that kid of his...what a little
pest."

Evidently Karlie's words had the desired
effect on her sister, because he heard Katie growl, then she spun
around to face Karlie. With her beautiful blue eyes sparkling with
anger, she grated, "Don't you dare talk about Tommy or Dixie like
that! He's damned good-looking and a good man, and you know it! Any
cowgirl would be lucky to have him!"

Her defense of him surprised the shit out of
Tommy, and he stepped forward and smiled at her then asked, "Is
that so?" then he walked over and grabbed her hand, pulling her to
her feet, then he towed her toward the dance floor. "Dance with me
cowgirl, and show me how
lucky
you are."

Katie's face flushed and she tried to pull
her hand from his, but he held on and dragged her onto the dance
floor. A slow song was playing, and he pulled her tightly against
him, and wrapped his arms around her waist, and groaned because she
fit against him so perfectly.

His body instantly reacted, and Tommy knew
this was a crazy move on his part, but he couldn't help himself,
he'd been fighting this for three weeks, and had just lost the
battle. She felt better in his arms than in any fantasy he'd had
about her...and he'd had a lot.

Her spicy scent drifted up to his nose and
Tommy inhaled deeply, as it intoxicated him. When she looked up at
him her soft blueberry eyes were full of the same things he was
feeling, and Tommy couldn't help himself, he lowered his mouth to
hers, because he had to taste her.

The reality of her sweet lips against his
shocked him, they seemed to hum with electricity as he feasted on
them, the hot current shot though his whole body, short circuiting
his brain. So soft and responsive beneath his, her lips made him to
want the kiss to never end, and he wanted so much more, it scared
him.

Her lips were like the key that opened the
Pandora's box where he'd been hiding all the emotions he'd been
bottling up inside of him for so long. Nothing mattered to him
right now, except reveling in this heady release, and finally
letting Katie know what he was feeling.

Nipping her lower lip, he sucked it into his
mouth, then ran his tongue over it, asking for entry, wanting to
deepen the kiss. Pleasure raced through him when she moaned and
opened for him, then his tongue found hers and he enticed it into
an erotic dance. As the slow rhythmic music danced around them, he
made love to her mouth, like he couldn't to her body.

Katie's hands moved to his butt and she
pulled him against her then circled her hips against him, before
dragging her mouth from his. She looked into his eyes, and hers
were glittering with desire, as she whispered over his lips, "I
want more Tommy..."

When Katie's words penetrated his foggy
brain, and pushed past his arousal, he felt the blood drain from
his face, then he dropped his hands from her waist and took a step
back. Tommy knew what her more included, and it wasn't just sex, he
couldn't give her that. It was why he'd been avoiding getting
closer to her, since he'd met her, even though it had been killing
him for weeks.

"More is something I can't give you,
sweetheart...this is all I've got," he told her in a tortured
voice, then separated himself from her completely, as the song
ended. "I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry...it won't happen
again," he promised then turned on his heel and walked off.

CHAPTER ONE

Katie slugged back a bottled water from the
mini fridge in the office of the barn. It felt like she was making
mud pies in her mouth, she'd swallowed so much dust today. Since it
hadn't rained much at all lately, the outdoor arena was nothing but
dust. After working three cutter prospects with a calf in the
arena, she was coated in it.

With every day she worked at the Rockin' D,
it seemed there was always more to be done. She'd been here three
months now, and she'd managed to work herself into helping with
everything. That was Katie's way though, she was a helper, a people
pleaser, and she paid for it, because people took advantage of
her--a lot. Anything she could do to make someone else's life
easier, she signed on for it, even if it made her own harder. It
kept her busy, but sometimes being so nice was a drag.

An example? Taking care of Snuggles, that
damned bulldog Tommy had bought for Dixie. Did he make his daughter
be responsible for it? Hell no, he let her and Cookie take care of
the dog, but Dixie got to play with him, and dress him up in those
stupid clothes like he was a doll.

Another was Katie giving up her lunch time
several days this week to give Dixie riding lessons and a roping
demonstration. In her opinion, Dixie wasn't quite ready to try
roping herself, because she needed to be a better rider first, and
that didn't please the little girl, but Katie didn't care. Safety
was always her first priority when teaching someone. Once Dixie got
a little more comfortable with riding, Katie would teach her to
rope. One more thing to fit into her ever growing schedule.

Tommy Tucker, her boss, certainly hadn't
been much help. She'd barely seen him, since they got back after
the retirement barbecue at the Double B three months ago. After
he'd kissed the stuffing out of her at the barbecue, then
apologized, he'd been avoiding her like the plague. He was doing a
good job of it too, she hadn't even seen the man in over a week.
She didn't know if he was at the ranch, or away. During the time
since the barbecue, they might have had two conversations, and
those were hardly conversations. He wouldn't even look her in the
eye. It was like she'd grown warts on the end of her nose or
something, but she knew that wasn't true, because she'd looked.