Tying You Down (19 page)

“You have a ranch to run,” she said.

“I’ve got good help,” he said. “My ranch hands will see to the place.” She started to speak again but he moved his hand to the cheek that wasn’t bruised. “I’ll be back to see you this afternoon.” He brushed his knuckles against her soft skin. “You’re tired. Get some sleep.”

Her body had seemed tense but as he spoke she sank against her pillows and let out her breath. “I think you’re right. I could use some sleep.” She sighed. “I’m a little worried about my bar.”

“Don’t worry about Jo-Jo’s or anything else,” he said. “With Charlee’s and Tess’s help, we’ll make sure everything is taken care of. You have good managers so everything will be fine.”

“I know you’re right,” she said. “Thank you.”

He leaned forward and kissed her lightly. He drew back and she smiled at him. “See you later,” she said.

“See you.” He let her hand slip from his as he stood. He turned and headed for the door and paused with his hand on the doorframe. He gave her one last long look over his shoulder before he walked out of the room.

Chapter 28

“The bitch is
still
alive,” David growled as he stood in his apartment and spoke on the phone to the ex-con he’d hired, Russ Dugan. “Why the hell did you try to kill her with a fucking truck?”

“I don’t know how she survived,” Russ said in his slow manner of speech. “I smashed the hell out of that car.”

Furious, David scowled and picked up his car keys from an end table. He grabbed his briefcase and his laptop case. Not only was Jo alive, but she’d barely been injured. How the hell she survived the accident virtually unscathed was beyond him.

“I even poisoned Tate McBride’s cattle to keep him busy,” Russ said. “Didn’t have to worry about him coming to her rescue.”

“You fucked it up.” David growled out his fury. “I’m not paying you until she’s dead.”

Russ spoke in a hard voice. “The way I see it, you’re going to have to come up with more cash. Or I’m coming after you.”

Cold rushed over David and his skin prickled.

“I’d say another five grand will do just fine,” Russ said.

“I don’t have that much more.”

“Find it.” Russ’s words were sharp with a finality that chilled David even more.

Russ disconnected the call.

Shit.
David realized he’d misjudged Russ. The man was smarter than he appeared to be. David would have to take another five grand off of Charlee’s credit card, which would be a total of twelve thousand. Considering he was just supposed to be throwing her a party, he was going to have to come up with a story. He’d tell her that he’d used it to invest in something for her.

David shoved his phone into his pocket. With his briefcase in one hand, the strap of his laptop bag over his opposite shoulder, he used the keys to lock the apartment door and then headed down the stairs to his car then hurried to climb in and start it.

Damn, he was late getting back to Phoenix. He drove his car out of the apartment complex.

Before the accident, he had called his wife and told her that there had been some problems with the development that couldn’t wait until Monday, but he’d head back on Saturday. It was Saturday afternoon now, and she wasn’t happy that he hadn’t returned home Friday night as usual, but he’d convinced her that it had been important.

He hated it when she nagged at him and it wasn’t the first time he’d considered leaving her and keeping a fuck-toy around like Charlee instead. If he did that though, he would lose a few of his key investors who were cousins and uncles of his wife. He couldn’t afford that loss.

Earlier, he’d dropped Charlee off at her house with a promise to return on Monday and gave her an apology that he couldn’t stay over the weekend. He’d held and comforted her long enough to calm her nerves, but told her he had to get back to Phoenix. She’d been a damned wreck, almost in shock that her sister could have died. When Jo really was dead, it would take him a while to console her.

But it would be worth the wait.

He drove past the location of the accident. The only signs left that anything had happened was a slight glitter from the little fragments of glass that hadn’t made the clean up, and there were deep gouges in the wooden telephone pole and scratches on the sidewalk.

David slammed his palm down on his steering wheel.
Jo should have died.

He needed an influx in cash and killing Jo was going to be the ticket to some good money once it was in Charlee’s hands.

If Charlee already had her inheritance, he wouldn’t have to worry about money because he knew she’d give him anything and everything he wanted. But he could wait for that. It was only a few short months away now.

At her twenty-fifth birthday, he’d tell her how much he loved her, then ask her to marry him. He had no intention of divorcing his wife and marrying his little squeeze who happened to be his mark. Yes, she’d give him anything he wanted. And when he had it all, he’d be gone.

Chapter 29

She stood in the middle of a street, below a lone streetlamp. Everywhere around the circle of light was pitch black, the glow from the streetlamp only spreading a few feet around her. She realized she was barefoot and wearing her nightgown, and wondered why she would be out in her nightclothes.

The thrum of a big engine coming to life met her ears and she turned her attention toward it. She stared into the darkness but all she saw was the black night.

An eerie sensation spread prickled hair at her nape. Something wasn’t right. An icy chill spread over her skin and she started shivering.

A pair of headlights suddenly blinded her, the bright light hurting her eyes. She took an involuntary step back and held her arm above eyes to try and block some of the light to see what was in front of her.

The sound of the rumbling engine grew stronger but she couldn’t see anything. She had the urge to run, but her bare feet sank into the asphalt and she couldn’t move.

And then she saw it. A truck bearing down on her. It was going to hit her!

She screamed a long, horrible scream. She tried to run but couldn’t break her feet loose from the asphalt that gripped her so tightly.

As the truck barreled toward her she caught a glimpse of the cold, deadly eyes of the man behind the wheel. Brilliant blue eyes.

The vehicle slammed into her body. Pain exploded through her. The truck shoved her across the street, driving her into a pole. The vehicle pinned her against the wood, smashing her body.

Blinding pain tore throughout her body and she screamed and screamed…

Jo’s eyes flew open and she tried to catch her breath. She lay in Tate’s bed and stared up at the ceiling. Last night had been her first night staying at his ranch after being in the hospital for two days.

As far as the nightmare, like every time she had it, she felt like it was real and had just happened. Three days after the accident, and the nightmares hadn’t gone away.

The nightmare was always the same. It was strange how she wasn’t in her car in her dreams. And the eyes…she hadn’t seen who’d been driving the truck in the real accident, not that she could remember. But in her dreams she saw familiar eyes but couldn’t put them together with a face. Not that it mattered, it was only a dream.

The police believed that whoever had run into her had possibly been drunk. There were no skid marks so the truck had never tried to slow. It had just slammed into her car and had kept going until it couldn’t go any farther. And then whoever had hit her had run.

Another theory by the police was that she’d been deliberately targeted, but there was no reason for anyone to try and kill her, not that she could imagine. That idea didn’t make one bit of sense. Who would want to kill her? For what reason? No, that couldn’t be a possibility. It was a ridiculous thought.

But then there’d been the time she’d almost died of carbon monoxide poisoning… The two events couldn’t be related, could they?

She rolled her eyes. No one could possibly be out to kill her.

When she glanced at Tate’s clock she saw that it was after ten in the morning. Before the accident she’d rarely slept past seven, but these past few days she’d been exhausted.

She looked at the wrinkled sheets beside her. Tate had slept in the bed with her last night, careful not to hurt any of her many sore places—which was pretty much everywhere. She smiled at the thought of Tate in bed with her. It had felt good just being
with
him.

Why she had agreed to let Tate bring her to his ranch, she wasn’t entirely sure. It was true that she’d have a hard time getting around on her own with her fractured arm and leg. Not to mention her “good” arm and leg were sore and bruised.

Charlee had said she’d help out, but she had to work and then there was David. Jo didn’t really want to be around him. She wasn’t sure why, but something about the man creeped her out and made her feel angry all at the same time.

With a sigh, she pushed herself up in bed with her good arm and looked at the lone crutch up against the wall. Damn him. He purposefully put the crutch where she couldn’t reach it so that she wouldn’t—couldn’t—get out of bed without falling and breaking some other bone in her body.

“Good morning, beautiful.” Tate stepped into the doorway and smiled.

“Beautiful? Ha.” She ran her hand over her hair and the bandage around her head. It felt like her hair was a total rat’s nest. “I need a bath. And not just a sponge bath.”

“Now that’s going to be a trick.” He came toward her. “Taking a bath with both a broken leg and arm, and not getting your bandages wet.”

She gave him a pleading look. “Please, let’s try.”

“I can’t resist you.” He moved to her side of the bed. “You know that, don’t you?”

She grinned. “That’s good information to know.”

He helped her out of bed and together they made it to the spacious master bathroom. Charlee had bought her a light robe to sleep in so that she could slide it on and off and wouldn’t have to pull it over her head or undo buttons considering she only had one hand. Tate had to help with tying the ties.

The bath was an adventure and she found herself giggling by the time they were finished. She’d had to hold her arm and leg with the casts on them outside the bathtub and she needed his help to keep from slipping. He washed her gently, and she felt much better when they were finished.

The fall days were getting cooler, but Tate kept the house a nice warm temperature so that she was able to wear stretchy shorts with her leg cast and a large T-shirt, both of which Tate helped her put on.

While Tate took care of her, Jo spent most of the day in the living room in a rocking chair with her leg propped up on an ottoman. She spent some time reading a non-fiction book about a group of Navy SEALs called
Lone Survivor
on Tate’s e-book reader and then she fell asleep in the chair. Her leg and arm ached, her body felt stiff and sore, her head and face hurt, and she felt like she’d been beaten. Tate insisted she take the Tylenol with codeine that the doctor had prescribed, and that helped some.

She hated being waited on while at the same time she enjoyed being with him. She hated the part about having to rely on someone else. But being with Tate…she had to admit it was great.

By the time the evening rolled around, Jo thought she was going to go stir crazy. “I need to do
something
,” she said.

“How about a movie and popcorn?” He gestured toward his huge flat-screen TV and the cabinets beneath it.

With his help, she hobbled over to the drawers he kept his movies in and she sat on the floor. As she went through the drawer she saw DVDs for movies she loved, along with collections of TV shows.

“You have the collection for
Desperate Housewives
?” She looked at him with incredulity.

The corner of his mouth twitched up into an almost boyish smile. “My mom got me hooked on it.”

Jo couldn’t help it. She started laughing so hard that her eyes were wet with tears. “I would never have guessed.” She wiped away the moisture. “You know what? I love the show, too. It’s one of my guilty pleasures. Why don’t we watch the first episode and go from there?”

He grinned. “I’ll get the popcorn.”

After he made popcorn and brought it in with a couple of sodas, he set them on the coffee table before putting a DVD from the first season into the player. It took some maneuvering, but soon they were on the couch, Jo’s broken leg up on a hassock, and they cuddled together. She had her good side against him, her head resting on his chest.

While they watched the TV show, they would both comment on what happened in future episodes and where everything ended in the last season. They’d each watched all one hundred and eighty episodes over the eight seasons the program had been on. Tate thought it had been a mistake to kill off Edie in season five. Jo couldn’t believe they’d killed Mike in a drive-by shooting at the end of the series, leaving Susan a single, unloved mother just as she had been in the first season.

After they’d watched a couple of episodes, Jo found herself starting to drift off. It was so comfortable lying up against Tate, feeling his warmth, breathing in his masculine scent.

“We’d better get you to bed.” He shifted his arms around her and then he was rising with her held close to him in his strong embrace. “You need your rest.”

“I had naps today,” she said but realized he was right and she did need more sleep. She just hoped she didn’t have any nightmares.

He carried her to his bedroom and helped her change into another one of his T-shirts that was big on her. As she sat on the closed toilet seat in the master bathroom, he cared for her wounds and re-bandaged the worst of them.

When they were finally in bed, she lay on her back as he snuggled up against her side, his arm over her belly. It wasn’t long before they both drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 30

The next day after Tate was certain Jo was settled and that she’d be okay alone for a little awhile, he headed out on Ranger to check on the cattle. It was a cool day with the scent of rain on the air and the dry yellow grass waving in a strong breeze. Dark clouds piled one on top of the other, blocking out all traces of the sun. It looked like the clouds would break open at any moment.