Chapter Seven
Grady had just gotten out of his truck when he heard the sound of a vehicle. He turned to look, and a smile broke out on his face.
Kyle Sadler got out of his truck and extended his hand as Grady walked over. “Long time, Captain.”
“Just Grady,” he said as he clasped Kyle’s hand. “How you doin’, Kyle?”
“Good. Finally. I’m good.”
“I heard you got married.”
“I got saved.”
“Even better.” Grady thumped his hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “I’d planned on getting up with you but needed to get things squared away here first.”
“For real or show?”
“A little of both. You know the drill. When Uncle Sam, calls I hit the bricks.”
“And I hear you’ve graduated to the big leagues.”
Grady dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “Just another man in service to his country, buddy. And rancher. At least, I was. My stock’s a sorry lot these days. Looks like I need to hire on a few more hands to help Al out.”
“I can help you find some dependable hands if you want.”
“I’d appreciate it, Kyle. So, tell me about your wife. Liz, right?”
“Yep.”
Grady listened to Kyle talk about his wife and their life together. He was, frankly, shocked. He’d met Kyle some years back. Kyle was in Special Forces and as good an Operator as Grady had ever met.
Until he saw the woman he fell in love with and her child blown up right in front of him. Then he changed. Grady heard Kyle had left the service and was living like many of their kind did once war broke them—alone with their ghosts.
He was glad to see that Kyle had been able to find love and to put his ghosts to rest. Grady wasn’t sure he’d ever be so lucky. With skill born of years of practice, he tucked his past away where he could be safe from it for a while.
He invited Kyle in for a beer, grabbed two cold ones from the refrigerator, and they took a seat on the covered front porch of the house.
It was hot, but the ceiling fan at least stirred the air. Grady took off his hat and hung it on the back of a vacant chair. “So, I was in town and met the new deputy.”
Kyle cut him a sly smile. “Yep, she’s in a class all her own.”
“You can say that, and a whole lotta woman. What you think, five ten and one fifty?”
“Something like that—probably one-seventy. She’s solid.”
Grady tilted his beer up for a long draught. “I think I have a date with her this weekend.”
“You think?”
“I was supposed to stop by the station sometime to see if she’s free on Friday, but I haven’t had a chance to stop by yet.”
“Well, she’s not on duty so you wouldn’t have seen her.”
“Oh yeah?”
“You didn’t hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Some of the roughnecks have been causing trouble over the oil site closing. Two of them got liquored up and tried to take the foreman and site manager’s secretary hostage, to force the Legacy company to keep the site open.
“The chief sent Charli in first and instead of waiting on backup, she took the situation on alone.”
“And?”
“And she walked away unharmed, along with the hostages.”
“And the two men?”
“One shot by the other’s gun and the other with a busted ball and broken nose.”
Grady winced. “Damn.”
“Yeah, seriously. Anyway, the Chief sent her home for the rest of the week. Department policy. Liz said Charli wasn’t exactly happy, but mainly bored.”
“Bored, eh?”
“Yep.”
“Well, I reckon I could find out where she lives and drop by. Seeing as how she’s not at the station. I don’t want her to think I’m not a man of my word.” He considered it for a moment. “But I would hate to show up and find her shacked up with someone.”
“What, you losing your mojo, bro? Think you can’t out-charm some local yokel?”
Grady chuckled. “Maybe. Who knows. There’s a whole lotta young bucks out there that are probably sniffing around.”
“Oh, there are, but so far, she’s shot ‘em all down.”
“And you’d know that how?”
“Liz. And Charli and I are old friends. She’s ex-military, you know.”
“Oh?”
Kyle nodded. “One of the few women Operators in Delta.”
“No shit?”
“No shit, brother. She’s a badass and carrying a whole lotta darkness.”
“What Operator isn’t?”
“True, but tread careful. The way I hear it, she isn’t looking for love. At all. In fact, Liz says Charli’s the biggest player she’s ever met. She lures men in, uses them up, and walks without batting an eyelash.”
“You make her sound like−“
“Us.”
Grady hated to admit it, but Kyle was right. While Kyle might have mended his ways, buried his ghosts, and found his redemption, others, like himself, had not. If Charli Sampson was a kindred spirit in that respect, maybe rather than tread carefully, he should dive right in because they just might be birds of the same feather.
*****
Charli saw him as she rose from beneath the water’s surface. He stood on the shore at the tailgate of his truck, far back enough that his booted feet didn’t sink into the soft dirt at the water’s edge. She kept her eyes on him, waded to the lakeshore where she stopped to take off her flippers and carry them in one hand.
She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about him. She’d given him way too much thought. In fact, he was part of the reason she’d run six miles, swum six, and planned on biking twice that much. If she didn’t exhaust herself, she’d never get to sleep, and the lack of sleep was starting to make her real irritable.
Maybe she should have taken Cody’s advice and hooked up with one of the local guys who’d been after her. But Charli wasn’t interested. She wasn’t opposed to sex for the sake of sex, but damn it, she wanted it to be sex with a man who made her warm just to look at him.
Like Grady Judd. Good God, that man made her think of at least half a dozen ways to sin.
“What brings you here?” she asked as she walked up to him, noting the way his eyes raked over her.
“Nice day for a swim?”
“It is.”
“You done for the day?”
“Maybe. I planned on biking.”
“It’s hot.”
“Yeah, it’s West Texas.”
He smiled and she felt her body heat rise. Damn, if he wasn’t about the sexiest thing she’d ever laid eyes on. “So, like I said before, what brings you here, Grady Judd? Just passing through?”
“Hardly. I told you I’d stop by before Friday, but since you’re not working, I figured I’d come here. This is a nice place, by the way.”
“It is. Liz Redgate— Do you know her? She’s married to Kyle Stadler. Anyway, her brother, Cooper Quinlan, one of the original owners of the Cotton Creek Energy Company, bought it and intended to bulldoze the cabin down and rebuild, but then decided he didn’t want it. So, he sold it to me.”
“Sweet.”
“Indeed. So, about Friday…”
“Yeah, about Friday. You free?”
“I am, but you know I’m not one to waste time or an opportunity and we’re both here now so…”
Charli was thinking entirely with her libido, and perhaps with her ego. She knew men were attracted to her and she used it to her advantage when the need arose. And the need had arisen. She dropped her flippers as she closed in on Grady.
He didn’t blink or budge as she looped her arms around his neck and pressed her wet body against his. It wasn’t until she pressed her lips to his that he moved. Swift as the strike of a rattler, he had one arm around her with his hand firmly gripping her butt cheek to pull her tightly against him. His other hand claimed a spot on the back of her neck.
Charli thought she was the aggressor until his lips parted against hers and then she realized something important about Grady Judd. He was naturally dominant. It would take a lot for him to cede control.
That excited her. As did his kiss. When he pulled back, they were both breathing a bit harder. “Want to come in?” she asked.
“Obviously, I do, but I won’t.”
That shocked her. She could feel the evidence of his arousal through his jeans. She knew he wanted her. “Why not?”
“Because you can get that from anyone, sugar and I’m not anyone. I will, however, pick you on Friday at half past six. Riley Morgan and his band are playing at the Honky Tonk and I haven’t had good barbecue or danced with a beautiful woman in a while. I’ve got a hankering to do both.”
“Sounds good, but you still don’t have to leave.”
“Oh yeah, I do. Like I said, you can get that from anyone.”
“I don’t want just anyone.”
“Then you’re gonna have to wait, baby.”
“I’m not good at waiting.”
What happened next shocked her. Before she knew it, Grady had her arm twisted behind her, holding her immobile with one hand as his free hand moved between her legs to cup her sex.
“But you’ll wait. You won’t even take care of this yourself. You’ll wait because you know I’m going do it.”
“Do what?”
“What you want.”
“And what might that be?”
“Make you submit.”
Christ on a crutch. She nearly climaxed. What the hell? She’d never been a woman who would relinquish control. What made this man think she’d submit to him?
“Well, we’ll just see about that, won’t we, Grady Judd?”
“Indeed we will.” He gave her another toe-curling kiss, then backed away. “See you Friday, Charli.”
“Half-past six,” she said and stepped away from the truck.
Grady smiled, got in his truck, and pulled away with a wave.
Charli returned the wave and then let out a breath. Holy shit. Part of her scoffed at Grady’s promise, but another part, one she’d never been introduced to until now, was filled with a hunger she’d never known.
And quite honestly, didn’t know what to do with.