Chapter Eight
At twenty-five minutes past six, Charli gave her appearance in the mirror one last look. The white, spaghetti-strap top and short denim skirt showed off her assets in a sexy casual way. She first thought about wearing cowboy boots but decided against it.
Most women her height were hesitant to wear high heels because it made them tower over everyone but the tallest men. That’s exactly what she wanted. With the heels, she’d stand eye-to-eye with Grady Judd.
Charli understood that she was trying to level the playing field with high heels, to reestablish a measure of control. That didn’t bother or embarrass her. Grady had leapt way forward in the control department at their last encounter and it was important for her to reestablish that no one controlled her.
Unless she allowed it. Which was another way of saying that she was the one in charge.
She turned her back on her reflection and walked out into the living area to unplug her phone from where she had it charging on the desk. Just as she was tucking the phone into the shoulder bag that contained her billfold, lip balm, badge, and handgun, she heard the sound of a vehicle.
Charli walked to the front door, opened it, and stepped out onto the porch to lean against the support at the top of the steps. The truck stopped, turned off, and the door opened.
It was a real pleasure watching Grady climb down from the truck and shove the door closed with one hand as he started toward her. It struck her that while Grady had that cowboy thing going for him, there was something else in that sexy mix.
She didn’t have time to ponder it, and at the moment didn’t want to. He smiled at her and she enjoyed the little clench of her insides and that tingle of excitement. He’d chosen a casual look as well, and definitely dressed to show his own assets.
His white t-shirt was tight, displaying his musculature and providing a contrast with his tanned skin. His jeans looked soft and worn, his belt well used, and his boots a bit scuffed at the toes.
This evening his hat was white rather than the worn, brown Stetson she’d seen him wear previously. He looked like the hero of a romance novel. All male brawn and beauty. If he’d dressed to impress, then his goal was achieved because what was on her mind had nothing at all do to with barbecue or boot scootin’.
He stopped at the bottom of the steps and his eyes moved from her face and slowly down her body. Charli entertained the fantasy of him possessing superpowers for the length of time it took his gaze to return to hers because her body felt heat from the journey of his eyes on her skin.
“Damn, sugar.” He mounted steps until he was one below her, putting her a good six inches taller than he was.
“My thoughts exactly.” She gave him a smile. “Sure hope there’s no hard drinking going on with the ladies tonight or I just have might have to wrestle a few to keep ’em off you.”
“I’d pay good money to see that.”
Charli laughed. “I bet you would.”
“You ready to ride?”
Hell yeah. Boy was she ever, but she didn’t say so. Instead, she replied, “Just need to grab my bag. Be right back.”
Charli fetched her bag, locked the front door, and turned to face Grady. He had one hip propped on the stair rail and a look on his face that mirrored what was going on inside her. Lust. It was a look she recognized.
She stepped down onto the same rung and ran the fingertips of her hand along his jaw. He grinned, captured her hand, placed a kiss on her knuckles, and then tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. “Let’s do this, gorgeous.”
She smiled and he escorted her to the truck, opened the door for her, and watched with a sexy smile as she climbed in. If nothing else came from this, Charli loved the boon it gave to her ego to have someone as fine as Grady look at her with obvious desire. She hoped, however, that she would get more from him than an appreciative look because she couldn’t remember wanting a man as much as she did Grady and she would sure hate to miss the chance to be with him.
To his credit, he didn’t ask about her past, or bring up his own. Instead, he asked her impression of Cotton Creek and the people who called it home. She enjoyed hearing him talk about the people. It was clear that he cared about others, and she wondered if he realized that he was showing his heart.
They had some good laughs over some of the stories he told about Cotton Creek residents, most of the laughs at his expense, however. She was surprised at how fast the drive passed.
She was also surprised at how busy the Honky Tonk was when they arrived. She shouldn’t have been. They packed in the crowd every weekend, but of late, the crowd had started to thin as the jobs ended at the oil site and the wildcatters gave up trying to get to the oil that had made it necessary for a huge company to undertake a major fracking operation.
“Looks like the whole town is here,” Grady commented as he turned off the truck. “What’s the event?”
“Maybe they’re just here to welcome you home.” She smiled and opened the door to climb out.
Grady laughed, got out, and met her in front of the truck where he put his hand on the small of her back and escorted her to the door.
Billy Sweet, the founder of the bar and grille, sat at the door. “Grady Judd, as I live and breathe. How you doin’, son?”
“Just fine, Mr. Sweet. How ‘bout you, sir?”
“Any better and I’d need me a manager. Good to see you. And you, Charli.”
“Thanks, Billy. Is Stella here tonight?”
“Naw, she and KC are busy shopping this weekend for KC’s move to San Antonio.”
“Oh, that’s right. She’s leaving for college in a couple of weeks, right?”
“Indeed she is. Gonna be mighty quiet without that girl around.”
“Well, I’m sure Cody will be happy to let her kids spend more time at your place.”
Billy laughed. “God love em, them kids can plumb wear a man out.”
“I don’t doubt that. Well, we’re holding up the line so we better get out of the way. Come have a beer with us when you take a break here?”
“I’ll do that.”
“See you in a bit.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and waited for Grady to shake his hand before entering.
The moment they walked inside, she became aware of several things. First, that mouthwatering smell of barbecue; then, the noise. Voices raised in conversation and laughter mixed with the music from the jukebox beside the stage.
Next was the surprising number of heads that turned to look at her and Grady. More than one female face wore an expression Charli interpreted as either jealousy or resentment. She could appreciate that. If the situation were reversed, she’d probably take a look at whoever was with Grady and think lucky bitch.
Then there was Grady and the way his eyes seemed to take in everything. She’d seen men who did that same thing because it was ingrained in their behavior from years of training and experiences. It was curious to see it happening here in the bar with Grady, but she put the thought aside for later.
Finally, it wasn’t lost on her that she was being checked out by men they passed as they made their way through the bar in search of an empty table. Grady spotted a booth at the far side and pointed.
Charli nodded and they headed for the booth. By the time they were seated, Cody was standing beside them. “Hey. Y’all want beer?”
“Sure.” Grady answered and looked at Charli. “You?”
She shook her head. “Not a fan. Iced tea, please.”
“You got it. Wanna go ahead and order?”
“Sure,” Charli replied. “My usual.”
“And you?” Cody looked at Grady
“Barbecue—no bread, coleslaw, and sweet potato.”
“Her usual. Okey dokey. Be right back with your drinks.”
Charli looked around at the people and then back at Grady. “Have you met Cody’s husband, Jaxon?”
“No, but I hear he’s a good guy.”
“He is. You know they have two kids.”
“Yeah, one’s theirs and one isn’t?”
“The little boy is theirs. They adopted a little girl. They’re both beautiful kids, but I don’t know how Cody manages to keep up with them and run this place with Hannah.”
“She’s been pretty much a bundle of energy herself since she was a kid.”
“And still is.”
Just then Cody returned with their drinks. The conversation was light through dinner, sparked only by a couple of shared looks that had Charli wishing it was time to head home and hopefully into bed.
When the music started up and people started filing onto the dance floor, Grady stood and offered his hand. “Dance with me, Charli.”
“With pleasure.” She put her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet and onto the dance floor.
Charli had been flirted with, charmed, seduced, and wooed in her life, but never had it all happened at once. That’s what it felt like to dance with Grady. He teased with his touch and his body, tantalized with a brush of his lips on her ear lobe or a slide of his hand across her butt. He seduced as he pressed tight to her and looked directly into her eyes, promising with a twist or tilt of his pelvis against her.
And he wooed as he sang a line from the love song into her ear and followed it by a kiss on her cheek, a slow soft kiss that left a tingle long after his lips moved away.
By the time the band’s first set was done, Charli was damp with more than perspiration and her libido was redlining and screaming for her to do something about it.
“Something to drink?” Grady asked as he led her toward the table.
“Water and fresh air would be nice.”
“Then come with me.” He took her hand and led her to the bar where he paid for their meal along with two bottles of water and then headed outside.
“Well, it’s not much better out here,” he commented as they stepped outside. It was a typical summer night. Hot and still with not a breath of a breeze.
“There seems to always be a breeze at the lake.” Charli said as she unscrewed the cap from the bottle he’d handed her. “Sometimes more than others, but pretty much there’s always a little.”
“Bet the water is getting pretty warm by now.” Grady said and tilted his bottle up for a long drink.
“You’d think so, but Liz said that Cooper had the lake dredged out when he first bought the place. He expanded the lake and added another fifteen feet to the depth so there are places now that are as deep as thirty feet. Thanks to the flash floods of last winter, the lake filled up and hasn’t cooled off as much.”
“Which means it’s pretty much the perfect night for a swim, wouldn’t you say?”
“I would.”
“Then how about we head back to your place and do just that?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Grady took her hand and together they walked to his truck, got in, and headed for her place. They were both quiet for the first few minutes, then he opened the conversation.
“So, you’re pretty much a local now, having been here for six months, eh?” he asked.
“Yep.” She looked out of the window at the moonlight on the passing scenery as she answered. She was curious as to how much he would ask about her past.
“What brought you to Texas?”
“What makes you think I wasn’t already in Texas?”
“You don’t sound like a Texan.”
“No? Then where do you think I’m from?”
“First guess would be somewhere in the Appalachians.”
“That’d be a good guess. Tennessee.”
“But you’ve been away from there for a while. It’s tamed your accent.”
She looked at him. “Yeah, it’s been awhile since I’ve been back to Tennessee.”
“You still have family there?”
“Nope. Mama and Daddy and my younger sister, Dani were killed in a flash flood when I was eighteen. They were on a bridge when it gave way and the truck was swept away.”
“I’m sorry. Guess you were lucky you weren’t there.”
Charli nodded and turned her head away. “I was in Bristol, enlisting. I didn’t want to go to work as a cashier at some local store and sure didn’t want to get married and have a passel of kids to tend to and—well, I was a tad too big for jobs people wanted a pretty little gal to do. So enlisting seemed like the way out for me. I just didn’t know I’d be leaving home with no one to come home to anymore.”
“That had to have been rough. Do you have any other family?”
“My mama had two sisters They both live in Memphis and have grown kids and grandkids. She wasn’t all that close to them. I remember seeing them maybe two or three times when I was growing up. My dad had a big family, but he wasn’t close with them. Some kind of falling out before I was born. I never even met my grandparents on his side or any of his siblings. So, yeah, technically I do, but none that I know.”
“Making the service your family.”
“Yep.”
“Until you left.”
“Yep.” She hoped her noncommittal response would turn the conversation away from her past, and luckily it did. When they pulled up in front of her house, she opened her door, then looked at him. “Wanna come in?”
“I do. But I won’t.”
“I thought you wanted to take a swim?”
“I do.”
“Then what’s stopping you?
“Because I spoke without thinking at the bar. If we go for a swim, we’ll have to get naked.”
“And?”
“And if we get naked we’re not going to stop at swimming.”
“Again, and?”
“And you’re not ready.”
“For what?”
“For what I can give you.”
“If I submit, you mean.”
“Yes.”
“Then you’re right, Grady. Skinny-dipping is definitely a bad idea. So, all righty then. I had fun. See you.”
With that, she slid out of the truck, closed the door, and headed for the house. She wasn’t going to argue with Grady. As much as she’d hoped the night would end with them in bed, if he wasn’t into it, then so be it. By the time she reached the front steps, she heard him behind her. He took hold of her arm and she stopped, letting him turn her to face him.
“I had fun, too.”
“Good.” She pulled her arm from his grip. “Be safe going home.”
“I will.” He moved closer, put one hand behind her head, and tugged her to him for a kiss.
Charli got it. He liked to be in control and if he got her all hot and bothered, he won. But two could play that game, so she eagerly accepted the kiss and devoted herself to making it one that would keep him awake most of the night.
Her hands gripped his pants on either side of the belt buckle, then worked up until her arms were wound around his neck and her body was plastered to his, chest to groin. She undulated against him, feeling the reaction taking place in his jeans. Yeah, he was affected, but then so was she. More than she’d ever admit. If given a choice, she’d snatch his clothes off right there in the front yard and ride him like a prize bull.
She gave a little moan in her throat when he pulled away from her lips and let his trail down her neck as his hands traveled up to cup her breasts. His thumbs circled her nipples, making them harden even more. She waited until his lips steered a course toward her breasts and then she pulled back. “Like you said, it’s not time. Thanks, again, Grady. I really enjoyed it. Good night.”
His expression told her he hadn’t expected that, but he didn’t voice the thought. Instead, he gave her that smile—the one that she was quite certain could melt the coldest of woman’s reserves. “See you soon, sugar.”
She smiled and turned away to walk up the steps. Charli looked back over her shoulder after she unlocked the door. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
As she watched him walk away, she wondered which, if either of them, had won the skirmish tonight, or if they’d both find themselves lying awake wondering what it would have been like if he had come in.