CHAPTER 9
In spite of his best intentions, an hour after they’d finished chores, he found himself standing in front of the freezer case at Millie’s Organic Grocery. Women liked ice-cream, right? Everyone knew that. Cash’s insides tensed. What if she hated ice-cream? What if he picked the wrong flavor? Shit, this was a horrible idea. He should turn around right now.
“Can I help you?” A soft voice asked.
He spun, coming face to face with a tiny, curly-haired blonde wearing an enormous name tag with the name Millie. She must own the store. “Uh, no.” Aww hell, who was he kidding? His neck burned. “Yes. I need some ice-cream.”
Millie flashed him a smile. “What do you like?”
“Anything.” He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d had ice-cream. He remembered walking with his mom every Saturday afternoon in summer down their old country road in the woods to the Dairy Dip at the edge of the highway. But choices had been easy then. There had only been vanilla.
His panic must have been evident on his face because Millie gave him a benevolent pat and opened the case, eyeing it critically. “I think your lady friend would appreciate Rocky Road. I call it a chocolate adventure. Predictably chocolate, but with a surprise.”
Wait. What? How did she? Was he that transparent?
She flashed him a beatific smile. “Men like you don’t come in for ice-cream for themselves.”
“Oh.” His chest grew hot, but Millie didn’t seem to notice his discomfort. “I’ll take the Rocky Road then.”
At the checkout, he grabbed four decks of new cards.
The entire drive back to the ranch, his heart kicked hard enough to punch a hole in his chest. Was this wise? Nope. He was skating on very thin ice. But he enjoyed Kate’s company. And he was so damned tired of the oppressive loneliness that rolled over him like an M1A1 Tank. He trudged through the darkness, letting his senses guide him, stopping when his foot reached the top step of Kate’s trailer.
Sounds from strings being plucked intermittently wafted through the door. He cocked his head listening, using the opportunity to slow his breathing. This was nothing more than cards between two colleagues. Hell, he’d play with Sterling, but most nights Sterling hung with friends in town. And he’d been more than a third wheel at Travis and Elaine’s, so why not? Taking a fortifying breath, he rapped gently on the door. “Kate?” he called. “It’s me. Cash.”
He heard the sound of a chair moving and something scraping against the floor. The door opened, light flooding out from behind her, acting like a halo. His chest squeezed tight from the loveliness of her. When she smiled, heat raced to his toes turning his insides to jelly, and his voice wavered as he lifted the frozen container. “I got tired of playing solitaire. Feel like rummy and ice-cream?”
Her answering smile shook him to his core. She motioned him in and stepped aside as he entered. Four candles flickered on the table. Her trailer was the same as his, and yet the little touches she’d added – the candles, a plaid throw on the couch, made it seem homey. Welcoming.
Pushing aside his feelings, he handed her a paper bag. “I brought new cards. Four decks enough?” His chest rumbled at the mischievous grin she shot him as she took it and the ice-cream and moved to the kitchen. “Can I help dish up?”
She shook her head as she spooned the dessert into two bowls then turned, eyeing him and the table critically. They’d already established he was too big to squeeze into the small space where the table stood. “We can sit on the floor,” he offered. “You want me to put down the blanket?”
Her eyes lit at his suggestion, and his gut pulled. He shoved his response aside and grabbed the throw, spreading it on the floor and settling himself against the couch. She sat across from him and handed him a bowl filled twice as full as hers. “Do you not like the flavor?” His stomach dropped. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all.
She rolled her eyes with a sheepish smile, drawing her hands over her figure. Oh. “Wait. You’re worried about your figure?” Really? He knew beach babes in San Diego that starved themselves, but he wouldn’t have expected Kate to fall into that category. At least not the way she behaved here at the ranch.
With a sigh, she shook her head and hopped up, grabbing a notebook from the table and sitting back down to scrawl something. Her nostrils flared as she wrote furiously. Shit. Had he pissed her off? She ripped off the page and handed it to him.
I’m NOT worried about my figure. I love ice-cream. I could eat the whole tub, but you’re twice my size. Did I give you too much?
“I don’t usually eat sweets,” he confessed, then immediately wished he hadn’t as her face fell. “But this is great.” She eyed him suspiciously. “And I’m glad you like ice-cream.” She pointed to the paper again, eyebrows raised in question. “And no, you didn’t give me too much.” He’d eat the whole damned thing if it would make her smile again.
She rubbed her hands together as if to say, “Good,” and began to unwrap the cards. Her hands captivated him as she worked quickly, shuffling the decks. Before she dealt the cards, she scribbled another note and passed it to him.
What are we betting?
His mind went to a thousand dirty places. He’d never played strip anything with a woman, but he wasn’t opposed to starting now. His balls pulled tight at the thought of Kate slowly stripping off her sweatshirt, exposing high, perky breasts that would fit perfectly in his hand. Cash swallowed, mouth dry as sawdust. He cleared his throat. “Pennies?” he asked in a voice not his own.
She nibbled on her lower lip, face screwed up in thought. He’d like to nibble on her lower lip. She raised her eyes and Cash’s breath stopped. This was a woman who knew what she wanted. Keeping her gaze fixed on him, she reached for her notepad, only dropping it to write.
He laughed out loud at her next note. Loser does the dishes. She handed him another note, a sly look in her eye. For a week. “A week? Game on, sweetheart.” He folded the note, tossing it between them like a gauntlet. “I’ll up the ante. And the laundry.”
She made a scoffing noise in her throat and smirked.
“Think you can take me, huh?” he teased.
Her smirk transformed into a knowing smile as she slowly nodded.
“Talk is cheap. Deal.”
Seven rounds later Cash tossed his cards on the blanket, chagrined. “Best of three.”
Kate’s shoulders shook with mirth.
“You just got lucky.”
Her taunting grin told a different story.
“Prove it. Best of three.” Truth be told, he’d enjoyed himself. The companionable silences, the way her forehead crinkled and she tapped the dent above her top lip when she was concentrating, the banter made up of hastily scribbled notes and wild gesticulations. The little smile at the corner of her mouth that gave away the moment she was going to crush him. All of it. Cash couldn’t remember the last time he’d had fun like this, and the thought of returning to his cold, dark trailer sent a spike of loneliness straight to his gut.
Her mouth quirked as she penned another note. “I think you’re a glutton for punishment.”
He grinned back at her. “Maybe, yeah. But maybe I have your number now.”
Her eyebrows jumped, and she wrote again, flashing him the notepad. “HOPE YOU LIKE LAUNDRY!!”
A laugh erupted from his gut at the caps and underlines. “I’ll like seeing you do mine. With military folds,” he added, enjoying the picture of giving her a little taste of military inspection.
She snorted, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she dealt another round. His confidence grew as they progressed through the rounds, evenly split this time. As they neared the end of the final round, Cash kept his face carefully neutral, watching Kate like a hawk for any signs of what Kate had planned. He’d hand it to her, she played unpredictably, sometimes laying cards down early and taunting him with each additional card she added to her runs. Other times, she kept her cards close and laid them down only when she was ready to go out. But this match was his, he was one card away from winning, and this time he was going to catch her with cards in her hand. The game was close enough that whoever won this match would win the game.
Kate’s hand hovered over the deck, and her eyes darted from him, to her cards, to her hand. What in the heck was she playing at? Slowly, she drew. He had her. She’d tried, but failed to keep her face neutral. Whatever card she’d drawn, it wasn’t the one she needed. And she must sense that he was about to go out. Then she discarded a joker.
“What?” He exclaimed, voice rising. “You can’t discard twenty-five points. No way.”
Kate’s eyes twinkled.
“Show me your hand.” He captured her hand, pulling her forward while exposing her cards.
Her body shook with laughter as he did a mental count of the points she held. He’d have won if she’d kept the joker. He shook his head, amused, but not ready to give up without a fight, and not ready to release her hand. “Nope. Can’t discard a joker.”
She nodded her disagreement, not bothering to contain her glee.
“I never took you for a cheater, Kate,” he growled half-heartedly. She was so damned cute, eyes bright, cheeks flushed pink with triumph. Another tug of his hand and she’d be in his lap where he could have his way with her saucy mouth.
The air between them instantly crackled, like she’d heard his thoughts over a loudspeaker. For a heart-stopping moment neither of them breathed. Kate’s eyes darkened, and her tongue flicked across her lower lip. Ahh, hell. If she was anyone other than the woman he’d failed to protect, he’d take her in a hot second. Send her to heights she’d only imagined in her hottest dreams. Instead, he dropped her hand like a hot stone. People like him never got the girl. He was living proof.
Ignoring the flash of disappointment in her eyes, he grabbed their discarded ice-cream bowls and stood, stalking to the sink. The thought hit him like a bullet to the chest. He’d be washing her undergarments. For a week. Fuuuuck. He squirted too much soap on the sponge as he failed to drag his thoughts away from her unmentionables. God, she better wear only granny pants and sports bras. He’d fucking die if he had to wash lacy underthings. Heat shot up his legs, flaming his body at the thought of Kate clad only in lacy, see-through underwear. With a swallow, he placed the dishes on the counter, the space suddenly feeling too close, too hot. Fuck him for upping the ante. He must be some kind of glutton for torture.
She tapped quietly on the counter, asking for his attention.
Steeling himself, he turned, heart squeezing at the question in her eyes. “I… ah…” Unable to stop himself, he stepped close enough to feel the heat of her. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Thanks for tonight. It was… nice.” Nice? He shuddered. Visiting someone’s grandma was nice. Spending an evening with Kate was so much better than nice.
Her face fell.
God, he was totally bungling this. But it was for the best. He couldn’t act on any feelings that might be developing between them. Ever. Because he’d fail her and he couldn’t live with himself if he did that again.
He itched to touch her, and he raised his hand, only to drop it again. “I’ll be by in the morning? Have your laundry ready.”
He stepped around her, forcing himself not to look back as he let himself out into the cold starry night and took himself home. Alone.