The drive to Dallas was shorter than I would’ve liked, considering how nervous I was. I felt off-kilter to a degree that made me almost feel sick. Thad didn’t seem bothered at all. He had turned the radio on as soon as we pulled out of Candy’s driveway and had been singing along ever since.
His voice was deep and growly, vibrating across the bench seat to tease me. It was distracting. I couldn’t finish a complete thought without feeling a certain note he sang all the way down to my toes.
My nerves also kicked in when we got closer to Dallas. I felt like I was being forced to report back to duty. I realized that I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to live in Dallas again. I missed the beach and wanted to run back. I could deal with a couple of hired guns in an Escalade if it meant not having to deal with the anxiety that Dallas gave me.
Thad took an exit a few miles outside of Dallas, though, and drove through the middle of nowhere to get us to a little wooden sign that claimed we were in a town called Pippengerville. I’d never heard of it.
Glancing over at him, I rubbed my hands over my thighs, trying to stop some of the sweating. “This seems really out of the way.”
“Yeah, I like living away from everyone. We’re almost there.” He turned down a dirt road and passed an entrance for a ranch before slowing in front of a white, two-story farmhouse. Wood siding with black shutters and a wraparound front porch were lit by a few porch lights. “Home sweet home.”
I followed him out of the truck and looked around. It was dark, but I couldn’t see other lights anywhere close. The house was beautiful and well-maintained. I could see a toolbox out on the porch, an errant hammer lying next to it.
The bottom step squeaked when we stepped on it and the screen door squealed as it was pulled open. It was old and worn in.
“I bought it a few years ago and I’ve been fixing it up. Some things are still a little too vintage, if you know what I mean.” He wiggled the screen door and grinned when it made the sound again.
“It’s beautiful.”
He pushed the door open and let me walk in ahead of him. “I opened up some rooms down here, so it’s all pretty open, but I’ve still got work to do upstairs.”
I looked around at the massive open space and sighed. It really was beautiful. From where I stood, I could see not only the kitchen and living room, I could see through a massive set of glass doors that led to an equally massive back yard. The floors were vintage hardwood, wide planks with character from years of use. They looked like they’d recently been sanded and stained. Everything was new and pretty in the kitchen, everything was plush and welcoming in the living room. There was a dining room corner, it looked like, but there wasn’t furniture in it yet.
“It’s weird. I buy furniture I like, but am I supposed to buy a dining room table that seats ten when there’s only ever me here?” He asked after following my eyes to the space.
I shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong person. Up until the beach house, I was using a cardboard box as a side table, dining table, and coffee table.”
He laughed and looked down at me, his eyes suddenly too curious. “You’re an interesting person, Rain.”
I smiled and looked away. “This place is amazing. Are you doing all the work yourself?”
“Yeah. That’s why it takes so long. It’s not often I’m home and when I am, I work slowly to make sure I do a good job.” He walked across to the fridge and opened it to reveal that it was fully stocked with beer and hot dogs. “Beer?”
I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’ll just get some water later.”
His phone rang and he pulled it out and looked at the screen. “It’s my contact. Make yourself comfortable, Rain. I’ll be right back.”
I made my way over to the couch and sank into the overstuffed beast. It felt like heaven and within seconds, I felt my eyes drifting closed. Trying to fight sleep when I was that exhausted was a waste, so I let them close and hoped that Thad was okay with me sleeping on his couch.
*
“Grandma, don’t do that. I’m serious.” Thad’s deep voice woke me, whispering urgently.
I leaned up enough to see him with his head stuck in the fridge, digging around.
“I know that I’m not the boss of you, but maybe you shouldn’t try to seduce anyone.” He paused. “Because you’re a grandma, that’s why.”
I winced for him. I rubbed sleep from my eyes as I watched the back of his neck go red and then his grip on the fridge door tighten. He was definitely getting a smack down.
I looked around and realized it was morning. I’d slept like the dead.
“Fine. Fine. Do what you want. Just don’t call to tell me about it next time.” He grumbled, in a much lower voice. “She’s asleep on the couch. Why? You want to seduce her, too?”
I grinned as I put together the pieces. Candy must’ve called him to tell him her plans to get Mack in bed. I didn’t think it’d take much seducing.
“Sorry. I know, Grandma… She is beautiful.” He glanced back and saw me sitting up, my cheeks red. “I don’t plan on screwing anything up.”
I laughed, unable to help myself and stretched. I grabbed my bag and motioned towards the stairs. “Shower?”
Thad gestured to me that it was the first room on the right, so I set off to find it. The upstairs was much more closed off than downstairs. The bathroom was still nice, though.
I stripped and got in a hot shower, using his shower products to get clean. When I dried off, I sniffed myself, annoyed that I still somehow didn’t smell as good as Thad, even after using all his stuff. I changed into a pair of jogging pants and a tank top before going back downstairs.
Thad was sitting on the couch, a cup of coffee in his hands and another beside him. “Hey.”
I sat next to him so I could reach the second coffee and nodded to it. “Mine?”
He nodded and stretched out. “I found out some stuff about the attack yesterday.”
I took a long pull of the coffee and moaned. “This is amazing. What is this?”
“Coffee.”
I gave him a look. “Smartass.”
“I can’t help it. My grandma just called me to tell me that she is planning on seducing Mack and that she just wanted to let me know not to stop by the house for a few days.”
I snorted and choked on the coffee I’d just tried to swallow. I leaned forward and half coughed, half laughed.
Thad rubbed my back and groaned. “Yeah. Fucking hilarious.”
My body responded to the slow rubbing he was doing to my back and I pressed into his hand harder. “She’s a grandma, but she’s all woman. And she has her sights set on Mack.”
His hand paused and he growled. “Don’t say ‘all woman’ like that. Ugh.”
I laughed and leaned back harder, but he moved his hand and I fell back, right into his waiting arms. I looked up at him and smiled. “Like what?”
“With your voice all husky like that.”
“My voice isn’t husky.” Only it was. It sounded breathy, too, like I’d jogged from the beach house to his arms.
He moved his hand to rest dangerously on my hip, his fingers teasing the side of my pelvic bone. “Why is it so husky, Rain?”
I stared up at him and blinked as I realized where I was, who I was with, and what I was dangerously close to doing. I was being hunted by a lunatic. I couldn’t get involved with one of Cash’s employees. I also had just been brutally dumped. The worst part of what Kevin had said to me was that I knew part of it was true, maybe all of it.
Sitting up and grabbing my coffee, I stared down at my bare feet. “You said you found out about the attack?”
Thad’s arm disappeared and then his body heat moved away. “Yeah. Turns out, the guy I hung up on the side of the ferry? His boss is pissed that we turned him over to the Feds and drew a lot of attention to his doorstep. The goons were his. I can’t imagine Sallisaw will be pleased when he finds out Montego tried to off you himself, though.”
I finished the rest of my coffee and sighed. “All I’m hearing is that there are now two men who want to kill me. Can you call them and tell them I had nothing to do with the ferry thing? Maybe take some of this heat off me? I’d really appreciate that.”
“Sure. I’ll send Montego a card with my return address. Just to make sure he’s got his sights set on the right guy.”
I grinned at him over my shoulder. “Mind waiting until I beat it?”
His eyes were intense as they moved to my mouth and then to my mostly bare shoulders. “Sure. You hungry?”
So hungry. So unhelpfully, stubbornly ravenous. I was finding the long dormant libido that Kevin assumed I didn’t have. I wasn’t sure if it’d ever been awake, actually, if what I was feeling when I looked at Thad for too long was any indicator.
“Rain?”
I blinked a few times and turned away. “Um, yeah. I am.”
The couch shifted as Thad stood up and moved away from me. “I put biscuits in the oven earlier and I’ve got eggs I can cook. You like sausage?”
My eyes nearly crossed when I noticed the soft jogging pants that Thad wore. They cupped his ass perfectly and begged to be touched. When he turned around, my eyes were still at that level, so I got an eyeful of a rather large bulge wrapped in soft cotton.
“Sausage?”
I cleared my throat and stood up. “Um, whatever’s easiest. I’m going to step outside for a second to clear my head.”
“Don’t go too far.” He caught the cut of my eyes and bit his lip before grinning in a move that was far too sexy for words. “Please.”
I nearly melted on the spot. It put a fire under my ass. I practically ran out of the front door.
In the daylight, the property was stunning. The front yard was separated by a huge forest of pine trees by a gravel road. The grass even seemed greener and lush. I couldn’t help walking out into it to see if it felt as soft as it looked. It did.
The mailbox was a metal cow with a red bandana acting as the flag. Everything was charming. I looked back at the house from my space on the grass and sighed. The was house was beautiful. Tall and stunning, it definitely had presence. The porch was even charming, with logs used to make the railing. On it rested two rocking chairs that I couldn’t help but want to crawl into.
Beside the house was a garden, though it’d seen better days. Weeds had grown up in it and were threatening to overtake the vegetables. Past them, I could see a large backhoe parked next to a hole in the ground that was half-filled with muddy water.
Walking past the garden, I could see a fence about two acres past the hole in the ground and then cattle moving around. I hadn’t realized I was even hearing them until I saw them. Making light mooing sounds as they dipped their heads and munched on grass, they looked like a moving post card.
With the sun shining up from behind them, they were beautiful.