Page 61 of Texas Kissing
I stepped an inch closer to the guy. “The girl in the coffee shop said Lily threw coffee over some guy.” I looked at his shirt. “That’d be you.”
“Luckily,” said the guy, straightening his tie, “I’m fine.”
“What makes you think I gave a rat’s ass about you?” I growled. “That wasmycoffee she threw at you. You owe me three bucks.”
The guy squared up to me. “You want to try and take it?”
“You sure you want to get that fancy suit dirty?” I looked again at the coffee stain. “Dirtier?”
“You think you’re a hardass because you play cowboy?” asked the guy. “Yeah, I know who you are, ‘Bull.’Let’s go for it, I’ll show you how we do things downtown.”
I lifted my chin a half inch. “You know why they call me Bull?” I asked. “‘Cause when I get mad, there ain’t no stopping me.”
“Enough!”Lily’s voice made us both turn around. “Bull, let’s go.” She looked at the guy in the suit. “And you—you have my answer.” Then she grabbed my hand and pulled.
I resisted for a second, just long enough to glare at city boy, and then let myself be led away. I slipped my arm around Lily’s waist and pulled her hard against me, crushing her softness against me as we walked.
“I’ll be in town a couple of days,” the guy called after us. “I’m staying at the Stallion Inn. In case you change your mind.”
Neither of us turned around, but I saw Lily bite her lip at his words. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up, my whole body going tense with rage.No oneupsets my Lily.
But if she wanted me to leave it, I’d leave it. For now.
We climbed into my pick up and I pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards the ranch. But as soon as we were out of town, I pulled off the road and turned to Lily.
“It’s time for some goddamn answers,” I said. “Start talking.”
48
Lily
“About what?” I knew it wouldn’t work to throw him off; I was just trying to buy time to come up with a convincing story.
I didn’t expecthow badlyit would work, though. With a sort of snarl, he rose as far out of his seat as the cab roof would allow, swung around to face me and put his open hand against my breastbone, pinning me back in my seat. “Goddamn it, Lily!” he roared. “Quit it!”
I gulped. Itshouldhave been scary—wasscary, in a way. A huge guy like Bull, angry as hell, pinning me to my seat in the middle of nowhere. And yet….
And yet I knew he’d never, ever hurt me. I knew it in the way I knew the sun would rise in the morning. We stared at one another, both of us panting. The hot throb of his hand through my t-shirt, the way my breasts pressed softly against the heel of his hand. I could see the need in his eyes, only just restrained by his anger. The thought that I was doing that, that I could defuse even a raging Bull’s anger, made meswell with pride. But at the same time, I could feel myself melting and weakening inside—when I was this turned on, lying was impossible. I was ready to tell him anything if he’d just move that hand down and left a little.
“His name’s Calahan,” I said. “He’s FBI.”
Bull gripped my upper arm with his other hand. His anger was gone, replaced with concern. “He’s after you for the passports?”
I stared at him. Of course he’d assume that. Why else would an FBI agent be hounding me? Calahan didn’t have any idea what I did for a living, but Bull didn’t know that. My heart lifted. Here was exactly the explanation I needed!
Unless...unless I told him the truth. I bit my lip, hesitating for a second...
No. If I told him about my uncle, he’d want me to do the right thing and testify. He’d do the noble thing and send me off to witness protection and never see me again, just so that I could finally stop running.
Well, the hell with that.
“Yeah,” I lied. “The passports.”
His gaze hardened. “Ain’t no man on earth gonna put my girl behind bars.”
My heart gave a frantic littleboom-boom.His sheer, hard-headed stubbornness was endearing—he was ready to take on the world for me. “Thank you,” I told him. I tried to make it light, but it came out a little choked.What happened to badass, independent Lily?This guy just turned me to mush every single time. “But it’s okay. I made a deal with him.”
He nodded, relieved.