That Night in Texas

After folding the newspaper into a perfect rectangle, I placed it on top of the pile of other precisely folded papers and leaned back in my chair. So far, so good. Nobody suspected me, nobody ever will. Thank God, because I still have a score, or three or four, to settle with Sterling Perry and his family. And with his archenemy Ryder Currin...

In my case, the enemy of my enemy was not my friend...

Three

In the hospital parking lot, Cam opened the passenger door of his SUV and gestured Vivi inside. Vivi inhaled that new-car smell and looked at the expensive seats, the massive dashboard. This was a $300,000 car, and, because she couldn’t leave the hospital in a flimsy gown, her filthy, still-wet sneakers were about to touch the spotless carpet, her mud-streaked jeans were going to make contact with his butter-soft leather seats.

Nope, she couldn’t. She’d take a cab home.

“Problem?” Cam asked, his voice brushing her ear. Vivi felt the heat of his body behind her and saw his big hand grip the car frame above her head, his expensive watch glinting in the sunlight. He’d come a long way in three years. A beat-up truck to this beauty, work boots to $300 cowboy boots, functional denim to designer labels. She’d come a long way, too, and she was proud of herself, but man, Cam had her beat.

It wasn’t a competition, Donner, and Cam didn’t have a child to deal with. You’ve done okay, you know you have.

Clem was safe and happy and lacked for nothing. Sure, it would be nice to have a little more stashed away for a rainy day, to have a place of her own, but it could be worse. She could still be back at her mother’s, going to her church, living a small life in a small community. Count your blessings, dammit. You have everything you need...

“Can I help you up?”

Vivi half turned and lifted her hands. “I can’t get in there, Cam.”

Cam frowned. “And why not?”

“This car is brand new. I am filthy. My clothes are still damp and muddy, and I reek of ditchwater.”

Spreading his legs, Cam folded his arms across his chest, and Vivi appreciated the bulge of his biceps straining the band of his T-shirt. He shook his head. “Get in the car, Vivianne.”

“I can’t!”

Muttering a curse, Cam moved quickly. He gripped her waist, lifted her and easily deposited her into the soft leather chair. He placed a hand on her thigh and one on her shoulder and glared at her. “It’s a car. I don’t give a damn whether it gets dirty or not. Carpets can get cleaned, leather seats can get wiped down.” He leaned forward and sniffed; amusement jumped into his eyes. “Though you could do with a shower.”

Vivi blushed. “I know, I’m really sorry.”

Cam’s thumb found the rip on the knee of her jeans and caressed that small patch of bare skin. Vivi watched his eyes darken, and emotion she couldn’t identify flashed in his eyes. “You nearly died, Vivi. I’d rather have you here, dirty and a little smelly, than dead and gone.”

He was so direct, so damn to the point, and Vivi liked it. She liked the way he said what he meant, whether she wanted to hear it or not. Her parents had been so passive-aggressive, so manipulative that she’d spent most of her life trying to decipher what they meant, second-guessing her responses and reactions, never quite sure if she was doing or saying the right thing. She liked direct people; she always knew where she stood with them.

“We done with this conversation?” Cam asked her.

Vivi sighed. “Yeah.”

The corners of his mouth lifted. “’Bout time.”

He slammed the car door shut and Vivi pulled the seat belt down as she watched him walk around the hood of the SUV to the driver’s door. Long strides, messy hair, stubble on his strong jaw. He was such a man, an alpha male in his prime.

Cam pulled open his door, settled into his seat and reached for a pair of expensive sunglasses resting in the console. He half lifted them to his face when he stopped to look at her. He held out the sunglasses to her. “How’s your head? Do you want to use these?”

Vivi was touched by his casual offer. Her head was pounding, and she couldn’t look out of the windshield without feeling like the sun was piercing her eyes with thousand-degree needles. Her fingers brushed Cam’s as she took the glasses from him and she felt another shiver of awareness. God, he was hot. And under that gruff, sweet.