How to Seduce a Texan

Chapter 25

For just a moment, Celeste thought about sneaking back inside the therapy room when she saw Brian at the reception desk talking to Rhonda. Drat, she had to face him sooner or later. That knowledge didn’t make her feel any better.

What had gotten into her yesterday? She couldn’t believe she’d told him anything, let alone spilling her whole sordid family history. She never talked about her past to anyone.

But then to make love with him…no, there had been nothing wrong about what they’d shared. Maybe it was the most right thing that had happened in her life in a very long time, and she refused to feel regret.

A whole lot embarrassed, but she figured that was only natural. But, damn, he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

He turned from the reception desk and saw her at the door of the massage room. There was nothing for her to do but walk to the front desk. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t run into him sooner or later.

“Hello,” she said.

His gaze slowly swept over her. Tingles spread down her body in the wake of his heated gaze, but then, she knew he wanted her. That had been evident last night. There was definitely a mutual attraction going on here.

“Have lunch with me,” he said.

She twined her fingers together and glanced at Rhonda. The receptionist quickly looked down at the desk and began to thumb through the pages of the appointment book.

Celeste could feel the heat rise up her face. “I can’t,” she blurted as she silently wished for him to go away. She needed time to think about what was going on between them. Things were happening way too fast for her.

“Actually,” Rhonda said, “you don’t have another appointment until two. You can take a nice long, leisurely lunch.” She was smiling when she raised her head but apparently noted Celeste’s not so pleased expression and downed her head again.

“Good. I’ll drop by around noon and we can walk over together.”

Brian didn’t wait for her to protest. He strode to the door and left her to wonder how she was going to get out of having lunch with the boss.

“I think he likes you,” Rhonda said.

“I think you need to mind your own business.”

“Are you really mad at me?” Rhonda looked genuinely worried as she fiddled with the top button on her blouse.

“No, I guess not.” She had to work with her and she was more mad at herself than she was at Rhonda.

Rhonda smiled brightly. “You like him, don’t you?”

“He’s the boss.”

“And he’s still a man.”

Oh yeah, that he was, and she couldn’t stop the thrill that swept over her as she remembered just how much of a man he was.

But she had a feeling no good would come out of their relationship. Her past experiences should be enough warning that nothing would work out between them.

Nikki glared at Cal’s back as she sacrificed a worm on the sharp hook. What she wouldn’t give to jab him in the butt with the barbed piece of metal. Cal had used her. Made love to her all the time he planned to dump her. No, not dump, just have other women. He probably expected her to make appointments for his time.

Not that she even remotely thought their relationship stood a chance, but did he have to be so blunt about not being able to stay true to just one woman?

It was a good thing she’d chosen to fish downstream from him or she’d be tempted to whack him over the head with her pole!

“I bet the town loves having their star football player back in town,” she said sarcastically as she tossed the line out. It whistled through the air, and then the sinker plopped into the water, sending out ripples.

“They like making a big deal. I don’t see the harm.” He glanced over his shoulder and winked. “Especially the ladies. They trip all over themselves trying to get to me.”

Anger coursed through her.

He suddenly frowned. “But I won’t mess around while we’re having so much fun. I’ll wait until I start getting bored.”

“How nice,” she said between gritted teeth.

He was thoughtful for a minute. “I’ll probably wait until you leave town.”

“How generous.”

“I’m really trying to do better.” He turned back around, throwing out his line.

She glared at him. There was a tug on her line. She quickly reeled it in but there wasn’t anything on the hook, including the damned worm.

“You missed that one,” he told her, then went back to his own fishing.

Ohh, she’d like to…to…How could she ever have thought she might love him? She needed to have her head examined.

She threaded another worm on the hook and flung her line out, except it didn’t go anywhere. She whipped it back and forth-still nothing.

His laughter filled the air. “You have to let some of your line out-give it a little slack-and don’t forget to push the button.” He turned his back to her, but she could tell he was still laughing. He’d probably been laughing at her every time she came on to him.

She released some of her line.

“But I will say that I’ve never had such good sex as what I’ve had with you.”

Oh, now he was comparing her to his other women! That was just great.

She whipped the fishing pole at the same time she released the line. It sailed through the air, but not toward the water.

“Ow!” Cal jumped, grabbing his butt.

“Oh, crap.” She threw her pole down. He jumped again when the line tightened. “I’m sorry.” She scooped the rod back up and ran toward him but stumbled and jerked the line tight again as she tried to catch her balance.

“Just walk, don’t run,” Cal said between gritted teeth.

Nikki immediately slowed. Dammit, she might have been thinking about jabbing her hook in his butt, but that was all she’d been doing-just thinking it. Oh, maybe she was telekinetic. Darn it, she hadn’t meant to hook him. She stopped beside him, carefully laying the pole down.

“There’s a knife in my pocket,” he said. “Get it and cut the line.”

“I’m so sorry. I would never…”

“Just cut the line.”

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to bite my head off.” She stuck her hand in his pocket and dug around. Her fingers encountered two hard objects. A frown turned her lips downward. How could he get a hard-on with a hook in his ass? She had a feeling the knife was the smaller of the two.

She was right.

She quickly opened it and cut the line. “Now what? Do you want me to pull the hook out?”

“No!”

Sheesh! “I was just asking. How the hell do I know what you want me to do if you don’t tell me?”

“Help me back to camp.”

He put his arm around her shoulder, his hand landing on her breast. On purpose? Probably. She was not going to be the next girl in the Cal Braxton harem. She moved his hand to a safer place as they made their way back to camp.

“Hey, you’re not mad at me because I can’t be faithful, are you?”

“Why should that bother me?” she grumbled.

“You sound mad.”

“I’m not mad.” The sooner she returned to Fort Worth, the better. She would throw herself back into her work and she’d forget all about Cal-eventually.

Once back at camp, she helped him ease to his knees. Their bodies came into close contact, his chest pressing against hers. An ache began to build inside her, but she quickly thought about all he’d told her the night before.

It didn’t work. She still wanted him. For a second, she closed her eyes, letting his body bathe her in heat. Her nipples hardened.

“The hook,” he said. “I don’t think I’m up for lovemaking right now, darlin’. Maybe later.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t need servicing.” God, you’d think she was one of the cows and he was a frigging bull!

Nikki moved out of the way a little too fast. He grunted in pain as his hands reached out and his palms landed on the hard ground. He lowered himself the rest of the way.

Okay, she felt bad, a little, that he’d landed so hard when she moved out of his way. “Now what do I do?”

“Cut an opening in my jeans where the hook is.”

She knelt beside him. “I don’t have any nursing experience. Not that I’ll faint at the sight of blood or anything. I just wanted you to know that I really doubt I’ll be able to perform surgery or anything.”

She’d been at the emergency room a couple of times when a shooting victim was brought in, but that had been a long time ago and really early in her career. She’d decided the political arena was messy, but at least it wasn’t quite as gross as a bullet wound and blood spilling out everywhere. A hook shouldn’t pose any problems that she couldn’t handle, though.

Until she’d cut away his jeans a little too much and exposed his butt. She normally wasn’t a butt person but Cal had a really nice one. She liked that it was tanned. It took a supreme effort not to caress it.

“Now, baby, you have to stop ogling my ass. You’ll have plenty of time to look at it after the hook is out.”

She raised the knife, then closed her eyes and counted to ten. She would not plunge it into his back. They put people in jail for stuff like that. She had no intention of spending the next ten years locked up in a correctional institution. Even though her actions would be justified.

But the temptation was really strong.

Cal figured Nikki was about ready to kill him, and since she was holding the knife, he decided to quit pushing her. He’d hate like hell if she plunged it into his back. Besides, his ass hurt every time he moved a little.

“I wasn’t staring at your ass,” she spat out.

He grinned. She probably had been staring at it. Nikki was easily aroused. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that one look, one caress, and she was ready to make love. Well, that was until he’d pissed her off.

It should have made him feel better that she was furious with him. Now the shoe was on the other foot and maybe she was starting to feel used. But it didn’t. All he could think of was what he’d be missing when she left. But it wasn’t like they had anything going for them. She was a reporter. She and Cal together were like oil and water.

“Do you want me to cut the hook out?” she asked, sounding a little too pleased at the prospect of carving him up.

“Look in my saddlebag. There’s a pair of wire cutters. Grab the bottle of whiskey, too.”

“Do you really think this is a good time to start drinking?”

“It’s to disinfect the wound.”

“Oh.”

She stood and went to the saddlebag. When she bent over to dig through it, he had a nice view of her ass. Damn, she had a nice ass. He couldn’t help remembering how it had felt when he’d cupped her cheeks and brought her in closer to him. The way she moved perfectly to the rhythm of his body. An ache started to build inside him.

“Are these the wire cutters?” She held them up.

He jerked his thoughts back to the present. Thinking like that would get him into a lot of trouble. “Yeah. Did you find the whiskey?”

She straightened, the whiskey in one hand and the wire cutters in the other. “The bottle was under all the condoms,” she said, one eyebrow quirked upward. She looked put out. “There were at least two dozen of them.”

“There was a special on at the drugstore.” He hadn’t planned on ending their relationship until they got back. It had been dumb to tell her all those lies last night. “I’m a horny man. What can I say?”

He could almost see the flames shooting from her head. Cal had to remember he had a hook in his ass and she was the one who was going to remove it. He still wasn’t positive she hadn’t done it on purpose.

Nikki marched over and knelt beside him again.

“Cut the end of the hook that has the line attached to it. It’s not going to be easy. Make sure you grip the wire cutters real tight.”

She didn’t do anything.

He suspected her bravado was slipping. “Hey, it’s okay. This isn’t the first time I’ve been hooked. Brian got me once. It might hurt, but I’ll live.”

“I’m not worried I can’t do it. I was getting a drink.”

She was getting a drink? He hadn’t seen her pick up one of the canteens…“You’re not supposed to drink the whiskey. I’d rather not have you drunk when you remove the hook.”

“Then I’ll make sure I’m only a little tipsy.”

“Listen, it’s not that big of a deal.” He wasn’t convinced she wasn’t just nervous. “You can do this.”

“Of course I can, but I really was thirsty. Don’t worry, I saved enough to pour on your butt.”

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t nervous. She was a whole lot sarcastic, though. He didn’t think he liked her attitude, either. Maybe he’d made too light of his injury?

He heard her take a deep breath, and then her knuckles brushed against the cheek of his ass as she gripped the hook. He bit down on his lip when the hook wiggled. A few seconds later there was a snap.

“The end is cut. Now what?”

“Grasp the curved end of the hook with the wire cutters and bring it out. Don’t pull straight up. You’ll want to curve it as you remove it.”

“It looks pretty deep.”

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“Sorry. If it’s any consolation, the hook is thin.”

“I feel much better.”

Silence.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Looking at it. If you’d been a fish, there’s no way you would’ve gotten off. I hooked you pretty good.”

“Do you mind?”

“I was just making an observation, Braxton. Okay, get ready.”

He held his breath as she brought it out, but she brought it out fast without hurting him too much. He sucked in his breath for effect. Might as well make the most of the situation.

“It wasn’t that bad,” she said.

Had she run out of sympathy? “It hurt,” he complained.

“It was a small hook.”

“Well, pour some of the whiskey on it so it won’t get infected. That is, if you haven’t finished off the bottle.”

“I’m laughing on the inside.”

The liquid burned as it hit the wound. “Ow! You could’ve warned me before you poured it.”

“I’m going to pour it,” she said dryly.

“Funny.”

“I’m sure it didn’t burn that much.”

“You pour eighty-proof whiskey on an open wound and see how it feels.”

“I can’t even see the injury. The hook was really small. I have a feeling you didn’t want me to catch a big fish.”

“You landed me, didn’t you?”

“You have a point.”

When he eased to his feet, she started laughing. He frowned. “Now what the hell is so damned funny?”

She covered her mouth. “You look as though a shark bit the ass out of your jeans.”

No, just a barracuda, he thought to himself. And it might be a little wound but it still hurt like a son of a bitch. The bad thing about it was that he hadn’t brought a change of clothes, so he had to go around with half his ass out of his jeans.

Nothing had gone right in his life since Nikki had come into it. Why the hell would he think it would get any better the longer she stayed?