Chapter Six
Max watched Rachel’s retreat and tried to figure out how the hell he was going to fix this. It was obvious now that he’d completely overreacted to the situation. He wasn’t even sure what the situation was, but he was smart enough to know he’d done something wrong. No woman had ever tried to brutally murder a man with a bouquet of flowers unless he’d seriously screwed up.
He dusted the rose petals off his shirt and out of his hair. He picked up his hat off the ground and held it in his hand. He would be polite this time. He would follow the rules of courtesy.
Should he get more flowers? Maybe not. She was dangerous with flowers. Nope. He was going to have to use words this time.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Rye stood firmly in his way, a barrier to all he held dear.
Max hadn’t missed the way his brother looked at Rachel. Rye was falling for her, too, and Max didn’t know what to do about it. He couldn’t see Rachel accepting the type of relationship they would want. None of that would matter if he couldn’t convince her to see him again. “I’m going to talk to Rachel.”
The frown on his brother’s face let Max know exactly what Rye thought of that plan. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, brother. I think she might need some time to cool down. That honey’s downright mean when you get on her bad side.”
He was going to have to grovel. He knew it would shock most of the people in town, but he was more than willing to do it if it got him back in Rachel’s good graces. “I’ve got to talk to her.”
Rye strode over and put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s not going anywhere. If you walk into that diner, you’ll be doing the exact thing she asked you not to do.”
Max let his head fall back in frustration. It was the opposite of the day they’d planned out. He’d done everything Rye had told him to. He’d bought flowers and champagne. He’d made sure there was some of her favorite music on his phone. He was going to woo her the way he wanted to. He’d also planned on fucking her brains out, but that was only after he’d made her feel like a princess.
Instead he’d managed to turn his happy kitten into a raging woman scorned because he couldn’t control his damn temper. He shoved a hand through his hair and came back with silky rose petals.
“I can’t leave it like this.” He couldn’t. It went against his nature to sit back and hope things turned out okay.
“We have bigger problems, Max.” Rye lent him a hand and pulled a long green stem out of the neck of his shirt. “There’s a reason she lied about the motel and it’s not because she’s cheating on some sad-sack husband. She’s living out of her car.”
“What?” Max breathed the question. It couldn’t be true. He’d been around her for a solid week and she always drove.
He strode to her Jeep, looking inside.
He’d completely missed the signs. There was a blanket across the back seat. It wasn’t neatly folded and waiting for a chilly night. It was laid out and wrinkled up like someone had slept on it. There was a pillow shoved down on the floor and a flashlight where she could easily grab it if she needed to.
She was sleeping in her car. He’d made love to her, held her, and enjoyed her body and then left her to sleep in her car. How long had she been homeless? He thought his heart had been racing before. Now it was a damn locomotive in his chest. Anything could have happened to her. There really were bears in the woods, not to mention the fact that anyone could smash in the window and do what they wanted to her. She would have been alone with no one to protect her.
Rye slapped him on the back. “Calm down. She won’t need to sleep in her car anymore. We’ll take care of her.”
“We have to convince her to move in with us.” He couldn’t leave her out there alone. He wouldn’t be able to sleep not knowing she was safe. She needed to be in their house where they could watch out for her.
“I don’t think that’s going to be easy.” Rye crossed his arms over his chest and appeared lost in thought. “Here’s the good news. She isn’t intimidated by your temper.”
Max laughed. “Hardly.”
She’d been an avenging goddess coming after him. He’d been the intimidated one. And the strangely aroused one.
“The bad news is she now thinks you’re a possessive asshole, and she seems to take exception to the type as a whole.”
“Well, I am a possessive asshole. At least I am where she’s concerned. But hell, Rye, she lied to me. I didn’t make something up this time. I probably should have asked politely, but you know how I get.” Rye should know. He was the one who had to talk Max down most of the time.
“I do,” Rye said. “If it helps, I don’t think it was you she was mad at, not entirely.”
“It sure felt like it when she was wailing on me.” She’d been ready to shove his flowers where the sun didn’t shine.
“She said she was tired of men thinking they owned her. If I had to guess, I would say she’s had a bad boyfriend or two in her time. Maybe she’s been abused. You’re going to have to prove you’re not exactly like them.”
“Well, I can’t go in after her.” His brother was right about that. All he wanted to do was walk into that diner, throw her over his shoulder, and whisk her away to someplace private. That plan probably wouldn’t make Rachel think he was civilized. It would simply cement his reputation as a caveman. “She told me not to. If I barge in, I’ll be a bullying asshole. If I wait out here for her, I’m a stalker. If I don’t wait, she could drive off, and I might never see her again. I need to get her alone and talk to her. She could disappear, Rye.”
Rye patted the hood of the Jeep. “Well, she can’t drive off if she doesn’t have a car. It would be a damn shame if her car got stolen and taken out to our place. I’d have to wait here to give her a ride over to retrieve her car.”
Now that was a brilliant idea. Oh, it could also get him in serious trouble, but it also might give him just enough time to convince her. His brother really was the devious one. “She told me I shouldn’t follow her. She didn’t say anything about stealing her car.”
“Of course, if she decides to press charges, I’ll have to arrest you, bro.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Max flexed his fingers. He had some work to do. He only hoped Marie had some more flowers.
* * * *
By six o’clock, Rachel was dead on her feet. She should have been off two hours before, but she’d let Jen leave early because she could use the cash. She would have worked a complete double if Stella needed the help. Anything to avoid the time when she had to drive around and find a place to hole up for the night. Even as she walked through the diner’s double doors, tears were threatening to fall.
Why had Max turned out to be a jerk?
It was better this way. After all, she’d gotten what she wanted out of it. She’d had great sex with a man who knew what he was doing. She’d been looking forward to more. Max Harper had given her more pleasure than she’d ever had before. She wasn’t in love with him, and she didn’t want to have anything at all to do with his cop brother.
So why was her heart aching at the thought of not touching him again, not sitting across a booth from him and talking about their days? A weary sigh left her body. There was nothing to do about it. She wouldn’t be involved with a man who treated her like that. He would take and take and give nothing back. She would simply put him out of her mind and focus on the problems ahead. For now that meant finding a place to sleep. If she found a spot quickly enough, maybe she could read for a while before it got too dark. Then she’d gaze up at the stars and hope to get some sleep.
She stopped and stared at the space where her car should be. Her whole body stilled as though she couldn’t move while her brain processed what she was looking at. Was she wrong? Maybe she’d parked there yesterday and…she always parked here. It was the furthest space away from the diner but still in the parking lot. It was her space.
Panic welled. It rolled from her gut upward,
bringing bile to the back of her throat. The spot where she knew she’d parked was empty. That meant one thing. Someone had taken her car. Her car was gone. It was all she had in the world. All the money she’d earned was in that car, carefully hidden in the floorboard along with her fake IDs and other important papers. If she didn’t have a car, she couldn’t run when she needed to.
She couldn’t lose her car.
“Rachel?”
She whirled around, and Rye Harper stood there in his khaki uniform. He looked strangely comforting. He was the one she should talk to. Somewhere deep under her anger she still knew he was the person who would help her. He was supposed to help her.
“Someone stole my car,” she said as she felt tears roll down her cheeks. “What do I do?”
Rye shook his head and reached out for her. She was so numb with terror that she allowed him to hold her hands in his. “It’s okay.”
“My car is gone. I need my car.” The impulse to move close to him and feel those big strong arms around her was nearly overwhelming. She wanted to give him the problem and let him solve it.
“Rachel, sweetheart, your car is out at the ranch. It’s fine.”
She dropped his hands as his words sank in. Her car was out at Harper Stables? Max had done this to her? “He stole my car?”
“Max’s youth was…very interesting.”
If Max had done the crime, then Rye had to have been in on it. That was the way they worked. She’d known better than to trust him. “You let him steal my car?”
Rye’s face was open with the faintest hint of a grin on his generous lips. “Well, darlin’, I was unfortunately looking the other way at the time. He told me there was a bear coming, and by the time I realized his terrible deception, he was driving off in your Jeep. I think there was some maniacal laughter in there somewhere. Supervillains. What are you going to do?”
Rachel didn’t appreciate the comedy. She was angrier than she’d been in a long time. She had felt numb for so long, but now the Harper brothers were bringing all her emotions to the surface. “I want him arrested and thrown in jail.”
Rye sobered, and then he nodded slowly. “If that’s what you want. I’ll take you out to our place, and then I’ll take him in.”
Sure he would. More likely they would both laugh at her. Max had obviously decided to take a bit of revenge out on her, and his brother was helping. Except Rye didn’t look like he was having fun. He looked grim. “Are you serious?”
He reached for her hand again, drawing her right hand in between both of his, warming her. “Yes, I’m serious. If you want to press charges, then he can spend the night in jail. I told him I would do it when he decided to steal your car.”
She sighed, completely confused. He seemed sincere. “Then why would he do it? Does he want revenge that badly?”
Rye’s deep blue eyes held hers. He was beautiful. Though he looked exactly like his brother, there was a different energy to Rye Harper. He was more serene than Max. Max was exciting and wild and made her feel that way, too. Rye made her feel protected.
“Revenge? For you putting him on his ass? Hell, no. He deserved that and he knows it. This is all about you. Rachel, my brother is crazy about you. He screwed up, and he’ll do anything to make it right. Please, come out to our house and talk to him. If you want me to toss his ass in jail after, then that’s what I’ll do. I promise.”
Damn, but he knew exactly what to say to her. Maybe she was an idiot, but she was inclined to believe him. In the end, it didn’t matter because she had to get her car. She supposed she could wait until Stella closed for the night. She could get someone from the diner to drive her out to Max’s place, but she found herself walking behind Rye, climbing into the SUV emblazoned with Bliss County Sheriff on the side.
She sat beside him with her hands firmly in her lap because she had enjoyed the way his big hand engulfed her small one far too much. She watched the town go by as Rye drove toward his home. She loved the mountains. The small town of Bliss was nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and everything about it seemed magical. It seemed so far from Dallas that it could have been on another planet. She could almost believe that she’d run far enough no one could ever find her.
“Rachel, why are you living out of your car?”
Rye’s softly spoken question brought her right back to reality. She’d hoped they hadn’t figured that out. “Is it illegal?”
His sigh told her he was frustrated. “No, I’ll drop it.”
She looked at the line of his jaw and the weariness of his face. Something softened in her.
“I don’t have the money to afford a motel,” she said quietly, unable to stay silent on the subject.
“It’s not safe, sweetheart. Anything could happen to you out here.”
He sounded like he really cared. It made her open up a bit. “I know. I don’t get much sleep. It’s better here in Bliss than some of the places I’ve been. I feel safer sleeping in the woods than I do in a city.”
“I don’t suppose you want to tell me what you’re running from,” Rye continued in a gentle, coaxing voice.
She wasn’t willing to go there, certainly not with him. He was all sympathy for now, but when he found out the man she was running from was a cop, he would take Tommy’s side. They all did. She straightened her spine. “Just take me to my car, please.”
“All right, Rachel.”
They drove the next ten minutes in silence, with Rachel feeling his disappointment sitting between them. There wasn’t anything she could do about it. She had her paycheck in her purse and cash stashed in her car. Though her heart ached at the thought, it looked like it was time to leave Bliss. She would get in her car and go to Denver. She’d meant what she’d said to Rye. She felt safer out here, but the city had its advantages. It was easier to get lost in a city. No one noticed new people in big cities.
Rye turned onto a dirt road. Rachel couldn’t help being fascinated with the Harper brothers’ ranch. It was the most beautiful place she’d ever seen. They passed the pond where she and Max had made love. She could only see a bit of it from the road, but she knew it was there. If she closed her eyes, she could picture it. The road to the house was lined with aspens and wildflowers. She could see the stables and the pasture in the distance. The sun was low in the sky, giving everything a gauzy look. Rye pulled into the long driveway that led to the two-story Victorian manor at the center of everything. It was the oddest sight, that big gorgeous, ornate house in the middle of all that nature. Most of the other homes in Bliss were log cabins, so the Harper house stood out.
“It was our mother’s dream house.” Rye stared at the big house with a slight smile on his face, his fondness for his mother easy to see. “I’ve always thought it looked odd out here in the middle of the wilderness. We’ve tried to keep it up, but I will admit it could use a woman’s touch.”
There were three rocking chairs on the wide porch, and she saw Quigley lying on the top step. His head came up, and the old mutt wandered down toward the newcomers.
“Hey, boy,” Rachel said, putting her hand out. The dog’s big tail wagged. He picked up the nearest stick and tried to press it into her hands.
Rye was laughing a bit ruefully. “Naturally. He couldn’t stand Nina. Rachel, you should know he took your backpack into the house with him. He wanted to force you to talk to him, but I’ll go get it if you truly can’t stand to look at him again.”
Rachel didn’t ask who Nina was. She probably didn’t want to know and she certainly wasn’t going to cower. “Is he in the house?”
Her Jeep was parked next to Max’s truck, and he was smart to have taken something because she would have driven away.
Rye nodded toward the front door. He stood with his knees locked and wariness in his eyes. “Yes. He’s waiting for you inside. Do you want me to go in and take him into custody?”
There was no mistaking the anxiousness surrounding the sheriff. He seemed to be nervous that she was really going to
press charges. She wasn’t. Pressing charges would only cause paperwork, and paperwork was something she needed to avoid. She’d leave, and then the problem of Maxwell Harper would be solved. “No, Sheriff, I just want my backpack.”
“All right.” Rye let out a relieved breath. He took the stick from Quigley’s drooling mouth and tossed it into the wooded area beside the house. The dog loped off after his prize. “I’ll take Q here for a walk so we don’t disturb you. Rachel, go easy on him. He’s never been in love before. Now that I think about it, neither one of us has. It’s hard. If you’re going to leave, please let him down easy.”
He nodded and walked off after the happily playing dog.
Rachel’s heart ached, but she was resolute. She didn’t have a place in her life for either of the men. She certainly didn’t want to fall in love. She marched up the stairs and knocked on the door.
“Come on in.” Max’s strong voice rang out.
She took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and stepped into the house. She looked down, and there was a trail of wild flowers leading down the hall. Soft music was playing, and she smelled something truly incredible. Wary, she followed the trail of flowers and found herself in a romantically lit dining room. There were two place settings. Max stood opening a bottle of wine.
“I made you lasagna. You told Jen you liked Italian. It was my mother’s recipe. I looked up wines on the Internet. This one is supposed to go with pasta.” Max spoke quickly, as though he realized he didn’t have long to convince her to stay.
“I just want my backpack.” Her voice was unsteady, as it always was when she blatantly lied.
He must have spent all afternoon cooking and getting the house ready for her. She’d been prepared for him to apologize briefly. She’d been ready for him to yell at her for emasculating him in front of a crowd. She wasn’t ready to find him standing there looking deliciously masculine in a white dress shirt and slacks, preparing to serve her dinner.
He turned his gorgeous face to her. “Rachel, please have dinner with me. I’m sorry for acting like a dumbass this afternoon. Let me be upfront and honest with you. It won’t be the last time I make an idiot of myself. I’m good at it, and I can’t seem to help myself. But I promise, every time I do, I’ll come groveling and begging you to forgive me.”