Page 32 of Wrangling a Wild Texan

As soon as the door clicked closed behind him, Reid turned to Sunny to give her hell. But when he saw her face, his angry words fizzled. For once, she didn’t look like her namesake. She looked like a rain cloud that was about to burst.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a low whisper. “I thought I was helping by letting Sophie know she wasn’t alone—that I have icky feelings too. I honestly didn’t think she would pull the same stupid prank I pulled.” She slumped in the chair and stared down at her clutched hands in her lap.

He had never really looked at her hands. Probably because there were so many other parts of her body that held his attention. So he was more than a little surprised to see her fingernails chewed down to the quick. The realization that she had a nervous habit stunned him. She always seemed so self-assured. But it appeared that she hid her nerves as well as she hid her . . . icky feelings. The realization caused his anger to fizzle out.

He sat down in the chair and sighed. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. If I was a better guardian, this wouldn’t have happened.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I thought things were better between us. This morning, she gave me a smile—an actual smile—when I teased her about spoiling Patsy rotten. But, obviously, I still suck at making her happy.”

“It’s not all about you, Reid. Sophie is dealing with a lot right now. Her mother dying, moving to a new town, making new friends, and teenage hormones. You’re not completelyresponsible for her happiness. She needs to figure out how to deal with her own emotions and problems.”

He lowered his hand and looked at her. “By vandalizing signs?”

Sunny blushed. “I tried to tell her that didn’t work for me, but I guess she wanted to try it out for herself.”

He glanced down at her nails. “What did work for you?”

She folded her fingers, hiding her nails from his gaze. He didn’t know why that bothered him so much. But it did. “Art. I found art. Painting calms me . . . and extreme sports.”

“Extreme sports?”

“Skydiving, bungee jumping, rock climbing.”

“You’ve done all those things?”

She nodded. “I’m a bit of a thrill seeker.”

It was pathetic how just the wordthrillcoming from her lips had his mind going down a road it had no business going down. Kissing her had been thrilling. More thrilling than anything he’d ever done in his life. He couldn’t help but want to experience that thrill again.

His gaze lowered to her mouth. A mouth that had haunted his dreams ever since he’d tasted its welcoming warmth. She wore no glossy pink lipstick today, but her natural rose-colored lips were just as tempting. Her tongue swept out to wet them and he lifted his gaze to find her watching him with an intensity that had his heart knocking against his rib cage as if fighting to get out.

He knew it was mistake, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from leaning closer to their beckoning softness. She leaned forward too. Their lips were only a breath apart when the door opened.

They quickly turned away from each other as Decker stepped into the room. Completely unaware of the sexual energy swirlingaround, he sat down in his chair and folded his hands on the desk.

“Alright. So seeing as how this is Sophie’s first offense, I don’t think there’s any reason to involve the juvenile system. Unless you disagree, Reid.”

Reid shifted in his chair and tried to keep his gaze off the woman sitting next to him. “No. I’d appreciate if you didn’t involve them.”

“That still doesn’t mean Sophie gets off scot free. She’ll have to do some community service.”

“I think that’s only fair.”

Decker nodded. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.” He glanced at Sunny who looked as flushed as Reid felt. “I think you should do community service as well.”

Sunny blinked. “Me?”

“You did pull the same prank.” He cocked an eyebrow. “And a lot more. I think the townsfolk will forgive you much faster if you show you’re sorry for what you did by doing community service.”

“But nobody knows about me doing those pranks except you, me, Reid, and Sophie.”

Decker sighed. “And Melba. She has a tendency to listen at the door. And while she’s a kindhearted, good woman, she isn’t exactly what you’d call tight lipped.”

If Reid had thought Sunny looked like a sad rain cloud before, it was nothing compared to what she looked like now. She looked like her entire world had come crashing down around her. He couldn’t help sympathizing. Folks would forgive a teenager for a one-time offense much more easily than an adult who had pulled the wool over their eyes for years.

“Maybe you could talk to Melba,” he said. “And ask her not to say anything.”

Decker looked at him. “And what kind of example would that be for Sophie?”

“He’s right,” Sunny said. “I should pay for what I did too. It’s only fair.”

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