Page 41 of Texas Scandal

It took another half hour but he finally found sleep again. Morning showed too quickly. The next time he opened his eyes it was half past six. Melody had rolled onto her other side, taking him with her. His leg was over one of hers and the sheets were in a tangle around them. If he stayed here much longer, he would never get out of bed.

Reluctantly, he untangled their arms and legs and then slipped out of the covers. He rubbed his eyes again before checking his laptop. The responses were starting to roll in and, thankfully, most everyone understood and wished him well. Said they’d be waiting for the saddles however long it took, and they would wrap the rendering of the saddles he’d provided instead. He truly had the best customers in Texas.

One of his emails came from his baby sister, Reese. Apparently, there was a storm brewing back home in Cider Creek. She didn’t want to go home any more than he did based on her message, which essentially asked him to help her get out of it. He fired off a response, telling her that he would be home as soon as possible, and she needed to make up her own mind about returning. There was no way he was leaving Melody to deal with the sheriff alone.

His next move was to check on Loki. The dog was still sleeping, curled up with a stuffed sloth in his paws. It was darned near the most heartwarming scene he’d ever laid eyes on. As much as he missed his dog, it was probably for the best he was at the vet’s and not running around with Tiernan and Melody, like they planned to do as soon as she was awake.

Tiernan stood up and stretched. Melody rolled over and blinked her eyes open.

“Hey,” she said in a raspy, sleepy voice that tugged at what was left of his heartstrings.

“Good morning,” he said, moving to the side of the bed where he sat down. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in a long time,” she admitted, then her cheeks turned three shades of red. “Comfortable bed.”

He nodded and smirked. Comfortable bed his backside. With her, he’d slept deeper than he wanted to admit, too. They were at a standstill when it came to admitting the reason, which was fine with him. He’d faced down stubborn bulls before on the circuit. He could dig his heels in just as much.

“Have you heard from the vet about Loki?” she asked, pushing up to sitting. The blanket fell down to her full hips. She had just enough curves to be sexy, and they’d been imprinted on his body in the short time they were together last night. In fact, getting out of bed this morning had been difficult.

“There’s a camera if you’d like to see him for yourself,” he said, motioning toward the laptop.

“I’d like that a lot, actually,” she said. “I had a dream that he was running around, causing trouble.”

“He will be soon enough,” Tiernan said on a chuckle. Her dream warmed his heart a couple more degrees. It was on low burn with her right now, and a spark was all it would take to start a raging wildfire inside him. He pulled up the vet’s camera and pointed to Loki’s kennel.

“Aww,” she said. “Is he seriously hugging a stuffed animal?”

“Yes, he is,” Tiernan confirmed.

“That is the sweetest thing I’ll probably ever see,” she said as she tilted her head to one side and clasped her hands together.

“How about your clients?” she asked as she situated a pillow behind her to lean back against. He didn’t want to think about the thin cotton material of her shirt being the only barrier between his hands and her creamy skin. Or the fact she was in his bed and that made him feel like she belonged to him on a primal level.

“So far, so good,” he said. “They’ve been understanding of the situation. At least the ones I’ve heard from so far.”

“I’m sure the rest will be, too,” she said. “The fire wasn’t exactly your fault.”

“Not yours, either,” he quickly added before she could get too inside her head and blame herself again. He studied her for a long moment and decided she already had. “Do you always do that?”

“What?”

“Take responsibility for the world?” he asked in all sincerity. “There are a whole lot of things none of us have control over and never will.” Growing up on a ranch dealing with livestock, weather conditions and Mother Nature had taught him the lesson well. Half the time, they were going on a wing and a prayer, hoping for the best.

She threw off the covers and climbed out of bed. “Speaking of which, we should get dressed and go see Coop before the vet calls to pick up Loki.”

A serious wall had just come up between them. He took note of the fact she didn’t want to hear his advice. Wasn’t ready to accept it? From the looks of it, he’d struck a nerve.

MELODYHEADEDFORthe bathroom. She realized midway that her stuff was in the guest bath, so she rerouted. Halfway there, she heard Tiernan rummaging around in the kitchen behind her as she crossed the room.

She splashed water on her face after brushing her teeth in the guest suite, then changed her clothing. A pair of jeans and a light green sweater would keep the chill off now that the temperature was dipping. Having so little material between her and Tiernan last night hadn’t been the best of ideas. She’d neglected to tell him the dream she’d had about him. Suffice it to say, she woke up knowing full well if the two of them had sex the fireworks would light the sky from Texas to Tokyo.

The man had hit the nail on the head about her taking responsibility for the world, but she wasn’t ready to hear those words from him or anyone else. She’d been doing just fine without someone poking around in her thoughts, no matter how devastatingly handsome the guy might be. His ability to read her was a little unsettling, too.

Besides, she needed to speak to her brother. She needed to look into Coop’s eyes and ask about the note telling her to drive away from Austin. She needed to study his features when she asked if he knew anything about their half-brother. And she needed to see for herself if the muscle underneath his left eye twitched when she asked him about the break-in at their mother’s place.

What lengths would Coop go to in order to protect their father? Would he be willing to throw his own sister under the bus? They hadn’t been close in years. Granted, they didn’t exactly call to check on each other or spend holidays together since she’d dumped her inheritance. Plus, she normally worked, which had been a great excuse to check out of a normal life. Burying herself in her job was one way to keep everyone at arm’s length—a job she no longer had to worry about since she was out. The thought of doing nothing for a month or two until she figured out her next step would have scared old Melody. Staring down the possibility of prison time showed her there were far bigger problems to be faced than unemployment. Since she rarely ever went out or spent money on big ticket items, she had a decent amount in savings. Not enough to live off of for years, but she could get through a few months with her emergency fund if she was careful. There were family heirlooms that she’d been hanging on to. She could sell those if times got tight.

If her brother was willing to kill to protect the Cantor name, would he even consider how damning the evidence might be that was stacking against her? Or did he assume she wouldn’t even be considered a slight possibility as a suspect? Would that have been the reason for the note being placed on her car? To cast suspicion somewhere else? Protect her from arrest?

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