Boots And Booties Part 5

"I'm sorry." She laughed and shook her head. "I'll behave. Where do you wantthese sheets and blankets? And when do I get a tour of this mansion?"

"Right now." Addie picked up another box from the back of the truck andheaded across the lawn to the front door. "You won't believe the foyer. Or howmany rooms there are. Follow me and prepare to be amazed."

Calfollowed behind Kate, but his gaze was on the little blonde ahead of her.There were ten or twenty reasons why the woman was off-limits, and yet thevision of her naked and against his body wouldn't go away.

He was only human.

And he obviously needed to get off the ranch more often.

Chapter 5.

"Where do you want it?"

Addie turned and sawCalstanding in the doorway of her new bedroom. He heldthe ornate, white iron headboard she'd bought inAustinlast week, along withnew beds for the house and other extravagant necessities. She'd splurged on aking-size mattress, too, which leaned against one of the walls. Now,withCalwalking into her bedroom, she thought the size of the bed could bemisconstrued.I'll be sleeping here alone, she wanted to say.I have no ulteriormotives, and will be sending out no invitations.

She really wished someone else could put her bed together, but there wasnothing to do but accept the fact thatCalwas here and prepared to help. Andshe needed all the help she could get. So she pointed to the large expanse ofwall between the two east windows. "Over there, thanks."

He carried it inside, making sure he lifted it above the freshly scrubbedwooden floor, and set it against a faded pink wall that was destined for newwallpaper. He made another trip, but not alone. Kate carried the other end ofthe pair of bed frames.

"That's one heck of a formal staircase," she said, panting a little aftersetting the frame down in the middle of the room. "You can make quite a grandentrance."

"It is dramatic, isn't it? Especially with the chandelier hanging down fromtwo stories. Like something in a magazine."

Kate nodded. "Exactly. Too bad you only have sons. This would be a greatplace to get married."

"You're welcome to use it anytime," Addie teased, knowing full well herfriend wasn't interested in settling down.Calwent over and scooted the bedframe into position.

"I might surprise you." Kate turned to look at the cowboy. "Hey,Cal? Do youneed me anymore?"

"No, but thanks for the help."

"Anytime." She winked at him and laughed in Addie's direction. "I haven'tdecided which one of the guest rooms up here is mine. Any suggestions?"

"There are three on the other side of the stairs, so take your pick. I'vetaped color swatches in each room for the painters, if color means anything toyou. The one farthest back has the twin beds, and the other two are queens."

"Okay. Good luck with the bed, you two. I'm going back to the kitchen. Yourmother and I are bonding over cooking equipment and the organization of yourpantry."

"The fun never stops," Addie said. "I'll pay you back with dinner. What arethe boys doing?"

"John took them for a walk. He's an old sweetie, that one." And then Kate wasgone, leaving Addie alone withCalagain. She would have to learn to becomfortable around him, she decided. There was no other choice, not for rightnow. Not unless one of them left the Triple J.

"So," she said, sounding determinedly cheerful. "Can I help you with that?"

He didn't look up from tightening the bolts that held the metal framestogether and also connected the headboard. "No."

"Okay." She felt a trickle of perspiration run down her back. She would havethis house air-conditioned if it took every last dime of her inheritance. Theroom, large as it was, felt stuffy and close in April. What would it be likein August?

"I'm almost done."

"No hurry," she lied, taking a sip from the water bottle she'd left on top ofthe pine dresser, the one article of furniture she'd brought fromherAustinbedroom. She'd finished filling the drawers with her clothes and hadset a framed photo of Jack on top, along with the boys' baby pictures.

"Are we going to get to know each other, Addie, or are we just going to keeppretending we're strangers?"

She turned to face him. He tucked his wrench in his back pocket and went overto one of the box springs. The salesman had explained that twin frames heldtwin box springs, over which was placed her padded king-size mattress. "Wealready know each other a little too well."

His eyebrows rose. "After a few dances and half an hour in a motel room? Idon't think so."

"Four dances and twenty minutes," she countered, "including my sprint acrossthe parking lot."

Calsmiled, a fleeting smile that lightened his face for one brief minute ashe slid the box spring along the floor. "At least I know your name now. Youleft without telling me."

"I didn't know yours, either."

"Stupid of me." Somehow he managed to make lifting the mattress look easy ashe placed it on the frame. He was a large, muscular man. She remembered thestrength in his arms when he'd carried her to the motel. She must have beeninsane to drink that much. The thought of all that rum made her stomach heave.

"What else do you want to know?" d.a.m.n, but it was hot in this room. "Therereally isn't much else to say."

"How about why you ran away?" He walked closer to her, but stopped a few feetaway, as if he was afraid she would run away again if he came too close.

She swallowed. Hard. "I was embarra.s.sed. I don't expect you to believe me,but I, uh, had never done anything like that before. I was absolutelymortified."

"Mortified," he repeated, his dark eyes fixed on hers. "That's not veryflattering."

"Well, you'll have to get compliments from the next woman you meet atBilly's. I'm sticking with 'mortified."'

Again, that smile. "Well, no one's ever called it that before."

"It" meant s.e.x, she supposed. Hot, panting, baby-making s.e.x. Her stomachfluttered with nerves and more than a little guilt, but she kept quiet andhoped that the heat wasn't making her sick.Calturned around and went back forthe other box spring. He didn't say anything else until he had that one inplace.

"You didn't tell me about your husband," he said, wiping his forehead withthe sleeve of his shirt. "When you were here at the ranch that first day, youcould have told me."

"I don't like talking about Jack's death."

"I'm sorry. I wouldn't have asked about him that day if I'd known." Hewatched her, waiting for her to say something.

"That's okay. It was three years ago." Three years and two months.

"That's not necessarily a long time."

"No," she said. "It's not."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you." They looked at each other for a long moment before he stepped away.

"I think you're going to have to help me with this one," he said, movingtoward the huge mattress.

"Let me get Kate." Heavy lifting and pregnancy didn't go together, and aslong as she'd been given this baby she was going to do her best to keep itsafe. "I have a bad back."

"Wait a sec. I'll see how far I get,"Calsaid, sliding it across the room."Maybe I can manage by myself." His reluctance to take advantage of an excuseto be with Kate again pleased her. If he were immune to her friend's charms,he would set a record as the first man inTexasable to resist.

"Just a minute," she said, hurrying over to the shopping bag filled with newbedding. "I have to put the dust ruffle on first." She opened the package toreveal the almost transparent white nylon flocked with tiny pale green leaves.She gave it a good shake and told herself that the wrinkles would fall outeventually, because she wasn't going to stop and iron all that fabric.

To her surprise, he leaned the mattress against the wall and helped herspread the nylon square across the box springs as if he knew exactly what hewas doing. When it was in place,Calgrasped the mattress again.

"Don't hurt yourself." A silly thing to say, of course, considering the sizeof him. She watched him manage to toss part of the mattress on top of the bedand push it into place. It didn't look easy and she heard him swear under hisbreath, but when she tried to help by grabbing one of the cloth handles on theside of the mattress, he told her not to.

"I'll take care of that," he said, his voice gruff. "But this is one h.e.l.l ofa big bed."

She flushed and stammered, "The boys sometimes get in bed with me in themorning."

"You don't have to explain," he said. "Your bed's your own business." Addiestayed silent while he pushed the mattress into place. It took severalattempts, butCalhad it fixed in no time.

"Thank you. That's great." Now he could leave and she, ungrateful liar thatshe was, could admire her bed without thinking of s.e.x.

"No problem," he said, looking up at her. "You have sheets for this?"

"Well, yes." They were still in their packages in the shopping bag in the farcorner of the room, along with new pillows, a mint-green cotton blanket and asnow-white matelesse coverlet.

"Well, let's get 'em on, then. Might as well finish what we started."

He surprised her again, shaking the crisp, white sheets from their packagesand spreading them neatly, tucking and folding with practiced motions.

"You're very good at this." He'd been married, of course, despite what he'dtold her the night they met. He was older than she was-thirty-six,thirty-seven, she guessed-and he wouldn't have reached that age without havingbeen someone's husband or live-in boyfriend, a man who'd grown accustomed tomaking beds. Who she was and what had happened was none of her business, Addietold herself.

"I did a lot of it when I was a kid."

"You did?" So much for the ex-wife.

"Yeah." He smoothed the blanket and folded the top edge neatly over th.e.s.h.eet. Addie did the same thing on the right side of the bed. "I spent most ofmy life in group homes. We made up our own beds every Sunday, and the olderkids always helped the younger ones."

"And you were one of the older ones?"

"Younger, older, in between." He shrugged and reached for the puffy plasticbag with the coverlet zipped inside. "This goes on top?"

"Yes." She was afraid to ask anything about his family, afraid to embarra.s.shim or make him feel badly. And she didn't know if it would be rude to saynothing. She gazed at him across the width of the bed. "But where was yourfamily?"

"There wasn't any." He gave her a quick smile, as if to rea.s.sure her that sheshouldn't pity him, but the smile wasn't the same one that lit up his eyeswhen he was amused. She knew that much about him, at least. "Pillows?"

"Oh. Sure." She grabbed another shopping bag, this one stuffed with thick,down pillows, another splurge for all of the new beds in the house. She hadspent one entire morning, while the boys were at preschool, in the bed andbath shop. She'd discovered that oyster crackers were more portable and lessmessy than the other kind, and were easily nibbled on while spending greatquant.i.ties of money Which brought her back to the reason for the crackers in the first place, theman standing across the bed. The man who had used a condom. Had the d.a.m.n thingbroken?

"Addie?"

"Oh." She'd been staring at him. He walked around the bed and took the bag ofpillows from her. "Sorry."

"Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. Just a little warm, that's all." Just a little pregnant, too. Whatwould happen if she told him? No, she wasn't going to involve him. Not yet.Not until she knew what kind of man he was.

He looked up to the ceiling, where an ancient overhead fan hovered. "I wonderif that thing works."

"I don't know."

"Only one way to find out." He stepped around her and managed to reach thebroken cord. In a matter of seconds, the wooden blades began to move, lifting the warm air toward the ceiling. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you."

"I'll tie a longer cord on it for you." But he wasn't looking at the fan whenhe spoke. His gaze was on her face. "I'll, uh, do that right away."

"Thank you," she managed. "Again."

"Again,"Calmurmured, now looking at her mouth. He still held the bag ofpillows, looking for all the world like a satisfied cowboy shopper, but hisfree hand reached out and touched her face. Addie didn't move, didn't darebreathe. She didn't want him to touch her, and yet she yearned for nothingmore than to step into his arms. A kiss would be h.e.l.l and heaven and acomplete disaster, but she foolishly wanted nothing else. He had a beautifulmouth, and she knew what it felt like against her lips, against her skin,against her body.

His fingers swept slowly across her cheek, to her jaw, then moved to the sideof her neck. She shivered and, looking as unsettled as she was certain shedid, he dropped his hand.

"I should be-what was it? Oh, yeah. Mortified," he declared, but his mouthcurved into a smile as he looked into her eyes. "But I wish I could carry youover to that bed and make love to you again. Longer this time," he said. "Andmore than once."

Addie took a deep breath and held his gaze with her own. "That's not going tohappen."

"No," he said. "You're right. Things have changed, haven't they?" He didn'twait for an answer, simply tossed the bag of pillows onto the mattress andmoved toward the bedroom door as if he wanted to get away from her as soon ashe could. "The house looks good all cleaned up. Your father lived in a coupleof rooms downstairs. I've never been up here before."

"Really?" She supposed it was only polite to give him a tour, and she wasgrateful to change the subject from making love to the condition of her newhome.

"Too bad Ed never made the most of this place." He put his hands in his jeanspockets and looked around. "How many rooms are up here?"

"Well, this is mine, of course." She waved toward the curved windows at oneend of the large rectangular s.p.a.ce. "I couldn't resist that rounded wall. Andthere are three more bedrooms and two bathrooms on the other side of the hall,but those will be guest rooms."

"You must be expecting a lot of company."

"Maybe." If she ever needed the extra money, she could turn the house into abed-and-breakfast.

"What about the boys?"

"Follow me." She led him to the other end of the room and through a door to alarge bathroom, a room she intended to remodel as soon as possible. Some ofthe black-and-white tiles were cracked, and the old linoleum floor was peelingin places, but the wide claw-foot tub and elegant pedestal sink more than madeup for the room's problems. "The master bathroom, obviously."

"Pretty fancy bathroom for an old ranch house. Makes you wonder who theoriginal owners were."

"I wondered the same thing," she said. "Cattle barons, maybe?"

"You could look it up at the courthouse, I'll bet."

"Look at this." She led him into an enormous room that had intrigued her onthe first visit. Empty except for the new twin beds, and boxes of the boys'clothing and toys, its tall windows let in lots of light and made the room awelcoming place for kids to play.