Burning Desire by Marie Harte

Chapter Six

Bree wanted to smack herself for being such a dupe. Twice before he’d burned her, and though she’d later found his excuses to have some merit, she should have learned her lesson. Inviting him to her house for dinner? She’d been clear the meal would be in the name of friendship and no more, but surely he could feel the sexual tension between them. She sure the hell could.

Except once again, some supposed female disaster needed Tex’s help to handle. It would have been laughable if he hadn’t forced her to come with him.

“Tex, I want to go home. Now.”

“Later. After you see the hell that is my life,” he said brusquely.

She studied him, interested despite herself. “Really? A stripper, Tex?” Not that she had anything against them. She’d modeled some scanty outfits in front of hundreds of people for money, though no one had tucked any bills into her G-string.

He barked a short laugh. “Trust me. She’s not a stripper. She’s a dog.”

“That is both cruel and insensitive.” She’d thought better of him.

“Damn it. I’m serious.”

Confused, Bree didn’t know what to think. “Fine, Tex. Have it your way. Let’s go meet Bubbles. Then I’ll get my dad to assign someone else to shadow me around.”

She hated to be like that, but he shouldn’t have strong-armed her into going. And she should never have invited him over in the first place.

His lips firmed. He glowered at the road and turned on the radio to a country station she sometimes listened to.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled in front of a house that had seen better days. Tex looked at his phone again, grimaced, and turned to her as he removed his seat belt. “Do me a favor and stay here. I have no idea what I’m walking into.”

She frowned. “You don’t know Bubbles?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Because I’m a sucker, that’s why.” He opened the door. “Stay here,” he ordered and left.

Bree didn’t have long to fume about his command. Moments after he knocked on the front door, the door opened, and Tex pushed himself inside. The door closed. Minutes later, it opened again, and Tex led a huge dog outside by a leash. The shepherd-retriever mix had a dull gold coat and had to weigh close to eighty pounds, all of it lean muscle. The poor thing looked dejected, walking with its tail tucked, its ears low, as it followed Tex toward the truck.

He opened the door.

Bree blinked. “That’s a dog.”

“Meet Bubbles.”

“Bubbles is a dog.” She couldn’t say why she was so surprised. Tex had told her Bubbles was a dog, but she’d thought he was being discourteous calling her that.

“Yes, Bree, she’s a canine,” he said slowly. To Bubbles, he crouched and stroked her gnarled fur. “You poor thing. Someone’s been doing a piss poor job of takin’ care of you. Come on, girl. Get in the truck.” It took a little coaxing, but the dog eventually leaped into the back seat of the truck and lay down, her head on her paws, facing the seat back.

“She’s so…”

Tex sighed. “Sad. And miserable. I’d be miserable too if I’d lived with that prick.” He shut the back door and entered the front. “Sorry.” He clenched the steering wheel. “I mean, sorry about all of it. I should have simply dropped you off at home, but you seem to think the worst of me, and I don’t like it. I’m not a liar, Bree. I just have weird shit happen to me when you’re around.”

“I’m sorry too.” She reached back to pet the forlorn dog. “What’s the deal with Bubbles?”

Tex started the truck and pulled away. “She belongs—belonged—to an alcoholic who never played with her, took her out, or did anything with her. For the past two damn years! I guess when he broke off with his ex, he decided to be a dick and keep the dog to hurt her. And his ex was no better because she left the poor thing with him. Once his girlfriend left, the jackass stopped caring for the dog. She looks underweight to me, and she’s lethargic. He didn’t hit her or anything, but he ignored her and barely fed her. No vet visits, no playing, no belly rubs.” He glanced in the rearview and angled it down to see the dog. “You poor thing.”

“Oh, that’s so sad.”

“Yeah. I grabbed some dog food for a little dog a few days ago, thinking I’d be picking up a tiny thing for a few days. I had no idea Bubbles wasn’t some teacup poodle.” He grunted. “Oscar and Gerty owe me big for this.”

“Wait. You’re going to take care of her for them?”

“Only until we find her a home.”

Bree stared. “Tex, that’s…” Heroic, sweet, so incredibly caring. “I tell you what. Let’s stop at a grocery store on the way back to your place, and I’ll make you a nice dinner while you spoil Bubbles.” She sniffed. “But maybe give her a better name. That is not a bubbly dog.”

A slow smile worked its way over his lips. “Yeah? Well, then, that’s okay. You hear that Bubbles? We’re getting dinner tonight.”

She didn’t wag her tail, but Bree didn’t stop petting her.

Once settled into Tex’s two-bedroom cottage in Beacon Hill, Bree watched him show the dog his nice-sized yard, letting her do her business. “You sure you’re okay if I get her used to the house and yard?” Tex called from outside through the open back door.

“No, please. Go ahead. I’ll just make myself at home in your kitchen, if that’s okay.”

“Cool. No problem. Thanks, Bree.” Tex remained outside with Bubbles, who’d finally seemed to come to life, sniffing around his yard. He had a good space of fenced-in privacy, though his neighbors on either side weren’t that far away.

The house itself felt like him. It was pretty enough on the outside, a one-story cottage with white, wooden siding and black shutters up on a slight hill, so they’d had to climb stairs to reach it from the street. Old beechwood floors covered the living and dining rooms, with a large, black-and-white ceramic tiled kitchen. The walls had been painted a light gray, the furniture sturdy enough to fit a man of Tex’s frame and surprisingly tasteful in a Shaker style. Once, she might have guessed it would resemble a frat house, but the inside was warm and inviting, much like the man outside, taking care of a neglected dog.

The off-white kitchen had a small, butcher-block island in its center, the only dining area a round table between the kitchen and living room, the space open yet sectioned off by the archways in the ceilings, denoting each area.

Bree’s own home boasted more modern furnishings, but this fit Tex: earthy and down-home.

She started on a simple meal of already-baked chicken, some fresh boiled beets, and a nice salad.

By the time the chicken had warmed up, she’d prepared the beets and salad as she watched Tex and Bubbles through the kitchen window, overlooking the backyard.

That poor dog. She still looked sad, yet she seemed to come to life under Tex’s gentle guidance.

Watching him with the animal had opened a whole new side to the sexy cowboy, showing he had depth under the playboy exterior.

After setting the table and pouring them both glasses of water to go with dinner, she stepped through the doorway onto the porch to find the dog lying belly down next to Tex while he brushed her with slow strokes.

Bree quietly left him to grab her camera from her bag and snapped several photos from behind the pair, the sunset giving the shot a glow.

“All ready?” Tex asked, not turning around, and put the brush down to stroke the dog’s ears and muzzle with a gentle touch. When he stopped, Bubbles nudged his hand to continue. Tex chuckled. “See, now, girl? I knew you’d come around.”

Yeah, apparently, we all do.Bree didn’t say it, but she wondered what the heck she was doing making Tex dinner. We’re friends, she told herself. Just friends. He’s sweet, and he’s saving a senior dog. “Hey, Tex, how old is Bubbles, anyway?” She walked back inside and stowed her camera.

“I think Oscar told me she’s seven.”

“Really?” Yet as the dog entered behind Tex, her golden color shone, and only the hint of gray under her chin and above her eyes showed her age. Her tail wagged, and she looked up at Tex with love.

“It’s so weird,” Tex was saying as he washed his hands in the kitchen sink. “She’s the sweetest thing, doesn’t shy away when I pet her, so I don’t think she was ever beat down. But there are so many ways to abuse that don’t leave a mark, you know?”

She nodded. “On people too. That’s not just limited to animals.”

After a pause, he asked, “You know that from personal experience?”

“Oh, me? No.” She shook her head. “Can you imagine what my dad would do to anyone who tried to hurt me?”

Tex eased up. “Good point.”

“But I had two friends when I was in high school. One of them had an abusive boyfriend. He used to beat her, leaving marks where they wouldn’t show. The creep. The other had a pretty rough upbringing. So sad. Her dad used to beat her mom in front of her, but her mom was too scared to leave him.”

“I just don’t understand that.” Tex frowned. “Hell, in our house, you never hit a girl. Even if she wallops you with a two-by-four.”

“Really?”

“That’s actually how my oldest brother met his wife, but that’s another story.”

“One I want to hear.” She grinned.

Tex laughed. “I’m sure Liam deserved it.” He stood in the dining room, staring at the set table. “Holy crap. That looks amazing. Smells even better.”

“Let’s eat.”

She noted that he waited until she sat before he did, which made her feel a little funny. Good funny. His manners and chivalric tendency threw her. Made her like him a little bit more.

For all her need to be treated equally, she didn’t mind being catered to. Oh, not all the time, but the little things he’d been doing since Wednesday, when they’d started her project, had been about seeing to her comforts before his. She’d been on plenty of dates with guys who, though nice enough, didn’t hold a chair out for her or didn’t let her go first through the door. And that habit of putting a hand on the small of her back while he waited for her to precede him… At first it had been annoying, that shocking connection. Now she looked forward to it.

Man, I need to be super careful with this one.

They dug into the dinner, which had been easy enough to prepare.

“This is so good.” Tex ate slowly, savoring each bite. She wished he’d stop looking so…satisfied. Because she kept imagining him making that face in a bed. On top of a woman. Like her.

“It’s just baked chicken. And all I did was spice it up and reheat it.” She kept her gaze on her plate, trying to focus on her food.

A paw landed on her lap, followed by a whine.

“Now, Bubbles, behave.” Tex shook his head. “No, girl. Nope.”

The dog glanced at him then looked back at Bree.

“No,” Tex said, his voice firmer.

Bubbles dropped her paw and crawled under the table.

“I think you scared her,” she said, feeling terrible.

“Dogs should have manners. And beggin’ from the table is a no-no. Something my momma taught me and my brothers early on.”

“Not to feed the dog, huh?”

“Nope. Not to beg for seconds till everyone else finished their firsts.” Tex chuckled. “We ate a lot growing up.”

“I’ll bet.”

“I sure do miss Momma’s cooking.” He sighed and took another bite. “But this makes up for it.”

“Yeah, sure.” She felt herself blushing under his compliment. “So why did you become a firefighter?” She’d been dying to know, and he never had answered her question before.

“Simple, really.” He shrugged. “I grew up on a ranch but wanted to see more than Houston. So, I joined the Marine Corps, like my daddy and his daddy before him—we boys all spend a few years in the service before we find a civvy job—and I realized how much I liked helping people.”

“You helped people in the service?”

He nodded. “I know a lot of Marines who had trouble overseas. We’re in some real shit nowadays, you know?” At her nod, he continued, “Fortunately, I had a good tour and didn’t have to shoot at anyone. Anyway, my time came up to reenlist or get out, and I knew I was ready to get back to normal life. But I just couldn’t go back home for good. It didn’t feel right.” He tapped his chest. “In here, I knew I needed to do something else. After visiting at home a few months, I ended up following a few friends out this way. My best bud went to Portland, so I went with him. While there, I watched a fire rescue. It hit me that I wanted to do that, make people safe. But then I moved around, found out I liked Seattle better—and yeah, there was a gal involved.”

She sighed. “Of course there was.”

He laughed. “She was just a friend, and it was years ago. She’s now happily married—to that best bud I mentioned. They live back in Portland.”

“Huh. Wouldn’t have thought that would work.”

“Right?” Tex shrugged. “It’s a wacky world. But I stayed here, became an EMT, met Brad and the guys, clicked, and kept on as a firefighter. It’s even better than being a Marine—but don’t quote me on that, or the guys will give me grief.”

“Did you like the Marines?”

“Loved it. Didn’t like how cut-and-dried it was though. You’re all good until you get a bad commanding officer. Then life can get sticky.”

“Makes sense.” She poked at her chicken, her appetite fading as her interest in Tex grew. “I mean, I’ve had some bad bosses. But I had the option to quit. You can’t do that in the military.”

“No, ma’am.” He sat back and patted his belly. “Damn, that was good.”

“Want more?”

“I will.” He winked. “But not yet. Gotta let my food settle first. But don’t let me stop you from eating.”

She forced herself to take another bite, not sure where her appetite had gone, and focused instead on the beets, which were amazing, if she did say so herself.

“What about you? What’s your story?”

Since he’d shared his own, she thought it only fair to share hers. “Well, I didn’t join the military. I had a pretty nice life with a great family—minus the stepsister.” She wrinkled her nose, wishing she could stop feeling the hurt that always accompanied the anger at thoughts of Melissa. “I was lucky enough to model for a few years out of high school. I learned a lot, living in Europe on my own.”

“I can’t believe your dad let you go.”

“Right?” She laughed. “I couldn’t either, but I wanted to go, and he’d promised my mom he’d always support my dreams.” She missed her mother sometimes, so much. But Charlie had helped fill a maternal role with love and support, balancing Bree’s father. “My mom passed away when I was a kid. Totally random accident.”

“Oh, man. I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” She liked that his empathy wasn’t over- or underwhelming. It just was. “Anyway, my mom had done some modeling, and she said she’d learned a lot from the experience. I did too.”

“All good?”

“And bad. Heck, I was eighteen in a foreign city on my own—Paris. Trust me when I say I learned a lot.” She smiled. “I made great friends. I met my best friend, Carrie, through our time modeling. We roomed together over there. They take a bunch of girls and put them together in cheap apartments. You live in a big group while you do smaller shows and magazines. It was fun, but man, a lifetime ago.” She laughed at herself. “People seem so impressed by it. It wasn’t easy, but it was something I did that made me enough money to come home, get a loan for a house, and figure out how to make a living as a photographer. I learned a lot being on the other end of a photoshoot.”

“Makes sense.” He nodded. “Probably why you’re so good at your job now.”

Pleasure made her smile. “I hope so.”

“Yeah, you did a killer good job on the calendar for Pets Fur Life. And it ain’t easy to make Hernandez and Wash look good,” he teased. “Hell, you even made Reggie look human.”

“Oh, stop.”

He laughed. “Okay, now I’m ready for more food.”

He polished off any leftovers she’d hoped to leave him for the next day then fed Bubbles, who only nosed at her meal, more interested in watching them. They did the dishes together, which annoyed him because he insisted the guest, who had cooked, shouldn’t be dirtying her hands with dishes.

She really wanted to meet his mother to thank her. Tex might still be a playboy with a lot of exes, but he was courteous when it counted.

The sun had set, the dishes sat in the drying rack, and Bree needed to figure out how to gracefully go home. Especially because she didn’t want to. Her traitorous body kept trying to figure out how to get in Tex’s way so he’d have to touch her. Or, maybe, to somehow trip and fuse mouths so she could finally get that kiss she was dying to take.

But she wouldn’t, because that would be the surest way to screw up their working relationship. Not to mention send mixed signals, considering all she’d said and done to convince him to be “just a friend.”

“Well, Bree, that was super.” Tex stood very close to her, drying off his hands at the sink. “I can’t thank you enough for that meal.”

“S-sure.” She blinked up at him, thinking his eyes had never seemed brighter.

He took a step closer, looked as if he meant to reach out and touch her, then shoved his hands in his pockets instead. “Um, well, I, uh, should probably go get changed out of my uniform. And, uh, let you go to finish up your night.” He gave a weird laugh, a shaky chuckle that turned into a cough. “I doubt you want me to take up all your Saturday.”

“No.” I want you to kiss me. “I mean, thanks for today. And for dinner.”

“You cooked it.”

“You paid for it.” She couldn’t stop staring at his eyes.

He leaned closer, his gaze fixed to her mouth.

She felt the heat between them, the feather of his breath over her lips.

Bubbles whined, and they both jumped back.

Tex shoved his hands deeper in his pockets.

She gave the dog a thankful glance and moved to her camera bag. “Oh, you have to drive me home.”

He nodded. “Sure thing. You mind if I change real quick?”

“Sure.”

And he meant quick. Tex returned to her in a blink wearing a pair of sweats and a T-shirt that clung to his broad chest.

“You must lift weights a lot. You look huge.”

“If I say that’s what she said, are you gonna crack me one?” He bit his lip to keep from laughing.

And that easily, the sexual tension that had been building eased into something not as hot, but something deeper and more confusing. “Okay, Romeo. Drive me home.”

He hurried to grab his keys and wallet, then opened the door for her and Bubbles, whom he brought along on her leash.

“She’s coming?”

“I don’t want to leave her all alone in a strange place.”

She watched him.

He flushed. “What?”

“Nothing.” God, what a nice guy. And he’d hate for me to say that.

“I don’t trust that look.” He stomped over to the truck, scooted Bubbles in, then opened the passenger door for Bree.

“Why, thank you, kind sir.”

“Cut it out.” Tex’s mouth quirked. “I ain’t no sir.”

“You mean you’re no gentleman.” Though she wasn’t so sure on that. He’d been gentle and kind as could be with Bubbles. And with her.

“Potato, po-tah-to. Let’s get you home.”

He dropped her off, and not content to leave her at her walkway, he left the truck to walk her up to her door. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Ten okay?”

“Sure.” On impulse, she suggested, “I usually meet my friend Carrie for Sunday breakfast. Would you like to join us, and we could get to work after that?”

Tex watched her, looking for what, she couldn’t guess. “Sounds good.”

“Okay. I’ll text you the place. See you then.” When he made no move to leave, she frowned. “I’m okay. You can go now.”

“I will, just as soon as you get inside. I’m not leaving until you’re behind a locked door.” He waited while she looked for her keys. “And before you say I’m being all protective, I do the same for Mack when I take him home.” Tex grinned. “He’s all fragile and stuff, not like you though. I’m watching out for you so the chief doesn’t chew me a new one. With Mack, it’s out of pity because the boy can’t hold his liquor.”

She wanted to be annoyed that he wouldn’t do what she said, but he made her want to laugh. “Stop talking, and go home.” She patted his cheek, because she couldn’t help herself. To her delight, he froze. “And I’ll see you tomorrow, Roger.”

His eyes narrowed, but he still smiled. “Sure thing, Miss Gilchrist. Ten o’clock. I’ll be there. No doubt waiting for you to be five minutes late.”

She unlocked her door, walked through, and closed it behind her.

A quick peek out the dormer showed Tex strolling away.

Just as easy as you please.

She sighed, watching those buns until he left the glow of her porchlight. Then she swore, realizing she’d have to tell Carrie who would be joining them for breakfast tomorrow.

But watching Carrie try to get Tex to crack before he charmed her into a smile would be worth the fallout from her BFF. She just had to make sure she kept her wavering feelings for Tex in check. Let Carrie even get a hint that she was starting to feel affection in addition to any sense of lust and Carrie would give her a huge lecture Bree could do without.

Carrie could be brutal that way.

Nope. Not gonna happen. Because Bree didn’t feel anything but physical attraction to Tex. And maybe a small case of the likes. Yeah, very small.