Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (6 page)

Gabe opened one sleepy blue eye and ran it down her body then back up again, before opening both eyes and repeating the motion.  A slow grin spread over his full lips then he sat up and looked up at her
.  "Wow, you sure clean up good...don't even look like the sexy hellion I know is hiding under those clothes,
" he teased her with a wink.

One corner of her lips ticked up and she told him, "I'm not trying to hide anything...I am who I am, no apologies.
..been that way for twenty-eight years not,
so
it's not likely changing.
"

"Is your sister as wild as you?  I can't see how your uncle survived if so," he asked then pushed up to stand.

Her smile faded, and she wondered how he knew about Uncle Jerry...probably Cole, she thought.  "He
didn't
survive," she told him
with sadness flooding her chest. 
"He
got tangled up in his stirrup
then
dragged
to death about five years ago."

She saw Gabe's blue eyes darken then he told her, "I'm so sorry...didn't mean to bring up a sore subject..."

"I still miss him, but it's okay...as for Katie, she has her own personality, and she's spunky, but nearly as wild as me," she told him with a wry smile.  "I've been trying to temper myself, but as you know I still have a long way to go."

Gabe snorted, "I like women with a little edge, but honey I've got to tell you, you take the cake for sure....
I'll remember
you
for
ever
.
"

"Believe it or not, that's not the first time I've heard that.  People tend to remember me for bad things, instead of good," she told him and dropped her chin to her chest.

Gabe reached a finger under her chin and tipped it up.  His eyes sparkled with something she couldn't read
and
he told her, "Let's change that..."
When
h
is head descended toward her and
she realized he was going to kiss her, her heart stopped and
she closed her eyes. 
H
is firm lips met hers,
and
Karlie's heart
ricocheted in her chest and her breath caught.  He put his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest then deepened the kiss.

Tentatively, she ran her hands up his chest then looped them around his neck, then tilted her head and sealed her lips with his. 
It had been so long since someone had kissed her so tenderly and with so much passion, she responded heatedly
, and reveled in the sensations he was causing inside of her.  T
ingles of pleasure danced along her nerve endings when his tongue found hers and caressed it, and she moaned.

Finally, he pulled back from her, but didn't let her go.  His breathing was uneven and his face a little flushed when he told her,  "There, now that's definitely what I'll remember about
you," then kissed her forehead and reached for her hand.  "Let's go have that beer...you ready?"

Karlie couldn't find her voice, so she just nodded and walked beside him to the front door.  "Let's go in the
Lincoln
,
so you don't have to drive your patrol car," she told him then handed him the keys to Freddie.  "You better be damned careful, because Freddie is only used to me driving him.  I didn't even let Jake drive him."

Gabe stopped
at the porch steps
and turned her to face him
, then his shoulders stiffened and he asked,
"Who the hell are Freddie and Jake?"

She smiled and said, "Well, Freddie is my
Lincoln
..." then her smile faded and she added, "And Jake is my boyfriend--well,
ex
-boyfriend
--thank, god
."

The tension in his shoulders eased, and he gave her a sexy smile.  "Yeah, thank, god
,
"
he agreed
then dropped his arm over her shoulders and walked her to the car.

Gabe
opened her door for her, then after she got in, he went around to the driver's seat.  She wanted to laugh when she saw his hand tremble when he went to put the keys into the ignition.  "I'm surprised you don't have a pickup truck.  Seems like all the men around here have pickups."

"I'm not from around here,
and I prefer classics,
I have a 1968 Camaro, but it's still in
Arizona
,
" he
said
surprising her with his choice of rides
.  He turned the key and Freddie roared to life.
She loved the sound of Freddie's engine, it made her chest rumble. 
Gabe
hit the gas once and revved the engine, then looked over at her with appreciation in his eyes and asked, "Damn, girl...what's this thing go
t
under the hood?"

She grinned then purred,
"A rocket, baby
...."

His eyes lit up
with excitement when he asked,
"H
orsepower
?"

"
The
stock
460 had three-hundred ninety
h
orse
...
with the hood scoop, manifold and exhaust, and other air flow modifications I made,
it'll prob
ably
hit
four-twenty five
now,
give or take
.
"

He whistled, then rubbed the dash, before he looked back at her and said, "I'm impressed,
Karlie
...you did all this?" 

He sounded disbelieving like most of the men she knew.  Just because she was female didn't mean she was missing
the
chromosome that meant she could work on a car.
  It wasn't rocket science...well in the case of her
Lincoln
, maybe it was, she thought with a chuckle.

"I screwed on every single bolt.  I did have help installing the hood scoop though."  Only because she wasn't good with body work, and she wanted to make sure it looked right.
  "When I wasn't in a rodeo somewhere, this is what I worked on. 
I took a
uto shop class in high school
after I got it, because I was determined to fix it up...and what do you know I fell in love with
mechanics
."

He rubbed the white leather seat, "You redo the interior too?"

She laughed and told him, "I don't sew, so no
,
I had that done too."

He flicked
the
hot pink dice on the rearview and said, "I suppose you installed these too?"

"Nah, they came with the car," she said and hooted when his eyes widened. "Sarge likes them."

"I got my lick
from Sarge
in the family room earlier.  You're right he does like me," Gabe told her, his eyes twinkling.

"He has good taste," she told him
then the thought of her licking
Gabe
all over popped into her head and hot desire shot through her body.  Then she reminded herself that she did not want or need a man in her life right now.  She'd just gotten rid of one, or was trying too. 
E
ven
if
this one looked good enough to lick all o
ver and kissed like a porn star, she wasn't getting into another relationship now. Hell,
Jake might have ruined her on those for good.
 

But maybe a little
hot
sex
with him
wouldn't be a bad thing
, her inner voice whispered.

Evidently the sparks shooting through her, hit Gabe as well, because he leaned forward for what looked like another kiss, so she put her hand on his chest then
said quickly, "We gonna sit here all day
,
or are you gonna give Freddie his head?" 

Gabe looked at her strangely, and she threw back her head
laughed then
told him, "Sorry, I forget you're not a cowboy...
t
hat means let him take off and show you what he's got.
..where are you from anyway?
"

"Outside of
Phoenix
...and that doesn't mean I'm not a cowboy, sugar.  There are cowboys in
Arizona
too
, and plenty of farms and ranches
.  I just didn't ride much, even though my daddy owned a farm.
  M
y sister did all the riding
,
"
he told her seeming a little put out that she'd slighted him.

She put her hand on his arm, "I'm sorry Gabe, I didn't mean to insult you..."
  It must be a sore spot for him here in cowboy land.  Well,
although Karlie thought he looked hot as hell like he was,
if he wanted to look like a cowboy, he needed to get with the program for sure.  The jeans he had on were
urban
wear
, not Wranglers or
Levis
, and the t-shirt
had a big tribal bird on it
,
and
those combat boots
would have
to go.
  He also
needed a hat and belt that didn't have a thin silver buckle.  Maybe she'd take him shopping and dude him up...and teach him to ride.

Oh, hell here she went again...he was a fixer upper, and if there was something Karlie had a problem avoiding, it was projects.  From cars to men, the more they needed fixing, the more they interested her.  Look at Jake...but she'd been a failure there.  She should have known the testosterone-soaked cowboy was
not fixable
, but instead
of hightailing it outta there,
she kept telling herself to give it a little more time, try a little harder, and see where
that
had gotten her.

Gabe
put the car into reverse and then
forward and
tapped the gas, Freddie took off like a bullet and slammed her against the back of the seat
.  She gabbed
the 'oh shit' handle,
then yelled,
"Whoa! 
Easy
, Freddie is sensitive..."

With a laugh, Gabe
eased
his foot
off the gas then took the side of the rutted dirt driveway, so he didn't ruin the suspension.
 
They
made it to the paved road then
he
headed toward town.  He couldn't believe she'd let him drive her car.  The damned thing
was immaculate and
drove like a dream
.  It
had so much leashed power
,
it
made him itch to get down on it.

Gabe missed his Camaro...it wa
s still in
Mesa
,
and wouldn't
be
here until next week.  He was having it transported
,
so he didn't put the miles on it, and
so he could drive
the moving truck to
Bowie
.
  Cole had wanted him here quick, so he didn't want to slow himself down with pulling it behind the truck.
 
This next thing on his list of things to do to settle in
Bowie
was finding his own place. 
He
really needed
to get out of Cole and Sabrina's house.
  All that lovey
-
dovey, newlywed crap was getting to him.
..and they needed their space
too
.

He glanced over at the beautiful redhead, who was probably the last person he should be going out with in this town.  Their first meeting had been much less than ideal, but he couldn't stop thinking about her.  She was damned interesting to him for some reason, a puzzle he couldn't solve, but was determined to try.