Redheaded Stranger: A Cowboy Love Story (Bluebonnet, Texas) (2 page)

"My turn," he whispered as she finally relaxed against him with a deep, shuddering sigh.

"Can I make you come?" she whispered against his lips.

"You
always
make me come."

She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck as he rolled her over onto her back.

"You are
so wet
." He shivered and smiled, losing himself in the feel of her. She peppered his chest with little kisses and love bites he felt in his gut. "Oh, Kei," he hissed in her ear.

This was his favorite. The anticipation, the home stretch, the feel of his balls heavy and tight as he pumped into her like a piston, challenging himself to see how long he could last before he absolutely
had
to come. Or Kei begged him to. Often he could last long enough to make her come again. That was the best: feeling her underneath him, her legs wrapped around him, her nails digging into his back.

But tonight he didn’t have it in him to play games with himself. He needed her. He settled his weight on her and wrapped his arms around her, stroking furiously, losing himself in the hot, slick friction of her against him.

Don’t think. Don’t think at all.

"Kei, oh God. Oh, Keilana!"

She held him as he came inside of her, his head turned away, his jaw locked against need, anger, and frustration, all mixed with a little guilt.

After his heart settled back in his chest, he propped himself on his elbows with a deep sigh and cupped her face in his hands, covering it with kisses.

No,
this
was the best part.

"I love you, Keilana," he murmured. "I love you so much."

He maintained his grip on her while gently slipping from the warm depths of her body, and snuggled together, they slept.

* * *

U
nder the shower's hot spray the next morning, his mind drifted back to his brother and sister-in-law. Again, guilt gnawed at him, leaving him queasy.

He’d send her flowers.

Alex quickly finished his morning toilette, picked up Kei's towel and robe she'd deliberately dropped the night before, and made the bed, then headed downstairs, a navy blue suit jacket in hand. He fried bacon and scrambled eggs for the both of them while Kei fed Darrach. He sipped his coffee and stirred the eggs, one eye on his son, who was busy giving his mother fits.

"Quit looking at him," Kei scolded. "That’s the reason he’s spitting it out."

It
being his cereal. Zander chuckled. "Hey, boy." Darrach’s head snapped up and blue eyes met blue. "Eat."

The baby grinned, proudly showing off his first four teeth and dimples while allowing even more cereal to drip down his chin. Kei growled and got a towel from the drawer behind him while he dished up their breakfast and smothered his laughter.

After breakfast, Alex got Darrach cleaned up and kept him busy while Kei finished getting ready for work. She reappeared thirty minutes later, her conservative navy suit offset by a ruffly, shocking pink blouse. He grinned at her and shook his head as she gathered up the baby’s diaper bag and they headed out the door. Conservative was the FBI mantra, and while Alex always adhered to policy, she pushed it.

They dropped Darrach at daycare, then navigated downtown Dallas traffic to work, parting ways just inside the lobby’s security checkpoint. They’d said their real goodbyes in the car earlier with a heated necking session that had left Alex buttoning his suit coat to cover the evidence.

He refused to kiss her in front of his co-workers, but that didn’t stop
her
from swatting
him
on the rear as he stepped in the elevator. With a grin and a shake of his head, Zander headed for the Cyber Squad. As a support staff member of the Evidence Response Team, Kei worked in a different area of the building processing crime scene information.

He was so caught up in memories of the previous evening’s encounter with Kei, he stepped off the elevator and found himself maneuvering around a junior agent whose arms were filled with coffee and files.

"What’s so funny, Boudreaux?" Special Agent Dade asked.

Alex paused and turned on his heel. He’d overheard Dade and a handful of the other young agents talking about him last week. They’d said he was boring, an old fogy at thirty, and anal-retentive to boot. Zander looked the younger agent up and down, taking in his polished shoes and red paisley tie.
Young, blond and buff, but somewhere up there he does have a brain, or he wouldn’t be an agent.

"Nothing. Why?" He continued down the hall with a shake of his head. He had neither the time nor the patience.

In his office, he flicked on the light and set his briefcase on his desk.  He had four cases to do updates on, but first he needed to send Bettina those flowers. Thirty minutes later, he hung up with the florist he’d found in San Antonio who’d guaranteed to deliver a bouquet of roses and carnations by noon. He’d figure out a way to explain the charge to Kei later.

The day passed in a blur as he updated case files, breaking in the early afternoon for a quick lunch with Kei and John Shakela, his best friend and a fellow Special Agent. Over sandwiches at a nearby restaurant, he asked Kei what she wanted for her anniversary.

"You’re not supposed to ask, man. You’re supposed to read her mind," John teased, a grin creasing his face.

"Yeah, well, I’d rather ask than sleep on the back porch for two weeks," he shot back.

Two years back, Connie, John’s wife, had dropped
liberal
hints about wanting a day at the spa—and away from their four children and her harried criminal defense practice. John had gotten her a new washer and dryer. . . and never lived it down. Though he
had
learned his lesson.

Kei smiled up at Alex, flashing her dimples.

"Well? What’ll it be?"

"My vacation request came through." She took a sip of her drink and then set the Styrofoam cup down.

"You want a trip home? For Christmas?" They hadn't been back to Oahu since the wedding, and her mom and dad hadn’t seen Darrach since he was first born.

"Can I think about it?"

"You better think fast if we want to make holiday reservations."

"Give me a couple days, okay?"

M
y husband was in a world of hurt.

I sat watching him eat his sandwich and joke with John, all the while my mind was on my mid-morning revelation. I’d come down for a break, planning to sneak out to the Starbucks a few blocks away, only to get stopped by the guard at the security check.

"There’s Agent Boudreaux. She can help you!"

I’d smiled at Ted, while initially wondering whom I was supposed to help.

He'd quickly explained. "This man says he's your father-in-law, and Agent Boudreaux –your husband—isn’t answering his phone."

I forced my smile to remain in place while checking out the older man standing on the other side of the checkpoint. He was tall, dressed in Khaki pants and a sharply creased teal button-down. He wasn't as slender as my Alex—Zander—but the resemblance couldn’t be denied. Especially not in those eyes—the same ones my son had.

Eyes currently wide with shock.

If all else failed, just leave it to a woman to fix things.
Damn Alex for making such a mess of things!

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" I asked, giving Ted a wave and crossing through the checkpoint to greet my poor, shocked father-in-law. The last thing I needed was to air our family troubles in the middle of the Dallas FBI office.

"Jerrod, right?" I offered him my hand with a smile and he shook it, then offered me his arm. Without another word, we crossed the semi-busy foyer and stepped into the damp December morning.

Once we’d cleared the building’s front doors, he stopped and turned to me, a scowl on his face. "Care to explain just how it is I have daughter-in-law I don’t know about?"

"Buy me a double mocha latte and I’ll tell you everything." I gave him my most charming smile and the stern, weather-beaten angles shifted, giving me the slightest hint of a smile. Albeit a wary one that didn't reach his eyes.

We drove the few blocks to the coffee shop, stood in line and got our drinks, then settled at an outside table for privacy.

"So what brings you to Dallas, Mr. Boudreaux?"

"I think the bigger question is, is it true?"

I nodded, almost embarrassed to say,
"Yes, I’m your unknown daughter-in-law. Sorry for the confusion."
Instead, I said, "He was supposed to tell you at Thanksgiving."

He rubbed his chin, his eyes briefly focused on the ground. "When? When did this happen?"

"Three years next month. We, um, we met at the Atlanta field office."

"And you're an agent, too?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Boudreaux. I process crime scene evidence," I said with another nod.

"Jerrod, please. I don't even know what to say. I came here to read my son the riot act." He threw his hands up, his pain and frustration written all over his face. "He did tell you what happened, didn't he? At Thanksgiving?"

"He did." I popped the top off my latte and scooped up a fingerful of whipped cream thoughtfully. I loved Alex beyond anything, but he could be the biggest jackass. "I'm sorry about how things went with...your daughter—Delaney, right?"

Many years ago, he’d cheated on his wife . He now had a daughter, a daughter who was currently living with them.

The older man nodded. "I can’t believe that boy is so mad at me, that he didn’t tell us he’d gotten married. It’s one thing to not come home, but..." With a sigh, Jerrod eased back in the wrought-iron chair and sipped his coffee. Black. Just like Alex. "Why didn’t he bring you to his mother's birthday two years ago?"

Grimacing, I put the lid back on my cup as I spoke, "I had a miscarriage shortly after we moved here."

His face fell. "I’m so sorry."

Nodding, I continued, unwilling to think about the miscarriage. I never did. I couldn’t.
Especially now that we have Darrach.

"I don’t agree with Alex, for the record. I don't agree with him about your daughter, and I don't think he should have kept our marriage from you. But it wasn't my place to tell you," I added with a shrug.

Unsure of what to say next, I nodded slowly as a DART bus revved its engine and blew by in a cloud of diesel smoke that made us both wince. "So why are you here? Now? Today?"

"It just seemed like the right thing to do, after Betti lost the baby."

The bottom dropped out of my stomach and I set my latte on the table, sloshing hot liquid on my hand. "Betti...
Ty’s wife
?"

Jerrod nodded, his displeasure obvious in the scowl on his face. "He didn't tell you his mother called last night?"

"No," I breathed. "He told me he said some awful things to her, something about Ty’s ex-wife...but
a miscarriage
?" A hand pressed to my mouth, I blinked back the tears that pricked my eyes.

Jerrod sighed and leaned toward me, patting my hand, despite the sticky latte. "A few days ago. I had to wait for things to settle down before I could get up here, and I was running late, or I would have caught you two at home. I still can’t believe my son didn’t tell me he had a wife."

"And..." I reached for a napkin to dry my hand with. I almost didn’t want to say the words, not after hearing he’d just lost a grandbaby. It didn’t seem fair. I didn't have the heart or the stomach for it.

"And?"

"I can't believe he didn't tell me about Betti's baby," I lied. What else could I have said? It's okay? You have another grandson that you don't even know about?

And now here my husband sat, smiling, acting like he didn’t have a care in the world, wanting to know what I wanted for my anniversary. I knew
exactly
what I wanted, but the asking would have to wait for a better, less public time. For the time being, Jerrod’s little visit was my secret. I’d even bribed Ted, telling him that I had a surprise brewing for Alex’s anniversary.

And boy did I.

T
he rest of Alex's afternoon passed uneventfully until they left to wade through rush hour traffic to pick up Darrach from daycare. "My vacation approval came through, too."

"Good, because I’ve decided what I want for my anniversary present."

He relaxed in his seat as they hit a slow-going stretch of highway, covering her hand with his, the Tahoe's steering wheel firmly gripped in his other hand. "What’s that?"

"I want to spend Christmas with your family." She smiled over at him. "In Bluebonnet."

Alex dropped her hand like it was on fire while he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He slammed on the brakes with a grunt as a Prius cut in front of them, happy for the distraction, then slowly blew out a heavy breath. "Maybe next year—"

"No next year! This year.
Unless you were planning on waiting to tell them about us until Darrach graduates high school?"

"Of course, not." He caught her frown out of the corner of his eye. His insides had instantly knotted at her request. There was...no way. "But after Thanksgiving—"

"All the more reason to. It's time to mend fences and move forward. I’m sorry your dad cheated, I’m sorry you’re having a hard time dealing with the whole sister thing, but I’m having a hard time dealing with this, too. It's not fair, Alexander! Ten years is long enough to hold a grudge—if that’s what it really is."

She’d thought this out. Probably longer than just the afternoon. No wonder she hadn’t mentioned it at lunch. Neither she nor Shak had ever understood why he hadn't told his family about her and Darrach. It had nothing to do with her being biracial, or Darrach either. He wasn’t ashamed of them or that. This was about his dad cheating. This was about
Delaney
. Plain and simple.

"Of course that’s what it is. You know this has nothing to do with you and Darrach." He didn't blame her for being impatient, he really didn’t, but now...now it was about timing. There was no way he could go to his family now and say he was married and had a bouncing baby boy. An announcement like that would be tantamount to a slap in Ty and Betti’s faces. He turned into the daycare and parked, his mind reeling as he tried to think of a way to change Kei's mind.