Trouble in Dixie Read online

  “Just suffice it to say that he doesn’t think the Upton twins are boring either. We taught him a little lesson he’s not likely to forget anytime soon,” she said with a chuckle then added seriously, “We didn’t sleep with him, Tommy….”

  Relief poured through him, then he huffed out a breath and told her, “Thanks for telling me. I was worried about the influence she’d have on Dixie, if I kept her on at the Rockin’ D. I have to be careful.” He had to be careful to stay away from Katie too, because every time he was around the beautiful redhead, he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss that sassy mouth of hers.

  That would open a whole other can of worms though, and his former mother-in-law would hate him even more…and Tommy sure didn’t need any more guilt. Tommy hoped one day she’d let go of her grudge and have a relationship with her granddaughter, but he didn’t hold out much hope.

  In the ten years since Maggie had died, Edith hadn’t spoken to him, or seen Dixie, although he’d tried to get her to do that. Edith Preston was stubborn, and so buried in her grief, she couldn’t see how a relationship with Dixie, who was the spitting image of Maggie, could help her deal with her grief.

  Surprised flickered over Karlie’s face and her brows drew together, then she pulled back from him a little and asked, “So this isn’t about you liking Katie? As a woman, I mean?”

  “Katie’s a beautiful woman, and I like her a lot, but protecting Dixie is my first priority.”

  Protecting Dixie would always be his priority, but this was about a lot more than that. Tommy wasn’t going to tell her sister that though…she was already trying to play matchmaker with this dance exhibition.

  When the song ended, he pulled Karlie against him and hugged her, then kissed her cheek, before he led her toward the bar to get a drink. On the way there, they passed a table where Katie was sitting, biting her lip and twirling a beer in her hand.

  Katie wouldn’t look at either of them, she just stared out at the dance floor and twirled that empty beer bottle. The cowboy she’d been dancing with was nowhere around. Tommy’s shoulders relaxed a little, as they walked up to the bar and he ordered a beer for both of them.

  Karlie picked up her beer, then winked at Tommy, and told him, “Follow me…” before she walked back to the table and sat right beside Katie. Leaning close to her sister, she asked, “Need another beer, sis?”

  Tommy didn’t know what Karlie was up to, but he was sure he’d find out in a minute, so he stood back in the shadows and watched. Karlie was up to something, that was obvious. Katie didn’t respond to her question for a minute, she just turned her body away from her sister and folded her arms over her chest Finally Katie told her sulkily, “Go dance and leave me the hell alone, Karlie.”

  Karlie snorted, then told her “Looked like you were doing enough dancing for the both of us…have fun dancing with the jackass?” Tommy assumed she was talking about the rugged looking cowboy Katie had been dancing with.

  Katie grunted then told her in an agitated tone, “That should be my question for you, sister.”

  Karlie looked back over her shoulder at Tommy and grinned, then told her sister, “Yeah, Tommy is such a jackass, huh? And just butt ugly…I swear if he didn’t wear a hat, buzzards would be gnawing on him…”

  He saw Katie’s shoulders tense and noticed Karlie was barely holding in the laughter he saw in her eyes, when she added smugly, “I swear there’s not a cowgirl in Texas who would hookup with that loser. I just danced with him out of pity,” then she finished for effect, “And that kid of his…what a little pest.”

  Evidently Karlie’s words had the desired effect on her sister, because he heard Katie growl, then she spun around to face Karlie. With her beautiful blue eyes sparkling with anger, she grated, “Don’t you dare talk about Tommy or Dixie like that! He’s damned good-looking and a good man, and you know it! Any cowgirl would be lucky to have him!”

  Her defense of him surprised the shit out of Tommy, and he stepped forward and smiled at her then asked, “Is that so?” then he walked over and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet, then he towed her toward the dance floor. “Dance with me cowgirl, and show me how lucky you are.”

  Katie’s face flushed and she tried to pull her hand from his, but he held on and dragged her onto the dance floor. A slow song was playing, and he pulled her tightly against him, and wrapped his arms around her waist, and groaned because she fit against him so perfectly.

  His body instantly reacted, and Tommy knew this was a crazy move on his part, but he couldn’t help himself, he’d been fighting this for three weeks, and had just lost the battle. She felt better in his arms than in any fantasy he’d had about her…and he’d had a lot.

  Her spicy scent drifted up to his nose and Tommy inhaled deeply, as it intoxicated him. When she looked up at him her soft blueberry eyes were full of the same things he was feeling, and Tommy couldn’t help himself, he lowered his mouth to hers, because he had to taste her.

  The reality of her sweet lips against his shocked him, they seemed to hum with electricity as he feasted on them, the hot current shot though his whole body, short circuiting his brain. So soft and responsive beneath his, her lips made him to want the kiss to never end, and he wanted so much more, it scared him.

  Her lips were like the key that opened the Pandora’s box where he’d been hiding all the emotions he’d been bottling up inside of him for so long. Nothing mattered to him right now, except reveling in this heady release, and finally letting Katie know what he was feeling.

  Nipping her lower lip, he sucked it into his mouth, then ran his tongue over it, asking for entry, wanting to deepen the kiss. Pleasure raced through him when she moaned and opened for him, then his tongue found hers and he enticed it into an erotic dance. As the slow rhythmic music danced around them, he made love to her mouth, like he couldn’t to her body.

  Katie’s hands moved to his butt and she pulled him against her then circled her hips against him, before dragging her mouth from his. She looked into his eyes, and hers were glittering with desire, as she whispered over his lips, “I want more Tommy…”

  When Katie’s words penetrated his foggy brain, and pushed past his arousal, he felt the blood drain from his face, then he dropped his hands from her waist and took a step back. Tommy knew what her more included, and it wasn’t just sex, he couldn’t give her that. It was why he’d been avoiding getting closer to her, since he’d met her, even though it had been killing him for weeks.

  “More is something I can’t give you, sweetheart…this is all I’ve got,” he told her in a tortured voice, then separated himself from her completely, as the song ended. “I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry…it won’t happen again,” he promised then turned on his heel and walked off.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Katie slugged back a bottled water from the mini fridge in the office of the barn. It felt like she was making mud pies in her mouth, she’d swallowed so much dust today. Since it hadn’t rained much at all lately, the outdoor arena was nothing but dust. After working three cutter prospects with a calf in the arena, she was coated in it.

  With every day she worked at the Rockin’ D, it seemed there was always more to be done. She’d been here three months now, and she’d managed to work herself into helping with everything. That was Katie’s way though, she was a helper, a people pleaser, and she paid for it, because people took advantage of her—a lot. Anything she could do to make someone else’s life easier, she signed on for it, even if it made her own harder. It kept her busy, but sometimes being so nice was a drag.

  An example? Taking care of Snuggles, that damned bulldog Tommy had bought for Dixie. Did he make his daughter be responsible for it? Hell no, he let her and Cookie take care of the dog, but Dixie got to play with him, and dress him up in those stupid clothes like he was a doll.

  Another was Katie giving up her lunch time several days this week to give Dixie riding lessons and a roping demonstration. In her opinion, Dixie wasn’t
quite ready to try roping herself, because she needed to be a better rider first, and that didn’t please the little girl, but Katie didn’t care. Safety was always her first priority when teaching someone. Once Dixie got a little more comfortable with riding, Katie would teach her to rope. One more thing to fit into her ever growing schedule.

  Tommy Tucker, her boss, certainly hadn’t been much help. She’d barely seen him, since they got back after the retirement barbecue at the Double B three months ago. After he’d kissed the stuffing out of her at the barbecue, then apologized, he’d been avoiding her like the plague. He was doing a good job of it too, she hadn’t even seen the man in over a week. She didn’t know if he was at the ranch, or away. During the time since the barbecue, they might have had two conversations, and those were hardly conversations. He wouldn’t even look her in the eye. It was like she’d grown warts on the end of her nose or something, but she knew that wasn’t true, because she’d looked.

  His attitude toward her made it more than plain to her she was just hired help here, even though she thought, hoped, he might think more of her, at least enough to tell her he was going to be away from the ranch. Tommy didn’t answer to her though. Where he went was his business, but he needed to keep track of his daughter better. Earlier today, Katie had caught Dixie out in the field in that pink golf cart chasing calves. That wasn’t good for the calves, or her. She could get hurt, if one of the mama cows lit out after her.

  Katie had a talk with the ten-year-old hellion, but she didn’t think it had done any good. Dixie had the same look on her face that her sister Karlie always had when Katie lectured her, closed off, biding her time, pretending to listen. Maybe she’d talk to Tommy about Dixie, if she ever saw him again. His housekeeper, Cookie, had been taking care of Dixie, while he was doing whatever he was doing, but Cookie was too old to chase Dixie, or to keep up with her, and the bitchy old woman didn’t seem inclined to do that anyway. The rest of the hands on the ranch indulged Dixie, worse than her daddy did.

  It wasn’t that Katie didn’t like Dixie, she did, she cared about the funny, precocious, and too cute for words little girl. It was because she cared about her that her shenanigans worried Katie so much. Dixie reminded her so much of her sister Karlie at that age, she knew she needed boundaries, or she was gonna wind up hog ass wild when she got to be a teenager, and by then it’d be too late. Just like it had been for Karlie. Katie blew out a breath and emptied her water bottle then threw it in the trash.

  Katie needed a shower, and something to eat, since she’d spent her lunch break with Dixie, so she headed toward the office door, but stopped when she heard Dixie talking to someone, then realized it was her daddy. Evidently, Tommy was back, but he hadn’t bothered to find her and get a report on the cutter prospects she was working with . That made her angry, but it also hurt her heart, even though she wouldn’t admit it. Standing at the door, she craned her neck to listen, instead of walking out the door. She was curious about what they were talking about. The King was home holding court with his princess, evidently. Katie sure didn’t rate that consideration, she thought with a huff.

  “But Daddy…please, I can’t stand it, she’s so boring,” she heard Dixie whine.

  “Katie might be boring, honey, but you are going to be nice to her,” Tommy told her in an even voice.

  “I want Karlie back, she’s fun, and she played with me, taught me things, and let me help her,” Dixie told him petulantly.

  Hurt surged up inside Katie’s chest and she sucked in a breath, then took a step back into the office. So she was boring? And Tommy Tucker evidently agreed with his daughter’s conclusion, because he didn’t correct her, he agreed with her! It was becoming obvious to Katie who ruled the roost around this ranch, and it wasn’t Tommy Tucker.

  In a shrill demanding voice, she told her daddy, “I want Karlie back, they can trade out, they’re twins.”

  Tommy chuckled, then told Dixie, “They might be twins, but they are not anything alike, sugar.”

  “I know that!” she shouted, then told him angrily, “Katie is boring, and Karlie is fun. She wouldn’t even show me how to throw a rope today!”

  Katie’s anger ramped up when the child failed to mention she’d given up her lunch breaks to give her damned riding lessons, or that she’d given her a roping demonstrations. The ten-year-old tyrant was putting her own slant on things to incite her daddy.

  “I didn’t hire her to keep you entertained, Dixie…she’s here to work with the horses,” he reminded Dixie, and that made Katie feel a little better, but not much.

  His description of her purpose for being at the ranch also reminded Katie that she was just hired help to him. He didn’t care a fig about her, and would take his daughter’s side over hers every time. Even though he’d tested the waters with her, evidently he found her lacking. Why else would he have apologized for kissing her, then avoided her like he had after they got back to the ranch? Boring…that was what he thought of her. It explained a lot.

  “But Karlie let me work the horses with her, she said I was a good trainer’s assistant! I want to learn that stuff! Make Katie let me help too!”

  “She’s busy, sugar…” Tommy told her in a patient tone.

  “She doesn’t like me,” Dixie pouted.

  “Go get your golf cart and ride in the field,” he suggested then added, “I need to go check on the foals.

  “I can’t ride in it…Katie punished me from it,” she told him flatly.

  There was a long hesitation then he said, “She did? What did you do?”

  “I was riding it in the field, and she got mad and told me to bring it back to the house, and said I couldn’t ride it anymore today.” Katie noticed she didn’t mention what she’d been doing out in that field, and her anger notched up again.

  “I’ll talk to her…go get your cart and go riding, I need to get to work,” he repeated to Dixie distractedly.

  “Whatcha gonna say to her?” Dixie asked in a huffy tone. “You gonna tell her not to punish me no more? She’s not my mama, you know…”

  Tommy hesitated a moment then said in a choked voice, “I know she’s not your mama, baby…I’ll tell her that. I’ll see if she has time to do some fun things with you too.”

  “I want to learn to throw a rope around a calf…and I need more riding lessons,” Dixie demanded, then said with a snort, “Probably won’t matter, because whatever she does, it’ll be boring.”

  “Boring or not, Dixie, if she takes time to show you things, you’re gonna show respect.”

  “Yes, sir…” she capitulated, although Katie heard the rebellion in her tone. “But tell her not to be boring, or mean to me anymore.”

  “I will baby, now go get your golf cart and I’ll see you at dinner. Cookie might have a snack for you too, go in the house and ask her.”

  Anger like she’d never known rose up inside Katie’s chest, then scalded her throat, before it went to her head and felt like it was going to set her hair on fire. Katie pushed her hat up on her forehead then strode out of the office. She looked at Dixie first, then pinned Tommy’s hazel eyes with her own. He looked shocked, then embarrassed, and his face turned red.

  Katie rocked back on her heels and crossed her arms under her breasts, then said in a low lethal tone, “You got something to say to me?”

  “Um, we can talk later…I have to go check on the foals,” he stammered then turned to walk off.

  “Hold your damned horses there, bucko!” Katie yelled ferociously, then spat, “I have some things to say to you.” Tommy stopped in his tracks, then slowly turned around to face her. She looked down at Dixie who’s face had gone red too, and her eyes were as round as her mouth. “And you might want to send your daughter up to the house, because you may not want her to hear what I have to say.”

  “Dixie go on up to the house, sugar,” he told her sternly.

  “But, daddy…I don’t want—”

  “Now, Dixie, go up to the house!” he yelled and Dixie ju
mped. Katie had never heard him raise his voice to his daughter, but he did now. She turned and took off running for the barn entrance, and when Dixie disappeared, he looked back at her and asked shortly, “What is it you want to say to me, Katie?”