Safe with a Stranger. Linda Conrad

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СКАЧАТЬ you two back to the station in time.”

      

      Josh was kicking himself thirty ways from Sunday by the time he found a chain restaurant that stayed open all night. What the hell was he doing with a woman and a child? Only just now recovering from his idiot bout with alcohol, he didn’t know about the long-term effects of PTSD. He still wasn’t sure the docs were right where he was concerned.

      He’d been planning on hanging with his baby sister in Zavala Springs for a while after the funeral. Just long enough for him to figure out what he wanted his life to be outside the Rangers and without the alcohol. He wasn’t exactly great company.

      Parking and shutting off the engine in the shadowed lot, Josh cleared his throat once more and tried to think of something civil to say.

      The woman turned her face toward him and he caught the gleam of white teeth through the darkness. Hot damn, but her smile must have terrific wattage. He had a feeling she was going to turn out to be a real babe when he got a decent look at her in the lights.

      “This’ll be fine,” she said. “Thanks for rescuing us. I think the least we can do is buy you dinner.”

      “Yeah? Well, I think I can manage on my own.” Hell. Now he felt like a real jerk. What would’ve been wrong with letting her pay or saying something nice, like he’d already eaten?

      Swinging down from the truck’s cab, Josh hauled himself around the pickup to help lift her and the kid down. He wasn’t sure why he automatically did that, but it seemed like the thing to do.

      He ushered them into the relative safety of the well-lit restaurant and a hostess seated them. Without sitting, the woman excused herself to change the kid’s diaper. It took another ten minutes to locate a high chair. This baby business seemed to be a real pain in the butt.

      Finally all together in the booth, they’d placed their orders and now had coffee, iced tea and a sippy cup with juice sitting in front of them. It was then he took a moment and really looked across the table—and nearly bit his tongue in half.

      Talk about a babe. He’d only gotten quick glances earlier because they’d been so busy, but this chick was a stunner.

      Just looking at her was way better than eating the dessert he’d ordered and more fulfilling than any booze. Even better than the best barbecue he remembered his grandfather Will serving, the sight of Clare became food for the eyes. And sauce for the soul.

      Her long, lush eyelashes covered clear, whiskey-colored eyes, and her silvery-blond streaked hair hung in a messy waterfall over the delicate curve of her shoulders. There was a tiny mole at the side of her luscious mouth, but it didn’t mar the beauty of porcelain skin.

      She rounded that mouth to say something to her son and the sight of those full, soft lips made him squirm. Whoo baby. For a man who hadn’t cared one whit about sexy females in more years than he’d like to count, Josh was having full-blown wet dreams of her wrapping those lips around a body part of his that was right now sitting up and taking notice.

      Hell.

      “My son’s name is Jimmy and I’m Clare Chandler,” she said and held out her hand across the table.

      He took it briefly. Just long enough to feel an electric shock of warmth running straight to his groin.

      “Josh Ryan.” Jerking back his hand, he noticed his words had been uttered in a much lower tone than normal.

      “Do you live around here?”

      He shook his head. “Don’t live anywhere at the moment. Where’re y’all from? Is that a West Texas drawl I hear?”

      “Born and raised in Midland,” she said and nodded. “But I haven’t lived there for years.”

      It occurred to him then that she must have a husband around somewhere. Had she been his wife, he wouldn’t have let her out of his sight. As for the kid…Well, as much as he didn’t care for kids, and as much trouble as this one seemed, had Jimmy been his son he would’ve never trusted the two of them out alone.

      “Where’s home for you, then? Your husband waiting somewhere that you need to call?”

      She glanced down at the table and then over at Jimmy. It took him a moment to notice, but her son definitely didn’t have her coloring. Between her reaction to his question and the difference in their looks, Josh wondered if she was one of those new age single women who’d adopted a child without benefit of marriage or father.

      “Jimmy’s father and I are divorced. He’s…in Europe. I’m bringing my baby back to the States to live.”

      Josh’s gut was telling him something she’d said was a little off. Maybe a white lie. Whatever it was, he decided he needed to shed himself of these two in a hurry. He was becoming too intrigued by a pair of dewy amber eyes and a baby who reminded him too much of things that couldn’t be.

      They each ate what they’d ordered. She had a chef’s salad, he had coffee with pecan pie and Jimmy had juice, a few bites of his mother’s meat and cheese and enough saltine crackers to build a crumb-filled castle.

      “Hope that’ll hold y’all for a while,” he said. “It’s nearly time to get you two back to the bus station.”

      He’d rather not learn any more about her or hang around her kid any longer than necessary. It was already past time to be on the road again.

      “Yes, I agree. Those two goons should’ve given up and left by now.” She began packing up Jimmy’s things. “Our bus leaves in a half hour.”

      They made their way back to the truck and he settled them in before he climbed behind the wheel again. On the way back he kept sneaking looks at her when she wasn’t paying attention.

      She was a stunner, all right. With neat khaki pants, a formfitting brownish-colored top and a light suede jacket, her curves weren’t obnoxious or too obvious. But they were definitely in all the right places. The gaze from her bright eyes darted down to Jimmy and then back out the windshield, always checking. And that danged silken strand of blond hair still dangled over one of her shoulders as if it was just begging to be played with.

      Something nagged at him. Though her clothes weren’t overtly expensive and her manner wasn’t snooty, Clare just seemed to ooze sophistication. She had a worldly character about her.

      So what was she doing taking a bus? And what had those two suits really wanted with her and the kid?

      Stuff those thoughts. He didn’t want to get any more involved than he’d already become. All he wanted was to get the both of them on their way and then wash his hands of the whole damn puzzle.

      

      Josh drove around the bus station twice, trying to be sure the suits weren’t still hanging around outside. He spotted Clare’s bus parked at an outdoor gate, already loading and with a long line of passengers waiting to climb on. The two of them wouldn’t even have to walk through the station to board.

      “I’m not going to get out,” he told her as he idled by the curb. “I’ll just drop y’all off. You’ll be okay, right?”

      He couldn’t wait until she got out of his truck. СКАЧАТЬ