Runaway Temptation Read online

  “Oh, God. I’m sort of relieved and a little horrified.” Taking a step backward, Shelby kept moving until the backs of her knees hit a rocking chair, then she dropped into it. “How could I have been so stupid?”

  Caleb almost answered, then he realized she was talking to herself, complete with wild hand gestures and shakes of her head that sent her ponytail swinging like a pendulum in a tornado. All he could do was stand there and listen.

  “I never saw it,” she muttered. “But truthfully, I didn’t want to see it, either. I wanted the fantasy. He said he was a cowboy. Who could turn down a cowboy?”

  “Is she all right?” Nate asked, a worried frown etched into his forehead.

  “Damned if I know,” Caleb admitted, watching the woman as she continued her private rant. He thought maybe he should say something, but then she might not even hear him. She wasn’t really paying any attention to him and Nate at all. It was as if she were all alone and she was having a good argument. With herself.

  “He said he had a ranch, but he doesn’t have a ranch. He’s a lawyer. And he’s afraid of his mother. But then, everyone’s afraid of her. I was, wasn’t I?”

  “Shelby...” Caleb wasn’t sure she could hear him.

  She shook her head even harder and that dark red ponytail went swinging again. “Was I really that stupid? Or just lonely? He was cute, sure, but I think I just wanted to be in love so badly that I purposely didn’t see what I should have seen if I’d been really looking, you know?”

  “Uh...” Nate was still watching her as if she might explode. “Is she actually talking to us?”

  “I don’t think so,” Caleb mused.

  “Texas is so different from home, but I thought that would be a good thing, but is it? Oh, no. So now I don’t even have any extra underwear and they want to sue me? How is that fair?”

  Talking to Caleb, even while he kept a wary eye on Shelby, Nate said, “I did manage to get her purse back from Mrs. Goodman—”

  “My purse?” Shelby shot from the chair and snatched it from Nate’s hand as soon as he pulled it out of his truck. She clutched the big, brown leather bag to her chest like a beloved child. Then she glanced inside. “Oh, my wallet. And my phone and lip gloss and my knife...”

  “You have a knife?” Caleb asked.

  “Doesn’t everyone?” Shelby retorted, pulling a small Swiss Army knife out to hold up and show them. Then she looked past Nate toward his car as if she could find what she was looking for. “But what about the rest of my stuff? My suitcases? My clothes? Shoes?”

  Nate grimaced. “Margaret says she’s holding on to them for now.”

  “What?” She looked up at him. “Why?”

  “Pure cussedness, I’d guess,” Caleb muttered. Nate caught his comment and nodded.

  “That’s what it looks like to me, too.”

  “I have one pair of underwear,” she snapped. “I can’t live like that. Nobody could.”

  Nate’s expression went from concerned to embarrassed and back again. But Caleb wasn’t thinking about Nate. It was Shelby who had his full attention.

  The disappointment on her face tore at Caleb. In the last couple of days, she’d been hanging on, doing what she had to, to cling to whatever part of her world was left. She’d been working hard the last few days, making sense of his late mother’s collections and trying to bring some order to the house. It hadn’t been easy.

  And hell, Caleb could admit, at least to himself, that he hadn’t helped any. He’d avoided her, ignored her presence as best he could, since the mere thought of her was enough to tighten his body to painful levels.

  Hell, he was no fan of Jared Goodman, but he felt for the man. Caleb had been in Jared’s position and it was hard to let go of that. But at the same time, he had to admit that Shelby had done what she thought was right. Had made a decision that couldn’t have been an easy one and now she was still paying for it.

  “Give Margaret a couple days to cool off some. I’ll get your things back for you,” Nate said in a soothing tone that seemed to ease some of the tightness from Shelby’s features.

  She smiled at Nate, then looked up at Caleb. He saw the shine in her eyes and hoped to God she wasn’t going to cry. He hated it when women cried. Always left him feeling helpless, something he wasn’t accustomed to.

  She blinked the tears back, forced a smile he knew she wasn’t feeling and said, “Well, at least I have my purse. I can go shopping for clothes and—”

  “Yeah.” Nate sighed and said, “About that. You’ll have to use a credit card. Apparently Jared took you off the joint bank account, so your ATM card won’t work.”

  “He can’t do that,” she argued, and all hints of tears evaporated in a rush of fury. “All of the money I got from the sale of my house is in that account. It’s my money.”

  Caleb dropped one hand onto her shoulder and he felt her tremble. But he had the distinct impression that tremor was caused by pure rage. He couldn’t blame her for it.

  “Nate,” Caleb said, “they can’t do that. It’s the same as stealing.”

  “You think I don’t know that?” Shaking his head, the sheriff looked at Shelby. “I’ve already spoken to the judge and she says if you have proof of the deposit you made, she’ll release the money to you.”

  “Do you?” Caleb asked. “Have proof, I mean.”

  “I do, but the problem is, it’s in my suitcase.” Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “And the suitcase is at the Goodmans’ house.”

  “I’ll go over there,” Caleb said. “Get her things.”

  “You’ll stay out of it,” Nate warned, aiming a steely look at Caleb. “Margaret’s already half-convinced that you’re the reason Shelby ran out on Jared.”

  “Me?” He was honestly stunned.

  “Him?” Shelby echoed.

  Caleb scowled at Nathan. “How the hell did Margaret come to that?”

  “Shelby ran from the wedding straight to you.” Nate shrugged helplessly. “You drove off with her. Now she’s living here in your house.”

  Caleb bit back a curse. Damn it, he’d spent the last four years trying to live down a rich gossip vein and now he’d opened himself up to a brand-new one. Royal would be buzzing and though it was irritating as hell, it didn’t really bother him as much as he would have expected it to.

  Maybe it was because Shelby was standing there beside him looking outraged. Her eyes were flashing and there were twin spots of color in her cheeks. A hot Texas wind kicked up out of nowhere and sent those dark red curls of hers flying and all in all she made a picture designed to bring a man to his knees.

  “But that’s ridiculous,” Shelby argued. “All he did was help me.”

  “Doesn’t matter to Margaret,” Nate said, then turned his attention back to Caleb.

  “Yeah, I don’t care what Margaret Goodman has to say and most people in Royal feel the same.” Not completely true. He did hate the thought of being the subject of speculation and more gossip. But he didn’t give a good damn what Margaret Goodman thought of him. Caleb looked at Shelby. “Whatever gossip springs up around this won’t last long.” He hoped. “The town’s wagging tongues will move on to something more interesting.”

  “Just keep your distance from the Goodmans,” Nathan said. “I’ll go talk to Simon. See what I can do about getting your things, Shelby. If I have trouble with it, we can always email your bank and have them send you a copy of everything.”

  “Right. Okay. Yes. Good idea. Thanks I can do that. I’ll do it tomorrow. Just in case.” She kept nodding and Caleb figured it was just reaction. A hell of a lot of information dumped on her in just a couple of minutes. And not much of it was good.

  He couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. Her eyes gave nothing away, but thankfully they weren’t filled with unshed tears anymore, either. And he had to admit it was worrying how qui
et she’d gotten all of a sudden. He’d become used to her just talking his ears off.

  He glanced at his friend. “Thanks, Nate.”

  “Sure. I’ll be in touch. Shelby,” he added, “we’ll get this all straightened out.”

  She only nodded at him, making Caleb wonder again. He never would have believed he’d actually miss her rambling conversations and monologues.

  The sheriff got back in his car and drove away, leaving the two of them alone on the porch.

  Shelby was still petting that brown leather bag lovingly and holding it as if it were a life vest keeping her afloat in a churning sea. She didn’t say anything, but Caleb could guess what she was thinking. Her world was a damn mess and for a woman with an organized soul like Shelby, that had to be hard to take.

  “Well,” she finally said with a shrug, “I guess I should get back to work.”

  No complaints. No cussing. No kicking the porch railing in sheer frustration. Just acceptance and moving on. Damned if Caleb didn’t admire her. Shelby Arthur was an impressive woman. She’d had the world tipped on her again and she wasn’t letting it drag her down. He’d never known anyone who bounced back from bad news as quickly and completely as she did. Maybe that was why he heard himself make an offer he hadn’t planned on. “The work can wait.”

  “What? Why?” She looked up at him, so he was staring into her eyes when he spoke again.

  “How about I take you shopping?”

  The flash of pleasure in those green eyes of hers stirred simmering embers inside him into blistering hot coals that threatened to immolate him.

  It would be a hell of a burn.

  Five

  Caleb didn’t take her to Royal and Shelby was grateful. She knew the small town was still gossiping about her and that catastrophe of a wedding. If they’d been in Royal, everyone would have been staring. Whispering. There was already talk and if people had seen the two of them together, that would have only fueled the fire. Not to mention there would have been a chance of running into some of the Goodman family.

  But in Houston, no one knew her. No one cared that she and Caleb were walking together down a busy street. The only people looking at them were women, taking quick, approving glances at Caleb. He didn’t seem to notice, but Shelby did. And if truth be told, she’d been sending him quite a few of those glances herself.

  He was wearing black jeans and boots, a white shirt with a black blazer tossed over it. That gray hat he always wore was pulled down low on his forehead, shadowing his eyes and making him look...fantastic. The man was so sexy, her imagination was constantly fueled just by the thought of him.

  There. She’d admitted it to herself. Caleb Mackenzie was like a walking sex dream. That slow drawl of his rumbled along a woman’s skin like a touch and when his eyes fixed and held on her, Shelby felt as though he was looking right down into her soul. It was a little unsettling and at the same time thrilling in a way she’d never known before. Then there were the boots. And his long legs and the way jeans clung to them. His chest was broad and his hands were big and calloused from years of hard work and she really wanted to know what those hands felt like on her skin.

  Then, as if he wasn’t already droolworthy, there was the shopping. He could have gone to a bar or something to wait for her, but he’d walked with her. Kept her company and offered opinions—whether she wanted them or not—on the clothes she’d purchased. The only time he’d left her alone was in the lingerie department and she wished he had stayed. Having him watch while she picked out bras and underwear would have been...exciting. Which was just ridiculous, she lectured herself. She had no business fantasizing about another cowboy so soon after turning her whole world inside out for a would-be cowboy.

  Shelby slapped her forehead. She must be losing her mind. Had to be the strength of the Texas sun broiling down and baking her brain.

  “Is there a reason you’re hitting yourself in the head?”

  She glanced up at him and instantly, her stomach did a flip-flop and her heartbeat skittered a little. Not that she could tell him that. Heatstroke. That had to be it.

  “Um, no,” she said. “Just wishing I’d picked up a pair of sandals at the last store.”

  Oh, good one.

  He shook his head. “The ones you bought aren’t enough?”

  “Right. Right.” Idiot. Really. She had bought a pair of sandals. God, she was a terrible liar.

  The sidewalk was bustling. Businessmen, teenagers, women out with friends to do some window-shopping or just hurrying to work. The city was loud and crowded and the sizzling sun ricocheted off the cement and slammed back into you just for the hell of it. And Shelby was loving every minute.

  In the month or so she’d been in Texas, she’d gotten used to the small town feel of Royal, and she loved it, really. But there was an excitement and a buzz about being in a big city and a part of her had missed it. Especially right this minute.

  She was wearing a brand-new dress that was sky blue, summer weight with spaghetti straps and a full skirt that fell to just above her knees. The three-inch taupe heels she wore with it were perfect and it was good to feel...pretty, again. She was so tired of borrowed jeans and T-shirts.

  “Most big cities are pretty much alike you know,” she said, pitching her voice to be heard over a blasting car horn.

  “That right?”

  “Well, that’s what I’ve heard people say. And I actually believed it until today. I thought, how different can Houston be from Chicago?” She grinned. “Turns out, very different.”

  “The hats?” he asked, showing off the half smile that turned her insides into jelly all too briefly.

  “Oh, absolutely,” she said, “but it’s more than that, too. Houston’s busy and loud and people are racing around to get somewhere else. But even with all that, it’s more...relaxed. More, casual somehow.”

  Caleb stepped out of the way of a businessman in a hurry and steered Shelby to one side with his hand at the small of her back.

  She took a breath and held it. It didn’t mean anything, she knew. It had been just a simple, polite gesture. Yet, the touch of his hand sent arrows of heat dipping and diving through her body. Her physical reactions to him were getting stronger, harder to ignore.

  Every time they were anywhere near each other, it felt like a fuse had been lit and sparks were flying. She couldn’t be sure if he felt it, too, but she was guessing he did because he was actively ignoring her. And she’d let him, figuring it was best all the way around.

  After all, she was just out of one relationship and she wasn’t looking for another. But no matter how much she ignored Caleb during the day, her dreams were full of him. Every time she closed her eyes, there he was. It seemed her subconscious was all too eager to explore possibilities.

  “I want to say thank you again, for everything, but it feels like I’m always thanking you,” she said abruptly in an attempt to drag her mind out of the bedroom.

  “Yeah, you don’t have to.” He took her arm and steered her around yet another businessman—this one in an ill-fitting suit yelling into his cell phone, oblivious to anyone else on the sidewalk.

  “Thanks,” she said, then added, “oops.”

  His mouth quirked and Shelby silently congratulated herself. Honestly, when she coaxed that half smile out of the man she felt as if she’d been awarded a prize.

  “This is great,” she said, clutching two bags from local shops. “And oh, boy, am I looking forward to wearing fresh underwear. It’s really a pain washing my one pair out every night and hanging them on a towel bar to dry. I was afraid I was going to wear out the fabric.”

  Okay, probably shouldn’t be talking about her underwear.

  “And shoes. I love my shoes. Especially those boots we found. I feel very Texan,” she said, rattling the bag containing the boots.

  “I don’t think you can cal
l hot-pink cowboy boots Texan.”

  “I bought them here, so...Texas.”

  “You bought everything here,” he mused, holding up the three bags he was carrying.

  She thought about everything in the shopping bags and smiled to herself, though she knew that when her credit card showed up, she’d probably have a heart attack. But that was a worry for another day. At least she didn’t feel homeless and clothesless anymore. Her world was still up in the air. Her ex-about-to-be-mother-in-law was still making trouble for her. She couldn’t touch any of her own money, but damn it, she had new underwear.

  “I really love this,” she said, looking around the busy street and the high-rises surrounding them. “It’s nice, getting away from Royal for a while.”

  “The city’s all right, once in a while,” he agreed, frowning when a bus stopped at the sidewalk and belched out a cloud of dark smoke. “But Royal’s better, even if small towns are hard to take sometimes.”

  “Oh, I like the town and most of the people I’ve met but I hate knowing they’re talking about me. I mean, back in Chicago, I was just a face in the crowd.” She looked around at the city and the thousands of people. “Like I am here. I wanted the small town life, you know? Roots. Home. Family. That’s mostly why I agreed to marry Jared, I think. I wanted it so badly, I didn’t notice that the man offering it to me wasn’t real. Wasn’t worth it.”

  A woman pushed past them, shoving Shelby into Caleb and he took her arm to steady her before letting her go again. “Was it really so important to you?”

  “Spoken like a man who’s always had a home. A place.” They stopped at the corner and she laid one hand on his forearm. “My mother raised me on her own after my father died. We were happy, but we never stayed. Anywhere.”

  Caleb’s eyes met hers and she kept talking, wanting him to understand why she’d done what she had. “I always wanted a real home, you know? A place where people would know me, where I’d belong.” Her hand dropped away and she looked past him, at the busy street. “When Jared came along, I think I convinced myself I loved him because I did love what he represented.”