Once he jumped out of the truck in front of his large ranch house, he walked around to the backdoor and opened it. “So, gorgeous, let’s get you in the house before someone sees you.”
A territorial urge came over him at the thought of one of his hands seeing her. Beautiful barely even scratched the surface as far as he was concerned. Her long red hair had been messed up from the ride, giving him the image of what she would look like when she woke up.
She shook her head at him, nervously appraising Gage’s tall and broad figure. He knew how intimidating he appeared. It helped him in the courtroom every time he came up to a weak witness.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I’m not going to hurt you, but I sure as fuck don’t want anyone creeping on my property looking for you. Got it?”
“I’m Hope,” she said, sticking out her hand for him to grab. A jolt of electricity struck him, only serving to make his interest in her grow.
“I’m Gage,” he mumbled, his cock throbbed as the softness of her hand pressed into his rough hands. He led her into the house, locking all the doors and keeping the window shades and curtains shut. Seeing the skittish look in her eyes and the way she tucked her body inward and with her lip quivering, he raised his hand slightly in a wait-a-minute motion.
Getting irritated that she believed him to be a danger to her, he bit out, “I told you, I’m not gonna hurt you. You’re Cummings’s daughter, correct?”
“How do you know that?”
“One, those two goons showed me your photo. Two, my friend with the Rangers asked me to help look for you. Then you slunk behind my vehicle before you jumped in my truck, saving me the trouble of hunting the whole damn state of Texas for you.”
“You’re not going to turn me in, are you?”
“I don’t like your daddy. In fact, if I could, I’d put a bullet in his ass this very minute. What I want to know is what the hell is going on, and why they’re on a tear, looking for you. But first, let me get you something to drink or eat. You must have had one hell of a day.”
“I really have, but in a sense, I’m so happy. Thank you, Gage.”
“Anything to make you happy, darling,” he added, tossing her a wink while smirking as if he was only goofing around, but Gage felt in his heart that he meant those words.
She followed him into the kitchen, watching the way his ass moved in his perfectly fitted Wranglers. “Um, so you’re a rancher?” she questioned, hoping to make some sort of small talk to avoid the real topic at hand.
“I will be. I used to be a prosecutor, but I turned in my briefcase for this.” He spanned his arms out wide, gesturing to the house and land. The house was magnificent and had recently been made over. “I had a lot of this place remodeled before I threw in the towel completely. Now, I’m working on getting my cattle and a bunch of hired hands.”
The house was extremely quiet for anyone else to be inside. And from what little she saw, there wasn’t another soul around. “How long ago was that? I don’t see anyone else around.”
“It’s only been six months since I gave it up. And there ain’t no one else around but a few of the crew members. My momma lives down the road on a part of the property, but that’s about it. No wife or kids.” He opened the fridge, then lifted his head above the opened door and asked, “Do you want a soda, tea, or water?”
“Some tea if it’s cold and sweet.”
“Is there any other way?”
“There is. And it’s not pleasant.” She rolled her eyes, remembering the tea party she had to host for her father’s friends. The ladies took their tea hot with a side of lemon like they had a cold or something. After taking one sip, Hope knew that it was either iced sweet tea or no tea at all.
“That look has an interesting story behind it,” he remarked, placing a large glass pitcher with the light brown colored sweet liquid onto the kitchen island. Then he turned around to pull out two large glasses, giving Hope another view of his backside.
She’d honestly never been this interested in a man before. A thought hit her, and she knew it was wrong, so she pushed it back away.If she lost her virginity to him, then she wouldn’t be worth the sale.A part of her knew that it had nothing to do with her predicament, but rather with the fact that her body lit up in Gage’s presence.
“Um…sorry. Not really. I tasted hot tea with just lemon, and I’m sure it was just a cup of dirty water.”
He chuckled heartily, making Hope blush, which he noticed as he poured the drinks. His distraction was obvious as the tea spilled over onto the surface. “Ah, shit.”
“Wasting all that precious nectar.”
Gage immediately thought about another precious nectar he wanted to make a mess of. He’d been fortunate that the kitchen island was between them. He didn’t want to scare the already hesitant young woman.
“I recognize my failure. It’s a sin. However, shall I make it right?” he sighed, pressing a hand to his heart.
Hope rolled her eyes at his antics, wondering how in the world someone could be that perfect. Then another awful thought crept into her mind. She needed to leave this place. She couldn’t risk putting him in danger. They would go looking for her. Someone somewhere would recognize her.
“Maybe you can drive me out of town?” she offered, scrunching down one side of her face.
“Where were you planning to go?” he asked as he cleaned up the mess with a dark green kitchen towel.