Summer with a Ranger: The Love Beach Collection: A Texan Devils Undercover Summer Fling Romance

CHAPTER FIVE

I left Skye in my truck, unwilling to drop her off until I could tell her what sort of future I had. I couldn”t think much beyond that while I stuffed the drugs into my jacket pockets, and kissed her thoroughly.

“You’ll be great,” she whispered, curling her fingers around my collar and pulling me down for one more kiss. “I have faith in you.”

I was glad one of us did.

My jaw aching, I sucked in the vision of her perched on the bench seat, her tasselled gold and pink skirt fluttering around her stunning legs, a filmy floral blouse I nearly ripped open early in the trip in a need to be closer to her a soft contrast to her tan and the golden waves draped around her.

I walked into the Austin unit’s headquarters in my jeans, boots and a t-shirt, not having shaved and looking exactly as I should for a twenty something hour drive with rest stops where I spent my time not looking at the road and my hand buried in Skye’s pussy.

But now wasn’t the time to think about that.

The office was empty except for Archer’s closed door when I made it up the stairs, doing the deep breathing thing and probably sounding like a rampaging bull.

“Come in,” Archer answered my knock.

I pushed the door open to the sparsest office I’d ever seen. My second time in it and the empty space still got me. A neat row of filing cabinets lined one wall, and a scarred wooden desk took up the space opposite the door, a single chair either side.

One was occupied by a man with red-brown longish hair, wearing a blue checked shirt, a worn leather ledger open on his desk that he closed as I entered.

“That looks like it gets about as much love as my steering wheel,” I greeted him, pulling out the packets of drugs from my pockets and lining them up neatly by type on his desk, along with a list on my phone, including a description of everything I saw in Tijuana.

“Must love that truck then, Hudson. Good work,” Archer said as I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the badge, placing it carefully before him and stepping back. “What’s this?”

“It’s yours.” I kept my shoulders straight and stepped back.

I told Skye the truth. I wouldn”t lie, not if I didn’t have to.

“Is it?” Archer picked up the polished metal. “You know the history of these? They used to be made from Mexican pesos, a five and eight. Today, Rangers get two. One like this to carry day to day, and this sort.” He pulled open a desk drawer and flicked a shiny metal badge my way.

I caught it one-handed and studied the coin set into a star. “It’s solid history.”

“It is.” Archer shook his head when I extended my hand. “That’s yours, Hudson.”

I swallowed hard. “I broke your rules.”

“Did you?” His gaze was unfathomable, but he made no move to take the badge from me. I placed it next to the other one on his desk and stepped back. “How?”

“I told a girl about the job. She came back with me, and I hated lying to her, letting her think I ran drugs.”

Archer nodded, his mouth opening. A rap from behind me nearly jerked me out of my skin. Archer didn’t smile, though something flickered in his eyes.

“Come in.”

The door opened and a tall woman in caramel pants and a white shirt entered the office. Her blonde hair was scraped back in a tight knot at the back of her neck. She held a white hat in her hands and stopped stiffly beside me.

If it wasn’t for her blue eyes I might not have believed what I was seeing.

“Sir,” Skye said in a hard voice.

I had nothing left. Everything we’d done...My stomach curled, and I breathed in hard. “Thank you for the experience, Archer. I’ll leave you to it.” I nodded respectfully, though Skye wouldn’t even look at me, and made it as far as the door before Archer stopped me.

“Ranger.” His voice sliced through the air, and even though I wasn’t sure he was talking to me, I turned back. “Get your ass back here, Hudson. I’m not done.”

“Sir.” I reclaimed my spot on the worn carpet beneath my feet, my movements as jerky as Skye’s, who hadn’t moved since she entered the room.

“Report.” Archer watched me unblinkingly but spoke to Skye.

“The job was well executed. He might be a little unorthodox, but his methods worked well enough.”

I tried not to grind my teeth and failed.

“Anything else?” Archer asked, leaning back in his chair.

“He broke cover on the way back.” She didn’t so much as look at me.

I swore my heart shattered right there and then.

“You weren’t meant to travel together.” Archer raised his eyebrows. “You changed the rules.”

A tiny petal of hope painted in pinks and golds unfurled in my chest.

“Yes, sir.” Skye stood rigid, her hands clasped behind her back, the knuckles white, the only outward expression of her tension. And like her face when I burst into her room in Tijuana, she was blank. Almost unreadable.

Except maybe to Archer. That man could be faced with a brick wall and deduce something from it. I’d put a full month’s pay on that bet.

“Recommendation?”

She paused for a full minute while my heart stalled with her. “He would be a solid asset if his morals don’t trip him up.”

Archer faced me in full, leaning forward. “Skye Hamilton was part of an older unit recently disbanded. She isn’t used to how we run things here,” –the corner of his mouth twitched, I swore– “but she’s getting used to it. She also needs a partner.” He collected both badges in his palm and held them out. “Job’s yours, Hudson.”

I swallowed. “I broke your rules.” I seemed to be stuck on that.

“She changed them.”

“We’re good?”

“We are.” Archer nodded, turning his attention to Skye. “Will working with Hudson be a problem?”

She breathed out hard through tight lips, her cheeks two spots of colour. “Not at all, sir.”

“Good. He’s your partner. There’s a file on your desks. Dismissed.” Archer opened his ledger and dropped his head.

And just like that I was a fully-fledged Texas Ranger.

I reached back, opening the door to his office. “After you,” I murmured, the motion automatic.

The glare in her eyes wasn’t.

Still frantic and untrusting.

Looked like I had a hell of a time before me to rebuild that with her. Because there was no chance I was letting her go.

“I knew those articles couldn’t be real,” I murmured as she passed me.

“They are fucking real, Hudson,” she gritted out. “I’ve been writing them for years.” Skye powered through the door, leaving me huffing a laugh in her wake.

“Hudson.”

“Sir?” I pivoted sharply on my heel.

“Careful with her. She’s had an abusive history. Not my story to tell.”

Smiling faintly, I stepped into the doorway. “I know.”

Archer nodded, the hint of a matching smile lighting his face as I pulled the office door shut.

I made it a good four steps to my desk, the one with my name on a damn engraved triangular thing, before Skye accosted me.

“You don’t touch me, or kiss me, or–”

I ignored her outburst, and the new set of rules she tossed in my face and clasped her shoulders gently. “You got your say last time when you claimed me as your beach bodyguard. No, I don’t care under what conditions.” I pressed a finger over her lips. “Here’s my rules. Tell me everything. Don’t hide shit from me. My side of that is I’ll always have your back, no matter what. But I want to give this thing a go, Skye. I want to see if we can make it work.”

“But what happened in Ti–”

“Was fucking amazing,” I said softly, tucking a stray piece of gold hair behind her ear. “And for the record, this Skye is just as sexy as gold tasselled Skye and Bikini Skye.”

“Objectifying,” she muttered, her colour heightening as she looked at me through her lashes.

“You bet your perfect fucking behind.” I leaned in slowly, giving her time to pull away and kissed the corner of her mouth. “Gonna try this with me?”

She turned enough for me to capture her mouth in full. When I kissed her a little harder she didn’t push me away, opening her lips and letting me in.

“Fine.” She pulled back, and gave me sassy eyes. I couldn’t wait to see what my handprint looked like on her ass. “Can we get to work now, Big Boy?”

“Keep it up, Skye. I’m keeping count.” I slammed my hand down on my thigh, the crack reverberating around the room.

She held my gaze and raised her chin. “Do your worst, Hudson.”

A grin spread over my face as I grabbed the file and started flicking through, my mind already headed in other directions. “Oh, I plan to. Hell girl, I might even be able to show you what real love looks like.”

Her eyes widened to the point of comical, and I pulled her to me for another heartfelt kiss, putting everything I was right behind that not-so-simple touch of lips on lips.

“You can’t be serious,” she whispered. “It’s been a week.”

I shrugged. Fuck it. What did I have to lose? Nothing but a stunning girl who happened to be my partner both day and night. “I’m all in, Skye. All for you.”

“Romantic ass.”

I huffed a laugh and tweaked her nose just to earn a glare.

Having Skye as both partner and girlfriend would be one hell of a challenge, but damn would I enjoy showing her all the ways a man could be romantic with a demanding woman he’d already fallen for, however long our partnership lasted.

Maybe for a long while.

Maybe forever.

There was no better way to test it than a road trip to South Carolina.