Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Charley woke to the sun spilling in around the edges of the shade in her bedroom window.
“Sully?” she said, not finding the handsome rancher in bed with her.
“Out here,” came his deep voice from the living room.
Charley rolled out of bed and looked at the clock, which read eight a.m. She heard Sully’s voice in the living room as he spoke to someone.
She made a quick call. Still in her nightgown, she rounded the corner of her bedroom and walked down the short hall.
She saw Sully standing barefoot at the plate glass window of her living room.
With his cell phone to his ear, he wore only his jeans.
Turning to her, he smiled and she nearly swooned.
There was a day’s growth of beard on his handsome face.
His chest was broad like his shoulders, with a smattering of masculine black hair.
He had a six-pack of muscles spread across his torso.
Below his indented navel, a trail of black hair disappeared into his snug jeans.
“Morning,” she whispered and detoured into her kitchen. As Sully finished his call, she brewed two cups of coffee for them.
“Got my store and horses covered for today,” he said, sliding his cell into his back pocket and walking toward her.
Placing his forearms on the countertop, he looked her up and down.
Charley’s heart raced as she set a mug of steaming black coffee in front of him.
“How about you? What did you decide about your flower shop?”
“I decided to play it safe as you suggested and close my shop for a while. I called Leon to let him know, but he didn’t answer, so I left a message.
” They took seats across from each other at her kitchen table, and as they talked, Charley imagined enjoying this routine with Sully every morning.
“How about we go down the street for breakfast? I know a cute little place.”
“Are you coming to the country with me after breakfast?”
“Yes, if your offer still stands. I’ll need to water the plants in the shop before we go.”
“You know my offer stands,” he said. “Is it okay if I take a quick shower?”
“Of course,” Charley said. Although she’d taken her shower the night before, she suddenly pictured herself wet and naked in the shower with Sully and trembled. Handing him a clean towel, she said over her shoulder, “I’ll get dressed while you do that.”
Twenty minutes later, they were both dressed, Sully in his long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and Charley in a silvery blue sweater and leggings.
They left the duplex and walked two stores down from her shop to a breakfast and brunch café open from six a.m. to three p.m. She knew the waitress and asked for the check before they had even ordered.
Sully cocked a scolding black brow at Charley, and she gave him a sharp snap of her head. He chuckled.
They dined on waffles and bacon, and when they were done, moseyed back to her shop. They entered through the front door, and Charley began watering her plants. She was in the front half of the shop when the bell over the door tinkled, announcing someone had arrived.
“Good morning,” Leon said with a slight smile that faded when he spotted Sully sitting behind the private counter, where the cash register was, toward the back of the shop.
Charley made a mental note of Leon’s displeasure at seeing Sully but said cheerfully, “Good morning, Leon. I guess you didn’t get my message.”
“I noticed the closed sign hanging on the door,” he said, his freckled brow slightly wrinkling as he ignored Sully and her comment. “Are we not opening for business as usual?”
“Actually, no,” Charley said, a watering can in hand as she paused to explain.
“With everything that has happened to my property along with a fourth Cave Killer murder, I’ve decided not to open for a while.
” The bell over the doorway tinkled again, and this time, Rod Vaughn burst into the shop.
Charley glanced over her shoulder at Sully who merely cocked a brow.
Leon backed up a few paces from Rod, but Charley stood her ground and faced him. “Rod, what are you doing here?”
Scowling from Leon to Sully, Rod said, “I’d like to talk to you in private, Charley.”
“This is as private as it’s going to get,” Charley replied.
When she’d gone out with Rod, it was because he’d said he was down after things hadn’t worked out with Kay, the woman for whom he’d bought the flowers.
She’d felt sorry for Rod, but she’d not been interested in more than friendship.
He didn’t make her heart flutter like Sully did.
Never had he stirred her cravings like Sully.
She had taken Rod’s first kiss on her cheek and certainly not allowed him any liberties.
She’d never once entertained the idea of crawling into bed with Rod as she had Sully.
At the end of their third outing, Rod had walked her to her door, and she’d declined to invite him into her apartment.
Rod had informed her it was customary to have sex on the third date.
When he’d grabbed her, she had quickly turned her head and he’d planted a sloppy kiss on her neck.
She had twisted away and shoved him backward with both hands.
Bidding him a firm farewell, she’d darted inside her apartment and locked her door.
He’d smacked her door and shouted goodbye. Charley had breathed a sigh of relief.
But a couple of days later Rod had shown up in her shop profusely apologizing and begging for a fourth date.
She’d escorted him to the café down the street.
Once they were in a public place, she took the opportunity over a cup of late afternoon decaf to confirm there would be no more dates.
Zero. Kay must have followed him, because she had shown up and made a scene by throwing a glass of water in Rod’s face.
Charley had quietly exited the café and driven to Triple C Ranch-South.
There, she faced Rod once again. But that time, Sully and Cash had been there to back her up in getting rid of him.
“I am not back together with Kay,” Rod told her.
“Rod, that doesn’t matter to me,” Charley said, not to be unkind but to get through to him. “I told you I was done.”
“Look, what happened on your porch won’t happen again,” Rod said, ignoring Leon but shooting a sheepish sideways glance at Sully.
“What happened?” Leon asked.
“None of your business, carrot top,” Rod said.
“Your rudeness never fails, Rod,” Charley said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sully stand up and saunter around the counter. “Either you leave, or I will call the cops and they’ll make you leave, Rod.”
“Which one of these guys is taking my place with you?” Rod asked her and pointed first to Leon. “Not the guy with the broom.” Pointing to Sully, he said, “So, the guy with the gun?”
“She asked you to leave today, like she did the last time I saw you, pal,” Sully said, walking toward them. “Take off and don’t come back.”
“Or what? You’ll pull your gun on me?” Rod asked.
“If that’s what it comes to,” Sully replied, stopping beside Charley.
“A gun?” Leon asked no one in particular.
“This dude has a whole store full of guns. I Googled him,” Rod stated, looking from Leon to Sully.
That was news to Charley, and her brows raised in question.
“Oh, yeah, Sullivan Custis here owns the Ranchers Gun Club and Shooting Range just outside of Colorado Springs.” Looking at Charley, Rod said, “That’s how he knew about the misfiring of my little gun.
He’s an expert gunsmith. Just thought you should know that, Charley, since you detest guns. ”
“Rod, you need to leave,” Charley said. “Now.”
“You’re going to be real sorry,” Rod told her.
“Is that a threat?” Charley asked. When Rod didn’t reply, she said, “I do not want to see you again, Rod. If necessary, I will take out a restraining order against you.”
Leon opened the front door as an invitation for Rod to leave. Rod whirled on his heel and shoved Leon. Leon pushed him back. Rod threw a punch and Leon ducked, but in doing so, stumbled backward against a display. Potted plants and silk flowers went flying.
“Stop!” Charley shouted as clay, dirt, and Leon hit the newly scrubbed floor.
Sully waded in between the two men. He grabbed Rod by the back of his shirt and flung him out of the front door.
Charley helped Leon to his feet. Rod staggered and fell onto one knee in the middle of the sidewalk.
Tearing his pant leg, Rod jumped up and came at Sully but stopped short when Sully placed his hand on the Ruger in his holster.
“Get the hell out of here and do not come back, Vaughn,” Sully growled, striding out of the shop and onto the sidewalk. “Or you will be sorry.”
Rod swiped a bead of sweat off his forehead and backed away. With a glare at Charley and pointing at Sully, he said, “You’re making a mistake with him, Charley.”
“Mine to make,” Charley told him, arriving at Sully’s side.
Mouthing curses under his breath, Rod hurried to his Mercedes and jerked it away from the curb into traffic. Horns blared at him as Charley and Sully reentered the shop.
“Thank you both,” she said to Sully and Leon. “Maybe Rod finally got the message.”
“Maybe,” Sully gritted through his clenched jaw, hands on his hips.
Shoulders slumped, Leon stood as if totally defeated near the broken pots of plants and flowers. Sully’s cell phone rang, and Charley shut the front door.
“Are you okay, Leon?” she asked as he grabbed a broom.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry Rod lost his temper with you,” Charley said.
Leon looked past her to Sully and mumbled, “It’s okay.”
Sully slid his phone into his pocket and said, “I need to run out to my ranch, Charley. You want to come with me?”
“No, I’ll stay here and clean up this latest mess. You go ahead.” Charley started for the back counter where she had left her phone. “Then I’ll check on the status of my car.”
“I’ll take you to get it whenever it’s ready,” Sully offered.
“I can take her,” Leon piped up, and looking at Charley, he smiled. “That is, if you’ll ride with me on my scooter, Charley.”
Charley saw Sully tilt his head. She could read a lot into his simple move.
Was he wondering if there was more to the story with Rod, which there wasn’t, or perhaps he was pondering if she would ride with Leon on his scooter after all?
Maybe he was trying to second-guess what she thought of the gun on his hip or the ones in his retail store.
Could her opinion on guns change? Sully hadn’t been without one since she’d met him.
Funny, that hadn’t bothered her in the least. But seeing Rod with a gun had scared and angered her.
So maybe it was the man holding the gun and not the gun itself that mattered.
“There’s no hurry,” Charley said to both men. “Like Sully told me, my car probably isn’t ready yet.”
“Let’s get back to work then,” Leon said and began sweeping.
“All right, Charley. See ya,” Sully said without being specific as to when.
“Okay.” Charley hoped Sully would be back later. But maybe he’d had enough of her and her problems, so she didn’t press him. “See ya, Sully.”
“Yeah.” With a lift of his chin, Sully disappeared out the side door.
Charley missed him even before the door had closed.
Who did that guy think he was? He hadn’t counted on…
what was his name…Sullivan Custis coming into the picture.
Didn’t he have enough on his plate with one man, much less two seeking Charley’s attention?
He paced and cursed while chewing his thumbnail.
His brain worked feverishly. His body tensed with frustration.
The voices told him to keep it together.
He knew exactly how he could best do that.
He walked into the cool night air. So what if Custis carried a gun?
Who cared if he was bigger, more muscular, and far better-looking?
What about that other man in her shop today?
He was a threat to their relationship too.
Charley was his. All his. She just didn’t know it yet.
He opened his mouth to scream. Then he saw her, alone and unaware.
He’d throw off the police with the disposal of this one.
He wasn’t stupid. Longing for the blissful numbness he so badly needed, he pulled the ski mask over his head.