Chapter Ten
Gage hopped in the cab of his pickup truck, looking at the window upstairs. An unsettling feeling crept into his gut. Leaving Hope in the house alone wouldn’t be the smartest, but he had to continue running his ranch as best as he could.
Three hours later, he raced back to the property to check on Hope. She didn’t have a cell phone, and she knew not to answer the house phone, so he couldn’t contact her.
He made a note to get her a cell phone along with new clothes today when they went out shopping.
He’d planned to take her for a new wardrobe.
She deserved to be in the best and most comfortable clothes.
The drive would take them out to Austin where she’d less likely be recognized.
Since he’d worked there for a decade, he knew where to go for everything.
Rushing into the house, he called out her name.
No sounds could be heard. Fuck. He dashed through each room until he reached his bedroom door.
A low noise from his television gave him some comfort.
He slowly twisted the knob, hoping that he wouldn’t frighten her.
Sprawled out on his bed, Hope slept with her head toward the foot of the bed.
“Baby. You scared me,” Gage whispered before bending down and kissing her temple. As he pulled back, her eyes fluttered and her puffy lips parted.
“Gage,” she moaned.
“I’ve finished up my end today. Bill has everything under control. I’m ready to take you to Austin.”
“Oh. Is that a good idea?”
“As much as I like seeing you in my clothes, I don’t think it’s a good idea for everyone else to see you in them. I might have to commit murder.”
“Silly. I’ll get dressed.” She scurried off the bed, looking around the room with a curious brow before her eyes widened. “Oh my. I totally forgot that I snuck into your room.”
“You’re welcome in here.” Gage choked on the words because he envisioned seeing her on the bed all the time with no clothes while he stalked toward her, equally naked.
She smiled up at him, making his heart race with her natural beauty. “Thank you. I haven’t watched television in years, and I didn’t want to put the television on downstairs in case someone came to the door.” His good humor disappeared as the extent of the neglect showed.
“Smart. Come on, Hope. Let’s get you some clothes,” Gage muttered through gritted teeth. Cummings deserved a bullet in his head.
She readied herself in ten minutes. Once in the SUV, she felt a little nervous. “Should I hide in the back or something?”
“No. Put on my hat, sit back, and relax.” He took off his hat, leaving his hair a mess, but Hope only focused on how handsome Gage looked.
His large hand cupped the cowboy hat and then plopped it onto her tiny head.
While she blushed and giggled at the way it slid down her face, he had a completely different reaction.
He gripped the steering wheel hard as she fixed the hat, making his cock throb against his zipper. Her hair framed her face, and the hat only added to her femininity, catching Gage’s attention. Growling, he muttered, “Damn, you are so cute. That hat fits you perfectly.”
“It floats on me.” She giggled, pushing the brim back up after it slid down her face for the third time.
“Hold on.” Gage jumped out of the truck and ran back into the house, snatching one of his Rangers baseball caps off the hat rack.
He tugged on the door handle on the passenger side and smiled at Hope.
“This should be much better.” He adjusted the baseball cap and then handed it to her.
“Now, sit back and chill. It’s only forty minutes from here. ”
He closed the door before he gave in to the urge and kissed Hope until they came up for air.
They didn’t have time to waste. The drive would be a long one, and he wanted as much time as possible for her to get what she needed.
He pulled out onto the drive and down toward the main road, receiving a ping on his phone alerting him to the fact that his security cameras and sensors did their job and picked up on his vehicle passing his ranch.
He released a sigh of relief, knowing they couldn’t get onto the ranch without him being aware. Halfway through the drive, Gage’s cell rang. “What’s up, Alex?”
“He’s no closer to finding her. They’re looking closer at the neighboring towns. Watch out. They know she had to get help from someone.”
“My friend Sean already installed the cameras and additional sensors for vehicles crossing the field. It works. We’re going shopping for some clothes.
Something has to be done with Cummings. I know Navarro will drop off when better opportunities hit his plate, but it’s Cummings that will be the one looking hardest for her. ”
“That’s right. We’ve got some petty charges on him, but if we could get more on him, we can have him arrested.”
“We’ll have it figured out. lie low until then. I’ve hired my friends to look into Cummings and Navarro, searching for a crime.”
“What if I just call my father and get him to talk? I’m sure he’ll be pissed enough to snap and say something he shouldn’t,” Hope said.
“That’s a great idea, but we’d have to be ready to route the call and get Navarro at the same time. It’s a two-headed snake we’re dealing with here.”
“Do you think there’s a way to bug their house or something?”
“They’re too smart for that. If we found one of his associates willing to turn on him, then we can get what we need, but they’re too afraid. Rumor has it your father has let the cocaine rot his brain. He’s prone to violent tendencies.”
“I don’t doubt it. He’s known to have had them before.”
“He’s hit you before?” Gage asked, disgust etched in his words. His knuckles whitened as he drove on with a scowl.
“Yes. He beat me when he found out I looked up Martial Arts videos on YouTube.”
“Alex, I’m doing my best to stay on the right side of the law, but he’s pushing me. Snapping his fat neck has crossed my mind several times.”
“Remember, you put too many people there to end up cellmates,” Alex reminded his old friend. The danger of ending up there would be real if someone came near Hope unless they came on his property.
“That’s not the only thing holding me back.”
“You’re not your dad,” Alex tossed out.
“I mean that if I went to prison, I’d never get to be with Hope.”
“Oh shit. Well, I’ll talk to you both later.” He abruptly ended the call.
“What was that about? Your dad?”
“Um…”
“You know what? Never mind. I shouldn’t press. I’ve caused you enough problems without bringing up a sore subject.”
“It’s a painfully sore subject, but I don’t want to hold anything back from you. The short of the story is: my father had an affair, and he killed his mistress when he found out she was cheating, then drove drunk and crashed into a tree.”
“Wow, I know there’s a lot more there, but shit, that’s plenty. So that’s the reason for being a lawyer or the rancher?”
“I grew up on the ranch, but I hated the way people looked at us, so I changed professions even though I couldn’t give up the land. Now, I’ve decided to go back to my roots. There’s something peaceful about being your own boss.”
“You’re light years ahead of me. I’m excited to even have my own phone for the first time. There are so many experiences I’ve yet to have.”
“I’m going to make sure that you have as many of them as possible,” he remarked, bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing the back of it.
“Like teaching me to shoot?” They’d only gone out for thirty minutes, and she’d had enough after the first round, but she never mentioned it to him.
“I’m sorry that was cut short because of Alex’s visit, but we’ll go out again.”
She bit her lips and hesitated to respond. “What?” he asked, sensing she wanted to say more.
“Okay. Here it is.” She took a breath, then rushed the rest out. “I don’t want to. I don’t like a gun in my hand. It’s too powerful.”
“That’s fine, but then we’re going to have to work on your combat skills. I never want you to be unprotected. I’ll do my best to always be close by, but there will be times that it’s not possible.”
“You’re so wonderful to me, and I’ve done nothing to deserve it.”
“Even if…even if I didn’t want to bury my cock deep inside of you, I would have helped you out. You’ve been through hell, escaped, and saved yourself. That makes you fucking amazing.”
She shook her head, reached over, and turned up the radio to stop their conversation as well as hear the song that played while they drove. Gage smiled and let the subject drop for the time being.
“We’re almost there.”
Hope fidgeted, grabbing at the edge of her T-shirt and twirling it with her fingers and letting it go. Her heart raced, and her stomach did flips. She gasped when she felt Gage grab her hand.
“Relax. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. No one is going to take you from me, so let’s go have some fun, shop, and get something to eat.”
They entered Austin city limits, then he pulled into a large strip mall.
Gage knew it would be too busy for her hunters to find her, plus they had several stores they needed, including a phone store.
The first department store resulted in three outfits and two pairs of shoes.
She shocked him when she pulled out her wallet and paid for the clothes in cash.
Unwilling to bring it up in front of the store clerk, he waited until they exited the store.
“Where did you get all that money?”
“It’s money I saved up over the years. You’ve done everything for me. I don’t want you to pay for all of my clothes too.”
“Well, how about you save that money and let me take care of it?”
“I just… Well, it’s nice to do this for myself.”
“Fine, but when we buy your cell phone, I will be buying it. I don’t want your name on anything, so they can’t search for it.”
She nodded in agreement. He took her bags and carried them in one hand and led her to the next store. She paid for herself until they purchased the cell phone.
“Are you hungry?” Gage asked her, holding all her bags in one hand. He heard her stomach growl in the last store but decided not to mention it. One lesson he learned when working with women was that you never bring up accidental bodily functions.
“I’m starving.” She exaggeratedly rubbed her belly.
“What do you want to eat?” He didn’t care where they ate, but his stomach was about to sound like a tuba if he didn’t eat soon.
“Can we eat in the mall?”
“Sure. Which place do you want?”
“Hmm…Panda Express.”
“Okay. Let’s go over there and get some food.”
They picked out their dishes and laughed at how they both selected completely different entrees. As they ate, he offered a taste of his food and vice versa.
“These were all good.”
“It’s definitely nice to get out like this and have dinner with the most enchanting woman in the world.”