Seduction of Saber (Saving the Sinners of Preacher's Bend #3) (10 page)

Julia’s face turned a deep red while Liddy physically
stared at his midsection.

“It’s a little worse for wear these days, but it’s
still a tattoo. Or so I’m told.” He looked down at his washboard abs. “Like I
said before, ain’t any reason
not
to trust me.”

**

It was nearly killing Liddy not to move over to Saber
and examine the large Boa a whole lot closer. A snake tattoo nearly the same as
Jake’s, it surely looked the same as Jake’s. They could’ve been twin tattoos—done
by the very same artist. Jake had gotten his down in Sparta. And Saber likely
got his while he’d been living in Miami.

Julia’s face, however, remained that deep shade of red
as everyone in the room could see the anger filling her body from the inside
out. She warned, “I already told you, I don’t do sympathy, Mr. Patterson.”

Seconds later, she tossed the registration book toward
the low table between the sofas, knocking the last remaining muffin from the
tray. “Apparently, you weren’t listening to me, as everyone else seems not to
these days.”

She stormed out of the boarding house via the front
door, slammed it into the faces of the two yet remaining in her late
great-grandmother’s living room; both Liddy and Saber shocked by her actions.

Saber made to grab his carelessly tossed T-shirt and
put it on over his head. “What the hell was that about?” he asked.

Liddy shrugged both shoulders. “I’m not quite certain.
Maybe she doesn’t like large ugly snakes on a man’s incredibly toned body anymore.
At least not anymore.”

He was already moving toward the slammed door in hot
pursuit of the angry Julia, but as he pulled the door open he slammed on the
brakes, stalling his good guy engine.

“What do you mean
anymore
?”

“My husband has nearly the same snake tattoo on his
upper arm.”

“So?”

Liddy’s wayward gaze drifted back to his. “Seeing it
like this, let’s just say Julia dated my husband for a bit, who, at the time,
was still married to little ole’ me.”

Saber was stunned by Liddy’s admission, more so, than
by anything else that happened in this particular house today.

“You …he …you were still married at the time?”

“It’s a very long, very complicated story, Mr.
Patterson. One that I am sure when you have a bit more time to listen to, I
will be able tell you about. Nevertheless, through no one’s fault but my own, I
skipped town ten years ago; left without ever saying Good-bye. No one knew
where I was, what I was doing, or if I was ever coming back. I simply dropped
off the face of the earth.”

He listened as she shared her secret.

“Jake was only being Jake, until Gill stopped that
hefty problem in a hurry. But you’ve already met that particular side of
Julia’s overprotective father, haven’t you? Gill doesn’t like men who treat
women so carelessly. It’s an unwritten rule of his. It never went very far. I
guess you could say my husband and best friend’s conscious got the better of
them.”

Saber’s hand held the doorknob, knuckles whitening.
“She dated your husband?” It took a bit of time for him to get used to the
idea. Julia did not seem like the type of woman to take another woman’s
husband. Then, years later still are considered that person’s best friend.

“Like I said, it wasn’t her fault. I wasn’t around.
They just assumed I wasn’t coming back.”

“That still don’t make it right,” he reasoned out.

He knew how it felt, and the sting remained deep to
this day, buried in his gut.

“Maybe not. But who are you to judge, Mr. Patterson?
If anyone should stand in judgment, it’s probably you. You’re a stranger among
us. And certain things in Preacher’s Bend happen for a reason. No one is purely
at fault. But none of us is the sweet, innocent angels others think we are. We
all make mistakes. It’s part of being human, part of life.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You’re
right. I, for one, know what it feels like to be judged unnecessarily.” He
added under his breath,
“And
hung.
”

Saber had been judged in the worst possible ways: as a
failure, as a phony, as a man worthless of pity due to great wealth.

He moved both feet forward and went in search of Julia,
with, or without anyone’s permission. After everything he and Julia had been
through today, he wasn’t going to leave it the way it suddenly ended. He was going
to find her and apologize for his rude behavior. And, if she accepted his
apology, it would certainly never happen again.

He was a changed man. He no longer used people for
personal gain. He no longer wished them to think ill of his character. And he sure
as hell wasn’t going to use Julia; not in the way anyone thought he likely
would.

Nor would he use her in the way she somehow expected of
him, simply by profession.

Saber wanted the slate clean. Start over. Do things
right the first time. He’d thought he’d done that. Done it right. But a slammed
door in his face told him otherwise. It hadn’t been right. His actions turned
into a complicated mess, in a big hurry. A mess he must now clean up before it
was too late.

Julia put her head against the trunk of the old oak,
and sighed. The hollowness was there. It was always there. The bitterness she
couldn’t quite get rid of. She squeezed her eyes shut.

First, she was quite certain she was a certifiable
fool. What in God’s name had she been thinking, storming out of the house,
teasing Saber as she had? She wasn’t a tease. Not anymore. It took too much
effort, and too much effort to make a man think there could be more took too
much energy. She barely had enough energy to get her through her days, let
alone tease a man in a purely sexual way.

Secondly, it had gotten cold outside; colder than she
wanted it to be. Julia rubbed her hands up and down her arms to ward off the
chill. Though midsummer, and the days long and hot, the afternoons in Preacher’s
Bend cooled quickly. She’d left in a huff and hurry that she hadn’t taken her
jacket with her. Then again, she hadn’t figured she’d be pushed into storming
out of the boarding house because of a lousy tattoo.

The sun was starting to set at the far end of Preacher’s
Bend—precisely down the center of Roundabout Road. Julia could see Liddy and
Jake’s cozy little shack under one of Theodora’s large peach trees. Another
twinge of jealousy crept inside. It seemed odd Liddy giving up everything she’d
ever dreamed about: huge house, fancy clothes, and a sporty red convertible.
Just goes to show love was very complicated when one least expects it to be.

But, at this time of year, a setting sun meant
everything to Julia. It meant she’d made it through another day with diabetes. She
was, for all intents and purposes, hiding in Theodora’s garden. The sweet
summer scent of roses lingered in the air. The twinkling chirps of late
afternoon birds were settling into the trees.

Too afraid of what she felt inside and too chicken to
do anything about it, her plan was to stay in the garden until dark. Usually,
she took whatever she wanted out of life and held onto it with both hands.
Having to adjust to her disease a little over a year ago had thrown her for a
loop. She was trying to adjust to the change, failing miserably, and wished
only for a do-over.

Didn’t every woman wish for this?

Do-overs were right up there with a new pair of shoes.
Then, when it never came, she could always blame someone else for its lack.

Her ears perked as the sound of a man’s heavy
footsteps came her way. She could easily guess whose feet they belonged to. Again,
a heavy sigh wrenched out unexpectedly.

Too bad for him if he thought she cared. Julia wasn’t
going back to that stuffy old boarding house until she felt like doing so. Not
because she was mad at anyone in particular; first at Patterson, secondly at
herself. No. She simply did not like people telling her what to do. It was as
easy and uncomplicated as that.

She’d been this way since birth; withdrew into a
carefully guarded shell of denial whenever someone dared tell her what to do.
It was the very reason she’d given Gill such a hard time while coming of age.
As her father, Gill had felt it his duty to run her life; thereby, spun those
wheels until Julia had been old enough to fight for majority control.

As the heavy footsteps sounded on the leaves and twigs
crushed under his weight, she was acutely aware that this was going to be one
of those moments where someone—other than her father—tried their damnedest to
tell her what to do. He stopped directly at her side and without saying a word
sat down beside her on the cold damp ground. He handed over a warm coat.

Very slowly, Julia moved her hand to take the coat
from him.

Another thing she hated was someone knowing what was
good for her, and then taking the liberty to rub this fact in her face.

“Boy! I dare say when a certain redheaded vixen wants
to hide, she can really hide,” he conceded. “It took me nearly four hours to
find you.” He looked at his watch and grimaced. ‘‘Course my search probably
would’ve been much less than that, but I went back to your place to get you
that.” His finger pointed at the jacket.

“I never asked you to find me,” she muttered out
heartlessly.

“No. But a good guy doesn’t wait to be asked when he
knows better.”

She turned her head toward his face. “Are you a good
guy, Mr. Patterson?”

Okay. Snapping at the bit was uncalled for, but for
some strange reason she couldn’t help getting angry with him.

“I had thought so.” He smiled back. “After today’s
rather dramatic episodes, I’m not so certain anymore.” He heaved out an
unexpected sigh as afterthought, perhaps doing a rewind to his character. He
sounded as though he was trying to apologize to her, and so far she wasn’t in a
very accepting mood toward the generous offer.

“What time is it?” she asked quickly.

Saber glanced at his watch and told her six o’clock.

Instead of another sigh, Julia groaned. Loudly. Then
her stomach added its own repetitive chorus.

“Here.” He reached into his pocket, producing a
granola bar loaded with mixed fruit and nuts.

She looked at the bar and grimaced. “What’s that? A
peace offering?”

“No,” he said. “Sustenance.”

Julia took the considerate offering and peeled off the
foil wrapper. She sank her teeth into its sweetness, savoring the taste of rich
honey and almonds.

“You skipped lunch in your haste to get the hell out
of Dodge. Now it’s almost suppertime, and your last dose of insulin was at nine
o’clock this morning …Are you trying to kill yourself, Ms. Hillard? Or do you
just have it in for me, in particular, to do so while on my watch?”

She glared at his face. “I never asked you to take
watch of me. And no, I am not trying to kill myself, either.”

“No?”

“I’m adjusting,” she determined. “Besides, why do you
even care? And why are you even here?” Her mouth was moving ahead of her brain.
Apparently rewind of character was reserved for those who deserved the
consideration.

“I care. And I’m here because being here is considered
a good guy thing,” he answered brusquely.

His words had pulled her eyes up to his. “There is no
such thing, Mr. Patterson.”

“It’s Saber, Julia. And there isn’t?” he suddenly
teased. “In my book, there is.”

“No. Not in Preacher’s Bend. And certainly not in my
life.”

Julia took another bite out of the bar and chewed,
thinking about what her life had been thus far. One failed relationship after
another. Men coming into that life, then leaving it once they found out about
her incurable disease. Diabetes was an old person’s ailment. Not for one who was
twenty-eight-years old and relatively healthy otherwise. Guys like their
potential partners with no flaws. And never did any good guy ever stay in her
life once he met her father.

Gill wasn’t purposefully mean. He was dreadfully
overprotective. He was the nightmare to her lonely existence.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” he said.

Her gaze held. “Like you have any need to ask for
permission. You haven’t asked before.”

Her bluntness checked his grin. Saber cautiously pulled
his sight away. “That may be the case, Ms. Hillard, but I am asking for your
permission now.”

She waited, took another bite, chewed, and then
swallowed. She had no intention to make this easy on the man.

“What made you run out of the house as you had? Was it
because of what I did, pulling my shirt off in front of you? Or was it for
something else?”

Julia stalled her chewing. “That’s not a very personal
question. And that’s three questions. Not one.”

“It was sort of personal in my book. And they all
blend together, if asked in the same breath,” he admitted, getting his body
comfortable on the hard ground by stretching out his legs and crossing them at
the ankles.

Julia made room for Saber and her under Theodora’s
tree. “It’s not. And the answer is…” She paused. “I don’t know.”

“Was it because of what I did? What I showed you?” He
drilled his thoughts about this through his eyes and directly into hers. “Showing
you my scar bothered you in some way?”

“Sort of.” She turned her head away. “But not the
scar.”

It was because he’d done it to shock her. More so, her
shock to entail the huge scar that large boa tattoo was trying to hide.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked.

Talk about it?
Julia
raised her brow.
Is he kidding?

“Are you now my shrink, Mr. Patterson?”

“No. Do you need a shrink?”

“No. But I might need one after dealing with the likes
of you,” she promised, turning her face to the setting sun, and then smiling.

There was something about this man that made him easy
to talk to. Even if most of their conversations were on the level of teeth
grinding.

“I’m not such a bad guy, Julia. I didn’t come to Preacher’s
Bend to hurt you. Or, come here to hurt anyone else, for that matter.” He took a
deep breath and flared his nostrils. “I’m here as part of the rodeo, nothing
more, nothing less. When it’s over, I leave with it.”

This time it was Julia’s turn to draw in a deep
breath. She released it as slowly as she could, settling her thoughts to a low
simmer. “I’m sorry.”

Saber looked at her profile. “About what?”

“For running out, for snapping at you, for being a
real bitch when uncalled for.” Her grimace held, headed to his unwavering gaze.
“Only one woman in town is allowed to be such a bitch on a Sunday. And we just
happen to be sitting under her oak tree at the moment.”

“You had every right to do exactly what you did,
Little Darlin’. To all of us,” he stated. “I’m not pointin’ any fingers, but
some of us have earned it more than others.”

His deep chuckle was music to the ears.

“That still doesn’t make it right, or very nice. And I
don’t usually snap at strangers, let alone a complete stranger at that,” Julia
rued.

“Come here.” He reached his left arm around her
shoulder to pull her shivering body to his side. “Would a complete stranger do
this for you?” he asked. “Or, give you insulin, when too sick to do it on your
own?”

Julia was shivering and Saber was simply doing his
duty as a gentleman to keep her warm. Surely there was no more to this than
that. His arm around her had nothing at all to do with what the rest of her
body wanted from this man.

She drew in another deep breath. This time, savored
the rich masculine scent surrounding her entire being. He no longer smelled of
cigars. He smelled earthy; dangerously delicious to a woman in dire need.

“Thanks. I was getting a bit cold.”

Saber smiled. “Don’t you think we should head back
home? Get you warm and fed more than a measly granola bar? Don’t really know
about you how you feel, but I’m starvin’ for some good ole’ fashion
home-cooking.”

“Not just yet,” she admitted. “I don’t want to miss
this.” She turned her sight forward.

She was going to ignore the fact of Saber being
hungry, when he could’ve eaten dinner instead of searching for her. Time had
been on his side to do so. She’d not asked him to come out of the boarding
house, hot on pursuit. But she was very glad that he had.

And now that he was here, each watched a spectacular
sunset; neither ruined it with the sound of their voices, or any unnecessary
comments to wreck the solitude. When it was over and the dark shadows crossed
the land, Julia turned to face him.

As Saber turned to her, their mouths brushed against
the other within the fading twilight. Kissing seemed a natural thing to do. So
potent, so surreal, she checked her body from caring too much that his hand was
reaching under her shirt. His fingers dragged across her midsection.

Once the briefest of kiss was over, he drew back and whispered,
“That was nice.”

The complete sensuality, the touch of his lips, and
the caress of his fingertips quivered throughout her body. “Yes. It was. Wasn’t
it?” She smiled. “And that sunset was pretty damn great, too.”

**

Saber grinned at Julia’s light teasing. He simply
enjoyed the moment and of holding onto her. It had been a long time since he had
a real woman in his arms.
Too long.

Superficial gold-diggers didn’t count as being real.

He’d purposely kept himself unattached so there’d
never be a need to explain his withdrawal; even complete departure from life.
He partied, played the field, but didn’t commit for a reason.

Somehow, someway, this woman in his arms had broken
down these invisible walls he’d built to protect himself from others.

“We better get you on back home.” Yet saying it did
not make the rest of his body follow suit.

“Yes. We better.” Her eyes widened, drawing him in.

“Then how is it neither of us is moving to our feet,
Little Darlin’?” A devil may care attitude couldn’t be shelved, no matter what.

“I was wondering the same thing,” she rushed out
breathlessly.