In a Texas Minute Read online

  “You think Bowie will be all right? We don’t want a mosquito to get on him,” Alex said between bites of cobbler.

  “The netting I draped over him will keep him in fine shape. And I’ve already discovered that he loves it outside. Isn’t it amazing how such a tiny baby could know when he’s out of doors?”

  “You’re learning a lot about babies since you got Bowie, aren’t you?”

  He’d pushed the swing into a lazy sway and Sierra found the movement made her think of slow, hot hands and hard, warm lips.

  “Yes.”

  He put down his spoon for a moment. “You talked about seeing Gloria tonight. Are you jealous that she’s marrying into the rich Fortune family? And that Christina is engaged to a highly successful businessman?”

  If anyone else had asked her such questions she would have been offended, but Alex was a lawyer, he couldn’t help himself. And he didn’t really poke and prod as a way to hurt her.

  “No. I’m very happy for both of them. You know me, Alex. Money never was my main agenda or I certainly wouldn’t have gone into social work.” She waved her hand around her. “You can see how modestly I live. And that’s the way I like it. Gloria and Christina are different. Not that either of them are money hungry, but they do live lifestyles that are nothing like mine.”

  “But Gloria is pregnant. She’s going to give your parents their first grandchild. They’re fawning over her when you’re the one who stuck by Marie and Jose while their two older daughters were off, refusing to come home for even a brief visit.”

  Sierra thoughtfully pushed the cobbler around her bowl. “There are times I can’t help resenting the way both of them behaved—the seemingly careless way they hurt my parents by leaving the family.”

  “You were hurt, too,” Alex said softly. “You don’t think I’ve forgotten all the pain and heartache you went through when you tried to patch the broken relationship between your two sisters, do you?”

  To be honest, she was surprised he remembered anything about her personal life. He’d always seemed bored or annoyed with her family sob stories. This past year, whenever her group of friends had met at the Longhorn, she’d tried her best to keep her contribution to the conversation away from her personal life just because she couldn’t take Alex’s disdain. And she’d done a pretty good job of it, until a couple months ago when she’d announced to her friends that Chad had flown the coop.

  “I wasn’t sure you remembered any of that time,” she admitted.

  “Sierra,” he scolded gently. “You must think I’m a real monster. Of course I remember it. I hated all those damn tears you cried.”

  “Well, I’m not crying them anymore. And I’m very happy that Gloria is going to have a baby. I might be a little envious, but I’ll have my turn someday. And besides, I have Bowie and he already feels like my very own,” she said softly.

  He didn’t say anything to that and Sierra finished the last few bites of her dessert before she looked over at him.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked. “You’re silently laughing because you think I’ll never find a man who’d put up with me on a permanent basis?”

  Alex shook his head. “No. I wasn’t thinking anything of the sort. I was wondering—how long do you plan on keeping Bowie as your foster child?”

  Her gaze flew to the bassinet sitting a few steps away from them. It was impossible to imagine not having Bowie with her. It was unbearable to envision a life where she couldn’t see him take his first step or say his first word. She needed to be there when he started school, when he began to play sports and date girls. She realized she was getting beyond herself, but her heart was moving far faster than the realistic hopes in her head.

  “I don’t know, Alex. I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the things you said. And you’re right.”

  He placed his empty bowl on the porch floor and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Hmm. Something is wrong for you to be agreeing with me.”

  She ignored his flip remark. “Bowie needs more than just what I can give him. He needs a father, too. And I want him to have the very best. I don’t want him to miss out on anything in life. But—” she halted as her throat tightened painfully “—I don’t want to give him up. I’ve got to keep him, Alex, at least for a little while longer.”

  Turning on the seat, he took hold of both her hands. As he squeezed her fingers, Sierra sniffed to ward off the tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. The last thing she wanted Alex to think was that she was a sniveling little girl who still had a lot of growing up to do.

  “You’re getting attached to him,” he stated.

  Nameless emotions squeezed her heart. “I believe you’re getting attached to him, too, Alex.”

  He shifted closer as his green eyes wandered over her face. “Yeah, I guess I am,” he admitted after a moment. “But that’s not what’s worrying me.”

  Sierra’s heart began to thump harder and faster. His face was getting so close to hers that she could see the pores in his skin, smell the masculine cologne clinging to his clothes. Heat radiated from his body and seemed to arc into her like a hot beam of light. Her breath lodged in her throat and though she kept telling herself to pull back from him she felt her head tilting forward.

  “What’s worrying you?” she asked in a raspy whisper.

  “What to do about this,” he murmured.

  Sierra was given no time to ask about “this.” In fact, she didn’t even have time to suck in a shocked breath before she saw Alex’s face drawing closer and felt his lips touching hers.

  A tiny moan of disbelief sounded in her throat and fearing she was going to pull away from him, Alex framed her face with both hands and held her head gently but firmly as he explored the soft, full curves of her lips.

  The taste of her was sweet, delicious and, oh, so precious. Alex had never expected kissing her to feel so warm and wonderful and he realized with a shocked start that he wanted the kiss to go on and on. He wanted to deepen the union of their lips and crush her body up against his.

  A need for air was finally the thing that caused Alex to lift his head and stare at her in stunned silence.

  Sierra pressed her fingertips to her swollen lips and stared back.

  “What was that?” she finally managed to ask.

  He swallowed as a strange sort of exhilaration rushed to his head and whirled his senses about like a sudden tornado.

  “If I have to explain, then you’re way more innocent than I ever thought.”

  Jumping to her feet, she scurried over to the bassinet, then turned and tossed her hair out of her face before she locked gazes with him. “I know what it was! I mean—why? Why did you kiss me?”

  Feeling stupid, but happy, Alex held his palms up in a helpless gesture. “Because I’d been wanting to kiss you all evening.”

  His honesty floored her and she realized her knees had turned to two pieces of sponge. But whether that malady was from his words or his kiss, she wasn’t quite sure.

  “Alex! We’re—we’re friends,” she sputtered.

  Pushing himself up from the swing, he closed the short distance between them and placed his hands on her shoulders. Beneath his fingers, he could feel her trembling and he wondered if she’d been as besotted with their kiss as he’d been.

  “Friends are allowed to kiss,” he softly reasoned.

  “Not like that.”

  Her voice was strained and as she turned her face to one side, her expression looked like someone who’d just committed a horrible sin. Alex would have laughed if he hadn’t been so scared himself. He didn’t know what was happening to him or to Sierra, but each minute he spent with her, he’d felt a tension growing between them. He could no longer simply think of her as his sweet buddy with a heart too big for her own good. Something had opened his eyes to the fact that she was a woman and that she wasn’t quite the pushover he’d always thought her to be.

  If someone tried to take Bowie from her, Alex knew she’d
fight him or her to the bitter end. And if she loved a man, would she fight just as hard for him? She’d allowed Chad to walk away and that could only mean one thing. She hadn’t really loved the guy. The notion curled the corners of Alex’s lips with a satisfied smile.

  “Why not? You have to be friends before you can be lovers.”

  Her face jerked back to his and their gazes clashed like swords clanging in the darkness.

  Lifting her chin to a challenging angle, she protested in a husky whisper, “We—uh—we aren’t going to become lovers!”

  The smile on Alex’s face deepened to a cocky grin. “You think not, do you?”

  She swallowed as the rapid beat of her heart fluttered in her throat like a trapped bird. “I know not!”

  The words floated out on a gasp, but her shocked reaction didn’t deter Alex at all. His hands slid up and down the slope of her shoulders in a slow, sensuous fashion until they finally curled around her throat and his thumbs rested beneath the angle of her jaw.

  “You sound awfully sure of that.”

  And he sounded so all-fired cocksure of himself that needles of fear jabbed her from every direction. She’d not known Alex for years without learning that he usually got what he went after. She just couldn’t understand why he suddenly wanted her.

  “I am!” she shot back at him. “You’re a great friend, Alex. But I, well, having you in my bed is another matter.”

  His thumbs reached out and rubbed the soft skin of her chin. It was all she could do to keep from shivering with longing.

  “It sure is,” he suggested in a low, provocative tone.

  “You’re heartless. You’re cocky and infuriating. You’re a—a smart-assed lawyer!” She ended with a toss of her head.

  “I promise I don’t take any of those traits to bed with me. I leave them on the dresser with my wristwatch and billfold.”

  The image of Alex, tall, tanned and muscular and shedding his clothes for bed, popped into her brain like a tease from an erotic movie trailer.

  Groaning, Sierra twisted loose from his grasp and reached for Bowie’s bassinet.

  “Please, open the door. I’m taking Bowie back inside. And you’re leaving,” she said primly.

  “Leaving! I haven’t even finished my coffee,” he complained.

  “I’m sure you can make yourself another pot when you get home,” she said as she started pushing the bassinet toward the door.

  Home. He’d never thought of that damned apartment as home. He was a bachelor. He’d never wanted a home for himself or even thought of what one might be like. Meals on the table and a pretty little wife hovering over him had never been on Alex’s agenda. But tonight, this old house seemed like a place where he wanted to stay and he wanted Sierra to do far more than hover over him.

  “All right,” he said crossly. “I’ll leave. But if you think we can just go back to being old college buddies, you’re out of your mind.”

  With that he opened the door and helped her push Bowie and the bassinet back inside the kitchen. Once there, Sierra hurried on to the living room with Alex practically stomping on her heels.

  “I was out of my mind all right,” she muttered tightly. “For kissing you like I did.”

  Exasperation twisted his features as he looked at her. “Well, it sure as hell didn’t feel like a friendly kiss.”

  Pushing the bassinet to a stop near the couch, she pulled off the gauze she’d draped over the baby and tossed it to one side. Without looking at Alex, she said, “You’ve always told me I have poor judgment in men. So I’m taking your advice and not making another mistake with you!”

  As Alex headed toward the door, he felt sure his ears were blowing smoke and fire.

  “Mistake! For the first time in your life you let yourself act like a woman instead of a—a caretaker! And you call that a mistake! I’m outta here.”

  Sierra flinched as the door slammed behind him and then, covering her face with both hands, she sank onto the couch. Her whole body was trembling and she was having trouble sucking air into her lungs and pushing it out. Relief didn’t come until tears started rolling down her face.

  The next morning, Sierra was still in bed when she heard someone pounding on the front door.

  With a groggy groan, she jerked on a long cotton robe and stumbled through the living room.

  “Who is it?” she called through the door as she swiped her tangled hair out of her face.

  “Your sister. Christina.”

  Oh, thank God, she thought. For a second, she’d feared it might be Alex and she certainly wasn’t up to facing him this morning.

  Fumbling with the lock, she finally managed to open the door and usher her sister into the house.

  At thirty-two Christina was the eldest of the three Mendoza sisters. She was also extremely elegant with a tall, willowy figure and straight, dark brown hair that swung against her shoulders. She was a highly intelligent businesswoman and her job at Fortune-Rockwell had led her straight to the love of her life, Derek Rockwell.

  “What are you doing out so early?” Sierra asked as the two of them moved into the living room. Christina and Derek had finally shown up at her parents’ barbecue, but thankfully the food was still out on the table, and everyone had been glad to see them in spite of the late hour. “We just saw each other last night at Mom and Dad’s.”

  Christina held up a white bag stamped with a local bakery’s logo. The smell of fresh pastries verified that her sister had experienced a sudden breakdown and had stopped to appease her sweet tooth.

  “With Gloria and Jack there, I didn’t get to talk to you all that much. And I thought you might like to share an apple fritter with me. There’s also a cinnamon roll and a chocolate éclair.”

  Sierra glanced at her sister, who was dressed in a pin-striped suit, and managed to look both professional and beautiful at the same time.

  “Dear Lord, you must really be craving sugar this morning,” Sierra exclaimed.

  “I’ve got a busy day ahead of me. I need the extra energy,” she said as she glanced toward the kitchen. “Got any coffee made?”

  Shaking her head, Sierra motioned for Christina to follow her into the kitchen. “No. I was still in bed when I heard you knocking.”

  Christina placed the sack of pastries on the kitchen table and turned to study Sierra as she began to spoon coffee grounds into a filter.

  “Wow. That’s not like you to lie around in bed until seven-thirty. What’s wrong? One of your sleepless nights again?”

  Sierra nodded. For years now she’d had trouble sleeping. Her busy mind often refused to shut down and last night it had been working overtime. But unlike other nights when her sleeplessness had been caused by work or family matters, this time the cause had been Alex, and Alex only.

  “Yeah. I think I finally fell asleep about five o’clock this morning. And then Bowie woke up and let me know he wanted his bottle. By the time I finished feeding him and putting him back to bed I was so exhausted I fell back to sleep.”

  Christina made an apologetic face at her sister. “Sorry, hon. If I’d known it had been one of those nights, I wouldn’t have stopped and woken you. You really should see a doctor about your insomnia, Sierra. It isn’t good for your health.”

  “Christina! Have you forgotten all those doctors that Mom dragged me to when I was in high school?”

  “Pooh,” Christina scoffed with a dismissive wave of her hand. “That was years ago. You need to try another doctor. Techniques and medicine have probably advanced a lot since you tried to get help.”

  “I have an update for you,” Sierra told her. “I saw one while you and Gloria were living away. All he did was give me sleeping pills and the next morning I woke up so groggy it took me half a day to actually feel energized.” With a shake of her head, she dumped cold water into the coffeemaker. “I’ll just deal with the problem myself. Besides, last night I just had a lot of things on my mind.”

  “The baby?”

  Christina a
nd Derek had stopped by their parents’ house yesterday evening while Sierra and Bowie were still there. Christina had pronounced Bowie adorable, yet Sierra had sensed a lack of enthusiasm in her sister’s reaction to the baby. But then Christina had always been the most reserved of the family.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a grim look lining Christina’s lovely features. It made Sierra wonder what was really going on in her sister’s head.

  “No. Well, I do think about him a lot,” Sierra admitted. “I guess it’s pretty obvious that I’m getting attached to the little guy. But I don’t know any woman alive who could hold a baby in her arms and hang on to her heart at the same time.”

  She switched on the coffeemaker and then realizing she’d not cleaned up Alex’s supper mess last night, she hurriedly began to pick up the dirty dishes from the table and toss them into the sink.

  Christina eased down onto one of the chairs. “I thought you ate at Mom and Dad’s last night. What did you do, come home and eat again?” she asked as she surveyed the last of the clutter.

  Trying not to appear flustered, Sierra picked up a bottle of Tabasco and stored it in the cabinet. “Uh—Alex came by and I fed him some of the leftovers. Sorry about the mess,” she quickly apologized.

  “Forget that.” She patted the tabletop. “Come on and sit down with me.”

  “The coffee. It’s almost finished dripping.”

  Christina frowned and pointed to one of the chairs. “Sit. I’ll get our coffee in a minute.”

  Retying the sash of her robe, Sierra took a seat and used her hands to try to calm the riot of black curls falling into her face. “Okay. Here I am.”

  “Good. It’s about time you realized that it’s okay to let someone wait on you once in a while, instead of you jumping to everyone else’s beck and call.”