Playing With Fire (Tangled in Texas, #2)(75)

“Maybe not, Cowboy, but I understood why looking at me every day was so painful for him.”

“Because you weren’t his?”

“No. Because I look just like my mother.” Lowering my head, I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. So I tried again and managed to find my voice, even if it was a little shakier than before. “I reminded him every day of what he lost, and he hated me for it. That’s part of the reason I spent so much time at the library when I was younger.”

“It was a place to hide out…from him?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I lowered my gaze. “Anything to make it easier for him to—”

“Goddamnit. What about him making it easier on you? You were just a kid.”

I glanced back at him and shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. My stepfather provided for me when I had no one else.” My voice cracked with the desperate need to make him comprehend the guilt and shame that overwhelmed me. “He lost someone he loved dearly—my mother—and it broke him, but he didn’t abuse me or anything.”

“Neglect is a form of abuse, Anna.”

I didn’t expect him to understand why my stepfather treated me the way he had. But since I was responsible for my mother’s death, I couldn’t blame the man for hating me. For years, I hated myself.

I sighed heavily. “I don’t want to talk about this. It’s in the past and it doesn’t matter anymore,” I told him, hoping to change the subject. “Why don’t you go hop in the shower while I run out and get my mail? I forgot to check it after you showed up yesterday, and I still have to get ready for work.”

He frowned, but didn’t press the issue. “I can go out and grab it for you, if you want.”

My eyes glanced up and down his nude figure and I plastered a grin on my face. “Not like that, you can’t.”

“All right, fine. I’ll shower, and you get the mail.” He leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to the corner of my mouth and then turned and walked toward the bathroom, the muscles of his tight buns flexing with the motion. Within seconds, the water was running while he whistled a low tune.

I had a good mind to sneak over to the door and watch him soap up that magnificent, firm body of his, but thought better of it. Knowing Cowboy and his insatiable nature, he’d probably pull me into the shower with him and have me do it for him. Although it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to a girl.

No, Anna. Damn it. Mail first. Otherwise the “male” will have his hands all over you making you forget…well, everything. I released a long, slow breath and headed for the front door. Being responsible and logical really sucked sometimes.

When I stepped outside, I squinted in the bright morning sun as I strolled across the yard to the end of the driveway where my weathered mailbox sat just off the road. I grabbed the stack of mail inside and headed back to the house, shuffling through the pile of bills and junk mail as I walked.

I’d just stepped back inside and kicked the door shut with my heel when I noticed a small envelope stuffed between two coupon ads. My name was written illegibly on the outside in something that resembled a child’s handwriting. Just like the others. I tore it open and quickly read the note inside just as Cowboy called out from the bathroom, “Hey, darlin’, where are your towels?”

My body stiffened. I’d been so preoccupied by the stupid note that I hadn’t noticed he’d turned the water off. “They’re…um, in the cabinet next to the shower.” I hurried to stuff the paper back inside its holder and looked for a convenient place to hide it. “On the top shelf.”

I shoved the envelope down the back of the couch in between the cushions and had just pulled my hand free when Cowboy stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a white towel tucked around his waist. Droplets of water dotted his skin and dripped from his short hair.

“I found them before I even finished the question,” he said, grinning.

Skittishly, I turned toward the kitchen, keeping my back to him as I placed the rest of the mail on the counter in front of me. “I…uh, okay.”

A beat went by before he said anything. “Something wrong?”

I shook my head. “No, nothing.” I closed my eyes as I felt his presence behind me. “You just caught me off guard.” I felt his arm brush against mine, but it didn’t close around me like I thought it would.

“Then what’s this?” My eyes shot open and I saw him holding the note up in front of my face. Fear raced through me at the thought of him confronting the Barlows. Panicking, I made a quick grab for it, but he jerked his arm back. I spun around to face him as he turned the envelope over in his hand. “Who sent you this? There’s no address or anything, only your name.”

“Just leave it alone, okay?”

“Anna.”

I swallowed hard at the stern tone of his voice. “It’s nothing, really. I’ve just been finding some notes in my mailbox on occasion. I guess the Barlow boys are leaving them.”

Cowboy didn’t hesitate. He opened the envelope and pulled out the small piece of paper inside. Even upside down, I could read the horrible scribble. Burn, baby, burn! After a brief pause, his eyes lit up with anger. “Fuck me. Why didn’t you tell me you were receiving threats from them?”

“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing.”