Gypsy Road - Leather And Lace Part 10

And by Randy, her legal guardian and the person she least wanted to disappoint.

Rod sat up too, slower, as she scrambled out of bed and tried to find something appropriate to put on. "What's up? You're twenty-four-years-old. He can't ground you, sweetness."

Her relations.h.i.+p with her brother was something she couldn't and didn't have time to explain to him. He lived with his sister too, but she was sure he wasn't the protector Randy was. This wasn't a scene he'd ever walked in on before. As for expectations. . . More likely Randy would expect a purple dragon to be cavorting in their bathroom than this.

Her robe was in her suitcase out by the door, and she couldn't go out in just her nightgown. With her panties on, she pulled open the closet, knowing Rod watched her, thinking she was strange. But Randy's footsteps neared, and then he called for her again.

"I'll be right there," she managed in a voice that undeniably gave her away.

"Everything OK?" he asked through the door.

Bethany pulled a comfortable dress over her head, meeting Rod's gaze when she came out. "I'm fine. Be right out."

Gosh, this was bad. Rod sat on her bed, naked as the day he was born, seemingly not in the least uncomfortable.

She was too upset to be uncomfortable with her own nudity, but it didn't stop her from catching her breath at his perfection. His body (despite how shocked she'd been at seeing a certain part for the first time ever) was worthy of being flaunted. Every part of him was golden, muscled, and something she wanted to touch. Even with Randy in the apartment.

He turned to listen to her brother's heavy, retreating footsteps. "6'4, 250 pounds?"

His joke took her by surprise, and she stared at him in confusion. How could he joke at a time like this?

"You want me to hide? Or can we just be up-front about it? I'm not a master of subterfuge, even with giants who wanna have me castrated."

This was no time to make a major decision, or a split-second one. She'd be humiliated beyond measure if Randy found out this way, after she and Rod had just made love for the first time. Her brother would know she'd given her virginity to a man whose reputation was notorious. Since she'd met Rod, Randy hadn't been silent about the disapproval, though he'd never be cruel to anyone.

"I have to go out," she said, embarra.s.sed at her sudden inability to look at him or to answer his question. The situation was too new and awkward for her to know how to handle it.

She left the room before he could respond, closing the door firmly behind her. Cowardly she knew, but her only plan was to smuggle Rod out when Randy went to bed.

He stood at one of the living room windows. Glancing around, he saw her, then turned and looked at her again--closely.

Bethany lifted her hand to her hair. Hiding something was wrong now would be impossible. Her employees referred to her fondly as Miss Every Hair in Place, and it was the truth. Even in her own home, she kept her appearance tidy. Randy knew that best.

"I didn't know you would be back tonight," she said pitifully, as she accepted his hug.

"I left a message on the machine Monday night. When did you get in?"

He stepped back to see her. It couldn't be true, but she felt that her status as ex-virgin was written all over her face for everyone to read.

"A few hours ago," she told him, lowering her gaze. Her emotions were so high, she was afraid she'd burst into tears right here and now.

"So how'd it go in Madison?"

Hearing the click of her bedroom door opening, Bethany shook her head, unable to speak.

The cat was out of the bag. If she wanted Randy to believe she was truly in love with Rod, she'd have to be strong and unashamed. She was going to have to take charge of her life.

CHAPTER SIX.

Rod got up and got dressed, figuring that if he was in Bethany's brother's place he'd at least respect courage in the guy he'd have to kill.

Bethany didn't want a confrontation, but sooner or later there'd have to be one if her brother disliked him as much as she implied. There'd have to be one because he wasn't going away. Her brother would just have to accept that when he saw how much they loved each other.

It wasn't as if they'd done anything wrong anyway. They were both adults, of legal age, and Randy was her brother, not her father.

Bethany was a grown woman, who'd given her virginity to him, told him she loved him, and made love with him in a way he couldn't get over. All his life women had seduced him, before s.e.x, during s.e.x, after s.e.x. Not one, not even one, had laid back and done nothing except love it. G.o.d, Bethany made him feel like .

. .like he made the world go around for her.

And she loved him. Said the words to him and everything. Truthfully, he'd expected nothing less from this woman. When she gave her body, it came with her heart or it wasn't for sale.

She was the perfect woman for him. The only woman forever on.

The only bad thing about confronting her brother now, other than what Bethany's reaction might be, was that it meant he'd have to go home. Bethany would be too uncomfortable to sleep with him if her brother was here.

No way he'd get any sleep, no matter where he stayed. Not after what had just happened.

Making love to her tonight had actually happened without any premeditation.

After hurting her the way he had, he'd been afraid to ever touch her again. But then she'd told him she loved him and seemed to think he was offended by everything he'd ever wanted. And, baby, he'd wanted her past fear.

Loving Bethany was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. It was color and music and suddenly having his whole life come into perspective for the first time. It was more than bodies or satisfaction. It was peace.

After pulling his boots on, he grabbed his leather jacket from the floor and kicked his confidence into high gear. Honest and to the point, he wouldn't do anything to provoke a guy more than four inches taller than he was with eighty plus pounds on him. He was in good shape, but his brain ruled his body this time, thank G.o.d.

He opened the bedroom door, pulling on his jacket as he walked down the hall toward the voices. Bethany didn't turn around to face him, but Randy sure perked up. When she said her brother was big, she'd been understating things.

This guy would make Hercules look like a geek. G.o.d help Rod if he was the violent type.

The look of disbelief on Randy's face suggested he make a break for it before the human road block prevented him.

Bethany turned to him, her gaze full of the embarra.s.sment she felt. But then she did something that threw both of the men for a loop--she introduced them as if the situation was no more awkward than running into a friend on the street.

Rod couldn't help himself. If his baby could go against her very nature to show her brother she wasn't ashamed of them, he could at least match her. He went right up to her and hugged her from the back, saying, "Hey" to Randy as if he had nothing to lose.

Her brother lost the ability to look at Rod after that. He was obviously furious, though his words came out carefully controlled. "What's going on here, Bethie?"

Certainly he didn't want the stark truth, and Bethany was tactful enough to skirt it. "I told you I was seeing someone, Randy. I just got back from Madison, and Rod came over."

Randy's mouth became two flat, locked lines that were about the only thing holding back of flood of obscenities. "I think you'd better leave now."

Rod wasn't sure how Randy normally looked at his sister, but this disbelief couldn't be it. "On my way," Rod said smoothly, urging Bethany, "Walk me to the door."

She nodded, turning to go with him.

"Rod?" Randy said, his voice soft. "I can find out where you live easily."

That was all. No violence, no heated words. Just the reminder that if Rod hurt his sister, he'd come after him.

A giant who wasn't the confrontational type. Hm.

Rod put his arm around Bethany, and they walked out of the living room to the front door. Bethany looked a little wounded, a little relieved when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"I wish I didn't have to go. I was looking forward to spending the night in your bed," he murmured for her ears only.

Even with her brother a few feet away, he could see her corresponding pa.s.sion. She wanted him to stay, wanted to make love again as much as he did.

"We're so right together, sweetness, I don't think I'll ever get a full night's sleep again."

Before she could glance back to see if her brother was watching them, he took her mouth one last time, getting what he could to satisfy him for the endless hours he'd to be without her.

Rod left the apartment in the kind of solemn silence that would make a monk uncomfortable. Leaning back against the wall facing the front door, Bethany glanced around the corner to see her brother sitting on the couch with his hands over his mouth, as if he'd witnessed some horror.

The last thing in the world she wanted to do was face him again, to explain things. How could she tell him that, though she'd been sure enough to give herself body and soul to Rod, she wasn't sure she'd ever see him again? He'd left without giving her any a.s.surances about anything except that he'd enjoyed their intimacy as much as she had. He'd left without so much as a "See you tomorrow", "I'll call you", or most importantly, "I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you."

If she admitted she wasn't even sure where things stood between her and Rod, Randy would be disappointed in that way that was worse than verbal disparagement. As he had after she'd admitted her involvement with Scott Reeves, Randy would frown silently and unintentionally leave her feeling scorned.

"Does he love you?" he asked from the lowest note of his vocal chords when she came into the living room and sat across from him.

Bethany hadn't expected that question, a question she couldn't answer, and her courage fled her. Mutely, she lowered her gaze to her dress and arranged it properly over her crossed thighs.

Randy's heavy sigh couldn't even make her look up. "Are you sure this is what you want, honey? Are you sure he can give you everything you're looking for?"

There was no question that Rod could. If he would was another story.

"I know all the rumors, but he's not what everyone says. He's. . .he's like a little boy." What a contradictory thing to claim, she thought, after what had happened in her bedroom. Yet it was true. "He's sweet and gentle, and he treats me like I'm special to him."

She cast a furtive glance in her brother's direction to confirm he'd known she'd say that. Randy had to believe she'd never give herself to a man she didn't believe in.

Randy pushed his fingers through his hair, rubbing the back of his neck the way he always did when frustrated. "You're a grown woman, Bethie, but I've sheltered you. This world is full of wolves disguised as sheep."

"If you knew him the way I do, you couldn't think of him that way."

"I don't know him, and I'm not saying he is a wolf. I'm just telling you to be careful. Don't rush into anything blindly."

Embarra.s.sed, because he might be implying she had rushed into something blindly, she said softly, "I haven't. I love him, and I'm not a fool."

"I know you're not, honey. You're just naive."

She knew Randy believed in her innocence despite the recent loss of her virginity. "I don't wanna see you get hurt, that's all. I don't know him well enough to judge his intentions."

When he held out his hand, Bethany got up instantly and went to him.

Putting his ma.s.sive, familiar arms around her, he made her feel loved. "You know I hope things work out exactly the way you want them to. You deserve the best."

She went to her bedroom a few minutes later, taking her luggage in with her this time. Because she knew she'd never be able to sleep, she began unpacking.

Every time she looked back at her bed, she felt the heat of embarra.s.sment and wanting course through her.

She changed into nightclothes and was about to get in bed when the phone rang. She raced into the living room to answer the phone, afraid it would wake Randy. . .or be anyone except Rod.

"h.e.l.lo?" she whispered into the receiver, having caught it during the second ring.

"Hi. Did I wake you up?"

Rod's voice had become a catalyst in her blood. She could hardly hear her answer over her own heartbeat.

"I wish you could've come home with me, sweetness. We shouldn't be apart now."

The rush of pleasure was almost too much to bear, because they couldn't be together.

"You know, I was thinking we should go away together for a couple days.

Rent a cabin or something and hide away from the world. What do you think?"

She thought it sounded like paradise. Anything that meant the two of them alone and secluded meant paradise. "But my salon. . ."

"You left for over half a week already. What's another day gonna hurt?"

Without needing to check it, Bethany knew her schedule would be light tomorrow. It always was, which made them rely on walk-ins more than was advisable.

"Just think, three days of just the two of us, doing anything we wanna do."

How could she refuse him anything, especially something she wanted as much as he did? For a minute, she wondered what other people would think of her going off with a man she'd only known a handful of days. Randy, her employees, the church. Then she thought it was no one else's business. The only one she'd tell was Randy.

"When do we leave?"

"Really? You'll come with me?" Rod sounded like a giddy child, exactly how she felt. "Let's leave tomorrow morning or afternoon. I can get us something somewhere."

Where didn't matter to her. Anywhere at all was fine.

"So you never told me what happened in Madison. Did you get what you wanted?"

As part of the reason she'd been so miserable earlier, she wanted to tell someone. It made her happy Rod asked, as only Randy ever had before. "No. The investor wants to turn my salon into a chain. I wouldn't even get to choose which hair care products to use or sell."

"Oh. So, what'd you do? Tell him to take a long walk off a short pier?"

That was exactly what Bethany had wanted to do, and she giggled. She'd listened to the investor tell her how lucky she was to have him interested, and what a fool she'd be if she pa.s.sed up on his offer. Without his money, she would be working at Cheap Cuts within a month, with the shape her finances were in now.