Falling for Texas. Jill Lynn

brown bob now plastered to her head. She pointed at her husband. “Jack Edward Smith. You are a dead man.”

      From next to Janie’s legs, Tucker clapped his hands and chanted, “Wa-wa, wa-wa.”

      Trish swooped in, claiming Tucker and allowing Janie to run for cover.

      Using the hood for protection, Olivia ducked down. Nobody messed with her friends. She closed one eye and aimed the nozzle, then waited for the right moment. Jack’s grin evaporated when the cold spray reached his stomach. He caught sight of her and she ducked, but not before a line of water shot across the top of her head.

      She wasn’t going down without a fight. Bracing for cold water impact, Olivia stood, aiming for Jack. But when Cash bounded around the hood of the car, she quickly switched her aim to him, hand poised on the trigger.

      He stopped a foot in front of her, his grin making her stomach do crazy things. “The way I see it, Coach Grayson, you can give up now.” Cash glanced around at the chaos, shoulders lifting. “Or I can’t do anything to help you.”

      “You boys really are oversized teenagers, aren’t you?”

      Eyes narrowing under the brim of his white University of Texas baseball hat, Cash lunged for the sprayer at the same time she squeezed. Water bounced off his rust-orange Longhorns T-shirt, spraying everywhere. He switched tactics, wrapping boa constrictor arms around her from behind. Her grip on the sprayer weakened. Though she prided herself on being in shape, she was no match for him.

      “Ready to give up yet?” The proximity of Cash’s voice sent tingles down her neck.

      Olivia risked a glance over her shoulder. Laugh lines rimmed Cash’s eyes, and unlike Sunday, all of his attention was on her. She was enjoying it way too much. Though the phrase Rachel’s brother sounded like a referee’s whistle in her mind, Olivia just shook her head in answer to Cash’s question, letting her legs go out from under her. The self-defense move allowed her to drop down and out of Cash’s hold.

      Janie yelled for Olivia to get out of the way, then threw a bucket of water at Cash. Olivia popped up laughing. Janie only came up to Cash’s chest, so most of the water landed on his previously dry cargo shorts.

      “Jack, get your woman,” Cash yelled to his friend as he resumed the tug-of-war over the hose with Olivia.

      Feeling the sprayer slip once more, Olivia shouted for Janie to run as Cash gained control of the hose. Instead of escaping, her friend lurched onto Cash’s back, not accomplishing much in the way of help but totally getting points for effort.

      Cash let loose, spraying Olivia point-blank. Water ran from her face and neck, soaking her red tank top and athletic shorts. She sputtered, coherent enough to see Jack peel Janie off Cash’s back and throw her over his shoulder.

      Not above using a ploy when the need called for it, Olivia sank to the ground and cradled her foot. She didn’t whine—no need to overdo it. The water stopped and Cash dropped to one knee beside her.

      “Are you okay?”

      Ugh. Did he have to look so irresistible? Water dripped across his cheeks, wet eyelashes accentuating one of his best features. His neck and shoulders tensed, ready for the water that might come at them from any direction.

      It sounded as though a war raged around them, but Olivia didn’t see anything but him.

      His hand paused inches from her face, as if he intended to wipe the water from her cheeks. Her breath stalled in her chest, then came out in a whoosh of disappointment when his hand lowered.

      “Did you hurt your foot?” Cash slid callused hands along her bare skin, her flip-flops doing little to interrupt the current that flowed between them.

      His touch was too much. Olivia lunged forward, tackling Cash while screaming for her team at the same time. Though he could easily throw her over his shoulder like Jack had done to Janie, she managed to catch him off balance. Cash fell back onto the asphalt, taking her down with him.

      With a war cry, her team descended, Rachel in the lead. Though they aimed for Cash, they managed to get Olivia just as bad. By the time the onslaught ceased, Olivia found herself cradled on Cash’s left side, water running into her ears, hair plastered to her head and neck, clothes soaked through again.

      Cash’s hand tightened around her arm, holding her captive as his head dropped to the ground. “Shh.” He whispered against her hair. “If we’re quiet, they won’t know we’re down here. Play dead.”

      Shaking with laughter, Olivia left her head in the crook between Cash’s arm and chest.

      “Well, Coach Grayson.” His casual drawl made her grin. “I think that one backfired on you.”

      She peeked up from his chest, and he returned her smile with one of his own. Olivia hadn’t had that much fun in...she didn’t know how long.

      “I wouldn’t say it was a total loss.” Olivia laughed as Cash ran a hand through his hair and water flew out in every direction. Sometime during the scuffle, he had lost his baseball hat.

      Janie and Jack approached as she and Cash moved to a sitting position. The Smiths sat beside them, and the four of them caught their breath while the students finally called a truce.

      Jack shook the water from his hair like an overgrown puppy. “What are you guys up to tonight? Do you want to come over for dinner?”

      Hadn’t she just talked to herself about this very scenario?

      Cash stiffened beside her and found his soaked cap on the ground behind them. He snapped it on his head, then stood. “Thanks, but I can’t. I’ve got to run.”

      The three of them stood, too, the confusion Olivia felt mirrored on Jack’s and Janie’s faces.

      “But you didn’t get your truck washed.” Olivia squeezed a hand down her ponytail, releasing a barrage of water.

      He dug out his wallet and pressed a somehow still-dry twenty into her damp hand. “For the team.” Then he jogged to his truck and pulled out of line.

      Olivia stared after him, not quite sure what to do with the feelings coursing through her. The hurt from Colorado flashed back, memories of Josh walking away almost suffocating her. She could still see the positive pregnancy test and the two that followed with the same little plus signs. And then...the stress, the shame, the miscarriage.

      Olivia had strayed from God’s waiting-for-marriage plan. She’d walked away from God. And her decisions had ended in heartache and regret.

      Watching Cash drive away—experiencing that tinge of hurt at his quick disappearance—for the first time in her life, Olivia actually felt momentarily thankful for her jaded past and all those regrets. They kept her from letting her heart get involved with a man who didn’t even know it existed.

      Just like the last time.

Chapter Four

      Cash stirred the chili bubbling in the pot, then checked his watch again. The first day of after-school practice had been over for hours and still no sign of Rachel. And of course she hadn’t responded to his call or texts. He sighed, laid the wooden spoon on the holder and headed for the cordless phone. He dialed Trish Nettles’s number, hoping the girls had lost track of time and were holed up in Valerie’s room doing homework.

      Yeah, right.

      “Hello?” Trish sounded hurried. And why wouldn’t she? It was dinnertime. For normal families.

      “Hey, Trish, any chance Rachel’s at your house?”

      “I haven’t seen her since practice.” And now she sounded sympathetic. “I’ll walk down to Val’s room to see if she knows anything.”

      A seed of worry planted itself in Cash’s gut. Trish’s voice mixed with Val’s as a stench filled the kitchen.