Texas Moon

Damn, he thought, he’d decided to jump right in and tell Nancy about his psychic powers and the visions he’d seen. As uncomfortable as he was with his so-called gift, he’d felt there was no other way to handle this besides just blurting it out.

But he suddenly didn’t like that plan. He was standing in front of a very beautiful woman, and he had no intention of watching her narrow her eyes, take a step back, and mentally label him as strange.

He did not, however, want to lie to Nancy Shatner, either. This was going to have to be handled very carefully, with expertise, finesse.

“Hello?” Nancy prompted. “Your five minutes is ticking away very rapidly, Mr. Bishop.”

“Tux.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, here goes. I know this guy who has psychic powers. We’re very good friends, even if he is a step off from normal because he has visions, you know what I mean?”

“And?”

“Well, I humor him, because he’s my buddy. Friends do that for friends.” He was not lying to Nancy. He’d read magazine articles that said a person should be their own best friend. “Besides, my...friend’s visions are usually right on the mark when he has them. Anyway, he had some visions about...about you.”

Nancy blinked, opened her mouth, closed it, then tried again.

“What?” she said, more in the form of a squeak.

“It’s true. He saw you, and you were wearing a bright blue shawl.”

“But I don’t own a blue shawl.”

Tux ran one hand over the back of his neck. “So you said, and that muddies the waters even more. Damn, this doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s crazy, that’s what it is,” Nancy said. “Who is this friend of yours? Why didn’t he come here himself? I don’t know very many people in Houston. Why would he know me?”

“You don’t have to know a person to have psychic images about them. My friend is sensitive about his powers, and doesn’t like to discuss them, so that’s why he sent me. The thing is, he doesn’t have the ability to see into the future. He can only glimpse what is taking place at the moment, or very, very recently. That’s why I said this really doesn’t make sense.”

“Is he certain he saw me?” she asked, leaning slightly toward him. “Absolutely positive?”

He nodded. “Yes. He saw the Buttons and Beads sign that’s on the front of your store. That’s how I was able to find you this morning.”

“Dear heaven, this is creepy,” she said, wrapping her hands around her elbows.

No joke, Tux thought dryly. Nancy was having the usual reaction to an announcement like the one he was making. It was creepy. He was creepy. He was glad he hadn’t told her that he was the one with the psychic powers.

“Well,” Nancy said, “what was I doing? You know, what was taking place in the visions?”

Oh, hell, Tux thought, he didn’t want to scare her to death. What should he say? It wasn’t as though he had any experience in predicting the future. How did he even know there was any validity to what he’d seen? This whole situation was confusing and very disturbing.

“Mr. Bishop?” Nancy persisted. “Tux?”

“What?” he said, snapping back to attention. “Oh, the visions that you were in. Well, it was a mishmash of things, you understand.

“The buttons and beads were swirling around as though they were being whipped by a wind, then they settled into columns, rows, which I assume were those bins you have there.

“The painted sign saying Buttons and Beads came into view, then disappeared. My friend doesn’t see images like a movie, all neat and tidy and organized.”

Nancy nodded. “I’ve got it. So? What was I doing in the mishmash?”

Tux began to search his mind frantically for what he should say. For all he knew, the visions had meant nothing because he really didn’t possess the power to see into the future.

On the other hand, if by chance this once...and it better not happen again...he actually had glimpsed a scene of something that had not yet taken place, but was going to happen; Nancy deserved to be warned of the danger that she might be facing.

Then again, she didn’t even own a bright blue shawl.

He was going nuts arguing with himself. He was chasing his own thoughts around in his head like a hamster in one of those endless wheels that went nowhere.

Tux cleared his throat. “Yes, well, you want to know the part you played in what my friend saw. That’s certainly a reasonable request. I—”

He was interrupted by the tinkling of the bell over the door as a short, plump woman in her sixties bustled in, carrying a grocery sack. Breathing a mental sigh of relief at the reprieve, Tux stepped back out of the way.

“Hello, darling,” the woman greeted Nancy. “How are you this lovely summer morning?” She glanced at Tux. “Oh, you have company. Go right ahead with what you were doing. I’ll wait.”

“We’re just chatting,” Nancy replied. “Glenna Cushman, this is Tux Bishop. Tux, Glenna owns the used clothes store down the block.”

Tux smiled. “It’s a pleasure, ma’am. I saw your shop. The Second Time Around is a clever name.”

“I know,” Glenna said, laughing merrily. “I was so tickled with myself when I thought of it.” She slid her gaze over Tux from head to toe, then back again. “Hmmm, aren’t you a dandy hunk of stuff? Yummy.” She looked at Nancy. “Nancy Shatner, please say you noticed that this is one very sexy man.”

Tux laughed.

Nancy blushed a pretty pink and rolled her eyes heavenward.

“Glenna, please,” Nancy said, with a moan. “Hush. All right?”

“Well, facts are facts, dear,” Glenna persisted. “The man definitely does wonderful things for a pair of jeans. Beads and buttons simply won’t keep a woman warm on a snowy winter night.”

“Glenna,” Nancy said, leaning slightly toward her, “this is Houston, Texas. We don’t have snowy winter nights.”

“Figure of speech. You know what I mean,” Glenna said. “You’re young and beautiful. You need a man in your life. Tux, don’t you think Nancy is beautiful?”

“Glenna,” he said, his voice very low and rumbly as he looked directly at Nancy, “I think Nancy is extremely beautiful. She reminds me of a gypsy. Oh, yes, she is definitely beautiful.” And now he knew she was unattached, was not involved in a relationship with a man. Thank you, Glenna Cushman.

Dear heaven, Nancy thought, unable to tear her gaze from Tux’s mesmerizing blue eyes. She could hardly breathe and her heart was beating like a drum.

Tux’s voice had dropped an octave, and she felt as though it were caressing her like dark velvet, creating thrumming heat as it swept over and throughout her. Tux Bishop was having a very unsettling and unwelcomed effect on her, drat him.

“I must dash back to the store,” Glenna announced, breaking the strange sensuous spell that had weaved around Tux and Nancy. “I just took some things that came in late yesterday out of the washer and dryer. Per usual, my darling girl, you get first pick. I thought this was perfect for you.”

Glenna reached into the sack and whipped out a garment that she flipped onto the top of the bins in a splash of color.

It was a bright blue shawl.

Two

Nancy stared at the blue shawl as she agreed absently with Glenna that it was lovely. The older woman reminded Nancy once again how handsome Tux was, then hurried out the door to return to her own store.

“Tux?” Nancy said. She tore her eyes from the shawl to look at him. “You told me your friend couldn’t see into the future.”

“He can’t.” He frowned as he met her troubled gaze.

“But he did. He saw me wearing the shawl before it belonged to me, and now here it is.”

“Yeah, here it is.” He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Why would he suddenly glimpse something from the future? I can’t accept this.”

“Oh, really?” Nancy returned, her voice rising. “Pitching a fit isn’t going to change the fact that I now own a bright blue shawl. You keep dancing around the subject of what was happening to me in those visions. I want you to tell me.”

Once again the tinkling bell over the door announced the entrance of someone into the store, and once again Tux sighed inwardly with relief.

An attractive, middle-aged woman, who was smartly dressed in an obviously expensive sundress with a matching wide-brimmed hat, went to the row of bins.

“Good morning,” the woman said, smiling at Nancy. “I need some beads for a blouse I’m having made. It has a Western style, and I thought it would be nice if beads were added to the fringe. A friend told me about your store, so I drove all the way over here to select the beads myself.”

“I appreciate your making the trip,” Nancy replied pleasantly. “Now then, what color is the blouse and what kind of material is it being made from?”

Tux tuned out the discussion between the two women. He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and wandered around the narrow area making up the front portion of the store.

There was a lot of inventory in a small space, he mused. Nancy Shatner had used every inch of room to advantage. The sun pouring in the gleaming front window cascaded over the bins of buttons and beads, creating an extremely appealing kaleidoscope of color.

There were more beads than buttons, he noticed. The beads were a variety of every shape, size, color and material imaginable. There were even leather beads, as well as some that looked like delicate crystal.

Tux stopped in front of the two bins holding the buttons. He picked up a square button that appeared to be hand-painted china, then carefully replaced it. The next one he scrutinized was a replica of a buffalo nickel, the one after that a tiny wooden log.

Fascinating, he thought, and very clever. It would be interesting to know how Nancy had come to the decision to operate such an unusual business. It would, in fact, be interesting to know more about Nancy Shatner herself, the woman.

Tux went to the front window and stared at the shabby, empty building he’d leaned against across the street.

Surely Nancy didn’t live above Buttons and Beads, he thought. This was definitely not a neighborhood for a woman alone to take up residency. Not even close. It wasn’t that great a location to operate a business, but low rent had no doubt enticed Nancy to set up shop here.

Her reputation for having quality merchandise was obviously spreading, as evidenced by the arrival of Mrs. Megabucks from across town. He had to give Nancy credit for what she’d accomplished, that was for sure.

“There you are,” Nancy said, handing the woman a white bag. “Thank you so much. Your blouse is going to be beautiful. I tucked one of my catalogs into that bag so you can browse at your leisure, and I’ll put your name on my mailing list so you’ll be notified of special sales in the future.”

“Marvelous,” the woman said. “I’ll certainly tell all my friends about Buttons and Beads. Some won’t come into this section of town, so I’ll share the catalog, too. Goodbye for now.”

“Goodbye,” Nancy said, “and thank you again.”

The woman left the store, and Tux turned from the window to look at Nancy.

“You seem to have everything covered from A to Z,” he said. “I’m impressed, ma’am.”

“Thank you, sir.” She smiled as she dipped her head slightly. “What kind of work do you do?”

“I’m a private investigator,” Tux said, walking slowly back toward the bins.

“Really? I’ve never met a detective before. Were you a police officer?”

“No, I worked for the government until about a year or so ago.”

“Ah, I see. Then you were, no doubt, a secret agent of some kind.”

Tux frowned. “I didn’t say that.”

“It’s obvious. You worked for the government. If you’d been a mailman, or internal revenue clerk, or social security expert, you would have said so. Besides, secret agents who get tired of dashing all over the world are perfectly trained to become private investigators.” She shrugged. “That’s how it goes in the movies, and it makes sense to me.”

Tux chuckled. “You’re really something. You’re also right. I don’t announce that I was a government agent. People either start asking me questions about what they believe must have been an exciting life, or I make them nervous and they close up.” He paused. “Do I make you nervous, Nancy?” He looked directly into her dark eyes.

“No,” she said quietly.

Oh, Tux definitely had an unsettling effect on her, she admitted silently, but it had nothing to do with his former or present occupations. It was Tux Bishop, the man, who was throwing her off-kilter, causing funny flutters of heat to whisper throughout her. He was just so incredibly, blatantly male.

She lifted her chin a tad. “I believe that everyone should try to know who they are and discover what they want. Then they should move forward and go after their goal, their dreams and...”

Nancy’s voice trailed off and she averted her eyes from Tux’s.

“Whatever,” she finished saying after a moment. “I didn’t mean to get on a soapbox about it. Just erase all that. You didn’t ask for a sermonette.”

Tux looked at Nancy intently, suddenly wishing his powers... which were usually annoying...included the ability to peer into a person’s mind. To be more precise, into Nancy Shatner’s mind.

Who had tried to keep her from going after her goals, her dreams? he wondered. Her voice had rung with determination, conviction...and, yes, passion.

“If I’m nervous about anything,” Nancy said, “it’s your apparent reluctance to reveal to me what I was doing in the visions your friend had and what was happening to me. Is there some reason you don’t want to tell me what he saw?”

“Of course I’ll tell you, Nancy,” Tux said, “but I want to be certain you understand that this whole thing could be a false alarm.”

“Fine. Now explain my role in the scenario that your friend saw.”

“Yeah, well.” Tux began slowly. “I realize I’ve been postponing telling you, but I didn’t want to scare you. Nancy, my friend sensed danger during all three visions. When he could finally see you clearly, you had on the shawl, you were crying and holding out your arms as though pleading for help. He sensed you were frightened.”

“Oh, dear,” she whispered. She pressed trembling fingertips to her lips.

“I’m sorry,” Tux said miserably.

On impulse he strode past the end of the bins to where Nancy stood behind them, and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m sorry I frightened you,” he repeated. “I feel so rotten about this, especially because I can’t explain why or how it happened. If I...we, my friend and I...could figure it out, it might help to ease your fears.”

Nancy encircled Tux’s waist with her arms and rested her head on the solid wall of his chest.

Oh, he felt so good, she thought. He was strong and powerful. Yes, she was determined to be independent, to take care of herself, answer to no one but herself, but, oh, God, this whole bizarre business was suddenly frightening.

Nancy sighed. It was a shuddering sigh and Tux tightened his hold on her, inhaling her delicate aroma of flowers. He hardly remembered moving to comfort her, his protective instincts having risen to the fore, but now he was very aware that she felt like heaven itself pressed close to his body.

He could feel her breasts, lush and full, against his chest. He could feel how delicate she was, like fine china. He could feel the tenseness caused by her fright slowly ebbing.

But then there was an even greater shift, change, as senses heightened, as the man totally reacted to the woman, the woman to the man. Heat began to build and chum in a body soft, a body hard. Heartbeats quickened.

The blue shawl, the threatening visions, the endless questions, were all forgotten.

Nancy lifted her head to meet Tux’s gaze, seeing the smoky hue of desire in his eyes, not caring if her own eyes revealed the same.

Tux covered her mouth with his, parting her lips, meeting her tongue. It was an explosion of sensation that rocketed through them like the licking flames of a roaring fire.

Hot.

Burning.

He deepened the kiss and passions soared.

Tux raised his head slightly to draw a rough breath, then slanted his mouth the other way as he claimed Nancy’s lips again, drinking of her taste like a thirsty man having found sweet nectar.

Oh, Tux, Nancy’s mind hummed. It was ecstasy. The feel, the aroma, the taste of this man was exquisite. Never, never before had she experienced such an incredible awareness of her own femininity compared to the blatant masculinity of a man, this man, Tux.

She was on fire, burning with the want of him. Her breasts ached with a tantalizing pain, yearning for the soothing touch of Tux’s hands. Deep and low within her, the heat pulsed, matching the rapid tempo of her heart.

She was being swept away on passion’s tide, and she gloried in it...

What on earth was she doing?

Nancy broke the kiss and moved her hands to press them flat on Tux’s chest, pushing him away, forcing him to release her. She took a quick step backward and willed her racing heart to still.

Tux frowned, shook his head once sharply, then took a raspy breath.

“Nancy?” he said, hearing the gritty quality of his voice.

“I...” She wrapped her hands around her elbows. “That shouldn’t have happened. I don’t do things like that. I don’t leap into the arms of a man I don’t even know. You must think I’m...” She lifted her chin. “Well, I’m not. Understand? I was upset, momentarily frightened by what you’ve been saying ever since you came in here.”

Tux nodded. “Oh.”

“Oh? Oh! That’s all you have to say?” she said, none too quietly.

“What do you want me to say?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she admitted shaking her head. “I’m totally mortified. I don’t wish to discuss what happened any further.”

“But I just thought of something I want to say.”

She glared at him. “Spare me.”

“Hang in there,” he said, smiling. “This won’t take long.” His smile faded and his expression became serious. “I just wanted to say that kissing you was sensational. You sent me up in flames, Nancy Shatner. I’m very attracted to you. You’re a beautiful, intelligent, passionate woman.”

“I am?” She blinked. “I am not! What I mean is, I...” She threw up her hands. “I don’t know what I mean. Okay, fine, you’ve had your say. The subject is closed.”

“For now.”

“Forever!”

“No way, but we won’t argue the point at the moment.” He paused. “Listen, like it or not we’re in a bit of a mess here.” He glanced at the blue shawl where it was still spread across the bins of beads, then looked at Nancy again. “The shawl didn’t disappear while we were kissing.” He stared up at the ceiling, then narrowed his eyes as he directed his attention to the shawl. “Let’s gather some data.”

Nancy flipped one hand breezily in the air. “Why not? Data is nice. Gather your little heart out.”

Tux shot her a dark look, then folded his arms over his chest.

“If I was going to rob this place,” he said, “what would I get, besides a life’s supply of buttons and beads?”

Nancy shrugged. “Nothing. The majority of my business is mail orders paid by check. The cash flow from walk-in customers is minimal. Tux, seriously, there’s nothing here worth stealing.”

“Is there a tenant living upstairs?”

“Yes. Me.”

He dropped his arms to plant his hands on his narrow hips.

“You’re joking. Right? You wouldn’t be dumb enough to live alone in this neighborhood. Right? If you do, I just may have to erase the adjective intelligent from my list describing you. Tell me you don’t live upstairs.”

“You’re pushing me, Mr. Bishop. This is my store.” She pointed to the ceiling. “Up there is my home. That’s not dumb, it’s sound economic reasoning. I’m a flight of stairs away from my store, which is handy, due to the fact that I can’t afford a car. Everything I need is within walking distance of here.”

“Including sleazes who would steal from their own grandmothers,” Tux said. “This is a high-crime district, lady.”

“This is where I live and work, mister. I’ve been here for nearly two years and I’ve never had one bit of trouble. We’re like a family on this block. We look after each other. No one else has been robbed, or whatever, since I’ve been here, either, because businesses in this area aren’t exactly Fortune 500 enterprises.”

“Okay, okay,” Tux conceded, raising both hands in a gesture of peace. “You’ve made your point. Do you own a gun?”

“No.”

“Dandy,” he muttered, shaking his head. “You don’t even have a way to protect yourself. Look, we’re not getting anywhere. I think what I should do is talk to someone who’s up on psychic powers, see if there’s a reasonable explanation for why my friend’s have suddenly gone berserk.”

“That makes sense. Maybe there’s nothing at all to worry about. Maybe Glenna bringing me the blue shawl was just a weird coincidence.” She shivered. “Oh, I hope so, I really do.”

Tux closed the distance between them and drew one thumb gently over her lips. Nancy shivered again, only this time it wasn’t from a sudden rush of fear. The feel of Tux’s callused thumb on the soft flesh of her lips had been a simple, quick gesture, yet it had instantaneously fanned the still glowing embers of desire within her into hot, leaping flames.

Tux’s friend had sensed she was in danger when he saw his visions? she thought. Tux, himself, was a source of danger to her ability to reason, think straight, behave in a manner she was accustomed to. Oh, yes, Tux Bishop was a very dangerous man.

“I’m sorry about all this, Nancy,” he said quietly. “I know I’ve frightened you, but we’ll get to the bottom of it. I’ll find out what I can, then report back to you.

“In the meantime, be very careful. Make certain you check the doors and windows at night, don’t go strolling outside after dark, things like that Do you have a telephone upstairs?”

“Yes, it rings up there and down here at the same time. I’ll give you one of my business cards with the number.” She hurried into the back room and returned to hand him the card, which he slipped into his shirt pocket.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” he said.

Nancy nodded.

Their eyes met. The sensual haze that had encased them during the kisses shared began to weave its invisible threads once again, over and around them.

The incredible awareness, the sensuous pull between them from the moment they’d seen each other was eerie, like nothing either of them had experienced before.

It was exciting, but unsettling.

It was confusing, yet intertwined with a calming rightness.

“No,” Nancy whispered, not realizing she’d spoken aloud.

“What are you doing to me, Nancy Shatner?” Tux said, his voice raspy.

“Nothing.” She took a step backward. “Nothing.”

“You look like a beautiful gypsy. Are you? A gypsy? Do you have powers, too, that you haven’t told me about?”

“No, of course not. Don’t be silly. I’m not a gypsy, I just happen to like to wear this style of clothes sometimes. I get them at Glenna’s store.”

“Then how do you explain whatever this is that keeps... crackling between us, keeps wrapping around us? I can’t find the right words to describe it, but I know you feel it as much as I do. How do you explain that?”

“It’s simply a result of the bizarre scenario we’re suddenly finding ourselves in,” she said. “What am I doing to you? If you’ll recall, Mr. Bishop, you came in here with your story of visions and danger, and a blue shawl. You started this whole... whatever it is.”

A slow smile began to form on Tux’s lips, a very male smile, that caused Nancy to take yet another step away from him.

“Well,” he replied, “I guess you’re right. I started it. The really interesting part will be to see where it all goes. Right, Nancy?”

She lifted her chin. “Goodbye, Tux. I have a great deal of work to do.”

He looked at her for another long moment, then nodded. “I’m off to find an expert on psychic powers. I’ll check with you later. Take care of yourself.”