You Belong to Me (Stevens Book 6)

Chapter 5

Alice was shocked when a large red pick-up was pulled around to the front of the hotel.

"Is this yours?"

"It's my brother-in-law's. He's letting me use it while I'm in town."

"How do I get in it?" she looked at the monstrous truck in front of her.

"There is a step right below the door and you can use the handle above the door to pull yourself into the cab." Having already climbed into the truck he leaned against the steering wheel, waiting and watching as he gave her the directions.

Alice knew it was going to be a less than graceful maneuver. "Why on earth would anyone need a vehicle this large?" she said as she huffed and puffed her way into the seat. She was so focused on not falling backwards that she missed Rainer's amused look.

"Brian is in construction and he helps my brother on the ranch when he has the time." He looked at her red face. "You doing alright Al?" she watched as he tried to fight back a grin, nodding mutely while she tried to get used to being up so high. "How can people see around you?"

"This is Texas people are used to large trucks."

He turned on the engine and there was a low rumble as the truck started to vibrate and she quickly buckled her seatbelt as he put it in drive.

"I have driven much worse and in tighter situations than this." He assured her as they pulled out of the hotel parking area. She didn't doubt for a minute that he had and she just nodded as he started to navigate the traffic, he was actually a good driver and handled the truck easily. She watched as his large hands used very little effort to turn the wheel.

"It's called power steering Al. It's the latest thing." He said reading her thoughts, "relax and count the cows."

"Cows!"

"Yes, you'll see some shortly, as soon as we get to the outer limits of the city."

She had noticed that he had started calling her Al at breakfast and it had given her a little thrill.  No one had ever given her a nickname before not even Frank, her ex fiancé.

Rainer seemed to be absorbed in his own thoughts and not inclined to make conversation so she was silent and enjoyed watching the scenery as it flew past.

Maybe she had been too abrupt at breakfast but the fact was that she did feel better for having said it. She had always been a direct and honest person but she seemed to have gotten more so since Frank had hurt her. It was the only way she had been able to deal with and continue to deal with the situation he had dealt her.

She had never thought that she was in love with Frank but she did believe that he was everything she had wanted. He was handsome, smart, and funny, plus her parents approved of him because he came from a good family and had a future as a top lawyer.  She had never believed that she was the type to fall hopelessly in love because it wasn't part of her character but despite this Frank had appeared to be devoted to her; that was until he had met her sister. 

Her sister was the type Rainer would go for, tall, blond, with green eyes and porcelain skin, Madeline was everything Alice had dreamed of being. Her parents had always asked her why she couldn't be more like Madeline and she had asked herself the same thing until she had realized, after some painful soul searching, that she was fine as she was.

Unfortunately, Frank had started to feel the same way as her parents had and in the end he had decided Madeline was better than she was as well.

What hurt the most was that he had broken it to her a week after he had wormed his way into her bed. Alice had her suspicions, after the fact, that he and Madeline had been seeing each other before he left her but it had never been confirmed. She had come to the cold hard realization that she had been used. Perhaps if she had she been a little more honest the situation wouldn't have ended up the way it did, with her losing everything, including herself respect. She wished she could say that he hadn't been any good as a lover but she had no other experience to compare him to which made the wound sting even more.