Cocky in a Cowboy Hat (Crossroads Book 3)

by Em Petrova

  When he slanted a glance at her, she saw that pain tumble behind his eyes once again.

  This wasn’t the place to turn to him, grab him and declare how sorry she was for what she said. So they slowly moved forward until they came to the order window instead of going inside.

  “Hi, Aidan.” The woman at the window had nothing but smiles for him.

  “Hi, Shauna. Havin’ a good week?” He always had a way of making conversation, while Liberty let her inner awkwardness take over.

  “Yes, I sure am. I can’t complain about the good weather,” Shauna said.

  “Same here. Great for working outside.” He looked to Liberty. “You order first.”

  Liberty offered the woman a small smile. “I’ll take a mint chocolate chip.”

  “Gotcha, honey. And you, Aidan?”

  “Dutch chocolate for me today.”

  “You usually go for the sundae.”

  He smiled in answer and paid for their cones, which they collected at the next window a minute later. Then they sat in the sun at a picnic table.

  Liberty didn’t immediately lick hers. She threw a pointed look toward his pocket. “Well? Are you going to tell me what’s in the envelope?”

  “After you eat your cone. You can’t open an envelope and hold a cone at the same time.”

  With no choice but to set to work on her green mint confection, she realized that sharing a moment like this with Aidan always relaxed her, which led to her thought about what a bundle of nerves she’d been when she arrived in Crossroads. What a year of therapy couldn’t do, Aidan Bellamy had managed in weeks.

  He caught her staring at him. As their gazes locked, a bolt of electricity shot through her. His eyelids dipped lower in that look of ultra-desire she always saw right before he grabbed her and made damn sure she knew how much he wanted her.

  “You bite your ice cream,” she said.

  “You lick yours.” His eyes dropped to her mouth and the point of her tongue working the sweet ice cream off her cone.

  “You’re driving me crazy making me wait, you know,” she said.

  “I could say the same for other reasons.”

  She arched a brow at him.

  Minutes later, he reached his cake cone and bit into it. She hurried to devour the rest of hers in the same space of time so she didn’t waste a minute eating when she could be opening that envelope.

  Holding her gaze, he popped the final bite of cone into his mouth and chewed. She got up and walked to the trash can, dropping the remainder of hers in. Then she plunked across from him and held out her hand.

  Slowly, he extracted the envelope from his pocket. She yanked it from his fingers and whipped open the flap, which had been tucked in and not sealed. While she removed the letter and unfolded it to read, Aidan watched her closely.

  She skimmed over the words in front of her. Liberty Ann Baker Bellamy… Redding Owens…

  She jerked her head up. “Cease and desist?” Her voice projected as a rough whisper.

  He nodded. “That asshole can’t contact you directly, through your lawyer or touch your accounts anymore. Not without breaking this order.” He gestured to the paper she held.

  Rapidly, she blinked. “I never thought of it!”

  “I didn’t either. Of course, neither of us have ever dealt with such a problem before, so no wonder. But my lawyer suggested it straight away, and I agreed it’s best.” Concern lit his eyes. “Is it all right, Liberty? You’re not angry I had the document drawn up without your consent? I know how you feel about your independence, and—”

  She shot up and over the table, scrambling across the surface to leap into his lap. He caught her with a chuckle, and she threw her arms around his neck, holding him tight. “Oh Aidan, it’s the sweetest thing anybody’s ever done for me.”

  “That’s a damn shame,” he drawled.

  She drew away to see his face. “No, it’s true. You have my best interests at heart, and I appreciate it more than I’ve said before. Aidan…” The words of love, unspoken, lay thick on her tongue. She reached up under his hat brim and brushed that lock of hair on his forehead.

  His stare smoldered into her. “Liberty.”

  “Well, look at you two lovebirds. Isn’t that the sweetest thing to see?”

  Both of them turned, still locked in each other’s embrace. Liberty’s eyes widened to see the real estate agent she’d met with in person and with several phone calls leading up to putting in her offer on the Windswept.

  She tipped off Aidan’s lap to her feet, and he stood too. “Nice to see you, Vanessa,” he said to her.

  “I’m so sorry for interrupting.” She beamed from one to the other. “It’s so good to see you happy, Aidan.” Turning to Liberty, she said, “And you’ve managed to snag the most eligible bachelor in town!” She looked up at Aidan with a big old grin plastered to her pink lips. “How lucky to snap up the ranch in that auction!” She dipped her eye in a wink at Aidan.

  He tugged at the side of his hat that was slightly curled from doing it so often, and a red, ruddy infusion of blood traveled up from the collar of his shirt.

  Liberty froze. What was going on? Why was her husband turning red from a simple wink? Maybe because Liberty was standing right here to witness it. Maybe because…it had to do with the statement about the ranch.

  Turning to Vanessa, Liberty offered her a smile so fake it might as well be a hundred percent plastic.

  She stared between the two of them, drawing parallels and then connecting dots. Neither party spoke or acknowledged what Vanessa said about snatching up the auction wink wink.

  Liberty took off across the parking lot at a fast clipping pace. Anger rose up to knot in her throat, swelling larger with every step she took carrying her away from the ice cream joint and her husband.

  She had good instincts, and alarms were blaring in the recesses of her mind.

  She didn’t glance over her shoulder to see if he followed her. She hoped he got trapped talking to Vanessa. Did he think Liberty was stupid? She clearly saw the dirty, dank graffiti on the wall. She’d lay down another hefty bid that Vanessa had given Aidan inside information about the auction.

  Walking faster, she hit the next town block and headed for the square.

  Tires squealed up beside her. She sped on, not even giving Aidan the time of day.

  “Liberty! Get in the truck.”

  She continued on, taking a detour down a side street.

  “Liberty! Goddammit,” she heard him grind out and seconds later, the truck appeared next to her again. Through his rolled down window, he stared at her. “What is the matter with you?”

  “With me?” she huffed, arms swinging faster to propel herself away from him.

  “Yes! Dammit, woman, stop walking!” He parked the truck in the middle of the street, jumped out and grabbed her.

  “Go away!”

  He picked her up and carried her to the passenger door huffing and puffing the entire way. He whipped the door open before dumping her on the seat. She reached for the handle to leap out, but he barred the door from opening with his big body and angry glare.

  “Stay. Put,” he ordered.

  Fury made her fingers tremble, and she dropped her face, biting off a scream.

  He got behind the wheel and sent her an astonished look before driving again. “What in the hell are you doing, Liberty? I thought you were of sound mind when I married you!”

  “Ha! And I didn’t know I was marrying a man who would charm and schmooze a woman into telling him what I bid on the ranch!”

  He stomped the brakes, and they both jerked forward in their seats. Behind them, a horn honked, and the driver sped around.

  Liberty couldn’t hold back any longer. “That woman sold me out for a pair of blue eyes—the same damn blue eyes I fell for too!”

  He blinked at her for a moment. “Do you seriously believe I’d be so slimy as to do such a thing?”

  “I saw that wink!”

  He sho
ok his head as if flabbergasted by her idea. “You do think I’d do that. You’re accusing me of flirting with a woman I’ve never had any interest in so I could get details about your bid and best you, winning the ranch.”

  It all made so much sense. How unbelievable and totally spot on at the same time.

  “She advised me what to bid. Did she advise you as well?” Liberty shot a glare at him.

  “Dammit to hell,” he ground out. “Let’s go ask her if what you say is true.” He whipped the car into a U-turn, nearly careening into a parked car.

  Liberty reached for the door handle, and he gripped her thigh hard. “If you jump out, I will drag you back in, Liberty.” His harsh statement was not a challenge she wanted to take.

  She folded her arms. “Fine.”

  He drove like a madman in the local demolition derby to the ice cream shop, but Vanessa was nowhere to be seen. Which meant he floored the truck as fast as possible to her office.

  “There she is now.” He haphazardly parked the truck and quickly circled to Liberty’s door while calling, “Vanessa! A word please.”

  The woman stopped on the sidewalk while Aidan reached inside the truck and grabbed Liberty by the wrist.

  “Come on. Let’s put an end to this.”

  Reluctantly, and because she liked her wrist attached to her body, she climbed out to face the real estate agent. The woman looked between them, probably seeing two people so engrossed in each other minutes before now prepared to tear each other up.

  Aidan narrowed his eyes on the woman. “Tell us, Vanessa, when you advised me about the property going up for auction, and what you guessed it would go for, did you know what Liberty planned to bid on it?” His cutting tone made the woman step away.

  “Uh…” A heartbeat passed. She dropped her gaze. “Yes, I did,” she said quietly.

  So it was true. Liberty’s instincts that something big had gone down to win Aidan the Windswept were spot on.

  Her stomach hit her boots.

  “Fucking hell,” Aidan ground out. His fingers went lax on her arm as he bowed his head in total defeat.

  Chapter Eleven

  She’d fucking played him and Liberty both. And what for? Why give him a leg up to get the land? Did she believe she’d get a date out of it or some look of favor from him?

  They drove home in utter silence. Liberty’s pose of folded arms suggested to him that talking about it would be a bad idea.

  But once they stopped in front of the garage, neither got out of the truck.

  Still gripping the wheel, he said, “I didn’t know, Liberty. You gotta believe me. I didn’t ask her to do that.”

  For a long moment, she said nothing. He could hardly bear to see the pink in her cheeks that he knew proceeded a fit of tears.

  “I know you didn’t, Aidan, but it doesn’t make it any better knowing that she helped you win the ranch I wanted because she likes you. How is a woman supposed to get ahead in a world where people do things like that?”

  She pushed open the door and slid out. He watched her walk away, her shoulders bowed.

  He dropped his forehead to the steering wheel and took deep breaths, while what he really wanted to do was rip the wheel off the dashboard and hurl it across the field. Dammit, it wasn’t fair. What Vanessa did couldn’t be forgiven, and she should lose her license as a result…but he’d played no role in the deception.

  How to put things right? He didn’t give a damn about the land anymore. What once had been so important for him to gain back in his family could float off the face of the Earth and he couldn’t give a shit less.

  What he cared about was the fact Liberty had fallen for his blue eyes.

  When he went into the house, he expected her to be packing her things, but she wasn’t inside. He looked around the barn and horse enclosure and didn’t see her there either. If he had to make a guess, he’d find her at the Windswept.

  For now, he’d leave her be. Give her the space she deserved and needed to process what had happened. But his own anger wouldn’t fade even though he dealt punishing blows to chop what was left of the wood.

  By nightfall, she still hadn’t returned. He grabbed some food out of necessity and didn’t even taste it while he sat on the couch hoping she’d walk in the front door. After his shower, he paused outside her bedroom door.

  Then he heard it—the sound of crying coming from within.

  Who could blame her for breaking down? The things she’d managed to gain were lost by one admission of a very stupid, intervening woman with an odd agenda.

  Leaning against the doorjamb, he lightly rapped on the door. “Liberty?” he called softly.

  The crying stopped, but she didn’t answer him. After several minutes, he moved away from her door, went to his room and shut himself up.

  * * * * *

  Liberty opened her eyes to blackness. She gazed at nothing for a long moment before realizing what had woken her.

  Aidan was in her bed, curled up behind her in the big spoon position, his muscled arm locked around her waist. His breathing told her he wasn’t asleep—and the fact she knew how he sounded when asleep slashed her even more.

  “Aidan, what are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “You belong with me, baby.” He buried his lips against her throat, and electric fire shot through her, down between her legs. Her mind might still be reeling and pissed off from what she’d learned today, but her body didn’t care—it loved the man who was too alluring for his own damn good.

  As he kissed a path down her neck, her eyes fluttered shut again. He turned her into his arms to face him.

  “Look at me, baby.” His rough tone brushed across her nerve endings.

  She did, only to find his blue eyes so close and filled with sadness that her heart threatened to cave in.

  “You know I’m so sorry, don’t you?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She lifted her fingers to the angled jaw that had been driving her crazy since day one.

  “I didn’t ask her to do that. I didn’t set myself up to win. I swear on my Daddy’s grave, Liberty.”

  Her throat clogged at the heat of his words and the hope ringing longer after he spoke them.

  She rasped her fingertips over his stubbled jaw. “I know.”

  “Christ.” He tipped forward to press his forehead against hers. All of a sudden, he shifted and kissed her, claiming her lips in an all-consuming kiss that set them both on fire in a blink. Need clawed at Liberty’s insides, and she reached for the hem of her oversized shirt to strip it away in order to get closer to his naked heat.

  He helped her, biting her throat, shoulder, nipples and the flat of her belly before he plunged two fingers into her pussy and began to fuck her while kissing her with all he had.

  Juices flooded his fingers, and she rocked hard into his touch, needing the violence of more and harder and wanting things to return to the way they were between them. Desperation mingled with her cries of bliss as he drew a shattering orgasm from her.

  She clamped down on him, and he issued a growl.

  She flipped on top of him, shoved his boxers down to his hips and sank over his cock. His hiss of satisfaction crossed her breasts, and he bit into her nipple, gently tugging while she rode him, fast and furious.

  His swollen head sank between her folds and she withdrew on it. Issuing a cry, she locked her thighs around his hips.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he grated out.

  She leaned in and claimed his mouth, taking control of the moment and satisfying herself with more than pleasure. This wild act felt like a reckoning—a deep conviction she loved Aidan with all her heart and she didn’t care what happened in the past, because they were barreling into the future.

  She flattened her palms on his chest and drew upward on his ridged, thick, pulsating…bare cock.

  “We don’t have a condom,” she whispered.

  “Damn. I’ll pull out.”

  “That’s not very effective. We’ll h
ave to figure out better birth control if we’re gonna keep this up.”

  His gaze scorched through her. “Are we gonna keep this up?”

  “Shut up, Bellamy, and make me come.”

  “Make you come? I’ll make you scream, baby.”

  He bit into her lower lip while simultaneously flipping her flat on her back. The mattress sagged around her when he braced both arms on either side of her body and eased his cock inside her.

  A sharp cry escaped her, and she rocked upward with each downward thrust he made. Their bodies ground together, their lips molded into an endless kiss.

  Moonlight washed over his carved body, and she stroked the blue-gray planes of light with long sweeps of her touch.

  He angled his body, pounding into her with everything she needed. She drew her legs up. He twisted his tongue against hers, and the slick heat of him gliding through her inner walls sent her climbing…shaking at the top.

  She tumbled down, safe in his arms, her body clenching and releasing as she expelled the scream he promised her. His rough groan accompanied the shocking sensation of his hot cum hitting her stomach.

  Peace stole over her as she curled into his arms. Tonight she learned that no matter what happened between them, or how angry either of them got, they still had a life raft of emotion to cling to.

  * * * * *

  Climbing out of bed before midnight, dressing and getting in his truck sucked. But leaving Liberty asleep, naked and still bearing pink marks from his love bites just about killed him.

  Aidan must be crazy to do this, but he couldn’t wait. He had to act now, strike fast, so he could prove how serious he was about the situation.

  Learning the real estate agent had caused all this made him want to make a detour to her house and beat on her door instead, but what was done was done. He couldn’t go back in time and change the numbers on that bid.

  He crossed the bridge leading out of Crossroads, his headlights cutting through the darkness. He’d rather be curled up with his arms around his wife but this was more important for her.

  For them.