by Jillian Neal
“I need to go.”
You do not like him. He is not sexy and sweet, no matter how fucking good he looks in those Wranglers and boots. You do not want to see what’s bulged behind that belt buckle. Summer drew another deep breath, trying to regain her balance. She almost whimpered out loud when her lungs filled with pine-scented, leather-infused, rosin-laced heat that was all Austin.
Against her own orders, her traitorous eyes stole another glance at his very impressive package, evident behind that belt buckle he wore so well. God, it would feel so good. A lifetime ago, or so it seemed, she would have jumped into his bed and let him show off all of his skills. There was no doubt he had them. Sexual prowess practically oozed from his pores. She would’ve met him at the door to his hotel room wearing nothing but cowgirl boots, a G-string, and a smile, and she would’ve loved every minute of it. She could’ve taught him a thing or two about taming a girl that liked it hot, hard, and wild in bed. A lifetime ago.
That girl had disappeared right along with everything else in her life. She stared out the windows of his fancy truck, trying to formulate a plan. Letting him know she didn’t actually have a hotel room was not an option. His protective nature was more than evident in every motion of his body. She sensed it every time his hand gently eased to the small of her back to guide her into and out of the restaurant, the way he opened the truck door for her, and in the way he shot predatory glares at that guy in the steakhouse that had noticed her when they walked in.
“I’m staying at the Super 8,” she lied with relative ease.
His brow furrowed. “You’re not at the Cody? I thought everyone in for the rodeo was at the Cody.”
“No … they were booked up.”
A thousand questions played in his gorgeous black eyes, but he just nodded. She half-wished he’d demand to know her story. Keeping it all shut up inside her head was slowly killing her. She was dissolving in the lies and constant war she’d created for herself. Maybe she should take him up on his offer to hang out in Cheyenne. It’d make the hours when Brant had J.J. go by faster. She liked talking to Austin. She even liked arguing with him. She wished she could’ve shared more, but that just wasn’t smart. She had to stop thinking with her heart. That only got her into trouble.
He slowly pulled into the parking lot of the Super 8. “Can I walk you in? I swear I’m not trying to get in your bed, Summer. I’m trying to be a gentleman.” He gently squeezed her thigh and stared into her eyes as if that might prove his manners and good breeding.
Yeah, a gentleman cowboy. I didn’t think they even manufactured those anymore. “Thank you for dinner and everything, really, but I’m a big girl. I don’t need anyone lookin’ after me.” Before he could argue, she leapt out of the truck. She felt the heat of his gaze as she quickly made her way inside the hotel lobby. He watched over her until she disappeared from his sight. Ducking down a corridor, she watched him sit in the parking lot staring at the door, contemplating following her, she suspected. Just go, Austin, please. Her heart sped in her panic until his truck turned slowly and drove away. Mentally counting to 195, his overall score for Cody, she knew immediately why that number stuck in her head, she spun and headed back towards the front door. God, she really was an idiot.
“Ma’am, did you need some help?” the woman at the front desk inquired.
“No, thanks. I’m good.” Another lie rolled off her tongue. It chafed at her throat. She was far from good. Heading out into the thick Wyoming summer air, she tried to steady her racing heart. Dodging the yellow glows cast by the streetlights, she headed towards The Cody Hotel. It was over a mile away. Austin would be there and in his room long before she arrived.
Chapter Three
“Austin,” Jackson’s voice stabbed through Austin’s drowning confusion as soon as he appeared inside the Cody Hotel.
“Yeah, man, what’s up?” Truthfully, he couldn’t have cared less. Summer consumed his every thought. What the hell was up with her anyway? He knew she liked him. She’d said that, and that sexy little blush that followed her statement was proof enough. Trained to notice the most minute detail of any situation he was in, since that’s how you stayed alive on an angry bull, he’d caught her checking out his package more than once in the truck. He certainly hadn’t needed any training to notice that her nipples tightened and her breath picked up pace when he’d squeezed her thigh, simply unable to keep his hands off of her any longer.
“Bunnies moved the party from the bar to the pool. Come on. They’re waiting on you.”
Austin shuddered and swallowed back bile. God, no more women throwing themselves at him. No more humid hotel pools that felt like dirty bath water. All he wanted was a cold shower and time to think. Technically, that wasn’t true. All he wanted was Summer Sanchez in his room, in his bed, safe in his arms with her hot breath teasing his chest while he made her forget everything that had ever made her sad. As that wasn’t currently an option, the cold shower scenario was the next best thing.
Before he could bail on Jackson, he spotted Brant Preston through the windows that enclosed the pool. He was sweet talking two of the bunnies who were hanging all over him. Hmm, maybe the pool wasn’t a bad idea. He sure as hell wasn’t getting in and the bunnies could have Brant, right after Austin used him to figure out how he’d gotten Summer Sanchez to be his for however long they’d been married.
An hour later, when Brant proved far too wasted to provide any coherent information, Austin made his escape from the hotel pool. He pried some chick named Sasha off of his forearm and sped towards the elevators.
When the doors opened on the upper floor, he stepped onto the plush carpeting and halted abruptly. What the hell? Rushing his steps, he headed towards Summer, seated on the floor with her head in her hands right outside Brant Preston’s hotel room.
“Summer?” He stood in front of her. She wasn’t escaping until she explained herself. “What the hell are you doing in front of Brant’s suite?”
She lifted those eyes that he swore held the secrets of the whole damn universe and stared at him. The wildfire he’d seen there before was gone. Pain and fear broadcast from every square inch of her beautiful body.
“Talk, darlin’. Because I’m trying to keep my cool, but if I’m about to find out that you just walked way over a mile in the dark from the hotel you had me leave you at with ten-dozen half-drunk assholes out and about in this tourist-trap town looking for something sweet to take a’holt of, I’m gonna have something to say about it. I thought you hated Brant.”
She swallowed, and he edged closer. Rubbing her hands over her eyes, she slumped and then returned her gaze to his. “I do hate Brant. I always did.”
“Then why are you looking to get in his room?”
“I’m not.” She stared up at him, narrowing her eyes defiantly. “I’m in front of Brant’s room … because my little boy is in there.”
If she’d backhanded him, he wouldn’t have been more shocked. “Come again?”
The tremble of her shoulders marked her shuddered breath. “My baby, J.J., is in Brant’s room, and I don’t have a room … anywhere.”
A volatile mixture of anger, protectiveness, and confusion swirled in his gut. “Get up.” He held his hand out to help her off of the floor, but she didn’t accept the help.
“Austin, I don’t need some cowboy superhero to save me, okay?”
“Lucky for you my cape is at the dry cleaners. Now, get up.”
When she didn’t move, he leaned and in one quick motion scooped under her arms and lifted her off of the hotel floor. “I have a suite with two beds. I also suspect that after the hike you decided you needed to take in eighty degree weather you might like a shower. I have one of those in my room, too. When you’re finished with that, we’re gonna talk. You may not need a superhero, Summer, but I’d say you sure as hell could use a friend. I’m taking the job.”
“I can’t …” she started to protest.
“Hush. You can sleep in a bed and take
a shower. I will stay in my own bed. I’m not a douchebag, but I’m not taking no for an answer on this.” With that he swept under her legs and carried her three doors down to his own room.
“You didn’t have to carry me.” She crossed her arms over her chest as soon as he got her inside.
“You’re stubborn, and just in case you’re wondering, you can’t outrun me. Now, do you have bags somewhere? I have a hundred other questions, but we’ll start there.”
Her cheeks pinked with embarrassment, and Austin clenched his fists to keep from dragging her back into his arms and holding her until her confession made sense.
“I have a bag in my truck.”
“Keys.” He held out his hand. Begrudgingly, she dug in the pocket of those painted-on blue jeans that had been driving him wild all damn night and dropped a single key on an old Dodge keychain in his hand.
“Probably won’t take you long to figure out which truck is mine.”
“Good. Now, look at me.”
She rolled her eyes but then landed them on him.
“You will be inside this hotel room when I get back, or so help me, when I find you, and I will, I’ll turn you over my knee. I’m assuming that because your kid is across the hall you’re not gonna skip town on me.”
A huff of disdain lit the air between them. “You don’t have to threaten me, Austin. I don’t have anywhere to go. You could be nice. Thought you were a gentleman.”
All right, so maybe he was being an ass, but every time he thought about her out in Cody in the dark of night after a rodeo with a thousand out-of-town cowboys in to watch the show and have a good time, it scared the shit out of him. God, what if she’d stumbled up on … He shut that thought down before his supper made a rapid reappearance. “I’ll be right back.”
When Austin reached the parking lot he headed right instinctively. “Damn it all to hell, Brant Preston, you are a motherfucking asshole,” he spat in the stagnant air. The Dodge she’d hidden out near the hotel dumpsters should have been what was going in a compactor. If the thing cranked on the first turn, it’d cost God four miracles. He unlocked and then heaved the door open. What kind of shit-sack lets the mother of his kid live without a fucking place to stay and drive this? He located an old tack bag that contained a few pairs of jeans and a dozen tank-tops and t-shirts. Panties and a bra were visible amongst the clothes. His mind spun, but he was too angry to really consider them. An economy-sized bottle of V-05 shampoo and conditioner along with dozens of hotel soaps were shoved in the front pockets where horse brushes were supposed to be stored, along with a small make-up bag.
The only thing in the truck worth owning was a car seat, facing backwards in the front seat. The rusted-out truck was manufactured four decades before the invent of an airbag, so that wasn’t a problem. Several blankets were crammed behind the bench seat. Another round of volatile fury rocketed through his veins as he considered the fact that she must’ve slept in the truck occasionally. He’d find Brant and fire-iron brand him with his personal Camden cattle marks all over his sorry ass. Slamming the truck door, he ordered his temper to remain in control as he stomped back inside the hotel.
The universe was playing hot and fast with him that night, however. Brant crossed his path on the way to one of the bunny’s rooms on the first floor of the hotel. Austin clenched his jaw, but he couldn’t help himself. “Nice of you to bang your whores in their room instead of in front of your kid, ass-wipe.”
Brant spun, but the motion dizzied him. He held onto the wall to remain upright. His confused blinks cost him precious time. “What’d you say?”
“This.” Austin drove his fist hard into Brant’s gut using every ounce of gall-driven fury the night had provided him, coupled with the kind of strength it took to hold onto a bull for 8 seconds. Brant doubled over with a sickly groan then slunk to the floor. Austin chuckled as Brant tried to make out his face. He wouldn’t even remember who’d hit him come morning.
“Go to hell.” Austin disappeared behind the closing elevator doors. When he made it back to his own suite, Summer was standing with the door open, staring at Brant’s room.
After setting her bag on the desk, he spun and studied her. “How old is J.J.?”
Her entire face lit in a beautiful smile. “He’s eleven months. He’s crawling and pulling up. He wants to walk so bad he can’t see straight, but he hadn’t quite figured it out yet.”
Austin couldn’t help but smile when she did. “Who watches J.J. when Brant’s … working?”
Summer all but gagged. “Brant’s mama, who’s a bigger bitch than he is.”
“Okay, I think I’m following along so far, honey, but why’re you so worried about him? Why do you keep watching Brant’s room? Even Preston wouldn’t hurt his own kid.”
“I know he wouldn’t hurt him.” Her smile disappeared. She trembled and squeezed her eyes shut, holding back tears with stubborn resolve. Unable to remain rooted to the carpeting, Austin rushed to her and wrapped her up in the strength of his arms like he’d wanted to do all night long. All of the fight and fury he’d used to take out Brant left him in an instant. He cradled her tenderly to him, let her bury her face in his chest, and swayed.
“Shh, I’ve got you, okay? I’m right here, just tell me.”
“I just …”
“You just?”
“It scares me when he isn’t with me. Brant’s mama is evil, Austin. She’s awful. I don’t know what she might do. I have a bad feeling.”
Nodding, Austin considered. He knew a dozen pricks like Brant Preston. They’d pull a lot of shit to make other people’s lives miserable, but they wouldn’t hurt a kid. As for his mama, she must’ve raised Brant. Other than his parents coddling him up bad enough to turn him into a fucksqueek, he’d survived childhood.
Summer, however, had come up rough, without a daddy and working a farm that wasn’t even hers. She also didn’t even have a place to lay her head at night, so she had to be exhausted. It had to have been getting to her. You can’t go on like that for long. Paranoia was clearly setting in.
“Okay, how does it work? You said when he isn’t with me, so when is he with you?”
Pulling away from him, Summer sank down on one of the queen-sized beds in the room. “We were only married for three months. We divorced when I was pregnant with J.J. because he came home drunk one night and …”
Mother fucker, I should have stomped your balls through your ass and pulled them out your throat when I had the chance. Another round of rage spilled into Austin’s blood stream. “And he what?”
Summer shook her head. Her jaw clenched and the fear haunted her eyes from the memory alone. All of Austin’s guesses as to what Brant might’ve done made him sick.
“Anyway, Brant’s trying to get full-custody of J.J. Right now, I get him a week and then he does. We go back and forth. If I miss a week, it looks bad to the courts. That’s why I have to follow Brant around for all the rodeos. Brant’s lawyer got him out of alimony because I filed for divorce. Child support covers a hotel room every other week but not much else. All of Brant’s money is really his daddy’s, but his mama’s trying to make me run out of money so I can’t pay my lawyer. It’s all her doin’. I’m hoping that after Cheyenne, I can get a job. Find a place for us to live and settle down somewhere. Prove to the courts that I can take care of J.J. and get him away from Brant’s mother.” She shrugged and refused to meet his concerned gaze.
“When’s it your turn with J.J. again?”
“It goes every Sunday night at six. I’ll get him back in Cheyenne, the day before everything starts.” Finally meeting his eyes with her own, she gnawed her lip until Austin was concerned she was going to draw blood. “So, maybe if you wouldn’t mind me sleeping here just for tonight, then I can drive on to Cheyenne tomorrow night. I’m staying with a friend there.”
“Summer.” Austin shook his head. “I’m not asking for anything other than for you to let me help you. I’d pay for you a room to yourself tonight
if there was one available here, but there’s not, and truth be told, I want you to stay with me. I need to know you’re safe. I want to hear more about all of this, and like I told you, you need a friend. Will you please let me help take care of you and the baby? I stand to make full bonus in Cheyenne, and you know I’m walking out of Cody with bank. I’ve been winning all season, and I want to help.”
“What do you want in return? No one’s that nice.” She drew her legs up and hugged them to her chest as if she might’ve been taking up too much room before.
“Nothing, other than a chance to get to know you better. I don’t know much about babies, but I’ll figure it out.” She has a kid, dude, what the heck are you getting into? One singular brain cell taunted him annoyingly. The rest of him felt the need to protect her with his life if it came to that. “Okay, maybe that’s not totally true. Do I want more than a friendship with you? Hell, yeah. But what I want most is for us to see where this might go. I’m into you, Summer, after one meal. I think we could have something really good, sugar, but that’s entirely up to you. You come to me if you want to do a little exploring. Otherwise just let me be there for you and for J.J.” For the first time in Austin’s life, something was more important than looking for eight. Time extended beyond those eight-second increments he used for purposes of proving his worth. To his shock, it felt good. It felt right. He rode and existed entirely by his gut. This was what he was supposed to do. He’d never been more sure of anything. He just had to convince her of that. Some hint of the satisfaction he’d been searching for cemented in his soul.
A flash fire of intrigue lit once again in her eyes, but she quelled it quickly. “How are you into me? You don’t even know me.”
“My point exactly. I want to know you. I want to know you in my bed and out. I’ve never seen any point in not saying exactly what I’m thinking, so there you go. I want a chance, and I want to help. Everything beyond that is entirely up to you.”