Cowboys Like Us

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  “Caro, do you think I’m wallowing in self-pity?”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Josie.”

  Caro’s response was a little slow in coming. “Well, don’t forget that she’s pregnant and hormonal.”

  “Right.” But Caro hadn’t really answered his question. Maybe she and everyone else on the ranch thought he was wallowing in self-pity. God, he hoped not. That was the last thing in the world he’d want to do.

  The first thing, though, was to obtain a set of keys. He approached Jack. “Is there a truck I can drive for the time being?”

  “Yeah. Josie already mentioned that you wanted to follow Caro into town tonight. Take the green Chevy. The keys are on the second hook from the right on the board hanging by the door.”

  “Thanks, Jack.”

  “Don’t mention it. By the way, I spent a lot of nights in that apartment myself. There are shades tucked up under the valance of the curtains. I’d use them if I were you.” “Duly noted.”

  “And make sure they’re all the way down, because they tend to flip back up a couple of inches and you’d be surprised what people can see.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Oh, and one other thing. The kitchen table isn’t as sturdy as it looks.”

  CARO DROVE THROUGH THE night with the windows down and the radio up. Country tunes serenaded her as she kept checking her rearview mirror. She knew Logan was following her, but still she got a thrill every time she looked back and saw the headlights of his borrowed green Chevy truck.

  Despite herself, she was entranced by the notion of the Last Chance Ranch. Until now, she hadn’t heard how it got its name, and the optimism of that concept fit right in with her philosophy.

  She understood why Sarah would be interested in Peter Beckett’s idea. It blended perfectly with the ranch’s mission. Selfishly, Caro wanted Logan to be interested in it, too.

  But he wasn’t, and he might never be. Once again she had to remind herself that she was welcoming him into her bed for the short term, and not because she thought he’d change his mind and stay forever. Josie had made it clear that Logan had always been very ambitious, and she predicted he’d eventually take a job in sports broadcasting because that was the kind of high-profile life he was used to.

  Caro had listened carefully. Josie had known Logan ever since he was a neighbor kid in Chicago. The only person in Shoshone who would know Logan any better was Alex, and Alex was on his honeymoon and not due back for another week.

  Still, Caro sensed there was more to Logan than pure ambition. He’d used ambition to get him to the big leagues, but that hadn’t lasted. Maybe now he was ready to hook up with something less glamorous yet more likely to give him satisfaction for the rest of his life.

  Caro thought this project of Peter’s could be it, but she wasn’t going to say so and risk poisoning the well. It was a decision that would have to come from Logan in his own time. It might never come.

  Privately, though, Caro had decided to offer her services to the project, assuming that the Chance brothers gave it their stamp of approval. Initially, she could make quilts for all the bunk beds. A colorful quilt on each bed, handmade with love, might be the welcome that some of those kids needed.

  But if the program ever expanded to include girls, she could teach them to quilt. She’d be willing to teach the boys, too, but teenaged boys living in cowboy country and searching for their identity might not go for quilting lessons. They might have girlfriends or mothers who would like one, though.

  In any case, Caro wanted to be part of the Last Chance legacy. She hadn’t appreciated that history before tonight. Up until now, the ranch had simply been the place where Josie lived now that she was married to Jack Chance. Sure, it was a landmark, but one that Caro had taken for granted the whole time she was growing up in Shoshone.

  She approached the town limits and slowed down. It wasn’t much of a town, really—two intersecting roads with one stoplight. When she reached the light, it turned red, as it usually did whenever a single vehicle arrived at the intersection of the highway and Main Street, no matter which direction they were traveling.

  The Spirits and Spurs sat across the intersection. A person turning right on Main would pass all the major businesses, including a bank, a post office, a feed store, a small grocery and an ice cream parlor.

  Elmer Crookshanks’s gas station was across the intersection on the left. Last year Jack Chance had accused Elmer of rigging the light so that people had to stop and take notice of his gas station. Elmer had denied it, and the light continued to turn red more than seemed necessary, considering the lack of traffic.

  It was a funky little town, and Caro loved it. Yes, she hoped to travel and see other places, but her heart would always be here. Now that she knew more about the Last Chance, she was even prouder of her little corner of the world.

  Behind her, the Chevy’s engine rumbled. She imagined Logan sitting in the driver’s seat, waiting impatiently for the light to turn green so they could both cross the intersection. He might not know what he wanted out of life, but he knew what he wanted when it came to her, at least for the immediate future. Being desired with that kind of intensity was a thrill she’d never forget.

  The light turned and she drove through the intersection, with the Chevy right on her tail. She barely had time to park, pick up her hat from the seat and climb out of her truck before Logan was there, dragging her close. He must have left his hat in the truck, because he was no longer wearing it.

  “That was the longest damned dinner and the longest damned drive and the longest damned red light.” He kissed her quick and hard. “I’m so pumped I could carry you up those stairs, bad knee or not.”

  Heat sluiced through her veins. “But we have to go into the bar first.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut. “Right. How could I forget? Got your keys? I’d rather not parade through the bar itself if we can go in through the back.”

  “Right here.” She held them up.

  “Then lead me to the condom machine.” Wrapping an arm around her waist, he guided her in the direction of the back door.

  “If it doesn’t work, I’ll come in with you and see what I can do.”

  “That won’t look right.”

  “Judging from the empty parking lot, the bar’s not crowded right now, anyway. Nobody would notice.” As they reached the back door she quickly unlocked it and stepped into Josie’s office, which was also locked this time of night.

  “But a guy should be able to obtain his own condoms.” Logan walked in behind her. “Hey, it’s dark in here.” He slipped an arm around her waist and drew her back against him. Beneath his jeans he was ready for action. “Maybe we don’t have to go upstairs, after all.”

  She couldn’t resist nestling against him, but her words were as stern as she could manage, considering her level of excitement. “We’re not having sex in Josie’s office.”

  He pulled back her hair and kissed the curve of her neck while he cupped her breast through the cotton of her shirt. “Or on your kitchen table, either.”

  “What?”

  “Jack warned me it’s not as sturdy as it looks.” He raked his teeth gently over her skin as he fondled her breast. “I gather he and Josie found that out the hard way.”

  Caro moaned and leaned against him as she imagined making love on whatever available surface presented itself. “This is madness. We have to stop so you can get the condoms.”

  “I know.” He continued to massage her breasts. “But I love touching you. I haven’t been able to touch you for hours.”

  “I love touching you, too.” She struggled for breath. “But… I’ll be able to do that so much more…efficiently…once we’re safely up in my apartment.”

  “You’re so logical.” He gave her one last squeeze before releasing her with obvious reluctance. “And so right. Give me a minute before you open that office door. I need to focus on some baseball stats.”

  She too
k a deep breath to compose herself. “I should go out and talk to Steve while you buy condoms. He might wonder what’s going on if you come through the door of Josie’s office all by yourself. Technically, you shouldn’t have a key.”

  “In my current state, with all the blood drained south, I’m not sure I would have thought of that.”

  “I almost didn’t. I was going to wait here in the dark until you came back.” She walked over to Josie’s desk and turned on the green glass lamp there. “Steve might wonder why we didn’t turn on a light, too.”

  “Good thinking, once again.” Logan heaved a sigh. “Okay, I’ve cataloged a list of every game-winning home run the previous season. I’m calmed down enough to walk out there.”

  “Want to stop for a drink?”

  “No.”

  “So I’ll just say that we wanted to check to make sure he’s doing all right. You should walk over to the bar with me, in fact, just to be friendly. For all he knows, you’re headed back to the ranch and need to make a quick trip to the bathroom before you make that drive.”

  “Steve doesn’t strike me as the dim-witted type. I doubt he’ll think I’m going back to the ranch if I walk in from the office with you.” His heated glance touched every part of her. “Especially if you have a couple of snaps undone on your shirt.”

  “I do?” She looked down and quickly fastened them. “When did you do that?”

  “Just now, I guess. It was so automatic I didn’t realize what I was doing.”

  “And I was so aroused I didn’t notice that you’d done it.” She met his gaze. “I think we’d better get ourselves upstairs, and fast, but we need to look casual doing it.”

  “Fine, but don’t expect me to juggle any martini shakers.”

  She laughed as she moved toward the door. “I won’t. But before you leave town, I want you to teach me how.” She was proud of herself for tossing out a carefree line that included a mention of his inevitable leaving. More comments like that would help her stay focused on reality.

  “I don’t like thinking about that.”

  Then don’t go. But she wouldn’t say that, because he’d made his position clear when he’d turned down Peter Beckett’s offer.

  Her hand on the knob, she turned back to him. “But you should keep it in mind, Logan. You will be leaving.” By the time she unlocked the door and walked into the bar, she was much more in control of herself.

  If she intended to play this game, she needed to be.

  12

  LOGAN FOLLOWED CARO out of the office and tried like hell to look as if he had no sexual interest in her whatsoever. He kept his distance, and gave his best impression of a nonchalant cowboy saunter as they approached the bar.

  The room was empty except for Steve, who seemed delighted to see them. “Business is slow,” he said. “I guess everybody partied hardy last night and now they’re staying home.”

  “That happens,” Caro said. “So you’re feeling better?”

  “Way better.” He grinned. “Rough night, but it was over fairly fast, so I think it was food poisoning, after all. Did you do something fun with the time off?”

  “Sure did. Logan and I went riding.” She kept her attention firmly on Steve.

  Logan appreciated that. If she’d looked at him, they both would have been swamped with memories of their afternoon together, and no doubt it would have shown on their faces.

  “Nice.” Steve glanced at Logan. “Have you been on a horse much?”

  “Nope. I came off of this one today, but I’m none the worse for wear.”

  “Didn’t reinjure your knee, I hope.”

  “Fortunately not. Hey, if you two will excuse me, I need to head back to the men’s room.”

  Steve’s eyes didn’t flicker. “You bet. I just cleaned it. Nothing else to do.”

  “Thanks.” Logan wove his way through the tables to the tiny hallway that led to both bathrooms. He had cash in his pocket, and with luck, the condom machine would decide to dispense condoms tonight.

  But after five minutes of fiddling with it, he was still empty-handed. Because the bar was deserted except for Steve and Caro, he couldn’t risk banging on the sides of it the way he had before. He was forced to walk back out and over to the bar.

  “Still no customers, huh?” He glanced around. “Seems like a waste to keep the place open. How soon would you normally close?” If he could get rid of Steve, then he could manhandle that condom machine. Or maybe there was a key to it somewhere. He’d take the thing apart, if necessary.

  Steve checked the Budweiser clock on the wall. “Another half hour or so. But you’re right. It is a waste. Unless you two care to order something? It’s on the house.”

  “No, thanks.” Logan controlled his impatience. “I really should be leaving.” And going upstairs with this delicious woman. “I’m not the person in charge around here, but I can’t believe Josie would care if you locked up early.”

  “No, she probably wouldn’t.” Caro either sensed there had been a problem with the condom machine or was simply going along with his suggestion. “I can’t call to ask, because I’m sure she’s asleep by now. Knowing Josie, I think she’d want us to use our own judgment. There are no customers to offset the utility bill, so let’s lock up.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Steve said. “If you’ll turn around the sign on the door, Caro, I’ll close out the register and be on my way.”

  She started for the front door, but turned back toward Steve. “You know what? I can take care of it. You’ve been sick, and although you may feel better, I’ll bet you could use the extra sleep.”

  Logan could have kissed her. Well, he’d wanted to do that, anyway, but he really had the urge now that she was on the get-rid-of-Steve bandwagon. “Yeah, we can handle everything,” Logan said. “Take off, buddy.” And I mean that sincerely.

  Steve glanced at Logan, and his eyes registered a lightbulb moment. “I do believe I’ll take you up on that. I’ll just head on out the back door, then.” As he passed Logan, he lowered his voice. “Hope you didn’t need the condom dispenser, ’cause it’s empty.”

  “Oh.”

  “Nobody got more in, either. I checked.”

  “Oh.”

  “Good luck, buddy.”

  “Thanks.” Well, damn. Not only were there no condoms, but good old Steve knew what was going on. Logan had predicted he’d figure it out, anyway. Josie also knew, and so did Jack, and word would spread from there. Soon the whole town would know that Logan and Caro were lovers.

  Until this moment, Logan hadn’t fully understood the consequences of that. The town would know, and then he’d leave. Although Caro had said she was going into this with her eyes wide open, was she, really?

  He wondered if she’d considered that a certain percentage of those who knew would assume she’d been the plaything of a famous man and then been dumped when he was tired of her. He’d experienced firsthand the sour feeling pity left behind, and he didn’t want that for Caro. Without thinking this through, he’d set her up in the victim role. And he didn’t know how to fix it.

  She came up behind him and wrapped both arms around his middle, mimicking the way he’d held her earlier when they were in Josie’s office. “Am I guessing right that the condom machine is a problem?”

  “According to Steve, it’s empty and nobody ordered more. He checked.”

  “I see.”

  Logan took hold of her hands and eased out of her grip so he could turn and face her. “And I owe you an apology.”

  She laughed. “For failing to acquire condoms? That’s not your fault.”

  “No, not that.” He took her by the shoulders and kneaded them gently. “For failing to realize that when I leave, a lot of people in this town will assume you’ve been dumped, no matter what either of us say.”

  “I don’t—”

  “You can claim not to care, but you deal with the population of Shoshone almost every day. Are you prepared for the pitying looks? The veiled allusi
ons to the guy who broke your heart? The cracks about sports stars who go through women the way other people go through a package of Twinkies?”

  “Like Twinkies? Really?”

  “Well, I don’t, but plenty of guys do. I mean, yeah, I’ve had a few one-night stands in my life, but generally I—hell, this isn’t about me. It’s about you living in a small town where the word will now be out about…about us.”

  “I knew that when I decided to tell Josie,” she said quietly.

  “I wish you’d said something. I’m from the big city, where nobody cares unless it’s juicy enough to make the tabloids. I didn’t stop to think what bringing it out in the open with Josie would do to your…not your reputation, exactly, but you will get those who think you’ve been done wrong.”

  Her smile was soft. “Then I’ll tell them I kicked you to the curb.”

  “I hope you do! I hope you tell them that I begged you to let me stay, but I had a ton of bad habits that you couldn’t tolerate anymore. Say that.” He squeezed her shoulders. “Promise me you’ll trash my rep after I’m gone.”

  “I can’t do that. You’re coming back to build bunk beds. You don’t want people snickering behind your back when you’re buying screws and nails and lumber and stuff.”

  “You’re not taking this seriously at all, are you?”

  “No.”

  “You should.”

  “I should not.” She reached up and pinched his cheek. “Because they won’t pity me. You’re like a rock star, Logan!”

  “Oh, for God’s sake. I am not.”

  “You are in this tiny burg. The women will envy me and want to know if you’re as good in bed as you look like you would be. I’ll just smile and let them eat their hearts out. The men will figure I must be hot stuff if I attracted the attention of a professional ballplayer, even for a few nights. Don’t worry about me, okay?”

  “I can’t help it. This is uncharted territory for me, coming into a small town and getting involved with you. I feel as if I have to protect you.”

  “Well, you do, which brings us back to the condom issue.”