Cowboy Brave

by Carolyn Brown

  “Why is it not a date?” He followed her to the back door of the bunkhouse.

  “Because we’re not going in the front door, which means you don’t want anyone to know we’re here,” she said.

  “Honey, we can do this at the ranch house in front of Cade and Retta if you want to. I’m not ashamed of being seen with you. Matter of fact, I’ll stand up in church tomorrow morning and confess that we’ve been sleeping together.” He entered the house behind her.

  “Sweet Lord!” She gasped.

  More than a dozen candles were lit, throwing just enough light to make the room sexy. A vase of red roses was centered on the coffee table, and petals led from there to the bedroom, where more candles burned. She followed the trail all the way to the bedroom, and then into the bathroom, where she reached down and picked up a few to feel the velvety softness.

  “This is pretty sexy,” she said.

  His presence behind her stirred the heat inside her to a full-fledged blaze. He slipped one arm around her waist, gently pushed her hair away from her ear, and whispered, “Not as sexy as you are. Shall we go skinny-dippin’ before we start drinkin’?”

  She glanced at the tub. Bath oil and salts were laid out on the seat of a ladder-back chair with two big fluffy white towels draped over the back. “Yes, please. But let’s bring the bottle of tequila and the shot glasses. We can start while we’re in the tub.”

  “You start the water while I’m gone.” He whipped around and disappeared before she could blink.

  Emily got the water to just the right temperature and dumped in both the oil and the salts, then she stripped out of her clothing, tossed it all at the bed in the other room, and got into the tub. When he returned, he was naked and carrying a bottle and two shot glasses. He pulled the chair up to the tub and set it all down before he joined her.

  Her legs, almost as long as his, were stretched toward one end of the tub and his toward the other. He reached out over the edge of the tub and filled two shot glasses. She took one from him when he handed it over and threw it back in one gulp.

  “First one always brings the most fire,” she said.

  “Yep,” he agreed and refilled both shot glasses.

  She downed that one and held out the empty toward him. While he poured, his foot edged its way up the curve of her hip, stopping at the indention of her waist and then moving up her ribs.

  Well, two could damn sure play this game. She moved her foot up his inner leg and watched his eyes the whole time. When she reached the top, he gasped.

  “Water too warm?” she teased. “I could add some cold.”

  “I was thinking more of adding ice,” he admitted.

  “Let’s play a game. Whoever loses gets a shot. The winner gets a pass,” she said.

  He shook his head. “That’s not fair. The rules were to see who could hold their liquor better.”

  “Okay, then, we’ll leave the shots out of it. Here’s the game. You can use one finger and only one to touch me anywhere above the neck for one minute. And I can’t say a word. Then it’ll be my turn,” she said.

  “You played this before?”

  “Nope, but I read it in a romance book one time. I never wanted to play it until now.” She glanced up at the clock on the wall above the toilet. “Time starts now.”

  He moved forward just slightly and traced her jawline with a touch so soft that it made her insides go all mushy within fifteen seconds. Then he moved to her lips and spent the rest of his minute making love to her mouth with his index finger.

  “My turn,” she whispered when the time was up.

  She started at the nape of his neck and brought her finger around to the soft spot under his ear, where she made lazy circles. “I’m already willing to lose this game. I want you, Emily, and I’ll forfeit the drinkin’ game for a night with you in bed, or hell, on the floor or right here in this tub. I’ve never had sex under water. Have you?”

  “No, but I’m willin’ to give it a try.” She inched forward until she could wrap her legs around him. “After this we’ll have to try bed sex to see which is better.”

  “On a twin bed and then on the queen-size, just so we know the difference in the three,” he agreed.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Justin sat beside Emily again that Sunday morning. He couldn’t begin to keep his mind on the preacher’s sermon but instead thought about the water, the queen bed, and the twin bed sex of the night before. He personally liked the queen bed best because that was where they’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms.

  Grandpa always said anything worth having was damn sure worth fighting for, but Justin hadn’t had to do much battling for Emily. A few roses, some tequila, and a red lollipop were all it took, and yet, it wasn’t like he’d just sweet-talked a woman into going home with him from a Saturday night honky-tonk. This was far different and a lot more serious. With the other women, he had been ready to see them go the next morning—not so with Emily.

  Justin took her hand in his and rested it on his knee. Larry patted him on the back from the pew right behind him, so evidently he’d seen the gesture and agreed. Pretty soon, Otis did the same, so those buzzing whispers probably meant that Larry was spreading the news.

  When the benediction had been given and the last amen uttered, Emily slipped her hand free so she could hug each of the Fab Five. They acted as if they hadn’t seen her in weeks rather than just two days.

  “Are you coming to Mavis and Skip’s with us for Sunday dinner?” Patsy asked. “We brought a cheesecake for dessert. The cook in the kitchen let us make it ourselves. It’s Sarah’s recipe for pecan caramel.”

  “No, we’re going to the ranch for Italian. Retta made lasagna. But your cheesecake sounds delicious. Do you share the recipe?” Justin answered for Emily.

  Sarah batted her gray eyelashes. “Honey, I’d share anything with you.”

  Patsy air slapped her on the arm. “Stop it. He’s taken.”

  “Oh, really?” Emily’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Yep, this tall brunette that works at the center has hog-tied him.” Otis threw his hand over his mouth, but the giggles escaped through his fingers.

  “You laugh like a little girl,” Larry said. “But then you have a voice for a guy.”

  “Well, you sound like an elephant far—” Otis caught himself and looked up at the ceiling. “Forgive me, Lord, I forgot where I was. Anyway, Larry, you sound like that when you laugh.”

  “See y’all later. We’ve got to go.” Justin ushered Emily out a side door and headed straight for his truck. “So tell me about this brunette that’s got me in her sights. Do you know her? Otis said she works at the center.”

  “Have no idea who he’s talkin’ about,” she answered. “Maybe he got the places of employment mixed up and she works at the Rusty Spur or a local brothel.”

  “She’s not that kind of woman.” Justin opened the door for her and then jogged around the truck to get in out of the wind, which had picked up in the last few minutes.

  “Oh, so you are seeing someone else? I have competition?” Emily asked.

  He leaned across the console and gave her a quick kiss. “Darlin’, you’ll never have to worry about competition in my world.”

  “Don’t tell me that’s not a pickup line.”

  “Yep, it is, but this time it’s true.” He turned the radio on and found the classic country station that he liked. George Strait was singing “Check Yes or No.” The lyrics talked about a little girl passing a note to a little boy at school, telling him to check the yes box if he wanted to be her friend.

  “So what would you check?” Justin asked when the song ended.

  “It says that they were in the third grade. Darlin’, you wouldn’t have chased me on the school ground when we were that age. I was the biggest kid in the class, and boys didn’t chase me,” she said.

  “I would have,” he declared.

  Emily figured that he really believed that, but he hadn’t known her in the thi
rd grade. Back then she had teeth she still had to grow into, and she really was the biggest child in class. The boys barely came up to her shoulder. From the pictures she’d seen on the mantel of the ranch house, Justin had been one of those cute little boys that the girls chased.

  They were silent for the first several minutes of the drive, but it wasn’t the kind of quiet that needs to be filled with words. Sitting beside him in church and riding home in his truck felt right.

  Home! the voice in her head yelled.

  I mean the ranch, she argued. Three nights of sex does not make a place home. If it did, then my last boyfriend’s apartment would be home, she thought. Then Cade’s ex-fiancée not ever wanting to live on the ranch came to mind. The woman must not have loved Cade nearly as much as she should have. What was that girl’s name? Emily’s brow drew down in a frown as she tried to pull the name from her memory.

  “Julie!” she finally blurted out when she remembered.

  “What?” Justin whipped around to give her a puzzled look.

  “I couldn’t think of her name, and when it came to me, I said it out loud,” she answered honestly.

  “I’ve done that before with people’s names or even places I couldn’t think of. Why were you thinking about Julie?”

  “I wonder why she couldn’t compromise. She could have had her job in the city, couldn’t she? It can’t be a rule that the women have to live on the ranch, because Claire doesn’t. Or is that just because she isn’t a Maguire? Hey, did your mother like Julie?”

  Justin’s head bobbed up and down in a nod. “Mama loved Julie and was almost as devastated as Cade when all that happened.”

  They drove along in silence for a few minutes. Emily’s thoughts circled back around to the word home. As frustrating as her family could be at times, she missed them and was glad that she’d get to see everyone before long. But where was home these days?

  “What do you want to do after we eat?”

  She was glad that he changed the subject. “Take a walk? Maybe go back over to the place where you’re going to build your house. Do you have any plans yet?”

  “I’ve been looking at a few. It’s a fairly decent day. We could take a quilt with us,” he said.

  “And pretend we’re in your house.” She pointed as he parked the truck. “There’s Gussie on the porch, waiting for us. Sarah talks about her all the time. I wish the residents were allowed to have small pets.”

  “Sarah, and all the rest, can come visit anytime they want,” Justin said as he leaned across the seat and kissed her. “It’s pretty damn hard to keep my mind on church when you’re right there beside me.”

  “Amen.” She looked over her shoulder to see Gloria in the doorway. It reminded her of the few dates she’d had in high school. If she was five minutes late for curfew her mother would be waiting with that same unhappy expression on her face.

  “We should get inside so we can help Retta.” She gave him a sweet kiss and then opened the truck door.

  “I guess so, but I’d rather stay right here and make out all afternoon,” he said.

  “Man can not live on sex and kisses alone. He must have food,” she teased.

  “I’d sure be willin’ to give up food and see if that’s the truth.” He grinned.

  They got out at the same time, but he hurried around the truck to take her hand in his. When they were inside the house, Emily picked a bibbed apron off one of the hooks in the utility room and flipped it over her head. Justin tied the strings around her waist and brushed a sweet kiss on her neck.

  “I’d like to talk to you.” Gloria’s eyes shifted to Justin. “In the living room, please.”

  “Sure thing, Mama. Is it about the trip I’m taking?”

  “Thought I might go with you, to keep you company,” Gloria said.

  “I don’t think so,” Vernon disagreed right behind her. “We’ve made plans to drive to Wichita Falls for a couple of days for that big Cattlemen’s dinner.”

  Justin followed his parents into the living room, leaving Emily in the kitchen.

  “What can I do to help?” Emily asked.

  “Set the table,” Retta answered. “You remember where everything is?”

  “Sure do.” Her eyes went to Claire. “I thought you and Levi would be at Mavis and Skip’s for dinner.”

  “We were invited, but Levi thought it would be better for Benjy if we weren’t there today.” She put ice into glasses for the sweet tea.

  “So that he’d talk more to the Fab Five?” Emily set a stack of plates on the cabinet and opened the cutlery drawer to get out what they needed.

  “You got it,” Claire answered. “So what’s happening between you and Justin? Everyone at church was asking if y’all are a couple.”

  “I’m not sure what we are. We’ve only known each other a couple of weeks. Well, three if you count from the first time I came out here,” she answered.

  Retta patted her on the back. “I remember not knowing where I stood with Cade, but at the end of five weeks, I loved him too much that I couldn’t leave.”

  “What did you do?” Emily asked.

  “I left, made it to the end of the lane, and then turned around and came. He proposed, but we waited until fall to get married,” Retta answered.

  Emily shifted her focus to Claire. “And you?”

  “I was the damsel in distress, and Levi rescued me. Lost control of my vehicle on slick roads and took refuge in the old cabin where Justin lives now. He found me and my niece and the rest is history. He asked me to marry him on Christmas.”

  “Retta, you lived on a ranch, right? But not you, Claire?” Emily asked.

  “Yes.” Retta pulled two pans of lasagna from the oven. “I was raised on one and couldn’t wait to get away from it. I went to college and worked in Dallas. Loved it. But then my father got sick. I came home to take care of him and planned to go back to my banking job. Fate had different plans. I needed a temporary job to pay the medical bills in between selling off the farm and going to the new bank. I landed here and fell in love with Cade.”

  Claire took the makings for a green salad from the refrigerator. “Same story. Little different ending. I’m not a rancher. I love the animals, but getting my hands dirty isn’t for me. I like my quilting business just fine. This way I get the best of both worlds.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “And I get to sleep with that sexy cowboy out there every night. I don’t care if he comes home with bullshit on his boots, just so long as he leaves them in the utility room.”

  “Now be honest with us. Do you like Justin?” Retta asked.

  “I like him a lot,” Emily admitted. “He’s the sweetest, kindest man I’ve ever met, but we haven’t known each other long enough—” She paused.

  Claire butted in before she could go on. “I’ll pass on something Levi told me when I said we hadn’t known each other very long. If you add up those hours that you were with Justin on the ranch with the Fab Five, and think about a date a week lasting maybe four hours at the most, then you’ve known him a lot longer than the calendar says you have.”

  Emily picked up the plates. “Never thought of it that way.”

  “Thought of what?” Justin asked as he took the plates from her hands. “Let me help you.”

  “We were thinking that fate has a way of messing up all your plans and rearranging them for you,” Claire answered.

  Emily could have hugged her. Girlfriends took care of each other, whether they’d just become friends or if they’d been friends for years, like she and Nikki were. Which reminded her, she should have already called Nikki. Maybe tomorrow night they’d go to the pizza place and eat on the buffet.

  As if on cue, her phone pinged. The text from Nikki said: Having a tough day. Meet me for ice cream at two?

  Without hesitation, she answered: Yes

  Then she turned around to face Justin. “I have to leave right after lunch. Nikki needs me.”

  “Who’s Nikki?” Claire asked.

 
“My best friend for the past five years. She and I started at the center at the same time. She was an aide at the time, working nights and going to school in the day. She got her LPN and switched to days and has been studying at night for her RN. She’s taking the test for that soon and will be going to the hospital emergency room when she passes it. And that’s too much information but…” Emily shrugged and caught Justin’s eye.

  His expression said he was disappointed. “Can you come back after you talk to her?”

  “I don’t know. If we get out the ice cream, it could take all night,” Emily answered.

  “I sure understand that.” Claire nodded.

  “I don’t,” Justin said. “Explain it to me.”

  “When girlfriends have a problem, they talk it to death, then revive it and talk about it some more. Guys don’t understand,” Retta said. “They hold everything in because they’re tough. But girls have to get it out even if it means hashing it over a hundred times.”

  Claire looked up at him. “But when it’s a big, big problem that no amount of talk, tears, or cussin’ can get them through, then they get out a quart of ice cream and two spoons. No bowls. They eat right out of the carton.”

  “And that helps?” Justin turned to focus on Emily.

  “Every time.” She nodded.

  “Will you send me a text if you get out the ice cream?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Cade and Levi, dinner will be on the table in five minutes,” Retta called out.

  “On the way,” Cade yelled back.

  Emily slipped the phone into the pocket of her denim skirt before she finished folding the napkins and putting them at each plate. After grace was said, Justin leaned over to whisper, “I’ve been meaning to tell you all week. I’ll be gone Monday and Tuesday. I’ve got to go pick up a new breeder bull. Don’t suppose you can get off work and go with me?”

  “I’d love to, but I can’t. I’ve already asked for a day off to go home to my family reunion,” she said. “You’ll call me, right?”

  “You can count on it,” he said.