Double or Nothing

by N. J. Walters

  Cherry dug deep, pulling up memories and examining them in the darkness of her childhood room. Hours passed and the room grew darker. Finally, her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep. She knew what she had to do.

  Chapter Nine

  Wes scrawled his name to the bottom of the contract just below his brother’s. It was done. He and Remy now owned a substantial amount of more land. He straightened and tossed the pen onto the lawyer’s desk. “That it, Jefferson?”

  Jefferson Dalton picked up the papers and shuffled through them one final time, making sure everything was in order. “That’s it. I’ll make sure that Ms. Edmonds gets her copies of the contracts and, of course, the payment.”

  Remy sat silent as a stone in an expensive leather chair that flanked one side of the lawyer’s large mahogany desk, leaving Wes to handle the conversation. He was disappointed Cherry wasn’t here in person and knew Remy was too. Staying away from her this past week had been hard on everyone.

  The lawyer placed a stack of papers in a manila envelope and handed them to Wes. “Here’s your copies of the contract, the survey and the deed to the land.”

  Wes took the envelope with his left hand and held out his right. “Thanks.”

  “My pleasure.” Jefferson shook his hand. Wes was glad to have the deal signed. Now that the proceedings were done, Jefferson became chatty. “I’m just glad to help Ms. Edmonds get her father’s estate straightened out quickly. It helped that her father transferred everything to her name before he passed. Now she can get back to her life in Boston.”

  Remy stood abruptly, turned on his heel and headed for the door. Wes grabbed his Stetson and jammed it on his head. “Thanks again, Jefferson,” he called as he hurried after his brother.

  He caught Remy climbing into the truck and grabbed his arm. “What is your problem?”

  Remy looked tired. “Didn’t you hear what the man said? He’s talking like it’s a done deal that Cherry is going back to Boston.”

  “Just because he said it doesn’t make it so.” Or at least he hoped not. Wes shoved his brother aside and hopped into the driver’s seat, stowing the envelope with the papers beside him. “Get in.”

  Remy looked as though he wanted to cuss him out, but he stalked around to the passenger side and climbed in. “Now what?”

  “Now we go see Cherry.” Wes figured they’d been patient long enough. “We’ve got to get her to talk to us. How can we address her concerns if she won’t tell us what they are?” And that was what kept Wes awake at night. It was all too easy to picture Cherry alone in her bed, her mind making problems out of nothing and making the ones that did exist into mountains.

  “We shouldn’t have stayed away.”

  Wes was beginning to believe his brother was right. His gut tightened the closer he got to Cherry’s ranch and his hands tightened around the steering wheel. He pressed down harder on the gas pedal, the truck practically flying down the dirt road toward the house.

  He slammed on his brakes, leaving a spray of dirt and dust in his wake. Before he had the truck in park, Remy was out, bounding toward the back door. He tried the handle. It was locked.

  Wes climbed out and looked around, noting the old pickup was gone. “Maybe she went into town for something.” He wanted to believe it, but there was an emptiness in his chest that matched the vacant feeling of the house.

  There was something white taped onto the back door. Wes took the stairs in one leap, coming to stand beside his brother. It was an envelope and it had both their names printed on it.

  Remy’s hand shook as he reached out and ripped the envelope from the door. Wes had never seen his older brother look scared before, but he did now. “You read it.” He thrust the envelope toward him, forcing Wes to take it.

  Wes’ hands were unsteady as he tore open the envelope. The first words were like being kicked in the head by a wild mustang. Gone to Boston. Wes swallowed back the swell of emotion that threatened to choke him and kept reading. I’ll call you. She’d written something else but had scratched it out. Her name was at the bottom.

  “Well?” Remy’s voice was thick with emotion, as though he already knew the contents of the short note.

  Wes folded it and shoved it in his back pocket. “She’s gone back to Boston, but says she’ll call.”

  “Fuck.” Remy tilted his head back and Wes could see his brother pulling a blanket of control around himself, shutting off all emotions.

  “She’ll call and we’ll talk to her,” Wes began, but was interrupted when one of the hired hands called out to them.

  “Hey, Wes. Hey, Remy.”

  Wes had known Hank Burton for years. He’d been foreman of Jim Edmonds’ spread since he could remember. “Hey, Hank. Where’s Cherry?” Maybe he knew something they didn’t.

  Hank swiped his forearm over his forehead, his shirt stained with sweat. It was another scorcher of a day. “Little gal said she had to go back to Boston for a few days to take care of some business.”

  “But she’s coming back?” Wes was starting to get angry with Cherry. They’d given her the space she’d asked for, the least she could have done is called them and told them her plans instead of leaving them with a note that said absolutely nothing.

  “Yeah. She’s got boxes of stuff to move out of the house and she wants to have that done before the new owners show up.” Hank gave both men a hard look. “You got business with Miss Cherry?”

  Wes shook his head. “Just wanted to talk to her. Thanks, Hank.” Remy was already in the truck when Wes swung behind the wheel and left the Edmonds’ spread behind. “She’s coming back.”

  “She should have told us.” Remy stared out the window, obviously as hurt as Wes felt. Maybe Cherry didn’t care about them the way they did about her. Maybe that one night was just that—one night. Maybe she was embarrassed by what they’d done. It wasn’t every woman who could handle the idea of being with two men.

  Either way, when Cherry did come back, they were having this out once and for all. He couldn’t live in the state of limbo he’d been stuck in the past decade. And he knew Remy couldn’t either.

  * * * * *

  Cherry lifted her right hand off the steering wheel and wiped it on the material of her skirt. She was glad her deodorant was heavy duty because she was sweating.

  The pickup hit a pothole and she bounced in her seat. Gripping the wheel tighter, she took the road that would bring her to the Double S Ranch. Guilt assailed her and she wondered about her reception. She’d taken off without telling either man, leaving them nothing but a cryptic note. She’d called Remy once and gotten sent to voice mail. She’d spoken with Wes several times, but the conversation had been short and stilted.

  Oh God, what had she done? Cherry slowed the vehicle as she neared their home. Memories of the night and day she’d spent with them assailed her and she swallowed hard. She stopped a few feet from the back step and shut off the vehicle. She glanced behind to make certain the tarp was still covering the boxes piled in the back. Everything looked fine.

  Her stomach was in knots and her hands shaking, but she was determined. She opened the door and slid out of the pickup just as the back door was pushed open. Remy walked out, his hat pulled down over his eyes, his shoulders thrown back and his legs slightly apart. He put his hands on his hips and stared at her. He looked like a gunslinger ready for a showdown. Not exactly the welcome she was hoping for.

  She closed the pickup door and walked toward the house, stopping at the bottom step. Bourbon and Whiskey were nowhere in sight and she wondered where the dogs were. “Hi.”

  Remy inclined his head, saying nothing.

  The bottom dropped out of Cherry’s stomach. Had she made a mistake in coming here? She’d needed time to think, to be sure, and to tie up loose ends before talking with either brother.

  “Can I come in?” The fact that she had to ask almost made her turn around and leave. The only thing stopping her was the difficult decision she’d made after days of pondering
and thinking.

  Remy turned away and opened the door, still not saying a word.

  She knew he’d be angry with her for leaving without telling him, but she hadn’t expected him to act this cold. Cherry shivered even though it had to be about a hundred degrees outside. She gathered her courage and mounted the steps, walking boldly into the kitchen. It looked exactly the same as it had the last time she was there.

  The screen door closed with a heavy thunk as Remy followed her inside. She faced him, took a deep breath and reached up to remove his hat. She needed to see his eyes, to know what he was thinking. He stayed completely still, not helping but not hindering her either.

  Stark blue eyes stared down at her, giving away nothing. He looked leaner than he had two weeks ago. The scar on his left cheek was white and the muscle of his jaw flexed. He looked tough and hard and completely unapproachable.

  This wasn’t the same man who’d made love to her as if he couldn’t get enough of her. Nor was he the friend from her childhood. This man was distant and unemotional. “Maybe. Maybe I should go.” From the look of him, Remy certainly didn’t seem to want to even talk to her. Her stomach turned and she feared she might actually lose what little she’d eaten today. The coffee she’d drunk on the way here churned in her belly.

  “Maybe you should.” Remy’s cool tone and the words he spoke were a death knell to all her hopes and dreams. She’d been wrong to come here. Maybe it was her fault. Maybe she’d taken too long to make her decision. Or maybe everything they’d said that night had been nothing more than words spoken in the heat of the moment.

  Cherry couldn’t speak. If she did, she knew she’d burst into tears. All she knew was she had to get out of here, couldn’t stay one more moment.

  She stumbled toward the door, her hands yanking at the handle. But the damn thing wouldn’t open. She tugged again and the door came away an inch before being slammed shut again by some unseen force.

  Without looking, she knew that Remy was behind her. It was his hand keeping the door closed. She shivered again, wanting to lean back against his heat and strength. But that was nothing more than an illusion. She was truly on her own now. Alone.

  Remy cursed himself as he went after Cherry and stopped her from walking out of the kitchen. He wanted to fall on his knees and beg her to stay, but he’d seen the load in the back of the pickup and Hank’s words came back to haunt him. Cherry had come back to get the boxes of belongings from the ranch before the new owners moved in. That meant she was on her way back to Boston.

  That meant he was losing her.

  Remy lowered his head until his lips were almost touching her nape. She had her hair swept into some sort of fancy updo and was wearing a bright yellow skirt and a fitted white sleeveless blouse that clung to her breasts like a second skin. When she’d stepped out of the pickup it was like a sucker punch to the gut. He’d missed her so damn much and she looked even more beautiful than he remembered.

  He pressed his lips against her neck just below her ear and she shuddered. Pride be damned. He swallowed it and whispered hoarsely. “Don’t go.” He could feel her trembling and cursed himself. “Cherry?”

  “You told me to go.” Her voice was so low he had to lean closer to hear her. “I made a mistake coming here.”

  He couldn’t stand not being able to see her face so he carefully turned her around, his heart sinking when she wouldn’t look at him. He put his hand beneath her chin and applied pressure until she raised her head. There were tears in her eyes.

  One spilled down her cheek and he wiped it away with his thumb. Her skin was so soft, but pale. “I’m sorry, darlin’.” He kissed her cheek, then her forehead. Big brown eyes stared back at him, brimming with emotion. “We can talk. Come sit down.” He brushed a soft kiss over her lips, almost drowning in her sweet taste. He’d dreamed of kissing her. He’d dreamed of doing a hell of a lot more too as memories of their time together mingled with his nighttime fantasies every day since she’d left.

  “I don’t understand.” He could hear the confusion in her voice.

  “You left.” Those two stark words said it all.

  “I said I’d call. I tried, but you wouldn’t answer.”

  “I was too angry.” He’d felt elated at first when he’d realized who was calling, but hurt and anger had kept him from answering. That, and the knowledge that no words could fix things. Cherry knew what they wanted from her. It was her decision to make.

  “I’m sorry for that. I needed more time to sort things out on my own.”

  That’s what he didn’t understand. He willed her to explain it to him in a way that would make sense. “Why? Why couldn’t you talk to me or to Wes about what you were thinking and feeling? Why wouldn’t you let us help you?”

  She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I feel too much for you, for both of you. Whenever you’re near, I can’t think straight. Our relationship from the past gets mixed with up with what’s happening now and I can’t separate the two.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t try. You know who we are at our core. No woman has known me as well as you do.” And that’s what made her leaving him for the second time so hard. “For better or worse, you know the kind of man I am. I know I’m hard. I know I don’t open up as much emotionally as you might want. But you know I want you and I want you here with me.”

  She gave a small laugh that sounded more sad than happy. “You want me to throw away the life I’ve built in Boston and come and live with both of you. That’s a lot to ask of any woman. People will find out and they’ll talk. That’s the way of things in a small town. I had to figure out if I was prepared to handle the fallout from that.”

  Remy understood what she was saying even if he didn’t like it. He sighed and pulled her against his chest. He knew she was right. People would speculate about their relationship and they would talk. Oh, they wouldn’t say a word about it to either him or Wes, but they would treat Cherry differently. Some might even shun her or say nasty things. Human nature was what it was.

  “I’m sorry, darlin’, but you should have talked about this with us instead of running away.”

  She pulled back and frowned at him, her lips pulling into a thin line. “I wasn’t running away, I told Wes I had business to take care of in Boston. I put my life on hold when Daddy was ill and only did the basics to keep up with work. I do have a business to run. It might not be as big and fancy as the Double S, but it’s mine and I built it from nothing.”

  It shamed Remy to realize he hadn’t considered how much of her own work she must have put aside in the weeks before her father’s death. “So you’re back now to do what? Pick up your belongings from your old ranch and head back to Boston?” Remy’s hands tightened on her shoulders. He wanted to toss her over his shoulder and carry her upstairs to bed. But that wouldn’t change a thing in the long run. He had to know Cherry’s plans.

  “I’m wearing a skirt.”

  Of all the things she could have said to him that was probably the most unexpected. He frowned. “I can see you’re wearing a skirt.” He tried not to imagine how easy it would be to slide his hands under it and remove her underwear. His cock swelled and he shifted uncomfortably.

  Cherry tilted her head to one side and studied him intently. “You once told me you’d like me to wear a skirt.”

  Holy fuck. This was the fantasy he’d told her about the last time they were together. He remembered it now. “I told you I wanted you to wear a skirt so I could toss it up and fuck you anytime I wanted.”

  “I don’t want to go back to Boston.”

  Remy yanked her into his arms, his mouth coming down hard on hers.

  Cherry could barely breathe, but she didn’t care. She was where she wanted to be—Remy’s arms. Oh, nothing was settled, but she no longer cared. When she thought he was going to let her walk away it was the worst moment of her life after her father’s death.

  It was only when she thought she’d lost him that she realized how much she l
oved Remy. He was a hard man, physically and emotionally, but if he committed to a relationship with her then she knew he would never stray. It wasn’t in him. But she’d hurt him by leaving. More than she’d thought possible. That had to mean his feelings for her ran deep. Didn’t it?

  None of that mattered now. All that mattered was she was in his arms where she felt cared for, where she belonged. He tasted like rich, dark coffee, hot nights and even hotter sex. Like promises and tomorrows. His tongue dueled with hers, challenging, enticing.

  She dug her fingers into his shoulders and the muscles bunched and rippled beneath her touch. Remy tore his lips from hers and spread passionate kisses down her jawline and neck.

  “I missed you so damn much,” he growled. His nimble fingers plucked open the buttons of her blouse and he spread the material wide. Calloused fingertips traced the edging of lace that decorated her bra.

  “I missed you too.” Her bed had felt so empty and big. And she, who had never minded spending time by herself, suddenly felt lonely.

  Remy’s dark-eyed gaze met hers and he traced a finger over her collarbone, making her shiver. “I’m glad.”

  “Remy.” She said his name, wanting to say more, but afraid to spill her emotions before he said anything. She felt vulnerable and afraid. Yet, she was willing to take the risk. She cupped the side of his face, loving the way he turned his head inward and kissed her palm.

  He reached down with both hands and slowly lifted her skirt, pushing his hands beneath the material. She bit her lip to keep from moaning when his hard hands slid up the fronts of her thighs. The crotch of her panties was already wet with need. Breathing was getting to be more difficult, but the waiting was even worse.

  “Remy.” This time his name was barely a whisper, but all her pent-up passion resonated in that one word.