A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action

by LuAnn McLane

  “Once bitten, twice shy?”

  “Yeah, I guess, even though there’s not a mean bone in Colin’s body,” she says as she pulls her cell phone from her jeans pocket. “Sam just sent me a text asking where the hell we’re at,” she says with a chuckle. “And Boone is starting to look agitated. God, it’s fun stirrin’ up trouble.”

  “Should we go back inside?”

  “No, let’s bug them a bit longer. And besides, I have to tell you of my devious plan.” She rubs her hands together. “Shew, it’s hot out here . . . humid.”

  “So, how come Boone somehow ends up with you and Sam instead of Casey?”

  Lilly shrugs. “The luck of the draw, I guess.”

  “Right . . . the luck of the draw that he ends up with you. So fess up. Do you like Boone, Lilly? I won’t tell.”

  “This is supposed to be my plan to get Luke on your doorstep. You’re diverting my attention,” she accuses.

  I wring my hands. “That’s because I’m usually behind these sorts of plans and not on the receiving end. I’m a pretty good meddler from way back.”

  “Turnabout is fair play then, huh?”

  Suddenly a thought hits me. “Yeah . . . I do believe so.”

  Lilly takes a step back to let a group of rowdy cowboys pass and then folds her arms across her chest. “Why don’t I like the tone of your voice, Macy?”

  “What tone?” I bat my eyes.

  “The same innocent tone I use when I’ve got somethin’ up my sleeve.”

  “Okay, you tell me your plan and I’ll tell you mine.”

  Lilly moves to let another crowd of people pass her on the sidewalk. “Why do I feel as if we’re playin’ truth or dare?”

  “Maybe because in a way we are. Divulge this plan of yours.”

  “It’s simple, really. Flirt your butt off in there.”

  I frown at her, confused. “But Luke’s not here.”

  “Yes, but Brandon is and he’ll go runnin’ his mouth off to Luke in a heartbeat. He’ll be on his cell phone before the night is over.” She pokes a finger into my shoulder. “You mark my words: Luke will be here by this weekend, if not before.”

  “You think so? Really?”

  Lilly points up at the neon flying pigs. “Are you for-gettin’ that I witnessed you two together at Jack’s? Come on, Macy, the man has it bad for you. Believe it, sister. Now let’s get your cute butt in there and start this ball rollin’.” She grabs my hand but I tug it back.

  “Oh no you don’t. First I want to tell you my conditions.”

  Lilly gives me a deadpan stare. “I’m not gonna like this, am I?”

  I hesitate and then say in a rush, “Okay, I’ll flirt with Tanner if you kiss Boone.”

  “What?” She glances in Boone’s direction. “You’re outta your ever-lovin’ mind.”

  I give her a shrug. “Those are my conditions.”

  “Your conditions suck,” she protests, but I notice that color is high in her cheeks and she licks her lips.

  “Truth or dare, Lilly?”

  She narrows her eyes and then says, “Okay then, I choose truth,” she says so that she doesn’t have to kiss him.

  “Are you insanely attracted to Boone?”

  “Yes,” she admits through gritted teeth.

  “Then I dare you to kiss him.”

  “That’s not how this game works.”

  I shrug and then angle my head toward Tootsie’s front door.

  “Macy,” Lilly says in a more serious voice, “here’s the problem. Boone works for Tammy. She’s real fond of him. Do you realize how crappy it would be to start somethin’ with Boone and have it go south? Think about it. He’s a bodyguard . . . my bodyguard. This could get messy.”

  “Yeah, and it could be amazing.”

  Lilly closes her eyes and swallows. “You suck, Macy McCoy.”

  “Bite me.”

  Lilly opens her eyes and grins. “Okay, you’re officially one of us, now.”

  I give her a knuckle bump. “I’m callin’ him over.”

  “But—”

  “No buts! It’s time for the little-less-talk part. Boone!” I say loud enough for him to hear, even though he’s probably got some expert listening skills and has heard our conversation anyway. They probably teach such things in bodyguard school. Or is it the school of bodyguards? Plus we did get a little loud. I tend to raise my voice when I get worked up about something. When I crook my finger at him he walks our way.

  “I’m gonna get you back for this,” Lilly says under her breath.

  “Make it a good kiss,” I warn her, “or all bets are off.”

  “No, really. I’m gonna kick your ass,” she threatens, but her eyes are on Boone. I bet her heart is beating fast just thinking about kissing him.

  “What’s up, ladies? You gonna hang out here all night?” Boone asks, but as usual his eyes are on Lilly.

  “Lilly lost a bet and now she has to kiss you.” There, I might as well get it all out in the open.

  I almost lose it when Boone’s badass bodyguard expression becomes comical. I suppose he wasn’t prepared for my comment. “Excuse me?” His normal deep voice is laced with disbelief. “You girls been doin’ shots?”

  “Not yet, but it’s sounding like a pretty darned good idea,” I tell him, but of course his eyes are still on Lilly. I’m not sure he’d look if Faith Hill walked by.

  “What game we playin’ here, Lilly?” he questions in a gruff voice. It suddenly occurs to me that he might have arms the size of tree trunks but when it comes to Lilly he’s as vulnerable as they come. “So you lost a bet and the payback is that you have to kiss me? Not exactly good for my ego,” he comments with a dry chuckle.

  “Wow, you have a sense of humor,” I tell him, trying to bring some levity to the situation that Lilly and I have created . . . well mostly that I’ve created, but she started it.

  “Yeah, well, Macy, maybe there’s more to me than meets the eye,” he answers, but is really directing his comment toward Lilly.

  I totally get what he’s saying. I suppose being a huge, muscle-bound guy is the male equivalent of being a big-chested blonde. People just assume that you’re dumb.

  Lilly looks at him thoughtfully but remains silent long enough for him to say, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  She angles her head. “So you think you know what I’m thinkin’?”

  A muscle ticks in his jaw. “Are you gonna make good on your bet, or are you just blowin’ smoke?” Boone finally asks, and then folds his muscular arms over his wide chest.

  “Might as well get it over with,” Lilly shoots back with her hands on her hips, and the sparks between them start to fly.

  “Come on, big boy. Show me what you got.”

  “Oh no you don’t,” Boone says, and holds his ground. “The deal was that you were supposed to kiss me, remember?”

  Lilly looks at me for help. “Um . . . ,” I begin, and then wince. “I have to say that Boone has a point. You said that you would kiss him.”

  Lilly narrows her eyes at me. “I am so gonna get you back for this.”

  Boone grins and looks as if he’s starting to enjoy himself. “Show me watcha got, little girl.”

  Lilly arches one delicate eyebrow. “You ever heard the saying ‘be careful what you ask for’?”

  Boone folds his hands and wiggles his fingers toward his chest. “Bring it on.”

  I jam my thumb in the direction of Tootsie’s purple building. “Um . . . I think I’ll just head back on in if it’s all the same to you guys,” I tell them, but neither Boone nor Lilly even spares me a glance. As I walk away, however, I can’t help but sneak a peek over my shoulder. I grin when I watch Lilly slowly approach Boone but at the last second she jumps up into his arms. He catches her easily, cupping her butt when she wraps her legs around his waist and then starts kissing her as though there’s no tomorrow.

  I have to shake my head since neither of them seems to be giving a thought to the fact that th
ey’re standing on a public sidewalk . . . but then again this is the Honky-Tonk Highway in the height of the summer. Everyone is partying and having a good ole time, so seeing a young couple kissing wildly on the street corner is pretty much business as usual.

  When I get back inside, Tootsie’s is wall-to-wall people and hopping with activity. One of the interesting things about the honky-tonks is that the crowd is a mixture of all ages. On the corner stool hugging the bar is a bearded, white-haired dude who appears old as dirt, and then standing near the steps is a circle of college-aged girls in low-slung jeans and belly-button rings. In the mix are always convention-attending businessmen in dress clothes rubbing elbows with farm-raised cowboys in Wranglers and Stetsons. One thing for certain is that everyone seems to be having a fun time.

  Tanner James is setting up at the tiny front stage and when he sees me pass he tips his hat and gives me a dimpled grin. When I notice a little more male attention come my way I feel a bit of feminine power . . . and I like it. With a lift of my chin I add a little wiggle to my hips as I approach Sam and Brandon sitting at the round table next to the Wall of Fame.

  “Where have you been?” Sam asks, although she doesn’t seem to have minded her time alone with Brandon. Not that I’m surprised, but I am pleased that he’s still by Sam’s side since it’s part of Lilly’s making-Luke-jealous plan that I’m not at all convinced will work. “Boone didn’t look too happy as he followed you two outside.”

  “Oh, I think he’s smiling, right about now.”

  Sam’s blue eyes widen. “What’s goin’ on? Spill, Macy.”

  I angle my head toward the front entrance. “Go look for yourself.” When Sam seems reluctant to leave Brandon, I say, “I’ll keep Brandon company. Trust me, you’ve got to take a peek but don’t let Lilly know I told you, okay?”

  When she glances up at Brandon he gives her a smile that convinces her that he’s staying put. “Be right back,” she assures him, and then hurries off.

  “Damn she’s cute,” Brandon observes as he watches her weave through the sardine-packed crowd.

  “Somebody’s smitten,” I observe in a singsong voice. “Has the mighty Brandon Sheldon finally met his match?”

  “Yeah, right,” he scoffs, and then tips back his beer bottle. “You know me, Macy. I’ll never settle down. I’m just sayin’ that she’s hot, that’s all.”

  “You hurt her and I’ll kick your butt into next week.”

  “Wow, you really care about these people that much already?”

  “Yeah, I do,” I tell him, but I realize that I truly mean it.

  Brandon smiles. “I’m happy for you, Macy. Luke says that this is a huge opportunity. You must be ecstatic.”

  “That’s an unexpected way of putting it.”

  “I do have a vocabulary. I went to three colleges, remember?” he jokes, but then looks a bit embarrassed.

  “I’m sorry, Brandon. I didn’t mean to imply that you don’t.”

  “No offense taken,” he says, and pats my hand so that I know he means it but then shrugs. “With Griff gettin’ hitched, you movin’ here, and Luke lookin’ at Division One colleges, I guess I’m feelin’ a little restless . . . like everyone is passin’ me by.”

  “At twenty-three you still have plenty of time to do whatever your heart desires, Brandon. Go back to school if you want to.”

  While toying with his beer bottle he looks at me with serious eyes. “That’s the problem. I’m not sure what direction to take . . . ,” he admits, but then shakes his shaggy head. “What the hell am I doin’? I’m here to have fun, not to rag on my sorry-ass life.”

  “First of all,” I tell him as I grab a cold Bud Light from the barmaid, “you don’t have a sorry-ass life just because you haven’t figured it all out yet, Brandon. Secondly, we’ll have all the fun you can handle tonight but I’m always here to bend an ear. You know that, right?”

  Brandon gives me a crooked smile. “Sometimes you understand me better than my own family, Macy. Mama’s always seemed disappointed in me and Griff likes to preach down to me. I know I’ve been a screw-off but still . . .”

  I point my beer bottle at him. “Look at it this way. Your mama is just worried like most parents. And Griff? Well Brandon, he’s just doin’ his best to be a father figure to you.”

  “Yeah, but he can be such a know-it-all pain in the ass.”

  Griff is one of the nicest guys I know but then again he’s not my older brother so I don’t argue. “Maybe, but I know one thing for sure—they both love you to pieces.”

  “I’ll give you that,” he agrees, and then gives me his usual bad-boy grin. “Even though I’ve given them reason not to.”

  “Their love is unconditional, Brandon. Remember that.”

  He nods. “Yeah well, just the same I think it’s about time I grow up, you know? Become more responsible.”

  “Growin’ up is overrated but yeah, I’ve been thinkin’ the same thing . . . about myself that is.”

  “But let’s start tomorrow, okay?”

  “Deal,” I tell him, and clink my bottle to his. When Sam comes back to our table his face lights up. She’s such a cute little thing and as far as I can tell sincere. Lilly says she always goes for the wrong guy and I know that Brandon has some issues but beneath his bad-boy ways is a good person waiting to surface. Maybe the right girl could bring it out in him, I think to myself as I watch them interact. I firmly tell myself not to meddle, ahh but still . . . wouldn’t it be fun if they ended up together?

  Tanner James starts his set with the Garth Brooks classic “Friends in Low Places.” Brandon, Sam, and I join the rest of the patrons in Tootsie’s and sing along. “Is it me or does beer make me sing better?” I lean over and ask them.

  “It’s you,” Brandon assures me, and Sam laughs.

  “Well, dang,” I tell them, but sing loud anyway. “And I’ve got friends . . . in low-o-o places!”

  When the song ends Tootsie’s erupts with cheers and whistles. With a grin Tanner reaches down and picks up his beer bottle. “Okay,” he shouts, “it’s time for a swaller and a holler.” He raises his bottle in the air and we follow his lead. “On the count of three . . . One, two, three!” Like Tanner we tip our beers back for a long pull and then shout, “Yee-haw!”

  Tanner mixes it up with some old-school Waylon Jennings and then appeals to the young crowd with Kenny Chesney’s “Summertime.” “He’s amazing,” I comment to Sam.

  “Yeah, Tammy likes him a lot. When he’s ready she said she’d listen to some demo tapes.”

  “Wow, she’d do that for him?”

  Sam nods. “She loves to give back.”

  “It blows my mind that she’s stayed so grounded,” I comment.

  “Oh she has her celebrity moments,” Sam divulges with a low chuckle. “But when she does, Lilly and I get her in line.”

  “Does she get ticked when y’all give her grief?” Brandon asks.

  “Nah, she wants it that way.” Sam nudges me with her elbow. “Look, here come Boone and Lilly. I guess they finally pried their lips apart,” she says with a grin. “It’s about time those two hooked up.”

  “Look,” I observe, “he’s grinnin’ already.”

  Sam leans in close to my ear so that Brandon can’t hear and says, “I betcha he has a big, happy smile on his face before the night is over.”

  I’m in the middle of a swallow of beer and almost spew it out my mouth. “Sam!”

  “What?” She opens her eyes wide. “I’m just sayin’ . . .”

  Instead of going back to his stool at the bar, Boone joins us at the table. Color is high in Lilly’s cheeks and I don’t think it has much to do with the summer heat. Boone politely pulls out a stool for Lilly and then scoots up to the table.

  “Boone, I’d like you to meet Brandon Sheldon. He’s a good friend of mine from Hootertown.”

  “Hey, Brandon,” Boone says over the music, and extends his arm across the table, carefully avoiding beer bottles. “Nice
to meet ya.”

  “Same here,” Brandon replies as he grasps Boone’s big hand.

  While they exchange a few words I lean over and say to Lilly, “Wow, you go, girlfriend.”

  Even in the dim lighting in the bar I can tell that she’s blushing. “Oh, hush.”

  “You can thank me later,” I tell her, but then regret my comment when her eyebrows shoot up.

  “And you can thank me when I get luscious Luke knocking down your door. Speaking of which, I do believe it’s time to put our little plan into action.”

  “About that—,” I begin, but she shakes her head.

  “Oh no you don’t. Remember when I said that turnabout is fair play?”

  “Um . . . yeah.”

  “Well, get ready.”

  15

  What a Difference a Kiss Makes

  I’m guessing that Lilly’s comment is somehow in reference to dancing with Tanner James since she turns her attention to the stage. After taking a guzzle of my beer I lean close to Lilly and ask in her ear, “Just what am I in store for here?”

  When her answer is a grin I start to get nervous, even though I have to admit that this is the most fun I’ve had in a while. Before I can ask again Tanner’s deep voice booms into the microphone.

  “Well, for those who don’t know me, I’ll tell y’all a little of my story. See, even though I’ve always wanted to sing and write my own songs, I never really considered doin’ this for a livin’ . . . so I traveled here and there doin’ odd jobs like workin’ on a ranch in Texas, an oil rig in Alaska, and well, a bunch of other things in between, most of which I pretty much wasn’t cut out for.”

  When Tanner pauses for laughter I glance over at Sam, hoping for a clue as to what’s going on, but she’s so into Brandon that she doesn’t even look my way.

  “One thing I did notice during my various stints all over the good ole USA was the beautiful women . . .” He pauses for cheers and whistles. “But I havta tell ya, there’s only one kinda girl for this cowboy—one who likes to cruise in her daddy’s pickup truck. One who likes to play hard when she’s down on her luck.” He pauses for cheers and some hell yeahs. “One who makes sweet rock and roll while she listens to country songs . . . Y’all need any more clues?”