Welcome Home, Cowboy

by Annie Rains

  Lawson glanced over. “I don’t get drunk anymore. That was the old Lawson, too.” He cranked the engine and reversed his truck.

  Julie folded her hands in her lap. “Why not?” she asked, already guessing. People didn’t just stop drinking unless there was a problem. She tallied that on the list of reasons not to be attracted to Lawson. She’d already dated one man with a substance abuse problem. She didn’t intend to date another.

  “I like being in control of what I say and do. I got tired of making a fool of myself. I drink one or two every now and then, but that’s it.”

  Julie nodded. People with true problems couldn’t stop at one or two. It was all or nothing. The tally mark moved to the reasons why Lawson wasn’t such a bad guy after all. “I see. So, how’s work?” she asked, looking for a neutral topic.

  Lawson glanced over. From the look on his face, he didn’t like her conversation starter. “Could be better,” he said.

  She could relate to that. “The Chow Bucket needs a person to dress up as a chicken if you need a job.”

  He glanced over again, this time amusement playing in his blue eyes.

  “But you’re a Marine, so that’s irrelevant.” She rubbed her sweaty palms on her thigh.

  His gaze flicked down before returning to the road. “Do I make you nervous, Julie?” he asked.

  “No.” She shook her head.

  “I think you might be telling a little fib.” He smiled and the air between them charged even more.

  Thank God they were only five minutes from her house. She could handle five minutes. She hoped. “Crowded bars make me nervous,” she explained. “It seemed like everyone in Seaside was at Heroes tonight. And it’s not even a weekend.”

  “They all must be having the same kind of week.”

  “Bad week?” she asked, knowing she probably shouldn’t. He was turning into her driveway and she didn’t want to extend their time together. The truth was, he did make her nervous.

  “You could say that.” Lawson parked.

  “What happened?”

  He shook his head, turning to look at her. There was something sad in his eyes; it made her want to reach out and touch him. That could be dangerous, though, because the tension between them was thick.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” he said.

  Julie reached for the door handle, begging herself to pull it and just walk away. “When I have a bad day, I do some breathing exercises and yoga. It helps.”

  Lawson raised a brow; his lips pulled into a small smile. “Thanks for the advice.”

  Julie nodded. “Anytime. See you around.” Then she pushed the door open and hopped out, exhaling as she put distance between herself and Lawson. She needed to do some breathing exercises of her own to slow her racing heart and collect her unruly thoughts, because right now she was in favor of saving a horse. Her hormones were all but holding picket signs to save all the horses in Seaside.

  Unlocking her front door, she turned and offered a small wave. Then she slipped inside and exhaled sharply. She had to stop running into Lawson. She’d forgotten the probability of running into someone you didn’t want to see in a small town. She’d just have to start avoiding the local attractions. Until her attraction to him fizzled.

  Chapter 5

  The clock ticked loudly on the wall in front of Lawson. Work had never been so torturous in his life. His job had always consisted of variously scheduled adrenaline rushes, not sitting at a desk for hours at a time shoving paper from one bin to another.

  Torture. He’d rather be caught behind enemy lines. At least then adrenaline, his drug of choice, would be pumping inside his body. His blood right now felt like one long-ass slug. Except when he thought of Julie outside the bar last Wednesday night. Then his blood rushed to all areas of his body. She’d had on tight pants and a tighter T-shirt that showed off two of his favorite things, he remembered. Even more attractive than that was her complete discomfort sharing space with him, and it wasn’t because she hated him. Nope. He could tell when a woman was attracted to him, and with Julie the sparks were flying.

  Someone knocked and Lawson looked up at BJ lurking in his doorway.

  “What do you want, Johnson?” Lawson asked, straightening. All he needed was one good excuse to use the jackass’s face as a punching bag.

  “We’re at work now, Captain. Let’s keep things professional,” Lieutenant Johnson said. He was standing rod straight, exemplifying phony excellence. BJ was anything but excellent, though.

  If possible, Lawson hated the guy even more.

  “I was told you were looking at my leave request,” Johnson continued.

  Lawson shrugged, reminding himself to think things through like Dr. Pierce had taught him to do in his last session with her. “I haven’t reviewed it yet. Might take a while.”

  BJ’s expression faltered just a fraction. “How long?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I’m taking my new role here very seriously. Reading every word and considering every possible plan of action.”

  Johnson tilted his head. “Shouldn’t you be in a helicopter somewhere, Captain? Why aren’t you doing that these days? I’ve heard you’ve been seeing a psychologist. Everything okay?” He feigned a look of concern.

  Lawson smiled so wide it hurt his face. What had Dr. Pierce told him? That smiling released chemicals, even when the smile was fake. “That leave request isn’t ready, Lieutenant Johnson. Now get out of my office.”

  BJ poked his tongue inside his cheek. “Yes, sir. I’ll see you at Heroes. Oh, and stop trying to steal my ladies. Get your own, Captain Phillips. Or are you having problems getting up for the ladies, too?”

  Bastard.

  Lawson didn’t reply. He was BJ’s superior. If he wanted to he could cause real trouble for the lieutenant. Instead, he glared at his guest until he left. At least some of Dr. Pierce’s advice had helped. He hadn’t lost his cool and sent BJ to the ER, which would’ve been his preference. Pulling BJ’s leave request out, Lawson signed it because BJ leaving Seaside and Camp Leon for any amount of time was a good thing. Leaving indefinitely would be better. Lawson slid the paper aside and glanced at the clock again with a sigh. He doubted Dr. Pierce’s other advice, or order, would do him any good. Going to an exercise class tonight promised to be even less fun than the first half of his day.

  —

  Julie sat in the Veterans’ Center parking lot as nervous energy bubbled through her. She hadn’t been this excited about something in a long time. It wasn’t just passing on the exercise she loved. Teaching this yoga class had the potential to do more. And the Marines who returned home from who-knew-what deserved more.

  Lawson came to mind. She knew from talking to Kat that he was dealing with some heavy things since returning from his last deployment. She vaguely remembered hearing about an accident he’d been involved in during his time in Afghanistan. He didn’t seem like the type of guy to enjoy it, but she wished when she’d suggested deep breathing and yoga to him at Heroes last week, that she’d invited him to her class. She hadn’t thought she was the yoga type either, until she’d tried it.

  Of course telling Lawson about the class would’ve meant spending more time with him. There was a chemical reaction that took place in her body when he walked into the room. Even though she knew getting involved with another man was a bad idea right now, her body wasn’t getting the message. Her body was like a dog begging for a treat. And since her body was obviously starving, she was going to feed it tonight with exercise. Solo exercise, not the kind that involved a certain cowboy Marine with twilight eyes and a jawline that she wanted to kiss for a reason she couldn’t explain. She wanted to start on his bottom lip and sink down to his chin, planting kisses up along his angled jaw straight to his ear. Then she wanted to whisper all the naughty things she wanted him to do to her.

  Groaning, she grabbed her yoga mat and headed inside the Veterans’ Center ten minutes early.

  “Hey, Julie,” Allison said as Julie passed the f
ront desk. “I’m so excited about this class.”

  Julie grinned. “Me, too. How many people should I be expecting tonight?”

  Allison lifted a shoulder. “I spoke to my mother this morning. She said she’s advised about eight Marines to come. She also asked if you’d keep attendance so she can make sure they’re fulfilling her orders. Do you mind?”

  Julie shook her head. “Not at all.”

  “Great. I’m on my way out, but call me if you need anything.”

  “I will.” Julie waved and headed toward the back classroom. It was a spacious room that would easily fit eight macho Marines—who might not want to do yoga for the next hour. She was well aware that some of the men, or women, might be forced to be here. That they might not actually want to learn what she was teaching. That was okay; she’d win them over.

  She sat and took a deep breath, waiting for the first person to arrive.

  “Hi.” A short Asian woman walked into the classroom with a bright, energetic smile. “I’m Rose.”

  “You’re a Marine?” Julie asked.

  Rose laughed. “Yes. Is this the yoga class?”

  The breath whooshed out of Julie’s chest. Rose looked friendly. And she looked like she wanted to be here. “Yes. Please come in.”

  Four men walked in next. And they didn’t look like they were being marched to the firing squad, either. By seven o’clock, there were seven members of the military seated on yoga mats in front of her.

  “Okay. Looks like it’s time to start. I’m Julie Chandler and I’ll be your yoga instructor for the next month.” She proceeded to tell a little bit about herself and how yoga had changed her life. She hoped it’d have an even bigger impact on the lives of the people in front of her. “So let’s sit cross-legged and take a moment to quietly focus on breathing.”

  Everyone in the room followed her lead. It was going smoothly, and then she hit a road bump.

  She heard the sound of the person’s heavy sneakers before turning and seeing his face. And, was it her imagination or did the man before her look as confused as she was?

  “Yoga?” Lawson placed a hand on his hip. Dressed in nylon shorts and a large T-shirt with the sleeves cut out, he looked like he was ready to step into a boxing ring more than strike a Warrior Pose. Everyone else had on tightly fitted clothing that would stick to their bodies while doing the positions. “This is the exercise class?” he asked.

  She nodded. “This is the class for stress reduction.”

  If she wasn’t mistaken, his eyes darkened.

  “Figures.” He started to walk to a spot in the back.

  “You need to take off your shoes,” she said, watching him. “And grab a mat from along the wall, please.”

  All of the other Marines were watching him, too. He was older than most of them, and, she guessed, higher ranking. Lawson kicked off his sneakers and grabbed a mat, then proceeded to set up as Julie instructed the others to stand and explained the first pose. Her confidence was shaken, though. What was Lawson doing here? Whatever the reason, he certainly didn’t look happy about it.

  “All right, everyone. Hands up over your heads, lift your face up to the ceiling and arch back. Breathe.” She inhaled deeply through her nose, trying not to think about Lawson in the back of the room, watching her. Or actually, not watching her. “Bring your hands back to center,” she said, taking a peek in his direction. Yes, he was watching, but he wasn’t doing the movements. “Spread your legs wide, turn your front foot to point at me, your body faces the wall. Arms out to the sides. This is Warrior Two Pose,” she said.

  The others in the class imitated her movements. Lawson, however, did not. She brought her legs back together and decided it was time for a little one-on-one instruction. She sprinkled a few words of praise and guidance to the others in the room as she made her way to the tall, lean guy in the back corner.

  “Do you need help?” she asked.

  “Me?” He laughed. “No, I don’t need any help,” he said a little too loudly.

  He was embarrassed to be here, and he wanted to make sure everyone knew it wasn’t by choice.

  “But you’re not doing the poses,” she said, crossing her arms and looking at him. She could tell what he was thinking. He thought yoga was stupid. Silly. “If you’re going to be in this class, you need to participate. This isn’t a spectator sport.”

  Lawson shook his head. “This isn’t sport, period. Or exercise.” He looked around at the others, who were all tuned in and watching them as they held the pose.

  A lot of good this was doing for their stress levels, watching their instructor argue with one of their colleagues.

  “It is exercise,” she said through tight lips.

  “Exercise is a five-mile run. Forty-five minutes in the weight room. This is stretching.”

  Julie took a deep breath, pushing down the anger that was bubbling up inside her. “I’m sorry you feel that way. You can leave now, Captain Phillips.”

  He rubbed a hand along his five o’clock shadow. Despite her increasing fury, she wanted to rub a hand across his new growth, too.

  “I wish I could, but, uh…” He looked around. “I have orders to be here. I’m guessing everyone else in this room does, too. So I’m staying.”

  Damn. “Then you’re participating or you won’t be counted as present. Spread your legs,” she ordered, raising her voice.

  He gave her a long, hard look. She guessed few people ever ordered Lawson Phillips around. With a sigh, he mimicked her earlier pose. Julie placed her hands on his front hips, turning them outward as he bent his knee. She would’ve done that for any student, but he wasn’t just any student. The touch zinged through her. If she didn’t want to punch him right now, she might be tempted to continue running her hands over his taut, muscled body.

  “There,” she said, pulling away. She walked back to the front of the class and led the group through the rest of the moves, ignoring Lawson’s mumbled jokes. It wasn’t funny to her. She was here, donating her time to help people. And she needed this trial program to be a success. If she had people like Lawson in the class making it look like a joke, her proposal wouldn’t go any further than this one-month trial.

  As the hour passed, he halfheartedly copied her poses, but the others seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was a relaxed look on their faces, which made Julie feel like she’d done something worthwhile.

  “Namaste.” She placed her hands in a prayer position in front of her chest and bowed to the class. “All right, everyone. I hope to see you all on Wednesday night.”

  People began to roll up their mats and collect their shoes. Julie tried not to, but she couldn’t help listening to Lawson talking to two of the guys he knew.

  “I’m here because I was told to be here. Just following orders.” He laughed loudly.

  The two men laughed along with him.

  “Same here, Captain,” one said. “I’d rather be doing PT in the desert.”

  Julie clenched her teeth tightly. She was never this tense after doing yoga.

  “Thank you so much for this,” a woman’s voice said, tearing Julie from Lawson’s conversation in the back. It was Rose.

  “I feel good.” Rose’s eyes crinkled in the corners as she smiled. There was a healthy glow to her face.

  “You’re welcome.” Just to help one person. That was the original goal in her proposal. She could help more, though, if Lawson would stop talking them out of it. Julie glanced toward him again.

  “I read that yoga can help with insomnia,” Rose continued. “I’ve tried everything. Even sleeping pills. I can’t work with the pills, though.”

  “This isn’t a magic fix, but your body will thank you if you keep doing it.” Julie forced herself to take a breath and focus on Rose.

  “Well, I plan on being back on Wednesday,” Rose said with a wide smile.

  “Good. I’ll see you then.” She watched Rose leave, following a few others out. She hoped they’d all be back, despite Lawson’s
attitude. All except him. He could stay away. Far, far away.

  —

  Lawson rolled up the mat he’d borrowed from the corner and put it away, planning to go talk to Julie just as soon as the woman she was talking to left. When he turned around, though, Julie was gone. The look she’d given him at the end of the class hadn’t gone unnoticed. She was pissed.

  Guilt gnawed at his gut. He was a Marine, though. Oo-rah! He didn’t wear tight clothes and do yoga on rectangular rubber mats. He didn’t do counseling either, but in order to please the higher-ups, and keep his job, he needed to.

  He left the room and started walking. She couldn’t have gone too far. The least he could do was apologize, and hope she didn’t give him the boot and ban him from coming to the next class. Because he had no doubt Dr. Pierce would make good on her offer to give him less appealing orders. When he got to the end of the hallway, he looked in both directions. No sign of her. He made his way to the parking lot and looked for her old Honda Civic. It was gone. She must have gone home immediately after dismissing the class, which meant she’d had enough for one day. He’d hurt her feelings, and now she was going to go to bed thinking he was a big, fat jerk.

  The idea of her going to bed with him on her mind was a good one. But not if she was envisioning beating him with her rolled-up yoga mat. He shook his head, heading for his truck. A soreness was already setting in along his inner calf muscle. He hadn’t even given the moves his full effort and he was sore. The music was peaceful, too. If he had given the exercise half a shot, he might be relaxed right about now. If nothing else, watching Julie in those tight, stretchy pants, contorting her body into positions that had his imagination running wild, was a good distraction.

  “Lawson? Hey.” A woman’s voice sliced through the darkness and the building arousal in his pants. Shoot. Him. Now. He was in no mood for Melanie Harris.

  The brunette giggled. “I saw your truck in the parking lot, so I pulled in. I wanted to thank you for the other night. You were a hero at the bar. Who knows what that creep would’ve done to me.” Mel stepped closer and before he knew what was happening, her hand was on his chest. He would’ve taken a step backward, but his truck was behind him.