Kiss Me Cowboy (Cowboys of Crested Butte Book 3)

by Heather Slade

  Bree handed him a bottle, went into the living room, and sat on the sofa. Jace sat next to her and took a sip of his drink. “Interesting day.”

  “That’s an understatement.”

  They sat in silence while he finished his beer and she drank a glass of wine.

  “I should go,” he said and stood.

  “Right. Um, thanks again for your help today.”

  “Sure thing.” He walked to the door and she followed. “See you tomorrow?”

  “Sounds good.”

  He was about to walk out the door when she said his name.

  “Yeah?” he turned around.

  “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “No thanks necessary, darlin’.”

  “Mornin’,” Jace said when Bree walked in her parents’ kitchen.

  “Where is everybody?”

  “Out for breakfast.”

  “Why didn’t you go?”

  “I was waitin’ for you.” He was reading the newspaper and intentionally didn’t look up when he spoke.

  “Where are they? I’ll go meet them.”

  “They’ll be back soon. I’ll make you somethin’ if you’re hungry.”

  “This is my—”

  “Don’t do it,” he cautioned.

  “What?”

  “Don’t say whatever it is you’re thinkin’.”

  “What makes you think I’m thinking anything?”

  When he stood and walked toward her, she walked in the opposite direction.

  “Bree, you runnin’ away from me?”

  “No.”

  “What would you like for breakfast?”

  “Nothing. And I should be asking you that question. We’re in my parents’ house.”

  He smiled, and she did too.

  “How about some eggs?”

  “Okay, I mean…”

  “How do you like them, darlin’?”

  “Whatever you make will be fine.”

  He went over to the refrigerator and pulled out eggs, some cheese, and vegetables. “How ’bout an omelet?”

  “You don’t have to—”

  He held up his hand. “I want to.”

  “Why?”

  He had no idea how to explain it, even to himself. He’d made a commitment to Blythe. She was his first priority, and even if she didn’t love him now, he hoped she would someday. Yet, he found himself thinking about Bree just as much as her sister.

  Granted he couldn’t remember the last time he had sex, and Blythe being pregnant with his brother’s baby didn’t exactly stoke his fire. Maybe that was why Bree made him feel so…horny when she was near.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Huh? Nothing, why?”

  “You have a funny look on your face.”

  “Somethin’ I need to do, that I forgot about.”

  “Interesting.”

  “What?”

  “The look on your face.”

  It wasn’t his face he was worried about, it was another part of his body. If she noticed that, she’d know exactly what he’d been thinking about.

  What made it worse, if that was possible, was he was thinking about sex with her, not just sex. What was wrong with him?

  “Jace, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I gotta get somethin’ out of my truck. Be right back.” It wasn’t something he needed to get, it was something he needed to get rid of, namely his raging hard-on.

  He came back a few minutes later.

  “What did you need to get?”

  “Huh?”

  “You said you had to get something out of your truck, but you didn’t bring anything back in with you.”

  “Oh, right. I left it at Billy’s. That’s what took me so long; I was looking for it.”

  “What was it? If it’s something important, maybe you could borrow it from my dad.”

  Just when he felt it coming back, he heard the garage door open, and Paige walked in. Thank God.

  “Sorry we missed you, sweetie. How long have you been here? You could’ve come and joined us.”

  Sexual frustration. That’s what Tucker felt when he woke up a little past noon. The weird part was, he had no desire to have sex.

  The other thing he was feeling was the overpowering urge to talk to someone in his family. It didn’t matter who, his mom, his dad, or his brother. Any of them. He missed them so much. If he contacted them, though, they’d try to talk him into coming back. And that was something he couldn’t do.

  15

  Blythe was settled in her room, taking a nap. They hadn’t gone shopping, but concentrated instead on getting everything unpacked. Paige and Mark came and helped, too. It was almost six o’clock before they finished.

  “I didn’t realize she had this much stuff,” said Paige.

  “When was the last time you were in her bedroom?” Bree asked.

  “God knows.”

  “It was packed full of crap.”

  “Like your dad.”

  “Who’s hungry?” Mark smiled.

  “I am,” answered Paige. “Are you cooking or buying?”

  “Buying, definitely. I’m too tired to cook.”

  “Good. I want someone to bring me a nice glass of wine, a fabulous meal, and then clean everything up when I’m finished.”

  “Jace, will you join us?” Bree asked.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “How about you, Lyric? We’re buying,” added Mark.

  “Should we check and see if Blythe wants to go with us?” Lyric asked.

  “Yeah, or if she wants us to bring her back something.” Jace and Bree both started toward her door.

  “You go,” she said.

  “No, I’m sorry. Your house. You go.”

  When she came back out, she told them Blythe was sound asleep. Paige suggested they leave a note and tell her to call when she woke up, and they’d bring something back for her.

  Jace was outside with Mark when Bree came out.

  “What?” Bree asked when Jace looked at her.

  “Nothing.” It was a whole hell of a lot more than nothing, but he wouldn’t tell her that.

  Blythe woke in a cold sweat. Her stomach was cramping. She got up and made her way into the bathroom. Blood. Oh, no. God, no. She couldn’t be losing the baby. Where was everybody? Why was she here alone?

  When they came back from dinner, Bree went to check on Blythe.

  “Call an ambulance!” she screamed.

  Jace raced in, already calling 9-1-1. “What happened?” He stopped when he saw Blythe on the floor.

  “Oh, God. No.” He scooped her up and carried her out of the bathroom. He could hear the sirens already.

  Tucker got a chill. Someone walked across his grave; that’s what his grandmother would’ve said. He couldn’t shake the feeling. There were only two other times in his life he’d felt this way. They were the worst two days of his life.

  He didn’t care what it cost him; he had to call Jace. Something was terribly wrong, and he had to find out what.

  He pulled out his burner phone and punched in Jace’s number. It rang and rang on the other end. Tucker tried again. After the fifth try, he left a message.

  “It’s Tuck. Call me.” He left the number on Jace’s voicemail and hung up.

  The ambulance took Blythe to Memorial Hospital and straight into the emergency room. Paige and Mark were with her. Bree looked frightened, and Jace wished he could comfort her, but he was as frightened as she was. Every so often, their eyes met, but neither spoke.

  Lyric was back and forth between the waiting room and outside. Jace pulled his phone out to check the time. Five missed calls and one message, all from a number he didn’t recognize. He tried to slip the phone back into his pocket without Bree noticing. He’d wait a couple of minutes, until Lyric came back in, then he’d go out and listen to the message. He looked at Bree.

  “Did you hear from him?”

  “Maybe
.”

  “Did he leave a message?”

  “I think so.”

  “Listen to it.”

  He didn’t know how Bree knew, but she did. He pulled the phone out and listened to the voice mail. It was Tucker all right, and he wanted him to call him back. What the hell was he going to tell him? He didn’t know what was going on himself.

  “What should I do, Bree?” he asked. The question slipped out.

  “Call him, and tell him to get his fucking ass here as fast as he can.”

  “But what—”

  “Call him, Jace. Now.”

  Jace went outside. He couldn’t talk to Tuck while Bree listened.

  “Hey,” Tuck answered.

  “Where the fuck are you?”

  “I’m nowhere.”

  “If I could, I’d reach through this phone and beat the shit out of you. Answer me—where the fuck are you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “You need to get your ass back here as soon as you can, no matter what it takes to make it happen.”

  “What’s going on, Jace?”

  He heard the desperation in his brother’s voice. Where to start? “You’re about to lose your baby, asshole.” Jace hung up. There wasn’t anything more he could say. It was up to Tuck now. He either came or he didn’t.

  “Well?” Bree asked when he walked back in.

  “He’s on his way. I think.”

  “You think?”

  “It’s up to him now, Bree.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “Enough.” Jace prayed it was.

  His baby? What was Jace talking about? He couldn’t have a baby. He’d only been with Blythe since before Thanksgiving. Then the accident happened. There couldn’t be a baby. Jace wouldn’t fuck with him about something like this, though. If his brother said there was a baby, there had to be one. If there was a baby, Blythe was pregnant.

  He left the bar. He didn’t tell anyone he was leaving. He didn’t go back to his room. He kept his ID and money strapped to his body. He couldn’t afford to lose either, so he kept them on him at all times. There wasn’t anything else in his room he would need.

  When he got to the private airstrip, he found someone who agreed to fly him to the States, for the right price. Tucker reached in and gave the man twice what he’d asked for.

  Five hours later, they landed on another private airstrip outside Colorado Springs. It was 3:00 AM, and there was a car waiting for him. Amazing what he could accomplish by throwing enough cash at it.

  Tucker called Jace. “I’m here. Where are you?”

  “Memorial Hospital.” Jace hung up on him again.

  Twenty minutes later, Tucker pulled up in front the emergency room and saw Jace outside, waiting for him.

  “I’ll park it. Go in there and beg them to tell you something. You’ll have to tell them you’re the baby’s father.”

  He grasped the door and held on until he was sure he could put one foot in front of the other. He saw Bree and Lyric standing inside. Both looked as though they wanted to kill him. He understood how they felt—he wanted to kill himself more than both of them put together.

  He watched as Bree walked over to the desk. She pointed at him.

  “You’re sure?” the nurse asked as he approached.

  “Yes. I’m sure,” Bree answered.

  “Come with me.” The nurse led him through the double doors.

  Tucker closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened the door to Blythe’s room when the nurse told him it was okay to go in.

  The look on Paige and Mark’s faces mirrored that of Bree and Lyric a few minutes before. Neither spoke to him. Paige walked out of the room.

  “What’s happening?” he asked Mark, praying Blythe’s father would grant him the grace of telling him.

  “We almost lost both of them tonight. But for now, they’re both stable.”

  “Both?”

  “Blythe and your baby, you sonuvabitch.”

  Tucker could feel the rage coming off of Mark as he walked past him and out the door.

  He sat in a chair next to the bed and held Blythe’s hand. It was cold. He looked her up and down, and laid his hand on the swell of her stomach. She looked at him, put her hand on top of his, and then closed her eyes again. He thought maybe she hadn’t woken up completely. But no, he knew she had seen him when tears streaked her cheeks.

  He didn’t move for three hours. Periodically, someone would come in to check on her, but they didn’t speak to him. They’d check her pulse and blood pressure, and then leave.

  An hour later, Blythe woke up for the second time. “Why are you here?”

  “Jace called me.”

  Jace called him? That meant Jace had known how to get in touch with him all along? Blythe felt as though her heart was being ripped out of her chest. Jace, the one she trusted, the one she believed in, had been lying to her.

  “Get the hell out,” she spat.

  “Blythe, I’m so sorry—”

  “Get. Out.”

  Monitors started beeping, and a nurse rushed in.

  “Her blood pressure is spiking. You need to leave.” Her voice was low and soft, but the way she said the words, she might as well have been screaming at him.

  “What’s going on?” Jace asked when Tucker came back out the double doors.

  “Blood pressure. They wanted me to leave for a minute.” Not exactly the truth, but he had every intention of going back in as soon as they’d let him.

  “Have you talked?”

  “Not very much.”

  Jace pulled his brother by the arm, away from Blythe’s family.

  “Talk. Now.”

  “She asked me why I was here, that’s about it.”

  “And what did you say?”

  “I told her you called me.”

  Jace’s head was spinning. Tucker told her he’d called him? He hadn’t called him, he called him back. Up until a few hours ago, Jace hadn’t known how to reach him. He could only imagine what Blythe was thinking. She’d think he lied to her. That he’d betrayed her. He had to get in to see her, to explain.

  When he approached the nurse in the waiting area and asked if he could go back, she asked him his name.

  “No. I’m sorry. Ms. Cochran has left explicit instructions that neither Jace nor Tucker Rice be permitted in to see her.”

  “But—”

  “If I’m forced to, I’ll have security remove you from hospital property.”

  Jace noticed that Bree, the last person he wanted to overhear their conversation, had.

  “What have you done?” Bree asked.

  He took her arm to guide her away from Tucker, but she jerked it away. “If she’s refusing to see you, there must be a good reason,” her voice was venomous.

  “It’s a misunderstanding.”

  “Right.” She turned to walk away, and Jace grabbed her arm again. When she spun around to face him, he was sure she was going to slap him. By the look on her face, she’d intended to, but stopped herself.

  “She thinks I called Tucker. Which I did, but as you know, I called him back. There’s a big difference.”

  “She thinks you knew where he was all along.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Did you?”

  “Bree, you and I have had our differences, but if I had known where Tucker was, you know I would’ve said so.”

  She seemed skeptical, but the look of hatred that had been in her eyes moments before was gone. She was at least considering he was telling the truth.

  “Bree Fox? Is there someone here named Bree Fox?” There was an orderly standing by the double doors leading back into the emergency room, calling her name.

  “I’m Bree Fox,” she answered, walking in his direction.

  “Your sister would like you to come back.”

  “Please, Bree. Tell her. Please,” Jace implored.

  She met his eyes, but didn’t answer.

  “Are they still out ther
e?” Blythe asked.

  “Of course, they are, sweetie, and they aren’t going anywhere.”

  “I’ve had it with the two of them. I don’t want anything to do with either of them.”

  “Blythe, you know I am not Jace’s biggest fan, quite honestly, I don’t like him. But even I believe he’s been telling the truth. If he’d known where Tucker was all this time, he would’ve said so.”

  “Bullshit. The two of them have been using me in a tug-of-war since the day I met them. Jace saw this as his opportunity to win me over. Tucker’s gone, he’s the hero. How can you not see through it? I can’t believe he has you snowed.”

  “Tucker called him, and Jace called him back. I saw it unfold.”

  “Did you hear their conversation?”

  Bree shook her head.

  “It doesn’t matter anyway. Tucker is back, so Jace is off the hook. It makes no difference that I don’t intend to have anything to do with Tucker. His obligation to take care of his brother’s cast-off and her bastard child are over.”

  “Blythe!” Bree gasped.

  “What? I knew it was a game all along. My only mistake was having sex with one of them. I’ll pay for that mistake for the rest of my life.”

  “You can’t possibly think this baby is a mistake.”

  “Not the baby—the baby’s father. We may be tied together by this child—that’s if Tucker doesn’t disappear again—but otherwise, I plan to have as little as possible to do with him or his family.”

  “What have they said about the bleeding?”

  “They said I have partial placenta previa. Mom said she had it when she was pregnant with me. I don’t understand it, but for now, I’m on bed rest.”

  “Will they let you go home at least?”

  “I think so, but they’re waiting to run more tests. I may have to have a blood transfusion.”

  16

  Tucker went outside to wait. He couldn’t stand being in the waiting area with Blythe’s parents. He knew what they thought of him for leaving. He had his reasons, and seeing Blythe in that bed, knowing she and her baby were still at risk, made him want to catch the first plane right back out of there.