The Outlaw Takes A Bride: A Historical Western Romance (Bernstein Sisters Historical Cowboy Romance Series Book 5)

by Amy Field

  Linda broke free from her new admirer’s embrace and almost toppled ahead. Cal moved slightly away from Janie.

  “Cal Bailey,” Linda tooted, “my ex-boyfriend. This is James.”

  She made a wavering move with her arm towards the mixer.

  “It is John, actually,” the mixer intervened.

  “Shut up, James,” Linda retorted. She swept her hands along her side. “If you want this, you will just shut your mouth.”

  And that is what John did.

  Call and Janie just stood there in silence.

  “Cal Bailey,” Linda repeated, “my ex-boyfriend. What does that make you?” she turned her complete attention to Janie. “A sloppy second?”

  She started to laugh hysterically. John, the mixer, was flabbergasted first. Linda glanced at him angrily. He did not need any further instruction, he broke into laughter as if he had just heard the best pun ever.

  Cal still did not say a word.

  “I think we better go,” Janie whispered.

  Cal turned around and walked away just like that. Janie felt suddenly very low. He did not defend her, he did not even say goodbye. She had nothing left except Linda’s malicious laughter ringing in her ears like an alarm clock signaling that a wonderful night had just ended and she better woke up immediately.

  “You do not have to do this,” Janie said calmly to Linda. She turned around and walked away towards the dorm.

  “I hope you have plans for where you are going to spend the night,” Linda shouted after her. “Unless, of course, you want to witness what James is made of.”

  Janie turned back and Linda threw herself into John’s arms. She started to kiss him all over savagely.

  “I’m sleeping in the common room,” Janie shouted back.

  She turned back towards the dorm and headed straight to the entrance. She felt so angry, she could not have stood spending the rest of the night in the same room with Linda, anyway. Even if James did not come. Or John. Or whatever.

  Chapter 9

  Day came after day and Janie tried her best to get rid of Cal’s memory. She did not go to the dining hall anymore – not even late in the evening. She packed her stuff and was ready to move out of the dorm. When she told her mother, she did not understand. Was it not what she wanted, moving to the campus at the first place? Did anybody hurt her? Her Mum’s useless questioning only made Janie even more furious. At the end, her mother assured her that she would be happy having her back at home, again. And just like that, it was settled.

  The only issue was that Janie and Cal were still lab partners. And there she could not avoid meeting him. Luckily, there was a test writing scheduled on the next lab, so, at least she did not have to talk to him.

  Moriarty handed out the test sheets.

  “You have exactly 45 minutes to complete the tests,” he said. “Good luck to all of you.”

  Cal sat next to Janie and tried his best to gain her attention. After the test started, he had to give up on his hopeless efforts.

  Janie did not think that it was going to be so bad. She could not focus, could not even read the questions. The words did not make sense, the letters looked like they belonged to the Chinese alphabet. For twenty minutes she sat over the test, not managing to answer a single question. All she felt was a deep longing and a terrible pain – and the cause of her feelings was sitting right next to her in arm’s reach. She could not handle it any longer.

  Furiously, she jumped onto her feet and smashed the sheet down onto Moriarty’s table.

  “Already done?” he asked, “I like the spirit.”

  Janie did not answer her professor. She stormed out of the classroom. Crying was upon her again. Although, she did not care much about what most of the students thought, she was not going to break down into tears in front of Cal again.

  She run down the corridor towards the exit. Once she found herself outside of the chemistry department’s building, she collapsed onto the grass and started to cry. Luckily, there were not too many students around – and even those who were did not pay attention.

  “What’s the matter?” she heard Cal, and for a second she thought it was only her imagination.

  Then her eyes popped open, her vision cleared up, and she saw that Cal was indeed standing in front of her. He kneeled down and attempted to wipe Janie’s tears away with a tissue. Janie did not let him do it – she took the tissue and wiped her cheeks dry herself.

  “Okay,” Cal shrugged his shoulders, “could you tell me what is going on?”

  “I failed the test,” Janie hummed.

  “Yeah,” Cal replied calmly, “I saw that. But what is wrong?”

  “What do you think, what is wrong?” Janie replied angrily.

  Cal looked at her with inspecting eyes.

  “I honestly do not know,” he muttered.

  Janie sprang up onto her feet.

  “Then I do not think that I can explain it to you,” she cried and turned away from Cal. Before she could leave him, he took a step forward and grabbed her arm from behind.

  “Listen,” Cal said, “please, do not leave just like that.”

  “Why not?” Janie turned back. “What does it matter, anyway?”

  Cal pulled her closer to himself.

  “It matters,” he whispered.

  “It sure does not seem like that,” Janie replied.

  Cal sighed.

  “Do you have any plans for the afternoon?” he asked.

  Janie broke free from Cal’s grip.

  “Do not dare having pity on me,” she snarled at Cal.

  Cal shook his head.

  “Please,” he said, “do not do this. Why can you not trust me?”

  Janie shrugged her shoulders.

  “You gave me no reason to trust you.”

  Cal embraced her onto his chest. He whispered into her ear.

  “Give me a chance to give you a reason,” he said softly. “Want to go out with me tonight?”

  “Maybe,” Janie muttered. Actually, there was nothing else she wanted more but she did not want to let Cal get away with it so easily.

  “I will pick you up around seven,” he said.

  “Okay,” Janie nodded. They broke away from each other. For a second Janie expected a kiss. But just then Cal’s buddies flooded out of the chemistry department and hollered towards their duo.

  Cal stiffened.

  “Listen,” he said, “I have to go. But I will pick you up at your dorm at seven.”

  He did not wait for answer, just turned around and left towards his buddies, running. Janie was tempted to cancel their whole arrangement for the evening, but frankly, she simply did not have enough time.

  Chapter 10

  A couple of hours after Cal picked her up, Janie felt comfortable again. They went off-campus. The dinner was awesome, the movie funny. They ended up in a car park on the top of a hill. Cal sat her beside him on his Mustang’s engine hood and they watched the lights of the city below them. It was a sparkling moment.

  “Listen,” Cal said, “I hope you feel okay.”

  Janie dragged herself closer to Cal.

  “I sure do,” she whispered.

  Cal threw an arm around her shoulders. The car park was empty, the night young. He turned his head and kissed her.

  “I skipped an evening training session for this,” Cal said, “but I had never made a better decision.”

  Janie just giggled. She felt Cal’s hand starting to explore her body under her shirt. She did not oppose him, she could not resist him. On the contrary, she got even braver since that last, first time. Her hands run circles on the smooth skin covering Cal’s chest and back. Then she reached down to his belt and popped it open.

  “You want it here?” Cal asked. His breathing accelerated, he followed up each of his words with a slight moan.

  “Or more like inside there,” Janie pointed at the Mustang. Cal grabbed her hand and pulled Janie onto the back seats. They ended up in mad kissing. Janie’s hand slipp
ed inside Cal’s pants. She touched it first with the tip of her fingers, then grabbed it, wrapping her delicate palm around the throbbing, pulsating monstrosity. Cal started to undress her with wild, passionate moves. Janie’s shirt did not come off without suffering some light damage. They started to laugh. After Cal was done, Janie undressed him completely with, slow and gentle moves which drove Cal out of her right mind. Finally, Janie took a seat in Cal’s bare lap. She reached down and aimed him inside her.

  This time Janie dictated the rhythm and they lasted a lot longer. Just before Cal came, he lifted Janie up and emptied his load onto the back of the front seat.

  Janie laughed.

  “That is some ugly mess you make around yourself,” she kidded him.

  “It is some sweet mess, you make around me,” Cal replied.

  They reluctantly put their clothes back on and drove back to the campus. Cal dropped Janie off at the dorm. A couple of Linda’s cheerleader friends just arrived home.

  “Listen,” Cal said keeping an eye on the other girls, “I hope you are not going nuts again.”

  Janie smiled at him. She did not even try to kiss Cal this time.

  “That depends on you,” she said and walked away.

  She heard the Mustang darting ahead, and waited until the noise of the engine faded away towards the direction of Cal’s fraternity house.

  The cheerleader girls just stood there flabbergasted.

  So, Janie thought, Cal would not kiss her in front of others.

  It did not matter, she thought, because she had a plan.

  Chapter 11

  A couple of days later Janie went to Cal’s fraternity house with a single reason in her mind. She wanted Cal to recognize her as her girlfriend in front of his best friends. Everybody knew what was going on between the two of them by then and she felt that her move would just make it easier for Cal to make this official.

  It was late in the afternoon and many of the football players lingered around the house. Janie approached one of them she knew from chemistry class.

  “Hey, Dillon,” she greeted him a little sheepishly. For her great relief Dillon was not even surprised that he saw her around the fraternity house.

  “Hey, Janie,” he said with a considerable amount of respect in his tone. “Are you looking for Cal?”

  Janie’s heart jumped. Cal’s best friend recognizing her as a girl who belonged to Cal was almost as good as kissing Cal openly in front of everyone.

  “Yes,” Janie said, “do you know where I can find him?”

  Dillon nodded.

  “I will get him for you!”

  Janie nodded.

  Dillon disappeared inside the house. Janie turned towards the other players who inspected her openly by then. For a change, Janie did not feel herself embarrassed in their company. They all looked at her with a certain kind of appreciation – a kind Janie had hardly experienced before.

  “How is it going?” one of them winked at her.

  Janie smiled but did not answer.

  Just then Cal’s Mustang parked down in front of the house. Janie’s heart jumped, again. Here was the big moment she had been dreaming about every minute she spent awake throughout the last couple of days.

  But for her mild disappointment it was not Cal getting out of his car. It was an older, cruder version of her boyfriend.

  “The coach,” one of the players warned the others. Cal’s father’s presence had a curious effect on the guys. They all straightened their backs, and tried their best to look tougher than a second before.

  The coach walked up to their group and said hello.

  “Good evening, Mr. Bailey,” the guys replied together.

  “And who is this,” he pointed at Janie.

  Janie could not answer. What was she supposed to say? Suddenly, meeting Cal’s father in person, made Janie understood.

  Then Cal arrived from the house with Dillon on his side. When he realized that Janie and his father was about to get introduced, he turned a little white.

  “Son,” the coach shouted at Cal, “would you care introduce me to this girl!”

  “Of course, Sir,” Cal answered sheepishly.

  “So?” his father demanded. “Is this the girl who made you skip your training the other day?”

  Cal did not answer.

  “Is this girl your girlfriend?” Mr. Bailey repeated his question.

  Cal exchanged a frightened glance with Janie.

  “No, Sir,” he said finally.

  But that was not enough, not for Cal’s father.

  “Who is she then?” he asked.

  Cal gulped. Judging by the expression on his face, he swallowed something sour and unpleasant.

  “She is just nobody, Sir,” he said finally.

  Janie’s world turned upside down. She started to run away from the fraternity house, not looking back even once. Her tears were falling – round, fat, and shining tears shed by a broken heart.

  Chapter 12

  The upcoming couple of weeks were the worst Janie had ever experienced in her whole life. She found some remedy in studying and decided to ignore Cal completely. She did not answer his calls, did not read his messages. He was dead to her as far as Janie was concerned.

  As far as the others knowing their story, and that meant about the whole campus, were concerned, they did not ignore Janie. They used every occasion to roast her about her stalking of the football team captain. Janie was all set to move back home as soon as the mid-term exams were concluded. She could not afford another fail, especially not because of Cal.

  Janie decided that before she left, she would show them courage. Instead of hiding inside her room, she went over to study in the library.

  Before entering the huge study room, she took a deep breath. Then she pushed the door in and cut across the hall with decisive steps. The students started some exciting muttering as soon as they recognized her. She spotted Linda in one corner surrounded by her cheerleader friends. Lindsay bent ahead towards Linda, whispered something into her ear and pointed at Janie. Linda blinked up and shot a hateful glance at her.

  Janie did not care. She found an empty desk in one of the corners and sat down behind it. She opened her books and plugged the earphones of her iPod into her ears. She found peace and continued her reading.

  Then something hit her head from behind. It was soft and light but pointy. She looked down the floor next to her foot. A paper airplane laid there invitingly.

  The whole spectrum of human emotions rushed through her unsuspecting soul, mind, and body.

  She bent down and picked the piece of paper up with trembling hands. She unfolded it.

  “I LOVE YOU,” the note said, plain and simple.

  Janie looked up and around. Cal stood a couple of feet behind her and had a very sorry expression on his face.

  Janie stood up.

  By then the whole library was watching their duo.

  Cal took the first step towards her, but Janie closed the distance separating them with a wild dash ahead. She landed between Cal’s inviting arms and they exchanged a mad kiss.

  “What?” Janie muttered.

  “Shush,” Cal hushed her.

  They kept up the kissing. The audience started to cheer. Cal grabbed her arm and pulled her outside. They run through the entrance hand in hand, finally free.

  In front of the library they bumped into Coach Bailey.

  “Cal?” his father exclaimed.

  “She is my girlfriend, dad,” Cal announced, “and if you want me to keep playing that stupid game, you better start being nice to her!”

  Mr. Bailey gasped for some air.

  But Janie and Cal did not care.

  All this was behind them, they would never again let other people’s expectations spoil their happiness.

  The sun was setting behind the library.

  Janie and Cal walked away hand in hand towards a better day.

  THE END

  Book IV

  Prisoner of Pa
ssion

  A Prison Romance

  Chapter 1

  The tattoos were a giveaway that he had been in prison before.

  That, and the hard, suspicious look that he had in his eyes.

  Laura Halliston had seen such men before. They were, almost to a man, distrustful of everyone and everything around them. They had become indoctrinated by the system in which they lived. They had grown accustomed to people telling them what to do. As a result, when they got out of prison, or a mental hospital, or mission for the homeless, they were either very happy or very miserable. If they were miserable, as the man in front of her certainly was, that misery derived from wanting to be free and finding at every turn that freedom was not easily achieved.

  There were other indications that he had been in prison as well. He had hard leg and arm muscles. He did not have a big stomach, as some of the other men she’d slept with had. He walked with his fists clenched and his jaw set tight. It was as if he was holding in his anger, waiting to find just the time to let it explode all over someone. It was that posture which attracted her to him. That was what made her think about seeing what color underwear he wore.

  She had been reading in a bookstore. Light jazz music floated through the air as it drifted down from speakers twenty feet or more overhead. The store was plastered with red hearts, on posters, greeting cards; they even hung suspended from the ceiling – big, gaudy pink ones with glittered edge wafting slowly by the slight air-conditioning breeze. She had been leaning back in a brown leather chair when she happened to look up at her book, and took all of it in.

  Just before she gave all her attention back to the story she was reading, that’s when she saw him. It was a pure accident, the kind that happens every day- the kind that changes the course of lives and, on some very rare occasions, the course of history.

  She didn’t imagine that seeing him would alter the history of anything. In all likelihood, he had just come from the homeless shelter less than half a mile away. The bookstore let anybody and everybody come in. The shelter let people stay overnight when the weather was bad - as it always was from the middle of December until the middle of March in Pennsylvania. It did not let them stay during the day. She knew that and found that she didn’t care. It had not been that long ago when she had been on the point of losing her job. She dreaded to think what would have happened to her then if she had not taken the precaution of saving up three month’s worth of rent in advance. She might have ended up in a shelter somewhere, just as he had.