Caught Kissing the Cowboy: A Return to Snow Valley Romance

by Cindy Roland Anderson

  “We’ll head over to the hospital in a little bit,” Ian said. “I want to have all of this cleaned up before Kellen gets home.”

  “Let me get someone to come out and do it for you,” Caytie said. “I have a cute girl who is earning money for college. She’s always begging me for more work.”

  Ian waffled, but Tomi knew he had to be starving and exhausted. “Take her up on the offer, Ian. We can stop and get food on the way to the hospital.”

  “Big C’s?” Caytie asked.

  “Sure, why not,” Ian said. “You want anything?”

  “I’ll text you an order. Georgia’s hungry, and I know Ivy’s going to be starving.”

  Ian asked Zach if he could buy him supper, but he declined. “No thanks.” He held up his phone. “I want to go home and see if I can edit the videos.” Ian looked mildly alarmed, making Zach laugh. “Dude, don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

  Once they were alone, Ian took Tomi’s hand and pulled her toward the barn’s foyer that looked more like a luxurious living room. Without saying a word, he turned her around and guided her backward until her back pressed up against the wall.

  “So, you love me, huh?” he asked, placing his palms against the wall on either side of her head to cage her in.

  “I do,” she said, feeling as breathless and dizzy as she had been when hyperventilating. “And you love me, right?”

  His blue eyes deepened in color, then slowly roamed over her face before settling on her mouth. “Yeah, I love you, Tomi Jensen,” he said, warming her skin with his breath before their lips met. Every nerve ending in her body awakened as he slid his hands down to cup her face. He tilted her head to give him better access, kissing her like he meant it. It was like each caress of his mouth was telling her over and over that he loved her, adored her.

  Her response was just as powerful as she arched up to meet his hungry kisses. Her fingers tunneled through his hair, pulling him closer. Kissing Ian had been unlike anything she’d ever experienced, but this kiss far exceeded all the others because she loved him, and he loved her.

  She had no idea how much time had passed when Ian slowed the kisses. Giving her one last caress of her mouth, he lifted his head to look at her. Tomi’s vision was a little unfocused, but clear enough to see the sizzling passion brimming in his blue eyes.

  “I think we need to go before your brother-in-law hunts me down,” he said in a husky voice.

  Tomi remembered Gabe’s warning that married people stuff was off-limits until they were married. Feeling her own resolve weakening, she nodded her head. “We need to go.” Her mouth watered for more kisses, so she took on Ivy’s determination and ducked under Ian’s arms. “Like right now.”

  By the time they arrived at the hospital, Ivy was ready to get out of bed and go home. “I feel great,” she told Kellen’s grandmother. “Why do I have to stay here when I have a nice comfortable bed at home?”

  “The doctor explained all that, Ivy Thomas.” Ilene pressed a kiss to the top of her great-grandson’s clean hair. “And the pediatrician wants to monitor this little guy at least until the morning.”

  “All right.” She took a sip of her frozen custard Tomi and Ian had picked up before coming over. “This is so good. Thank you again.”

  “Sure. Sorry, it took us so long,” Tomi said, feeling her cheeks go hot.

  “Yeah, why did it take you so long?” Caytie asked. “You all didn’t clean up, did you?”

  Ian and Tomi shared a heated glance. “Nope,” Ian said. “Just had to take care of some unfinished business.”

  Caytie’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Right,” she said, giving them an exaggerated wink. “I know what that’s code for.”

  “What is it code for?” Mama Ilene asked. Then her eyes widened. “Never mind. I know exactly what that means.”

  A nurse came in and said the baby needed to eat, so Tomi and Ian said their goodbyes. She didn’t want to leave, but Kellen would be arriving any time now, and she wanted to give the family their privacy.

  “What a day,” Tomi said with a yawn as they walked hand in hand toward Ian’s truck. “I’m wiped out. You probably are too.”

  “I don’t know,” Ian said, giving her fingers a little squeeze. “I’m still pretty jacked up from all the adrenalin. I might need to go for a run or something.”

  “You really were incredible, Ian.” Tomi had never met a better man. She didn’t want to lose him, but couldn’t see a way around their career paths. Sighing, she leaned her head against his bicep. “What’s going to happen to us?” She wanted to believe everything would work out, but the logistics of her job and Ian’s career were incompatible for a solid relationship. She wanted the whole thing, a husband, a home, children, maybe even a dog, but she also wanted to keep acting. She was on the cusp of breaking out of commercials.

  They reached Ian’s truck, and he still hadn’t answered her. He pulled her in front of him, taking both of her hands. “I know what I want to happen,” he said, his expression a little on the grim side. “I love you, Tomi. I know it happened crazy fast, but we have time to work things out. I’m sure I could find a job in California if it comes to that.” He shrugged. “I’ve heard a lot of people in show business make their home base somewhere other than Hollywood, so that’s an option too.”

  Tomi bit her lip, thinking about the job in Hawaii. If she got the part, she’d have to move there. She couldn’t ask Ian to follow her there too. Sure, they had veterinarians on the island, but his job was all about building up a practice and gaining trust with the pets and their owners. Yes, they could fly to see each other on weekends. And she would have sabbaticals in between seasons, but would it be enough?

  “Let’s take things one day at a time.” He gave her a sweet kiss. “Okay?” he murmured against her lips.

  “Okay.” She pressed her mouth to his, and he kissed her long and slow, drugging her nearly senseless until she didn’t have a care in the world. After the kiss ended, he wrapped his arms around her and just held her. She hugged his waist and wiggled in closer, resting her head against his solid chest. She could’ve stayed there all night.

  “I better get you home before you fall asleep,” Ian said, letting her go so he could open the passenger door for her.

  Once she was in the truck, she spied her phone on the floor. In all the madness, she’d completely forgotten about her cell. As if on cue, her phone pinged an incoming text. “Looks like I’ll be back at work bright and early,” she said, after reading a message from the production assistant.

  Ian’s phone dinged, lighting up the display on his truck that he had a new message. He tapped on the screen. “Looks like I’ll be working with you,” he said, giving her a smile that reached his eyes. He put the truck into gear and pulled out of the parking space. “Do I still have to pretend I’m not in love with you?”

  “If I want to keep my job, you do.” She scrolled through several texts from Jake, demanding that she contact him immediately. “Jake’s looking for me. I better call him.”

  He answered on the first ring, swearing at her as he demanded to know where she’d been all night. “I wanted us to be seen in town together for promotional reasons. Do you know how embarrassing it was to have paparazzi following me around all by myself?”

  Tomi rolled her eyes, knowing Jake had tipped off the photographers to get pictures of him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t available, but I had the opportunity to help deliver a foal.”

  “You delivered a fool?” Jake boomed in her ear. “What does that even mean?” His question was punctuated with a few colorful words Tomi’s mother would’ve used a whole bar of soap to wash his mouth out for.

  “A foal, as in a baby horse.” She glanced at Ian when he made a derisive noise and muttered a much milder swear word. “It helps my character development since I’m roleplaying a veterinarian.” It was silly to have to remind Jake about her character, but he basically only thought the world revolved around him.

  “I’
m the horse whisperer,” Jake said in a very non-whispery voice. “You should’ve taken me with you.”

  Yes, because that would have been loads of fun. “I doubt I’ll get the opportunity again, but I’ll try to call you if it happens.”

  “Are you with that obnoxious doctor?”

  Obnoxious? Tomi held back a sarcastic laugh. Ian may have doubled for the narcissistic actor, but it was for appearances only. The only obnoxious one of the pair was the pot calling the kettle black. “I’ve been shadowing Dr. Davies for the past two weeks, so, yes, I am with him.”

  “Whatever,” Jake said. “I’ve never given much credence to method acting.”

  Thank you Captain Obvious. The “Horse Whisperer” clearly didn’t believe in method acting. He was a total wimp around horses.

  “Hmm,” was all Tomi said. “Well, I’m sorry I didn’t have my phone. I just got the text from production that everything is good to go tomorrow, so I guess I’ll see you then.”

  “We should still get together,” Jake said. “Let’s go to a bar, and I’ll alert the paparazzi.”

  “I don’t drink.” You don’t either, remember? “And I’m really tired. If I don’t get enough sleep, no amount of concealer will hide the dark circles.”

  “Yeah, that happens to me too.” He sighed. “I better not stay up too late either. They found some replacement makeup artist from New York who’s visiting this Podunk town, but I don’t want to chance looking bad on camera.”

  Tomi pulled the phone away and looked at it strangely. The man understood dark circles and concealer. Go figure. She put the phone back to her ear. “Okay, see you tomorrow.”

  “What was that all about?” Ian asked when she ended the call. “Did he seriously want to take you to a bar?”

  Tomi filled him in on the conversation, leaving the “obnoxious” part out of it. No need to fuel Ian’s ire against Jake. She had a feeling tomorrow was going to have plenty of fuel to start an inferno of anger.

  Ian walked her to the door, kissed her thoroughly, and told her he’d see her in the morning. Tomi watched him drive away, hoping her acting skills were truly Oscar-worthy tomorrow. It was going to take everything she had to pretend to be in love with Jake Kelley while the man she was hopelessly in love with watched from the side.

  Chapter 18

  It had happened. Ian had just watched Tomi kiss another man. It wasn’t just a peck on the lips, either. It was a very convincing, hot kiss that had his insides boiling to the point there had to be steam coming out of his ears.

  Ian watched for the director’s cue, hoping he didn’t call for a retake. He couldn’t handle it if he had to watch the whole thing happen again. It was bad enough it would be forever immortalized onscreen.

  Every muscle in his body tensed as the director ended the scene. Ian let out a breath of relief when he called it good. The crew scrambled to set up for the next scene, which would take place in the white farmhouse. Ian longed to be outside and couldn’t wait for the rodeo scenes that were scheduled later this afternoon.

  Before Tomi left to change her wardrobe, she met Ian’s eyes for a split second. It was enough to reveal the kiss had been torture for her too. It helped a little. But he questioned whether he could handle this aspect of her career. Their separate living locations seemed so miniscule compared to watching her make-out with another man.

  Jake took off his shirt, not caring who watched him change his wardrobe. At least Tomi was no longer in the room. There were plenty of other females willing to watch the exhibition, though. It made Ian sick to his stomach. He turned on his boot heels and left before he did something stupid that would land him in jail.

  Frustrated with the whole thing, he stormed off toward his truck. He needed a minute alone before they moved on to the next scene. Technically, he wouldn’t be needed since the filming would take place inside the house.

  Sliding behind the wheel, he started the truck. It was another warm day, requiring the use of AC. Reaching down, he found his phone he’d tucked under the driver’s seat. He wasn’t allowed to have it on set in case it accidentally went off.

  Tapping on the screen, he saw he had several missed calls and notifications for all the new text messages blowing up his phone.

  Alarm swept through him when he saw messages from his brothers’ wives as well as from his mom. He didn’t bother reading any of the messages and called his mother, hoping nothing had happened to his dad.

  “Is Dad okay?” Ian asked when his mother answered the call.

  “He’s fine. Why do you ask?”

  “I just checked my phone and saw all the missed calls and messages.”

  “Oh, sorry,” she said with a breezy laugh. “I guess you didn’t read any of the messages?”

  “No.” Ian tapped the display on his truck to connect his phone to Bluetooth, leaving his hands free so he could talk to his mom while reading his messages. “What’s up?”

  “You tell me,” she said in a sing-song voice. “A mother shouldn’t have to find out her son is kissing an actress from the tabloids.”

  Ice banded around his chest, dousing the heated anger into a numbing cold. Had Zach sold them out or had the pictures been shared accidentally? A mild curse slipped out of Ian’s mouth when he tapped on the link one of his sisters-in-law provided in her text.

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” his mother said. “So, what’s going on?”

  “I’m trying to absorb it,” Ian said, scrolling through the pictures of Tomi and him kissing outside of the hospital. He didn’t remember a flash or anyone around them. Of course, he’d been lost in her kiss. Judging from the pictures, a UFO could’ve landed next to them, and he probably wouldn’t have noticed.

  At least Ian knew Zach wasn’t responsible. The kid had been at home editing the video footage, not lurking around the hospital.

  Ian’s face grew warm, despite the cold still spreading through his veins. He was a grown man, but having his family—especially his mom—see him kissing a woman so thoroughly and intimately was a little embarrassing. Then there was the rest of the world. If…no, when Jake got wind of this, all Hades was going to break loose.

  Promising to call his mother back with all the details, Ian ended the call and opened his Message app to alert Tomi about the pictures. She usually checked her phone during breaks.

  Unfortunately, Ian didn’t have time to warn Tomi. Before he could compose the message, Mack knocked on the driver’s side window, his expression grave. “You better go rescue, Miss Tomi. Mr. Fancy Pants is cursing and ranting, throwing things around like an Oklahoma twister sweeping through a county fair.”

  Killing the engine, Ian jumped out of his truck, slammed the door and took off for the barn. Mack hollered out a warning to keep a cool head, so he didn’t get arrested. “You can’t help her if you get thrown in the slammer.”

  Mack was right. Going off and punching the actor in the face wasn’t going to help. He had to keep telling himself that as he drew closer to the barn. He heard Jake’s curses long before he reached the entrance. From the sound of it, Tomi was taking the brunt of his tantrum as Jake shouted out she was fired and that she’d never work in Hollywood again.

  A large hand gripped his arm, stopping him from barreling into the room. “You can’t go in there,” the security guard said. “Director’s orders.”

  Chest heaving, Ian took a steadying breath. “If that lunatic was talking to the girl you loved would you stay out of it?”

  The security guard’s eyebrows scrunched together. “No, I don’t believe I would.” He leaned back to look inside the barn. “I think they need me in craft services,” he said when he looked at Ian again. “But if you get arrested keep me out of it.”

  “I never talked to you,” Ian said, holding both his hands up.

  He gave the guard a few seconds to leave, taking the time to rein in his emotions. Keeping cool was the only way he could help salvage Tomi’s career.

  Everyone, including To
mi, stood there staring at Jake as if his tirade was all part of the show. With their attention riveted on the actor, no one stopped Ian as he crossed the floor. When he reached Tomi, he stepped in front of her as a shield and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Jake’s puny brain to register he was there.

  “You!” Jake said, pointing a finger in Ian’s face. “You did this!” The man continued disparaging Ian, not taking a breath in between insults. Ian raised his hand like he was in the schoolroom asking the teacher something. It caught Jake off guard. “What?” he asked, finally shutting up.

  “Could you please explain what’s got you so ticked off that you’re cussing and destroying all this expensive equipment?” Ian was pleased with how calmly he’d asked the question. It was almost scary and kind of sounded like his dad when he’d caught a fourteen-year-old Ian sneaking out of the barn with his motorcycle after midnight.

  Jake blinked, looked around him, and then back to Ian. It was almost like he wasn’t aware of his actions.

  He squinted, but his forehead didn’t move. Not only did the guy wear makeup, but he was also getting Botox. “You want to know why I’m mad?” Jake asked, shaking his finger at Ian again. “Someone caught you kissing my girlfriend. It’s all over the internet, and I’m not even in one photo!”

  And there was the crux of the problem. The dude was furious because he wasn’t in the tabloids and Tomi was, along with a nobody like Ian.

  “Tomi isn’t your girlfriend.”

  “She is onscreen!” He tipped his head to the side to glare at Tomi who still stood behind Ian. “Everything she does reflects how well the audience will like the movie.”

  “Hmm, like the lead character throwing a tantrum and destroying equipment that cost more than my truck?”

  That sucked the life out of his argument. However, he didn’t like the finger pointed at him. Jake started another rant, calling Tomi names no lady should ever have to hear. In one swift motion, Ian grabbed the front of Jake’s shirt and jerked him in close to his face. “I know how much you value your looks,” Ian seethed. “I suggest you shut up before I put a fist in your mouth to do it for you.”