Playing With Fire

by Alison Bliss

  Once we separated, he turned and walked back toward the house, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder. Probably making sure my legs hadn’t given out again.

  And he was grinning. The smug bastard.

  There were always two sides to every face: the one people wanted you to see and the one they kept hidden. But I already knew what was lurking in Cowboy’s shadows. He was a player. Always had been. Even his own buddies had called him out on that well-known fact in the barn.

  Which meant that no matter what I’d overheard him say, I couldn’t trust that Cowboy wanted to change. Nor could I bear the thought of him scratching an itch with me, and then moving on to some other unsuspecting girl. It wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

  But explaining that to my surging hormones was a feat in itself.

  After spending a moment gathering my wits, I returned to the picnic table where Momma Belle sat. Cowboy lazed in a nearby lawn chair, looking quite proud of himself, his long legs stretched out in front of him with one booted ankle kicked over the other. As I handed Momma Belle her purse, he eyed my shaky hands and smiled, obviously pleased that he’d had an effect on me.

  She reached into the tote and pulled out the container of moonshine, then glanced up at Cowboy. “Lovely young lady you got here, whistle britches. Yes, indeed.” She opened the jar, took a large swig, then sat back as she peered directly at my breasts. “Just ripe for the pickin’, as my Earl would always say.”

  Cowboy grinned, but said nothing.

  “Is Earl your husband?” I asked, sitting down beside her and hoping to take the focus off my boobs. Jesus.

  “Oh, yes, deary. He was. Up until the big C hooked its claws into him and sank him six feet into the ground. I’m tellin’ ya, folks can’t always afford no high-falutin’ doctor these days.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “No need to be sorry, girl. My Earl kept himself in good spirits and didn’t go down without a fight.”

  “Yes, I hear having a positive outlook can be quite healing.”

  “No, dear. Spirits.” Momma Belle tapped her nubby finger on the mason jar she was holding. “He took to making moonshine before he died. Said the white lightning was the only thing that helped keep the pain at bay.”

  “Oh.” I smiled sympathetically. “Well, I’m sure you miss him a great deal.”

  “Sure do. My Earl was a hoot, even if he did sag in places I didn’t want to look.” She cackled at that and gigged me hard in the ribs with her wrinkled elbow before leaning closer. “He had two bald eggs down below and a thingamajig that wasn’t much bigger than our billy goat’s, but that horny toad was always trying to get in my britches.”

  My eyes widened, along with Cowboy’s grin. The woman was clearly having one of those senior moments. “He…uh, sounds like a nice man,” I told her uncomfortably.

  “Hey, Anna, I saved your plate over here and your food’s getting cold,” Emily said, winking at me.

  “Oh. Right. I’m coming.”

  Momma Belle gave me a cold-eyed stare. “Listen here, girl. We don’t waste perfectly good food around these parts. Especially when you’re nothing but skin and bones. Those arms of yours are like twigs, I tell ya. In fact, when I first laid eyes on you, I nearly poked you with a stick just to see if you were still alive. Now you go get that plate and eat every last bite, ya hear?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Darn females nowadays,” she mumbled to herself. “They just don’t know nothing.”

  I practically skipped to Emily, hoping Momma Belle wouldn’t follow. “Thanks,” I whispered, accepting my plate from her.

  “No problem. Come on, you can sit over here at our table. Just do yourself a favor and steer clear of Momma Belle from now on. The woman’s bat-shit crazy.”

  “Tell me about it. She thinks I’m Cowboy’s girlfriend.”

  Emily chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Cowboy has lots of girlfriends.”

  Yeah, so I’d heard.

  I followed Emily to a nearby table where Jake, Judd, Ox, and Bobbie Jo sat with their plates of food. I sat beside Judd, hoping his hulking figure would hide me from Momma Belle, and possibly Cowboy.

  Judd lugged his meaty arm over my shoulders. “So, Anna, if you need anyone to show you around, I—”

  “You’re taken, jackass.” Cowboy plopped down on the other side of me and scowled at Judd. “Or did you forget about Gina already?”

  “Whoa,” Judd told him, holding up his hands in surrender. “Chill out, buddy. All I was going to say is that I have a single buddy who would be happy to show Anna around.”

  “I’m sure the last thing the new girl in town needs is some bastard trying to get his hands up her skirt.” Cowboy smirked, then raised a cocky eyebrow to me. “Isn’t that right, darlin’?”

  My eyes narrowed at the challenge in his voice and I couldn’t resist the urge to respond. “Thanks for the offer, Judd. Sure, why not? I’d love to meet one of your single friends.”

  Cowboy’s jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth, but he said nothing in return.

  “So who’s Gina, anyway?” I asked Judd sweetly, ignoring the warmth of Cowboy’s hard thigh against mine.

  Across from me, Emily smiled. “Gina is my friend from Chicago. She and Judd have been carrying on a long-distance relationship since last summer. Same as Ox. He hit it off with my friend Dale.”

  I glanced to Ox who was grinning at that. “You finally came out to everyone?” I asked, smiling with approval. “I’m so glad to hear that.”

  Cowboy’s head snapped to me. “Wait a minute. You couldn’t have known Ox was gay when you met him at camp. None of us knew. He was still hanging out in the closet back then.”

  I shrugged. “I had my suspicions. I’m usually pretty observant when it comes to people.”

  “Speaking of suspicions,” Ox said, changing the subject. “Jake, I heard the FBI seized a couple of moonshine stills they found in the woods.”

  Jake finished chewing his food and swallowed. “Yep, three of them. We stumbled across them after someone reported seeing some weird lights in the forest at night. Next thing I know, we’re getting calls about wild hogs acting strangely.”

  “Strange as in how?” Ox asked.

  “They were stumbling all over the place and falling over. Apparently, they had eaten the discarded mash that the owner of the stills left behind. The damn pigs were drunk.”

  That got a chuckle out of everyone.

  “I’m heading up the case, but beyond the three stills we uncovered, the inebriated swine, and the weird lights, we don’t have a lot to go on.” Jake shook his head. “We still don’t know who the head bootlegger in the area is. I’m working on finding that out.”

  “I don’t know if he ever sold any, but Momma Belle said that her husband, Earl, used to make moonshine before the cancer got him.”

  “Cancer?” Cowboy asked, surprise registering on his face. “Earl didn’t die from cancer.”

  “Oh. When she said that the big C hooked its claws into him, I just assumed—”

  “Cirrhosis of the liver,” Cowboy corrected. “The old man drank himself to death. Probably to get away from Momma Belle, right, Jakey?”

  Jake shook his head. “Christ, I hate when she calls me that.”

  Bobbie Jo laughed and then turned her attention onto me. “Hey, Anna, we’re all heading out to The Backwoods bar tomorrow night. Do you want to come?”

  “Good idea,” Judd said. “My buddy will be at the bar. You can meet him while you’re there.”

  Cowboy lifted his head, and his heated gaze met mine.

  I shook my head. “Oh, I don’t know. I really don’t think—”

  “Come on, Anna,” Emily said. “It’s the first time I’m leaving Lily with Floss for the whole evening. I could use the moral support. Besides, it’ll be fun.”

  With everyone staring at me, waiting for my answer, I couldn’t bear to tell them no. “Okay, sure. I’d love to.”
r />   “Great,” Bobbie Jo said with a smile. “The girls can get ready at your house together and meet up with the boys at the bar. How does that sound?”

  Emily and Bobbie Jo smiled at each other and were obviously up to no good, but I didn’t want to be the party-pooper. “That’s fine.”

  “Good,” Bobbie Jo said, winking at Emily. “It’s settled, then.”

  The girls started cleaning up, but I just sat there, still trying to figure out what the hell I had just gotten myself into. I wasn’t entirely certain, but I had a feeling I had been coerced into…well, something.

  Jake rose from the picnic table. “Let’s go help Hank clean the grill and then we can get to breaking that horse.”

  “We?” Cowboy asked, cocking one eyebrow.

  Jake grinned. “You think you’re the only one who’s ever broken a horse, asshole?”

  Cowboy laughed. “Shit. Jake, the only horse you ever broke was the one outside the grocery store that takes quarters.”

  “We’ll find out in a few minutes, won’t we?”

  “Guess so,” Cowboy said with a challenging nod and a glint in his eyes.

  My gaze flickered to Ox and Judd, who both sat there grinning at Cowboy, as if they were subconsciously agreeing with Jake. As Jake started away, the others stood up, threw their trash away, and followed him, leaving me alone with Cowboy.

  Feeling awkward, I rose and gathered my plate in my hands, but just as I started to leave, Cowboy said, “Anna…?”

  I turned back to him. “Yes?”

  “When I come by later, which kiss do you want to talk about, the first or the second?” The intensity in his eyes held my gaze, only making me more uncomfortable than I already was. Which apparently was something he enjoyed, since his tight-lipped mouth turned up into a full-on smirk.

  But I’d had enough. “You really think you’re something, don’t you?”

  “I’m more concerned about what you think.”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to know what I think.”

  “Try me.”

  I cocked my head, realizing he was serious. “Okay. I think you’re an egotistical ass, who behaves like a large child. You can’t have what you want, so you keep acting out until you get it. I also find your actions to be inconsistent with the behavior of a gentleman…not that you ever claimed to be much of one,” I said, using his words against him.

  Cowboy blinked and the smile fell from his face. “No, no. Don’t hold back or anything.”

  I shrugged. “You asked.”

  “Well, at least admit that you enjoyed the kiss.”

  It was true that I’d found the lip-locking frustratingly hot and…well, if I were being honest, downright exciting. But I shook my head in denial. “Doesn’t matter. It won’t happen again.”

  Cowboy flicked a glance down my white dress and back up to the denim jacket I’d borrowed from Bobbie Jo. Then he grinned, as if he could tell my nipples were straining against the thin cotton beneath the denim. “Yeah, that’s what you thought last week, too.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Jake, don’t be stupid! Let Cowboy break the dumb horse before you injure yourself,” Emily yelled with frustration.

  “Sweetheart, I’m not going to get hurt,” he replied calmly.

  Emily rolled her eyes and kissed the tiny baby girl in her arms on the forehead. “Say bye-bye to Daddy, Lily,” Emily said sweetly. “Because after that horse kicks him in the head, Mommy’s going to kill him.” She took Lily’s small hand and waved at Jake with it.

  I chuckled at the stern look Jake gave her as he walked out into the pasture where Cowboy stood, holding onto the white palomino colt’s halter. “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” I said, hoping to put her at ease. “Jake’s never been one to take uncalculated risks casually.”

  But Emily chewed on her bottom lip with worry, and I had to force myself to keep from doing the same. Even for a colt, the handsome horse was tall, had a stocky build, and looked as fully mature as the stallion I could see grazing in the back pasture. It didn’t help that I’d heard stories from Bobbie Jo about just how wild and unruly this animal could be. According to her, there wasn’t a stall or gate in the barn that he hadn’t already destroyed, earning him the name Ruckus.

  Hank left the sidelines and approached Jake as he reached Cowboy and the colt. “You sure you want to do this, son?” Hank grinned wide. “A smart man doesn’t step in the same pile of shit twice.”

  “Have to earn back my money somehow, right?” Jake held up a fifty dollar bill.

  His uncle wasted no time in snatching the money from his hand, but sighed warily. “And here I pegged you smarter than this.”

  Jake grinned at the challenge. “We’ll see, old man. You just be sure to cough up my dough, and yours, when I win this bet.”

  Hank shook his head as he returned to his seat in the green plastic chair. “I’ve told that boy a hundred times,” he muttered as he sat down, “the fastest way to double your money is to fold it and shove it back in your wallet. He just don’t listen.” Then he grinned smugly. “The dipshit.”

  I grinned, mostly because I agreed with him, but didn’t say anything. That Hank was a smart man.

  “Okay,” Cowboy said, addressing all the boys. “The rules are simple. One shot, no redos.”

  Jake didn’t waste any time. He stepped into the stirrup and swung his leg over, mounting the horse. The animal tossed his head and side-stepped a little, but Cowboy held tight to his halter until Jake readied himself in the saddle. At his nod, Cowboy let go and stepped out of the way while Jake braced himself.

  But the horse just stood there.

  “Give him a little kick,” Hank said, grinning.

  Jake did, but the colt still didn’t move. “What the hell’s wrong with this dumbass horse? Why’s he just standing here?”

  “Must be those superb handling skills you claim to have.” Cowboy gave him a teasing grin. “Almost makes me wonder why you have so many problems controlling your woman.”

  “Controlling his woman?” Emily passed Lily carefully to Floss and headed for the pasture. “Is that what you’ve been telling them, Jake? That you’re trying to control me?”

  Jake glared at Cowboy. “Of course I didn’t say that. You misunderstood what he meant.”

  Emily stopped a few yards away from the fence and crossed her arms. “Is that what you were ‘kidding around with the guys’ about in the barn? Because if so, I don’t think it’s very funny!”

  “Damn it, Emily, stop yelling before you spook the—”

  Suddenly Ruckus came alive under Jake, lurching and rearing up onto its hind quarters. When the horse came down, his back legs kicked out frantically, bucking wildly until Jake rolled off backward and hit the dirt hard. The palomino bucked a few more times before finally settling down about ten feet away.

  Emily’s eyes widened and we both gasped, but no one else seemed overly concerned that Jake had landed flat on his back and wasn’t moving. He lay there, as if struggling to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him, although a deep, whiny moan came from his throat.

  Cowboy ran over and peered down at Jake. “Hey, Darth Vader, get up.” He chuckled to himself as Jake closed his eyes and winced. “Oh, come on. Time to wake up, sleepyhead.”

  When Jake managed to get his breath back, he glared at Cowboy. “Don’t you have a mute button?” Then he reached for the hand his friend offered and pulled himself to his feet. After dusting himself off, Jake bent backward to stretch out his back, which must’ve been sore after the fall he’d endured. “One day, I’m going to kick that fucking horse’s head smooth off his body.”

  As Jake’s temper flared, Cowboy grinned and glanced to the other boys. “Who’s next?”

  As Emily checked her husband’s back for bruises, Judd mounted up. Cowboy held the ornery colt until he received a nod from the new rider, then he let go once again. Maybe it was Judd’s heavier frame that caused the horse to panic, but the colt bolted immediately
and ran for the back pasture with Judd clinging tightly to the reins. The horse headed straight for the barbed wire fence and didn’t look to be slowing down any.

  “Shit. He’s gonna get snagged on the fence if he gets thrown,” Cowboy said, concern lacing his voice. “Jump off, Judd! Jump!”

  Judd did. Face-first into the side of a large mesquite tree.

  Cowboy took off running toward him, and without thinking, I raced out behind him to make sure Judd was okay. Ruckus came to a dead stop at the edge of the property near the fence line and grazed on the thick weeds.

  Judd was sitting on the ground with a dazed expression when we made it out to him. He had a cut above his swelling left eye and deep scrapes embedded into his cheek. His entire face leaked blood, which dribbled down onto his white T-shirt.

  As we stopped in front of him, Judd said, “Cowboy? Is that you?”

  “Yeah, it’s me, you idiot.”

  Judd shook his head, as if to clear his vision. “I think the horse kicked me in the face.”

  “Nah. You just got bitch-slapped by a tree.” Cowboy grinned at him, though I wasn’t entirely sure Judd could even see it. “Just a couple of scratches. Nothing that can’t be fixed. A little ice and some first aid and you’ll be good as new. Come on, I’ll help you up.”

  Couple of scratches? Judd didn’t need an ice pack and Band-Aids. He needed a trauma team and a CT scan. Apparently, I was the only one who even considered seeking professional medical attention, though. Because as we walked him slowly back to the house, I spotted Floss waiting for us with a first aid kit in hand.

  Cowboy and I deposited Judd in a chair for her and stepped back as Hank stood up to assess the damage. He pulled at his belt and chuckled. “Son, it looks like you got into a knife fight and you were the only sonofagun without a knife.”

  Unconcerned, Cowboy laughed and said, “Next.”

  But Ox balked at him. “You’re crazy if you think I’m stupid enough to get on that mangy horse.”

  “Oh, nut up,” Jake said, scowling. “Judd and I took our turns. Don’t go growing a vagina on us now.”