But as much as this weekend with these women was going to kill what was left of his already damaged soul, the money they would make was all because of her.
He’d gone over the itinerary with Cade yesterday after researching what some of the other ranches were doing, and the two of them decided they might as well make the best of it.
He handed each of the women a sheet of paper that detailed the weekend’s events. “You can, uh, read that before we get going. We’ll take your bags and drive you over to your cabins and let you settle in. We’ll be by in an hour or so for a tour of the ranch.”
“This is so exciting!” one of the women said, almost nose-diving as her stiletto got caught in a mud puddle. Cade reached over and steadied her.
“You should also be dressed for the ranch when we come and get you. Like, jeans, sweaters, sneakers or boots—that kind of thing,” Cade said. The woman smiled at Cade like he was some kind of hero. Hell, this was going to be the longest weekend of his life.
“There are some welcome snacks and drinks in your cabins. According to the email questionnaire, you are all experienced riders?” Ty asked. He needed to confirm this before selecting a horse for each one. The last thing he wanted was an inexperienced rider to be teamed up with one of their faster horses.
“Oh no,” the Amy woman said. “None of us has ever ridden a horse.”
Cade gave him the side-eye, the I told you so clear in his expression as he rolled back on his heels.
“O…kay.” Ty nodded slowly. “Well, Cade and I will improvise and see how we can change up the weekend’s itinerary. Let’s get you settled.”
Hell. The entire weekend was based on riding out, catching glimpses of wildlife, herding. This was going to leave them with nothing but…singing songs around a campfire.
He’d forced himself not to go into town to see Lainey all week, but now—now he was going with a new purpose. To kill her for talking him into this.
…
Three hours later, Ty and Cade were standing next to each other while the women sat around the campfire they’d prepared, about a one-hour hike from their cabins. “I’m not sure I’m going to make it,” he whispered to Cade.
Cade snickered. “That’s because you’re hung up on Lainey. I’ve developed a whole new attitude about this experience. These women are gorgeous, and they seem to really like this cowboy,” he said, tapping his chest and winking at Tyler.
Tyler shut his eyes at the sight of his friend’s sparkling expression. He’d lost him.
The women were a nice enough bunch, even though he’d been worried earlier. He and Cade had quickly decided that a hike to a clearing near the river with a view of the mountains might be the best thing. That way they didn’t have to teach anyone how to ride a horse and they didn’t have to worry about getting sued when one of them fell off.
“So you know how to make s’mores, right?” Cade asked, ripping open a bag of marshmallows. He was basking in the attention of the women, so Ty let him take the lead. At least it was somewhat funny to watch. One of the pretty brunettes helped him. He acted as though he was having the time of his life.
“Of course, here, let me help, Cade,” the other brunette said, sidling up beside him.
“I think s’mores need drinks, don’t you?” a redhead asked Cade.
Cade shot him a look as he and the brunettes assembled the s’mores.
The last thing either of them needed was a bunch of drunk women around them.
“We should probably wait until you’re back in your cabin,” Ty said, trying to fake a smile so he came across as a pleasant man, when he realized Cade wasn’t going to be the bad cop. “It’s a bit of a walk back.”
“Oh, right,” she said, giving her friends a sort of weird glance.
He didn’t know what to make of that, other than they just thought he was a tight-ass who didn’t want any drinking outside. Once Cade had the first batch of s’mores going, Ty sat down on one of the boulders and stared up into the sky. This wasn’t so bad. He could put up with the trivial conversation for one more night. That Elle bride woman was preoccupied with her wedding dress and that she still needed to lose five pounds to fit in it. Then the redhead started talking about something called Spanx, and hell, he had no idea what spanking and fetishes had to do with wedding dresses. He really tried to drown out as much of the conversation as possible and enjoy the cool night air.
One of the blondes approached, startling him as she touched his arm. “I think your choice of profession is really noble. And don’t worry, we won’t be drinking out here at all.”
He frowned. “Uh, thanks. Ranchers don’t really have a problem with drinking, but I just thought it would be best if you drank in your own cabin. We have a long hike back, and if you’re a bit tipsy, it’d be easy to trip on the rougher terrain.”
She nodded and was watching him like she…was very interested. “Can you tell me a little about the whole priest-in-training thing?”
He ignored the sound of Cade choking and frowned. He wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. Or she was joking. He leaned forward. “Pardon me?”
She stepped a little closer and placed her hand on his arm again. He pulled back, tucking his hands in his pockets. “Aren’t you entering, like, priest school or something?”
Cade cackled. Ty shot him a glare and then turned back to the woman in front of him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, that girl, the one who emailed us to book the trip and then dropped off the baked goods in our cabin, she told us.”
Lainey. He glanced over at Cade, who appeared to be dying of s’mores and laughter.
Ty rubbed the back of his neck. He was torn between laughing and groaning with frustration. Clearly she’d felt threatened. He kind of liked that she cared enough to invent this ridiculous excuse. He coughed. “I’ve actually dropped out of…priest school.”
Her eyes lit up, and he suddenly knew exactly why Lainey had come up with this lie. Yup, he was an idiot for thinking it was jealousy. “But, uh, I think I’ll go sit over on that boulder and do a little prayin’.”
The woman nodded and went to join the rest of them. Hell. What the hell was happening to him? Really, he had no idea. None of the women in this group even remotely appealed. In fact, he was almost indifferent to them. He could identify they were attractive women, but he felt nothing.
Because of Lainey. None of them laughed like Lainey did. None of them smiled like Lainey did. None of them tried to irritate him on purpose like Lainey did. None of them had eyes that sparkled like hers. No one’s laughter made him smile. No one’s mouth interested him. No one’s body was made for his.
Dammit. He knew what this meant. He didn’t get to his thirties without knowing what this meant.
He knew enough not to take advantage of their friendship, of her. As much as Lainey acted like she was tough as nails, he knew it was an act. He’d seen her vulnerable core. Even the way she stood there that night, bravely telling him she wasn’t going to sleep with him, he’d already known she wasn’t a girl to sleep with for just one night.
Lainey was the woman with whom you built a lifetime.
No, she was the woman with whom you built a lifetime of dreams.
She was the woman who got dirty, who got tired, who gave you her heart, and hell if he didn’t suddenly want that. But he’d never wanted that before. After his mother died, he’d come to the conclusion that he didn’t need anyone. People lied; they disappointed you. He always thought he’d be better off alone. Except now, because of Lainey, he wasn’t feeling that great all alone.
He glanced over at Cade, who was looking exactly like he might have appeared a month ago—appreciatively at the women who were flirting with him.
Now, all Ty wanted was to just get back home…and see the woman who wouldn’t sleep with him.
…
“Hi, Aiden,” Lainey said, flopping onto a barstool at River’s.
“Well hello there, sweethe
art,” he said, taking the time to stop and chat with her for a moment even though the place was already packed.
“I’m going to need a glass or maybe a bottle of our Merlot.”
He gave her a wink, and a second later, he was pouring her a glass.
“You have no idea how much this is appreciated tonight,” she said, downing a big gulp and not even caring that she was wearing her heart on her sleeve.
He frowned. “You okay? Give me a second—let me serve some of these guys, and I’ll be right back, okay?”
She nodded, not even bothering to pretend she didn’t need someone to talk to. She glanced down at her phone as it vibrated, and her heart sank as she read a text from Hope: The curse of first grade—Sadie is sick again. Projectile vomit. Send wine. Sorry for the last-minute cancels!
She took another long drink of her wine and sighed. She was going to need a refill soon.
She glanced over beyond the bar, and her heart stopped as she spotted Dean, Cade, and Tyler; they were all laughing and drinking and playing pool together. The sight of the three of them almost brought a smile to her face. She was happy for Ty. Until she saw three blondes approach them and drape themselves on the pool table.
“Need a refill already?” Aiden asked.
She tore her gaze from the sight and peered into her empty glass. “Uh, please, Aiden. You know, I think I’m going to dye my hair black.”
He frowned. “Yeah?”
She nodded, taking a long sip. “I am a disgrace to my hair color. I definitely do not have more fun.”
“Ah,” he said wisely, a dimple peeking out.
“Can I ask you a favor?”
“Anything, sweetheart.”
“Can you pretend to be interested in me for a few minutes?” It was a desperate request, but she needed to try and save face. Tyler was getting hit on by at least one gorgeous woman who would probably love to go home with him tonight, while she was just this lonely virginal reject sitting alone at a bar.
“I wouldn’t have to pretend, Lainey,” he said, shooting her one of those smiles that must have scored him many women.
“Thanks,” she said, glancing from the corner of her eye in the direction of the pool table.
“You know, I can give you a play-by-play if you like,” he said, glancing over his shoulder.
She sighed. “Sorry, I’m not usually so…desperate.”
His smile dipped. “Sometimes people can make us do things we’d never think we were capable of doing.”
She stared into his blue eyes, knowing he was speaking from experience. “I feel like a fool,” she whispered. “Like the whole world is operating on this different plane, one that isn’t for me, and I can’t compete with that, you know? I’m not a part of it, in my heart I know that, but I want to be. I want to be so badly, because it will give me what I want.”
“Or who you want?”
She gazed over again at the pool area, and her heart sank as one of the women and Tyler were no longer there. She stared back at Aiden through watery eyes and nodded.
He braced his arms wide on the counter, leaning in closer, and gave her his undivided attention. “Well, here’s my advice to you, Lainey.”
She waited for some of the infamous River advice and tried not to cry.
“Sometimes the best thing is to go against the grain. If everyone did the same thing, there wouldn’t ever be change; there wouldn’t be growth. It takes a helluva lot more character to stand up for yourself and your beliefs than it does to just do what anyone else is doing. And as a guy, I know I’d want to be with a woman who’s all heart, all courage.”
She smiled as his words comforted her and then laughed when he playfully tugged on a piece of her hair.
“Got something in your hair?”
Lainey turned and almost fell off her chair at the sound of Ty’s voice. His hands went to her shoulders and steadied her. “I’m fine,” she said, shrugging.
He dropped his hands, and she tried not to notice how gorgeous he was tonight, not that she was surprised. But he had on one of those dark-blue checked shirts that seemed to make the intensity of his sky-blue eyes even more obvious, and her fingers itched to graze her nails through his stubble.
“Nice to see you, Tyler,” Aiden said.
She turned back to Aiden in time to catch the smirk and the appearance of his right dimple.
Tyler gave him a nod, but he didn’t seem all that friendly.
“Yes, nice to see you, Tyler,” she said in a voice that she hoped sounded cool and sophisticated despite the slight slurring thanks to her almost two glasses of Merlot on an empty stomach. She surreptitiously tapped her wineglass, hoping that Aiden noticed.
Tyler flicked his chin in the direction of the glass. “I didn’t even know this place had wine.”
“I keep a case of Merlot for Lainey and Hope.”
“I thought you were a whiskey drinker,” he said, still looking stiff and not that nice.
“I’m a lady of many talents…like your other lady friends.”
He frowned. “Who?”
She was aware of Aiden leaving them. “You know, the ladies who you were playing pool with”
A corner of his mouth twitched. “Ah, I see. Well, I’m too busy for them.”
“Oh yeah? Busy with what?”
He leaned against the bar, close enough that if she leaned forward, she’d be able to place her head on his shoulder. “I’ve apparently taken a vow of chastity—you know, being in seminary training.”
She inhaled sharply. Omigosh. She slapped her hand over her mouth and knew her face was turning all sorts of different shades of red. Maybe even purple. Ty, on the other hand, was leaning against the bar as though he was having the time of his life. His smile was slow, satisfied, and pure gloat.
The gloating was too much. The wine was too much. He was too much.
“I—I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she choked.
“Are you sure, sweetheart? Don’t you have something to confess?”
She punched his shoulder, and he snatched her hand, laughing.
“It’s not funny,” she groaned, knowing she was caught.
He finally pulled back and stopped laughing. He hadn’t stopped smiling, though. “Lainey, why of all the things would you tell them I was going to be a priest?”
She lifted her chin. “I was just trying to protect you.”
His grin widened. “From a group of women at a bachelorette weekend?”
She clasped her hands in front of her and kept up her bravado. “Yes. You just can’t be too safe when it comes to events like this.”
“I see,” he said, his voice turning serious. “You were just looking out for me.”
“Precisely,” she said.
“Or you were looking out for you?”
Humiliation scorched her body. “Of course not.”
“Because you didn’t want me to be with any of those women?”
She rubbed her temples, angry with herself for her acting on her crazy, impulsive idea. He was going to have a field day with this. “Ugh. I can’t believe they told you. I was very clear with them that you were very private about your impending priesthood. They weren’t supposed to tell you.”
Tears of laughter sprang into his eyes as he choked on another laugh, and she desperately wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
“Sweetheart, this would go a lot faster if you admit that you told them that because you were jealous of those women getting their hands on me.”
Oh, the arrogance was going to get her riled up, but she knew he laid it on thick on purpose. She looked up at him, at that handsome face, at the man she’d come to know…the one she was falling in love with despite all her reservations, and told him the truth. “Would you accept three percent jealous and ninety-seven percent thinking of you? I mean, I know I’m not right for you, but that doesn’t mean I want to picture you sleeping with someone else right now—especially women definitely out of my league
. I…apologize for being so petty.”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. It felt like several minutes. The noise from the bar receded into the background. But his smile had slowly died, and his eyes were filled with something that, if she didn’t know better, she might say was tenderness. “Baby, you’re in a class of your own, and you couldn’t be petty if you tried. And you have everything I’ve ever wanted. Hell, I don’t know what we are, but we are something.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it, not knowing what to say. What she wanted was to kiss him, not really caring they were in a bar filled with half the town. It was something she’d never experienced, the need, the urge to touch someone so desperately that she didn’t care what others thought of her. He pulled her off the barstool and into him.
“And why the hell do you think I’m over here right now? Do you think I didn’t know the second you walked into River’s tonight? Something made me turn my head. I saw you walk in; I saw you talking to Aiden. I didn’t hear a thing those women were saying because I kept watching you, wanting to be with you, and hating myself for letting you go. Then when he reached out and touched you, I knew I couldn’t just stand and watch. I don’t know what the hell to do with you, Lainey, because I can’t give you what you want, but I don’t know how to let you go.”
She had forgotten to breathe, but when his mouth came down on hers, she remembered how to kiss him. Tyler’s mouth on hers elicited a jolt of awareness of everything that had been missing from her life—mainly him. He kissed her, explored her mouth in a way that made it difficult to stand, to remember Grandma Tilly’s warning, the trouble with cowboys. She leaned into him, knowing the weakness in her knees wasn’t going to get any better.
“Let me take you home,” he said against her mouth.
Lainey tried to take a deep breath and regain her composure. She had no idea what was happening to her. It was like whenever Ty was in the vicinity, all her self-control vanished. The man had royally ticked her off, and now here she was, in his arms, barely able to stand up after kissing him.
It had to stop.
She knew this but still pulled back and nodded, grabbing her purse, ready to go just about anywhere with him.
The Trouble with Cowboys Page 21