Midnight Heat

by Cat Johnson

  He raised a brow. “Have you now? When is this break of yours?”

  “Mid-February.”

  “February in Oklahoma versus Aruba. Hmm, is your friend Kim a little touched in the head?” Justin joked, but the possibility he’d be seeing Phoenix again next month rather than next summer was very good news.

  Phoenix smiled. “No. But I’ve been talking up the cowboy population of Oklahoma so much, she’s intrigued. In fact, if I could promise her a little cowboy action, I think it might be a done deal.”

  “Well, if that’s all you need, I have no problem offering up Colton for the cause.”

  “Will Colton have a problem?”

  “Your friend Kim is a female, right?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Then, yeah. That’s about Colton’s only criteria for a date, so we’re good.”

  “You’re bad.” She slapped at his arm.

  “No, but I’d like to be bad.” He eyed the door. “How long do you think we have before someone comes looking for us?”

  “Not long enough.” She ran her hands up his chest, making him wish they were skin on skin rather than in party clothes. “I’m glad your mother came.”

  That subject sobered Justin fast enough. “Me too.”

  His mother’s decision to attend was incredible and shocking and wonderful all at the same time. When Rohn and Bonnie had decided to have a New Year’s Eve party and invited Justin and his mother, he’d been astonished when she said yes.

  He still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far, she’d continued to improve. She was working at the church. She seemed to be enjoying cooking again.

  For the past week, he’d gone home every night after work to eat dinner with his mother, but afterward she encouraged him to go out and spend time with Phoenix while she was at the ranch.

  For the first time in a long time, he was tempted to let himself think about tomorrow. To plan for the future, even if their definite plans only extended as far as summer break.

  But he let himself fantasize sometimes. Let his mind wander while he was mucking the stalls or scrubbing water buckets. He drifted to a time when maybe Phoenix might consider a change. Might start working in Oklahoma and visiting California on her breaks, instead of the other way around.

  She had her adopted parents and her job and her best friend tying her to California. But she had Rohn and Bonnie and Tammy here for inspiration. And him. At least he’d like to think seeing more of him might be a small motivating factor.

  Things were so new. He was still getting used to his mother getting back to her life. And he was still walking around in a haze from the times he and Phoenix acted like teenagers having sex on her parents’ sofa while Bonnie and Rohn slept upstairs. But damn, if things stayed as good as they were right now between them, he could picture himself doing something to make her want to stick around Oklahoma.

  Something more permanent. Something he’d never considered seriously before. He ran a thumb over her bare ring finger as the thought had his heart thundering.

  All in good time.

  Right now, he intended to enjoy having a girlfriend for the first time in a very long time. He wanted to sport Phoenix around, looking incredible in a clingy black dress and boots. He fully intended to make Colton jealous. To shut Tyler up after hearing him brag all last year how he had a girl of his own when neither of them did.

  And he was definitely going to enjoy kissing her at midnight.

  “Ready to go back out?” he asked.

  “Ready.” She nodded.

  “Good.” Justin was suddenly anxious to get the party started. It felt like the first night of the start of what was going to be a pretty great new year.

  Did you miss the first of the Midnight Cowboys novels?

  Read on for an excerpt from

  Midnight Ride,

  available now in paperback or eBook.

  There were times when a man should stick around and fight, and there were times when it was wiser to cut and run. It was clear to Tyler this was the latter.

  Shoving the woman he’d been kissing just moments before out of the way, he clamped his hat lower on his head and took off at a sprint as her bruiser of a fiancé followed him.

  Cowboy boots weren’t meant for running, but Tyler managed it. He sure had incentive. Avoiding being pummeled into the ground by a jealous fiancé served as fine inspiration. He knew the truck was unlocked, but he didn’t have the keys to start the engine. Colton had those with him inside the bar. He wasn’t about to lock himself inside a truck he couldn’t flee in, not with an angry lunatic hot on his tail, so he kept running.

  The terrain worked in his favor, as did the darkness, as Tyler crashed into the woods off the side of the parking lot. Branches whacked into him as he dodged between them. He twisted an ankle when one foot landed on a rock, but he kept going, limping in a half run. A pine bough caught him across the face, blinding him as he squeezed the injured eye tight and the tears began to flow. Still, he forged ahead. His life depended on it.

  The woods broke into a clearing and he realized he was behind the lumberyard right off the main road in town.

  Tyler slowed to a fast walk when he hit the concrete and glanced around him. He needed to get somewhere safe and tend to his eye, which hurt like hell and was still tearing up. He needed to zip his jeans and refasten the belt buckle the girl had undone, all while she’d kept to herself the one important detail that the fiancé she was mad at was just inside, working the door of the bar. He also needed to make sure his cell phone hadn’t fallen out of the back pocket of his jeans so he could call Colton to come rescue him. But before any of that, he had to make sure the man in hot pursuit hadn’t followed this far.

  A crash in the woods behind him, followed by a loud cuss, told him the lunatic hadn’t given up yet. Damn, but this guy was persistent.

  Tyler took off running again, though at this point it was more of a fast hobble. He had to hide. A pickup truck parked in the lot in front of him provided his only hope. He should just take the truck and drive away. It wouldn’t be stealing. He’d only be borrowing it. He could bring it back as soon as life and limb were no longer in jeopardy, but he didn’t know if the owner had left the key inside and he couldn’t waste precious seconds checking.

  Maybe it was dark enough that if he lay flat and still in the back, he might not be seen. But if the guy looked close enough and saw him hiding, he’d be a sitting duck. It was a chance he was going to have to take.

  Running out of time, he sprinted to the back of the truck, planted both hands on the tailgate, and vaulted into the bed. When he landed inside, Tyler knew his luck was holding. There was a big green tarp in the bottom of the truck bed. He flipped it over himself and held his breath, trying to move as little as possible. While he waited to be discovered or not, he figured praying couldn’t hurt. Silently, he vowed that if he got out of this night unscathed, he’d never make out with a stranger in a bar again.

  As his heart pounded, he heard heavy footsteps in the lot, and then a few more loud cusses and what sounded like a bear—or a really big man—crashing back through the trees. Seconds ticked by in silence, and the crazed fiancé didn’t come back to whip the tarp off him and beat him to a pulp.

  Against all odds, he might just be safe. Out of the woods, literally. In light of that, Tyler decided to add a small amendment to his deal with God. It would probably be all right to hook up with girls he met in bars. However, he would be sure to ask them if they had a boyfriend or any kind of significant other before he kissed them and let them unbuckle his pants.

  Satisfied that was a promise he could live with, and hopeful that the guy had given up the chase, Tyler was about to take a peek to see if the coast was clear when he heard footsteps heading toward the truck.

  It sounded like two people walking. They hadn’t come from the direction of the woods but rather from the building. He was most likely safe from being maimed by his
pursuer, but he definitely wasn’t in any position to be socializing with anyone. His jeans still hung wide open, his eye remained squeezed shut, and he was hiding under a tarp in a stranger’s truck bed.

  It wasn’t as if he could pop up and say hey, but he also couldn’t stay hidden. If the owner of the truck drove away, who knew where he could end up?

  Tyler was weighing his limited options when he heard a female voice say, “Hang on. Let me move this and then you can slide it right inside.”

  He lay helpless while the tarp was whipped to the side, exposing him to the beam of the parking-lot light. At the sight of him, the woman screamed and jumped back.

  Truth be told, he nearly screamed, too. He scrambled to sit up before he realized he might not want to be sitting up. He still wasn’t positive where the scorned fiancé had gone.

  “Hey, Tyler.” There was amusement in the male voice that came from his left.

  Still partially blinded, Tyler turned his head to the side to see a guy he’d gone to high school with standing next to the truck and grinning as he balanced a fence post on his shoulder.

  Hell of a time for a high school reunion. Not having much choice, Tyler tipped his head in greeting. “Hey, Jed.”

  “You know him?” the woman asked.

  “I do.” Jed grinned wider. “Don’t worry. He’s harmless.”

  She let out a breath and held her hand to her chest. A fall of dark hair brushed her shoulders as her gaze swung from Jed to Tyler. “You scared the hell out of me. What were you doing under there?”

  “Um, it’s a long story.” Sitting up, Tyler glanced at the woods and decided to take his chances with the crazed bouncer rather than look like more of a fool by continuing to lie in this woman’s truck bed. He pulled himself upright and then went to work fastening the open fly of his jeans.

  “Oh, don’t worry, Ty. We have the time to hear your explanation. I’m sure it will be worth it.” Jed grinned. He hadn’t missed the fact that Tyler’s pants were hanging open enough to show his underwear.

  Neither had the woman. Tyler saw her bite her lip to control a smile as she averted her eyes. Didn’t it figure? A beautiful woman who drove the crew-cab, extended-bed, dual rear wheel pickup truck he’d always wanted, and he looked like a complete ass in front of her.

  Cursing his belt as buckling it with his shaky hands confounded him, Tyler finally got his clothes put back together. He jumped out of the truck and turned toward Jed. “Let me help you with that.”

  He reached for the fence post, but Jed took a step back. “Oh, no. You don’t get out of telling us what’s going on that easily.”

  Tyler shook his head. “Ain’t nothing to tell. Just a simple misunderstanding is all.” Grabbing the post off Jeb’s shoulder, he guided it into the back of the pickup and angled it so it wouldn’t stick out too far past the tailgate. “There. I don’t think you need a warning flag on the end of it. It’s in there pretty good.”

  Glancing over, he saw both the woman and Jed watching him and felt the need to keep talking. He turned to the woman. “Where you going with that? You need some help unloading it when you get there?”

  Jed laughed. “You need a ride home, don’t you?”

  “No.” Tyler frowned. “Besides, my truck’s at Rohn’s place anyway. Not at home. And I can call Colton for a ride if I need one.” If the bruiser hadn’t gone back to the bar and taken his anger out on Tyler’s friend because he couldn’t find him.

  “You talking about Rohn Lerner’s ranch?” the woman asked.

  “Yup.” He nodded. “I work there. You know him?” Sometimes this town was too damn small for his liking.

  “Yeah, I do. Hop in.” She tipped her head toward the truck. “I can drive you. It’s on my way.”

  “You sure? You don’t have to. I can—”

  “Get in. It’s fine.” She dismissed Tyler’s concern and turned to Jed. “Thanks for carrying that for me.”

  “No problem, ma’am.” Donning another smart-ass grin, Jed turned to Tyler. “See you around.”

  “Yup.” Though Tyler hoped that wouldn’t be for a long while. He kept the thought to himself and reached for the passenger door handle.

  The woman climbed into the driver’s seat, and he realized he didn’t even know her name. “I’m Tyler Jenkins.”

  “Janie.” She glanced at him as she started the engine and threw the truck into gear.

  “I do apologize again for the whole truck thing.”

  She laughed as she pulled out onto the main road. “Don’t worry about it. This is the most excitement I’ve had in a long time, even if I did come in at the tail end of your mysterious adventure.”

  “I swear, I’m usually not getting into trouble—”

  “Aren’t you?” She raised a brow as her gaze cut sideways. “I somehow have difficulty believing that. I think your friend back at the store might, too.”

  His cheeks heated at being caught in the lie. Tyler let his chin drop before forcing his gaze up to meet hers. “You’re right. I guess . . . sometimes . . . I can get myself into situations that maybe I shouldn’t.”

  Her smile reached all the way to her eyes before she focused back on turning off the main drag and onto the side road leading to the ranch. “You do have a way with words. I bet that talented tongue of yours gets you out of many of those situations.”

  His mind went to bad places at her mention of his tongue. He glanced at her left hand where it gripped the steering wheel and thought what a shame it was she wore a wedding ring.

  He dragged his attention back to the road. “That’s the turn, right up there. Rohn’s place is the next driveway.”

  A smile bowed her lips. “I know. That’s my drive we just passed. We’re neighbors.”

  Tyler frowned as the pieces fell into place. “You’re Tom Smithwick’s widow?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am.” She let out a short, breathy laugh. “Widow. I think that’s the first time I’ve heard someone call me that.”

  His eyes opened wide as he realized how badly he’d screwed up. Her husband hadn’t been gone for that long. The grief was probably still fresh. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “No, it’s okay. Really. I mean, I’m sure they’re all saying it behind my back. And it’s perfectly true. That’s exactly what I am. It’s just strange hearing it, you know? It’s even stranger saying it.” She drew in a breath. “I’m a widow. At thirty-five.”

  He scrambled to make up for putting his foot in his mouth. “You don’t look thirty-five.” She didn’t look like what he’d always imagined a widow would either.

  “Thanks.” She treated him to a small, sad smile as she pulled up to where his truck was parked in Rohn’s drive.

  “So, what are you doing with that fence post in the back?” He hooked a thumb behind him.

  “A tree took down part of my fence. Broke the upright. I’m going to see if I can replace it tomorrow.”

  He figured she’d have to dig the broken post out to sink the new one. “Alone?”

  “Yeah. I let our hands go after Tom died and I sold the bulk of the stock.”

  “Do you need some help?” Digging post holes was no job for a woman.

  She shook her head. “No, really. You don’t have to—”

  “I know I don’t have to. I want to.” He shrugged. “Besides, it’s the least I can do to pay you back.”

  “Pay me back for what? The ride? I told you, I was driving by here anyway.”

  “The ride.” He laughed. “And the hideout.”

  She smiled. “You still haven’t told me why you needed to hide out.”

  The last thing on earth Tyler wanted was for this woman to know the embarrassing truth about what had happened tonight. He looked bad enough already, he was sure. “How about this . . . I don’t tell you, and I help you fix that fence instead?”

  One brow cocked up before she nodded her head. “All right. Curious as I am, I’ll take that deal.”

  She extend
ed her hand. He took it and shook. “Good. I’ll come over first thing in the morning.”

  As he felt the firm grip of Janie’s hand, so tiny compared to his larger one, Tyler had to think he’d made a pretty damn good deal for himself. Not only did he get to save face, he also got to see her again tomorrow.

  “I’ll be there. And thank you for the help.” A smile tipped up the corner of her mouth. He couldn’t stop his gaze from dropping to her cupid’s bow lips.

  “You’re welcome.”

  The pleasure would be all his.

  ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

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  Copyright © 2016 by Cat Johnson

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  ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3625-8

  ISBN-10: 1-4201-3625-9

  ISBN: 978-1-4201-3625-8