Protect Me, Cowboy (78th Copper Mountain Rodeo Book 2)

by Shelli Stevens

“That’s just why I’m calling actually.” Dillon sighed. “Seems we don’t have the part you need, I really thought we did, but we don’t. I’ve ordered it and paid to overnight it, but unfortunately that means your car isn’t going to be ready until tomorrow. Maybe even Wednesday.”

  The knot of dread in her stomach loosened and Claire blinked in dismay. The words sank in. And the panic growing inside her switched motivating factors.

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. Maybe even Wednesday, though I’ll try really hard for earlier. I’m real sorry about this, ma’am. I know you were upset as it was.”

  “No, it’s all right. These things happen. Thank you.” She swallowed hard. “You’ll keep me updated?”

  “Of course. Have a nice day.”

  “You, too.” She ended the call and pressed her hand to her forehead.

  “Everything okay?” Wyatt walked into the dining room, his concerned gaze honing in on her.

  “It’s fine. I guess. Or maybe not.”

  “What is it?” Wyatt gaze grew more concerned.

  “My car isn’t ready.” She bit her lip. “Won’t be until tomorrow.”

  He blinked, dismay bright in his eyes. “Really? I’m sorry, Claire. Do you work in the morning? I can drive you back to Bozeman.”

  “No, surprisingly I’m okay on that front. The bakery is actually closed for the week, because the owner went to Wyoming to meet her newborn grandson.” Claire hesitated, fighting the embarrassment filling her. “It’s just, I’m not sure I can afford to stay another night in Marietta. I don’t get paid until—”

  “You don’t need to worry about the money, Claire.” His brows snapped together. “We won’t be charging you to stay here. Not the past few nights, and not tonight.”

  Her throat tightened. “Wyatt, I can’t….”

  “You can.”

  “I don’t want to be some charity case.”

  “You are a helluva lot more to me than a charity case,” he said thickly, reaching for her. He slid hands into her hair to cradle the back of her head. “And you’d better think again if you imagine I’ll take a dime from you for staying at the ranch. Maybe it’s not the news you wanted, but I’m not going to lie. It’s the news I wanted. I’m glad we’ve got another day or two.”

  Her breath caught. “Really?”

  Instead of a reply, he kissed her. It was a slow, sweet kiss that helped erase the doubt in her mind.

  He lifted his head a moment later, his smoldering gaze tender. “Look, you can pay me in cookies if you really have an issue with it. Chocolate chip this time, maybe?”

  Still flushed from the kiss, she bit her lip. “We’ll have to make a trip to the store, but sure. I can do that.” She added, “Though I’m also pretty good at whipping up cakes.”

  “I’ll hold you to that. Look, I’ve got to get out on the ranch, but I think Katie is heading into town soon. Maybe you could go with her and hit up Marietta Western Wear store too and grab yourself some clothes I’m sure you didn’t pack for more than a couple days. And grab some real boots while you’re at it.”

  Not sure if she should be offended or not, she frowned, looking down at her feet. “These should be fine. I don’t really want to spend—”

  “My treat. I’d like to teach you to ride, since you’ll be here a bit longer, and those won’t last ten minutes in the dirt.” He grinned. “Indulge me, okay?”

  Her frowned deepened. “I’m not saying yes.’

  “Yeah, but that wasn’t a no either.” His gaze lifted above hers. “Hey there, Katie. Looks like Claire will be stuck with us for a day or two more.”

  Katie strode into the dining room, purse over her shoulder. “Well that sounds good to me. Heading into town to grab some groceries. Would you like to come along, Claire? It’ll keep you from getting too bored.”

  “Sure, if you don’t mind? That’d be great.” Claire glanced again at Wyatt. “See you in a bit, I guess?”

  “You bet.”

  A half-hour later, Katie eased her truck into a spot on Main Street right next to Marietta Western Wear. Claire shot her an amused look.

  “So I take it Wyatt told you to take me here?”

  “He hinted I should.” Katie made no attempt to deny it. “Those jeans look adorable on you, Claire, but I think we need to get you some that are a little more durable. We’ll hit the grocery after.”

  Feeling like it was pointless to keep arguing with them about her wardrobe, she bit back a sigh and went inside the store with Katie.

  “I’ll grab a few things I think will be cute,” Katie said, immediately reaching into a rack of button up shirts. “Go try on a few pairs of boots.”

  Claire made her way to the boots section and began perusing her options. She winced, seeing the price. Crap, they were not cheap.

  “Hey, you’re that singer from the other night.”

  At the sound of the excited exclamation, Claire glanced up at smiled at the teenaged boy who’d approached.

  “Bourbon and Boots, right? You guys played at our town dance.”

  “Yeah, that’s me.” It was a small town, she reminded herself. Not entirely weird that she’d been recognized. Though she hadn’t really experienced it too much in the other gigs they’d one.

  “You guys were amazing.” The teen’s eyes were round. “I’ve never heard anyone sing ‘Paradise City’ like that. It was pretty sweet.”

  Amused, and a little perplexed at his gushing, she gave him a sunny smile. “Thank you. That means a lot to hear.”

  “You’re welcome, ma’am. Anyway, I’ll let you be.” His cheeks were a little pink as he rushed back off to the menswear section.

  God, she couldn’t decide if she liked this ma’am stuff, or if she hated it. One thing was, it made her feel old.

  “Stick around Marietta permanently and you’ll have all the boys falling at your feet,” Katie drawled, approaching with a handful of clothes that she dumped into Claire’s arms. “Here, start with these.”

  Nearly stumbling under the weight, Claire made her way to a dressing room. She was determined to be friendly and try it on, but there wasn’t a chance that she’d buy a thing.

  *

  “We practically bought out the store.”

  Wyatt turned away from hammering the fence post and saw Katie and Claire approaching with three bags between them.

  Claire went red at Katie’s declaration. She stopped beside him. “I fully intend to hit a cash machine when I can find one and pay you guys back.”

  Pushing back his Stetson, Wyatt grinned. “Don’t bother, honey. We won’t take it.”

  Her face grew redder. “You can’t just buy me a wardrobe.”

  Katie cleared her throat. “I’d better go put away the groceries.”

  Once she had disappeared, Wyatt took one of the bags from her and peeked inside. Jeans. Turquoise and white plaid flannel. A pair of cowboy boots.

  “Good stuff.” He let go of the bag and glanced at her. “We’ll break in those boots this afternoon.”

  “Are you even going to acknowledge what I said?”

  “What?” He scratched the back of his head. “Oh, about buying you a new wardrobe? I wish you wouldn’t argue. We can easily afford it. But tell you what. If it really bugs you, you can just help out a bit more around here and we’ll call it even.”

  Disbelief flashed in her eyes. “It’ll never be even. You’re letting me stay for free. You’re doing too much for me as it is, Wyatt.”

  He set down the hammer and caught her hand. “Tell me something, honey. Why is it so hard for you to accept help from me?”

  Her mouth tightened and her gaze turned uncomfortable. “I told you why. I don’t trust easily.”

  “Well, you trusted me enough to tell me the truth. To give yourself to me last night,” he added softly, a wave of possessiveness rode through him.

  She sighed and a tremor visibly ran through her. “Wyatt, you’re making me think improper thoughts right now.”

&nb
sp; “So?” He kissed her pouting lips. “I like you thinking improper thoughts. I also like the idea of you trusting me completely.”

  When she didn’t respond, he kissed her again. Her resistance finally waned. She leaned into him and sighed, kissing him back.

  After a bit, he lifted his lips from hers, but kept their foreheads pressed together. Lord, but he wanted her. He hadn’t stopped wanting her.

  “You know, maybe I could take a long lunch break,” he murmured.

  She licked her lips. “Yeah?”

  He caught her hand and tugged her toward the cabin.

  Once inside he laid her down on the bed, and they made love slowly and thoroughly.

  Afterward, when she was in his arms, he kissed her forehead and she sighed in contentment.

  “Why’d you run away from home, Claire?” he asked curiously. “You never really told me.”

  “Long story, I guess. I had a part-time job when I was sixteen at an ice cream shop. Saved a few hundred dollars so I could go on a trip to Mexico with my high school Spanish class. I knew my parents couldn’t afford it.”

  He nodded, keeping silent, but listening. He knew this wasn’t going to end well, and wondered if maybe he should’ve just zipped his lip and not asked. But he needed to know. It was a big piece of who Claire was.

  “I never made it to Mexico,” she continued. “My mom found the money in my dresser and took it. Blew it on alcohol and cigarettes. I was so damn pissed I confronted her—which I’d never done before—and my dad completely lost it.” Her hands tightened around the reigns. “Beat me hard enough that time to leave bruises.”

  That time.

  Wyatt blinked, trying to register to the words as hot fury bubbled in his veins.

  Jesus.

  “So, yeah, I left that night,” she continued, her tone as casual as if she were talking about the weather. “My story’s not really that original. Same old abusive dad and alcoholic mom story that’s a dime a dozen.”

  Seventeen. She’d only been seventeen when that had happened and she’d run away. Violence brewed inside him. The kind that made him want to retaliate with his fists on the person who’d hurt Claire.

  What the hell kind of life had she had? Maybe he was a helluva lot more sheltered than he’d realized. His life growing up hadn’t been perfect, but it hadn’t been that.

  He fumbled for the perfect response. But what the hell could he even say?

  *

  Maybe she’d said too much.

  Claire hated that the thought ran through her head. She hated regretting things. Her muscles went taut.

  And maybe it was rare that she opened up to someone, but she knew deep down that telling Wyatt hadn’t been a mistake.

  He’d asked her and she trusted him enough to be honest. It was that simple. And that complicated.

  Claire’s throat tightened as she waited for him to reply.

  Clearly, though, he was having a hard time processing it.

  “I’m so sorry.” When he finally answered, it was a raspy, low response.

  There was no denying he was shocked and disgusted by what she’d told him. She was so jaded by the world; it was a surprise to see his reaction.

  “Thank you,” she answered softly.

  “It’s a completely inadequate response, Claire, but I’m just not sure anything I can say can sum up how damn furious that makes me. How…” He shook his head and let out a string of curses under his breath.

  “It means more than you realize.” That much was true. “It’s been years since I left home, and I’ve let it go. I really have. I moved out and moved on.”

  “No one deserves to grow up like that.”

  “You’re right. No one does, but it happens more than society is probably comfortable with.” She gave a wistful smile. “Maybe Marietta is different. Maybe you guys don’t have to deal with things like that. Or not as much, I hope.”

  “We do.” He sighed. “I wish we didn’t, but we do.”

  A little sad, she gave a small nod. “That’s too bad. It’d be nice to have found that one safe place in the world where no one gets hurt. Where things are just… normal.”

  It was a nice fantasy.

  “You’re safe here, Claire. You know that right?” His arms tightened around her.

  “Yes, I think I’m safe in Montana. My family didn’t look for me then, and I doubt they’d start now.”

  “I meant more from your ex-boss.”

  Uneasy at the mention of him, she shifted in his arms. “I’d like to think so. But if it ever becomes clear that I’m not…”

  “You’ll what? Run again?”

  Not liking his disdainful tone, she stiffened. “If I need to.”

  He swore. “Stop running, Claire.”

  “I’ve gotten really good at it. I’ll do what I need to do.”

  “Why didn’t you get the police involved in Vegas?”

  “I didn’t think I would’ve made it to a police,” she replied honestly. “Or if I did, I’d have to leave the building eventually. Then what? He was crazy that night, Wyatt.”

  Just thinking back on that moment when Alfredo had confronted her sent a wash of ice through her veins. The ferocity in his grasp that night, and the promise of violence in his eyes. She was all too aware of that look. Of what it meant was to come. Her dad had taught her that.

  “I just want you to be safe.”

  “I know you do.” It was all she’d ever wanted in life.

  All she’d had to worry about from a young age. And, no, it wasn’t fair, but she’d never let herself dwell on that very long.

  She’d had friends in much worse situations. Friends she’d had to abandon when she’d run away both times. From L.A. as a teen, and from Vegas as a twenty-three-year old who really should’ve known better.

  “I’ll be okay.” She mentally tossed off the heavy blanket of sadness that wanted to descend. Life was too perfect at this moment to dwell in the past. “But you don’t have to protect me, cowboy. Don’t need to buy me things and save my butt at every turn. I’m not a princess in need of rescue.”

  It seemed like he wanted to say something else, before he finally answered with, “I don’t know. I think you’d look really pretty in a tiara.”

  The way he said tiara, like tee-air-uh was so darn sweet and a bit hick-like, that she couldn’t help but laugh through the threatening desolation.

  There were just so many conflicting emotions. It was the effect Wyatt Marshall had on her.

  She needed to change the subject and, since she’d opened up so much to him, she figured a little prying of her own wouldn’t be a bad thing.

  “So what’s the story with your mom? I haven’t heard you talk about her much,” she hesitated. “And Katie made some comment about how someone around the house needed to do the cooking. So it made me curious.”

  Though it was entirely possible the mom was around somewhere and just hated to cook. But her intuition told her otherwise.

  “Mom left when I was ten. Cal was barely eight, and Katie was five.”

  Claire swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “Left? How so?”

  “Packed a bag, walked out the door, and never came home. I suspect she left a note for dad or called him. He never said. All we were told was that mom wouldn’t be coming back because she couldn’t handle ranch living.”

  “And she left you guys? She left her children? Her husband?” Claire’s voice rose with disbelief. “How could anyone—”

  “Exactly. And the easy answer is, I don’t know.”

  “And the complicated answer?”

  “I suspect she struggled with depression.” He shrugged. “Maybe had a lover she went to. Unfortunately, like you said, this stuff happens.”

  “It does.” She shook her head. “I guess you just don’t hear about the mom being the one to leave as much. I’m so sorry, Wyatt.”

  “Thanks. It was a hard for a few years, but I think we turned okay in the end.”

  “
You guys turned out great,” Claire said in amazement. “You, Katie, and from what I’ve seen of Cal, all seem to be genuinely nice, good people.”

  “Stop, you’re gonna make me blush,” he drawled. “I think it was probably hardest on Katie, being the youngest. But she kind of became a little mother to us over the years. Very overprotective and nurturing.”

  Yeah, Claire had seen that overprotective bit first hand.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you talk about it.”

  “It’s fine. We’ve both been spilling our skeletons from the closet, I guess.”

  Wanting to take away the heavy topic and ease the sadness from his words, she twisted in his arms and traced her fingers over her chest and lower.

  “We can do other things,” she said softly.

  He gave a slow smile. “Again?”

  Her hands closed around him. “I’m game.”

  With a low growl, he rolled her beneath him and parted her thighs with his.

  His mouth closed over hers, driving the thoughts from her head with the same ease he drove himself into her slick body. She gave herself over to the moment and to the cowboy who was slowly stealing her heart.

  They spent the rest of the day together. She helped him out on the ranch, exploring the property, and often visited with Katie in the kitchen and helping out where she could.

  The next morning, she woke up in Wyatt’s arms, and she couldn’t help but think how she could get used to this. How she was getting used to this. The idea made her a little uneasy, because Marietta wasn’t her home and Wyatt would never really be hers. Both of them were just temporary.

  Wyatt nuzzled her shoulder, before climbing out of bed.

  “We missed breakfast.” Claire pointed out softly in dismay.

  “I know. Katie’ll let us hear it, too.”

  “Will she?”

  “Nah. She understands.” He grinned. “I need to head into town for a meeting at the bank before lunch. You wanna come along? A trip to the bank is exciting stuff in Marietta.”

  She laughed, not missing the teasing note. “Not even a little bit. Thanks anyway, cowboy. I’ve got a whiskey cake to bake for dessert tonight.”

  When she cast a glance his way his eyes were alight with excitement.

  “Whiskey cake is a thing, huh?” He sighed. “I don’t think I can let you leave Marietta, honey.”