“I think that’s what the problem is. He doesn’t know what you want. You have to communicate with him,” Jenny encouraged.
“He may not feel sure you want him to touch you, again,” Mary Ellen added.
“Of course, I want him to touch me. What do you think dropping the towel was all about?” she said, then flushed scarlet when she realized how loud she had gotten.
“He didn’t know that. He may be laboring under the false assumption that he done something you may not have wanted him to do.”
“Why would he think that?”
“Well, he doesn’t know how you feel about him, does he? Have you told him you love him?”
She shook her head, staring at the table.
“Why don’t you try telling him how you feel?” Jenny suggested softly.
She sniffled again and nodded her head. “I’ll think about it.”
*******
Tyler jumped at the sound of his name, and nearly dropped the brush he had been grooming his horse with. He spun to find Zane standing there, a concerned look on his face. “What do you want?” he snarled, barely resisting the temptation to punch the other man in the nose. The thought of being hauled off in handcuffs was the only thing that stopped him, even if he didn’t really believe Zane would bother to arrest him. He’d be more likely to just black his eyes in return.
“Your mom called. She was concerned,” he snorted. “I think she may have been more concerned for the horses, though. She seemed to think you might work them a little too hard, the way you were acting.”
“The horses are just fine,” he growled. “I know what I’m doing.”
Zane nodded his head. “I know. I even told your mother that, but she still wanted me to come and talk to you. She thought you might tell me what’s going on, since you told her you did not want to talk about it.”
“I still don’t want to talk about it.”
“That bad, huh?”
He shrugged his wide shoulders, feeling like he was carrying the weight of the world on them. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Lucy?”
“Yes, Lucy. What else could I be talking about?”
“Why don’t you just tell that woman how you feel? If nothing else, at least you’ll know.”
“You aren’t helping.”
Zane shook his head, and started to turn to leave. He stopped when he heard Tyler cuss a blue streak. A string of words completely out of character for the other man, and that he would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap for when he was twenty years younger. He turned back and waited.
“What if she doesn’t love me back?”
“Will you, please, finally believe me when I tell you she loves you?” Zane asked, looking a little frustrated himself.
“I wish I could.”
“Look, you’re going to have to just tell her and find out for yourself.”
He nodded his head, and blew out a cleansing breath. “I’ll think about it.”
Chapter 14 – Wednesday, July 3
Tyler walked into the kitchen, rubbing his hands over his face, before walking the rest of the way over to kiss Lucy on the side of the neck. “Good morning.”
She shrugged him away, and glared at him. “Don’t,” she snapped, before turning her back on him to flip the pancakes she had on the griddle in front of her.
“Okay?” he grumbled to himself, walking over to the coffee pot. He was so sleepy, he needed an IV of the stuff. At least it smelt like she’d made it strong. The last night he’d slept more than two hours, was two weeks ago, when she had lost her towel in the kitchen, and he’d carried her off to bed.
If she glared at him like that one more time, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just break down and cry. She had been glaring and snapping at him for days.
He was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and at the same time, wound so tight, he felt sure, if you stuck a pin in him, he’d go zipping around the room. Right now, he just wished she would tell him what to do. He didn’t know if she was angry because of what he’d done, or angry because he hadn’t done it again, since.
The day after their one night, she had been so jumpy, he had been afraid to touch her. Now, he just didn’t know what to think.
“So, why are you angry at me this morning?” he asked, plopping down at the kitchen table to pull on his boots.
“Leave me alone, Tyler,” she snapped, not even bothering to look at him.
He got up, walking back over to her. “Come on, Baby,” he said, trying to wrap his arms around her.
She smacked his arms away, and glared at him, again. “Don’t touch me.”
“Dang it, how am I supposed to fix the problem, if you won’t tell me what it is?”
She huffed. “You’re a smart guy. Figure it out.”
“Come on, Sweetheart. Talk to me.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart.”
“That does it. It’s not like I’m likely to make things worse,” he said, right before he spun her around and grabbed the back of her head. The air whooshed out of her when she landed against his chest. He didn’t give her time to catch her breath. He leaned down and kissed her long and hard. When he let go of her, he didn’t wait for her to yell at him. He spun toward the door and headed outside.
“Where are you going?” she shouted from where she still stood by the stove, shaking from their explosive kiss.
“Out to my parents, to ride for a while. I need to destress.”
She shook her head, watching the door close behind him. “He thinks he needs to destress.”
*******
Tyler crawled out of his truck, that he had just finally got back from Phillip, who had gotten the truck once Luke had finished doing a complete overhaul on it. It now gleamed a bright, shiny red, like it had all those years ago when his grandfather first bought it, and ran like a dream. An added bonus. Phillip had replaced the seatbelts that had stopped working years ago.
“Dang it,” he grumbled to himself as he finished pumping gas into the truck. “I forgot to get my coffee, before I left the house.”
“I see you’ve started talking to yourself,” he heard from behind him.
He turned and glanced at the one man he often thought of as braver than any bull rider he had ever known. Or maybe it was crazier. Probably both. “What do you want, Zane?”
“Well, I was just planning on saying hello.”
“Hello,” he grunted, before turning to walk toward the building.
“Phillip done an excellent job on restoring your grandpa’s truck,” he said, following behind the grumpy man, who only grunted in response this time. “Did he get those seatbelts fixed? I’d hate to have to give you a ticket.”
“Yes, Zane,” he said, eyeing him like a smashed bug on his windshield. “He managed to find replacements.”
The two managed to make it into the store and over to the coffee station, before the other man said anything else. “So, how are things going with Lucy, this morning?”
The question caused Tyler to crush the coffee cup in his hand, that he had, thankfully, just emptied of the hot brew, when he downed it like it was ice water.
“That good, huh?” Zane smirked. “How can you drink that stuff so fast?”
“For one thing, I put ice in the cup before I filled it with coffee,” Tyler answered, throwing the crushed cup away and reaching for another one.
“Oh, I must have missed that,” Zane smirked again.
“No, you didn’t. You’re just trying to irritate me,” he replied dryly. “Just so you know, I’m already irritated.”
Zane shrugged like a man with not a single care in the world. “So, what’s the other thing?”
“What other thing?” Tyler asked, giving him a confused look.
“You said, for one thing when I asked about how you could chug that stuff so fast.”
“Oh, that,” he shrugged. “I’m just used to it. There was a lot of times over the last eight years, that coffee was the only thi
ng that kept me going. I learned to drink it fast.” This was said right before he chugged another full cup of coffee and he turned to fill the cup up again.
“So, what’s going on with you and Lucy this morning, that the mention of her name is enough to send you, if not over the edge, right up to it?”
“Nothing I want to talk about,” he grumbled as he made his way up to the register.
“You still haven’t told her, have you?”
“No,” he stated with force as he turned to walk away from the counter after paying for his gas and coffee, making sure not to forget the crushed cup and the coffee he had already drank. “I don’t know that I want to, right now. Not after her telling me not to touch her this morning,” he mumbled under his breath, not intending for Zane to her him.
“Tyler, just tell her how you feel. It’ll make things better.”
“I doubt it.”
*******
Lucy hollered at whoever it was on the other side of her front door, that wouldn’t quit banging on the blasted thing. “Hang on. I’m coming.” She yanked it open with a snarl. “What?”
“Well, hello to you, too,” Jenny said, cheerfully, with a huge smile.
She crossed her arms in front of her and gave one of her three best friends in the whole world a killer look. “What do you want?”
Jenny sighed and pushed past her, so she could walk over and plop down on the couch in the living room. “Zane seemed to think you might be upset.”
She huffed, jamming her hands on her hips. “What would give him that idea? I haven’t seen him this morning?”
“It seems, he ran into your husband at the gas station.”
“Some husband,” she grumbled to herself.
“He was sucking coffee down like it was ice water, and he was a man in the middle of the desert at high noon. Zane’s words. Not mine.”
“I made him coffee here. It’s hardly my fault he didn’t bother to get a cup to take with him before he left.”
“I don’t think that was Zane’s point.”
“Well, then what was his point?”
“I think it had more to do with Tyler’s lack of sleep over the last couple of weeks.”
“Well, what could possibly be keeping him awake at night?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe trying to sleep with you, without touching you.”
“I never asked him not to touch me.”
“Zane said he mumbled something about you telling him not to touch you this morning. He said he didn’t think he was supposed to have heard that part.”
“Well, I hadn’t said anything of the like, until this morning. He’s driving me crazy.”
“What did he do this morning?”
She threw her hands up in frustration. “He was trying to act like there is nothing wrong?’
“Maybe he was just trying to make things better,” the other woman suggested.
“Right?”
“I know, I’ve told you this before, but just tell the man how you feel. It’ll make things a lot better, if you do.”
“I doubt it.”
Chapter 15 – Saturday, July 13
Tyler followed behind Lucy, Montana on his shoulder, pushing the cart while she tossed stuff in. He had no more of an idea what she had thrown in there, than he did how many stars were in the sky. He’d had his eyes clued to her rounded backside the whole time. She had grown steadily grumpier over the last couple of weeks since he’d carried her off to bed. He wished he knew if it was because he’d given in to his desires in the first place, or if it was because he hadn’t touched her since.
He had promised her he wouldn’t rush her, then the next thing he did was take her choice away. He didn’t even warn her before he had her picked up and carted off down the hall. Of course, if the reason she was angry at him was because he hadn’t done it again, that would be easy enough for him to fix. He’d be willing to take care of it the moment they walked back in the door. Maybe he should call his mom and see if she wanted to keep the baby overnight, again.
He’d had to practically beg Lucy to let him come grocery shopping with her, but he was feeling very appreciative that she had finally relented and brought him with her.
“Tyler,” she snapped, and spun to glare at him.
“Yes, Sweetheart?”
“Have you even been listening to me?”
“No,” he answered honestly, flushing scarlet to his roots. “I was too busy enjoying the view.”
“What view are you talking about? We’re in the grocery store.”
“You,” he grinned.
“Oh, you are so full of it,” she huffed. “What do you…”
“You know, Tyler,” a disembodied voice came from behind him. “You didn’t have to marry this harpy to take care of the little girl.”
He turned around in time to watch Brandy Drake step around the end of the aisle. “What do you want?”
“Nothing, really,” she smirked, letting him know what she really wanted to do was cause trouble. “It’s just, it wasn’t necessary to tie yourself to someone so… Well, you know. There’s any number of women who would have married you that would have suited you better.”
“This is starting to sound like a conversation we’ve already had, and you know I don’t agree,” he stated grimly, before trying to turn to leave.
Brandy smiled at him sweetly, the malice shining in her eyes. “Oh, there are lots of women who would have married you. I myself, am one of them.”
Tyler turned back to look at her with a shake of his head. “Maybe so, but none of them would have suited me better than Lucy.”
“You seriously would prefer this fat harpy?” she snarled, motioning toward a gaped mouthed Lucy. “To me?”
“Lucy’s not fat, and if I hear you say something like that again, I’ll call that favorite uncle of yours that likes me so much.”
She gasped, drawing her hands up to her chest. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I don’t like people insulting my wife.”
“Some wife,” she smirked. “Seems to me she yells at you an awful lot.”
“She had a reason to be upset with me. I wasn’t listening.”
“What? You can’t even be bothered to listen to her?”
“Most of the time, I listen to her just fine. It just happens this time I was too busy watching her luscious bottom,” he smirked back. “A guy’s mind gets a little fogged when he’s watching something that sexy.”
“You must not be getting enough if you think that’s sexy,” Brandy said, gesturing at Lucy. “You better watch it, Lucy. A man like Tyler won’t go long without getting what he needs.”
“Wow. You really only hear the parts you want to her,” Tyler snorted. “Lucy is the sexiest woman I have ever seen. Was that clear enough for you.”
Brandy finally spun around and stomped off in a huff. He could hear her grumbling to herself as she stomped down the next aisle over. He shook his head and turned back with a grin in time to have Lucy hurl something at him.
It hit him on his free shoulder and dropped into his hand. Somehow the baby didn’t even stir from her nap. “What was that for?”
“How dare you embarrass me like that?”
He gave her a questioning look, feeling more confused than ever. “Why would my thinking you’re sexy be embarrassing?”
*******
Lucy paced back in forth in front of the bed in the master bedroom, stewing. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She didn’t believe he had cheated on her as of yet, but she didn’t figure it would be much longer, if she didn’t do something soon. The problem she was facing was, he hadn’t bothered to try to touch her once in over two weeks. What if she was wrong, and he had cheated on her. She couldn’t live with that. Brandy, for obvious reasons, would know a lot more about men then she would. Of course, she couldn’t trust her not to try and cause problems with her marriage. “Oh,” she huffed, plopping down on the bed. “What am I going to do?”
She s
tood up, and once again started pacing. It was too big a risk. She couldn’t even handle the thought of him cheating on her. Finally making a decision, she flung open the door and stormed down the hall toward Tyler, where he was sitting on the couch watching the ten o’clock news. “Tyler, I need to talk to you,” she said, nervously chewing her bottom lip, despite her anger.
Her nervousness gave him an uneasy feeling. After their run in with Brandy, he wasn’t sure what she was going to have to say. “Sure, Babe,” he said standing to walk across the room.
“No, stay there,” she said, taking a step back. “If you get too close, I won’t be able to do this.”
That response made him even more uneasy. “Do what?” he asked, knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“I love you,” she blurted, not sure why she opened with that confession.
“I lo…” he tried to answer back, thinking, for a second or two there, he was going to like this conversation after all.
“No, stay back,” she squeaked when he reached for her. “I’m not done. I’ve been in love with you for forever. As long as I can remember,” she admitted, deciding to go with the whole truth. “That’s why I agreed to this marriage. But I won’t stay married to an unfaithful man, no matter how much I love him. I want a divorce.”
“What? No! No, no, no,” he said, reaching for her again. “Absolutely no divorce.” She just barely reached the door before he nabbed her. She shook him off and made a run for her car.
As much as he wanted to go after her immediately, he couldn’t. He had to take care of the baby. He wasn’t too concerned about finding her later. He knew where she would go. There was only one place he could think of. Right now, he had to get the baby and take her to his mother. Or better yet, he could leave her with Mrs. Cranes, once he got to her parents to retrieve his wife.
*******
By the time Tyler had driven to the Cranes and dropped the baby off, and managed to talk her mother into telling him where she had gone, he had managed to work himself into quite a lather. He couldn’t believe the woman thought he had actually cheated on her. Of course, she was going to listen to Brandy Drake. Why, he didn’t know. She knew now, the woman had never liked her at all. Not liked her? She hated her.
The Rodeo Star's Return (Sapphire Springs Book 1) Page 14