Her Cocky Cowboys

by Roma James

  I didn’t answer. What could I have said? He was interrupting something, as a matter of fact. If I’d had my way, he would have turned right back around and gone back inside while Janessa and I picked up where we’d left off.

  But I already knew that was just wishful thinking. I could tell by the tone of his voice and the way he was still staring at me that he knew something had happened.

  Janessa still hadn’t said anything, either. I turned to her, wanting to make sure she was okay, but she rushed past me before I could even reach out to her, nearly knocking me off balance. She disappeared inside the house and slammed the door behind her without saying a word to either of us.

  So that was great. Now I had somehow pissed off both the people I cared about. Typical.

  “You kissed her,” Boone said once we were alone. There was no hint of a question in his tone, so there was really no point in trying to deny it.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I did.”

  I wanted to say it was just a kiss. That it didn’t mean anything. That I could still stick to our agreement. But when I opened my mouth to force the words out, nothing happened. I couldn’t make myself say those things because that would have made me a liar. And I might be a hot-headed, immature asshole on the best of days, but I wasn’t a liar. Never had been and never would be.

  “You like her.” Another statement rather than a question.

  “Yeah.” I nodded again. “I do. But can you honestly stand here and tell me you don’t? Or are you going to pretend that you’re here for the second day in a row simply out of the kindness of your heart? Because you care so much about what happens at Justin Thoreson’s place?”

  “That’s not fair and you know it,” Boone growled. I knew I was dangerously close to really pissing him off, but I couldn’t help it. It was time to have a damned honest conversation about this whole thing. “Of course I care what happens to her. She could be in real, serious danger here, so excuse the hell out of me for trying to stay focused on what we’re actually here for.”

  “And you think I would just stand by and let something happen to her?” I asked. “Because you can go fuck yourself it that’s—”

  “That’s not what I said,” he interrupted, holding his hands up. “And you know that’s not what I meant, either. But this is exactly why we agreed not to do this with her. Hell, we’ve barely even been here twenty-four hours and we’re already arguing over her. That’s the very thing I was trying to avoid. Can’t you understand that?”

  It took me a minute to calm down enough to admit that he was right. We were already fighting like a couple of dogs over a bone, and I’d barely even kissed her. But even though fighting with Boone was the very last thing I wanted to do, I wasn’t sure I could go back to the way things were before.

  Because if I was being totally honest? I’d one hundred percent kiss her again if I had the chance.

  “We could share,” I offered, hoping to find a way for all three of us to be happy and to get rid of this feeling that I had to do things behind Boone’s back. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She’d be into it. And fuck, she’s so hot…”

  He shook his head. “I can’t. I can’t go there with her. It would just complicate things.”

  “How? It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just adults doing adult things and—”

  “No,” he interrupted. “I know myself too well. I already care about her, Cade. When I’m around her, I feel… like I haven’t felt in a long, long time. And I don’t trust myself. I’m not ready for that yet.”

  I felt like someone had just flipped the switch on a light bulb above my head. Boone was finally starting to make some sense. I’d just assumed he was hesitant because of her age or her uncle or some bullshit like that, but if he already had feelings for her—especially if they were half as strong as the feelings I was starting to have for her?

  Then yeah, of course he’d be scared. Of course it would feel complicated when he compared his feelings now to what he’d felt with Maria. Fuck, I’d been an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

  I walked over and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sorry, buddy. I should have figured all of that out before now. You should take as much time as you need to figure that shit out, man. But…” I hesitated, not wanting to put my foot in my mouth again or stick my nose where it didn’t belong. Still, Boone was like a brother to me, so I had to be honest with him. “I like her. You like her. She likes both of us. Those are all facts that we’re going to have to deal with at some point.”

  “Yeah.” He nodded, walking past me to sit down in the chair I’d vacated. “I just don’t know what the right thing to do is. And I don’t think it’s something we’re gonna figure out tonight.”

  “No, probably not,” I agreed. “Just… don’t let life pass you by while you’re trying to make sense of it, okay? Sometimes you just have to live in the moment and appreciate what’s right in front of you.”

  He snorted. “That’s your field of expertise, man. Not mine. My brain just doesn’t work that way. But… yeah, I’ll try.”

  “Good night,” I said, walking to the door. I didn’t want to push the subject any further tonight. “Come get me if there’s any trouble. I’m still ready to kick some ass over that whole poisoning thing.”

  “You and me both,” he grumbled. “I’ll let you know if anyone turns up. Good night.”

  I walked back inside and shut the door behind me. I honestly wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand, I was glad that Boone and I had settled that little argument without having to give each other bloody noses. But on the other hand… had we really settled anything?

  Because as I quietly climbed the stairs that led up to the room where I was staying, it still felt like there was a lot that had been left unsaid.

  And Janessa was going to be caught right in the middle.

  Chapter 9

  Boone

  Being alone with my thoughts after talking to Cade had been a blessing and a curse. I was glad to put that whole conversation behind us and glad that even though we were a hundred miles away from our own ranch, the nighttime sounds were the same out here as they were back at home.

  On a normal night, those sounds would have been enough to soothe my mind and keep my thoughts from wandering too far, but nothing about this night had been normal. From the moment we’d stepped foot onto the Thoresons' ranch, it had been a roller coaster of experiences and emotions—and most of them had been kind of shitty, if I was being honest.

  Janessa had been the bright spot through all of it, though. But she had a whole other set of complications.

  I definitely wanted a chance to get to know her better, but setting up a nightly watch outside her house wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind. And with her uncle constantly giving me the side-eye, there hadn’t really been a chance to be alone and actually talk to her one-on-one.

  That hadn’t seemed to stop Cade, though. Then again, nothing ever stopped Cade when it came to something he wanted—and he obviously wanted Janessa just as much as I did.

  I heard the door behind me creak. It was a tiny noise but sounded louder than it should have in the relative silence. Just from the tentative way the door opened, I knew it wasn’t Cade.

  And that same logic probably ruled out Justin, as well.

  “I thought you were going to bed,” I said, still facing forward in my chair.

  The person behind me huffed out a short breath, and I had to bite back a smile. A quick temper like hers wasn’t normally a turn-on for me, but there was something about the way she carried herself—that stubborn streak and the way she didn’t even think about backing down from a challenge—that made me question everything I thought I understood about women.

  I didn’t like to compare anyone to Maria, but it was hard to ignore the fact that Janessa was her polar opposite in every way—complexion, age, personality, looks. Yet I was still somehow just as attracted to Janessa Thoreson as I’d ever been to the first love of my life.

&nb
sp; And honestly? That realization scared the shit out of me.

  “Couldn’t sleep,” she said, slowly walking over to sit in the chair next to me. “Cade and I weren’t doing anything wrong out here, just so you know.” She paused, then added, “Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “You’re right,” I said, equally amused and annoyed that she’d brought up the subject I’d just spent the past half-hour trying to stop thinking about. “It really isn’t any of my business.”

  It was obvious why she hadn’t been able to sleep. I clearly wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been able to shake the thought of what had happened out here earlier.

  She was looking at me expectantly, as if I should have said something more. As far as I was concerned, though, the subject was closed.

  “If that’s all you came out here to say,” I began, then shrugged. “I guess we’re on the same page. Now I guess you can go get some sleep.”

  She shook her head and settled back into her chair, clearly not going anywhere anytime soon. Which was fine with me. I’d take this little back and forth with her over being left here alone with my own thoughts any day.

  “I didn’t expect any of this to happen when I invited you over for dinner the other night,” she said. “I didn’t mean for you guys to get caught up in whatever drama is going on here.”

  “We don’t mind that,” I said, speaking for Cade as well since I knew he would have said the same thing. “We like a little adventure from time to time. I just wish it wasn’t happening here.” And then, because I just couldn’t stop myself after all the thinking I’d been doing, I asked, “But… what did you expect to happen when you invited us over? I know your uncle wasn’t thrilled with the idea at first.”

  “He warmed up to the idea,” she said, dodging the question. “He’s the one who asked you guys to come back. I had nothing to do with that.”

  She was clever, but I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. Cade and I had just finished arguing over her, so the least she could do was give me a straight answer.

  “True,” I said. “But that isn’t what I asked. Why did you invite us over in the first place?”

  She stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Because I thought it would be nice to get to know you a little better. I… I liked you—both of you—and I thought there was a chance that maybe you liked me, too. I see that I was wrong about one of you, though.”

  “Even if I did think there was potentially something between us…” I paused, needing to be careful with my words. “What am I supposed to do, Janessa? How would it look? Everyone would say you were too young and that I was taking advantage of you.”

  “Cade doesn’t seem to think I’m too young.”

  Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, but I somehow managed to keep from flinching. If I was being honest, I didn’t mind the thought of sharing with Cade. We’d tried it a few times before in the past and, yeah, it had been fun. But her words were just a reminder that right now we weren’t sharing. Cade was going after what he wanted, and I was just making things harder for myself.

  “Maybe I’ll go upstairs and ask him now,” she said, starting to move past me. “Maybe he knows how to treat a woman when—”

  She never had a chance to finish whatever she’d been about to say. I was on my feet, pulling her into my arms and pressing my lips against hers with a movement so quick that I think it surprised both of us.

  Because, yeah, she was free to do whatever she wanted—even if that included going upstairs to Cade’s room right now. I wouldn’t try to stop her. But I was going to make it clear to her that Cade wasn’t the only one who cared about her. Not by a long shot.

  “I know how to treat a woman,” I said, taking a step back before I completely lost control and gave into what both of us obviously wanted. “Just so we’re clear on that.”

  She swayed on her feet for a moment, then smiled. “I know you do. So why are you fighting it? You, me, Cade… you have to admit it would be good. Better than good. Amazing.”

  She was right. I had no doubt it would be amazing. And addictive. I’d probably never want to leave her bed.

  “It’s not that easy,” I said, shaking my head. “I wish it was. Hell, I’d take you right here on the porch if I could, but… I can’t. It’s complicated.”

  “It doesn’t have to be,” she said, taking a step forward to close the distance between us again. “It doesn’t have to be complicated at all. We could all three have what we wanted. We could all be happy. It seems pretty easy to me.”

  I hesitated, letting my eyes drop to roam over her. Even fully clothed, I could still easily imagine what she would look like naked, her beautiful body just inches away from mine.

  Fuck, it was tempting.

  And it would be easy to give in. It would be easy to push my past and all the complicated feelings that went along with it aside and just enjoy everything she was offering me tonight. But then what would happen tomorrow? Or the next day?

  I’d still have to work my way through those feelings sometime.

  “It sounds easy,” I admitted. No point in denying it. “But… I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  “I understand,” she said, but the disappointment in her tone was easy to hear. “You don’t need to apologize.” She stood there for another few seconds, then smiled. “I think I’ll try to get back to sleep. I’m glad we had this talk.”

  I nodded. “See you in the morning.”

  She walked away, and I heard the door open and close again behind me as I sat back down in the chair. It was completely quiet again, just like it had been before.

  And I was all alone with my complicated feelings, just like before.

  Chapter 10

  Janessa

  It was three days ago that we found Rebel poisoned in her stall. Three days and two nights of living on edge, constantly watching out the windows, doing everything in shifts just in case the asshole who tried to kill my horse came back.

  As I looked around the breakfast table, I wondered if the constant worrying and uncertainty were starting to take their toll. Boone, Cade, and Uncle Justin were all unusually quiet, just keeping their heads down and their eyes on their plates as they pushed around the eggs and bacon I’d cooked for us.

  This must be how people felt when they were under siege. That’s what this was, really. It felt like we were being held captive here on the ranch. It was bad enough that the person had come onto our property in the middle of the night and tried to kill one of my animals—but this feeling of being trapped, being watched, of not knowing when or why or how it might happen again… that was the worst part.

  “We’re a lively bunch today,” I said, hoping someone would at least look up and make eye contact.

  Cade was the first one to respond, of course. I knew he wouldn’t be able to keep that big, easy smile hidden for long. “I’m just enjoying this breakfast,” he said. “Thank you for making it. I’m pretty sure it was Boone’s turn today, though.”

  Boone shot him a look that was so quick I would have completely missed it if I hadn’t been watching already. He didn’t look mean or angry, but it wasn’t a lighthearted, easy-going look, either. Just… tense.

  “I’ll make it up to you at lunch,” Boone said, finally looking in my direction and giving me a tight smile. “But thank you for stepping in this morning. I honestly just forgot.”

  “You had a late night,” I said, remembering our talk on the porch. I’d seen heat in his eyes out there that still made my entire body tingle. And the way he’d kissed me… God, what I wouldn’t give to have another kiss like that. Or better yet, another one from both of them. Yeah, last night had been… intense. “And anyway, it was no big deal. Just eggs and bacon. It’s really the least we can do since you guys have already given up so much of your own time to help us out around here.”

  Uncle Justin cleared his throat. “She’s right about that. The two of you have been awfully helpful. But…” He paused and looked across
the table at me. I could tell from his expression that I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “But I think the initial danger has passed us by. We still don’t know anything else about what happened that night, and I don’t think the person will be foolish enough to come back anytime soon.” He shrugged. “Hell, it could have been someone who doesn’t even live around here for all we know. They might have moved on to another town, another state by now.”

  I could feel myself starting to get irritated, but I did my best to keep my tone nice and even as I cut in before Cade or Boone had a chance to reply. “We don’t know any of that for sure, though, right? Those are all just guesses.” I looked around the table to see if anyone was going to contradict me or try to talk over me, but they were all just looking back at me with expressions that I couldn’t quite read. “That person—or people—might be sitting across the road right now watching us, waiting for another opportunity. Maybe they haven’t come back yet because of how many eyes and ears we have looking out for the place now.”

  Cade and Boone still hadn’t offered their opinions. That was fine, though. I could hold my own in this conversation.

  “You know they can’t stay here forever, Janessa.” Uncle Justin turned his attention to the guys. “We appreciate everything you’ve done to help us out, but I wouldn’t feel right asking the two of you to stay any longer. It just feels like we’re wasting your time at this point.”

  “It hasn’t been a waste of time,” Boone offered, glancing over at me.

  “No, it hasn’t,” I said. “I don’t feel like it would be a waste of time to keep this arrangement going for a while longer, just so we can be totally sure we’re safe here.” My uncle was giving me a hard look, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to back down on this. “And just for the record, I feel safer having Cade and Boone here.”