by Elle James
“Deal,” RJ said. “Have a seat and eat while it’s still hot.”
Soon, they had all loaded their dishes and dug into the food.
RJ was amazed at how quickly they’d been able to prepare a full meal for everyone.
“This is great,” Gunny said. “Thank you, Jules, for slaving over the stove.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Jake’s help,” she admitted.
“I think this arrangement is going to work out more in our favor,” Gunny said. “We get a steady income and more help.”
“It works out for all of us,” Jake said. “I haven’t had a homecooked meal in a long time.”
“And I didn’t have to cook it all by myself,” RJ said. Yeah, Jake was every woman’s dream man. She’d have to guard her heart or risk falling in love with the man.
She couldn’t let that happen when he could have any woman he crooked his finger at. One who actually knew how to wear a dress and liked doing it.
RJ stole a glance across the table at Jake. His gaze met hers, and a smile curled the corners of his lips.
Damn. Could the man read minds, too? Did he know she was thinking about falling in love with him?
Her cheeks burned as she turned away from his all-knowing stare.
RJ needed to get a grip on her emotions where Jake Cogburn was concerned. And she needed to do so before she really did fall in love with the man.
Chapter 9
All the time Jake had spent in his apartment in Colorado Springs, he’d grieved the leg he’d lost and hesitated leaving his cave to figure out life as he now had to live it—one leg short of a pair.
In the past twenty-four hours, he’d proven to himself that his life wasn’t over. Not only could he get around on foot, but he could also ride a horse and…kiss a girl.
Maybe life after the Navy SEALs wouldn’t be as bad as he’d originally thought.
Being on Lost Valley Ranch, getting out in the open and experiencing nature had breathed new purpose into him.
And RJ…
The woman never stopped. She’d almost been smothered to death and had been shot at, and all she could think about was taking care of her guests.
She didn’t seem to realize just how sexy she was. Having grown up with a Marine gunnery sergeant father, she hadn’t had the luxury of a mother to show her by example how to be a lady.
Hell, she was more of a lady than some of the women Jake had dated. She was tough, caring and had a body that didn’t quit. And her lips were soft and incredibly kissable.
They finished dinner quickly, speaking sparingly. Gunny wanted to get back to the bar before it got too busy for JoJo to handle on her own.
“I’ll be over as soon as I clean up the kitchen,” RJ promised.
“I’ll help Gunny,” Kujo offered. “I’m not sure about mixed drinks, but I can serve beer.”
“You’re on,” Gunny said as they headed out the door, carrying a plate of food for JoJo.
The guests finished their meals and helped clear their tables.
“I’ll wash,” Jake said. “You can dry, since you know where everything goes.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” RJ said.
Jake filled the sink with hot sudsy water and quickly washed the dishes. Their hands touched every time he passed a dish to RJ to dry. A spark of electricity passed up his arm each time.
When the last dish was dried and put away, Jake emptied the sink and rinsed it clean.
“Thank you,” RJ said. “Things go a lot faster with help.”
“Should we go to the bar and see if Gunny and Kujo need help?”
RJ nodded. “Let me set up the coffee and cocoa bar for the guests to help themselves. Once they’re happy, I’ll be ready to go over.”
“I’ll help.” Jake carried an urn of hot water into the dining room and laid it on a buffet cabinet against the wall.
RJ arranged a tray of ceramic mugs and packets of tea, cocoa and instant coffee for the guests. “Help yourselves,” she invited the guests. “We’ll be at the Watering Hole if you want something a little stronger.”
RJ pulled on a jacket. “You might want to wear something a little warmer. The night is supposed to get down into the thirties.”
“I’ll be fine for the short walk between the lodge and the bar.” He held the door for her.
As they stepped out of the lodge into the cool of the night, he inhaled the mountain air, enjoying the beauty of the stars above and the woman walking beside him in companionable silence.
They hadn’t gone twenty yards from the lodge when a loud boom sounded and shook the ground beneath their feet.
Striker yelped and dropped to his belly, shaking.
RJ held onto Jake as he ducked toward the ground. “What the hell?”
“Sounded like a mortar round,” Jake said.
RJ reached for Striker and wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s okay, boy. It’s okay.” The animal didn’t like loud noises. After having been in an explosion himself, he was sensitive to fireworks, gunshots and mortar rounds. She coaxed him to his feet and kept a hand on his neck as they hurried toward the bar.
Gunny, JoJo and Kujo came out the back door of the bar as they neared.
“Did you hear that?” RJ asked.
“Not only did we hear it,” Gunny said. “It rattled the glassware.”
“What do you suppose it was?” JoJo asked.
“If it were in the winter, I’d say it sounded like avalanche control mortar rounds,” Gunny said. “But, right now, there isn’t that much snow in the mountains for them to worry about avalanches.” He turned to the bar. “I’ll call the sheriff and ask if they’ve had other reports.”
They all entered the bar.
Striker took his position on the dog bed RJ had placed behind the bar.
Patrons gathered around their tables, all talking at once. One man looked up. “What was it?”
Gunny shrugged. “Not sure.” He lifted the phone on the counter and called the sheriff. After a few minutes on the phone, he hung up and shook his head. “They heard it in Fool’s Gold as well,” Gunny said. “The sheriff thinks it might be someone operating illegally in one of the old mines.”
RJ frowned. “Dynamite?”
Gunny nodded.
“Isn’t dynamite a controlled substance? Can’t they chase down everyone in the area who has access to it?” RJ asked.
Gunny nodded. “It’s possible. The sheriff said he’d look into it. But it’ll take time.”
“Wonderful.” RJ’s lips pressed together. “In the meantime, we might have explosions going off in any number of mine shafts sprinkled across the county.”
“That’s about the extent of it.” Gunny touched RJ’s arm. “Why don’t you call it a night? I can close up the bar. You’ve had a helluva a day.”
“I’m fine,” she argued, though the thought of going to bed early did appeal to her.
Gunny crossed his arms over his chest and gave RJ a narrow-eyed stare. “Do you always have to disagree with me?”
RJ smiled. “No, sir. And if you insist I call it a night, I insist you sleep in come morning. I can handle breakfast.”
Gunny shook his head. “You feed the animals. No. I’ll make breakfast as usual.”
She crossed her arms over her chest just like her father. “Then I’ll stay and help clean up at closing.”
“RJ, you’re as stubborn as your father.” JoJo slapped an empty tray on the bar. “I can close up the bar, and you both can call it a night.”
RJ and Gunny turned to JoJo.
“No way,” RJ said at the same time as Gunny said. “No.”
JoJo planted a fist on one hip. “Seriously? You two are too much alike.” She took a loaded tray and headed back to a table full of thirsty men.
“Okay,” RJ said. “I’ll call it a night. But you have to sleep in at least an extra hour. I’ll get breakfast started after I take care of the animals.”
“And I’ll be there to help wit
h the animals and breakfast,” Jake said.
“Which will make it all go faster.” RJ smiled. “So you see, we can take care of things while you catch up on some rest.”
Gunny frowned. “Any more than six hours of sleep a night—”
“—is a waste of time.” RJ shook her head. “And you wonder where I get that philosophy.” She turned to Jake. “I’m headed to the lodge.”
“Come with me to my car, first,” JoJo said. “I have your dress for the reenactment. Sally Jo Landon asked me to give it to you. You might have to safety pin it in places to make it fit you right. I think you have a smaller waist and hips than she does.”
“And everything else,” RJ muttered. She didn’t want to play the part of a madame. Hell, she didn’t know how to put on a corset, much less a dress with several petticoats. She sure as hell didn’t have the cleavage to pull off being a madame. “JoJo, are you sure you don’t want to play the part of the madame? I’d pay you a premium to do it.”
JoJo held up her hands. “No. I’m working the funnel cake booth.”
“How did you get a funnel cake booth, and I’m stuck as a madame?”
“A madame who shoots a gunslinger.” JoJo set another tray filled with empty mugs and bottles on the counter. “You’d make a much more convincing madame than I would.”
“Are you kidding? You’re cute and pretty badass,” RJ said.
“And I’m too short for the dress.” She held her hands out to the side, palms up. “Unless we want to come up with an entirely new costume, we have to go with whoever will fit in the dress.”
RJ cursed.“Fine. Let’s get the dress.” She looked around for Jake. He was only a few steps away, apparently watching her every move. When she started for the exit, Striker surged to his feet and trotted alongside her. Jake pushed away from the wall and followed her out.
JoJo was first to the door, about to lead the way out the back. Before she could take a step through the exit, Jake blocked her path. “Stay here until I clear the area.”
JoJo glanced at RJ, her brows raised.
Jake left the building, closing the door behind him. A minute later, he was back. “All clear as far as I can tell. But you need to stay close to me.”
“Gladly,” JoJo said with a wink. She stood on one side of RJ, Jake had the other, effectively sandwiching RJ between them.
As they walked out to JoJo’s car, Striker following behind.
“Sally Jo had it dry cleaned, so you’re good to go for the Friday night shootout.” JoJo opened the truck and pulled out the dress wrapped in plastic from the drycleaners. She held it up and grinned.
RJ groaned. The dress was cut regrettably low in the front, and the corset would push things up in all the wrong places. Or right places, depending on who cared. The men might enjoy seeing her cleavage on display. Well, what there was to display?
Who was she kidding? “I can’t do this.”
“You can, and you will,” JoJo said. “Madame LaBelle was such a huge part of Fool’s Gold back in the day. You can’t let everyone down.”
Jake’s brow wrinkled. “What’s this about a shootout on Friday night?”
“Madame LaBelle was one of the original residents of Fool’s Gold. She got tired of the local gang stirring up trouble for the miners, so she had a shootout with the gang’s leader. No one thought she even knew how to fire a revolver, much less hit anything.” JoJo laughed. “She showed them when she killed the leader and threatened to shoot any of his followers if they bothered the miners ever again.”
“And you’re playing the part of her shooting the gang’s leader?” Jake frowned. “Not sure I like the idea of you being exposed to a crowd of people.”
RJ snorted. “Exposed being the keyword.”
“Someone tried to shoot you today,” Jake reminded her. “What’s to keep him from trying again? And in a townful of people, he could easily get lost in a crowd.”
“All the more reason for me to call off the annual shootout,” RJ said, “besides the fact there would be guns involved.”
“They use cap guns,” JoJo said. “But maybe you’re right. It might put you out there where someone could hurt you. We can find someone else to play the madame. Although who that might be, I don’t know at this late date.”
RJ held the dress back from JoJo. “No. I’ll do it. I’m the one scheduled. If I put someone else in the dress, whoever took a shot at me might shoot my replacement, thinking it’s me.” She shook her head. “I’d feel awful if someone took a bullet for me.”
“I’d feel awful if you took a bullet,” JoJo said. “I think we need to call this entire event off and just skip right to the Sadie Hawkins dance.”
RJ groaned. “Do I have to go?”
JoJo frowned. “You promised the mayor you’d be there. You’re representing Lost Valley Ranch. Gunny paid for the advertisement.”
They no longer desperately needed the business. Not when they had Hank Patterson’s rent money about to come in steadily to meet the usual bills. But it would be nice to have paying guests in order to make some much-needed improvements to the lodge and barn. Still…dances weren’t RJ’s thing, though she loved to two-step.
“You don’t have a date for the Sadie Hawkins dance, do you?” JoJo shook her head. “I could get one of my cousins…”
“No.” RJ shook her head. “I really don’t feel like going.”
“You have to. You promised.” JoJo turned to Jake. “Take Jake. If he’s supposed to be your bodyguard, it makes sense to take him. And that way, people don’t have to know he’s your bodyguard. He could just be your date. For that matter, you two can pretend to be a thing until we find the bastard who’s terrorizing you. No one will be the wiser, and it’ll look natural that he’s always with you.”
RJ shook her head. “Jake doesn’t want to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance any more than I want to.”
“Excuse me.” Jake held up a hand. “Do I have a say in this matter?”
“Yes,” JoJo said at the same time RJ said, “No.”
“If you need to be at the Sadie Hawkins dance, I can take you.” He drew in a deep breath. “I have to warn you, I haven’t danced since—” he paused, frowned and finished with, “—in a while.”
“Since you lost your leg?” JoJo asked.
“JoJo!” RJ glared at her friend.
“What?” JoJo looked from RJ to Jake and back. “You didn’t know?” She gave RJ a crooked grin. “I’m sure Jake knows.”
Jake’s jaw tightened.
RJ was mortified her friend had outed Jake before he was ready to reveal his injury for himself.
“You knew?” Jake asked quietly.
RJ’s cheeks heated. She nodded.
“How? When?”
“I saw you practicing mounting Reggie in the barn.” She shrugged. “It was pretty obvious.”
“You two want me to leave you alone to talk about this?” JoJo asked. “I’m sorry. I thought everyone knew.”
“How did you know?” RJ asked. “Did Jake tell you?” She glanced at Jake and back to JoJo.
JoJo shook her head. “I have a friend who lost his leg in an IED explosion when we were deployed to Afghanistan. He walked with a limp like Jake’s. I assumed he had a similar situation.” She grimaced. “I hope I didn’t speak out of turn. You seem to have adjusted well. My friend is already planning to run his first half-marathon on his prosthesis. I think that’s pretty amazing. A dance will be a piece of cake for a guy like you.”
“Thanks, JoJo. I’ll take the dress and make a decision later as to whether to cancel the Madame LaBelle shootout. And I will be at the Sadie Hawkins dance as promised.” She met Jake’s gaze. “If Jake doesn’t have second thoughts about going…”
“I’m in,” he said.
“We’ll walk you back inside, and then I’m calling it a night,” RJ said.
“Oh, good.” JoJo clapped her hands. “Now, I just have to find a date for the dance.”
RJ huffed. “And you we
re giving me grief.”
JoJo grinned and walked toward the bar. “It worked, didn’t it? Maybe Emily can be my date if we can’t find fellas to go with us.”
“You work on that,” RJ said, opening the back door for JoJo. “You’re cutting it a little close, aren’t you? We only have a few days.”
“I’m not worried about it.” JoJo turned in the threshold of the door. “I’m just glad you’re getting out. You spend too much time on the ranch. You know there’s a whole world out there you’re missing out on.”
“I’m happy on the ranch,” RJ insisted.
“Yeah,” JoJo said, her tone indicating she was not at all convinced. “You better bone up on your dancing skills. It’s been a while since the last time you hit the dance floor.”
“Don’t worry about me.” RJ hugged JoJo. “You’re the one who has to find a date.”
JoJo entered the bar and closed the door, leaving RJ and Jake alone outside.
Striker lay on the ground nearby, relaxed, but alert.
“You know you don’t have to take me to the Sadie Hawkins dance if you don’t want to,” RJ said.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t intend to go.” Jake’s voice was tight, his gaze on the night surrounding them.
RJ shot a glance in Jake’s direction. She remembered how he’d practiced mounting a horse before he’d gone riding the following day. He was probably hesitant to dance at this point. “Okay, but just because we’re going to a dance doesn’t mean you have to dance.”
“If you want to dance, I’ll dance,” he said stiffly.
“I could use some practice,” she said softly. “Gunny made sure I knew how to two-step. But that’s all I know, and it’s been a while since I danced standing on his feet. Do you know how to two-step?”
Jake nodded. “It’s not that hard to remember,” he said. “It’s a simple quick, quick, slow, slow movement.”
RJ knew that. Gunny had drummed it into her as a child. He’d told her that he’d fallen in love with her mother at a country-western bar, dancing to the two-step.
RJ had dreamed of falling in love with a man on the dance floor like her mother and father had. But that just hadn’t happened. The ranch kept her too busy to think about dancing, except for the once or twice a year there were festivals and events JoJo or Emily dragged her to.