9781618857279MakeMineaCowboySullivanNC (6 page)

He
checked his watch. She’d been in there for several minutes.
What the hell is taking so long?

Tap, tap,
tap
.

Joel
turned his head to see a security guard tapping on the window with his
flashlight.

“Can
I help you?” he said, after he rolled the window down.

“Can
I ask what you’re doing sitting in this car?”

“I’m
waiting for a friend to come out. She’s getting her stuff.”

“She’s
checking out?”

“Yes.”

“Why
didn’t you go in and help her?”

“She
asked me not to. Come on, man. I’m just sitting here.”

“In
a guarded parking lot of a nice hotel. How do I know you aren’t casing cars to
break into?”

“Do
I look like a thief? I’m sitting here in muddy jeans, cowboy boots, and a T-shirt.”

“Step
out of the car please.”

“Are
you a cop?”

“Yeah,
I am.”

Joel
glanced at the man’s shirt and noticed the San Antonio police badge.
Shit
. This is all he needed.
Trouble with a capital T.
He pushed open the car door and
stepped out. His six-foot-four frame towered over the cop, but he didn’t try to
intimidate the guy.
Be nice to the
policeman, Joel
. He heard his mother’s voice in his head as clearly as if
she were standing next to him. After all, the man had a gun.

“What’s
going on here?”

Mesa
skidded to haul next to him with her suitcase dragging behind her.

“Our
friend here thinks I’m casing cars.”

“He
is not, officer.” She tapped her chest with her finger. “He’s with me. I came
to check out and get my things before I headed back to his house.”

“His
house?” the cop asked with a raised eyebrow.

Great. Now the guy thinks I’m
soliciting or something. Shit.
He stuffed his hands in
the front pocket of his jeans. “It’s not like that, officer. My family owns a
dude ranch out in Bandera. She’s a guest. I came with her to get her things so
she wouldn’t get lost driving back out there since it’s dark now.”

“Do
you have your check out paperwork?”

“Not
yet. I brought my suitcase out here first to put into the car before I walked
back into the front desk.”

“Put
your things in the car then and we can all walk in together.”

“Seriously?
This is ridiculous,” she snapped, hitting the trunk latch on her key fob. She
slid the suitcase in the back before she slammed the hatch with a loud bang.

Joel
walked behind her with the cop beside him. He couldn’t help but notice how her
ass jiggled a little as she stomped her feet. The girl had a temper, it seemed.
He liked girls with enough gumption to stand up for themselves.

They
walked in through the sliding doors. The desk stood off to the left with large
plants flanking either side. Mesa had her dander up now. She slapped her hand
down on the counter and snapped, “Tell this idiot I am a guest at this hotel
and I don’t appreciate my
guest
being
harassed in your parking lot.”

“And
you are?”

“Mesa
Arraguso. I’m here with the writer’s conference and I’m checking out.” She slid
her keycard across the counter. “My room is 2103.”

“Of
course, ma’am.”
The guy tapped on a few keys of the
computer. “You do realize there won’t be any refund on your hotel stay because
of the special rate and…”

“Yes,
I know. Just check me out while I deal with this idiot.” She stomped back to
where he and the cop were standing. “Now do you believe us? We weren’t giving
you a line of shit, officer. What we told you was the truth.”

“I’m
sorry, ma’am, but we’ve had a rash of car break-ins around the area and your
friend here looked suspicious when he kept checking the doors.”

“I
kept looking for her. Nothing more.”

“I’m
sorry but you have to understand, we are only protecting the hotel guests.” At
least the man looked sheepish. “I didn’t mean to harass you.”

“Then
I suggest you go out there and find whoever is really breaking into these cars.
It’s not my friend.”

“No
harm done, Mesa. Really. He’s doing his job.”

“Believe
me, I know how these guys work. I deal with the same crap in Los Angeles with
the police out there. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent, not the other
way around.” The cop tipped his hat before he walked out the doors. Mesa huffed
out a sigh. “Really, he should have been more apologetic. I hate being harassed
like I’m some kind of criminal.”

“It’s
fine. I get into trouble with the police sometimes in Bandera. Luckily, they
all know us. They don’t here in San Antonio.” He shrugged. “I didn’t give him
my name or he might have recognized me. I don’t like throwing names around, you
know?”

“Yeah.
I appreciate you standing up to him, though.”

“I
didn’t do anything.”

“Ms.
Arraguso? Here is your receipt. Thank you for staying with us.”

“I
appreciate it. I’ll keep this hotel in mind should I have need for a room in
San Antonio again. Thank you.”

Joel
grabbed her hand as they walked outside. Knowing there were people out casing
the cars in the lot didn’t sit well with him. He had a permit to carry a gun,
which he did in his truck, but not in someone else’s car. Bandera didn’t have
these kinds of problems. The small town kept to themselves most of the time.
To each his own.
They took care of each other with their
small police force and didn’t have much trouble in the way of things in San
Antonio. The bigger city had a lot more issues.

“Are
you okay?”

“Yeah,
why?”

“You’re
squeezing my hand kind of tight,” she said, tugging on her limb although he
didn’t release her.

He
kind of liked how her hand felt in his so he pulled her in tighter. “Sorry,
darlin’. Knowing there are people possibly hanging out in the parking lot for
nefarious reasons makes me nervous for you.”

“Aw,
how sweet. I’m fine though. I can take care of myself.”

“Maybe,
but as the man, I’m supposed to take care of you.”

“Very
chivalrous of you.”

“It’s
the way my mom raised us. The men take care of the ladies.” They’d reached the
side of her car. Once she unlocked it, he opened the door for her, and then
shut it behind her before going around to the passenger side.

“Do
you always open doors?” she asked after he’d settled himself in the seat again.

“Yep.”

“I
didn’t think men did those kinds of things anymore.”

“Southern
gentlemen do, but I don’t know any other way to be, so there you have it.”

“It’s
nice.” She smiled and he relaxed.

“I’m
just a simple, country boy.”

“Perfect
for what I’m needin’.”

“And
what might that be?”

Chapter Four

“Inspiration,
Joel. For my next book.”

“Ah.”
He quirked an eyebrow at her as she flushed in embarrassment
from the little smile on his lips.

“Men,”
she whispered under her breath.

“What
did you say?”

“Nothing.”

They
headed out of San Antonio on their way back to the ranch. Quiet surrounded
them, so she flipped on the radio to a country music station and sat back in the
seat, prepared for the long drive.

“Have
you ever been married?” he asked, breaking into the low radio hum of the song
playing. His voice reminded her of a sexy growl. She totally needed to use that
in a book.

“What
brought that on?”

“Just
making conversation.”

“No.
I had a long-term boyfriend up until about six months ago.”

“What
happened?”

“We
just grew apart, I guess. We’d been dating about three years.” She glanced
across the car, then back to the road. “What about you?”

“Nope.
I haven’t found the right girl yet. Of course, if Mom had her way, all of us
boys would be married already and have a dozen kids each.”

She
laughed. It felt good with everything her life had turned into lately. Her
career had gone into the toilet after her last book. Her love life sucked. “Why
am I not surprised? Nina reminds me of my mother. She’s trying to marry me off,
too. She was pretty upset about my breakup. More so than I was, I think.”

“Only
one of our family has been married before. Jeff. It broke up a few years ago.”

“What
happened?”

“
Misha
was a total ho bag. She tried getting half of us in
bed with her. When she couldn’t accomplish that, she went after the sheriff.
She succeeded there.” Joel rubbed his eyes with forefinger and thumb like he
had a headache.

“I
bet it’s a bit awkward for Jeff then if he ever gets stopped by the guy.”

“The
two of them keep clear of each other. Jeff caught them in bed together. The guy
was lucky Jeff wasn’t armed at the time. Jeff just beat the shit out of the guy.”

“He
didn’t press charges, did he?” she asked, her voice a slight pitch higher with
worry. She liked his family even though she’d only met them a short time ago.
They seemed close, like families should be. She loved her own parents, but they
constantly seemed to be on her tail about one thing or another. When was she
going to marry? What about children? Even though she was only twenty-five,
shouldn’t she be thinking about her future? Did she plan on writing novels for
the rest of her life? She needed a day job to pay her bills. She’d been lucky.
Her first novel took off three years ago and hit the NY Times Bestseller list,
as did her second. Her third flopped…badly.

“No.
Art knew better, even though he could have.” He sighed and shifted in the seat.
“Jeff loved her.”

“I’m
sorry for him then. It’s not fair to put someone through the heartbreak. Just
leave if you don’t want to be married to them.”

“She
did want to be. She wanted the money and land she thought went with the Young
name, she didn’t want Jeff or their son.”

“They
managed to have a child? We
wasn’t
at dinner.”

“Yeah,
purely by accident, I think. She hated being pregnant. Hated Jeff during the
whole pregnancy. They fought constantly. She made everyone miserable while they
were married. We were all thrilled when it broke up.”

“No
one noticed any of this before they got married?”

He
shook his head. “You couldn’t have told Jeff anything anyway. He never thought
badly of her, even when the rest of us could totally see her flirting. He kept
telling everyone she was being friendly.”

Silence
enveloped them for a minute as she contemplated how she would have felt had one
of her brothers gone through the same thing with a spouse. She probably would
have kicked the woman’s ass for hurting her sibling. “I’m sorry for his pain.”

“We
all were. I hated seeing him hurting, but I’m glad he saw her for what she
truly was. Unfortunately, because they have a child together, he still has to
see her on occasion.”

“Does
he have custody?”

“Yeah.
Mom and Dad made sure she didn’t take off with their grandson. He’s a cute three
year old and gets into everything.”

“I
bet he’s a total cowboy, like his uncles and dad.”

“Yep.
He has a set of boots, a cowboy hat, and the whole nine yards.”

“I
need to get a picture of him. I bet he’s a doll.”

“Looks
like his dad.” He cleared his throat. “Do you want to be there when the foal is
born?”

“I’d
love to.”

“Even
if it’s in the middle of the night? It’s very possible it’ll come sometime
tonight when you’re asleep.”

“I
don’t mind. Wake me up no matter what time it is. I’ve always wanted to see a
foal come into the world.”

“We
can check out her progress when we get back to the ranch.”

The
time had flown. Before she knew it, they were pulling back up to the gate of
the ranch. “See? I could have made it back without your directions.”

“I
see, but it does help having a GPS telling you where to go. They do get lost
out here on the back roads.”

“True.”
She laughed. “But I memorized some landmarks as we were headed into San Antonio
so I’d be able to find most of the way back.”

“I’m
glad I went. It was great to sit and talk to you. You’re an interesting woman,
Mesa.”

“Thank
you.” She scrunched up her nose as they pulled up in front of the hitching post.
“I think.”