Cowboy Jackpot: St. Patrick's Day (11 page)

Kira’s phone rang. She pulled it out. “Uh oh.
It’s Dallas.” She looked at Jayden, a worried expression in her
eyes. She thumbed the phone, sending the call to voice mail. “He’s
gonna be plenty hot now.”

Jayden had to smile at the way Kira had
picked up country slang.

Then Gigi’s phone rang and his smile left
him. This stunt had these amazing women in deep shit with their
men. “Hi, Boone. Sorry I missed your award cere…”

Jayden could hear Boone’s voice rumbling
through the phone. His brother was even-tempered and loved his
wife, but he was also concerned about her.

“I’m just fine, cowboy.” Gigi’s voice sounded
sweet and calm, but her face was set in a grimace. “We’re just
taking Jayden to meet Stormie.”

Jayden’s phone rang. He looked at it and
repeated Kira’s words. “Uh oh, it’s Dallas.” This wouldn’t be the
even-tempered, loving call Gigi was experiencing.

“Hey.”

“What the fuck are you doing with my woman?”
Jayden had to hold the phone away from his ear, and everyone in the
truck heard that.

“Sorry, man, we decided to take a drive.”

“Goddamnit, let me talk to Kira.”

She held out her hand, Jayden deposited the
phone into it and tried to tune out the dual conversations as he
concentrated on how he’d handle things with Stormie. He couldn’t
fuck this up. He had one chance to make it go right.

****

Stormie wandered through the gas station’s
mini market holding her phone to her ear. Kira was rambling on
about something totally unrelated to the abysmal funk that was
Stormie’s life right now. “Can we talk about this tomorrow, Kira? I
need to get on the road.”

“Just hear me out.” It sounded like she was
driving.

“Where are you?” Stormie picked up a bag of
chips, then set it back on the rack. Then picked it up again.
Comfort food. She walked over to the candy shelves.

“Here’s Gigi. She wants to talk to you.”

“Wait, I don’t—”

“Hi, Stormie. How are you doing? Feeling any
better?” Gigi’s gentle voice always put Stormie at ease.

“I’m okay, but I’d like to get going. Okay if
we—”

“Ouch!” Gigi sounded like she was moving
around. In the background, a male voice apologized. Was that
Jayden? No, couldn’t be. Then the sound of a door slamming came
over the phone. “Good luck!”

Stormie held the phone away from her ear.
What was going on there? “Gigi?”

“Okay, thanks for talking. I’ll see you soon.
Bye.” She hung up.

A laugh burst from Stormie’s chest as she
slid her phone into her purse. “Yeah, great talk, Gigi.”

She paid for her chips and candy and the
apple she grabbed as a balance to the junk food. Stuffing it all in
her purse, she headed out into the warm evening, walking to her
car, which still sat at the gas pump.

In the bright neon lights, she recognized the
cowboy leaning against her driver’s door. Her steps slowed, then
stopped. How had he found her? Then it all snapped into focus.
Kira, Gigi, and the stupidest phone conversation she’d ever had.
“Bitches.” They’d be hearing from her about their lack of
loyalty.

Jayden tipped his hat back on his head and
stood up, his hands fidgeting at his sides.

She had choices here. She could go into the
station and lock herself in the women’s room. Or ask the cashier to
call the cops. Or…she could get this over with, send him back to
Reno with a warning that her dad would come looking for him if he
didn’t give her a clean divorce.

She walked toward him, her chin tipping up a
little more with each step, and stopped three feet away. “What do
you want?”

He opened his mouth and froze.

She waited for the bullshit to pour out.
Whining, pleading, cajoling…

He took one step toward her. “I want a
divorce.”

The guy at the gas pump behind Stormie’s car
jerked his head to look at Jayden and her.

The blood drained from Stormie’s face, then
raced back, heating her like a blowtorch. “You what?” That was
supposed to be
her
line. He wanted out of their marriage?
Her heart nearly stopped beating. How would she live without
him?

His eyes searched her face. “I don’t want
your money.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out the scrap of paper
that had derailed her world. “Rance gave me this.” He shook his
head. “I didn’t ask him to do it, he just called in a favor or
something, and wanted me to know.”

“Uh huh. Rance did it.” Why did he even need
to explain? He just wanted a divorce. She’d give him what he
wanted. It might not cost her half her inheritance, but it’d cost
her half her heart.

“Call him. He’ll tell you.” He shoved the
paper into his pocket. “You know, don’t bother. It doesn’t matter
how it happened. Just that, I’m sorry you had to see it. And I’m
sorry you didn’t trust me enough to ask me about it…” His voice got
louder and his eyes looked angry. “…before you slapped down my ring
and left me.”

“What?” She yelled it.

At the pump behind them, the guy took his
sweet time cleaning his windshield.

Jayden’s lips thinned. “You must have had the
nagging suspicion in the back of your mind the whole time. ‘All
Jayden wants me for is my money’.” He stepped closer. “Admit it,
Stormie. You didn’t trust me, and this note was just an easy way
for you to get away from me.”

When she’d found the note, blaming him had
been so easy. Now, examining her own motives shook apart everything
she’d told herself over the last few hours. That Jayden had broken
her heart. That she was the victim. Even that she’d deserved it for
being so gullible.

“No, you’re wrong.” Wasn’t he? She’d seen the
note and all her well-buried suspicions had come back to life like
a herd of zombies. “Oh God, I think you may be right.” Her chest
burned with the effort of holding back tears. “I did wonder about
it a few times. No, a lot of times, over the past month. But when
you never called me back, when you weren’t making claims on my
share of the ranch, I shoved it out of my mind.”

“And now? Last night?” Shadowed from his hat,
his expression seemed dark, predatory. Maybe he was through with
her. Maybe he did want a divorce. Had her distrust hurt him too
deeply to heal?

“I don’t know why I didn’t just talk to you
about it, get it out in the open.” Probably because she had no
relationship experience at all.

Jayden blinked a couple times, then reached
out and caressed her arm. “Because we’ve only known each other for
a few days. We haven’t learned how to communicate with each other.
Isn’t that what you told me outside the Roundup Bar last night?
We’re too new at this. It takes a lot of time and effort to
understand someone well enough to develop trust, and make a
relationship work.”

She felt a tear drip down her cheek. How had
he gotten so wise in just the last few hours?

His blue eyes watched her with an intensity
that rattled her deep inside. “That’s why I want a divorce,
Storm.”

She swallowed the cry that threatened to
burst from her aching heart. “I don’t blame you. It’s probably for
the best.” She almost choked on the lie and glanced away from him,
sucking in breaths to keep herself from acting stupid and weeping,
or falling into his arms, or begging for another chance. The guy at
the pump behind them had given up the pretense of cleaning his
windows and was blatantly eavesdropping. She frowned at him.

Jayden followed her gaze. He turned toward
the guy and fisted his hands. “You done?”

He nodded and jumped into his car, backing
out and taking a wide path around them.

Jayden looked back at her. “Wanna go
somewhere and talk?”

She shook her head. “Let’s finish this here.
It’s getting late and I want to cover some miles before I stop for
the night.”

His breath came faster. “I followed you here
because I don’t want you to go home. At least, not without me.”

She had to pause and rethink what his words
meant. “You just said you want a divorce.”

“Stormie.” His voice was quiet as he took her
arms in his big hands and pulled her closer. “I want to divorce you
to wipe this all away. Then I want to sign a pre-nup and get
remarried.”

A bubble of joy burst through her sadness,
but she couldn’t let herself get pulled back in without taking time
to clear her head first. “Tell me the truth, Jayden. Have you ever
thought about my money? My horses?”

He dropped his hands. “Of course I did.” His
voice went quiet. “Wouldn’t you if the situation was reversed? If
you were a broke cowgirl, and I owned a big old stud ranch.”

She glanced away and looked at him from under
her lashes. He was saying all the right things, but she fought the
instinct that told her she could trust him again. “I guess I
would.”

He rubbed his jaw. “Stormie, your money,
that’s not why I’m here. This—you and me—is something I want to go
after, hold on to, and see if it will work for us. Hell yes, I’ll
divorce you. I’ll sign an iron-clad pre-nup. I’ll even wait to
marry you in a big church with a thousand guests if you want.”

She’d always dreamed of a big church wedding,
but their back seat ceremony in the cab made her ridiculously
happy, too. “I don’t know.” She touched her forehead. “I’m reeling
from everything right now.” She looked toward the east. “Let me
have some time to think about it.”

“All the time you want, Stormie.” He moved
right in front of her. “Let me come back to OKC with you. Drop me
off at a hotel in town, come and see me when you feel like you’ve
got your head in the right place again. I’ll wait. I got nowhere
more important to be.”

“You’d do that?” Everything inside her turned
to honey and she wanted so badly to be in his arms. The fog in her
brain started to clear. “What about the circuit?”

“Rodeo is important.” He set his warm hand on
her shoulder, his thumb tracing a pattern on the tender skin under
her ear. “The rodeo school is important. The money is important.”
He let out a breathy laugh. “Storm, right now, I’m gonna put
everything on hold for you.” He looked deep into her eyes. “You’re
why my heart beats.”

Her knees wobbled and she reached for
him.

He had her in his arms, tight against him,
before her next breath.

“Jayden Hancock.” She loved this man. The
certainty of it whacked her like a horse tail across the face. “I
like you too much for my own good.”

“Like?” His smile was hesitant. “It’s a
start.” He kissed her, just a quick press of his firm lips on her
quivering ones.

She. Would. Not. Cry. Her regret, her relief,
and her love for Jayden whirled around in her. With a shaky inhale,
she let a single sob escape.

He guided her head to his shoulder and rocked
her gently, back and forth, for long minutes.

“Do you need to go back to the arena?” She
turned her head and her lips brushed his jaw.

“No.” He looked into her eyes then kissed
her, his tongue slowly tracing her lips.

She opened for him, but from behind her, the
sound of someone clearing their throat broke into Stormie’s
bliss.

She turned. The gas station cashier stood
with his phone in his hand. “Everything okay here?”

She nodded. “We’re fine, thanks.”

“If you need a nice hotel…” The man blushed a
little. “Back toward Vegas about a mile, then north on the first
exit. Big new hotel. The Lucky J.”

“Thanks.” Jayden nodded.

The man walked away.

“Talk about fate, huh? The Lucky J?” Her
cowboy’s smile was a mix of hopeful and unsure. “Will you spend the
night with me, Stormie? We can talk, we can sleep, we can just sit
and cuddle if you want.”

She couldn’t resist his sweet invitation.
“Okay.” She was emotionally wrung out, physically exhausted, and
just wanted to be alone with Jayden for every moment she could. She
looked around the ground by her car. “Your clothes?”

“Boone’s got them.” He held out his hand.
“Want me to drive?”

“Yes, please.” He opened the passenger door,
she slid into the seat, closed her tired, puffy eyes, and almost
immediately fell asleep.

****

“Cutie.” Jayden shook her gently.

She opened her eyes.

He stood outside her car door at the valet
drive-up under a bright canopy of lights. “We’re here.”

“I fell asleep?”

He nodded. “Out cold.” He gave her car keys
to the valet, pulled her suitcase out of the back seat, and helped
her out of the car. He held up two keycards. “Got us the honeymoon
suite.”

She laughed. “Oh gosh, how many honeymoons do
we get?”

Jayden bent close to her. “Minimum of one,
every night of our lives.” He whispered it into her ear.

Heat radiated around her chest, mellowing her
heart and filling her soul with delight.

They walked into the honeymoon suite. It was
all glass, chrome, and black leather. Jayden carried her suitcase
to the bedroom and flipped on the light. “Oh man.” He turned to
face her, his smile a mile wide. “Wait ‘til you see this.”

She set down her purse and walked into his
embrace. The bed was much bigger than a king, covered with a purple
bedspread, but had no headboard or footboard. The walls were
painted a lighter purple, and the curtain over the window was
closed. The wall opposite the window was floor to ceiling
mirrors.

She blinked a couple times. “I…”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “I don’t know what to
think, but I’m damn excited to see what we can…” He pointed up.
“Bonus.”

The ceiling was a mirror, too. She shook her
head and backed up a step. “I don’t even like to watch myself when
I brush my teeth.”

He adjusted the light dimmer to candlelight
softness, set her suitcase down on a small dresser, and took her
hands, pulling her into the room with him. “Let’s give it a
try.”