Cowboy Trouble (The McCord Brothers 1.5) (3 page)

Someone
meaning a woman. The gossip was ripe about that, too. Lucky was apparently as devoted to women as Logan was to the business.

“Lucky was alone when I dropped him off,” Rico answered. Of course, that didn’t mean he was alone now.

Logan mumbled something, maybe a goodbye, and he headed in the direction of the house. Thank God he hadn’t pressed for more info, which meant she’d just dodged a bullet.

But another bullet quickly came her way.

She heard the sound of an engine, and a moment later a car pulled in behind hers. A car that Natalie immediately recognized.

No.

Not this, not now.

“A problem?” Rico asked her when she cursed under her breath.

“Yes,” she verified when the man stepped from the car. She hurried toward him as fast as her fused toes and boa-constrictor underwear would let her move. “What are you doing here?” Natalie demanded.

He flashed a smile that could have dissolved multiple layers of rust, and he extended his hand to Rico. “I’m Marcus Jacobson, Natalie’s fiancé.”

It felt as if Rico moved in slow motion. Not to return Marcus’s handshake. But to slide his gaze toward her. That glare could remove not only the rust but also the metal beneath it.

“And you are?” Marcus asked Rico.

The corner of Rico’s mouth hitched, letting her know he was about to dish out some crap. “I’m Rico Callahan. I’m Natalie’s husband.”

CHAPTER THREE

“I
CAN
EXPLAIN
,”
Natalie jumped to say.

Rico seriously doubted that. Hell in a handbasket. She’d come here wearing that outfit, kissing him, and all the while she’d been engaged.

“He’s not my fiancé,” she said to Rico, then snapped toward Marcus. “And what are you doing here?”

Her sharp tone and explosive look didn’t deter the blond-haired lover boy. He smiled as if this were as right as rain and leaned in to kiss her. His smack landed on her cheek, and Natalie’s hand landed on his chest.

“You’re her ex-husband,” Marcus corrected, and he put a lot of emphasis on the
ex
part.

Obviously, Marcus was clueless. Probably an idiot, too. Rico was about to set him straight, but Natalie spoke before he could say anything.

“Why? Are? You? Here?” she repeated to Marcus, but this time it was more of a snarl than a snap.

Marcus shrugged. “Your assistant said you were coming to Spring Hill, and I thought it was my chance to see the town where you grew up.”

She made a circling motion with her fingers when he paused. “And how did you know I’d be here at the McCord Ranch?”

Another shrug, but this one didn’t look as casual as the first. That might have had something to do with the fact that Rico slid his arm around Natalie. Lover Boy’s forehead bunched up.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Marcus asked. “I mean, it’s one thing to come and see your ex, but it’s another thing for him to say he’s your husband. And for him to be holding you like that.”

“I am her husband,” Rico answered. Yeah, it was downright petty, but she deserved some payback for that blasted kiss.

Marcus huffed, and his hands went on his hips. “Natalie, is there something you want to tell me?”

“No.” But then she was the one who huffed. She also glanced around as if to make sure no one could hear this. “The paperwork got screwed up, and Rico and I have to refile for the divorce. That’s where we’re headed now.”

Marcus’s mouth didn’t drop open, but it was close. He certainly looked as if someone had knocked him upside the head with a shovel. Rico knew the feeling because he’d been hit, too.

“So, is this guy your fiancé or not?” Rico asked her. “Because that seems a little like semi-bigamy to be married to me while engaged to him.” He didn’t bother taking the stank off the
him
and the look he gave Lover Boy.

“No, he’s not.” Natalie repeated it when she turned to Rico. “He’s my ex-fiancé.”

That didn’t sweeten things for Rico much at all. Of course, nothing was going to seem sweet at the moment. Except for another kiss.

And he wanted to neuter himself for even letting that thought pop into his head.

“But it’s only a matter of time before we make things right again,” Marcus went on. He somehow managed to scrounge up a smile even though this sure as hell wasn’t a smiling situation. “It’s what Natalie’s father wants.”

That put an end to any further thoughts about kissing.

“Your daddy wants you to marry this guy?” Rico asked, but he didn’t bother listening for an answer.

Of course Dermott Landon wanted his princess to marry someone like this. Someone who wore a suit that cost more than a prize-winning Angus bull at the state fair. Someone who didn’t smell as if he’d just shoveled up what the bull had left in the holding pen.

“I think it’s a good idea if we go ahead and meet with the lawyer,” Natalie said, though he wasn’t sure how she could speak with her jaw that tight. “Marcus, don’t say a word about this to anyone. We’ll talk when I get back to Austin.”

Rico was betting that chat would happen as soon as humanly possible because she practically ran to his truck. Well, she ran until those heels spiked into the soft ground, and she got stuck. She flailed around like the rubber inflatable air dancer outside the used-car dealership.

Marcus moved as if planning to help her, but that would only cost them more time. Of course, Natalie and he had ended their marriage twelve years ago, but it suddenly seemed urgent to Rico to end it again—officially.

“Natalie, are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Marcus called out.

“Positive. I’m so sorry,” she added to Rico when he was closer to her.

Again, in the time-saving vein, he scooped her up and carried her to his truck. Probably not the best idea he’d ever had, since it squished her left breast against his chest and her butt against his arms. But sadly, it wasn’t the worst idea he’d had, either.

And the worst ideas just kept coming.

When he deposited Natalie on the truck seat, he saw several things he didn’t want to see. First, her bra when the side of her top slipped down. Not the barely there things she used to wear, but even a granny-bra glimpse from Natalie fired his blood. However, the firing didn’t last because the other glimpse was of her eyes before she put on those sunglasses.

She was crying.

Crap.

He hated seeing a woman cry. Any woman. It kicked at his old baggage and reminded him of seeing his mother cry after his dad had walked out on them. Rico never considered himself the warm-and-fuzzy type, but a woman’s tears—especially this woman—could bring him to his knees.

“I keep screwing up,” she said. There was a sob in the middle of that, and it was obvious she was trying to put a quick end to the boohooing.

She was failing, though.

Rico grabbed a tissue from the glove compartment, buckled her in and drove off. No need for Lover Boy or anyone else to witness Natalie’s meltdown. It was going to be hard enough to put a lid on the gossip as it was. When he got back, he’d need to threaten the hands with a good butt whipping if they breathed a word of what they’d seen or heard.

“I swear he’s my ex,” she went on after another sob. Her phone buzzed; she glanced at the screen and turned it off. “And yes, my father wants me to marry Marcus, but that doesn’t mean I will.”

Yeah, it did. Natalie had done pretty much everything her father had ever wanted, so she’d eventually give in. Once she’d divorced him, that is.

Rico didn’t hurry. It was only a short drive to the lawyer’s office, and he wanted to give Natalie a chance to compose herself. Ten minutes ago, he might not have cared if folks had seen her like this, but those tears changed everything.

And she noticed the change in him, too. He didn’t want to know how bad his expression must have been for her to notice that.

“Oh, God. I’m sorry,” she said, yanking off the shades and wiping her eyes. “I know you hate these tears. Your mother,” she added in a mumble.

He was surprised that she’d remembered. Equally surprised that he’d told her in the first place. She was the only person who knew, and it rankled him that her remembering could hook into his emotions. Thankfully, he got an eyeful of something to help with that.

The rest of her underwear.

Her skirt had ridden up, and he could see that she wasn’t wearing some kind of granny panties after all but rather something that resembled thin, mesh bicycle shorts. They stopped just above midthigh, high enough for him not to have seen them when the breeze had fluttered her skirt.

“Oh, God,” she repeated when she followed his glance. She fixed her skirt. Frowned. And it seemed to help with the tears. It didn’t help with her anger, though. She got a new dose of that. “I’ve put on weight, all right?” she snapped.

“Okay,” he answered after a long pause. He wasn’t sure whether to say the extra pounds looked good on her—they did—so he decided it was a good time to keep his mouth shut.

“Stress,” she went on. “And chocolate to help with the stress. I went riding this morning, and my mare groaned when I climbed into the saddle.”

The laugh came before he could stop it. Sweet merciful heaven, he should have stopped it because it made her smile, and it was a moment he didn’t want to share with her.

“We’ll get this over with fast,” he grumbled.

But it obviously wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear because her mouth turned downward. “I know you think I’m spineless,” she went on. “But I have my reasons for most of what I’ve done.”

“You have a reason for accepting Marcus’s proposal in the first place? Because you must have accepted if he’s now your ex.”

She stayed quiet a moment. And the moment turned to several moments before Rico realized she wasn’t going to answer. Natalie just pinned her attention to the window and watched as he drove down Main Street. Not that there was anything for her to see, really. Other than Logan converting the old Victorian inn into an office building and loft, the town had pretty much stayed the same.

So, her silence was his answer. She probably had loved Marcus. Maybe still did. And maybe she’d broken things off with him when she’d realized she was still married. Well, Rico was about to remedy that.

He pulled to a stop in front of the lawyer’s office, gave Natalie a moment to powder her nose. Another moment to make sure her underwear was all out of sight. Good thing, too, because the moment they stepped into Bernie’s office, they came face-to-face with one of the biggest gossips in Spring Hill.

Wilhelmina Larkin, Bernie’s receptionist.

Rico figured he stood no chance of getting Wilhelmina to agree to secrecy, so he took a different angle. “Did I hear that you have a date with Hank?” he asked the woman. Hank was one of the hands at the McCord Ranch.

She blushed. The reaction he wanted. “He told you.”

Not really. Rico had heard Hank’s side of the conversation when Wilhelmina had called the man to make the date. Hank hadn’t actually wanted to go, but Rico planned to keep that to himself.

The blushing didn’t last long, and Wilhelmina’s attention quickly landed on Natalie. Oh, no. The questions were about to come. Questions about why they were there and why Natalie had been crying.

But there no questions.

Hell. That meant Wilhelmina knew. So much for Natalie telling Bernie to keep this quiet.

“Don’t you two look so good standing there together,” Wilhelmina went on. “So much better than Rico’s last girlfriend. She was a cocktail waitress from one of those bars in San Antonio where the girls wear next to nothing.” She lowered her voice as if telling a secret.

Of course, it wasn’t anywhere near a secret. Everyone in town knew he’d gone out with a woman whose uniform included a tank top and skintight orange shorts. Well, apparently everyone knew that but Natalie. She gave him a funny look. Not jealousy exactly, but she seemed to be questioning his choice in women. Well, he gave her a look right back, questioning her taste in men like Marcus.

“It was one date,” Rico clarified, though he wasn’t sure why he needed to explain.

“Well, it was more than once with Shari Deever,” Wilhelmina corrected. She turned back to Natalie and lowered her voice again. “She’s the kindergarten teacher at the elementary school. They dated for nearly a year before Shari broke off things. Word has it that she figured out that Rico just wasn’t ever going to settle down. And there was the problem with his laundry detergent.”

Rico cursed. Good grief. He was about to cut Wilhelmina off, but the woman just kept running on like a dentist’s drill that’d gotten stuck. And was just as annoying.

“Shari got a rash whenever she’d sleep on Rico’s sheets,” Wilhelmina provided. And her gaze combed over Natalie as if she expected to see a rash on her exposed body parts.

Wilhelmina continued with the stuck-drill chatting pace. “Rico was accommodating and changed detergents, but Shari just kept on getting a rash. Personally, I think it’s because she knew he wasn’t right for her.” Wilhelmina smiled. “I think the only woman right for him is the one standing beside him now.”

Judging from Wilhelmina’s widening smile, she thought that would please them. It didn’t.

“Uh, Bernie is expecting us,” Natalie threw out there.

Wilhelmina nodded. Glanced around as if expecting someone else in the room to respond to that. But there was no one else. “Bernie’s over at the courthouse. There’s a problem, and he said I was to tell you two things.”

Rico went with another mental
Hell
and waited for Wilhelmina to continue.

“You know Spring Hill has one of the lowest divorce rates in the state?” Wilhelmina asked. She didn’t wait for an answer, but yes, Rico knew. It was one of the brags the mayor threw out every year at the town’s annual picnic.

Rico huffed. “Is there a reason you’re mentioning that?” Because he hoped like the devil that Bernie and Wilhelmina weren’t going to try to talk Natalie and him out of this.

“Ruby Fay Barker’s been working as the district clerk for the county for going on twenty years now, and she’s from right here in Spring Hill,” the woman continued. “Well, she has a problem with divorce since she wants to keep up the town’s reputation.” Her mouth tightened. “Personally, she’s a busybody who puts her nose in all kinds of places.” She paused. “And this time she put her nose in your place.”

Rico definitely didn’t want Ruby Fay’s nose in any place of his, and he thought he knew where this was going. “Is Ruby Fay responsible for a judge not signing some paperwork Natalie and I filed?”

Wilhelmina nodded. “Yours and apparently several others. That’s why Bernie’s over there now. There’ll be an investigation. Ruby Lee might go to jail.”

Rico wasn’t sure who groaned louder, Natalie or him. Because this didn’t sound like the speedy start to a divorce.

“Can Rico and I at least get the papers Bernie drew up for us?” Natalie asked. “Then we can sign them and file them with whoever’s replacing Ruby Lee.”

Wilhelmina was shaking her head before Natalie even finished. “No paperwork’ll be going through until the cops figure out just how deep this goes. Bernie said he’ll give you a call as soon as he knows something. But I gotta warn you. They’re bringing in the Texas Rangers to investigate. Maybe even the state attorney general. This is going to be even bigger news than when you two eloped.”

It wasn’t just the delay that had Rico groaning. It was the fact that there was no way Natalie was going to get her wish about keeping this a secret.

“You should go ahead and call your father,” Rico suggested. “Before he hears it from anyone else.”