Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (23 page)

“What happened between you and
Kerri while I was gone?”

Jesus. Doesn’t the guy quit?

“The two of you can barely breathe,
and you won’t even look at each other. Why is that, Connor?”

Pain-in-the-ass
, that’s what
Cole was. And as tenacious as his bride. They were peas in a pod.
Two
tenacious,
pain-in-the-ass
peas in a pod.
And because of
that, Connor knew he wouldn’t get away with remaining quiet.

“Look, you don’t understand.”

“You’re right,” Cole agreed. “I
don’t understand. So, why don’t you enlighten me?”

E
nlighten him?

Connor expelled a breath. Fine. If
his brother wanted to hear the whole sordid soiree then so be it.

“She went out with Duke last
Saturday after I asked her not to.”

“That sucks. Did you ask her
nicely?”

He must’ve given something away in
his expression because Cole smirked. “I didn’t think so,” his brother said.

Hammer gripped tight in his hand, Connor
walked to Cole, shaking his head. “You know, I had no intentions of following
her that night, either, but after I picked Ashley up, I drove to the restaurant
I’d overheard Kerri mention.”

“And?”

And, Jesus, yeah, the
and
part.

“And then he took her to a club afterwards
where I found her dancing seductively with Duke and three other guys!”

“Kind of like you at my Engagement
party?”

“Yeah, but that was different.”

“Oh, sorry, my mistake. I forgot it
was okay for you to dance harmlessly with a bunch of women, but Kerri can’t do
that with a bunch of men.”
 

“Right! They were undressing her
with their eyes.”

Cole laughed so hard he had to hold
onto the fence to steady himself.

Connor’s grip tightened on the
hammer. “I’m glad you find this so funny.”

“Sorry, Connor, but you should see
your face.” He took a deep breath. “What happened next?”

“I tried to get her to leave with
me, but she wouldn’t.”

Cole nodded. “I bet you were very
tactful, too.”

His stomach clenched. “I sort of
called her a...tramp.”

“Oh, man, you didn’t…” Cole
blinked. “What did she do?”

“She went to hit me, but I stopped
her.”

“Naturally.”

“Yeah, but she got me back when I
accused her of being drunk.”

Cole dropped his head into his palm
and groaned.

“She insisted she was drinking soda
and threw it on me.”

“I see.”

Bastard brother was biting his lip
now, and damn shoulders were shaking, too.

“So, I took Ashley home and waited
outside Kerri’s apartment until Duke brought her home.”

Cole inhaled and shook his head.
“Oh, shit, bro. Bad move. You don’t undermine a Masters.”

Now he tells me.

“I learned that the hard way that
night.” He pointed the hammer at Cole. “Do you know what she did?”

“I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“She kissed him in his car, then
again on the porch
—
with me there in the driveway!”

“No?”

“I kid you not. Then, as if that
wasn’t bad enough, she took him inside the house where they remained for a
whole damn hour, knowing full well I was sitting outside in my truck.” He
slammed the hammer into the nearest post, twice, as the frustration of that
moment came rushing back. Then he stopped and turned to point the hammer at his
brother again. “And I’ll tell you, Cole, I went to that door prepared to bust
in if he was hurting her, but I only heard Kerri laughing, so I didn’t.”

His brother wisely remained silent.

“And then,” he said, whipping the
hammer near his pile of tools. “When they finally did come out, her hair is all
down and shoes are off and she kisses him…and that bastard salutes me! He
fucking salutes me!”

Anger took over. Connor reached for
a nearby sledge hammer and went to town on the post as he vividly recalled that
awful moment. Several whacks later, when the muscles in his arms went from
strained to numb, he stopped and sucked in air.

“Carver’s an asshole,” Cole
commented quietly.

Nodding, Connor dropped the sledge
hammer and turned to his brother. “Oh, believe me, it’s a good thing he drove
off when he did, because I’ll tell you, Cole, I swear I could’ve beaten the
pulp out of him right then.”

“I don’t doubt it.” His brother handed
him another water.

Connor drained the bottle, then
wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, Kerri
turns to go in without saying a word to me. Can you believe that?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she was going to try to go
in without saying a stinking word. But I wouldn’t let her, and ended up inside
before she could shut the door.” He smirked, remembering the shock in her beautiful
brown eyes. They’d widened to the size of a shot glass. “Then we argued, and
she slapped me.”

“Now, why would she do that?”

Connor looked down at his boots,
and then at his hands before replying. “I sort of called her a tramp again.”

Cole whistled as he shook his head.
“Bad move buddy. Then what happened?”

He remained silent. He may be angry
at the woman, but he wasn’t a kiss-and-tell kind of guy.

“Okay, so you kissed her and wanted
more,” Cole stated with surprising accuracy.

Connor’s head snapped up. “How did
you know?”

 “She’s a Masters.” Cole shrugged. “They
seem to have that effect on us McCalls.”

“Well, that’s what happened. Before
I knew it, we were on the couch. I looked up and noticed pillows on the floor
and her shoes and panty hose near the chair, and
I
wasn’t the one who
took them off her.”
Christ
, it still rotted his gut. He sucked in a
breath, then released it. “When it sunk in, I got up real fast. She asked me
what was wrong, and I told her
‘she’
was and that
‘this is one man
you won’t have.’
Then I hightailed it the hell out of there, I can tell you
that!”

He threw down the empty bottle,
ripped his hat off and thrust a hand through his hair. God, he was such a fool.
Suckered by another city girl.

“Tell me, Connor,” Cole began, and
waited until their gazes met. “Was I this big a fool last year?”

“What?” He strode to his brother
and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“I heard you, but apparently you
aren’t seeing things too clearly.”

Bullshit.

“I’m seeing things just fine.” He
let go of Cole and began to pack up his tools. “Kerri had sex with Duke, then
sent him packing and was willing to take me on right afterwards.”

Cole’s laughter echoed in the
evening breeze. Cripes his brother was an idiot. Why the hell would he laugh at
him after what he’d just revealed?

His hands tightened into fists.
“You’d better stop that, Cole, or I swear I won’t hesitate to wipe that grin
off of your face.”

“Calm down, bro. I’m sorry, it’s
just that the thought of Kerri actually being capable of such a thing is ridiculous.”

He stared at Cole. Nope. He didn’t
see anything funny about it.

“Look, you can’t possibly think
Kerri would allow Duke those privileges, do you?”

A month ago, he would’ve said no.
But now… “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It sure looked like she did.”

Cole stepped close and grabbed his
arm. “Connor, this is important. What else did you notice about that room?”

He closed his eyes and grit his
teeth.
Christ
, he was tired of thinking about that night. For the past
week, that was all he’d done. It was a constant reminder he’d been fooled
again. By a city girl. Again. He was such a patsy. An idiot. He should change
his name to Sucker McCall.

“Connor, come on. What else did you
see?” Cole squeezed his arm.

Whiny ass bastard.

With a sigh, he opened his eyes and
thought back to last Saturday. “There were two cans of soda on the coffee table
and a…”

“What? What else was there,
Connor?”

He looked at Cole as if the fog had
cleared. “Popcorn.  There was a bowl of popcorn, too.”

“There, see? They watched television
while you sat outside.” Cole moved his hand to Connor’s shoulder and grinned.
“Oh man, she is good. You, my brother, don’t stand a chance.”

An invisible band began to tighten
around Connor’s chest. “Are you telling me she only
pretended
to fool
around with Duke…even going so far as to take off her shoes and stockings just
to make it look like...?”

Cole nodded, still grinning as he
slapped Connor’s shoulder. “Yep, and don’t forget her hair. You said it was
down too.”

Shit
. Connor slumped against
the fence, his mind back in a dazed state. “Jesus. You mean she did all of that
to fool me?”

“Yes, although I’d say it was more
to teach you a lesson for not trusting her. And, Connor?” Cole waited until he
made eye contact. “You blew it. Big time. Whatever you did and said must’ve
really hurt. She doesn’t deserve it.  You owe her an apology.”

Christ
. Not only was his
chest tight, now his whole entire body ached. And Cole was right. He
was
still an idiot, but for an entirely different reason. Now all he saw was the
wounded look that had come into Kerri’s eyes when he’d delivered his parting
shot.

 “And you’d better make that
apology soon, big brother, because Kerri’s ex-husband is on his way here to see
her as we speak.”

In the middle of calling himself
all sorts of names, his heart stopped at Cole’s Texas-sized bomb.

L
ate Sunday afternoon,
Kerri was helping her mentor prepare supper in order to channel her nervous
energy. She needed an outlet. Cooking and baking were an ideal way to help take
the edge off life. At least, it always had for Kerri, and today was no
exception. Emma thankfully asked no questions and allowed her to work it off
while she waited for Lance to show up with Jordan’s belongings.

A little after three o’clock, the
moving van pulled up out front
—w
ith her ex-husband at
the wheel.

Oh Lordy.

All the nerves she’d managed to
keep at bay hit her full force. She ripped off her apron, tossed it on the
counter, then rushed from the kitchen to the half-bath down the hall. A deep
breath or two helped slow the drum solo going on in her head.

“You can do this,” she told her
reflection, then double-checked her appearance.

She was wearing a chocolate brown,
ribbed turtleneck, black jeans and boots. Neat, clean, comfortable. Perfect.
Whatever
.
Kerri didn’t want to dress fancy and appear over anxious, so she’d kept it
simple and casual, and the heels of her boots gave an advantage since Lance
wasn’t much taller than her.

Another quick glance in the mirror
told her everything was as good as it was going to get. Sucking in her third deep
breath, she silently chanted,
I can do this,
then exhaled and left the
room to join the commotion in the foyer.

Kerri arrived as Jordan finished introducing Lance to Connor. The cowboy was there to help Cole carry the things her
sister wanted upstairs, while the rest would go into storage until their house
was finished.

Okay, one awkward moment averted.
Thank you
, Jordan
.

Now, it was her turn. She glanced
at her ex husband, and other than the nervous strain she saw on his face, Lance
appeared the same. As usual, he was dressed in a polo shirt and khaki pants.
His short, dark hair was neatly in place and his green eyes looked at her with
what she recognized as…love?

What?

Kerri swallowed hard and walked toward
him, nerves knocking at her knees.
I can do this
. She hoped her
expression was full of calm, serene, wonderful, fantastic coolness, because,
oh,
Lordy,
that was not how she felt.

She stopped in front of him, well
aware of three pairs of eyes watching their exchange. “Hello, Lance.”

“Hello, Kerri.” His gaze fastened
on her face and looked…sad. “It’s good to see you again.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say
the same. Because it wasn’t. It was so damn awkward and painful her mind
reeled. “You must be thirsty after your drive. Would you like a drink?”

Connor hovered nearby, and when she
finally glanced at the brooding cowboy, he opened his mouth as if to say
something, then closed it and headed outside to the moving van.

“Yes,” Lance replied. “As a matter
of fact, I am thirsty. Thank you.”

Kerri nodded. “Then come with me.”

As she led the way to the deserted
kitchen, she couldn’t help but wonder about Connor’s strange behavior. They
hadn’t really spoken since he’d slammed the door of her apartment, angry and
hateful. Yet today, he seemed…different.

Instinctively grabbing Lance a
bottle of water, she had to hold back a laugh. It was official. She was losing
it. Yep, her head needed major examination. Here she was, meeting with her cheating
ex-husband for the first time since their divorce, and her mind was on the
unbridled cowboy.

“Thanks, Kerri, and thanks for
agreeing to see me,” Lance said, regaining her full attention. “I’ve been
trying to talk to you for two years now.”

Oh crud.
Not yet. Nerves
tightened her chest in a choke hold. She held up her hand. “Not here. Finish
your drink, then we’ll get out of here and go somewhere private.”

Understanding warmed his gaze as he
nodded.

Wonderful. That bought her a small
reprieve. Maybe she could figure out a way to loosen the stranglehold in her
chest enough to allow easier breathing. Wouldn’t that be great?

She waited while he finished his
drink in strained silence, and when he was done, they headed for her car.
Whatever it was he had to say to her, it was not going to happen on Wild Creek.