My True Cowboy (10 page)

She chuckled. “Oh, I'm having a great Saturday night. I'm sitting here looking at a book.”

The way she phrased it caught his attention. “Looking?”

“I don't think you can call it reading if I've been looking at the same page for the last hour.”

Examining his almost full glass of scotch, he murmured, “Would you like to go get a drink or something?”

“Like at a bar?”

He was tempted to invite himself to her place, but he thought that would be pushing it. Ditto with her coming over to his place, since he was home alone. They weren't teenagers, but he didn't want her to think he wanted more than she could give.

“Yeah. We could go to Bob's, if you'd like.”

“The honky-tonk?”

He grinned. The way her voice rose made it sound as if he'd just asked her to meet him in a strip club—not that Electra even had one of those. “It is a honky-tonk, technically, but really it's just a hangout for most of the town. Have you really not been in there?”

“No.”

“Picture peanut shells on the floor, a pair of pool tables that have seen better days and a wide assortment of folks from town, all either drinking beer, whiskey or soda. It's not a wild place, by any stretch of the imagination.” Well, at least not now, after the Riddell boys had finished sowing their oats. “Well, what do you say? We might as well keep talking, since we're almost getting along and all.”

“Can I meet you in the parking lot? I don't want to go in by myself.”

“That sounds fine. Or I can pick you up.”

“I'm on the other side of town. It's out of your way.”

He looked at his watch. It was eight o'clock. “Want to meet in, say, twenty or thirty minutes?”

“Sure. I'll see you then.”

When they hung up, Cal felt the warm feeling of satisfaction slide over him.

He refused to contemplate what he was so happy about.

Susan decided to wear a skirt with a thin silk tank top, all in violet. After about two seconds' deliberation, she'd opted out of jeans—most of the girls in town wore Western-cut jeans with sandals or boots.

In contrast, most of Susan's jeans looked too tailored. Momlike.

And, well, if she was going out—finally—she wanted to look nice. So she'd put on a skirt and strappy sandals, figuring that even if she didn't fit in with what the rest of the girls at Bob's were wearing, why, at least she'd feel good about herself.

As soon as she'd gotten off the phone, she'd stared at it as if it were a live thing. Getting a call from Cal Riddell had been unexpected. But it had been a very nice surprise, too. Susan wasn't quite sure why Cal had decided to call her, and she wasn't going to stew over it too much. All she'd known was that she was going to go crazy if she sat and stared at the same page in her book for another hour, feeling guilty about turning down Betsy's offer of the double date.

Oh, Betsy hadn't been too thrilled with her answer when she'd called her that morning. Though she had pushed and prodded, cajoled and bribed…Susan had stayed firm. She wasn't interested in going on a date with Betsy's almost-
boyfriend's friend. Especially since she was uncomfortable with Betsy's comment about dating men who had money.

Of course, wasn't that what she was doing now? Getting ready to meet Cal Riddell—just about the richest man in town—at a honky-tonk?

Susan certainly wasn't a saint, but trying to snag a man because of his income certainly wasn't one of her faults.

Plus, she hadn't been completely at fault, anyway. She really didn't have a babysitter.

However, starting at four that afternoon, things had begun to change. So much so, it was as though a fairy godmother had appeared and decided to take things into her own hands. Suddenly Hank had plans, with a boy whose parents Susan had met and trusted.

And then Cal called.

Now, here she was, sitting in Bob's parking lot, watching a whole assortment of folks wander in and out. Every so often—well, every two minutes or so—she craned her neck around, watching for Cal's truck.

Just when she'd begun to worry if he had decided to stand her up, there he was—looking as perfect and handsome as he ever did. His jeans were dark and snug fitting. Around his waist was a finely crafted leather belt, fastened with a silver buckle. The oxford shirt he wore was starched enough to stand up on its own.

The man oozed confidence. He stood near the entrance, glancing around the parking lot. Waiting for her. As she gathered her purse, she saw him nod to a couple of women who walked by, his expression friendly but distant.

She stepped out of her car and locked it. When she straightened again, she saw him walking toward her.

And there was a look of appreciation in his eyes that was unmistakable.

“You made it,” he said. “Right on time, too.”

“You, too.” There was no need for him to know that she'd come early.

“I was afraid I was going to be late. Gwen and Ginny came in as I was leaving. I had to answer a dozen questions about why I was looking so slick on a Saturday night.”

Now that she knew Gwen, Susan had a feeling the questions were laced with humor. “Was Gwen glad you were going out?”

“Glad is kind of putting it mildly. She's thought I should get out more for some time.”

Looking bored with the talk about himself, he held out a hand. “So, are you ready to get a good look at the best Electra has to offer?”

Hesitantly, she slid her palm in his. It felt warm and callused against her hand. Solid and secure. “I'd be a fool to say no, I think.”

“Don't fret. Like I told you on the phone, it's more of a town hangout than anything.” He dropped her hand to open the door for her, then guided her through it with a hand on the small of her back.

Immediately, she was enveloped in a cloud of cigarette smoke, the scent of stale beer and the blare of loud music from the jukebox. Even louder was a group of twenty-something men and women in a room off to the side. “That's the game room,” Cal said, his fingers still grazing her hip. “The pool tables are in there.”

The rest of the bar was made up of roughly ten square wooden tables, a long bar that ran along the back wall and at least thirty more people of assorted ages either sitting or standing in groups.

Almost all of them looked their way. And a good number of them either nodded or said hello to Cal.

And then they gave her a good once-over.

Susan shivered a bit, feeling on display. Cal eyed them
all, as usual not smiling. Though he hardly did more but touch the small of her back, she felt as if he'd just stared everyone down. Telling them without a word that she wasn't available.

She should mind that, yet somehow she didn't.

Instead, she smiled at him as he held a chair out for her, then he sat down beside her.

Soon their server came over.

“Junior,” she said with a smile. “Hey.”

“Hey there, Jolene,” he said to the knockout-gorgeous blonde wearing short shorts and a T-shirt stretched so tight across her chest, that the Bob emblazoned in bright blue letters looked like Boob at first glance.

For the first time all night, Cal smiled. “How you doing? How's that baby of yours?”

“She's perfect and I'm good enough. I haven't seen you in ages. How's your family?”

“We've been better. Dad's in the hospital. Trent is, too.”

Something flickered in Jolene's eyes. It was a tactic that Susan knew well. Hiding an interest that would be better hid. “Is he okay?”

“Trent? Yeah. He got thrown off a bull and is wishing for pain relief, but he's hanging in there.”

Susan noticed there was an odd gentleness in his voice.

“Thank goodness. And your daddy?”

“He had heart surgery, but he's gonna be okay, too.”

Looking Susan's way, he shook his head and dropped the smile. In that now-familiar way that told her he was disappointed in himself. “I'm sorry, Susan. I didn't mean to ignore you. Sue, this is Jolene. We've been friends forever. Jo, this is Susan Young. She works at the Electra Lodge.” He winked. “As the director of Human Resources.”

“Nice to meet you,” Susan said, trying not to dwell on the fact that he had introduced her by her job, not by their
relationship. Of course, what were they anyway? Friends? More than that?

Jolene smiled. “It's nice to meet you.” Her words were sweetly said.

But Susan noticed the woman was looking her over curiously, obviously trying to figure out where she fit in the scheme of things. Suddenly, Susan realized that she didn't have a single thing in her closet that would have been appropriate for this place.

Shoot. She looked as if she was going to a business meeting, not out to a bar with peanut shells strewn everywhere.

Jolene grabbed the tray she'd pushed over to the side when they'd all started talking. “Well, I'm sure y'all didn't wander in here to visit with me. What can I get you?”

Cal looked her way. “Susan?”

“A light beer?”

“I'll take a Bud.”

Jolene winked. “One Bud Light, one Bud coming up.”

When she walked away with a swish of her hips, Susan noticed more than one or two cowboys watch her walk. “Wow,” Susan said, thinking Hank's word about the ranch seemed the only suitable reaction. “She's pretty.”

Looking Jolene's way, he grinned. “That she is.”

“You seem close. Did y'all date?”

Under his black Stetson, his eyebrows rose. “No. She's quite a bit younger than me. And, well, since we were small, she was always Trent's friend.” He smiled. “She's always had a thing for my brother, if you want to know the truth.”

“Was it mutual?” Susan watched Jolene laugh with a couple other women behind the bar, grab two bottles of beer, then approach them again.

“Not as mutual as one of them hoped,” he said quickly
as Jolene approached. When she placed an icy-cold bottle in front of each of them, he smiled at the blonde again. “Thanks, Jo. We'll run a tab.”

“You got it,” she said with a grin before walking toward another couple.

When they were alone again, Cal raised his bottle. “Here's to us, Susan. Here's to going a whole ten minutes without arguing.”

She raised her bottle, too. “I'll drink to that. I'm really glad you called. All I was doing was sitting on the couch worrying about Hank.”

When she saw a flash of hurt appear in his eyes, she automatically reached out and grabbed his hand. “I didn't mean that how it sounded. I'm thankful you called. And, uh, glad to be here. I promise.”

He tipped his beer her way again before taking a sip. “You know what? Right now, I think I'm going to believe you.”

The way he looked at her made her feel all girlish.

She sipped her beer, too, and scooted a little closer to him, because it was so noisy it was hard to hear.

Yes, that would have made sense…if they'd been talking, but they weren't.

She was tempted to slide even closer.

If Betsy and her date hadn't walked right in.

“Shoot,” Susan said.

With effort, Cal made himself stop staring at her—he'd never seen a woman with such soft-looking skin—and concentrate on her new tense expression. “What's wrong?”

“That woman who just walked in is my neighbor.”

The redhead with the pixie cut looked vaguely familiar. He couldn't quite place her. However, he definitely recognized the man she was with. Gene Howard. Ever since his girlfriend had left him for someone else, Gene had kind of fallen apart. He had a slump in his posture that made him look like a perpetual sad sack. His eyes were brown and his lips were pale enough that they kind of blended in with his skin tone. All in all, he was a mousy man with a pooch hanging over his belly and sallow skin.

“Do you know Gene?” he asked. “Are they serious?”

“I don't know him at all. But, uh, Betsy had wanted me to double-date with her and one of Gene's friends this evening. I told her no.”

Cal narrowed his eyes at the girl, then the name Betsy finally triggered a memory. She'd flirted outrageously with Trent a time or two last summer. When Trent hadn't taken her bait, she'd moved on to him. Had even gone so far as to ask him out.

He'd refused her, of course. He didn't like pushy women, and her behavior had given credence to the rumors Trent had told him about. Betsy was a woman desperate for a wedding ring and an easier life. Looking for love had very little to do with her agenda.

In his estimation, Susan didn't seem like the type of woman to keep company with a girl like Betsy.

But just as he was about to ask Susan why she'd told Betsy no, the redhead approached, Gene in tow.

As they got closer, he compared her red hair to Susan's. Where Betsy's was the product of a bottle, he instinctively knew Susan's auburn was the work of nature. That key difference seemed to suit what he knew about each woman, as well. Betsy's pushy fakeness had grated on him. While Susan's personality seemed to illustrate exactly who she was.

Yep, even when he hadn't liked her all that much, Susan hadn't tried to be someone she wasn't.

“Hi, Betsy,” Susan said when Betsy and Gene were barely a foot away.

Her friend's eyes flashed. “Well, now, you are about the very last person I would have ever expected to see here.” Looking Susan up and down, she added, “You know, you should've just told me you already had plans.” As she turned to Cal, she winked slowly. “Hey, Junior.”

“Betsy.”

Susan gripped her beer bottle. “When we talked earlier, I didn't have plans. Cal and I just decided to go out for a little bit. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“Is that right?” Betsy opened her eyes innocently and scanned the bar. “Now, where's Hank? In the bathroom?”

“You know he's not here.”

“How can that be? I mean, you've told me a dozen times
that it was too hard to get a babysitter so you could go out for a night on the town with me.”

“Hank is at the movies with a friend.”

Cal bit his lip and waited for Susan to tell her friend that why she was here and what Hank was doing was really none of her business. Certainly not any of Gene's.

But Susan seemed uncomfortable and tongue-tied. In contrast, Betsy looked triumphant, which just made him pissed. Already, he couldn't wait to tell her goodbye.

Stepping a little closer, she smiled. “Junior, it really is so good to see you again. Do you know Gene Howard?”

“I do. How you doing, Gene?”

“Fair enough, thanks.”

When Betsy didn't introduce Susan to him, Cal did the honors. “Susan, this here is Gene Howard. We've known each other forever.”

Smiling weakly, she held out a hand. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Cal waited, sure the Susan he'd met at the hospital was about to appear. That Susan would've torn into Betsy's know-it-all attitude and asked her to leave them alone.

But instead of doing any of that, Susan slumped in her seat.

So Betsy took charge. “We had a real nice dinner at the Golden Dove. Have you been there, Cal?”

He and Jarred had gotten takeout from there for a good two weeks for their father when he'd had his first episode with his heart. “I have,” he said shortly. It irked him that Betsy was now pointedly directing all her attention toward him.

“How's Trent doing? Still raising eyebrows on the circuit?”

“Some.” He didn't feel the need to share Trent's recent
misfortune. It wasn't as if Gene—or Betsy—was going to have a reason to give Trent a call anyway.

Betsy crossed her arms in front of her chest as Gene smiled. “Hey, how about I try to find us another pair of chairs? We could make it a foursome.”

Confused by Susan's behavior, and in no mood for either Betsy's or Gene's company, Cal decided to put an end to things. “That would be real nice, if we'd wanted company,” Cal finally said. “However, we do not.”

After tossing Cal a glacial glare, Betsy allowed Gene to guide her out of the way and to a table near the back.

The moment they were out of sight, Susan exhaled and relaxed against him. “I'm sorry I just sat here like a statue,” she whispered. “Seeing her really shocked me.”

He couldn't deny that he didn't mind her sidled up against him at all. In fact, he almost welcomed Betsy's interruption. For the first time, Susan was able to let down her guard. As if he did it all the time, he carefully slipped an arm around her shoulders and held her close. “If you don't mind me saying so, she didn't look all that happy to see you, either.”

She chuckled but didn't move away. “Oh, she wasn't.”

Behind them, the band was setting up. Pretty soon the noise was going to be so loud that no one was going to be able to say much at all. Because Susan looked so upset, he asked quickly, “Want to tell me what that was all about?”

“Betsy's mad that I didn't want to double-date with her tonight. But back when she asked, I honestly couldn't go. And, well, I didn't want to, either.”

Because they were close enough to kiss, he noticed little flecks of gold and violet around the edges of her green eyes.

“Because?” he murmured.

“Because I don't date, Cal. You know that by now, right? I can't afford it, and I can't afford to leave Hank in someone else's hands for very long. His diabetes is too new to me to trust him with a teenager. It's only because he's with his buddy's family that I said yes to you.”

“So you told her all that and she understood?”

“I told her all that and she didn't understand even a little bit,” she corrected. “This guy's important to her.”

“So is his bank account,” he said drily. “Susan, I know she's your friend and all, but I should probably warn you that she doesn't have the best reputation. About a year ago, she tried hard to get her claws into Trent. Luckily, he wasn't looking for anything long-term.”

With a sigh, she moved away from him. “I don't agree with her motives, but other than that, I really have liked her a lot.” Susan bit her lip. “She's come over and we've sipped wine and laughed. She looked so mad at me, I wonder if she'll even talk to me tomorrow.”

“She will. When she wants something from you she will.”

“That's not fair.”

“Lots of things aren't fair.” He felt for her. He knew she'd taken on a lot, and now that he was getting to know her better, he knew how hard she worked. Just for a moment, he'd been anxious to see the lines around her eyes relax. Lessen. And, of course, he'd been enjoying having his arm around her. Dressed in that violet tank top, her skin was as supple and smooth as he'd imagined.

He'd enjoyed feeling as if she needed him, needed his support. Just for a little while.

But maybe it wasn't too late? “Hey, want to get out of here?”

Her eyes lit up. “Can we?” Then just as quickly, she
caught herself. “Oh, I mean, it's okay. I don't want to make you leave.”

He laughed. “We can do whatever we want. So, answer me, would you? Do you want to leave?”

“I'd love to, if you don't mind.” Worry appeared in her eyes. His heart softened. Susan didn't want to disappoint him. She was putting his needs first. Right then and there, he realized that she would sit at their table at Bob's for as long as he wanted, if it was going to make him happy.

Even if her neighbor was shooting arrows at her from her perch on Gene Howard's lap.

Who else had ever put him first? He couldn't think of a situation recently where his preferences had even been acknowledged. Susan's thoughtfulness made him wistful for things that he'd given up on. And it humbled him, too.

“Let me settle up and then we'll go,” he said softly.

“You really don't mind?”

“Not at all, sweetheart.”

Surprise at his endearment made her eyes widen. Well, that made two of them. He didn't call women sweet little names.

But what struck him as even more surprising was her reaction.

She obviously wasn't used to hearing sweet things. Why not? he wondered. Had no one ever cared enough to treat her sweetly?

 

B
Y MUTUAL AGREEMENT
, they left her car in the parking lot at Bob's and headed out in his truck.

“Where we're going is close,” he murmured. “Not more than ten minutes away.”

“I'm learning ten minutes is close in Texas.”

He chuckled. “Well, darlin', everything is big here,” he said in an exaggerated drawl.

As he'd hoped, it earned a chuckle from her. And a smile when he reached for her hand.

As promised, he was parking in no time at all. “This ain't the honky-tonk,” he said as they started down the sidewalk. “But I always thought our town square had a certain charm,” he murmured as he held out his arm for her to take.

“I would agree.” Susan realized, to her amazement, that she hadn't been out in Electra much at night. The Lodge was on the outskirts, in between the hospital and her condo. Because of that, she hadn't had the opportunity to experience the true prettiness of Electra in the moonlight.

The town leaders had strung lights through most of the trees in the center square. The surrounding buildings, while looking old and in need of a serious paint job in the daylight, looked adorable festooned with tiny white lights. Still more tiny lights dotted potted plants and shrubs along the walkway. It all looked magical.

“I had no idea everything was lit up like this,” she murmured. “I'm glad you brought me here.”

“That's good.”

And because she was starting to get the idea that Cal did thoughtful things all the time, with no expectation of ever receiving thanks, she added, “I'm glad you called me up, too, Cal. Thank you.”

His hand tightened around hers for a split second before he answered, “Watch out, Sue. If you're not careful, you're going to stop being irritated with me. Next thing you know, you'll be sitting at home, waiting by the phone, hoping I'll call.”

“I better be extra careful, then,” she joked. “I'll hardly know what to do with myself then.”

“Would that be so terrible?” There was the faintest hitch in his voice. In the dim light she wasn't sure if he was still teasing her…or if he'd become more serious.

“If I was reduced to sitting by the phone?”

“If we started getting along?”

“Of course not.” As Susan looked up at Cal, gazed into his eyes, she smelled his soap and cologne. A stab of dismay coursed through her.

Because right then and there, she knew that she did want to get along with him. She was even forgetting why she had never got along with him in the first place. Now all she seemed to do was think about how handsome he was. Admire that slow, sexy drawl.

And wonder if he was ever going to kiss her.

But stewing on all that wouldn't do. So she kept things as light as she dared. “For the record, I haven't been trying not to get along with you. I don't know what happened….”

“Maybe we were just at our worst at the hospital.”

Cal was giving her an easy way out. It would be so easy to take it. To not accept any blame for her actions. But could she really do that? “Maybe it was the hospital environment,” she said slowly. “Or, maybe it's just the time of my life. Things are complicated with me right now. I get stressed and forget that the rest of the world isn't that way, too.”

“Because of the move?” He glanced at her with a soft smile, then moved them off to the side as a pair of teenage girls darted by, the two of them giggling while one texted on her cell phone. For a brief moment, Susan's side was flush up against his, her breast pressing into his biceps, her hip against his.

Without notice, a new pulse of awareness zipped between them. With effort, she concentrated on his question. “Yes, I've been feeling at loose ends because of the
move. And the job. And Hank's diabetes. He's had so much trouble getting adjusted, I sometimes wonder if I should go back.”

“You'd do that?”

“Maybe. It's been a tough adjustment in a lot of ways.” She lowered her voice, dismayed that she could still feel as if Hank's illness was somehow her fault. “But that's not the whole reason I've felt so confused.”

“Most people would say it was enough.”

Susan liked how Cal didn't rush, didn't push her into admitting more than she wanted to. “Most people would be right,” she said. Then, slowly, she took the plunge. “But, well, I think the problem was you.”

He looked taken aback. “Me?”

She tightened her hand on his arm when he threatened to pull it away. “Yes—but not in the way you're thinking,” she said. “Cal, you're the first man since Hank's father who's had any interest for me.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Because before you, I was too afraid. Greg, he hurt me deeply. I can't tell you what that felt like, knowing he not only was rejecting me, but rejecting our baby, too.”