Red's Hot Cowboy (9 page)

Pearl picked up her fork. “That better not be the last slice or I may fight you for it.”

“There’s one more in the pan.” Austin smiled.

One bite of the corn bread dressing and Pearl forgot about good guys, bad boys, and even motel rooms. Two bites made her forget everything but how good the food was. Three and she would have fought a full-grown coyote away from her plate with nothing but a long-handled teaspoon.

Austin, a tall brunette with eyes the color of a summer sky, grinned. The girl Austin had known as a child was brazen and foolhardy; the woman hadn’t changed a lot. She’d quit her job as a bank executive but took a firm hold on that old motel and ran it single-handedly without so much as a backward glance.

Pearl’s cell phone sent up a ringtone and Wil looked at Colleen.

“Don’t be lookin’ at me. Mine plays ‘Hello Darlin’.’”

“And mine plays ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’” Austin said.

“It’s mine,” Pearl said. “They’ll call back.”

Two minutes and three bites later, it rang again. She sighed and reached for her purse.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi, darlin’. Thought I’d call early and invite you to the New Year’s Eve party at Billy Bob’s. Bunch of us are going down early and staying the whole weekend. I’ll pick you up at five,” Trent said.

Pearl smiled. “Can’t, sweetheart. I’d love to but I’ve got a motel to run. Maybe next year I’ll have things ironed out and some help. Don’t give up on me.”

Wil was sitting close enough he could hear every word of the conversation. Just how many men did she know, anyway?

“We’ll miss you. Party won’t be the same without you there.”

“Jasmine will take up the slack.” Pearl laughed.

“No way that’s possible. It’s a shame you have to work so hard, darlin’. Sure I can’t talk you into shutting down the motel for a couple of days?”

“I’m sure, Trent. Got to run, honey. Enjoy the party and think of me.” She smacked him a kiss over the phone and snapped it shut.

Austin giggled. “So the tribe misses the queen bee of the party girls, does it? How in the world are you surviving without a social life?” Austin asked.

Gemma pulled out a chair and sat down beside Austin. “Y’all hadn’t seen each other in a long time? Why? Sounds like you were good friends when you were kids.”

Pearl explained between bites. “My father sent me to Aunt Pearlita for two weeks every summer because she didn’t have any kids and she adored my daddy. Aunt Pearlita and Granny Lanier were best friends so they always had a few play days for us since Austin visited the same weeks I did. When we were about sixteen we got summer jobs so our trips ended and we drifted apart. We did see each other last spring at a rodeo down, remember? Besides, it was probably for the best that we drifted apart. She got me in trouble every time we were together.”

Austin pointed her fork at Pearl. “Me! You were born a hellion and grew up to be the party gal. I was the good kid who studied hard and never did a thing wrong. Someday I’ll tell you stories about what a daredevil she was.”

Wil finished eating and went back to the kitchen for dessert. He grabbed the last piece of pecan pie and carried it to the table. “I believe you, Austin. Ever since I met this woman I’ve been in trouble.”

“You!” Pearl exclaimed. “I was minding my own business running a motel when you showed up. Cops had never come around beating on my door at the Longhorn until you rented a room. Don’t blame me.”

Austin turned her fork toward him. “I do believe that my friend had dibs on that piece of pie.”

Pearl shot a look that would have had a seasoned convict whimpering in his tracks and crossing his legs to keep from putting a wet stain on his orange jumpsuit. “I got you out of jail, drove you home, and you steal my pie. Is that the thanks I get?”

Wil had the audacity to shrug as if the look didn’t affect him one bit. “I cleaned rooms in your motel all afternoon to pay off that debt, so don’t use the old you-owe-me card. I don’t owe you jack shit and this don’t have your name on it, does it?”

Before he could blink she reached across the table, picked up the saucer, and licked the pie from crust to tip.

“It’s got my slobbers on it so I guess it’s mine.”

“I can’t believe you did that.” Austin knew flirting when she saw it. Had Pearl set her cap for Wil? God help the man! But then, Austin wasn’t even sure God had that much power.

Pearl shrugged. “A woman has got to protect her rights and I already said that pie was mine.”

Wil popped a piece in his mouth. “Darlin’, that’s just sugar on the top.”

“Ewww,” Gemma groaned.

“What?” Wil asked while he chewed.

“That’s gross.”

“Would it be gross if I’d kissed her?”

“That’s different?”

“Don’t get your hopes up, cowboy,” Pearl said.

“Darlin’, don’t you get your hopes up either,” Wil said.

Austin, Gemma, and Colleen burst out laughing.

Pearl gave them all an evil look.

Sleet still hid in the shaded areas on the north side of Highway 82 from Ringgold to Henrietta, but the roads were dry and clear. Stars twinkled around a full moon but Pearl didn’t see any of it. She couldn’t get away from how handsome Wil was in that black shirt. And just thinking about his hand on her back on the way to the kitchen gave her a warm, oozy feeling all over again. She was glad she’d gone to the O’Donnells’ for a few hours and really felt as if she’d had an outing. She deserved it after a whole month of work and classes. Wil was just the icing on the cupcake, and knowing those were his headlights right behind her put a warm glow all over her body.

When she turned off at the motel she expected him to honk but he followed her, parking the truck between the garage and the back door that led into her apartment. By the time she got the Caddy situated and the garage doors down he was out of his truck and leaning on the fender.

“After last night and today, I figured you’d be eager to get home,” Pearl said.

“I told Austin I’d get you home safely.” Wil grinned.

“Austin worries too much. Who saw to it she got home safe last spring?”

“Hey, Rye was right across the road the whole time. From the time he first laid eyes on her that man was love drunk as hell.”

“Love drunk?” Pearl asked.

“Yeah, he was besotted with that woman. How come you weren’t at their reception? I’d have remembered you if you’d been there.”

“I had to be out of state for a training seminar for the bank.”

“You going to invite me in for a cup of coffee?” he asked.

“No, I am not. I’m going to open the lobby and get ready for customers,” she answered.

“Then I’ll walk you around the motel and make sure you get inside all right.”

“Wil, I’m a big girl. I’m not afraid of the dark. I can take care of myself.” She talked as she walked.

He fell into step right beside her.

She unlocked the door, didn’t look back as she went straight for the counter, and flipped on the cowboy neons. If she decided to go with quaint and romantic the old cowboy was going to have to retire his bowlegged stance to the garage. Or she’d sell him on eBay… could be that he’d bring a fortune since he was getting right up there close to being a bona fide antique.

Last night she’d had a full house; tonight she probably wouldn’t have one customer. It was Christmas! No one, not even Santa Claus, was out on Christmas. She hoped he was tired to the bone and sick of cookies and milk. It would serve him right for not bringing her a nice quiet night like she’d wanted. Hell’s bells, she hadn’t been a bad child that year but he’d damn sure treated her like her name was right up there on the top of his shit list when he dumped all those people in her lobby at one time.

Wil stopped on the lobby side of the counter and leaned on it. “Austin tells me you were a big-shot banker. What happened?”

“I quit because I wanted to be my own boss and Aunt Pearlita left me the motel. Mother said I was making the biggest mistake of my life. My friend, Jasmine, said she was jealous of my spunk. Austin encouraged me to move here, but I got to admit sometimes I wonder if I bit off more than I can chew.” She talked fast and kept her eyes away from his lips. She stepped out around the counter and straightened the few magazines on the table between the two recliners. If it had been a real date he would have kissed her good night at the door. She turned around to find him right behind her.

Already in motion with a step forward, she couldn’t stop and ran right into his chest. His arms wrapped firmly around her and she looked up. One second she was sinking into his dreamy eyes, the next she was melting into a steamy kiss that sent waves of liquid desire shooting through her body.

He broke away but kept her in his embrace for several seconds. “Well, good night, Red. Thanks for being my date for the night.”

“Date?”

“Yep. It felt like a date. You looked like a date. And a good night kiss sealed it. It was a date. I’ll call you later.” He walked across the floor and out the door. She had to lean on the counter to keep her jelly-filled knees from collapsing, but she watched that sexy strut until it disappeared into the darkness.

“Dammit, Austin! You started this whole thing when you moved to Terral. I figured if you could make a drastic change then I damn sure could,” she muttered as she rounded the end of the counter and sat down at her computer. But she couldn’t keep her mind on her work. She kept thinking of how much fun she’d had at the party and how she’d missed flirting and dating and kissing and the whole nine yards.

Home? Even though she owned the motel and had moved into the apartment it still didn’t feel like home. Austin had said that when she had first inherited the watermelon farm she had thought of it as Granny’s place until she’d made up her mind to keep the farm, plant and harvest watermelon crops, and make watermelon wine. After that she felt like she was going home every time she started toward Terral from Tulsa and that she was leaving a part of her heart when she had to leave Terral.

Pearl had one advantage over Austin, who’d been thrown in the middle of Small Town, USA, like a chicken in a coyote pen. Austin hadn’t known anyone. She had no friends other than Pearl’s Aunt Pearlita. Pearl had Austin and the O’Donnells and in a pinch she could call on Rosa if she needed anything. She couldn’t remember when Rosa hadn’t been a fixture at the Longhorn Inn. She had tried to talk Rosa into staying on when she took over, but Rosa told her that she had only worked the past five years because of Pearlita, and it was time for her to retire.

Thank God for Austin, Rosa, and the O’Donnell family or she’d have been out in the cold just like Austin had been. The O’Donnells were 100 percent Irish on both sides of the family. They loved and fought with passion and if they were your friends, nobody messed with you and got away with it. She had no doubt the whole bunch would come to her aid if she needed them.

Her thoughts went to the O’Donnell brothers.

Dewar was shorter than Rye but just as handsome. His face was more angular and he had a scar across his cheek, a gift from busting a bronc when he was a teenager. He’d flirted with Pearl a few times, but nothing he’d ever said made her giddy like a wink from Wil Marshall.

Raylen was the pretty boy. Cash said that God made it up to him because he was the shortest one of the lot. He had dark hair that turned chestnut red when he got out in the sun and the prettiest blue eyes this side of heaven. His voice was deep and resonant and eyelashes so long and sexy that one wink would cause a virgin’s underpants to slide down toward her ankles. But he’d never caused Pearl to need to change her underpants, not like Wil Marshall had done.

“It’s what I get for letting that man get under my skin,” she said as she kicked off her shoes and heard a vehicle motor at the same time. She looked up half hoping that Wil had remembered something else and she’d get one more look at him or maybe another searing kiss. But it wasn’t Wil and the car didn’t stay. It backed up in the parking lot and the red taillights disappeared out onto the highway. Then a woman slipped inside the lobby and stopped midway across the floor.

“May I help you?” Pearl asked.

“The lady that brought me here said you might be needin’ help,” the woman said softly. She wore a stained gray hooded sweatshirt with the hood up, shading most of her face. Her jeans were white at the knees and not in a fashionable way. They hung on her slim hips like a flapping towel out on the clothesline.

“Who brought you here?” Pearl asked.

“Rosa. She said that I was to come in here and tell you that I’m lookin’ for work,” she said in a deep southern accent. Pearl was very familiar with a Georgia accent since her mother was born and raised there and Texas had not taken a bit of it away from her in the past thirty-three years. But this skinny woman sounded more like she came from backwoods Tennessee.

She pushed the hood away from her face and Pearl gasped. It was a motley green and purple mess of bruises. One eye had started to heal, but it was still sporting a mouse under it half the size of Pearl’s fist. Her crystal clear blue eyes looked everywhere but at Pearl. Her limp brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Her delicate face looked like an amateur artist’s dirty palette.