The Mobster And The Cowboy (A Cowboy Romance) (7 page)

“There’s that chick that was next to me on the treadmill before, she’s fucking hot, man,” he said.

The
guy boxing paused and turned to get a look at her. He did a double take.

“Melanie?
” he said.

“Cody, hi
,” Melanie said with a smile.

Cody
turned to his friend, whose jaw dropped, grinned, shook off his gloves, picked up his water bottle then walked over to her.

“You belong to this gym?” he asked.

“Yeah, I joined last week.”

“Cool
,” he said smiling and then he took a sip of water. He was sweating and for the first time Melanie got a look at his muscles. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt. Man, he had defined arms.

“Is that hard?”

“What, the boxing?”

“Yeah.”

“No, not really. Never did it?”

“No, I always wanted to but,” she paused to look around and softly said, “I don’t know how.”

“Come on, I’ll show you,” he said as he took her hand and walked her over to the bag and his friend.

“This is Jason.
Jason this is Melanie.”

“Hi,
” Melanie said. She figured him to be in his early twenties too and wow, how cute, he looked shy.

“Hi
,” croaked a nervous Jason.

“You mind using the gym gloves?”
Cody asked her.

“No.”

“Good. If you like it, I’ll help you buy gloves fit for you.”

“Thanks.”

He put the gloves on her. She grinned at how they looked on her. He saw her grin and winked at her and smiled.

“How do you feel?”

“Ridiculous.” She laughed.

He shook his head and chuckled
as he put his gloves back on.

“Ok
ay, bring your hands up to just about chin level.” He demonstrated. “Bend the elbows. Tighten up your wrists with each punch and try to maintain control of the bag. You don’t want the bag to be moving too much when punching. You can break your wrist. That’s why it’s always a good idea to have a spotter. Watch me.”

He motioned to Jason who came closer and loosely held the bag. Cody took a few jabs and a hook. He did it again. She nodded in understanding. He paused and looked at her. “Throw jabs and hooks.”

“What’s the difference between a jab and a hook?” she asked him.

“A jab is straight.” He demonstrated. “A hook comes in a round motion.” He demonstrated that as well, then he did a one two punch. “Hooks have more force but the jab is faster.”

“Ok
ay.” She emulated his moves. They weren’t as powerful but they were right on.

“
Good job,” he said.

Then she did it again.
She loved it. She even started hitting a little harder. When she paused, she was heaving.

“You can even move around the bag
like this.” He demonstrated, showing her some fancy footwork. Then she again did what he showed her. Okay, so she needed to work on her fancy footwork, but she did, maybe a one minute routine and was sweating profusely. She stopped, having gotten out all of her frustrations.

“Jason, can you get the water in my bag
, please?”

Jason quickly reached for her water and held it up to he
r mouth. She greedily drank it while she noticed his hand shaking a little.

“That’s enough for you for now,” Cody said
, shaking off his gloves. He helped her out of hers. She was so hot, she picked up the hem of her shirt and flung it off. It dropped to the floor, but neither Cody nor Jason noticed where it went because their eyes were glued to her breasts in her lavender and black sports bra.

“Damn, Mel, you have a real toned body.” Cody said.

All shy Jason could do was nod in agreement.

“Thanks, Cody, I’ve been working out since I was sixteen.

“Well, it certainly shows.”

She smiled at him. “I really appreciate you taking the time to show me how to box.”

“No problem.
Anytime. You done working out now?”

“Yeah, I’d better get moving.
I have some errands to run. Can we do this again sometime?”

“Yeah, sure.
Let’s exchange cell numbers. Be easier to set something up.”

“Good idea
,” she said as she reached for her nylon bag and took out her phone. He gave her his number then she watched him punch in her number.

“Thanks again.
I’ll see you. It was nice meeting you Jason,” she said as she bent to pick up her shirt.

Jason just smiled.

She wanted to laugh but kept it in.
She was reminded of that TV show where one of the friends couldn’t speak in front of a girl unless he was drunk.

“You going horseback riding anytime soon?”
Cody asked.

“Yeah, I was thinking about going tomorrow morning.”

“Cool, I’ll see you then, we can make plans for our next workout.”

“Sounds like a plan.
See you then.” And she walked away and into the ladies locker room.

About fifteen minutes later, she exited the locker room, saw Cody, gave him a wave and went out the door.

When she got home, she found Logan in front of her house.

“Hi,” he said.

“
What are you doing here?”

“I wa
nted to explain about last night.”

“No need to.
You don’t owe me anything.” Damn, that came out colder than what she intended.

He moved closer to her and put his hand on her upper arm and gently moved it up and down.
She felt a flutter just at his touch. She watched his hand move up and down.

He looked
at her face hoping to make eye contact.

She wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

“Would you like to go get s
ome dinner with me tonight?”

Of course she really w
anted to go out with him that night. “No. I can’t. I have a lot of work to do tonight. I’ve been procrastinating for too long, now.”

“Ok
ay,” he said, nodding his head and sounding disappointed.

He removed his hand and a
s he turned to walk away he added, “It wasn’t a booty call last night. I have a kid with her and he had a fever of 103.” He turned around to look at her.

She had a surprised look on her face.
Why did no one tell her he had a kid? And apparently he spoke with Geli.

“Oh.
How is he, today?”

“Better. T
he fever broke.”

“Good.”
They paused, just staring at each other.

“See ya.” He turned and started to walk away.

“Logan, wait.”

He turned back to her.

“I, um...If that dinner invitation is still open, I’d like to go,” she said, searching his face.

“Yeah?
” he asked as his eyes lit up.

“Yeah.”
She smiled at seeing his dimples.

“Then, yeah. The invitation is still open.”

“Thank you.”

Any food in particular?”

“Hmmm.”
She thought about it a moment. “Any good burger joints around here?”

“Yeah, I know the perfect place.
It’s nothing fancy. You might consider it a dive, but they have the best burgers.”

“Those places usually do.”
She smiled.

“Great, you wanna ride my bike toni-
?”

Melanie chuckled.
“I’ve been propositioned before, but that’s a new one.” She teased.

And he felt the mood lighten.
“No, I mean…..” he laughed. “I like your train of thinking, but I meant, do you mind if we take my motorcycle tonight?”

“Oh,” she said as her cheeks pinked out on her.

Logan grinned at
seeing her blush.

“Sure, that wo
uld be good too,” she said and she laughed as she shook her head.

“Pick you up at
7:30 pm?”

“Sounds good.”

“Great, I’ll see you later.” He turned, walked back to his truck and as he drove away he thought about how he didn’t want to mess this up.  He hated that he had not once, but twice, had to brush her off.  She didn’t deserve it.

“Keep your arms tight around my waist. Don’t let go for a moment.” Logan gave her last minute instructions.

S
ure she could let go at a red light but he just wanted to feel her arms around him at all times. Yeah, he was a greedy bastard.

He
helped Melanie tuck her hair into the black helmet he provided for her. You didn’t need a helmet to ride in Texas if you were over 21 and there was a time Logan didn’t use one.  But lately he’d been wearing one more and more. Being a parent sure grows you up.  He even got his best bud, Richie, to wear one.

As he was helping her into the helmet, his eyes kept dropping to
her breasts, thinking how much he wanted to see them and suck on a nipple and make it hard as her legs were wrapped around his hips. When he picked his eyes up to hers, he noticed she was smirking. All he could do was shrug and smile.

Logan had pulled up with a black Harley. He wore a black, tight t-shirt under a black leather bomber jacket, a pair of black faded jeans and those black snakeskin boots. Gone was his cowboy hat, instead he too had a black helmet.

She wore a body hugging, lavender tank top that had black lace peeking out at the top of her breasts, and a pair of blue denim shorts. She had on a pair of low, black cowboy boots with fringes on the outside part. No purse, she had put ID and some cash in her back pocket, the key to the house in one of her front pockets and her cell in the other.

“Maybe I should run inside and grab a sweater,” she said to him.

“No, you’
re good,” he said as he removed his jacket and helped her into it.

It was big, but along with the smell of leather, it smelled of him and he noticed she inhaled and that made him smile.

He didn’t want her to cover up and made a mental note to remove his jacket once he parked the bike.

He sat down on his bike and grabbed her hand and she gently straddled the bike behind him placing her feet where he indicated. He waited for her to put her arms around his waist, then he held them tight and looked back to see her. She nodded in understanding.

He started up the bike and Melanie jumped from the loudness and the vibration of it.
One scared her, the other thrilled her. She squeezed even tighter around Logan’s waist.

Once more, he looked to her.
He nodded. She nodded and they were off.

Logan only got stuck at one light before hitting the highway. Stopped, he looked over to the old beat up car beside them and saw two guys gawking at Melanie’s leg. In fact they were blatant enough to run their eyes up and down her body.

He wanted to get off the bike and rip them
out of the car. Instead, he ran a hand up and down her leg, suggestively.

Melanie faced
the other direction, so she didn’t even see the guys in the car staring at her leg. She whipped her head around at the feel of his hand on her leg and caught on. She knew he did it as a show, but boy the feel of his hand on her leg sent butterflies fluttering in her belly.

The driver of the car stuck his tongue out of his mouth and moved it back and forth
rapidly.

Logan
had his feet down on the ground and looked to him and gave him the finger. He looked intimidating because of his black helmet with its black shield.

The kid who
made the crude suggestion gave him the finger back.

Logan
began to rise from his seat.

The
gawker’s leers turned to shock and without waiting for the light to change, the driver put the pedal to the metal and peeled out. Logan snickered.

Melanie felt him laugh and she put her mouth by his ear.
“You’re crazy,” she shouted.

He nodded his head as the light changed.
He held her arms tight around him again.

She got the message and they took off.

Melanie
really enjoyed the ride, especially the turns. She wasn’t afraid. She trusted Logan.

Thirty minutes later and against the night sky,
they pulled up to an old building with rows of motorcycles out front and on the sides. Melanie looked up to read the sign, ‘Satan’s Skull’. It was lit up in red neon light.

Logan put the
center stand down then stood firmly on the tab and pulled the bike back while holding the clutch in until he felt the bike rest on the stand. He slid off the bike as he removed his helmet.

Melanie was still on the bike as she took her helmet off.
Logan was transfixed on her as she shook out her tresses.
Fucking hot,
he thought.

Melanie caught him with his mouth open staring at her. She gave him a little crooked smile.

He closed his mouth and ran his tongue across the seam of his lips.

Melanie felt a shiver run up her spine, a good shiver.

“It’s crowded in here tonight. It’ll be loud and rowdy. Don’t leave my side for anything and you’ll be all right,” he said as he rummaged through a side bag and pulled out a baseball cap.

“A cowboy hat would get crushed
in there?” she asked in earnest as she threw her leg over the bike and went to stand next to him.

“Yeah.” He smiled.

“What’s with cowboys and their hats, anyway?”

“Don’t mess with a man’s cowboy hat,” he said all serious
, then smirked.

She grinned.
“Okay,” she said as she looked over his shoulder at a man standing next to a bike about 10 bikes down. The man stared at her. The thing was, he was wearing what she believed to be a costume.

“Um, do people get dressed up to come here?” she asked Logan.

“No, you’re fine. You may even be over dressed.” He joked as he helped her out of his jacket.

“No, I mean like costumes
,” she elaborated, looking back to his eyes.

“No. Why would you think that?”

“Because there is a man standing by that bike over there,” she pointed behind him, “Dressed as an Indian, complete with buckskins and headband.”

Logan turned around.
He didn’t see anyone. He turned back to her and he locked eyes with hers, in question.

“You see him?” h
e asked.

When she looked back to that bike, the man was gone.
She looked back to Logan with confusion.

He grabbed her hand and they walked to the door.

The smell of leather was prevalent as Logan
led the way in and yeah, he was right, it was crowded and rowdy. ‘Freebird’ played on the juke.

Melanie didn’t mean to
, but she bumped into Logan in her attempt to stay close.

“Oops,
sorry.”

Lo
gan just smiled. He gave a nod to someone sitting on the last stool at the back of the bar. He walked Melanie over to a man who had long, wavy, salt and pepper hair, more pepper than salt, and parted in the middle. He had a weathered face and was real thin with tired eyes.

“Ja
y, man, how’s it going?” Logan asked as he shook the man’s hand and fist bumped him at the end of the shake.

“Logan, dude, where you been
, man?”

“
Busy at the ranch……”

While the two men talked
, Melanie scanned the room. She felt very uneasy. There were a lot of people in here. All the tables were occupied. She saw groups of men, groups of men and women and some of those women looked like the men, with their leather vests, short hair and tattoos. Some women were scantily dressed with their tits and asses hanging out and tattooed also.

She
did a double take as she noticed a table that had a group of men at it. What got her to stare was the way they were dressed. Melanie knew her history. These men were dressed as soldiers. Not just any soldiers, but civil war soldiers and if she hunches were right, they were dressed as Confederate soldiers in gray tattered uniforms. There were even a couple of old looking muskets leaning against the table.

“Mel
anie, sweetheart?” Logan said.

She felt him tug her arm.
She looked up to his eyes.

He looked at her oddly.

“This is Jay
Grey Wolf. He owns the place.” He repeated.

Melanie stared
, wide eyed, at Jay a moment, trying to shake a chill going through her.

“You see them, don’t you?”
Jay asked.

“Pardon?” she asked.

“I recognize that look. You see them. They’re all around us.”

The hairs on Melanie’s arms stood up.

“Don’t worry, they’re all harmless. I’m Jay. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sugar,” he said as he extended his hand.

“Melanie,” s
he said as she shook it. She noticed upon first glance he looked gruff and scary, but looking into his eyes, she saw a kind, gentle soul, even though his colorful tattoo sleeves were anything but. She liked him.

“No
t often we get people in here who can actually see them. I can’t even see them, but I can feel them.”

Melanie looked back to the table of soldiers.
They looked tired, beaten, worn. She looked back between Jay and Logan with wide eyes and her mouth opened.

“
Why don’t you go grab that table over there? I’ll have Selma come take your order.

“Thanks
, man,” Logan said as he walked Melanie over to the table with the soldiers.

She paused.
“What are you doing, that table is occupied,” she said as she stopped him and looked in his eyes.

He pa
used to look at her then back at the table. He slowly shook his head and narrowed his eyes on her.

She looked back to the table and saw the men look at her and then they faded out.
She swayed and Logan caught her.

He walked her to the table and sat her down.
He went to sit down opposite her, but she put her hand on his arm and she looked from his eyes to the chair next to her. He sat down right there.

Selma came over with t
wo beers and placed one down in front of Logan and one in front of Melanie.

“Oh, I’ll have a wi-”

Logan placed a hand over hers. “That’s fine Selma,” he said and Selma nodded and walked away.

Melanie looked to Logan.

“They only serve beer, burgers and fries here, darlin’.”

“Oh.”

“I can probably get you a glass of water.”

“That’s fine.”

He waved Selma over and asked for a glass of water. She went behind the bar and as she was pouring water she said something to Jay. Jay sent the bartender to the back room.

While they sipped their drinks, people kept coming up to them. Some he introduced Melanie to and some he didn’t.

“You heading to Sturgis this August?”
Neil, one of the guys he introduced Melanie to, asked.

“I’m hoping to, depends on how things go on the ranch.”

Jay came over
with a bottle of red wine and two glasses. He smiled at Melanie as he turned the empty chair, closest to her on her other side, around and straddled it.

Selma was right behind him with a pitcher o
f beer. She placed it down and was off.

He raised the
wine bottle, before pouring, in question.

Melanie nodded with a small smile.

He poured the wine in
the two glasses and raised one.

She picked up the other glass and they clinked glasses and took a sip.

Some of the other customers in the place took note. They knew it meant she was off limits to anyone there. Don’t fuck with her.

“My private stash,” he said
, after he sipped. “Don’t tell anyone.” He winked and smiled.

“Not a word.
Thank you.” She smiled back.

“Did you see him yet?” h
e asked her as Logan was still talking with Neil but caught their exchange and smiled warmly at Jay.

“Who?”

“Him,” he said, pointing to a picture on the wall behind her. She turned around and studied it then turned back to Jay.

“Yes,” s
he whispered, “Outside by the bikes.”

“That’s
Chief Chato, a Chiricahua Apache. He’s been hanging around here a long time, way before I bought the bar. Legend has it that he is too distraught to leave this earth because his heart bleeds for turning in Geronimo. Some think he’s still searching for his family. But I think he seems to be searching for peace. He’d probably get it on the other side if he would just let himself go.” He paused then went on. “The thing is, no one seems to know why he’s here. He moved around primarily New Mexico and Arizona.” He shrugged.