The Trouble With Love (33 page)

Indecision warred on his face and he shook his head, "As much as I'd love to, I can't...I have to go put Elmer on permanent traffic duty.  I came up with a plan to pacify him, and get a qualified Chief Deputy at the same time."

"Oh, yeah? Who?"

Sabrina watched Cole's face pinch and he hesitated like Luke had put him on the spot, then huffed out a breath, "I was going to tell Sabrina tonight...I asked Gabe to move to
Bowie
and be my
Chief D
eputy.  He agreed...starts Monday."

Sabrina almost jumped out of her boots and twirled in circles then ran over and launched herself against Cole wrapping her legs around his waist.  He
caught her with an oomph then staggered back a little, before tightening his arms around her.  She put her mouth over his and kissed the stuffing out of him.
Cole finally pulled back and said, "Whoa, darlin'...guess that means you're excited about it?"

"Hell, yeah!" she put kisses all over his face and told him, "I love you, Cole Jackson. You are my hero, darlin'."

Cole grinned from ear to ear then gave her a squeeze, before he set her on her feet.  "Guess your answer to going out with me would be yes then?"

"No--it's
hell
, yeah!" Sabrina let out a whoop and did another twirl,
before she
put her arms around his waist and hugged him.  "Thank you, Cole."

"Honey, he's the one doing me a favor.  I
need
a good second in command
, and Gabe's gonna be great
.  Elmer is a good guy, but he's not cut out for it."

Sabrina looked up into his beautiful
,
happy green eyes and asked, "So, what time are you picking me up?"

"
Six o'clock
...shorts, flip flops and your swimming suit, sugar," he winked at her.  "I'm cooking."

A vision of him in that frilly apron and nothing else flitted through her mind and her heart bounced around in her chest. 
"
As long as
you wear
that
apron, I don't care what you're cooking."

Luke let out a guffaw then started belly laughing, bending over
to put
his hands on
h
is knees
.  He
looked up at Cole with tears in his eyes and
asked
,
"
She got you wearing a thong yet?
"
  He
snorted
then said
breathlessly
, "Bet you wore pantyhose under
your
footb
all pads in high school too...guess high heels are next
.
"
  Luke slapped his hand against his thigh, sucking in
breaths trying to get control.

Cassie
walked
into the barn then
stood over him
with her hands on her hips
, h
er baby bump very visible under the long t-shi
rt she had on with her shorts.
  She looked down at
Luke
, then asked
him
with a grin,
"You getting your mileage, sugar?"

Luke hooted and told her, "Heck yeah
,
that one has a lot of tread left for sure..."

"Ha
,
ha
,
ha," Cole said flatly then leaned down and kissed Sabrina's cheek.  "I've got to go, darlin'...see you tonight."
 

"What are you grinning so big about, Bri?"
Cassie asked her with a raised brow.

"I'll tell you about it when I come in the house.  I've got to finish grooming Honey and ride her real quick...I have a hot date tonight with the best looking cowboy in Bowie."

Luke snorted
and said weakly,
"Holy, shit, Bri--don't tell Cole, he'll be pissed
,
"
t
hen he
stood up and
put his arm around Cassie
, and
led her back toward the house.

Sabrina shook her head and said with a smile,
"He's a mess
.
"

"He's one damned happy man, that's for sure," Cole agreed then turned her to him, "And so am I, baby..."
he said looking deeply into her eyes, then he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips.  "I'll see you tonight, sugar."

Sabrina smiled at him
then watched him walk out of the barn.  The
euphoric daze
he'd left her in lasted
for the rest of the afternoon
, but somehow s
he managed to get Honey exercised, a
long with
two of the new mares Cassie had bought
.  When she finished, she realized it was time to get ready for her date and ran for the house, her feet barely touching the ground.
 
She ran upstairs and straight to the bathroom for a shower, she certainly didn't want to be late.

Her life had changed so much in the last few weeks, she thought. 
Earlier today she'd met with
Lou Bell and they'd hammered out a deal for her to buy the Blue Bird. 
Sabrina was going to take over at the first of the month, and that was j
ust a week and a half from now!  Cole and she were getting along fabulously, she was so in love with the man she felt like she
was walking a
round with her head
in the clouds.
 
Even though the things she'd had to endure the last month had been hell, she'd gladly do it all over again, if that's what it took to g
et to the place she was today.

What she'd gone through before
then
, she didn't even want to think about
now
.  She had a new lease on life
now
and was moving on.
 
Kenny had been a chapter in her life, and a good one, but it was closed now.  She
just
hoped when she told Wade about Cole, he would accept that it was time for her to live her life again. 

When she'd had lunch with
Kenny's brother
at the Blue Bird the other day, s
he hadn't
had a chance to tell
him
, because
she'd had to run out on
him
to go find Cole.  But she would tell him soon.
  He'd probably be back in
Dallas
with the rodeo again soon, and she'd drive over there to talk to him.

Every
one always said
thing
s
happened for a reason, and Sabrina finally believed that.
  She had Cole, Bowie and the Blue Bird now, and she'd never been happier in her life.
 

Sabrina was smiling when she
walked back into her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her, and
found Cassie sitting on her bed waiting for her.
 
"Hiya, girlfriend.  How's the bambino?" she asked her and then walked over to plop down on the bed beside her friend.

"Hungry...all the time," she said
and l
aughed
before taking a
nibble o
ff the corner of
the Pop Tart in her hand.  "This kid loves Pop Tarts...blueberry...and I'm going to we
igh
five hundred pounds by the time I deliver."

"They have vitamins in them," Sabrina told
defensively, then said with a laugh,
"Better than pickles, huh?"

Cassie groaned, "I'm craving cucumbers instead...with vinegar
and pepper
.  Pre-pickles."

Sabrina snorted, "You're growing a kid with some weird tastes, sugar."

"Tell me about it," Cassie
agreed
rubbing
her tummy, then
she
turned to look at
Sabrina
and asked, "Okay--
so
what had you grinning out in the barn, excluding Cole
and his sexy self
?"

Sabrina squealed and told her, "Gabe's moving to
Bowie
!
  Cole offered him the Ch
ief Deputy job and he took it!"

Cassie's eyebrows raised and she nibbled the other corner of her tart.  "What about Elmer?" she asked
with a snort
.

"Cole says he's not cut out for the job
...
so he's going to give him some other title and a job he can handle."

"Aah...good idea.  I hear he kinda freaked out when they
went
to rescue you," Cassie chuckled.

"That's putting it lightly...he passed out
from the excitement,
and Cole had to carry him to the helicopter.  That's why he got shot."

"Oh, Lord, that's not good..."

"Sure isn't," Sabrina felt her lip tremble as she finished, "Cole could have been killed."

Cassie leaned over and hugged her and said, "But he wasn't Bri--he's fine...everything's good now, right?"

Sabrina nodded then said, "
Well, mostly
things are fantastic
.
 
W
e're
still
working on our communication
, but it's a lot better. 
Cole being a cop
was
a problem for me
.  Like I told you,
Kenny was a cop
, and I swore off dating them, after he got killed.
" Sabrina felt her eyes
well up, and fanned her face.

Cassie gasped and threw her arms around Sabrina for a tight hug.  "I'm so sorry, Bri...that must've been terrible."

"It was
awful
.  I
knew the risks involved
when I married him
, but Kenny went to the extreme
, he thrived living on the edge
.
He was
an adrenaline junky
,
and
I couldn't live that way
again
.
"

"
I can understand that for sure...Cole
is
a cop
, but he's not a risk-taker
."
Cassie pinned her with serious sky-blue eyes, studying her intently.

"
You're right...I know that now.  I just have to keep reminding myself. 
N
ow that Gabe is going to have his back, I'll worry less when he's on duty.  And
Bowie
doesn't have much dangerous crime, so
it's easier dealing
with him being a cop here.
 
He's a great Sheriff, he
's smart and
cares about people.
 
Cole
is
perfect just like he is...
I don't want to change a thing
about him
.
  Even if he is an alpha caveman sometimes.
"

Cassie
burst out laughing, then
put her hand on Sabrina's arm and said seriously, "I'm really glad thing
s have worked out between
you and Cole
," then she smiled and told Sabrina, "
You
two
are perfect for each other.
..I knew that from the day you met in Phoenix.
"

"
I
fought
getting involved with him
...loving him...
damned hard
," Sabrina admitted then finished
with
her own
smile
, "B
ut he
was relentless
and
crawled inside my heart
and fixed it
anyway
, the alpha caveman way.
"