Travis (12 page)

“Whatever
it is you want, whatever it is you need, I suggest you go after it. Sitting
back and pretending otherwise will get you nowhere in life, boy. And if you
ever need to talk, about anything, you know your mother and I will always
listen.”

Travis
swallowed hard. As much as he’d tried to keep his personal life private, he got
the sneaking suspicion that his father knew. At least on some level.

And
if that was the case, that meant Travis had spent the last ten years using
everyone else as an excuse. If they might accept him, where did that leave him?
He wasn’t sure he had the balls to own up to what he’d been fighting all these
years.

Because
if he did, that would mean he’d been wrong.

And
Travis was never wrong.

♀♂

“I
don’t know about this, Jess.” Kylie had no desire to go into… Moonshiners –
according to the rough metal sign.

“Come
on, Ky. Live a little. It’s a bar, the parking lot’s full. Oh, and add to that
the hot cowboys who just walked inside. What could possibly go wrong?”

Kylie
had heard that before. She also knew there was no way she could persuade her
sister from going anywhere else. They’d passed the place on their way out to
Gage’s house and Jessie had mentioned it the first time around. After spending
a total of two minutes rolling past the historic farmhouse she wasn’t going to
be renovating, Kylie had wanted to get the hell out of dodge.

However,
she also didn’t want to look like she was fleeing, no matter how true it was.

“Come
on. Just for a little while,” Jessie said, pinning her pretty blue eyes on
Kylie’s face and making her feel guilty. Even without trying, Jessie always did
make Kylie feel guilty. Not in a bad way though. Kylie wanted to make her
sister happy. Always had.

“Fine,”
she answered as she unclicked the seatbelt and turned off the truck’s engine.

Kylie
had to almost run to keep up with Jessie’s much longer stride. Her sister had
gotten the height in the family, and what Jessie got, Kylie must’ve given away
because topping out at five-foot-five-inches she found herself looking up at
her sister. Even if she was only three inches taller, it was enough that Kylie
envied her.

Jessie
pulled open the front door, and the quiet sunset was suddenly filled with the
din of conversation and laughter, the clack of pool balls hitting one another,
and the pleasant country beat coming from a jukebox that Kylie spotted just
inside the front door.

Sending
up a silent prayer that she wouldn’t run into Gage or Travis, or anyone who
might know them, Kylie followed her sister inside, the battered wooden door
slowly closing behind her.

“What
do you want to drink?” Jessie asked as she made a beeline for the bar, her
graceful, easy gait disguising her urgency. “Never mind, silly question.”
Jessie stood at the edge of the bar, waiting patiently for the bartender to
look her way. And just like usual, the instant the older cowboy slinging beers
behind the bar spotted Jessie, he smiled and headed her way.

Jessica
Renee Prescott had a way with men. She was stunning, smart, and sincere. She
was a triple threat. She was also very single. At least Kylie thought she was.
She’d never known her to date much, but she’d also never thought to question
her sister either. Figuring asking questions would only be asking for someone to
start prying into her own life, Kylie did her best to avoid being nosey.

“A
Corona with lime for my sister, and I’ll have Grey Goose and 7-Up if you’ve got
it.”

“Sure
thing, honey,” the burly bartender smiled as he turned away.

“This
place is great,” Jessie said as Kylie stepped closer.

It
actually was. Kylie liked the down home feel, the rustic wood and iron lacking
the intimidating vibe a lot of bars gave off.

“Here
you go. Oh, and those are on the house,” the bartender winked, and Jessie
smiled brightly.

“Thanks.”

Kylie
was pretty sure that her sister had no idea how many men flirted with her on a
daily basis. Whenever they were together, Kylie saw one or more men nearly trip
over their own tongues when Jessie walked by.

“Want
to play pool?” Jessie asked, using the thin straw to stir and sip her drink as
Kylie simply wrapped her hand around the ice cold beer bottle. Turning toward
the sound of the billiards balls clanging together, Kylie stopped in her
tracks.

Her
breath came in violent pants, her heart began pounding like a bass drum in a
marching band. She had to close her fingers around her beer to keep from
dropping it.

There,
standing near one of the pool tables in the back was Gage. He was surrounded by
a handful of cowboys and a couple of women. Those around him were smiling and
laughing, but he didn’t seem to be doing the same.

Movement
to her right caught her attention, and Kylie turned to see what it was.

That’s
when the shaking ensued. Heading straight for her was none other than Travis
Walker.

“You
ok, Ky?” Jessie asked, turning to face her.

No.
No, she definitely was not.

Kylie
couldn’t pull her eyes away from Travis as he moved toward her with purpose.
Oh, God. He was going to think she came to see him. What was she supposed to
say? How did she get out of this?

“Hey,”
Travis’ sexy baritone tore Kylie from her thoughts and she looked up – way up –
into sparkling steel blue eyes.

“Hey.”
How she managed to find her voice, she had no idea.

Travis
held out his hand, and that’s when Kylie realized he was looking toward her
sister. “Travis, this is my sister Jessie. Jessie, this is Travis.”

God,
she hoped she didn’t need to provide any more introduction than that because
her tongue suddenly felt heavy, her mouth dry and her palms sweating. Her beer
was at risk of taking a trip, and it wasn’t going to be toward her mouth.

“Nice
to meet you, Travis,” Jessie replied as her eyes darted toward Kylie.

Kylie
forced a smile but didn’t say anything.

“Mind
if I talk to your sister for a minute?” Travis asked Jessie.

“Great
idea,” Jessie said with a grin the size of Texas before she waltzed off,
heading toward the pool tables at the back of the room.

“Why
are you here?”

Kylie
flipped her gaze back to Travis’ and processed his question. He didn’t seem
upset. In fact, he sounded somewhat optimistic. Although, she had no idea how
she was going to answer his question. It wasn’t like she could tell him that
they just ventured out for a beer because… Yeah, well because Coyote Ridge was
an hour’s drive from her house.

“I
wanted to show my sister a house,” she said truthfully.

“In
Coyote Ridge?” Travis’ gaze turned skeptical.

Rather
than risk the words, Kylie just nodded.

“Well,
I’m glad you’re here.”

The
words were so unguarded, Kylie’s heart tripped a couple of times before it
resumed its normal rhythm. “You are?”

Travis
must’ve realized what he said because that mask of indifference that she’d seen
on his face when she presented him with divorce papers slammed into place, nearly
knocking her back a step or two.

“I’d
offer to buy you a beer, but it looks like you’re good.”

For
now. She still wasn’t confident she’d be able to hold on to it long. Her hands
were shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

“I’m
good.”

“Come
on, I’d like to introduce you to a few people,” Travis said as he turned,
keeping his eyes on her as he did.

Kylie
couldn’t have been more shocked if Travis had hit her over the head with a club
and dragged her from the bar. Who was this man? And why was he acting like he
had expected her to show up?

Then
again, who was she to question it? It wasn’t like she had anything else to do
because as she roamed the room to locate Jessie, she saw her sister standing at
the back of the bar talking to a couple of really tall cowboys. Huh. They
looked like identical twins.

After
three steps, Kylie reached out and grabbed hold of Travis’ arm. Hard.

He
stopped abruptly, glancing down at her with one eyebrow cocked in question.

“Whatever
you do, please don’t mention that we’re technically still married.” Kylie
glanced over at where her hand still rested on his arm and then back up to meet
his eyes. “My sister doesn’t know.”

Travis’
mouth formed a hard, thin line, but he nodded. Kylie took that to mean he would
keep their little secret.

They
fell into step once more, and Kylie kept her eyes on Gage who hadn’t seemed to
notice her up to this point. That changed in an instant just as they reached
the group. Their eyes met, locked, and she noticed something akin to shock on
his ruggedly handsome face.

She
couldn’t help but wonder whether he would have taken his arm off of the pretty
blonde who was currently standing much closer than Kylie was comfortable
seeing. Granted she had no claim on the man, but still… No, there truly wasn’t
anything there for her to get upset about. She’d sent him on his way and
apparently Gage didn’t have a problem moving on.

Excusing
himself from the man he was talking to, Gage released the woman and headed directly
toward her. Male instincts must’ve kicked in because Travis’ body went rigid
beside her as though he was prepared to defend her if necessary.

Little
did Travis realize but Gage wasn’t a threat to anything other than her heart at
this point.

She
totally didn’t see this going well.

♂♀♂

Kylie?

At
first Gage thought he was imagining things, but as he looked closer, he
realized she was definitely real. Just as beautiful as the last time he’d seen
her, he drank in the sight of her like he’d been in the desert for months and
she was the only thing to quench his thirst.

Her
hair was just as silky and long as he remembered, her skin just as clear and perfect,
her body just as curvy. With her tanned, toned legs disappearing into a pair of
cowboy boots, Gage was suddenly grateful that he’d gone casual, his shirt
untucked and hiding the instant hard-on he got from seeing her.

Telling
Kaleb he’d be back in a minute, Gage headed right toward her. He noticed how
Travis’ posture changed, his stance reflecting that of a bodyguard ready to go
toe to toe with him if he tried to approach too close.

Bring
it.

“Gage,”
Kylie greeted when he reached her. The sound of his name on her lips made a strange
churning sensation take flight in his chest. It was a combination of happiness,
anxiety, and confusion. God, he just wanted to stand there and stare at her for
a little while.

Travis
took a step closer. Breaking eye contact with Kylie, Gage turned and looked
directly at the man. Since he’d walked into the bar, Gage had felt Travis
tracking his every move, but they hadn’t spoken. Gage hadn’t even looked his
way, afraid of what he’d see. He didn’t want to see disgust or contempt on
Travis’ face.

“Matthews.
Bout time you showed up again,” Travis said.

There
wasn’t any anger on his face, but that
I don’t give a shit
attitude was
front and center.

“Been
busy,” he replied, glancing back down at Kylie.

“Hey,
bro. Want to introduce us to the lady?” Sawyer’s exuberant voice echoed through
the bar and effectively redirected their attention.

“Sawyer,
meet Kylie. Kylie, this is one of my brothers,” Travis explained as the others
were closing in around them.

With
a nod of his head, Travis introduced the rest of the group, “Kaleb and his
wife, Zoey. Zane and his fiancé, V. This old man right here is our father,
Curtis. This here’s Ethan. Over there,” Travis nodded toward the back corner,
“the two giving your sister a hard time are the twins, Braydon and Brendon.”

There
was a round of “Hi, how are ya’s” from the Walker group.

“Wow,
there really are six,” Kylie muttered as though she hadn’t expected Travis to
have that many brothers. How much had he told the woman he married, Gage
thought to himself.

“Now
if you’ll excuse us, I’d like to talk to her for a bit,” Travis told the
others. “Oh, and E, make sure the twins know her sister’s off limits, would
ya?”

Rather
presumptuous of Travis to assume as much, but when Kylie didn’t say a word,
Gage opted to keep his trap shut.

“Excuse
us,” Travis told him.

“No
way in hell,” Gage barked back. He knew he should walk away, but he wasn’t about
to be dismissed. Not by Travis anyway. “I go where you go.”

Kylie’s
head turned back and forth, watching them like one would watch two prowling
tigers in their backyard. Gage waited for her to tell him to go to hell. She
didn’t. She didn’t say anything, and Travis must’ve taken that as her consent
because he exhaled and then turned to walk away. His retreat was rather
disappointing because Gage wanted to hear what the man had to say.

It
wasn’t like he could use the wife excuse because for the last ten years, he
damn sure hadn’t treated her as though they were married. However, Gage had
been gone for a while and he didn’t have any idea what had gone on between the
two of them since then.

They
reached a booth in the back, but before they could sit, Kylie spoke up. “Mind
if we sit at a table?”

Ahhh,
so she didn’t want to get trapped beside one of them. Her request both amused
and disappointed Gage. Trapping her, preferably
between
their bodies,
had been one fantasy he hadn’t been able to shake in recent weeks. Not that
this woman would ever be onboard with that idea. Gage wasn’t even sure Travis
would be open to the suggestion, but it wasn’t like he was going to mention it
either.