Twin Cowboys for Tamara (2 page)

Suspicion, however, tempered Jess’s own happiness.

Would she even be coming home if Bailey hadn’t been hurt? Why should he get excited about her homecoming when she would probably be leaving as soon as Bailey got well and truly up and on his feet again?

He needed to find Jax. Not just to let him know what came down the pike, and that he would be on his way to pick up Her Highness in a couple of hours. He needed Jax because his brother had the uncanny ability of making Jess see the bright side of things when no one else could.

Really, Jax had this effect on everyone with whom he came into contact. He had a way about him, never took life too serious, whereas Jess took everything serious. At least Jax and the rest of their family and friends on the ranch always told him this.

Well, someone had to take things serious. They couldn’t all be like his nonchalant, fun-loving brother who acted like he didn’t have a care in the world half the time and flitted from passion to passion and project to project at the drop of a dime. His stint at the ranch this last year-and-a-half, in fact, had been the longest time that Jax had stayed with anything except his days playing college football at their alma mater Colorado State, or doing the rodeo circuit.

At least Tamara had some focus. She’d known what she wanted from an early age and resolved to get it, not letting anyone, not even the little boys who cared about and loved her, get in the way.

Yeah, he definitely needed to talk to Jax. Jax hadn’t taken Tamara’s departure nearly as hard as Jess had. Maybe Jax had the right idea not taking life too serious.

Jess went to the stable and saddled up his prize bay stallion Clipper. He took the scenic route past the trout pond, petting zoo, Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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roping and riding arena, Tee Pee Village and trading post. He finally reached the make-believe, all-inclusive western town-target range that Jax had masterminded a couple of years back. It had been built on the outer reaches of the main lodge and dining area under Jess’s ever-evolving expansion program.

The town consisted of several convincing facades—a bank, saloon, church, hotel, general store, post office—,pop-up targets, horse-drawn wagons, and other props and special effects to give a Hollywood lot a run for its money.

The pop-up targets proved true to life but nothing beat the real thing. Jax and several of The Double R’s working wranglers and cowboys provided that with their staged shoot-outs scheduled throughout the day from late morning to early evening every other hour.

Veering left, Jess made it into the town proper at the tail end of one of his brother’s famous shoot-out episodes.

Heart in his throat, he paused to watch his brother take a header off the roof of the town’s bank into a cushioned bale of hay like a top-notch Hollywood stuntman.

His brother’s eye for detail and realism never failed to impress Jess. Jax had a real feel for the dramatic and knew exactly what the customer wanted, especially when the customer came in the form of a kid. Jax had an uncanny way with kids and critters.

Jess dismounted Clipper, quickly tying the horse to a nearby hitching post. Shaking his head and laughing, he trotted over to where Jax was busy hamming up his latest death scene.

Several of the ranch guests’ kids surrounded Jax with their make-believe guns drawn. They took him down with blanks electronically synched with several small bags of fake blood that Jax wore beneath his shirt.

Jax lay coughing and gurgling, hands splayed over his blood-soaked shirt as he winced up at his pint-sized conquerors. “Ya got me, varmints. Ya got me…
cough, cough
…good.”

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Gigi Moore

One of the kids pointed his gun at Jax’s torso and pulled the trigger. Fake blood exploded beneath Jax’s denim western shirt where the kid had hit his target true. Jax jerked and grimaced as if in great pain. “I’m a goner for sure, you sidewinder.”

The kids laughed, all drawing their guns now and firing to get in on the act.

The special effects and Jax’s timing and over-the-top performance made the shoot-out so much more fun and authentic than a regular paintball game.

The western town-target range and its scheduled shoot-outs proved the most popular attraction for kids who visited The Double R.

Even some of their parents got into the act and couldn’t help but be swept up by Jax’s infectious enthusiasm for the scenes.

After one last convulsion and coughing spasm, Jax finally lay still with his eyes closed.

Jess stepped in and showed the kids his marshal’s badge, another of Jax’s bright ideas deputizing several of the cowboys and appointing Jess the town marshal. “You’ve taken down one of the most dangerous fugitives in the west, pardners. I’ll take it from here.

These fellas will escort you over to the bank to claim your bounty for bringing down Jumping Jax Flash.”

He watched as Carson and Sam Quarry led the boys away to the town bank where they would be issued official Double R
currency that they could redeem at the ranch’s video and game arcade. The two brothers had recently been added to the buckaroo crew as of several months ago and liked to take part in Jax’s cowboy games as much as the guests.

As soon as they disappeared from view, Jess turned and squatted beside his brother’s supine form.

Jax opened one eye and peeped up at Jess. “Coast clear?” he stage-whispered.

“Get up, porky.” Jess chuckled and proffered a hand. He remembered the fake blood a second before Jax clasped his hand to Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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let Jess help him up. “Ugh.” Jess grimaced and wiped his bloody palm down the front of Jax’s jeans.

“Hey, a guy’s got to make sacrifices for his art.”

“You missed your calling.”

An expression of misery flickered across Jax’s face so briefly, Jess wondered if he had actually seen it, but before he could ask his brother about it, Jax clamped a hand on his shoulder and started to walk Jess back toward his horse.

“So what brings you out here? Surely not to see my three o’clock show.”

Jess looked at his brother and couldn’t stop thinking about the expression of loss he’d seen. He wondered about those days off his brother had taken lately. He shook his head as if to clear it and said,

“Dad just gave me some interesting news.”

“Can’t read anything past that stern poker face of yourn. Good or bad interesting?”

“Depends on how you look at it.”

Jax arched a brow and waited.

“Tamara’s coming back.”

“Well, shucks! That’s great news and definitely a cause for celebration if I’ve
ever
heard one!” Jax took off his chocolate Stetson and waved it in the air before putting it firmly back on his head and gawking at Jess. “Why do you look like you just found a rattler in your boot? Aren’t you glad?”

“Should I be?”

“Well, sure. You’ve missed her as much as I have.”

“Eighteen years, Jax.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still mad about her leaving.”

“She deserted us, deserted the family, the ranch.”

“She had her life to live.”

But we
needed
her.

Jess wanted to shout the words, but like everything else that bothered him, he bottled up his feelings and just bit his tongue. Not Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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that bottling up his feelings and biting his tongue had ever done a lick of good when he dealt with Jax. Jax lived in his head and his heart, always knew when something bothered him.

Jax put an arm around his shoulder now as they made their way to Clipper. “Besides, we turned out all right without her, didn’t we?”

“I don’t know,” Jess murmured. “Did we?”

“Jess—”

“I’ll be all right. It’s just that I can’t take her coming back as lightly as you.”

“You’ve got to let go of the baggage, Jess. It’s only weighing you down. And you with your stern, uptight ways are the last person in the world who needs extra weight on his shoulders.”

Jess gritted his teeth. “I’m not uptight.”

“Tell that to someone who doesn’t know you.” Jax laughed and slapped his brother on the back. “So when is she arriving?”

“I’m on my way to the airport now to pick her up.”

“Well, shucks, that doesn’t give us much time to prepare, does it?”

“Prepare for what?”

“Our Tamara’s homecoming.”

Jess shook his head then untied Clipper from the post. He put his left foot in the stirrup, and swung up onto and mounted his horse. He looked down at his brother standing beside Clipper with a hand on the animal’s rump. “Don’t do anything elaborate, Jax, if you do anything at all. You do have your duties.”

“And we wouldn’t want her to get the idea that she’s welcome.”

Jess scowled, knowing his disapproval would have little to no effect on his brother. Jax would listen to what he had to say, then go out and do what he wanted to. It had always been this way between them. Hell, Jax did the same thing with their dad. He’d listen to the old man’s sage advice, and what he didn’t agree with, he’d just ignore or toss out and use what was left over.

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Jess supposed this way the best way to be in order to get along in life stress-free, not worrying about the consequences of your actions or what people thought of you, or what you did in life. He didn’t have that luxury, and wouldn’t allow himself the luxury. Too many people counted on him to make the right decisions for his family and the employees of the ranch as a profit-making business.

“Go get ready for your next show.”

Jax snapped to attention and gave Jess a crisp salute. “Aye-aye, sir!”

Jess chuckled and kicked Clipper into gear. He took off toward the ranch proper.

He needed to retrieve his truck and get to the airport before Tamara’s flight landed. He didn’t want to keep her waiting, although the idea of picking her up on Clipper held a twisted and vicious sort of appeal for him. He could just imagine the look on her face, and could feel her sliding behind him on his mount, having to cling to him for purchase.

He wondered how long it had been since she’d been riding, how long since she’d had a big, powerful beast like Clipper between her legs.

Jess pulled up on the reins and brought Clipper to an abrupt halt.

He tried to gather himself. Perspiration dotted his upper lip and forehead, and he was near panting at the thought of Tamara leaning against him. He imagined her arms wrapped around his waist, palms sliding up to his chest as Clipper bore their weight and galloped through the outermost forests and acres of The Double R.

He took several deep breaths and closed his eyes against the vision. The idea of sharing Tamara’s backside with Clipper was enough to breathe life into his green-eyed monster and make Jess hard as a steel rod.

Where all this horniness and sense of possessiveness came from, Jess couldn’t say. Tamara had been gone eighteen years, more than enough time for him to have gotten over any residual puppy love he’d Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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fostered for her as a kid, especially considering that they had never had a romantic relationship what with him being nine and Tamara being over eighteen when she’d left. Talk about jailbait. The authorities would have put her not in jail, but
under
it for even thinking about him in that way. But as the years past it didn’t stop
him
from thinking of Tamara
in that way.
In fact, the more time went by, the more he wanted her.

Other boys had had
Playboy
and
Penthouse
growing up. Jess had had recollections and photos of Tamara. Maybe if he hadn’t obsessed over his memories and pictures of her pretty much from the moment she’d left until now he wouldn’t be working himself up into such a frigging lather.

He remembered the first and only time he had seen her naked breasts.

Even back then she’d been a walking wet dream, curvy and lush, her skin a flawless, smooth caramel-brown that glimmered beneath the dim lighting in the barn.

He’d never seen naked breasts before then, but couldn’t imagine any other woman’s breasts being as perfect as Tamara Carpenter’s.

Even at his tender years, Jess wondered what it would be like to touch them, taste them. In fact, he had gotten his first ever erection lying prone among the earthy scents of hay and horses dreaming about nestling his face against them.

Jess had gasped as he watched Noah Frost, the ranch’s only black wrangler, tenderly kiss Tamara’s breasts. He’d snickered with Jax, and thought the whole display just generally icky, but something deep down, below the childish fun and games stirred to life inside him.

Tamara belonged to him and Jax—always had, always would.

By the time Bailey burst into the barn with steam coming out of his ears and the dust had settled completely, Noah had been fired and Tamara had been grounded for the rest of that summer before her final embittered departure to New York.

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Twin Cowboys for Tamara

17

Even through his own distress, Jess had seen that Tamara had been distraught too, and so distant from everyone she cared about that she didn’t belong to anyone anymore, not even the boys on which she doted from when they’d just gotten out of diapers.