9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan (8 page)

“Yes, but that’s not important. If you don’t let me go in
five seconds, you’re going to lose a couple of teeth.”

“I like my women feisty.”

The man spun her around in his arms and tried to kiss her.
She jammed her hand under his chin, gnashing
his
teeth together in a grind just as Jason landed a punch to the side. The man let
her go as he grabbed his mouth and side simultaneously.

“Fuck!”

She backed up as the man rushed Jason, taking them both to
the floor. Fortunately for Jason, the man apparen
tly
was already half drunk so he stumbled as they went down with Jason ending up on
top. Jason swung, punching the man in the jaw. The man threw a punch, hitting
Jason in the eye.

“Stop it!” She pulled on Jason’s arm, trying to stop the
brawl.
“Stop.”
When
they two men continued to throw punches at each other, she
hollered for Dan and the bouncer.

The two men pulled Jason and the man apart, allowing them
to rise from the floor.
“Out.
Both of you,” Dan told
them. “I don’t want this kind of shit in my bar.”

“But I was helping Peyton,” Jason said, wiping the blood
from his mouth.

“I can take care of myself, you dumbass.”

“You didn’t seem to be able to handle him very well,
darlin’.”

“
Don’t
darlin’ me. I had it
under control whether you want to believe it or no
t.”

“You needed me. Admit it.”

“I didn’t need you. I don’t need you. Leave me the fuck
alone!”

Hurt clouded his eyes, but she didn’t care. He needed to
know she could take care of herself. She’d made sure of that after the shit
went down with Charles. He t
ouched his quickly
swelling eye with his fingertips.

“Fine.
Call me whenever you
get over yourself and realize you want to see me again.” He wiped his mouth
with the back of his hand before he turned to weave his way through the crowd
to the door.

“Fight’s
over folks. Have a
drink, dance,
have a good time
, but no more
fighting,” Dan said, pushing her back toward the bar. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“What’s up between you and Jason Young?”

“Not a thing, why?”

“He seemed awful protective of you for some reason. N
ot that he wouldn’t be around any woman getting manhandled,
but I think there’s more than meets the eye between you two.”

“It’s nothing, Dan. He’s was being protective.
Nothing more.”

“Okay, honey, but if you want to talk, let me know. I have
a good ear es
pecially where those Young boys come
into play. Ask Paige.”

“Yeah, see where that got her? She’s pregnant by one of
them with twins.”

He grinned and clamped a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, but
she’s happy as a little pig in shit.”

Rolling her eyes, Peyton g
rinned
back. She’d give him that. Paige was definitely happy with her Young hunk.

After she took her spot behind the bar, she let her
thoughts wander to the triplet who’d taken up residence in her mind for the
last several months.
Damn him
. She glanced across
the bar only to notice a couple of the other Young boys playing pool. Joshua
stood off to one side of the table with the cue in his hands. She couldn’t help
but notice him since he looked just like Jason.
 
Although she could tell the s
ubtle difference between the two enough to tell them apart
even from a distance. Jason carried himself a little differently.
More confident?
She wasn’t sure, but
there were definitely differences.

“Hey, can I get a beer?”

She dragged her thoughts back to t
he
job at hand. She still had several hours to go before she could go home and
lose herself in her fantasies again.

* * * *

Jason banged his hand on the steering wheel as he drove
back toward the ranch.
“Son of a
bitch!”
His hand throbbed from the beating it had taken just a
short bit ago. His eye was almost swollen shut after the guy got a good punch
off, hitting him in the left eye. He touched the swelling tissue and winced.
“Fucker.”

A bag of peas from the kitchen free
zer would do for the swelling although it wouldn’t help his damaged
pride.

“What the hell is up with her anyway? I was trying to
protect her and she went off on me like I was the one who tried manhandling
her.”

He didn’t get women at all. Here he wanted t
o be her savior and she chewed him out for it. Didn’t women
want to be taken care of? Wasn’t that what they were all about?

“I might need to talk to Mom on this one. I’m sure she
could give me some advice on how to handle Peyton.”

He drove through the main
gates
of the ranch, then up to the house. The light in the office glowed in the
darkness so he knew his mother still sat at her desk even though the clock on
the dashboard said ten. She really needed to knock off a little earlier, but
tonight he needed to
ask her advice on the matter of
Peyton Matthews.

As he walked up the main lodge door, it opened and closed
on its own, earning a frown from him. A chill went through him for a second as
he kept walking toward the house. The ghosts around the place kept th
ings lively even though they freaked him out a little
sometimes. The cowboy who tended to hang around the main lodge seemed to be the
most apparent, but there were others. A faint, distant childish giggle caught
his attention for a second before he shook i
t off and
kept moving. He had more important things to do than deal with ghosts tonight.

When he reached the office door, he knocked softly until
his mother spun around in her chair.
“Oh my.
What the heck happened to you, Jason?”

“I got in a fight at the b
ar
trying to protect Peyton.”

His mother got up to head for the kitchen with him trailing
behind like a lost little boy. “Let’s get something to put on that eye before
you lose sight in it completely.” They moved through the double doors into the
kitchen w
here the long cutting tables sat waiting for
the morning meal. Two big walk-in refrigerator/freezers stood off to the left.
His mother moved inside one and grabbed a plastic bag of peas. Once she had
them wrapped in a cloth, she put it on his eye before sh
e leaned back against the counter waiting for him to talk. “So what
happened?”

“Well, I went to the bar after everything was done on the
ranch today. I wanted to talk to her.”

“You seem pretty friendly with her the other night.”

“It’s not a big deal, Mom.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.
We’re just having a
good time.”

“Okay, but I’ve heard that one before from Joel, Jeff, and
most recently Jacob.”

“I’m not falling into the trap of a relationship. That’s
not what this is about. She doesn’t want anything and neither
do I.” He moved the cold sack away from his eye.

She grinned as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“If you say so, Jason.”

“It’s the truth.”

“All right, son. I believe you.” She pushed his hand back
so the frozen peas were on his eye again. “You were wat
ching her while you were at the bar?”

“Well yeah, but just in
between pool games with the other guys.
Not like I was doing
nothing more than watching her as she slung drinks.” He shook his hand as his
mother glanced at the raw knuckles. “She’s really good,
you know?”

“I imagine so. She does it for a living, right?”

“Yeah.
She works there full
time.”

“So what happened?”

“Some guy hit on her when she came around the bar. I
stepped in because he was all over her. The guy rushed me and we went down on
the floo
r. He got in a couple of good punches before
Dan broke it up.”

“What did Peyton say about all this?”

“She got pissed off at me! I was trying to help her.”

“I get the feeling she’s a very independent woman, Jason.
She probably thought she could handle the g
uy.”

“That’s what she said!” He threw up his hands. “I’ll never
understand women.”

His mother laughed. “Maybe you should be having this
conversation with your father.”

“But how am I supposed to know how to handle her, Mom?”

“Don’t handle her, Jason. She
doesn’t
want you to.”

“I don’t understand.”

“She wants someone to have a good time with.
Nothing serious.
Am I right?”

“Yeah, that’s what she said.”

“Then be the guy she wants. Don’t force it. If you two are
meant to be, then you will be.”

“I don’t want a
permanent
relationship, Mom. I’m not ready to settle down.”

“Then don’t worry about what you and Peyton have. If a good
time is all you want, then that’s what you should have, but I think there is a
little more there than either of you want to admit. It’ll
happen in time.”

He sighed as he put the bag on his eye. “This stuff is so
complicated.”

“Honey, if it wasn’t, everyone would be doing it all the
time.”

“It was so much easier when I just took my pleasure from
the whole thing and moved on. This stuff abou
t giving
a shit is for the birds.”

“So you do care?”

“Maybe a little.
I mean she’s a nice
girl. She’s got her insecurities like any other woman, but I like to see her
smile.” He shook his head and glanced out the window. “Did you know she has a
lot of pier
cings?”

“Like what?”

“A tongue ring, her
ears, and her belly button.
She also has a tattoo on her breast for her mother who
died of breast cancer.”

“Oh?” Nina smiled.

Shit.
“I mean I saw it when
she had her halter top on tonight at the bar.”

She laughed. “
Honey, I know you
two were together the other night. You couldn’t get away from the bonfire fast
enough. I think I heard the bedsprings from your house clear over here.”

“Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry
for.
I’m glad you’ve found someone you connect with.”

“D
on’t be planning a
weddin
’.” A sneaky little
grin spread across her mouth. “And no matchmaker stuff. I’ve seen your work
with my brothers.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“No, just told Joel to stay away from Mesa, which he turned
around to do the opposite. Jeff
did the same thing
with Terri. I’m sure you had a hand in Paige and Jacob too.”

She shook her head innocently. “I didn’t have a thing to do
with Jacob and Paige. They found their way together without my help.”

“But you don’t deny interfering in meddling in
the other two’s relationships.”

“Not at all.
Those kids were meant
to be together. You have to admit, they are much happier now that they’ve found
love.”