9781631052323ForeverKindofCowboySullivan (6 page)

“Well
if you’re looking to get laid, find another girl. I know of several here who
are into that kind of thing.”

“And
you aren’t?”

She
pulled back her hand and slapped him hard across the cheek. “No, I’m not. Get
lost before I deck your ass.”

He
grabbed her hand and pulled her in, squashing her breasts against his chest. “Like
it rough, do you?”

“The
lady said get lost, buddy.”

Without
glancing over Matt’s shoulder, she knew who stood a few feet away.
Jeremiah.

“Find
your own. This one is mine.”

“She
said
no,
now let her go before I haul your ass outside
for the beating you deserve for manhandling a lady.”

Matt
pushed her back and raised his hands. “No harm done.”

She
finally glanced behind Matt to meet Jeremiah’s gaze. He looked furious. Well,
to hell with him. She had every right to be pissed at him, not him with her.
She hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Jeremiah.”

“Callie,”
he said, his voice turning soft.

Don’t fall for it. He’s not
worth it. He can grovel all he wants, but he was the one who couldn’t even take
the time out to call you and cancel your date before he went off to fuck some cowboy
groupie from the ranch.

“I’m
sorry.”

“You’re
sorry? You should be.”

He held
out his hand. She almost reached for him, but kept her arms across her chest
where she’d folded them the minute Matt let her go.

“Let me
make it up to you.”

“How do
you propose to do that, Jeremiah? I’m not falling for your cowboy charm, good
looks, and easy way with women. You couldn’t even take the time to call me—”

The
band started playing again cutting off her words so she couldn’t even hear
herself think.

“Let’s
go outside,” he said next to her ear so she could hear him. The sensation of
his breath on her neck drove her crazy. Goose bumps broke out on her skin,
zipping down and back up to settle right between her legs.

“Damn
him.”

“What?”

“Nothing.
Fine.
Let’s go outside.”

He
placed his hand at the small of her back as he led her out through the front
door into the cooler night air. “My truck is over there.”

With a
roll of her eyes, she walked toward the big silver dually sitting to the left
of the doors. She wasn’t going to let him off so easy. He’d hurt her even if
there wasn’t anything between them except friendship. Standing her up without
even a phone call was inexcusable in her book.

“What
can I do, Callie?”

“Nothing.”

“There
has to be something, darlin’.”

She
stomped her foot. Yeah, it made her look like a five-year-old, but it let off
some of the anger she’d been holding in since he interrupted her exchange with
Matt. “Don’t you darlin’ me, mister. I’m so pissed at you right now I could
punch you.”

“I
screwed up. I know that now.”

“Now?
It didn’t cross your mind when
you made the date with the chick from the ranch that you had already made a
date with me.”

“Ours
wasn’t a date. We were going out as friends.”

“Whatever,
Jeremiah.
I
considered it a date whether it was between a guy and his girl or two friends.
You fucked up.”

“I
know.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “I realize I shouldn’t have even
made the date with the other girl since I already had plans with you.”

“Why
did you?”

“She was
available.” He shrugged. “I haven’t gotten laid in months.” He raked his
fingers through his hair before putting his hat back on his head. “I don’t
know, Callie.”

“I
didn’t even cross your mind when you made the date with her, huh?”

“At
first no.
I
remembered after she’d already left. I promise, I planned to call you and
cancel, but it slipped my mind.”

“So you
would have rather went out with her than me.”

“I was
guaranteed to get laid with her. I wasn’t with you.”

“I told
you last night I would be up for a one-night stand.”

“True,
but it felt like I would be using you.”

“If sex
is what you want, Jeremiah, I’m game, but I won’t be used. I’m worth more than that.
Every woman is worth more than that even if they don’t think so. Men aren’t on
this planet to get laid every time their dick twitches, but they sure as hell
think so. As for me, you can find someone else to hang out with, do the dirty
deed with or whatever. My value is too high for your bank account, baby. You
don’t have enough money to buy me.”

His
lips twitched with a grin he couldn’t hide. She wanted to smack him.

“I said
I’m sorry. What more can I do to make it up to you?”

“You
know
what,
there isn’t anything you can do. I’m so
over you, it’s not funny. I’m tired of wanting you. I’m tired of loving you
from afar. I’m done.” She spun on her heels to head back into the bar, but
before she got too far, he grabbed her arm and spun her around.

“What
did you say?”

She
jerked her arm out of his hold.
“Nothing.
Fuck off.”
Without a backward glance, she yanked open the door on the bar and strolled
back inside. She planned to get really drunk so she could forget all about
Jeremiah Young.

* * *
*

“That
girl is going to get herself into trouble in there with the rowdy bunch here
tonight.” Jeremiah shook his head as he followed Callie back into the bar.
I’ll just stay to keep an eye on her so she
doesn’t do something stupid like go home with one of those cowboys.
He
headed for a corner booth and slid in behind the table. The waitress rolled her
hips in a come-and-get-me fashion as she walked up to his table to take his
order. “Beer, please.”

“Coming
right up, Jeremiah.”
She leaned in close. “I get off at ten if you want to hook up.”

“No
thanks.”

She
straightened up and huffed loudly as she spun on her heels to head back to the
bar.

Callie
rapped her knuckles on the mahogany to get Peyton’s attention. “Peyton, give me
a shot of tequila and a Corona.”

“Shit.
She’s
drinkin
’ hard from the get-go. I’d better watch
her closely.” He moved in close so he could keep a good eye on her, but also so
he could hear what they were saying. Callie couldn’t see him sitting close from
where he took up a spot a few stools down from her.

Peyton’s
eyebrow shot up.
“
Patrón
?”

“That’ll
do.”

“Coming
right up.”

Peyton
moved down the bar and leaned in toward her friend Mandy. “Hey, keep an eye on
her, would you? Make friends. She could use one, I think.”

“Sure,”
Mandy replied, grabbing her beer and moving closer. “Hey. I’m Mandy. I’m a good
friend of Peyton’s. You look like you could use a friend.”

“If you
want to get stinking drunk with me, then I’ll be your best buddy.”

“Sounds
like a plan to me. I hate drinking alone.”

“Name’s
Callie.”

“Nice
to meet you.
Who are you trying to forget tonight?”

“One of
those pain
in the ass Young brothers.”

Jeremiah’s
heart thumped in his chest. Was she trying to forget him? He hoped she wasn’t
so tied up in him he’d hurt her. He didn’t want to do that to her.

“Sounds
like you and I will be best friends. I could get used to forgetting one
myself.”

Peyton
slid the drink toward her. “I’m shooting tequila.
You with
me?”

“You
got it, babe.” Mandy nodded for Peyton to hand her one too as Callie waited for
her so they could down the potent liquid together.

The
minute they both had a shot glass in their hands, they sprinkled salt on the
back of their fist, downed the shot with toss of their heads, quickly bit into
the lime wedge on the Corona bottle,
then
downed a
swallow of the beer. “Oh my God, that’s nasty.”

“
You going
again?”

“Hell
yeah!”
Mandy’s eyes narrowed as she glanced behind Callie and locked gazes with him.

He
wondered which of his brothers she wanted to forget. Obviously she had it bad for
one of them and wasn’t getting the attention she wanted. Mandy seemed like a
nice girl from what he knew about her. Maybe he could help her out a little if
he knew which brother caught her interest. Right now he had to keep an eye on
Callie though. At the rate she was going, she’d be shit-faced inside of fifteen
minutes.

For the
next few hours, he watched her closely as she downed shot after shot of tequila
with the Corona shooter. The two women got giggly, laughing at everything. She
was kind of cute when she got like this, he had to admit.

Then
she started inviting men to do body shots. He growled low in his throat at each
one in turn as they approached. They didn’t heed his warning look and there
wasn’t much he could do really. She wasn’t his girlfriend. At this point she
wasn’t even his friend according to her, but he still watched out for her.

The men
would lick the salt off her neck and then shoot the tequila. His stomach
knotted with each jerk who took a shot at her.

Unable
to take anymore, he finally grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. “What
the hell do you think you’re doing? These men are all over you.”

She
just shot back with, “This is my party and I’ll do body shots if I want to. You
didn’t want what I offered, well maybe one of these other guys does.”

He
didn’t reply to her shot across the bow. She was pretty drunk and it wouldn’t
do much good to argue with her.
Damn her.
Lusting after her wasn’t the hard part, realizing she wanted him too was
difficult for him to fathom. She’d been a friend for so long, it was hard for
him to think of her beyond friendship, but lately he definitely wanted more
from her.
Friends with benefits, maybe.
He could do
something along those lines without a problem.

For
now, he would sit back in the corner he’d taken up residence in after she’d
told him off, and glower at anyone who got too friendly with her. She wasn’t
going to let him get between her and her little pity party
or
whatever it was. She didn’t want him around so he’d watch her from afar making
sure she didn’t get into too much trouble. Yeah, he’d screwed up by forgetting
to call her, but the really screwed up part was after he’d gone out riding with
the guest from the ranch, he didn’t want to be with the woman anymore. When
she’d basically thrown herself at him while they’d stopped to water the horses
at the pool, he’d had to practically push her off him. All he could think about
was Callie, especially after her phone call. How messed up was it to want to be
with her when he had a perfectly willing woman right there?

As soon
as Callie had hung up, he’d taken the woman back to the ranch, stabled the
horses and drove into town. He had a feeling she would go out without him to
The Dusty Boot. Sure enough, he’d found her not long after he’d arrived. He’d
tried to talk some sense into her and get her to forgive him, but no.
Stupid girl.
Didn’t she know he’d do anything for her?

Chapter Five

Sunlight
poured through the curtains of her bedroom, blinding her with its intensity and
making her head feel like it wanted to split wide open.
“Oh
God.
What the hell did I do last night?”

At least I’m not waking up in a
strange motel room with something worse like a guy I don’t know or maybe even
worse, a guy I do know…unless it happened to be Jeremiah. I would hope to have
remembered sleeping with him.

Her
mouth felt like cotton dried up every bit of saliva she had. She remembered
shooting tequila with some women she knew from town who seemed to be hell-bent
on forgetting a man or two. Peyton’s friend Mandy had been there. They’d become
fast friends over several shots of tequila. It seemed they both wanted to
forget a Young brother. Mandy had her sights set on one of them and kept
getting the cold shoulder. Callie, well she knew what hell she was going
through without regard to Jeremiah.
The asshole.

Rolling
over, she let a moan escape as her stomach revolted against the movement. She
jumped up from her bed and rushed for the bathroom only to hug the toilet as
dry heaves wracked her body.
Jesus,
please let me die right here. I promise
,
I’ll be good
in heaven. I can’t handle this.

Her cell
phone jingled on her nightstand in the other room, but there was no way in hell
she would be able to answer it hugging the commode.

Her
father grabbed the phone. “Hello? Oh hi, Jeremiah. No, she’s not up to talking
right now.”

“I
don’t want to talk to that asshole. Tell him to bug off.”

“She’s
hugging the toilet at the moment.”

“Fuck
him!” She heaved again, coughing like her lungs would burst from her chest.
They burned like they were on fire as her stomach rebelled against any thoughts
of contents.

“I’ll
tell her to call you when she’s feeling better.”

“I’m
not calling him. He can go to hell.”

“All
right.
Talk
to you later then. Bye.”

“Why
didn’t you tell him to go to hell?”

“Because
we don’t talk like that in this house, especially on Sunday.”

“Sorry,
but he deserves it.”

Her
father placed a cool washcloth on her head. “I’m sure he does.”

“Oh
lordy
, that feels like heaven.”

“How
did you get home? Your car isn’t in the drive.”

“I took
a cab, I guess.”

“Got a
bit drunk?”

“Yeah,
just a little. Mandy is my new best friend.”

“Mandy?”

“Yeah,
she’s a friend of the bartender who is married to one of the Young boys. Mandy
is her friend, but she’s my new best friend too. We were doing shots of
tequila.”

“Oh,
boy.”

“With
beer shooters.”

“No
wonder you’re sick. I’ll get you some Alka-Seltzer. I’m sure I have some in my
bathroom.”

“I love
you, Dad.”

“I’m
sure you do, honey. I’ve been where you are a few times in my life so I know
what it feels like to be hung over.” Her dad disappeared out the door, but was
back in a few minutes with a glass of water with something fizzing in it. “This
will either cure what ails you or make you throw up.”

“I’m
already throwing up.”

“It’ll
help calm your stomach, sweetie. Trust me.”

With a
dubious glance at her father, she took the glass and sipped at the fizzling
liquid.

“Shoot
it.”

She
made a face, plugged her nose and swallowed the entire glass in a matter of a
few gulps. “Good God, that’s nasty.” Her stomach heaved a few times, but
nothing came up as she rested her forehead on the cool porcelain. She’d never
leave the bathroom again.

Her
father took her hand to bring her to her feet. “Now up you go.”

“I
can’t.”

“Sure
you can. You need some ibuprofen and a few more hours of sleep. You’ll be good
as new.” He helped her to her feet and slowly walked her to her bed. “Lie
down.”

Once he
placed the cool cloth over her eyes and she’d taken the ibuprofen, he told her
to sleep. He’d hold off the hoards of admirers until she felt better. She
wasn’t sure what the hell he meant, but right now she didn’t care. Her head
hurt, her stomach felt a little better for now, and she wanted to close her
gritty eyelids to rest. A little sleep would do her wonders.

Several
hours later, she groaned as she rolled over in her bed to the chirping of her
cell phone indicating she had a text message. When she picked up the phone so
she could press the button, her eyes widened to see twenty-five messages that
weren’t all from the same guy. “What the hell?”

“Apparently
you were pretty free last night with your phone number and address. I’ve had at
least ten men here today wanting to talk to you while you slept. Your phone has
been chirping like a bird in heat for the last few hours.”

“Shit.”

“
Callinda
.”

“Sorry,
Dad.
I wish
I could remember what I did.”

“You
might ask Peyton since she was probably one of the few people there who weren’t
drunk last night.”

“But
that would mean going out to the Young ranch. I don’t have her number.”

“I
still think you should find out before your popularity gets my lawn messed up
with the cars and trucks going across it.”

“Maybe
Mandy will remember. I think I have her number.” She pushed her hand into her
jeans pocket only to come out with a wad of papers. “What the heck is this?”
She spread them on her bed before opening one to find a guy’s name and number.
“Holy crap!”
She opened two more. “These are all phone
numbers.”

“You’ve
become one very popular young lady.”

“I need
to call Mandy.” She grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand and flipped
through the numbers until she found what she was looking for. After she pushed
the button to call Mandy, she waited until her new friend picked up with a
groggy
reply. “Mandy?”

“Yeah.
Who is this?”

“Callie.”

“Oh,
hey, sister in crime.
How are you feeling today?”

“Better
right now after my dad plied me with home remedies for hangovers, but I still
need to get some food in my stomach.”

“Don’t
mention food. I’m so sick my eyes are crossed.”

“Listen,
I need you to tell me what the heck happened last night.”

“Why?
You don’t remember?”

“No. My
phone is about to blow up from text messages, my dad said there have been at
least ten guys at my door today, and I have a pocket full of phone numbers.”

“I tell
you
what,
let me rouse myself out of bed to get a
shower. I’ll meet you at Anne’s diner for some coffee and food. We’ll talk,
because honey, you need to be better prepared. You made a lot of friends last
night.”

“Crap.
Okay. I’ll meet you there in half an hour.”

“Sounds
good.
See
you in a few. Oh, and you’re
gonna
love what you said
to Jeremiah when he tried to break up your little party.”

With a
swipe of the button, she hung up with Mandy as she tipped her head back on her
shoulders, wondering what kind of mess she’d gotten herself into this time.

When
she walked into the diner a half an hour later, she kept her sunglasses on and
took a table in the back. She didn’t want anyone to see her in case she was
recognized from her escapades at The Dusty Boot last night.

Anne
moved to her table and asked, “Coffee?”

“Definitely,
two cups. I’m meeting someone in a few minutes. I think she’ll want some too.”

“
Callinda
?”

“
Shh
.” She put up her hand to shush Anne. “I don’t want
anyone to see me.”

“Why?
You usually come in here every Sunday with your dad anyway. Most people would
expect you to be here.” She tapped her fingernail on the table. “Where is your
father, by the way?” She tilted her head to the side. “And why are you wearing
those dark glasses?”

“I’m
hung over. My head is beginning to pound again so please keep your voice down.”

“Hung
over from what? Did you party too hard?”

“You
could say that.”

Mandy
came through the door and Callie waved her over to the booth she’d secured.

“The
two of you must have really got into trouble last night,” Anne said as she
poured the second cup of coffee for Mandy.

“You
are a saint, Anne.”

“Just
being me.”

Mandy
sipped the strong brew while she cradled the cup between her hands. “Thank you,
God. You have no idea how much I needed this.”

“I’ve
been there a few times myself, girls. I know how it feels. What you need is
some breakfast.”

“But you
don’t serve breakfast this late in the day,” Mandy said.

“I’ll
whip something up for you two. Be right back.”

“She’s
such a great lady.” Mandy sipped the coffee again before she braced her elbows
on the table. “So, what do you remember?”

“Not a
damned thing.”

“From
what point on?”

She
slowly lowered her sunglasses,
then
laid them on the
table. “Not much after my argument with Jeremiah outside.”

“He
watched you all night, you know.”

“He
did?”

Mandy
nodded, sipping the coffee. “He sat in the corner, but kept an eagle eye on you
even though you had every single man watching you. You were dancing on top of
the bar.”

“Oh,
hell.”

“Yes,
ma’am.
You
took off that clingy little blouse you had on and tucked your tank top into
your bra. When the guys started lining up to do belly shots off you, he
growled.”

“Growled?”

“Yep,
but it didn’t stop the guys from licking the salt from your neck before they
took the shots. You even let one guy do one from between your boobs.”

“Oh,
God.
I’m so
screwed.”

“Honey,
you are one of the most popular women in this town right now. You shouldn’t
have any problems getting a date for a long time to come.”

She
pushed her hair off her forehead. “But Mandy, that’s not me. It was the
alcohol.”

“Live
it up while you’ve got it, babe. Jeremiah can wait.”

“You
said something about me telling him off when he tried to stop my party?”

“Oh,
yeah.”
Mandy
laughed before she groaned as she rubbed her temples for a second. “God, my
head is killing me.”

Callie
laid a hand on Mandy’s arm.
“Alka-Seltzer and ibuprofen.
Does wonders.”

The
look Mandy gave her said she wished she could curl into a ball and just die.
“Your dad’s recipe?”

“Worked
for me.
I
feel okay now. Not perfect, but okay.” Callie tapped her fingernail on the
table.
“So spill.
Tell me what I said to Jeremiah.”

“What’s
going on with you two anyway?”

“Nothing.”

With
her head tilted to the side like she didn’t believe her, Mandy said, “Nothing
my ass. The man doesn’t growl, for God’s sake, when some guy wants to do body
shots from between your boobs without a reason.”

Callie
smiled.
Jeremiah growled?
“So tell
me. What did I say?”

“You
said, ‘
This
is my party and I’ll do body shots if I
want to. You didn’t want what I offered, well maybe one of these other guys
does.’”

“What
did he say?”

“He
didn’t say anything, just moved back to his corner and watched you for the rest
of the night, although he did make sure you got home. I’m pretty sure he drove
you there himself. The last I saw you, he was putting you in the front of his
truck. Since you made it home okay, I assume he took you there.”

“He
took me home?”

“Yeah.
You were waving to all the
other men who saw you outside, but he was the one who poured you into his
vehicle to make sure you got home all right and didn’t get taken advantage of
in your drunken state.”