Cowboy Take Me Away (12 page)

“Deal.” He needed a break from thinking about Hope. “Although she's coming over next Saturday night and I need you to promise to stay the hell away from her.”

“You invited her over for poker? With Chloe?”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “There something wrong with that?”

“Hell, I'd be worried about our darling sister-in-law giving her a grilling, not my inappropriate flirting. Chloe's the one I'd be keeping her away from.”

“Yeah? Well, I'll take my chances with Chloe. You?” Chase shook his head. “No fucking way. They'll get along just fine. Anyway, how did you get on in Houston?”

“Good.” Nate grunted as he flicked the TV on, surfing through a few channels and leaving it on a football game. “Seems like you're right on trend about your whole organic obsession. I reckon we can get a distribution deal directly with a handful of upmarket butcheries and restaurants. Start relatively small and build from there.”

“Music to my ears.”

“Mine too. So long as it starts to turn a decent profit.” Nate sighed. “More work for me, but diversity is good. It'll be nice to focus on something other than property acquisitions and oil.”

“So you starting to think that my actual ranching might be as lucrative as your precious oil one day?” Chase was only kidding, there was no way he could make their cattle as productive as their oil drilling, but the harder he worked to preserve and expand their herds, the less likely Nate would be to want to move away from traditional ranching.

“Your cattle will always have a place here. Ryder's bulls? Now that's something I'm not convinced about yet.”

“Don't even bring it up,” Chase said. Ever since their little brother had stopped riding rodeo and started breeding bulls, he'd become like a fierce mama bear over them. Whoever said rodeo bulls weren't treated well enough hadn't met Ryder yet. “You reckon he's got a few winners?”

Nate shrugged. “I reckon we underestimate Ryder way too often. He'll knock one out of the park pretty soon, just you wait and see.”

“You want to head out tonight?” Chase asked, feeling like a caged lion ready to pace outside of his cage. “I could do with a few stronger drinks.”

“Sorry, I'm beat,” Nate said, kicking back and putting his feet up. “Why don't we crack a bottle of Wild Turkey? That strong enough for you? Should go nice with the stew I've got ready for us.”

They both laughed. It was kind of a King tradition that everything they ate went well with Wild Turkey or Jack Daniel's.

Chase finished his beer and went to retrieve the whiskey. “Yeah, sure thing. I'll head out later and see Tommy and Carter.” He'd flicked his friends a text earlier in the day that he'd try to make it out for at least one beer, shoot a few games of pool. “How's that stew coming along anyway?”

“It was waiting with a note to heat for fifteen, then eat. Want some now?”

Chase nodded and followed Nate to the kitchen, standing back while his brother gave the stew a final stir then dished it up into two bowls.

“So tell me, brother,” Nate said, taking the tumbler Chase offered him and nodding to the bowl he'd left on the counter. “What're you thinking about the whole child situation? You decide it wasn't such a big deal after all?”

“I hate to say it, but you were right. The kid's pretty cute, and it doesn't matter that she's a mom.”

Nate frowned. “I can hear a
but
coming.”

“She's broke.”

Nate laughed. “She can hardly be broke. Isn't she the heiress to some massive ranch in Canada? Wasn't that why you two lovebirds couldn't make it happen way back when?”

Chase blew out a breath, sipping his drink and leaning back into the sofa. He wasn't really that hungry after all. “Something happened, but she won't go into details. It seems like her family lost the ranch somehow, something to do with her ex-husband maybe? I dunno. What I do know is that she's only just making do.” It was stupid that he was even starting to worry about it, but he was.

Nate slowly sipped his drink, swinging his legs down and sitting up so he was facing Chase. He watched as his brother put down his drink and collected his bowl. “Since when do you care about whether someone has money to their name or not? It's not like any of your good friends are loaded.”

Chase grimaced. “Have you forgotten about Stacey? That gold digger was after one thing and one thing only.” His brother was right, he didn't give a damn about money under normal circumstances—they'd been raised better than that. But with women it was different. When it came to relationships, they had to be careful. All of them.

“I think you're being a bastard comparing her to that girl,” Nate said, raising the bottle and pouring them both another nip. It seemed he wasn't that hungry either, although Nate had at least taken a few mouthfuls. “This is Hope you're talking about. She has her own career, and besides, you know her. She's not some gold digger, Chase. You know I'm always skeptical, but not about her.”

Chase sighed. “I know. But it's like as soon as she told me about losing the ranch I became wary. Maybe not at the time because she had me kinda distracted, but the more I think about it? Fuck, I don't know.” He shook his head. “We knew we could trust each other in college because of our backgrounds, that we weren't using each other for money or anything else. But then I got to thinking about how she's pushing me away, and that maybe it's some weird reverse psych bullshit…”

“I'd go back to worrying about her being a mom,” Nate said with a chuckle. “Now that was stupid, but not nearly as stupid as worrying about her not having money or her trying to dupe you. So what if she's going through a rough patch right now? She'll be earning great money in her new job and she'll be back on her feet before you know it. It's not like she's some no-hoper or con artist or anything. She's a highly skilled veterinarian with a great career ahead of her.”

Chase knew Nate was right. Now that he'd actually said his thoughts out loud they did sound stupid—insanely douchebag-paranoid kind of stupid. Maybe he was just overthinking the whole thing.

“I think I'm gonna head out. Clear my head a bit and catch up with the guys.”

Nate reached for the remote. “I'd join you if I wasn't so tired. Have fun.”

Chase knocked back the rest of his drink and left his glass and unfinished dinner in the sink on the way past, heading for the stairs to pull on a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he fished it out, expecting it to be Tommy wondering where the hell he was. He glanced at the screen.
Wrong.
It was Ryder
.
He answered at the same time as he dropped to the top step to sit. “Hey.”

“You guys up?”

Chase glanced at his watch. “It's not even ten yet. Of course we're up.”

“You might want to sit down.”

“Who died?” Chase's heart starting racing and he jumped up and ran down the stairs. “Is it Granddad? Has something happened?” He hadn't visited the hospital today and …

“It's Chloe.”

Chase slowed down, dropping into a chair. Nate hadn't moved, but he did take his feet off the coffee table and lean forward when Chase gestured at him.

“It's Ryder,” Chase told Nate in a low voice, hand over his phone. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Do I fucking sound okay?” Ryder hissed, his voice low like he didn't want anyone to hear him.

Chase hit speaker and put his phone on the table, exchanging looks with Nate.

“She's pregnant,” Ryder said in a low voice. “I'm gonna be a dad.”

Chase glanced back up at Nate and burst out laughing at the same time as Nate's face broke out in a grin. “Damn, Ryder. I thought you were about to tell me she'd been in a car crash or something.”

“Don't sound so terrified, brother,” Nate called out. “Congrats.”

“Yeah, awesome news,” Chase said, thrilled for his little brother.

“Did you guys hear me? I'm going to be a dad. I can't be a dad,” Ryder muttered, sounding like he was about to tear his own hair out. “I mean, I…”

“You're scared, that's all. But you're gonna be a great dad,” Nate said. “Calm the fuck down and breathe.”

Chase scooped up his phone, rising to reach for the whiskey bottle. “You want to come over and celebrate?”

“Chloe's in the bathroom. I gotta go,” Ryder said. “She'll kill me if she finds out I've ruined the surprise. She wants to tell you guys in a couple of weeks once we've had the first ultrasound.”

Chase and Nate laughed again. “If anyone would make a great dad it'd be you. You and Chloe will be awesome. And don't worry, we won't say a thing.”

“I know, it's just…” Ryder's voice trailed off. “I'm shit scared, that's all.”

Before Chase had time to answer, Ryder clicked off and he was left staring at a black screen. When he did glance up, Nate was still grinning.

“You know I'm gonna be the favorite uncle, right?”

Chase knocked back his shot and slammed the glass down on the table in front of him. “Oh, it's on,
brother
. There's only going to be one favorite, and that'll be me.”

They both laughed and Chase got up and headed for the sofa, crashing into his favorite worn leather one. Screw going out, he couldn't be bothered making the effort, not tonight. He sent Tommy a text that said he'd catch them next time.

“Make it something good. I need the distraction,” he muttered.

“Maybe we should go out,” Nate suggested.

“Nah. I'm good here.”

Chase had no idea what was going on, how their baby brother had ended up married with a baby on the way, but he was happy for him. Chloe was a great girl and they deserved to be happy. But a dad? It sure as hell wasn't something he was ready for, not anytime soon.

The idea that Hope had a child was enough for him to deal with.

 

Chapter 7

“Stop staring at me.”

“I can't.”

Hope burst out laughing. “If you don't I'll give you a black eye.”

He came closer, his voice lower this time. “I don't believe you.”

She held up her fist and grinned. “I might.” He'd been watching her too long, staring at her from the other side of the bar, and she wanted to wipe the all-women-love-me look off his face.

“How about I buy you a drink?”

“I'm not going home with you.”

She received a wink in reply, but instead of giving him what he wanted she made a sad face and leaned over to pat his arm. “Poor baby. Haven't you ever had a girl say no to you before?”

“No,” he replied, pulling out his wallet.

“I'll have a drink with you if we buy our own,” she finally said, not immune to how handsome the guy was even if she had no intention of sleeping with him. She'd seen him around, and watched him take home way too many girls, and she wasn't going to become a notch in his belt.

“Darlin', I think you should give me a chance.”

She refused to be seduced by his silky drawl. “Darlin'”—imitating him with a fake southern drawl—“this is me giving you a chance.”

He burst out laughing, pushing away from the bar and walking back a few steps. Hope wondered if she'd been too rude, too standoffish, but he spun around, then walked straight back toward her and held out his hand.

“Let's start over,” he said, a glint in his eye telling her he could be a hell of a lot of fun. “I'm Chase King. Mind if I sit here?”

She took his hand and shook it. “Hope,” she replied. “And sure, pull up a chair.”

They smiled at each other, ordered their drinks, and started talking. Chase had her laughing so hard within minutes that her sides felt like they were going to split.

“You do know that I'm still not going to sleep with you, right?”

He grinned. “You know what? I actually don't care.” Chase winked. “I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to rip your clothes off, but you're fun to hang out with. So if drinking and talking is all I get, so be it.”

Hope sipped her drink, trying to think of something witty to say and failing. He was dangerous, and saying no to him wasn't easy, but she'd already had more fun tonight than she'd had all semester.

“You like guitar?” he asked, one eyebrow arched.

“Maybe. Why?”

He knocked back the rest of his drink, winked, then headed toward the stage. The band was taking a break and his grin was wicked when he glanced back at her. She followed, watching him, wondering what the hell he was about to do.

“I'm gonna play guitar and sing you a song.”

She shook her head. “No way. Get back down here.”

“Darlin', when I decide something, there ain't no one who can change my mind.”

*   *   *

“Hey, gorgeous.”

Hope glanced up, memories interrupted as the man she was thinking about appeared in front of her. She'd once thought she was immune to Chase's charm, but now she knew that was a lie. His big frame was braced against the entrance to the barn, shoulder pushed into the doorjamb, arms folded firmly across his chest. Somehow he managed to look casual as hell, like he didn't have a care in the world, while at the same time looking alpha enough that she almost wanted to run in the other direction. It was like she was a flight animal trying to tango with a predator, her instincts all messed up.

“Hey, Chase.”

Hope held her head high as she strode toward him, meeting his gaze head on. She wasn't prey, she was just as much the predator as he was. Or at least that's what she needed to tell herself. She was a professional woman here to complete a job. So what if her current client happened to be a hot-as-hell guy from her past? She gulped. Trouble was, he wasn't just any guy, he was Chase fricking King.