The band geared up with Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman."
"Seems fitting," Julie said, as they walked up to the girls on the arena floor.
Annie and Lizzy each grabbed one of her hands and one of Griffin's and began to wiggle and dance, moving as though they had no bones in their little bodies and giggling all the while. Julie stood to one side and moved with the beat of the music but spent more time laughing at the girls than she did actually dancing.
When the song ended and the band went right into an oldie, "I Can't Stop Loving You," Lizzy drug Annie off to see her two cousins, Tim and Richie.
"We got to show them your lucky streak," she said.
"But Jane didn't see it yet and she didn't say it was lucky," Annie said.
"Jane?" Julie looked at Griffin.
"That would be my cousin's new wife. She and Lizzy hit it off from the beginning. Want to dance?"
She took a step forward and put her arm on his shoulder. He tucked her hand inside his and drew her closer. He was so tall that she could lay her head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat. She shut her eyes and tried to let the music soothe her nerves but it was a useless endeavor. Griffin threw off an aura that surrounded her with wanton desire and even though she hadn't danced in years she wanted something more. Griffin Luckadeau could dance even better than he could ride a bull. His hand on her back would leave a burn mark but waltzing around the arena was worth it.
The singer talked about living her life in dreams of yesterday. Griffin was guilty of doing that, at least until he met Julie. Now he wasn't so sure where his dreams were. She had to have a hidden agenda for moving to Saint Jo. Anything else was too much coincidence, and he did not believe in fate. He'd just have to enjoy the dances and then be very, very careful.
"Where are the girls? Are they all right?" she asked, but didn't look up at him for fear he'd see the color in her cheeks and know it had nothing to do with the warm summer Texas wind.
"Lizzy knows her boundaries and believe me, she's finding out what happens when she goes past them. Besides, I can see them over there talking to my cousin's kids."
His voice was soft and low, almost sexy. His breath kissed that soft spot on her neck and it took all her willpower to not think about sex—or the lack of it! She wouldn't!
She forced herself to think about the children. Lizzy's cousins were also Annie's. She just hoped Griffin and his family never made the connection. Annie had been hers alone from day one and Julie wasn't ready to share.
A woman tapped Julie on the shoulder. "Hey, can I cut in?"
Julie stepped back and into the arms of a tall, blond cowboy with Luckadeau eyes at the same time a petite brunette started dancing with Griffin.
"Hello, I'm Slade Luckadeau from over in Ringgold. I'm Griffin's cousin. That'd be my wife, Jane, dancing with Griff. Don't remember seeing you around here."
"Just moved to Saint Jo. I'm a schoolteacher there."
Annie tugged on her mother's jean leg. "Momma, I got to go to the bathroom."
"Hi, Miss Lizzy," Slade said.
"I'm Annie. I got to pee real bad, Momma."
"Excuse me," Julie said and walked away with Annie, leaving Slade with his blue eyes bugged out.
The song ended and Slade pulled Griffin and Jane to the side. "Look over there, Jane. See that redhead with Lizzy?"
"Sure. Who is she?" Jane asked.
"That would be Julie Donavan, Lizzy's new teacher at Saint Jo school," Griffin said.
"That ain't Lizzy," Slade said.
"Of course it is," Jane said.
At that very moment, Lizzy tugged on Jane's hand. "Jane! You got to meet Annie. She's got a streak in her hair like mine and we need for you to tell us if hers is a lucky streak too and she lives in Saint Jo and her momma is my teacher and her name is Julie." She took a deep breath and ran off to play with Tim and Richie again.
Jane cocked her head to one side. "Griff?"
Jane was a small woman, like Julie, and had to look up at him, but that didn't prevent her from demanding answers. For a split second, Griffin imagined Julie in a reverse situation and realized she'd be doing the same thing Jane was.
"It's a complicated story," he said with a sigh.
"Then you'd better start talking," Slade said.
Griffin tried to condense it into one sentence but it took three to cover the whole story. Strange, when he thought about it at home it took him in never-ending circles that had a lot more detail and description. "Apparently Graham had a one-night stand and as you can see, it produced a child. The woman bought the Lassiter property and you can't tell me it's a coinci dence that she's showed up here. She probably found out who we were and is here to try to get half the ranch for that child."
Slade clapped him on the shoulder. "You be careful Griffin. Remember that schoolteacher who had her eye on Beau's ranch? She was all sugar and spice and when push came to shove she just wanted his property. That woman won't know about the Luckadeau pre-nup. She's probably thinkin' she'll wind up with her daughter's half of that ranch."
"That's exactly what I said. Marita got all up in my face about it. Said I should give her a chance. I just can't do it. It was Graham who liked red hair, not me. It was Graham who was the wild child, and I do not think for a minute that her showing up in Saint Jo is fate or a coincidence," Griffin said.
Jane watched Julie walk across the grass with a careful eye. The woman looked harmless and the little girl was a Luckadeau for sure, but the Luckadeau men weren't always smart when it came to women. Slade had sure enough had his stupid moment with that bitch with the two daughters from hell. Then there was the schoolteacher that had almost ruined Beau Luckadeau's life. She and Milli would have to keep a close eye on the new woman. She had to have a reason for moving to Saint Jo, and Milli and Jane were just the women to find it out.
"Don't you go pretendin' to be the good boy and Graham the wild one," Slade punched Griffin on the shoulder. "Want me to give dates and times about when you weren't a good boy? Don't forget we're the same age."
Julie walked up. "Dates and times about what?"
"I'm Jane Luckadeau. This is my husband, Slade. He's one of a gazillion of Griff's cousins. We live over at Ringgold."
Her words were pleasant. Her tone was something else and only another woman could understand. Julie nodded. "I'm pleased to meet you. So there are more Luckadeau men than just Griffin and Graham? I had no idea there was but one Luckadeau in the world until I moved to Saint Jo. Excuse me while I go find Mamie," she said.
The music started and Slade and Jane danced off to the other side of the arena. Griffin reached out and touched her arm before she'd taken two steps. Heat flowed through her and sparks lit up the night like it was the Fourth of July rather than September.
"Might as well dance with me," he said.
"Mercy dance for the old woman?" Julie asked.
"Mercy dance for the bull ridin' loser?" he shot right back.
She melted into his arms and they two-stepped around the arena. Her head against his chest for the second time that night, she finally admitted how easy it would be to give in to her emotions. Griffin was a fine -looking cowboy and dancing with him was next door to heaven. Her thoughts went round and round like a merry-go-round and she got dizzy just trying to make sense of them.
"So tell me how you met my brother," Griffin said.
Something about his tone brought her out of the clouds and down to earth with a thud. How dare he take that high and mighty judgmental tone with her? All the heat she'd been feeling from his proximity boiled into fury.
"I was in the process of a divorce, and I really don't owe you an explanation. I don't give a damn what you think of me. I'm a decent person. I just want it cleared so Lizzy can come to my house and play with Annie."
"So you were married and you still slept with Graham?" Griffin asked.
"I was getting divorced."
"Why'd your husband divorce you?"
"He didn't. I was divorcing him."
"Why?" Griffin asked.
"You're just full of questions, aren't you, cowboy? Where's your wife?"
"Hey, now, that's personal."
"And your questions aren't?" Julie asked
"Touché, honey."
She looked up to find his blue eyes trained on her face. "So the bull rider knows a big word. Don't call me honey. If it's an endearment, you don't have the right. If it's sarcasm, I damn sure don't want to be hearin' it. I'm not a hooker or a whore. I slept with your brother one time. It might have been wrong but it brought me the biggest joy of my life. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have Annie and she is my world, so I do not regret my decision to go to bed with Graham."
Griffin nodded. "Okay. My wife left when Lizzy was tiny. For ten thousand dollars she signed all rights over to me and she's never come back. Her name was Dian. She was nineteen when Lizzy was born and hated the whole wife-slash-mother scene. I paid her to relinquish her rights to Lizzy. It was called a final settlement but in all honesty, she sold the baby to me."
Julie laid her head back on his chest. "My husband, Derrick, was cheating. I caught him and filed for divorce. I had a one-time, one-night fling with a soldier that I let pick me up at a bar. The next week my husband begged for a second chance and I gave it to him. For nine months I thought that my baby belonged to him, never even gave it a second thought. When Annie was born, it was very evident she didn't belong to my husband.
He
divorced
me
that time."
"I bet it
was
pretty damn evident," Griffin chuckled.
Julie changed the subject. She didn't want to remember Graham. She wanted to forget him—but how could she when his duplicate held her in his arms in a slow country dance? "Where did you get that white streak? Slade is so blond."
"All Luckadeaus are blond and blue-eyed. Graham and I got the Luckadeau blue eyes from our father. Momma has the poliosis streak. Her father had it and his mother and on back. It must run, at least in our family, from mother to son to daughter to son. My sister, who is one of the few female cousins in the clan, is blonde. Luckadeaus mostly throw male children so there are lots of us."
"And you are the only black-haired one?"
"Me and Graham, yes ma'am. But Graham is gone now so that just leaves me."
"And Lizzy and Annie," she whispered.
"I'm going to be upfront and honest, lady. I don't believe in fate one damn bit. So if you are here to run DNA and claim part of the ranch for your daughter, then it won't work."
Julie stopped dancing, dropped her arms, and took a step back. "Mr. Luckadeau, I don't want a teaspoon of your dirt. You can bet your sweet ass that I'm not interested in you or anything you've got. Let Lizzy be Annie's friend. They never have to know they are kin. I'd just as soon they didn't. I've given Annie that old fable about everyone having a double somewhere in the world and she believes me. I don't want her to know that Lizzy is her cousin. She's too young to understand."
"They'll find out soon enough. Everyone already thinks they are twins. We might as well be upfront and honest," Griffin said.
Life was a bitch! The one woman he'd found attrac tive and desirable since his wife left him would have to be the very one who'd been to bed with his late brother. He didn't give a damn about the differences in their ages. What ate at him was playing second, again, to his brother—Graham, the flamboyant Luckadeau who drew women to him like flies on honey. Griffin, the quiet, reserved brother. Graham, with the devil-may-care attitude. Griffin, the responsible one who was always there to get him out of trouble.
That plus the fact that she had a hidden agenda made them as compatible as a rattlesnake and a field mouse. He had no doubt she was the snake and waiting until he poked his head out of the tree stump to strike. He'd have to be very careful with his heart and his ranch.
"May I cut in?" A tall blond cowboy tapped Griffin on the shoulder.
Julie found herself in the arms of yet another Luckadeau. She could spot them now and they were everywhere. Blond, tall, sexy, broad-chested, with big biceps, nice smiles, and a dent in their chins. Just like Griffin, only he had dark hair with a sexy white streak instead of a head full of blond hair. She wondered if there was a single ugly duckling sitting in the family tree.
"I'm Beau, Griffin's cousin. Live up by Ardmore, Oklahoma on the Bar M. My wife is Milli. Daughter is Katy Scarlett. She'd be that little blonde out there dancing with Lizzy. You that other little dark-haired girl's momma?"
"I am that. Her name is Annie."
"When did you and Griffin know each other?"
"Didn't until a week ago. I'm a schoolteacher here in Saint Jo."
"You got to be kiddin'," Beau said.
"About being a teacher or not ever knowing Griffin?"
"Griffin."
The song ended and a short, dark-haired, dark-eyed Mexican beauty grabbed Beau's arm. "I'm Milli, Beau's wife. So, you are a schoolteacher?"
"That's right. It's nice meeting you. If you'll excuse me I'm going to go buy a beer. Dancing works up a thirst, doesn't it?" She disappeared before Milli could say anything more. One Luckadeau woman was enough for one night and two was way too many.