Looking For Trouble (6 page)

Jess had made a lot of mistakes tonight, and
the wig had only been a minor one. The others could have lasting
repercussions, if she wasn't careful...she couldn't afford to be
out of work, and if her ankle was broken, that's exactly what was
going to happen. People weren't going to hire Hopalong Cassidy to
sing at their events, or bars...the big ones anyway. She could
probably get some smaller gigs, but those weren't enough to pay the
bills and the band too.

Tonight she'd not only let down herself by
getting hurt, she'd hurt everyone in her band, because if she
couldn't perform, they didn't get paid. They'd have to find gigs
with other bands. Even though they were all loyal to her, they had
bills too, and she'd lose them to other bands.

Wade walked back in the room, then picked
her up again then carried her through the bunkhouse, and out the
front door to his pick-up. After he put her on the seat, he
stretched the seatbelt over her and buckled her in. She sucked in a
sharp breath when his arm brushed over her breast and her nipple
immediately peaked.

He looked up at her with concern and asked,
"Did I hurt you?"

His cologne wafted up to her nostrils and
teased her, and she inhaled sharply against the familiar pleasure
that shot through her, overpowering the pain in her ankle. Jess
straightened in the seat, then told him in a shaky voice, "No--I'm
fine, thanks," even though she wasn't, her ankle felt like it was
on fire and being squeezed by a boa constrictor in her boot.

After studying her for a second, he pulled
back and shut the door, then walked around and hopped into the
driver's seat. Wade cranked the truck, then drove through an open
gate, then right up to the tent, where he put the truck in park,
but left it running. "I'll be right back," he told her then slid
out of the truck and shut his door.

Jess looked up a second later, and Jazzie
was flying out of the tent and running toward the truck, with Wade
hot on her heels. She flung open the door and yelled, "What the
hell happened, Jess? Oh, my
god
, do you think it's broken?"
she asked her voice trembling with tears, then she put her hand to
Jess's cheek and asked, "Are you okay, sugar?"

Jess chuckled, in spite of the throbbing in
her ankle, and answered her friend's rapid fire questions in order,
"My boot caught in a hole and I fell, yes, it's probably broken,
but I'll be fine. Wade is taking me to the hospital."

"I was worried, I didn't know where you'd
gotten off to, I've been filling in, but I'm not
you
, that's
for sure," she said with a laugh, then added looking her over from
head to toe, "If you're sure you're okay, I'll finish the gig, so
we don't lose the money, then head back to the hotel to take care
of Angel, until you get back."

"Thanks, Jazz," she said then leaned down to
kiss her cheek. "Knock 'em dead...and you
are
as good as me,
they'll never know the difference," she told her with a pained
grin.

Her friend might be a country musician, but
you'd never know it by looking at Jazzie. She dressed in spandex
jewel tone dresses that accentuated her curves and skyscraper high
heels, instead of cowboy boots, for every performance. Her
sophistication made her look like she belonged on the stage at the
Met, instead of playing fiddle for a country band. And she almost
had been...if she'd taken the scholarship to Julliard instead of
teaming up with Jess to form this band. Her parents hadn't been
happy, but Jazzie did what she wanted to do, and whatever that was,
her parents supported her.

Pointing at Wade, Jazzie narrowed her eyes,
then told him fiercely, "You better take care of her, or I'll kick
your ass." Jess had to laugh, because Jazzie wasn't kidding, even
though she was five foot nothing. Her Latina heritage had given her
not only her beautiful black hair and curvaceous body, it gave her
a temper as hot as a chili pepper and a fierce protective streak
for those she loved.

"Down, girl..." Jess chuckled, then soothed,
"We're just going to the hospital, I'll be fine...you go kick some
butt in there. I'll see you later." Jazzie nodded, then turned
around and wiggled her fingers backward at her, as she stomped up
the back stairs with purpose.

"Your friend is a little intense," Wade said
as he got into the truck and put it in drive again.

"Yeah, but she's the best friend a girl
could ask for...and I love her," she told him fervently. Dust flew
up in the headlights as he drove them over the pot-holed driveway
out of the ranch, and Jess gritted her teeth as her leg bounced
around, and moaned a couple of times when she couldn't hold it
back.

When they reached the paved road, he looked
over at her and said, "Lay down on the seat, sugar, and put your
leg up here," then patted his thigh, and told her, "It'll help with
the swelling."

Jess didn't want to get anywhere close to
him, because she knew how he affected her, but what he said did
make sense, and maybe putting it up would help the pain too. She
undid her seatbelt and slid her butt on the seat toward him, then
eased her leg up on his lap, and laid back on the bench, with a
sigh.

"Better?" he looked down and asked her then
slid his hand up her leg to rest it on her thigh.

"Yeah, thanks..." she told him, but groaned,
because her ankle did feel better, but now she had pain of another
kind a little farther up, as the heat of his fingers scorched her
bare skin.

After they'd driven in silence for a little
while, he asked softly out of the blue, "Who's Angel?"

Jess was half asleep and automatically
responded, "My dau--" before she caught herself and shut up,
wanting to kick her own butt for being so careless.

"Your daughter?" he finished for her then
added, "I saw the car seat in the van, and the toys."

Since the cat was already out of the bag
now, it would be strange if she denied it, so she said with
resignation, "Yeah, my daughter."

"How old is she?" he asked curiously.

She had time to think this time, so she
hesitated then lied, "Six months..."

"So you were three months pregnant when we
were together?" he asked her in disbelief, his hand clenching on
her thigh.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said not wanting to
blatantly lie to him again. She hated liars, but Jess supposed
that's exactly what she was now, and didn't like it much.

"And that guy with you is the father?" he
asked suspiciously, with anger tingeing his tone.

Jess choked and started coughing, then asked
evasively, "What is this, twenty questions? If so, I have few of my
own. And why do think that would be your business?"

"You lied to me, Jessica, so it
is
my
business," he told her hotly, then accused, "That night you said
you hadn't been with anyone in a long time, then you also said that
you didn't do the 'Angel' thing often...lies and more lies. You did
it again tonight...did you call Beau and let him know you weren't
gonna make your rendezvous? Poor guy is probably sitting there with
his dick in his hand."

"Did you call the redhead and tell her you
weren't going to show? And why are you so worried about Beau?" Jess
spat nastily, tired of his accusations and tired of having to
lie.

"Katie Upton is none of
your
business, just suffice it to say she's
nothing
like you,
she's a lady, and we didn't have a hook-up planned," he spat then
added, "And Beau is the brother of one of my friends, so if someone
is trying to play him, then I make that my business too."

He'd finally come out and said what he was
thinking, had basically just called her a tramp...Katie Upton was a
lady
, and
nothing
like her? Hurt flowed through her
and Jess pushed up on the seat and cringed, then dropped her leg to
the floorboard and slid back on her side of the truck. She buckled
up then told him quietly, "Travis and Angel are not your business
either..."

Jess crossed her arms under her breasts
protectively, then looked out the window so he wouldn't see the
tears in her eyes. Glancing down at herself, she realized she was
still in her stage clothes. If she didn't want the people at the
hospital to think she was a prostitute, she needed something to
cover up with. "Do you have a t-shirt I can borrow?"

"Why, don't want anyone to see the real you?
Ask questions you don't want to answer?" he asked her in a derisive
tone.

At the end of its leash, her anger broke
loose and consumed her, so she told him, "Go fuck yourself, you
smug bastard. You didn't seem to mind the way I was a year ago when
you were inside of me, and now you're all self-righteous?"

"A year ago, I didn't know the
real
you...I was a fool who believed what a pretty face told him about
herself...but I know now, darlin' and I can't say I like it."

Indignation that this judgmental cowboy had
the audacity to judge her, ramped up her anger so high, her ears
were buzzing with it. "You think you know me, but you don't know a
damned thing. You're doing is judging me and making assumptions.
Yes, I'm a single mother, but I'm not a whore. I work my ass off to
support my child, and I take very good care of her."

"When she grows up, what do you think she's
gonna think of her mama and all her men?" he asked her bluntly,
with a heated glance. Jess saw he was squeezing the wheel so
tightly his knuckles were white.

"There are no men, Wade...that's all
something you made up in your mind, because you're jealous and
trying to reason out why I don't want to have anything to do with
you
. Well, you jerk, with your attitude, why would I want
to?"

Jess didn't harbor regrets, she thought they
were a waste of time, but the more she got to know this man, the
more she regretted that he was Angel's father. It was obvious what
he thought about her, and it wasn't justified. Just like she'd told
him, he hadn't been judgmental when he'd wanted to get in her
pants, but now he sat back and cast stones at her like he was
superior to it all.

Wade grinned widely and that distracting
dimple popped in his left cheek, the one that was identical to
Angel's when she smiled her soft baby smile, but this time his grin
was edged with smugness. "I'm not jealous, sugar, I just resent
being lied to, and being a notch in your bedpost...I won't be
again."

"Well at least you got
something
right," she spat then turned to look out the window again, swearing
she was done talking to the irritating and judgmental man. Instead
of dropping her off at the hotel, she might just get him to drop
her at the hospital then wait for Jazzie and the gang to finish the
gig and come get her. She didn't want to be in his company one
minute longer than she had to.

They made it to he hospital, and Jess tried
to slide out of the truck under her own steam, but couldn't manage
it. As much as it aggravated her, she had to wait for a wheelchair,
because she couldn't walk on her ankle.

"Wait here, I'll be right back," then
ordered gruffly, then stalked inside the sliding glass doors.

When a nurse pushed a chair outside, and
Wade walked out behind her, she opened the door and held onto it,
so she could at least get out on her own. She didn't want the
cowboy to feel the need to help her, or put his hands on her again.
Doing it on her own was a good idea in theory, but when she stood,
the blood rushed to her ankle and she groaned as pain shot through
her. Her toes were numb, but her ankle sure wasn't.

Wade immediately ran around the nurse and to
her side. "I told you to wait!" he shouted then put his arm under
hers to steady her.

Jess grabbed the side of the truck and
yelled, "No! Just leave me alone...don't touch me..." then added
firmly, "And I'll get a ride to the hotel, so you can just get out
of here."

Wade huffed out a frustrated breath then
said through gritted teeth, "Stop being stubborn, Jessica, and let
me help you."

"My name isn't Jessica, you arrogant ass,
and I don't need your help, just go away!" The pain in her ankle
had tripled now, and so had her disgust with this man's ego and
attitude.

The nurse who'd been patiently waiting,
watching their argument finally asked, ""Ma'am? Can I take you
inside now?"

"Yes, please," Jess said then hopped on one
foot to the chair, then turned and sat down, without looking at
Wade again.

"Fine," he said and slammed the passenger
door, then stomped around the truck and got in slamming the door
behind him. She heard the truck roar to life, then heard a screech
of the wheels, as he left.

Two hours later, sitting outside the
emergency room doors in a wheelchair, with her ankle in a hot green
cast, and her heart in the bottom of her stomach, Jess had another
regret...that she'd sent Wade away, because she was mad. Now, she
didn't have a ride, because she'd forgotten there was no cell phone
coverage at the Double B ranch, and her purse was in the van, which
meant she didn't even have money to call a cab, or use the pay
phone again. She'd had to borrow fifty cents from someone in the
waiting room to make the first call to Jazzie's cell, which didn't
go through.