She didn't care what these people thought.
Luke Matthews and Cassie Bellamy were together now, and they'd
better just damned well get used to it. She smiled at familiar and
not so familiar faces, held her chin high. She felt Luke's grip
tighten on her elbow, and it seemed to her that he was not as
unaffected as she was.
After he'd pulled out a chair for her and
she sat down, he sat in a chair beside her. She looked over at him
and saw his shoulders were tense, and his jaw held tightly. Cassie
grabbed his forearm and squeezed, "Relax, Luke...it'll be
fine."
"I guess word has gotten out that I
resigned..."
"Hold your head up, darlin' and don't let
'em see you sweat. You made the decision that was right for you,
and they'll understand...eventually. And if they don't fuck 'em,"
she told him saucily.
His lips moved up on one side to a
semi-smile. "I like how you think, darlin'," he told her and
notched his chin up then leaned over to kiss her in front of God
and everyone in the steakhouse.
Cassie heard more whispers and slid her left
hand up to his cheek as she deepened the kiss, hoping they would
see her gorgeous engagement ring. They wanted fodder for their
gossip mill? She was going to give them plenty of grist, and get
some sweet kisses from the man she loved in the process.
The waitress cleared her throat, and they
ended the kiss that had gotten a little out of control. "What can I
get you to drink? Beer?" she said shortly, her pen hovering over
her pad.
Luke cringed when he realized it was the
same waitress that had served him, Cole and Candy the last time
he'd been here...a night he wished he could erase. And here he was
again, making out with a different woman, even though this woman
was his fiancé.
"Um no, sweet tea please," he said
sheepishly. Cassie ordered the same then the woman walked off.
"Wow, wonder what her problem is?" Cassie
said watching the waitress storm off toward the kitchen.
"She probably remembers me from last
time..." he told her and then flinched.
"Same waitress?" she chuckled.
"Yeah...unfortunately," he groaned and ran a
hand through his hair.
Cassie threw her head back and laughed.
"Serves you right. I wanted to kill you that night too."
"I'm sorry about that, honey..." his voice
was low and sincere.
"You said that already...forget it," she
waved it off and took a sip of the tea the silent woman had just
delivered to their table.
Cassie let her gaze wander around the room
trying to identify the faces seated at the tables in the packed
restaurant. After their initial curiosity about her and Luke,
they'd all gone back to their discussions, thank goodness. Her eyes
snagged on a familiar redhead sitting near the wall on the left
side.
"Is that Becca Harvey over there?" she asked
in a strained voice nodding her chin in that direction.
"Looks like her, but I haven't seen her in
years," he told Cassie with disinterest. Automatically, Cassie
glanced up at his face, and saw that he truly wasn't interested.
She believed him when he said he hadn't cheated on her, but old
habits
and thoughts
died hard.
She glanced back over at Becca, who was with
an older man, or at least he looked older. He had a bald head and
florid complexion with deep lines by his eyes and mouth. There was
a red-haired boy of about nine sitting beside her, and a toddler on
the other side in a high chair, and she rocked an infant in a car
seat with her foot by her chair. As the old saying went, Becca
Harvey looked like she'd been rode hard and put up wet. Haggard and
much older than her age, which was twenty-eight, the same as
Cassie.
Becca must've felt Cassie staring at her,
because she looked back over her shoulder and their eyes met.
Becca's went instantly refrigerator cold, and she whipped her head
back around to talk to the man at the table with her, then she got
up, and carried the car seat around the table and sat it beside
him. Cassie watched her smooth her floral print sundress over her
round hips and then she turned to walk across the restaurant toward
them with a sashay more suited to someone a lot less...full
figured.
"Oh, shit..." Cassie said and Luke looked up
at her from his menu then followed her gaze and repeated the words.
He set the menu down and grabbed her hand under the table.
"Just be nice, darlin'," he said near her
ear as the woman got closer to their table, before coming to a stop
and standing before them with her hands on her hips.
"See all you needed to?" she asked with
spite tingeing her cigarette-roughened voice. "Thought I'd come
over so you could get a really good look."
"I was just surprised to see you again,
Becca," Cassie said and gave her a tight smile.
"No more surprised than I am to see you back
in Bowie. And with Luke Matthews on your tail again, no less." She
gave Luke a once over then looked back at Cassie. "Guess you're the
reason he quit his job."
"Actually, no...I'm going into cattle
ranching," Luke piped in evenly.
"I'd think you'd have learned your lesson
from the last time she left you high and dry, Luke." Becca told him
nastily, then warned, "She'll haul ass out of here again if a
better opportunity comes along, just like she did last time."
Luke stood up, and Cassie went to stand too,
but he pushed her back down with a hand on her shoulder. "I think
you need to sashay back over to your table, and your kids,
Becca."
"Or what? You're going to arrest me?" she
spat and then put a finger up to her temple, "Oh, that's right, you
can't do that you're not Sheriff anymore." An evil laugh followed
her words and people were starting to stare at them again.
Cassie had heard enough of the blustering
bag of wind that had been her high school nemesis. She stood and
walked around the table to get really close to Becca and stare down
at her. The woman was short, and Cassie wanted to intimidate her,
so she took one more step closer then said in a low whisper, "You
didn't have any class in high school, and it looks like that hasn't
changed. If I'm wrong, walk your ass back over to your table and
leave us the hell alone."
Becca took a step back and Cassie saw her
chubby cheeks flush, and her hands were fisted at her hips. She
hoped the shorter woman would make the mistake of taking a swing at
her, because Cassie owed her a few, and by god she'd enjoy giving
them to her. Evidently, Becca thought better of it, and spun on her
heel to stomp back across the restaurant, knocking things off of
several of the closely spaced tables as her hips bumped them.
Cassie stifled the hysterical laughter that
wanted to escape her then stiffened her spine and went back to her
seat. "Damn that felt good." she said and sat down then took a
drink of her tea. "I think I need a
real
drink,
darlin'."
Luke threw back his head and laughed, then
waved at the waitress. She came over and he ordered Cassie a
tequila sunrise. "You're a force to be reckoned with, Cassie
Bee."
"You better believe it," she said then
grabbed both sides of his face and planted a smacking kiss on his
surprised lips.
When the waitress delivered her drink, she
removed the straw and drank it down from the glass, then put it
down on the table and sighed. "Thanks, darlin', I needed that," she
said then her smile faded as a latent thought hit her.
What if
she was pregnant?
"Oh god, Luke..." her hand flew to her
tummy, and she said anxiously, "What if I'm pregnant..." Her lip
trembled and she grabbed his hand. "I shouldn't have drank
that."
A concerned frown pinched between his brows,
but he assured her, "If you are, I don't think one drink this early
on would be a problem. Especially as watered down as they make them
here. Just don't drink anymore, darlin'."
"I won't. God, I'm terrible..." she moaned
and put a fist to her forehead.
"It's okay, Cassie Bee," he told her and
gently put his hand over hers on her stomach. Something fierce,
elemental and protective sparkled in his eyes with the gesture.
Her smile felt wobbly on her lips as she
grinned at him, and they shared a moment of intense emotional
connection. He leaned over and gave her a whisper of a kiss and she
sighed.
Shaking her head to break from the dreamy
haze he'd woven around her, she said, "I think we need to order, so
I can soak up the alcohol quickly."
"Good idea..." he said then flagged the
waitress down again.
They chatted and ate the delicious steaks
and potatoes, then declined dessert, because they were both
stuffed. After they talked a few more minutes, while the table was
cleared and the check was delivered, Cassie knew her time had run
out. She picked up her purse from the chair beside her and set it
in her lap. Luke thought that was her cue she was ready to leave,
and he started to stand up.
She stopped him with a hand on his forearm.
"Wait, Luke. There's something I need to talk to you about." He sat
back down and looked at her curiously.
"You gave me my wedding present and I need
to give you yours," she unzipped her purse and pulled out the
paperwork her daddy had given her earlier that day. "This is for
you darlin', and it's a package deal, just like Titan was."
He took the papers from her and unfolded
them then skimmed over them, and she saw a red flush stain his
cheeks as he gritted his teeth. He handed the papers back to her
and said, "I can't take this Cassie."
She swallowed hard, never expecting this
reaction. "Why not? I accepted Titan graciously."
"That's different," he said and looked away
from her.
"How the hell do you figure it's
different?"
"It just is...I don't want to talk about it.
I'll buy the damned herd, but with my money."
"What money, Luke?" she asked incredulously.
"I know what you did...then you lied to me about it. I should be
really pissed at you, but I'm not. I accepted Titan as the
heart-felt gift he was, and you should do the same with this."
"Who the hell told you?" He kept his voice
just under a shout as he stood up suddenly and put his hands on the
table. "It had to be Cole...I'm going to kick his ass."
"Sit back down, Luke," she grated through
her teeth. "My
gift
isn't any more extravagant than yours
was...now act like a loving fiancé and accept it."
"I do love you, Cassie, but I want to do
this on my own," he told her then sat back down.
"And I wanted to start the horse operation
on
my
own..." she countered and shoved the papers at him
again. "Take it, Luke. Don't let this come between us."
"A goddamn Philadelphia lawyer...that sure
as hell is what you should've been," he said and jerked the papers
from her hand then folded them and put them in his pants
pocket.
She smiled at him brightly, enjoying her
victory. Hesitantly, his own lips curved up in a smile, and he said
grudgingly, "Thank you, Cassie Bee," then he grabbed her hand and
pulled her into his lap and gave her a kiss that curled her
toes.
"Let's get out of here so I can thank you
properly," he said in a hot whisper against her mouth and set her
off his lap, before throwing some bills in the black check cover
and shoving his Stetson back on his head. Grabbing her hand, Luke
led her out of the restaurant and into the night air. When they
reached the truck, he pushed her back against it and pressed his
body to hers then tilted his head and claimed her mouth kissing her
senseless. She moaned and linked her hands together behind his
neck, and deepened the kiss.
A grunt behind them, broke the sensual haze
and she looked around Luke's shoulder to see Becca Harvey with a
baby on her hip and one hand holding the toddler she'd seen in the
high chair earlier.
"Get a room..." Becca said in a growl then
stomped on by, followed by the bald guy that must be her
husband.
Cassie started chuckling, then it turned
into a belly laugh, and she wound up bent over slapping her thigh.
When she finally got a grip on herself, she stood up and said to
Luke with mirth still dancing inside her, "God, that's rich...karma
is surely something, isn't it darlin?"
"That it is, sugar," he snorted and opened
the truck door to help her inside.
***
Cassie had talked to Luke and he'd agreed to
a wedding at the ranch, with a Bar-B-Que for the reception. She'd
spent the last two weeks working with Imelda to get all the
reception plans made, while at the same time hiring a contractor to
build the outbuildings she needed for the horses that would be
delivered on Saturday.
The contractor was working fast and had
finished the indoor arena, most of it being prefabricated, and had
graded up the ground for the outdoor arena. All that was left was
for him to put up the lights and fencing, and she'd be in business.
He said he should be done by the weekend, which fit perfectly with
Titan's homecoming.