Rocky Mountain Cowboy (26 page)

Brad stepped into replace him smoothly. Jenny wished the band would have chosen another line dance so she wouldn’t have had to stand so close to Brad.

“You look beautiful,” he told her, pulling her closer to him than she would have liked. The arm he had around the back of her waist was tight, and it was all she could do to keep her breasts and hips from intimately pressing against him. “After seeing you in these clothes you design, I think investing in your firm would be a good deal for me, and for you. Have you talked to Peter lately?”

“I talked to him last night, in fact.”

“How is he?”

“Busy.” She hoped her short response would give him the hint to seek a dance partner elsewhere. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

“So, how are you holding up?”

“Okay, I suppose.”

“Make any decisions about your dad’s place yet?”

“No.” Okay, he ought to know by now that she didn’t want to talk to him.

“
You’re staying a while, then?”

Oh, good lord! The man was persistent! “Apparently… for
a while.” He sighed, and she could only hope he was getting ready to give up.

“In that case, I think you should come into town this week, to my office. I have something I want to show you.”

She was just about to tell him what she thought of his interference in things that were none of his damn business when she saw Hawk come into the reception hall. Of course, he immediately spotted her dancing with Brad. She groaned inwardly. Here they went again! Damn Brad Caldwell’s timing. It seemed so deliberate.

Hawk stared at her, and Jenny met his angry look, first in a silent plea not to misinterpret things, then in surprise and hurt when Cindy Caldwell came in behind him and hooked her arm through his. The blonde rose onto her toes to whisper something in his ear. Hawk turned to look down at her, and then Jenny’s view of them was blocked by the other couples on the dance floor.

Brad too had seen Hawk and Cindy come in. He turned to Jenny and read her expression before she could hide it. “They’ve been together for a long time, since high school. At one time, they were going to get married. Of course, my father wasn’t about to go for that. Hawk never asked again, even after dad died. Cindy’s not going to give him up, though. Don’t let Hawk use you that way, Jenny. You don’t deserve his bullshit.”

By the time Hawk and Cindy came into her line of vision again, Hawk was striding across the room to her. Brad saw him, stopped dancing, and squared his stance. Jenny quickly decided the whole scene
was
bullshit, and walked away from both men. After collecting her wrap and purse from the table she’d been sitting at, she hurried out the front door.

On the sidewalk, she finally realized she couldn’t go anywhere. She didn’t have the keys to her Corvette. Silently cursing the man who did, she stood helplessly, at a loss at what to do. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She couldn’t walk all the way home, not in her stiletto heels and this dress. They di
dn’t have buses here, did they?

Brad came from behind and put a hand on her shoulder. “
Don’t run off. At least let me give you a ride home.”

Desperate to leave, she reluctantly accepted, brushing her tears away as she pulled her cashmere wrap up high under her chin. They walked to the parking lot between the church and the hall, and he directed her to his black Mercedes. She saw her Corvette, and looked at it longingly. Going home with Brad wasn’t a good idea, but damn it, Hawk had left her at that reception for well over an hour, only to show up with his so called
ex
-girlfriend on his arm. What had they been up to for that long? Taking her Corvette for a spin? Necking in the front seat? Everyone had told her that Hawk and Miss Caldwell had been on and off lovers for years. Even Brad had been trying to warn her. Maybe it was time she listened. She’d be damned if she was going to let Hawk use her like this. He could go find variety elsewhere!

By the time Hawk followed Brad and Jenny outside to the front of the church hall, the steps and sidewalk were empty. Furious, swearing vehemently, he turned to go back inside and cut through the back door to the parking lot. Cindy appeared at his side and blocked his path at the open door.

“Let them go, Hawk. Come dance with me.”

“Cindy, get out of my way.” Hawk tried to edge past her, irritated by her obstruction of his departure.

“God damn it, Hawk! You’re not going to dump me after all these years just because you’re fucking her!”

People nearby turned to stare at them. “Shut up, Cindy, and get out of my way,” he ordered in a quiet growl.

She was as obstinate now as she had been for the last half hour. He was fed up with it. He had tried to reason with her, to be kind. He had given her more time than he should have, considering he had met with her a week and a half ago and broken things off with her. He had explained his reasoning to her then and since. She didn’t want to understand his position. She figured he’d change his mind, as she’d always gotten him to do in the past. This time, though, his mind wasn’t going to change. Whatever happened with Jenny, it was over for good between them, he’d told her. He’d finally come to realize they just weren’t what each other needed. Now she wouldn’t drop it. Jenny was upset and about to go off with Brad, and he was damn well going to stop her.

“We’ve been together fifteen years,” Cindy reminded him. “Tom’s darling daughter probably won’t even be here in another week. She’s just going to screw you over anyway. Brad will see to that.”

Hawk looked down at the blonde woman impatiently, angrily. “Enough, Cindy! We’ve been over all this before. Regardless of Jenny, it’s finished between us.”

“Bullshit! It is not over between us!”

Hawk put both hands on her shoulders and firmly moved her aside, then
stepped through the door. Once outside he saw Brad opening the door to his car for Jenny. Nearly at a run, he rushed across the parking lot and called her name. Poised in the open doorway of the Mercedes, Jenny stopped and looked over the top of the car at him. He could see there had been tears in her eyes. They were still luminous with them. She was hurt, and she was angry, really angry. He hadn’t seen her look at him like that before. It gave him a jolt. This wasn’t how he’d wanted the day to go, damn it! And damn the Caldwells for their constant infernal interference!

She hesitated long enough to give Hawk a chance to reach her, and when he did, he held out his hand to her, palm up. “Come on, Jenny. Let’s go.”

“I don’t think so, Larson. She asked me to take her home.” Brad moved closer to her and slipped a proprietary arm around her waist.

“Take your hands off her, Caldwell!” The warning was low and furious.

“Maybe you’d like to try to remove it, half-breed.”

Jenny sucked in a breath and decided she’d better attempt to end this before it came to blows. Wiggling out of Brad’s hold, she took Hawk’s hand, then turned to Brad. “Thank you for offering to take me home, but my original ride home seems to have found me now.”

Before Brad could argue, Becky and Scott came out of the hall, via the back door, into the parking lot. There weren’t any guests with them. They were alone, and Jenny wondered what they were doing until Becky called out to her.

“I’m cheating,” she laughed. “Catch.” Then she threw her bridal bouquet directly into Jenny hands. “See you two when we get back,” she added. “Dinner. Our house.”

Scott took a few steps toward the trio and gave his best man a probing look. “Need a hand, buddy?”

Hawk shot Brad a challenging
stare. “Nothing I can’t handle here.”

Casting a look at Scott then at Hawk, Brad threw up both of his hands in disgust. “Fine, take the bitch home,” he muttered under his breath as he walked to the driver’s side of his car.

Hawk dropped Jenny’s hand and went after him. “What the hell did you call her, Caldwell?”

“Fuck you, Larson!” Brad flipped him off as he slid in behind the wheel of his Mercedes
. Then he slammed his door shut in Hawk’s face.

Jenny went after Hawk and grabbed his sleeve to pull him back to her. “Leave it,” she implored. “Please!”

He didn’t have much choice as Brad revved his motor and put the Mercedes in reverse. Hawk had to jump quickly aside when Caldwell gunned his car out of the parking space, spinning the wheels, kicking up dust in the tires’ wake. Yanking Jenny behind him, he shielded her with his body as dirt from the departing Mercedes sprayed against his tux.

“Asshole!” he and Scott swore in unison over the sound of squealing rubber.

Jenny walked to her Corvette in disgust. While she waited for Hawk to unlock the doors, she waved to Becky over the top of her sporty car. The bouquet of flowers she’d caught was beautiful. She brought them to her nose and felt fresh tears drop on the soft petals. Angry with herself for wasting them on John Red Hawk Larson, she brushed them aside and bit her lower lip until they stopped.

Hawk opened her door for her, waited until she slid inside, closed it, then walked to the driver’s side to slide in himself. “Becky has a hell of throw,” he said to her conversationally as he started the powerful Corvette engine. Once the roar died, he turned to her and asked, “Ready for dinner?”

“No, I’m not.” Refusing to look at him, Jenny stared straight ahead. “I’d like to go home.”

“I want to
take you to dinner first.”

“Take Cindy. I’m not interested in having dinner with you. I have a headache. You and the Caldwells have a knack for giving me one.”

“I’m sorry.” Reaching across the console, he tried to take her hand, but she withheld it. “I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten all day.”

“That’s your problem. There was food at the reception— if you had bothered to attend.”

“Finger sandwiches aren’t food, and I’ll explain what happened over dinner.” When she still refused to look at him, he caught her stubbornly set chin gently and turned her to face him. “I’m sorry, Jenny.”

“I don’t care.” Her eyes slid away from him. “I want to go home.”

“And I want to dance with you. I hear everyone else got to. It’s my turn.”

“You lost your turn!”

“My fault,” he said regretfully. “But I’m going to reclaim it, and I need to make this afternoon up to you, so you don’t get to argue with me about dinner.”

Jenny crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him to stare out the window. All the way to the restaurant, she refused to talk to him. It was childish, she knew, but she was really, really angry with him. And hurt. That scene with Cindy lingered all too vividly in her mind, tormenting her with uncertainty about the real nature of Hawk’s relationship with the woman.

CHAPTER 16

Hawk had made reservations for dinner at a cozy little chalet, halfway up Monarch Pass at the southeastern end of the valley. The booth they chose to sit at had a fantastic view of the mountainside and the valley below. After the sun set, the room became candlelit. The flickering flames in the round, copper-domed fireplace in the center of the restaurant added to the softly lit ambiance. It was a very romantic setting, with a slow, but steady trickle of customers as the evening wore on.

Over grilled salmon that was absolutely to-die-for, melt-in-your-mouth delicious,
Jenny’s mood mellowed. The bottle of fine wine they shared helped ease her anger, too. It was obvious that Hawk had planned a special day for her, despite the pitiful beginning. But she just wasn’t sure what to think about him and Cindy Caldwell. She kept telling herself that sleeping with a man one night didn’t give her the right to act possessive or jealous, but damn it, this man made her feel that way.

They didn’t have a relationship, really. They were merely trying to come to terms
with one another, but she liked him, probably too much. And he had made love to her like it meant something. At least she thought he had. In the heat of passion, women didn’t always see things too clearly. She’d certainly misjudged the opposite sex before. She’d really never had a successful long-term relationship. And this might not be anything other than a one nighter, but it had felt like the beginning of something very special, maybe even significant. The only thing she knew for certain was that she didn’t want to be sexually or romantically involved with John Red Hawk Larson if he was still involved with Cindy Caldwell.

“Want to
talk about what’s going through your head?” Hawk asked as he watched her mind work.

She might as well get it out there, she decided. “I’ve been thinking that I don’t really have a right to ask about Cindy. I understand you and she have been seeing each other
for a long time, and we just.... Well,” she said, coming to a confused halt. “We just slept together. One night. It doesn’t obligate you to....”

Hawk reached
across the table and caught one of her hands. “Stop. You’re drawing all the wrong conclusions.”

“Well, everyone says that you and Cindy have been seeing each other since high school.”
Taking a sip of her wine, she did a quick mental tabulation. “That’s.... How old are you?” It just occurred to her that she didn’t really know, had only guessed.

He smiled again at her. “Thirty-two, and that’s
fifteen years— if you’re still trying to figure that out. Cindy and I were seventeen when we started getting serious.”