Too Hot To Trot (#3, Cowboy Way) (26 page)

Heather’s heels clicked on the tiles as she walked up beside him, she grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand out to inspect it.  Zack’s heart beat in his throat as she leaned in closer and her cotton candy scent surrounded him.  She traced a finger across his palm up to his cuff, before she let his hand go.  “Damn, cowboy—you need a keeper,” she said sweetly, then looked up into his eyes.  “It’s too bad I’m too busy and smart these days to apply for the job.  Maybe you need to make another trip to the bridge to find a runaway who needs your help.”  She flicked her fingers against the brim of his hat. “Then you can wear your white hat again.”  With a tight smile, she turned and walked to the table to sit back down.

Zack growled, ran his fingers under the water until the sting lessened then grabbed potholders and shoved his hands inside the oven.  He pulled the two pans out, and kneed the oven shut.  She could have at least helped him bring them to the table, he thought sourly, as he set them down on the table. 

But she was an unwelcome
guest
, and didn’t seem to be inclined to help him at all.  Zack sat down, took off his hat and set it on the chair beside him.  He looked back up and a blinding light pierced his left eye, it eased when Heather put her wine glass to her lips.  She set her wineglass down, and his eyes locked on the cause.  A fucking engagement ring. 

Zack’s heart shattered in a million pieces at that moment, and he couldn’t catch his breath.  He picked up his wineglass and downed it.  He slammed it back down on the table.  “So who’s the lucky bas—guy?” he asked gruffly, around the knot in his throat.

“What?” she asked coyly.  Zack’s eyes darted to the ring and hers followed. “Oh, Bobby…” She wiggled her fingers toward him, so he could get a good look at the ring, but Zack couldn’t make himself look again. “He knows exactly what I
like
.  He’s a lot of fun, doesn’t take life too seriously.”  Good for old Bob, Zack thought, as his stomach rolled. “But I think the thing I love best about Bobby is that he doesn’t make decisions for me.”  Zack thought his chest would split open he hurt so bad, but she didn’t seem to notice.  “We’re just having fun for now, so we haven’t set a date.  I’ll send you an invitation when we do.”

And he would attend when dark angels ice-skated in hell.  Zack couldn’t take anymore, he shoved his chair back to stand.  “I think you need to leave.  I wouldn’t want your
fiancé
to miss you too badly,” he growled, as he threw his napkin on his plate.

“Oh, Bobby won’t miss me anymore.”  Heather lifted her purse from the floor to pat it. “He’s right here in my purse in his comfy little sleeping bag, and we’ll be together forever.” Her words held sarcasm, but her eyes were fiery emeralds as she pushed back her chair.  “He’s the only damned man I trust anymore—the only one I should’ve
ever
trusted.”  She stepped back from the chair, smoothed her dress and threw her napkin down on the plate to glare at him.  “I figured it out, asshole.  You were going to ask me that day by the pond weren’t you?”

She waited for him to respond, but there was nothing Zack could say, because she was dead right.  He’d wanted Heather back, and there was no doubt in his mind that is exactly who was in the room with him right then. 

She raised a finger to her temple and laughed dryly.  “Then I got that call, and you didn’t give me a chance to decide for myself.  You decided what
you
thought was best for me, so you pushed me away, became an asshole to me so I’d leave.”  She waited, her eyebrows raised, but Zack didn’t utter a word.  She had it exactly right, and put in her perspective, he knew he’d fucked up royally.  “How’s that working out for you, Zack?” she asked, with a cocky smile.  “According to Twyla not very well, but you know what?  I don’t give a damn now—you made your bed and now you can sleep in it—
alone
!”  Heather turned toward the  living room, then looked back over her shoulder at him.  “Have a nice life, cowboy, since I won’t be seeing you again.”

“You wouldn’t have left if I’d asked you that day,” he said when she reached the door.  “You wouldn’t have taken the chance to be who you were meant to be.  I didn’t want to hold you back, Heather, because I loved—love you.”

She spun back toward him, leaned against the door.  “And you think that’s an excuse for treating me like a
child
who’s incapable of making that decision for herself?  That’s your problem, cowboy, you never respected me enough to let me make my own decisions—smart decisions. Because you think I’m dumb, confused, can’t decide what to eat unless you decide for me.  Well the only thing I’m confused about is why I got involved with you in the first place.”  She turned back toward the door and grabbed the knob.

“Please don’t leave me, angel,” he said, his voice breaking, as badly as his heart.

She stopped, breathed a minute, and her voice was sad.  “I have to leave, Zack.  Because of the decision you made for me, I have commitments now that I’m under contract to fulfill.   I’m going to Nashville on Monday to record a single.”

“Will you stay the weekend with me so we can talk?” he asked, knowing before he asked she would say no.

“I’m too angry to talk right now, but I’ll call you on Monday night.” She twisted the knob, hesitated, and he heard her sob, as she opened it.

Zack took that as the opening he needed, the break in her armor that said she wasn’t as cool as she’d pretended since she got there.  He strode to her, put his arms around her from behind and hugged her.  “I’m so damned sorry for pushing you away, baby.  I fucking deserve to lose you,” he said in a choked whisper.  “But I’m begging you for a second chance.  I was wrong—so damned wrong.  I do want to marry you, I want you in my life forever—these last six months without you have been absolute hell.  Not asking you, not letting you decide what you wanted to do, was the worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life.  I’m just a dumb cowboy who loves you.  Can you cut me a little slack? Please?” 

Her body tensed, and Zack thought she’d pull away, walk away, but she turned in his arms to slip hers around his waist.  “I’m probably nuts for giving you a second chance, because you
are
the dumbest cowboy I’ve ever met.  But you’re in luck, crazy runs in my family, what can I say?” she said, pulling back to look up into his eyes.

“Say yes, and I’ll be the luckiest dumb bastard on earth.” Zack’s head drifted down, her cotton candy scent surrounded him, intoxicated him, and he swallowed her whispered
yes
, as he pressed his lips to hers, worshiped them, told her with his mouth, how much he’d missed her, how much he loved her. 

Heather was the one to pull away, put her hand on his chest to separate them.  Her eyes sparkled as she smiled up at him.  “Haley Taylor does have a ring to it, but you better take me to Vegas this weekend while you’re luck is running, cowboy.  Before I might change my mind.”

He was definitely the luckiest bastard on earth, he thought nipping, her lower lip.  “Haley Heather Mary Morgan Morrison Taylor I will love every woman you are for as long as I live.  Now, let’s go make a pitstop at my bedroom for dessert before we head out to Vegas.”

Zack bent, scooped her up into his arms, and she squealed as he carried her through the living room and down the hallway.  At the door he stopped to open it, and a shiver rocked him when she kissed the underside of his jaw. “I have to warn you, cowboy…Bob is a hard act to follow,” she whispered.  “He knows just what I like.”

“Bob ain’t got nothing on this dumb cowboy, remember?” he said gruffly, as he carried her through the door.

“My memory is a little fuzzy—you’ll have to remind me,” Heather replied with a giggle, as he laid her on the bed, rolled her over and unzipped her dress.

“Every minute for the rest of our lives, sweet thing.”

Epilogue

Zack hefted his saddle onto the rack, and turned to smile at the man who was just as dusty and dirty as he was from working with the herd all day.  He appreciated the help, but laughed at Sutter’s reason.  Working here was
relaxing
to him, and he preferred to keep himself in shape with hard work.  Country muscles were what the country music superstar was looking for, because he didn’t have the time or patience to go to a
prissy
gym. 

That was fine with Zack, because he got a free hand from Jase while he found his preferred form of exercise.  He could testify there was plenty of hard work to be found at his ranch now.  He had more contracts than he could handle, because several of his bulls were high in the points this year.  Next year he’d start a breeding program, but he was going to have to talk to the neighbor about buying more pasture land.  God knew, they had plenty enough money now for him to do that.  He could probably buy half the county if he wanted to.  Haley’s career was on fire and so was his.  The sun was shining brightly on them, and they were basking in it.

It worked out well for them all when Leigh decided to build her Texas recording studio here.  He could still work, they could still work, and he could keep Haley home more.  That was the best advantage.  The times she was gone on tour dragged on him, even though he tried to meet her as often as he could on the premise of seeing his bulls at work. 

“We better go check on our ladies, before Bobby Gillis puts his moves on them,” Zack said with a laugh. 

Bobby Gillis was a smooth-talker, but he was harmless as far as Zack was concerned.  His beautiful girlfriend was mean to the bone.  Bobby knew that, and Zack highly doubted he would dare cross her.  Jase Sutter seemed to worry about it though, and Zack liked to poke him about it to get a rise. 

He knew his poke hit the mark, because Jase frowned, as he turned and they walked down the aisle to the barn door.  “Damn straight—like I said, I have to keep an eye on him around Leigh.  They used to bump uglies, and that is not something I ever want to even think about my wife doing with that man.  If he wasn’t so damned good at writing songs and recording them….”

“You’d punch his lights out.”  Zack kind of thought Bobby flirted with Leigh just to get a rise out of Jase too.  He was a pretty easy mark, because he was just so…straight.  Jase was a good, hard-working man, with a great sense of humor, but not where Bobby was concerned. 

“He is damned good, so I’d hold back and just cut him off at the pass if he steps over the line.  He’s written you three hit songs now, and he wrote one for Haley too.  We better just cool our jets and not bite the hand that feeds us,” Zack advised with another laugh.

“He fucking calls me
Tim
—as in McGraw!  Pisses me off every time.”

“He’s just jerking your chain, and hell, I’d take that as a high compliment.  He calls Haley Loretta,” Zack said with a shrug.  “If it bothers you so much, talk to him,” Zack suggested, as they walked out into the sunshine. 

“It’s not that he calls me that, it’s the
way
he calls me that,” Jase said with a frustrated sigh.  “It’s like he thinks I’ll never be as good as Tim, and I probably won’t.  He’s a fricking county music legend.  But I have recorded three of Bobby’s songs now that went platinum, won awards, and put him on the map too.  A little more respect would be nice.”

“Haley’s went platinum too, she got new artist of the year for it.  He is
that
good, so let’s just cut him some slack.”  The last thing he needed to do was get Jase worked up before he saw Bobby, who was here for the week to work with Haley.

Jase blew out a shuddering breath, and Zack patted him on the back.  “Your wife can’t take her eyes off of your rear end, dude.  You have
nothing
to worry about, trust me.” 

Leigh Anderson Smith looked at her husband exactly the way Haley looked at him.  Like she could eat him up with her eyes.  And Zack let her do that every chance he got, when he wasn’t the one doing the eating.  

“What y’all need is a vacation,” Zack suggested.  “Haley and I are going to Vegas next month for our two-year anniversary.  You should talk to Leigh and come with us.”

Jase smiled, and not that Zack was into men, but he saw right then why the man was a superstar.  He had that same kind of smile that Cord Dixon, his former bull riding buddy had.  The one that set him up to be a famous model, Mr. Laramie Jeans, when Zack was passed over for the job.   This man was meant for fame, and so was Haley.  Zack was meant to be running a rough stock herd and working with his hands.  If Jase Sutter wanted to play at being a cowboy, Zack would definitely let him.  But at the end of the day, he would sing, and so would Haley. Sometimes that was equally hard work, and definitely more stressful.  He often worried that Haley would push herself too far, so he made her stop sometimes and take vacations with him.  Their anniversary was a good excuse, and he hoped that Jase and Leigh would go with them.

“Thanks for the invite.  I’ll definitely talk to her about it,” Jase replied, looking a little more relaxed as they stopped at the door of the studio.

“No guitars, or songs to practice though—no talking about music at all,” Zack warned, grabbing the knob.  “This will not be a working vacation.”

“Nope, I won’t let Leigh sneak my guitar into our luggage, and I’ll kiss her to shut her up if she starts to talk about music.  I promise.” Jase wiggled his eyebrows like he would definitely enjoy it if she did.  “We’ll just call it a second honeymoon.  We definitely didn’t have enough time to celebrate properly during our first in Sin City.”

Zack opened the door, and walked into the outer office of the studio.  Bobby Gillis was sitting at the desk with a pencil, making marks on sheet music, frowning while he worked.  “Hey, Bobby—where are the girls?”

“Probably in the bathroom checking to see if the fucking rabbit died,” he growled, as he scratched something out, and scribbled beside it.  “They’re slowing me down, and Josie will get pissed off if I miss my plane tonight.  She has plans for us to go to the Opry tomorrow night.”

The Grand Old Opry, a Nashville shrine, and somewhere Haley hadn’t been invited to sing yet.  Jase hadn’t either that Zack knew of.  He wished he could make that happen for Haley, but he knew she still had dues to pay yet.   Everything in its own time.

Bobby’s words floated around in Zack’s skull for a second.  “
Rabbits
?  They been hunting?” he asked in confusion.

“Hell no, but they’ve been fucking you two like bunnies evidently.  One of them thinks she’s knocked up, so I’d go see which one of you two drew the short straw with your short dick.  My bet is on Tim, because Leigh ain’t been right lately.  I ain’t never seen that girl so soft-brained and too googly-eyed to work.”

“Holy
shit
!” Jase and Zack said in unison, as they pushed each other scrambling to get pole position in the tiny hallway that led to the bathroom.  Zack put on the brakes at the door, but slid past.  Jase grabbed the knob and twisted. 

“Fuck, it’s locked!”  He beat his fist on the door, rattling it.  “Open the door, Leigh!”

“We’re busy, Jase—just give us a minute,” she growled back. 

Jase banged again. “If I’m going to have a baby, I want to know—
now
!” he shouted through the door.

Zack shouldered him to the side.  “It could be me,” he growled, doing some banging of his own.  “Open this door right now, sweet thing—if I’m going to have a baby, I want to know.  No damned wonder you’ve been so tired!”  That’s exactly how Twyla had acted when she was pregnant with the twins who were now almost two.  He should have seen the signs, known that something was wrong with her.  Good God—he was going to be a daddy.  Zack’s knees went weak, and he locked them.  “
Please
, angel—just open the door,” he begged, putting his ear to the door to see if he could hear anything.

“There’s a sledge out in the barn, I’ll go get it,” Jase said loudly, turning to stomp toward the lobby.  Zack turned to stop him, but the door opened and he fell inside, the women parted and he ended up on his ass staring up at them.  Jase filled the doorway, his eyebrows slammed down over his angry eyes. 

Leigh turned to Jase, so Zack couldn’t see what she was doing, but he damn well saw the white stick that Haley bent to hold under his nose.  It smelled faintly of urine, and there was no way he could miss the pink plus sign in the digital display. 

“Oh, God,” Zack groaned, his heart in his throat as he grabbed it from her to stare at it.    He heard Jase make a similar noise, as he scrambled up to his feet.  He grabbed Haley’s shoulders, and his eyes filled as they met her shocked gaze. “You are the most amazing gift God has ever given me, baby, but this tops it.  I know this will make things harder for you, but I am so damned happy.”

“Yeah, what he said,” Jase squeezed out hoarsely, hugging his quietly sobbing wife tighter. “I’m glad Momma will get to see her grandbaby, before—”

Zack’s eyes flew to his, and he’d never seen a man more choked up, shocked but pleased, as Jase Sutter at that moment.  The same exact thing he was feeling, with a little awe thrown in for good measure.  “Guess this means we’re going to have a lot more to celebrate than an anniversary and second honeymoon in Vegas, buddy.”

“Hell’s
bells
—I am
not
drinking the water around here,” Bobby grumbled, as he sidled up beside Jase.  “Y’all need to cut back on the fertilizer you make out in those pastures.  I think that’s what’s causing it.  I’m cutting out, because it doesn’t look like we’re going to get much more work done today.”  He huffed out a frustrated breath.  “ I’ll be back next week, so you better be ready to finish this song, Loretta.  Being knocked up is no excuse for wasting my time.”

Haley pulled out of Zack’s arms and turned to face Bobby.  “You keep talking like that to me Bobby Gillis and I will personally mail Josie a bottle of that water!”

Zack bit back a laugh as Bobby’s face blanched, and he held up his fingers in the sign of the cross as he backed out of the bathroom.   When he turned and all but sprinted down the hall, they all laughed.  Haley hugged him, and Zack sent up thanks for his wife, his new baby—his
life
.

***

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed Too Hot To Trot, the third novel in my Cowboy Way series!   I have more cowboy goodness in store for you this year too.   Firefighter-Paramedic Austin McBride, the medic who saved Zack’s life in Too Hot To Trot, is also a cowboy and he will have his own story in the upcoming Cowboy Way novella, Where There’s Smoke, which will be released in the boxed set Twelve-Alarm Cowboys coming in August 2015.

If you’d like to find out more about music exec Leigh Anderson and country music singer Jase Sutter’s story, you can find it in my Cowboy Way novella entitled Cupid’s Cowboy.  Cord Dixon, Mr. Laramie Jeans, and socialite photographer Hope Carlisle’s story can be found in my Cowboy Way novella entitled Hope For Christmas. 

~Becky