A Ballad for Her Cowboys (12 page)

‘Of course.’ Her brow creased at the question and then her cutlery clattered onto the plate as it slipped out of her grasp and she put her hands to her throat. ‘Aren’t I?’

Seth wanted to punch Aiden, but he guessed he couldn’t blame him for asking her what she meant. She swallowed loudly, and her eyes seemed huge when she looked from him to Aiden and back again.

‘Remember, you said if I wanted to I could. I know it’s been a while, but I kind of assumed…’

Aiden reached for her hand at the exact same time Seth grabbed her other hand. ‘You assumed right. The offer is still open, Misty. Always will be.’

Relief flooded her face at his words and Seth squeezed her fingers with his, unable to tell her how happy her reaction made him.

‘Phew,’ she said and giggled as she tried to make light of the intense moment. ‘It would have been just my luck to find out you changed your minds.’

‘Nothing could ever change our minds,’ Seth said, ‘although I came pretty close when I had to watch you drive off with Wade.’

‘About that, ‘she said, pulling their hands closer as she prepared to explain. ‘You have to believe me when I say I wasn’t about to get back with him or anything like that. I agreed to the job before I spoke to you and I didn’t know you would react the way you did. I knew we all become very close during those last few weeks, but I also knew we’d all be leaving Broken Jaw in a couple of days.’

‘So why did you still leave with him after you knew how we felt?’

Aiden dropped her gaze and Seth wondered if he’d ever tell her how badly her actions had wounded him.

‘I promised to go.’

‘Did breaking a promise to him mean more to you than hurting us?’ Seth couldn’t help the anger that crept into his voice.

‘It wasn’t only reason I took the job. Back then, all that still mattered to me was making it big. I guess I didn’t see a way that I could get what I’d been working toward for all these years and be what you wanted me to be.’

‘You thought we’d try to stop you following your dreams?’

‘Of course not, Seth, but I still had to take this particular gig. Wade needed my help. He cut himself in on the deal by acting as my agent before he even told me about it. He practically begged me to do it. He owed somebody a lot of money and swore this was the only way he could think of to pay it back before they killed him. I wasn’t crazy about going on tour with him tagging along, but it seemed a fabulous opportunity and too good to miss.’

Aiden pulled his hand from hers and pushed away from the table, his jaw clenched. ‘Are you telling me you went off with a guy, who owed money to the Mob?’

‘I’m pretty sure Wade exaggerated the amount of danger he was in just so I’d agree to go along. Besides, I don’t think it was the Mob, just some guys—’

‘And you think a loan shark is better? Jesus, Misty.’

Seth raised his hand. ‘Calm down, Aiden. As crazy as it was, she’s here now and she’s safe.’

‘No thanks to the idiot ex-boyfriend.’

‘He’s my ex-manager, too,’ Misty added. ‘That was another part of the deal. I only agree to help him if he signed the papers releasing me from our contract and got out of my life for good once this gig was over.’

‘He agreed?’ Aiden calmed a little at the news.

‘Yep should be final any day now.’

‘And he paid off the heavies?’ Seth needed to make sure.

Misty nodded. ‘In some ways, this was a really positive experience for me. I made my peace with Wade and finally convinced him to give up on any idea he and I would ever be together again. I don’t hate him anymore, which feels great. I didn’t like the person I became when he was around.’

‘Did he, you know, try anything with you?’ That thought bugged Seth the most.

‘Not really. He hinted at it every now and then, but he never pushed the issue. Anyway, I told him I was in love with someone else.’

Her shy smile lit up her face and Seth marveled that any man could be fool enough to have thrown this woman’s love away.

‘We love you, too,’ Aiden said.

He looked at Seth with a grin on his face, shrugging his shoulders when he saw his uncharacteristic display of emotion had surprised him.

‘Well, I figured she should know.’

‘I know,’ she said.

When Seth turned to her about to repeat Aiden’s words and for once, Seth didn’t feel the need to add anything at all.

He couldn’t wait to take her back to the ranch and show her their home. He didn’t know how long they’d have with her until the music bug bit again, but he knew he and Aiden wouldn’t want her to be anywhere else until it did.

Epilogue

‘Ladies and Gentlemen, please give it up for Misty Tucker!’

Misty walked out into the spotlight on the stage, pleased to see most of the guests decided to take advantage of the show. The Rusty Skillet looked to be filled to capacity. In the three months it had been open, she’d never seen so many people crammed inside.

‘Hi, everyone and welcome to the show.’

She picked up her guitar and launched into a tune the crowd should have been familiar with, one of her own compositions. By rights, the song belonged to Aiden and Seth, yet they had no objections when one of the biggest country acts around asked if they could record it and it topped the charts a few weeks later. The money had sure come in useful, especially during the conversion of the barn into what was now a cabaret bar.

One song blended seamlessly into the other, all of them written by her. She didn’t perform other people’s music anymore, preferring to see a crowd react to something she could actually take credit for.

A commotion at the doorway drew her attention, and she smiled. She recognized the cowboys who had just walked in. She watched them walk across the room and she knew nobody else in the world moved like the tall, dark one. And the fact he had a slightly shorter, but no less impressive, blond man following him, meant they could only be the two men she knew she would never leave again—Aiden Black and Seth Orton.

Misty tingled at the sexy smile Seth threw her way and the promise in Aiden’s blue eyes. This would be an extra-special night among a year of special nights, the anniversary of the day when she finally found her true home and became the woman she’d been born to be.

When the time came for her encore she chose a song she already played, sure the crowd wouldn’t really mind hearing it again. Besides, there was only one song she ever wanted to sing, one she’d written for the men she loved—a ballad for her cowboys.

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I live in a beautiful part of the Southwest of England with my fiancé of 15 years and our dog. We have our own small business which allows me to work from home and leaves plenty of free time for my hobbies. My first experience of writing was creating what is known as 'fan fiction' on the Internet forum of one of my favorite artists. Lots of my readers gave me really positive feedback and encouraged me to write more and take things further. Without them, I would never have had the confidence to submit a manuscript. I enjoy the process of writing and creating characters I would like to meet and situations I would love to be in.

Please visit me at
www.luxieryder.com

Also by Luxie Ryder

For One Night Only

For The Love of Jake

Midnight Cowboys 1:
Midnight Rodeo

Midnight Cowboys 2:
Two Cowboys for Christie

Midnight Cowboys 3:
Three for the Rodeo

Mama's Charm

The Cowboys and the English Teacher

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Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com