Falling For A Cowboy (4 page)

“
What are you proposing? That we spend time between go-rounds trying to get some girl and when
I
get her, which I would of course, I
’
d just throw her back
?
Hardly seems decent.
”
Clay fished in his pockets for the keys to the
pick-up
.

Jess chuckled
.
“
Well then,
you
won
’
t
mind
if I
try for her.
”

He shouldn
’
t mind
.
“
She has
‘
don
’
t touch
’
writt
en all over her.
”

“
Guess y
ou
’
re just out of your
element
with a
female
who doesn
’
t immediately fall in your arms
.
You know nothing about courting a woman.
”

Courting a woman
?
Were they living in the
nineteenth
century?
“
I
bet I
know how to go after a woman
better
than you
. You
,
my friend
,
should worry
.
You
’
ve been out of circulation so long, you
’
ll need more help than
is available
,
”
Clay shot back.

“
You
’
r
e
on
.
Winner
not only
gets
a fine time with
the
little
lady
, but
a hundred dollar bonus from the loser.
”
Jesse
leaned against the door of the truck
,
gulp
ing
the last of
his beer
, apparently waiting for Clay
’
s reply
.

It didn
’
t feel right betting on such a thing
.
But if he didn
’
t bet
,
it
would
be admitting
that the
woman didn
’
t
lik
e him and while she
’
d been downright prickly, he had a distinct feeling she wasn
’
t as immune as she wanted him to believe.
Though
she wasn
’
t exactly his type, he
’
d
sure
like to see
that hair tumbling down around her while he kissed her
breathless
.
If Ms. Morgan was just interested in a good time, why not with him rather than Jess
?
And if she wasn
’
t, neither of them would
score
,
so no foul.

“
Fine.
One hundred
dollars for
the
first one who takes that ride with her.
But no promising marriage or
anything
permanent to get her there
.
She has to come fully aware this is a non-
committ
ed
relationship.
”
That was only fair since
,
left to his
own
devices
,
Jesse would be popping the question after the first kiss
.
The guy was a hopeless romantic.
Someone like Dusty might just fall for
his lines
.

Jesse arched a brow
.
“
I
’
ve sworn off proposing
.
Don
’
t think I can take any more rejection.
”
For once the man looked serious
.
Clay knew th
e
last
girl
had blasted a hole in the man
’
s heart the
size of a cannon ball
.
Jesse had been convinced she
’
d been the one from the moment he spied her
.
Too bad the woman
had been
just marking time until her fiancé got home from Iraq.

“
As long as we
’
re clear
.
It
’
s just a good time for
both
parties, nothing more.
”

“
We
’
re clear
.
I
’
m putting that hundred toward a new pair of hand-tooled boots.
Saw some pretty ones in the store window in town.
”
Jesse was a bit of a dude where boots and hats and buckles were concerned
.
Had to have the best
.
On a cowhand
’
s
salary that was tough to achieve.

“
Let
’
s check out the B
eehive
.
Even if the lady in question
isn
’
t
going to be there, I
’
ve a hankering for some buffalo wings.
”
Clay downed
the last of
his beer and threw the plastic cup in
a
nearby
trash
can
. If he
didn
’
t
claim that
hundred dollars
,
it would be because
the woman didn
’
t want a good time and Jesse wouldn
’
t be getting any either. That was a surprisingly
comforting
thought.

“
Hey
J
ohn
,
”
Dusty
called
as the back door of the B
eehive
slammed behind her. She
stepped into Big Jo
hn
’
s
office
.
The place was jammed
with paper on every surface
.
Dusty always wondered how the man ran a business
.
But the B
eehive
, being the only
honky-
tonk in town, was a popular spot, more so on the weekends with the rodeo crowd
, which
she hoped to avoid tonight.

John
sat behind the desk,
the tall
stacks of
documents
almost obscuring hi
s large body
. He lifted his head
and gave her a weary look.

“
Good day or not
?
”
John
glanced
at the cloth bag in her hand.

“
Good day
.
We broke
twenty-five hundred again.
Next weekend with Heritage Days we should do even better.
”

“
Good tips
?
”

S
he nodded
as she set the bag on top of a stack of folders
.

John
’
s head bobbed in satisfaction
.
“
Good
.
Sure you don
’
t want to work Sunday for me? Karen
’
s got sitter problems.
”

Her mind flashed to the two cowboys
.
She
’
d told the tall one she only worked Saturdays
.
If she came in on Sunday he
’
d surely think it was because of him. Ego types like him always thought it was about them
.
Yet she didn
’
t have a blessed thing to do tomorrow except sleep late and the rodeo wouldn
’
t interfere with that.
And she sure could use
the
money.

“
If she can
’
t get a sitter, I
’
ll work.
”
Or maybe she should sit
for Karen. But those
four rambunctious boys were more than she was up to handling right now.

John
smiled
.
“
Thanks, Dusty
.
You
’
re as good as your mama was.
”

“
Thanks.
”
Her mother had worked for
John
to put herself through college.
Dusty
,
though,
just help
ed
on Saturdays with the rodeo
.
During the week she
worked
at the
Sweet Water
Ranch, had every summer since she was fourteen.
She was looking for a teaching position
for the fall
,
again
following in her mother
’
s footsteps—at least where career was concerned
.
She
’
d definitely not be
traveling the same path to romance.
“
I
’
ll be going then.
”

“
Tara
Lynn
is in the bar
.
Told me to let you know she
needs
to see you.
”
John
looked at her from under dark bushy brows.
“
Emphasis is hers.
”

Though
Tara
Lynn
Parker
was a year younger,
they
’
d been
best friend
s since they
’
d found each other in Sunday school
.
Tara
Lynn
always want
ed
Dusty to join her
at the honky
-
tonk
on Saturday nights but Dusty had no interest in strutting around the floor with a bunch of hound dogs
.
Her life would start again when she got her teaching job, preferably away from
Langley
and its memories. Right now she needed time to recover from Bradley
’
s defection.

Nodding her good-by to
John
,
she strode down the hall, past the noisy kitchen toward the bar door and more noise
.
Before opening, she peered through the diamond
glass
window
.
Place was jumping tonight
, two deep at the bar and the dance floor
was
already filled
with
only
the juke box
playing
. It
was still early, just past
eight
,
and the band wasn
’
t due
till nine
.
Hopefully
it was
too early for those rodeo cowboys
.
Maybe they went to the B
uttercup
Café
to get some chow first.

She
pushed
open the door and the
noisy
conversations combined with
Tim McGraw
on the juke box and the clanking of glass and porcelain
to drown out any further thought
.
She scanned the bar and found
Tara
Lynn
perched on a stool plumb in the middle
,
glass in hand. Like her
older
siste
r Lisa
,
Tara
Lynn
was dark and voluptuous with a
healthy dose of
baby fat
,
just
what cowboys liked
. She was
rarely without
a
partner from the rodeo crowd.
I
n a committed relationship with a business major
from
Austin
,
Tara
Lynn
was in it strictly for the dancing
.

“
Hey,
”
Dusty shouted above the noise.

Tara
Lynn
grinned
.
She was wearing a
white
cami
sole
that barely covered her
essentials
,
a
flirty little black skirt that
showed off
her legs
,
and red boots
.
Red boots seemed a signature of the
Parker
girls.
“
Hey yourself, cowgirl.
”
Her smile was the knowing kind
,
like she
had
a secret.

“
You wanted to see me?
”
Even shouting,
Dusty could barely hear herself above the crowd noise.

“
Meet anyone interesting today?
”
Tara
Lynn
’
s
grin broadened
like a Cheshire cat
’
s
.

How the heck did
the girl
know?
“
Why?
”

“
They
’
re here
.
Both of them.
One cuter than the next
.
And they were asking about you
.
Both of them.
”

Dusty did a quick scan
.
Came up empty.
Phew.
They must have gone.

“
There, in the booth behind you and to your left.
”

Dusty felt
herself
flush as she turned
.
There the two of them sat
. With crisp white shirts on
,
they were
more duded up th
a
n when she
’
d seen them
last
.
Clay
’
s arm was around
Melissa
Porter
, a stacked brunette, and Jesse
’
s arm was around
Shirley May Wagner
, a blue-eyed blonde. Both men were leaning in close to talk. Well they hadn
’
t lost any time
.
The
two
women were friends of
Tara
Lynn
’
s
older
sister.
Dusty
turned quickly back to
Tara
Lynn
,
lest those cowboys spot her and think she
’
d come for them.

“
They seem well-occupied
,
”
Dusty shouted.

“
Yeah, well
,
they were asking a lot of questions about you
.
They seemed really interested.
”

“
And just how did they
find
you
?
”

Tara
Lynn
shrugged
.

“
Let me guess, the brown-haired one asked you to dance?
”

Tara
Lynn
nodded.

“
They
’
re players,
Tara
Lynn
.
Weekend cowboys who are looking for a good time.
Rodeo cowboys.
”
And that said it all.

“
So have a little fun
.
Take your mind off of things. I
’
ll take the one you don
’
t want for a whirl.
”

“
They
’
re with
Shirley May and Melissa
now.
”

“
No they
’
re not
.
They just headed for the bar.
”

“
And I
’
m headed home.
”
Dusty had to get out of there before they s
aw
her.

Before she could blink,
P
eter
, one of
the bartender
s,
strolled over
and plunked down two long-neck beers.
“
Guys at the end sent these with their compliments.
”

Hell
.
She
’
d been spotted
.
“
Tell them no thanks—from me at least.
”
Tara
Lynn
already
had the bottle
to her lips and was signaling her
appreciation
.

“
Come on Dusty,
”
said P
eter
, a grin on his weathered face
.
“
If I take it back
,
I
’
ll have to refund their money
.
John
wou
l
dn
’
t appreciate that, now would he.
”

She felt like some saloon girl in an old western movie, shilling for the boss.
“
Fine.
”
She took the beer and down
ed
a gulp. She wasn
’
t a beer kind of girl—and in a Texas town that was saying something
.
Since in
most places
that
was
the only thing
served,
she drank it
but she didn
’
t particularly enjoy it.