Just Shoot Me (Cowboy Way, #1) (25 page)

Dean tensed beside her and looked down with
concern in his eyes. She forced a smile and looked back at the man
in the suit. He smiled, and closed the book on the
podium.

“
Congratulations,” he said
cheerfully, and Tina’s stomach lurched again.

Dean turned her then lifted her against him to
close his lips over hers in a hot kiss that went on a second too
long. That was when she knew this had actually happened. She was
now Mrs. Tina Dixon, Dean Dixon’s wife. A whimper worked its way up
from her sternum to her throat, but she stopped it from escaping
through her lips by pinching them together.

What the hell had she just done? She had just
saved her niece, helped Dean save his son, and maybe saved herself
in the process. If she had lost Laney, Tina had no idea what she
would do. This morning, she had weighed the odds of finding her
sister, and realized they were next to zero. Texas was a big state.
She could be anywhere. She could have even left the state. The
cowboys she hung out with were on the rodeo circuit. Many different
circuits that traveled all over the country, even to
Canada.

The only thing she could do was say yes this
morning when Dean asked again. This morning his proposal had been a
little softer, with more feeling, but he still hadn’t mentioned
feeling a damned thing for her.

After they met with his attorney, before they
came here, Tina had felt a little better about her decision. She
could petition the court for temporary guardianship since she was a
close relative, then go for adoption in a few years if her sister
didn’t show up. The attorney also confirmed her thoughts on the
situation by telling her it would look better to the court, she’d
have a better chance of getting guardianship and adopting Laney if
she was married.

That had sealed the deal for her. And sealed
her fate too. She was a married woman, and she was moving to Tyler,
Texas to live on the ranch with Dean and his family. At least Hope
would be there too. When things got hairy, and Tina knew that was
likely to happen, she would at least have someone to talk to,
someone in her court.

Dean put his hand at her lower back and
ushered her out of the Judge’s chamber, then guided her down the
hall to the elevator and pushed the button. “You okay, buttercup?”
he asked, looking down at her.

Under the brim of his black hat that he’d put
back on when they left the judge’s office, Tina could see relief in
his eyes. She wished that’s how she felt. As well as Dean was
treating her right now, as
nice
as he was being, she
couldn’t help but believe she had just made the biggest mistake of
her life. But it was the only decision she could make. She would
just have to make the best of it. For Laney. For
herself.

The elevator opened, they walked inside and
Dean smiled down at her. His eyes actually smiled too, and Tina
felt a little better. “We’ll just go back to the apartment and pack
some of your things up, then I’ll get Cord to get a few buddies to
help move the rest of your stuff to the ranch.”

She was moving. To the ranch. With Dean. With
Laney. “We’ll have to get Laney enrolled in the school where Jeremy
goes.”

“
Yeah, there are a lot of details,
but we’ll take care of it,” he said with a squeeze to her
shoulders. “Don’t worry, buttercup. Things will be
fine.”

They drove back to her apartment where Tina
packed up four heaping suitcases, which constituted most of her and
her niece’s things, then Tina walked to the neighbor’s apartment to
pick Laney up. Dean loaded the suitcases into the back of the
truck. Laney asked if they were going on vacation to see her mama.
Tina’s heart broke, and so did the dam holding back her tears.
Laney started crying too. Dean looked like he would lose his mind
as he shuffled them into the truck and headed to Tyler.

With every mile that passed by outside the
window of the truck, Tina’s tension grew. She had no idea how his
family was going to react, how Jeremy and Laney would react, when
they sat them down and told them what they’d done. Now that she
thought about it, what they had done was rash, a knee-jerk solution
to their situations. They could’ve just jumped out of the frying
pan straight into the fires of hell.

A warm hand covered hers on the seat. “Stop
worrying,” Dean said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. But he
wasn’t fooling her at all. Tina heard the worry in his voice too.
But he laced his fingers with hers, and surprised her when he
carried her hand to his mouth to drop a kiss on the back, before he
pulled her toward him. “Come over here, wife,” he said
gruffly.

Tina scooted across the seat to sit beside him
and he dropped his arm around her shoulders. “That’s
better.”

It
was
better. His scent wafted down to
her and she inhaled it, letting it comfort her. So did the
connection she felt with his arm around her. Maybe things would be
fine, she thought. Tina relaxed against Dean, and before she knew
it she drifted off to sleep.

When Dean shook her shoulder, Tina opened her
eyes and looked around, disoriented for a moment. “We’re home,
baby,” he whispered in that sexy growl.

Tina leaned forward and looked over the
dashboard and bit back a groan. There on the front porch of the
ranch house was his mother and father, Dean and Hope and Jeremy.
All of them looked pretty excited to see them.

“
Did you tell them already?” Tina
asked.

“
I called Cord earlier and told
him.”

“
What did he say?” she asked
anxiously.

“
He said it was about time I got my
head out of my ass,” Dean replied with a laugh, then smiled. “I
hate to admit it, but I think he’s right this time.” Dean put his
forearm behind her neck, and bent to drop a gentle kiss on her
lips. “Thanks for marrying me.”

Tina’s heart melted in her chest. He may not
have said he loved her yet, but Dean Dixon just told her without
saying it. The look in his eyes said it. Everything he’d done the
last few days told her that too, she realized.
I show him every
day that I love him
.

His statement to her about not telling Jeremy
he loved him came back to her. That was evidently how Dean
operated. He showed those he loved that he loved them.

“
I’m glad I married you,” Tina said
and her lips wobbled.

His eyes heated, and he drawled, “I think we
need to go hunting tonight.”

“
What?” Tina asked not following
his abrupt change of topic.

The door flew open behind Dean and Hope said
impatiently, “We’ve been waiting hours! Get out here so we can
celebrate!” That answered her question about what his family would
think of them getting married. Dean kissed her quickly, then got
out of the truck and reached back up to help her down.

He dropped his arm around her. “Meet the
newest Mrs. Dixon,” he said proudly, and squeezed her
shoulders.

“
Aunt Tina, what’s going on? Where
are we?” Laney asked groggily from the backseat.

Tina’s happiness faded. Finding out like this
would not be good for Laney. She pulled away from Dean and leaned
back inside the truck. “Nothing baby. We’re just back at the ranch.
Wait a second, and Dean will help you out.”

The backdoor opened, and she breathed a sigh
of relief that he was already there. Now, the fun would begin. She
wondered if Jeremy knew, and glanced back at the front porch. He
stood behind Mrs. Dixon, looking uncertain about what he should be
doing. Tina closed the truck door then walked up onto the
porch.

“
Can I have a hug, Jeremy?” she
asked, opening her arms to him. He took one unsure step, then threw
his arms around her waist. She put her head on the top of his and
hugged him tightly.

“
Does this mean you’re my Mama
now?” Jeremy asked when she released him.

The hope-tinged uncertainty in his voice
tugged at her heart. But how the hell was she supposed answer that
question? Tina didn’t know what she was to him now. She just knew
that she loved the kid. Cared about him. And would fight for him,
just like any mother would.

Well, except for his own.

Laney pulled on the hem of her shirt. Tina
looked down into the girl’s terrified face, and her heart took a
plunge. “If you’re his Mama, who’s gonna take care of me now since
my Mama is on vacation?”

Tina looked over her shoulder at Dean, who was
standing in the yard talking to his brother. They looked to be
having an argument of some kind. Neither was smiling anymore, and
Dean’s fists were clenched at his sides. “I’m going to take care of
both of you,” she replied with determination. It looked like Dean
was going to be too busy arguing with his damned brother to help
her with anything. She pulled both children to her and hugged them.
“We have a lot to work out, but that’s not for you two to worry
about.”

“
And I’ll help,” Hope said,
stepping up to hug them too.

Mrs. Dixon joined the huddle to add her
comforting arms around all of them. “That’s right. We’re all family
now,” she said in a trembling voice. The Dixon women had banded
together, and there was nothing that could penetrate that to hurt
these two kids. Not the loud voices of their men who were out in
the yard arguing, not her squirrely sister, and certainly not
Dean’s horrible ex-wife.

Mr. Dixon’s deep, booming voice joined Dean
and Cord’s very loud
discussion,
and Mrs. Dixon must’ve
decided it was time for them to go inside. She pulled back and
wiped her eyes. “I made cherry cobbler earlier. Ya’ll want some? I
bought ice cream to go with it.”

“
Daddy’ll get mad. It’s too close
to supper,” Jeremy said, glancing at Dean out in the
yard.

Tina ruffled his hair, then leaned close to
his ear to whisper, “We’re celebrating tonight. That cobbler and
ice cream will be our dinner, not dessert. We’ll just hurry and eat
it all before Mr. Cranky Pants comes inside. He can have vegetables
for supper.”

Laney giggled. “Yeah, Mr. Cranky can have the
vegetables.”

Jeremy eyes lit up, and he giggled. “You’re
being bad.”

Tina laughed, and so did the other women, as
they led the kids into the house. They sat the children at the
table, before Tina and Hope got the bowls down from the cabinet.
Mrs. Dixon pulled the hot cherry cobbler from the oven and spooned
some into the bowls, then sat the dish in the middle of the table
on a hot pad.

“
Let me get the ice cream,” she
said with a smile in her voice as she walked to the refrigerator.
The rich pastry and baked cherry smell wafted up to Tina’s nose and
her mouth watered. Mrs. Dixon took the lid off of the ice cream and
put huge scoops on top of each serving of cobbler. “Eat up, before
they come in,” she said with a wink for the kids.

A few hours later, Tina realized they needn’t
have worried about eating fast. It was a long time before Dean and
his father dragged into the house. Way past the kids’ bedtime. Two
hours past the time Mrs. Dixon went to bed. And an hour later than
Hope had finally headed to the bunkhouse.

Tina had no idea where she was supposed to go,
so she just sat on the sofa and waited for Dean to come inside. The
longer she waited for her new
husband
to come inside, the
madder she got. This was their damned wedding night, and he was out
at the barn with his brother and father half the night, probably
arguing. Tina had a feeling their first fight was coming when she
saw his face when he walked into the living room.

He didn’t say anything, he just shook his head
as he breezed past her, huffing out a breath as he walked toward
the hall. Mr. Dixon at least said goodnight, before he followed his
son down the hall. Tina sat there stewing. Her suitcases were still
in the back of the truck, so she didn’t have anything to change
into. She slipped off her boots, pulled her ponytail down then
jerked the hem of her shirt out of her jeans. Grabbing a pillow
from the sofa, she punched it a few times, before she slammed it
down and laid down, wondering just what kind of mess she’d gotten
herself into by marrying Dean Dixon.

“
What the hell are you doing out
here?” Dean asked gruffly, and Tina sat straight up out of a dead
sleep, her heart racing in her chest.

“
Sleeping! What the hell does it
look like?!?” she shot back, putting a hand to her chest. Her eyes
latched onto his wet muscular chest and slid down to the waistband
of his loose pajama pants. Her mouth watered, and she forced them
back up to his face.

“
I thought you’d be in bed when I
got out of the shower,” he said.

“
I might have been if I knew where
your bed was located.”

His eyes widened, and he looked a little
stunned. “I’m sorry.”

“
You should be, mister.” Tina
harrumphed. “I’ve been sitting here for hours waiting for you to
finish your argument and come in, then when you do, you’ve got your
ass over your shoulders and ignore me.”

“
I was upset when I came in. I’m
sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“
Seems to be a habit for you,” she
accused.

“
What, arguing?” he asked tilting
his head. “Or not thinking?”