Last of the Red-Hot Cowboys (25 page)

Trace shook his head at Ava ever so slightly. She looked at Judy, took a deep breath. “Steel isn't interested in Ivy, Judy. We shouldn't go out there again.
You
shouldn't.”

“Well, aren't you cute telling me what to do,” Judy said.

Ava sighed. “I'm not. I'm saying last night hurt people.”

Trace got up. “Ava, come on.”

“Where are you going, Trace?” Judy asked, her tone silky. “Ava's on my team. I'm interested in hearing what she has to say. Stay in your seat, Ava.”

Cameron and Harper's mouths had fallen open. Trace grabbed Ava's hand. “She can't right now, Judy. I'm putting her on Rory's bull tonight, to let her get the feel of what she's going to be defending. So if you'll excuse us, ladies, we'll be heading off.”

He practically dragged her from Redfeathers.

“What do you think you're doing?” Ava demanded.

“Saving you.”

His tone was grim, his hold on her determined. “I didn't say anything but the truth,” she said.

“The truth is fine, to anyone but Judy. We don't speak quite so plainly to our mayor.” He unlocked his truck, fairly pushed her inside. “Seat belt.”

He went around to his side, started the truck, hit the road without glancing back at Redfeathers.

“What has gotten into you?” Ava asked.

“You were about to get fired,” Trace said, “and if you don't mind, I'm not ready
for that to happen.”

“Fired? She can't fire me for speaking the truth. Look at your arm! And your brothers have disappeared. We're all supposed to act like that didn't happen when it could have been much worse?”

He pulled into his driveway, took hold of her face, kissed her deeply, making her think about last night. Not that she could forget; her mind had played over every glorious moment a million times today. She moaned into his mouth, wishing already that they were naked together.

She pulled back when he released her, a little stunned.

“Were you sitting at the table tonight pretending that
that
didn't happen last night?” Trace demanded. “Not everybody wears their heart on their sleeve. Judy had already apologized to me privately.”

“I'm sorry. I didn't know. You're right, I shouldn't have opened my mouth.”

He got out of the truck, opened her door. “No. You shouldn't have. Not to anyone but me.” He kissed her hard, making her knees weak and her head swim. “It was cute as hell to hear you trying to defend me, buttercup. I don't need defending, but that's when I knew that you really are cut from Judy's cloth. You like me, but you're going to act like you don't. That's okay. I know just what to do about that.”

He wrapped her legs around his waist, carrying her to the door, taking them inside, slamming the door with a backward kick.

“Put me down.”

“I don't think so.”

He lightly bit her neck, nuzzled and then kissed that same spot. Shivers ran up her back.

“Last night can't happen again. To any of us.”

He kissed her hard, blowing her mind. “I haven't even begun to make love to you. Are you sure you don't want last night to happen again?” Trace asked.

Ava looked into Trace's eyes, startled by his question. “Do you? Want last night to happen again?”

He seemed to consider her words forever. Just as he was about to tell her, a knock at the door interrupted his words.

“Stay right here. I have an answer to that question. And it has to do with getting you out of that sexy skirt.”

He left the den, went to the front door. “Why did I have a feeling it would be you?” Ava heard Trace say, and she craned to see who was out there.

Buck walked in, grinning when he saw Ava. “Hope I'm not interrupting anything.”

“Nothing at all,” Ava said coolly. “In fact, I was just going.”

“No you're not.” Trace looked at Buck. “Buck's leaving. After he says his piece.”

He glanced at Trace's arm. “Wondered if you had to get stitches.”

“Yeah, and if I find out who threw that bottle, they're going to wish they hadn't.” Trace shrugged. “You folks need to calm things down out there.”

Buck glanced at Ava. “Can we talk privately?”

“I'd rather not,” Trace said, sighing, “but what the hell. The suspense is killing me. Ava, do not move.”

Of course she crept to the door to listen when they went outside. What red-blooded woman wouldn't?

“Ivy's planning to bring charges against Judy.”

“So why are you telling me?” Trace asked. “And what charges?”

“A host of them, but basically trespassing and inciting a riot.”

“It's a public place.”

“You know as well as I do that Judy's been told to stay away from the Honky-tonk. That was the agreement in the settlement last summer.”

Ava's blood froze.

“What do you want me to do about Ivy?” Trace asked. “If she's going to file a complaint, or a lawsuit, that's her business. I can't stop her.”

“No one can. All I'm saying is that you have to keep Judy away from the Honky-tonk. And keep her away from Ivy. It affects everyone, and you might consider that it even affects your girlfriend in there.”

Girlfriend?
It had a nice ring to it—but Trace had never tried to nail down their relationship.

“Why are you telling me this? We're not exactly friends,” Trace said.

“I don't want to be your friend. To be honest, being your enemy is fine. But Wild Jack doesn't want any more trouble out there. He says it's bad for business. Judy's trouble—she's always stirring the pot, and you can't deny that.”

“She also does a lot of good. Since she came here fifteen years ago, she's taken us from being a backwater to at least being sometimes civilized.”

“Ivy likes it rough. She likes Hell being uncivilized. This team Judy's brought in is just her way of trying to tip the scales. If she can get you lot married off, that's three less men for Ivy.”

“Not that I spend that much time at the Honky-tonk,” Trace said.

“Well, there was a time—”

“A while back,” Trace said, and Ava's blood ran colder.

“Don't act like you weren't in love.”

“You know anything about dead chickens at Rory's place?” Trace asked, and Ava closed her eyes. He hadn't denied being in love with someone out at Ivy's. What Judy had told her, when she'd brought her to Hell, was to convince Trace to take her on. Sweet-talk him.

Buck was right: Judy was bringing women to Hell who would entice the men to settle down—and not with Ivy's girls. She'd seen Ivy's girls, and most of them were lookers, some even stunning. Judy would have seen what Hell would become if Ivy lured the bachelors out to her place.

Judy would fight that tooth and nail.

Ava had been a pawn.

“Chickens?” Buck asked. “Dead chickens? That's not good. Waste of money.”

“Why was the judge seeing Wild Jack last night?”

“Now, that is none of your business.”

“It's my business if you want me to keep Judy away from Ivy,” Trace said.

“Wild Jack is doing a little business with the judge. Not sure what it is, so don't ask me. Whatever it was got sidelined last night, after Judy's little stunt. He was not pleased.”

“No one was pleased.”

“I'm shoving off,” Buck said. “But just remember, what affects Judy also affects that lady of yours. I'm willing to bet she doesn't know what she's gotten herself into in Hell.”

Ava scrambled back to the sofa, her heart somehow feeling like it was dying.

Trace walked into the den, sat on the sofa opposite her. “I'm sure you pulled a Judy and heard every word, so I don't have to fill you in.”

She stared at him. “I'm probably not as good at it as Judy, but I gave it my best shot.”

He nodded. “Then you know that we've got big trouble.”

Ava didn't know what to say. Her mind whirled with everything she'd heard. But none of it could be erased. Everything Buck had said had happened was part of Hell's history—and she couldn't become part of Judy's determined game against her rival.

Trace looked at her. “Hell isn't your home, Ava. You don't have to get caught up in this.”

She stared at him.

“In fact, it would be best for you if you didn't. Whatever you came here for isn't what you're involved in now. Or may become involved in. Maybe you're okay with that.” He got up, paced the room. “But you need to be aware of the situation. If Ivy brings any kind of lawsuit, you will be dragged in, either as a character witness or as a witness to what happened last night. If Buck showed up at my door to tell me this, Ivy's serious.”

She nodded. “I got that.”

“There's nothing keeping you here.”

She nodded again. “I know that, too.”

He sat down again, across from her, not near, not about to touch her. Keeping his
distance, giving her space. “Were you really in love with one of Ivy's girls?”

“Yes.”

She blinked at his honesty, took a deep, shuddering breath. “Are you going to tell Judy that she can't go back to Ivy's?”

“No.”

She rubbed her arms, suddenly cold. “Why not?”

“Because no one tells Judy anything. If a lawsuit or a citation happens, we'll deal with that then. But if I—or you—tell Judy not to do anything, she'll do it at top speed. One does not throw down a challenge to our mayor.”

“Do you want to take me home?”

“No. I don't.” He came to her on the sofa, sat next to her, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don't want to take you home. But the last thing I want you to do is get involved with the day-to-day business of Hell. Everyone plays rough here.” He kissed her hand, holding her fingertips against his lips for a moment. “You didn't come here for this. That's just a fact. It's not fair to you to get drawn into something like this. You're a serious rider. Even if you never get to bullfight, you're still an amazingly talented rider. You've got a great horse. You can do a lot of things. If I was you, I'd look cold and hard at my options, and more than likely realize I had a lot brighter future elsewhere.”

* * *

It killed Trace to say that. He could smell Ava's sweet perfume, was pretty much smoked by her wide eyes as they stared at him so trustingly. But he had to be honest. She didn't belong here. The game was too rough in Hell. The other two, Cameron and Harper, they were cut from a little bit stronger cloth. He'd known from the start that they might be bullfighters, but Ava was, as his brothers had said, too much of a thinker, too cautious.

Pretty much like him.

He wasn't about to let her get bulldozed by the rules of the game in Hell. Something had gotten amped up last night, seriously amped, and Buck was just being honest by reminding him that Judy'd already been served a cease-and-desist order last year.

“You're not going to teach me bullfighting, are you?”

“I planned on it.” He shook his head. “The fact is, everything you said was right about Judy, and you said it to her face. None of us will do that. We love her too much. You care about her, too, but you're honest.” He sighed. “I'm beginning to think she didn't have much of a plan in bringing you here, outside of you catching a man. I think you're sort of a pawn, and I respect you too much to train you and pretend you're going to be happy here. I don't think finding a man was your goal, or even anything you wanted.”

She shook her head, her eyes huge. “It wasn't.”

“So. I owe you honesty, because you've given that to us. Now that you know that Judy has run you through one of her well-meaning, but misdirected plans—”

“It cost an awful lot of money to bring us here. And Wild Jack offered to sponsor us. I think Judy didn't have a fully formed plan when she hired us, but I do believe her plan developed more shape as it ripened. I respect Judy for a lot of things. Coming here wasn't a waste, not from where I sit.”

He hoped not. He wished like hell Ava could find a place in this town; wished like hell he wasn't the one who was trying to send her away. But he preferred honesty. She was an amazing woman, and heaven only knew he was falling for her.

But he didn't have anything more to offer her than Judy did.

“I find it really hard to believe you were in love with any woman out at the Honky-tonk.”

He shrugged. “Now that I think about it, she was probably just as much of a pawn as you are. Dee is a sweet, sweet girl, and I don't think she'd ever seen the inside of a bar, much less anything like Ivy's joint. She was a sister of someone working there, and fell on hard times. Ivy brought her on, and I went out on a call with Steel, meeting her on her first night. We dated for nearly a year.”

“And then?”

“Then I told her the same thing basically I'm telling you. That Hell was probably no place for her.”

Ava looked curious. “You weren't interested in a long-term relationship?”

“No. That would have been a bad decision on both our parts. I hadn't been back
from the war long. I really didn't have anything to give her.” He sighed, the memories hard. “As I began to get the Outlaws Training Center off the ground, I spent more and more time with the business: traveling, the occasional rodeo, helping Rory Nunez with the bulls at rodeos. All these things took a toll. We put everything we had into the business in the beginning. Money, our time, blood and sweat.”

“What happened to her?”

Now, that part hurt even worse. He wished he didn't have to tell her. “Well, I'd like to say Dee took my advice and moved away, found herself a great guy, got a degree, and had a houseful of kids. But she's still there.”

“At Ivy's?” Ava stared at him.