Second Song Cowboy (Second Chance) (18 page)

“Waiting for you, cowboy.” The words oozed
past her lips like warm honey.

“G
et dressed.” He took a step back.

“Come on, Dante. You know you’ve missed me…and this.” She opened her thighs
wider and he got a peek of pink lips. Her musk entwined with floral and it made his stomach turn. Then the blast of whiskey.

“Thi
s isn’t going to happen,” he growled.

Cassie slid across the leather until her legs hung over the side of the seat, dangling her feet. Bringing her hands up, she tangled her fingers into the lapel of his shirt. “I’m horny and you know what happens when I’m horny.” Her eyes turned to dazzling orbs of promise. Too bad he wouldn’t touch her now or ever again. “I want to suck your cock until you come in my mouth.
You liked when I did that.”

He gulped. He’d fallen for this—her wanton behavior—before. She could suck a dick like a professional, but the only image his mind conjured was a strawberry blo
nde with spiral curls and lovely green eyes. And his baby. His balls shriveled. A naked woman in his truck wasn’t good—not in the slightest.

“No
, thank you. Now, put your clothes back on. I’m busy.” He reached past her, grabbing her clothes from the passenger floorboard. “And you’re drunk.”

“I can handle my liquor. And I can handle big tools.” She gras
ped his belt buckle and started to fumble with the metal. “No man can fill me like you.”

He gently grasped her wrists and pushed them away. “What you and I had, it’s over.”

“Don’t lie to yourself. We’ve always been good at ripping the sheets.” He jerked when she squeezed his crotch.

He held out her shirt. “Take this and put it on.” His patience grew thin.

She grabbed it and gave it a toss over her shoulder. “How about we go back to my place where I can show you how much I’ve missed you.”

“Damn!”
He forced the word through tight lips. “What do you not understand?” Her fingers dipped into his waist and she tugged.

Her bottom lip stuck out. “Fine. I’ll put on one piece of clothing with each kiss you give
me. Fair?”

He’d forgotten how
thoughtless she could be when drunk. He didn’t like this side of her. “No kissing. No touching. Nothing. Got it? You can sit here and I’ll walk away. My—” Calling April his girlfriend seemed less than what she was to him. She hadn’t agreed to marry him, making fiance an assumption. But he rolled with it. “—fiance is having a baby.” He took a step, but her fingers dipped into his crotch and she pressed her body against his, wrapping her legs around his waist.

He heard the
footsteps about the same time he heard the gasp. His chest tightened as he looked through the windshield, meeting April’s shocked glare. “Fuck!”

Cassie giggled and snuggled up closer. “Yes, let’s do.”

Dante looked from April to Dillon and Peyton’s confused narrowed gaze. All three of them were staring as seconds ticked by like centuries. With haste, he untangled himself from Cassie’s limbs. “Shit! Shit!”

“O
h my. Busted!” Cassie laughed. She blew an air kiss toward their audience.

Once he was detangled, he stepped away from the truck. “April. It’s not what it looks like.”

Several emotions flicked across her features—confusion, sadness and then settled on anger. “I’m sure you have an explanation, but I just don’t care to hear.” Her voice was deathly eerie.

“April, just listen…” He darted toward her, but she held up a hand to stop him.

“I want to go home.” She turned to Peyton. “Can I catch a ride with you?”

“Yes.” Peyton shot Dante
a look of disapproval.

He
felt a hand squeeze his elbow. He looked down into Cassie’s glassy eyes. At least she’d pulled her shirt on, although turned inside out and it barely covered her butt cheeks. He jerked his arm away. “April Rayne! Oh my God! I am your biggest fan.” Cassie’s voice was close to a squeal. “Oh my…are you and her…well…” Her venom laughter scraped his nerves. “I can’t believe this. April Rayne is the baby mama. Holy cannoli!”

April turned back, her shoulders high and her chin cocked. A look of murder spread over her features as she marched toward them. Cassie was still laughing and apparently didn’t see the warning glowing bright in April’s narrowed expression. “April?” Dante stepped forward.

She didn’t even acknowledge him as she lifted her hand high and brought it down with a sounding crack against Cassie’s cheek. The other woman’s laughter fizzled as shock widened her eyes. “Now go get some clothes on,” April said through clenched teeth.

Turning
on heel, April started walking and Dante took a step after her. Dillon blocked his path. “Trust me, brother, now’s not a good time. Clean up the mess here and give April some time to absorb tonight.” His brother patted him on the shoulder then followed April and Peyton.

“That—that fucking bitch! I’ll get her back!” Cassie seethed.

Dante turned, nailing her with his anger. “No you won’t.” He stomped to his truck, grabbed her remaining clothes and tossed them into the parking lot. “Hopefully you’ll wake up in the morning and see how despicable of a human you’ve become. You have no friends. No job—” Seeing her blink, he shook his head. “—yes, I know you got fired.” He climbed into the driver’s side, started the engine and didn’t look back as he drove away.

Chapter
Seventeen

“GET UP!”

Decklan
d’s voice seeped into Dante’s slumber. “Leave me the hell alone!”

“
Time to wakey, wakey. You can’t sleep your life away.”

Cold
swept across Dante’s nude body. He reached for the covers, but came up empty. “Give me the sheet back.” He opened one eye. Deckland stood above him, waving the blanket back and forth like a matador teasing a bull. “What the hell is wrong with you, Deck?”

“I refuse to watch you slither back into misery. It’s time you did something ab
out this slump you’re in.” Dante grabbed for the cover but Deckland was faster.

“Go to hell!” H
e rolled back onto the mattress and pulled the pillow over his head.

“You should know that April is planning to go back to Nashville.”

His brother’s words made Dante flinch. He tossed the pillow and rose up on elbow. “Maybe it’s for the best.” His gut clenched. “I’ve done what I can to make things right and everything still turns to shit.”

“Who are you kidding?” Deckland threw the blanket onto the end of the bed, knocked the clothes out of the high back chair and took a seat.

“It’s not a joking matter. I wasn’t there when April needed me most. That psycho bastard could have seriously hurt her backstage.” The thought of some maniac touching her made every muscle on his body tighten and burn. When Dillon had told Dante what had happened in the hallway, he’d wanted to punch a hole in the wall. He’d meant to do best by April, but he’d fucked up, even when he’d tried very hard to do better. Just like everything up until this point. He was a major screw up—he didn’t want to screw up his kid’s life.

“Damn, bro, that wasn’t your fault. Shit like that happens. I know you feel guilty because you want to protect her, but
you can’t babysit her. We learn from our mistakes.”

Dante tore his hand through his hair as he eyed the
half-empty whiskey bottle sitting next to his bed. He’d taken three drinks out of it last night then recapped it, falling asleep with April on his mind. She’d filled his dreams, just like she’d occupied every waking moment. He couldn’t believe it’d been a week since he’d seen her when it felt more like years. “I didn’t do anything with Cassie. She snuck into my truck and I found her naked. She was drunk and thought she could convince me to sink back into her web.”

“I believe you.” Deckland sighed. “But April needs an explanation.”

“I tried but she walked away.”

“And this would be the time to do some chasi
ng.” Deckland shook his head. “Haven’t you learned anything?”

“Y
eah, but no matter what I touch it turns to hell.” He buried his face into his palms.

“Stop
feeling sorry for yourself, knucklehead. Step up. April has a good head on her shoulders.”

He looked at Deckland over the tips of his fingers. “I went out to my truck to get the ring I had hidden there. I wanted to ask her to marry me after the show.”

“You bombed. Yet, not the end of the world. But it will be if she takes off and leaves you here for me to take care of. I love you, bro, but if you let her walk away then you’re doomed.” Deckland chuckled. “Who else could slap Cassie hard enough to knock the lip tint off her lips?”

“You heard, huh?”

“Every detail. Damn, wish I’d been there.”

A smile tickled the corners of Dante’s lips. “You should have seen the look on Cassie’s face. I think I heard the earth crack from the pressure.”

“Maybe Cassie will get the hint and leave well enough alone.” He sat up and braced his elbows on his knees. “April’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Don’t let pride blur your future.”

****

April wiped her eyes and blew her nose for the umpteenth time. She looked over top the soiled tissue into Peyton’s sympathetic gaze. “You must be glad that I’ll be leaving and you won’t have to watch me cry anymore.”

“I cry too. It’s hormones,” P
eyton assured her.

“I haven’t seen you cry once
. You seem balanced and I seem a wreck.”

Shrugging
, Peyton played with the fringe on the comforter on April’s bed. “If I was experiencing with Dillon what you’re experiencing with Dante I’d be a walking faucet.”

“I know how Dante is, his bad boy reputation and love for the opposite sex hasn’t changed,” she huffed and tossed in another shirt into th
e open suitcase. Peyton frowned as April’s shoulders slumped. “You saw what I did, Peyton. How can there be an explanation? An ex doesn’t just show up naked in a man’s truck. He looked awfully cozy if you ask me.”

“If we were talking about the
Dante from years ago, I’d believe he acted out of stupidity. But I know Dante, and he’s different. Not only has he changed, but you’re the difference in him. I see it in the way he looks at you. I know he wouldn’t risk that for anything, especially over a woman who doesn’t hold a candle to you. I can’t tell you what you should do because you have to live with your decision. I can say that Cassie is like a poison that has seeped into this family in one way or another.”

“
I know that she was once engaged to Dillon. Dante told me the story. She’s a real piece of work.”

Peyton
nodded. “I almost feel sorry for her. She’s her own worst enemy. In her attempt to come between Dillon and me, she made a real mess. I took a step aside and watched. If he wanted her, then I knew I didn’t want him. When he didn’t give her the time of day, this made her even more dangerous. I wondered when she’d pop up again, spreading her venom.”

April plopped to the edge of the bed and sniffed back another round of tears.
“I’ve been hurt by a lot of people—my mother, my father, friends who weren’t friends at all, and a husband who cheated. All of this has made it difficult to trust.”

“Oh, s
weetie, don’t I understand. I was married to the dictionary version of untrustworthy. In fact, I think I knew who he was long before I knew what I needed to do. Even after we divorced, he’d still come around and spread his evil charm. It took me a long time to realize I was just a pit stop.”

“Does he have anything to do with Oliver?” April’s tears fi
nally dried up.

“Every two years, almost to the exact day
, he bee-bops in and swears he’s going to be a superhero dad. What he ends up being is a dud. For so long I felt guilty, and gave him opportunity after opportunity to be a father. It wasn’t long that Ollie started seeing his father’s discrepancies. Now, my son is happy and Dillon is an awesome step-dad.”

April
nervously played with the hem of her shirt. “Growing up, I felt more like baggage to my parents than a daughter. I’m not saying they never loved me, because I know they did, but they always seemed preoccupied with work and traveling to every exotic place they could find. Thankfully, I had some great nannies along the way, although I’ve always wanted—craved—my mother’s attention.”

Peyton nodded. “Does she know about the baby?”

“I left her a message. Imagine a daughter telling her mother in a message that she’s pregnant. That’s our relationship in a nutshell.” April sighed, releasing all of the disappointment. “I should finish packing. Any more time here and my manager will come searching for me. He’s already doing damage control and keeping the media far away from here.” Rolling her eyes, she went to the dresser, grabbed a handful of clothes and shoved them in with the rest.

“I’m going to miss you, Apri
l. You promise you’ll come visit?”

“I promise. And you must come to Nashville.”

They hugged and for the first time in a long time, April felt roots tugging at her. If only things could have been different.