All Horns & Rattles: A Baxter Boys Novel

by Jane Charles

  When they break, Nina notices us sitting in the stands and takes us all in with a curious scrunch upon her face.

  “What’s everyone doing here? It’s not like this was a game.”

  “Dylan was worried about your bruises.”

  “I’m fine.”

  She still doesn’t get it by the confused look in her eyes.

  “Your brother thought I was abusing you and came to kick my ass.”

  Nina snorts. “Are you serious?” Then she starts laughing.

  “Told you so,” Mary sings again.

  “You are my sister,” Dylan defends.

  “I’m not a child.”

  “I know, but you were six last time I saw you and I’m still catching up to that, okay.”

  “Okay, but I can take care of myself.”

  “Yeah, I saw that on the field. Don’t do that at home.”

  46

  Every time I think about Dylan and the guys showing up at the gym to pay a visit to Tex, I just have to laugh. I may not have been able to protect myself in the past, but I sure as hell can now. Besides, hitting me wouldn’t even cross Tex’s mind.

  “Hey guys,” I say as I come in the kitchen and get a cup of coffee. This morning I stayed up in my room and got to know my phone. I got the Facebook app working and finally accepted all of Dylan’s friends. Then I found an eBook app, and downloaded that. I need to get a credit card before I can actually get any books though. That could be dangerous to my finances, so I’ll hold off on that for a while. Then I played few games. I knew phones did a lot of things besides making calls and texting. I just hadn’t realized how entertaining they could be.

  I must have been up there a lot longer than I planned because all of the guys are up and none of them came in until like three.

  Mary and Kelsey are sitting at the island while Dylan is frying up bacon. Ryan is in the living room on his computer, where he seems to spend a lot of his time. Christian and Zach are kicked back on the couch, Alex is sketching at one end of the dining room table while Sean goes over plans of some sort or the other. Even with everybody down here the place still doesn’t seem small.

  My phone dings just as I’m getting a cup out for coffee.

  Tex: Dinner tonight. I’ll pick you up at 7

  Nina: Where

  Tex: Jim’s Bistro

  “Jim’s Bistro?”

  “What about it?” Dylan asks.

  “That’s where Tex is taking me to dinner.”

  “Ohhhh, that boy must be serious,” Mary says.

  My heart starts hammering in my chest. “Why?”

  “Fancy and expensive,” Mary says.

  Nina: No. Pick somewhere else

  Tex: Reservations already been made, like on Monday

  Nina: Do you remember what’s in my closet?

  Tex: Good day to go shopping

  Nina: I can’t

  Tex: Yes. You will

  Nina: No

  He doesn’t respond. I keep texting him, but no response, then I try to call and it goes to voicemail. “This is Tex. Can’t answer right now. Leave a message. If this is Nina, I’m not changing my mind.”

  “What’s wrong?” Mary finally asks. Probably because I’m near tears.

  “I can’t go to a place like that?”

  “Why not?” Dylan sets a platter of bacon aside and starts cracking eggs into the skillet.

  “Because my wardrobe contains only sweats, yoga pants, shorts and jeans. Seriously. The only shoes I have are tennis shoes, cleats and winter boots that aren’t exactly fashionable, more practical.” I pull the tie out of my hair. “This hasn’t been cut in four years. Four years! And the closest thing to makeup that I own is a thing of Chapstick. Is he trying to torture me?”

  “Zach,” Mary, Kelsey and Dylan all call at the same time.

  “I heard. Fashion crisis.” He comes in the kitchen. “Well, Nina, I guess it’s time for a makeover.”

  “I can’t afford a makeover. That is why my closet looks like it does and why my hair hasn’t been cut.”

  “All the more reason to get it done.” He grabs his phone and starts typing.

  “Mia?” Mary asks.

  “And Alyssa. The queens of fashion.”

  Before I know what hit me, I’ve had breakfast and been hauled out of the brownstone as soon as Mia and Alyssa show. In less than an hour, they’ve found me the perfect dress, with short heels to match and a purse, and Mia plops down a credit card before I can even ask how much it’s going to cost.”

  “She’s loaded,” Alyssa whispers.

  “I’ll pay you back.”

  Mia just smiles. “Just enjoy. I’m having fun, and you can’t pay me back if you don’t know what anything cost.” She then instructs the clerk to cut off all the price tags and give them to her along with the receipts.

  I’ve got to figure out a way to pay her back because this just isn’t right.

  The next stop is pedicures and manicures, two things I’ve never experienced. The four of us are lined up in a row, with Mia and Alyssa on either side of me so they can get to know me better, while Zach decides my colors. Then we are off to a salon, someone Zach knows, and three inches of dead ends are cut from my hair before it’s layered and thinned. By the time I reach the brownstone I’m exhausted and just want a nap. I’ve never been this tired before, not even after a rugby or soccer tournament. Shopping, especially with these three, should be an Olympic event.

  Zach allows me one hour and then it’s into the shower. When I get out, he is waiting, along with Zoe, Kate, and Joy, who showed up while I was sleeping and came over to meet me.

  “You are not putting the makeup on her that you do on your own face,” Dylan orders.

  “Of course not. Would I mess with the perfection of this face?”

  “How about we not mess with it at all?” I suggest.

  “Then the cosmetics we bought today would just go to waste.”

  I’m not even sure all what he bought, but Zach led me around the makeup counters, held up shades next to my skin and would ask Mia and Alyssa their opinions. Once satisfied, Mia paid for it all. I had to have spent a small fortune today and will need to find out exactly how much so I can pay her back. I’m guessing it was pushing $500.00 just from some of the prices I saw at the places we visited, and all for a date at an upscale restaurant. I would have been happy just to go to the diner, or any burger joint.

  When I come downstairs, Mia and Dylan are standing in the dining room arguing.

  “How much?” he demands.

  Oh shit.

  “I’ll pay you back, I promise.” Somehow, someway.

  “You are not paying her back, I am,” Dylan grounds out.

  “Neither one of you are.” Mia grabs her bag. “I had fun and I wanted to.”

  “I can provide for my sister,” Dylan argues.

  Mia blows out a sigh. “I know. And, you have her. She’s sleeping across the hall.” Then she takes a step forward. “Maybe I needed to do this for me. I’ve never had a sister and never will, and this brought me a lot of happiness after a shitty start to the New Year.”

  Dylan just stares at her and then relaxes before he pulls her into a hug. “You know I love you.”

  “Yep.”

  “Nina,” Zach calls. “Not done with you yet, get up here.”

  What is left to do? With a sigh, I head back upstairs.

  Well this isn’t awkward. Not at all. I showed up about five minutes ago, carrying a bouquet of Asiatic lilies that Joy got excited about, and I have been cooling my heels since. All of the guys, except Zach, are in the living room practicing what I think is the father look for when they have daughters, while the girls are gathered around the dining room table drinking wine.

  They didn’t even offer me a seat, not that there is one to be had, but they left me to stand in the middle of the room after Dylan hollered upstairs.

  “Our princess is ready,” Zach says as he’s coming down the stairs. A moment later Nina a
ppears on the landing and my fucking heart stops and my dick starts to get hard. “Damn!”

  Zach pats me on the shoulder and chuckles as he walks past.

  Her hair is curled and part of it is pulled over her shoulder. “Did you cut your hair?”

  She nods.

  “I really like it.”

  I’ve never seen Nina with makeup before either, but I like it. It’s not much, a neutral color on her eyes, mascara, eyeliner, light blush on her cheeks and a kissable shade of pink on her lips. The only reason I know these things is because I’ve been shopping with my sisters and sat with Julia when she was getting ready for a date enough times to pick up on some things.

  The black dress Nina is wearing has strips of silver through it and is fitted around her perfect breasts and then flares at the waist. It’s just long enough to cover her scars, but not so much that I don’t see her knees and those fantastic calves.

  Even better, she’s wearing a low black heel, a mini boot on her feet.

  I just drink in the sight of her. Nina has always been beautiful, but damn, she is fucking beautiful and hot right now.

  When she gets to me she comes forward and I hand her the flowers. She brings them to her nose and sniffs. “Thank you.” I lean in. “You are so fucking gorgeous. I kind of want to take you off somewhere and keep you to myself.”

  Her grey eyes meet mine. “That would be fine with me,” she whispers.

  “Oh hell no,” Zach says. “The two of you are going out.”

  “Well, I guess I should get my coat.” She opens the closet and reaches for the big old coat that she’s worn for the past two winters and stops. That thing is more for skiing than the dress she’s wearing.

  “Take mine.” Mia takes a long, black coat off a hook and hands it to Nina.

  “Won’t you need it?” she asks.

  “I’m sure Kels has something I can borrow, or one of the guys, if I need it.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  Nina is hesitant. I can tell she’d rather wear the nicer coat than put the old one over her outfit.

  Without waiting for Mia to answer, I take it and help Nina into the coat as Joy comes up and takes the flowers. “I’ll get these in water and put them in your room.”

  “I’ll be really careful and not get anything on it.”

  Mia just smiles and shakes her head.

  “Well, shall we?”

  “Guess so.” She’s all kinds of awkward and I absolutely love it.

  “Have fun, you two,” Zach calls.

  47

  The bistro is only six blocks away so we walk to it. I think this may be the first time I’ve ever been in a dress. The uniforms I had to wear to some of the schools I attended don’t count and they were nothing like this. I feel like a girl. Feminine and girly. It’s odd, but I’m liking it. A lot.

  We are seated immediately, at a corner table that looks out over the street. The tables aren’t right on top of each either so people can have quiet conversations without being overheard. Still, I am trying not to be self-conscious, but I can’t remember eating in such a nice place, with crystal glasses and linen cloths and I pray I don’t spill anything on me.

  Tex gets a glass of wine and I stick with water and then the waiter hands us the menus.

  There are no prices on them.

  Shit! It’s one of those restaurants. Can Tex even afford this? I know what we both make. This could cost like two paychecks and today has already cost enough.

  I study the items and try to figure out what is the cheapest, which is impossible since I don’t recognize a lot of the things, other than steak and shrimp, which I’m sure are expensive.

  “What looks good?” he asks.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “What looks good?” He asks more directly.

  “All of it,” I answer honestly.

  “Would you like me to order for both of us?”

  That does kind of take the pressure off me trying to pick what I think might be the cheapest. “Please!”

  When the waiter returns, Tex orders a stuffed mushroom, scallop and shrimp appetizer plate to share, prime rib, asparagus, and roasted red potatoes. My mouth waters at the main course, but I’ve never had scallops or shrimp before.

  Tex is grinning at me.

  “What?”

  “So timid and nervous. What’s wrong?”

  What’s wrong? I lean in and motion him to come forward. “This is really expensive,” I whisper.

  “How do you know that? There weren’t prices on the menu.”

  “Exactly. That’s the point. No price means lots of money.”

  Tex places his hand over mine. “Don’t worry about it, Nina.”

  “How can I not?”

  He takes a sip of wine and then takes both of my hands. “There is something I haven’t told anyone since I got to New York because it changes how people look at me.”

  What did people in Texas know that we don’t know?

  “I have money.”

  “You what?” No. Not possible. “If you have money, you wouldn’t be working at the gym and living with Miguel.”

  “Just because I have money doesn’t mean I like to spend it. My parents insisted on a humble life, a modest life, no matter how many zeros were at the end of their bank balance. Besides, when people think you have money, they treat you differently.”

  Is he for real?

  “I don’t flash it around. I don’t spend it on frivolous stuff because I can. If I want something, within reason, I get it, but I don’t need a bunch of stuff.” He squeezes my fingers. “What I want to do with it though, is take you to a very nice restaurant, have a fine meal and enjoy your company.”

  I can’t wrap my head around this. He says money, and it shouldn’t matter how much, but there is a huge difference between $500, $5,000 and $500,000. “How does a twenty-one-year-old guy have money?”

  “I got a small part of my trust fund when I turned twenty-one, to help with school and get me started on planning my future.”

  I nearly choke when he says trust fund. Those usually do contain a lot of money. “I’ll get the bulk of it when I’m thirty, when I’m older and wiser and won’t squander it.”

  “How? Why?” Where did this come from? “I didn’t know ranching was such a lucrative business.”

  “Granddaddy found oil back in the day. He left each of his kids and grandkids a share in the company and a trust fund in his will.”

  I sit back and stare at him. I had no clue Tex was from money. When I think of rich kids, I think of the privileged snobs I encountered at a few of my schools. The kids I was never good enough for. Why the hell is he with me? I’m a dirt poor foster kid. My parents cooked meth and went to prison. His father probably sits on the board of some big oil company.

  “I was afraid this would happen and it’s why I didn’t want to say anything.”

  “What?”

  “It’s all over your face, Horns. You just decided we don’t belong together.”

  “I did not.”

  “You were going there.”

  “Well, maybe,” I grumble. Why the hell does Tex want to be around me when he can probably have any girl he wants?

  Has he been fucking just playing around with me?

  No. I dismiss the idea immediately. I’ve known Tex for two and a half years and, if he was a player, I would have known that long before now.

  He squeezes my hands again. “My life may have been all rainbows, roses and unicorns compared to the shit storm you experienced, but both were simply roads that delivered us to where we are now.”

  Is he getting philosophical on me? “Like fate or something?”

  “Yeah, or something.” He grins.

  “We are so different.”

  “We weren’t different when we walked in here tonight. I tell you one little secret and now we are?”

  “It’s not exactly a little secret,” I remind him. “And we are different.”

  “Duh, you gi
rl me boy. Or I wouldn’t be sitting here with you.”

  “It’s more than a difference between boobs and a dick,” I hiss so the other people at the next table can’t hear us.

  “You’re right. It’s our differences that make us who we are. They balance strengths and weaknesses.”

  “Don’t say Yin and Yang.”

  “But it’s true. I don’t care what your parents did or that you were in the system or any of the other shit, except that you were hurt, and that hurts me. But you know what, your experiences also turned you into an amazing person. I love you Nina.”

  “I love you too, Tex.”

  “You know, I’d give you the world if I could, and now that the cat is out of the bag, I might just spoil you.”

  “I don’t need spoiling, and please don’t. But, I may order the decadent molten lava cake for dessert.”

  Halfway through dinner, I remember our conversation during the carriage ride. “So, when you said that you wanted to buy Miguel out when he was ready to sell, that wasn’t a pipe dream.”

  His cheeks turn a little pink. “No. I don’t have that money at my disposal right now, but I’d borrow against my trust fund, with still plenty left over to finance a future.”

  My mind can’t even comprehend that kind of money. “So, I guess that means you’ll be my boss one day instead of the other way around.”

  “Actually, I was thinking more of a partnership, if that’s okay with you.”

  I look into his green eyes and heat floods my body. “I think that would be more than okay.”

  “Best night ever,” I whisper into Nina’s ear. I’m curled around her warm, soft body and don’t want to get up.

  “Yes, it was.” She wiggles her ass against my hard cock.

  “Are you trying to turn this into the best morning ever?”

  She rolls over and looks at me. “What do you think?”

  “I’m thinking that I may not ever want to get out of bed.”