Cocky in a Cowboy Hat (Crossroads Book 3)

by Em Petrova

  “You should be. You’re stronger than you think, Liberty.”

  When she smiled, he saw the happiness shining in her eyes again. “Thank you for saying that, Aidan.”

  He flexed his arms, bringing her snug against his chest. “Let’s stop in town for some ice cream. Whattaya say?”

  “Hand-dipped?”

  “Hand-dipped, handmade and I’ll hand-feed it to you if you want.”

  Her lips tipped upward. “Mmm, you might be sorry you said that.”

  He cocked a brow. “Try me.”

  “Is that a challenge, Bellamy?”

  “You know I won’t back down from a challenge, sweetheart.”

  Her grin broadened. “Neither do I.”

  * * * * *

  A Bellamy. Could she consider herself part of their family if she’d taken vows under a guise?

  Liberty scattered straw on the floor of the stall. Aidan had crawled out of bed early and headed off to some appointment, and she was grateful for a few minutes alone.

  Spending her nights in his bed…being his wife…both were confusing the hell out of her. She came to Crossroads for very different reasons, and just as she thought she understood her place, the world shifted and left her on uneven ground.

  As she worked, she hummed and then realized the song was one they’d danced to at their wedding reception. She felt herself swaying to it and losing herself to the moment that took place mere days ago.

  Since then, she’d learned she could use a chainsaw and have a lot of fun getting muddy with Aidan’s family. She discovered a new spot on Aidan’s chest was as comfy as her usual, and that sleeping on top of him with his palms planted on her ass was a great way to wake up.

  Eating ice cream with the man proved to be more erotic than most romps in the hay with men from her past. She paused in her work to close her eyes on the vision of him licking a cherry off his sundae.

  A scuff of a boot on the floor had her eyes flying open as a pair of hands landed on her hips.

  “Don’t stop swayin’, baby. I like it.” Aidan helped her sway with him, her backside nestled snug against his hardening erection.

  “I didn’t hear you return.” Her breath hitched as he lowered his lips to her throat and sucked lightly on her pulse point, now hammering.

  “I unloaded the supplies we need for the water line and came lookin’ for you.”

  “Mmm. That feels nice.” She angled her head to allow him full access.

  He twirled her into his arms and pressed her against the stall. Their gazes clashed, and he made a rough sound in his throat that harmonized with her own mewl of desire.

  Hitching her thigh around his hip, she rocked into him.

  “How can I miss you after only being away a coupla hours?” he rumbled.

  She pinched her eyes shut on the sensation of him sucking her earlobe, as his words dropped into her like warm rain. He missed her. He liked her. He wanted to take care of her and help her. Wasn’t all that love?

  Her heart pattered too fast for this to be a casual arrangement. Who was she lying to? She couldn’t deny it anymore.

  She liked Aidan. She missed him. She wanted to take care of him and help him in all ways.

  Was that love?

  He skated his mouth around her cheek to her lips. When she opened for his tongue, they shared another moan and started tugging at restrictive clothes. She got his belt buckle open and he had her top up and his palm on her breast before a loud “Ahem” sounded.

  Aidan jerked his head up and then blocked her body completely with his own. “Doc Powell. I forgot you were coming today to check that horse.”

  Doc Powell? The veterinarian. Oh God. Liberty tugged down her top and went for Aidan’s belt to help him buckle it up before he turned around.

  “I’ll meet ya at the horse enclosure,” Aidan told the doctor.

  “I know the way. Hello, Mrs. Bellamy,” he called out.

  Aidan turned his head to look down at her. She smacked her forehead off his hard chest. “So much for first impressions,” she groaned.

  He laughed and stamped a kiss on her lips. “Don’t worry about him. Wanna come see what he’s doing with the horse?”

  “I’ll stay here and hide.”

  He pinched her bottom. “Don’t cool off too much. As soon as he leaves, I’ll come back and finish what I started.”

  As she watched him walk away, she couldn’t stop herself from staring at his chiseled ass and the sexy way he walked with all the confidence in the world. If she didn’t know the man, she might think he was almost cocky.

  Who was she kidding? When it came to getting what he wanted, he was.

  She took up where she left off in humming the song as she finished cleaning the stalls. She grabbed some grooming supplies and led the new mare Diva from her stall. The horse was still getting accustomed to them, but Liberty found they bonded more while she was brushing the horse. Having a few carrots to treat her with didn’t hurt either.

  She headed into the pen where the horse grazed, and her cell buzzed.

  Whenever she heard that noise, she went stiff. No, more like she froze. Anybody who had her phone number wouldn’t have anything good to say to her.

  Stifling a groan, she brought it to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Liberty, it’s Angela Shapiro from Shapiro and Brown.”

  Of course it was her lawyer. Who else?

  “Hi, Angela.” She set the bucket of grooming supplies on the ground.

  “I think you probably already know my reason for calling.”

  “The fact that my no-good bastard ex stole half the money from my account?”

  “Exactly. Why didn’t you call me as soon as you discovered it?” her lawyer, after a year of working with her, and Liberty providing a nice chunk of her income for that span of time too, at least had some concern in her voice.

  “I’m dealing with this another way. How did you find out?”

  “Redding’s attorney contacted me to alert me that something more would be coming.”

  She set her fist on her hip. “Something more? What could he possibly do to me? Take every penny of my grandpa’s inheritance? Why doesn’t he come for my work boots too, since it’s about all I’ve got left?”

  “How are you dealing with this another way?” Angela pushed, ignoring her rant.

  “Look, you have been a wonderful help to me with my divorce. But he can’t touch me anymore, and that’s why I didn’t contact you.”

  “He is claiming that you received this money before the end of your divorce and you concealed it. Is this true?”

  “Hell no. You know damn well what I had left after he stripped most from me—nothing. Then I received the inheritance, and he hacked my account and took half. That money is a drop in the bucket for him—he did it to stir me up. But he can’t anymore.”

  “You mentioned that. What have you done to protect yourself?”

  “I got married.” She stared toward the pasture where Aidan stood with the vet.

  “Married! Well…congratulations,” she sputtered.

  “Thank you. If Redding has something more to take, tell his attorney that he can’t. If he tries, he’ll deal with my husband. Goodbye, Angela. Thanks again for everything.”

  She couldn’t end the call fast enough. Then she stood there, breathing hard with fury and frustration. Would it ever end?

  * * * * *

  Aidan took one look at the slump of his wife’s shoulders and he closed the gap between them. “Liberty.” He placed his hands on her hips.

  She didn’t turn or even move.

  He spun her to face him and searched her eyes. “What happened?”

  Her cheeks were red and sparks shot from her eyes. “My ex happened. He’s trying to stir things up again.”

  “How?” His tone took on an edge of steel.

  “He had his lawyer call my lawyer and say that something more is coming.”

  “Goddammit. This has to stop.” He dropped his han
ds from her and started toward the house.

  “Where are you going?” She jogged to catch up to him.

  He kept putting one foot in front of the other, focusing on reaching the house and picking up the phone rather than hop in his truck and drive to her ex’s house, wherever the hell that was, and show him the kind of hell Aidan was capable of putting a man through.

  “Makin’ a call,” he answered her.

  “Who are you calling?” She jumped in front of him.

  He gently moved her out of his way. “I’m putting a stop to this. I’ll show that son of a bitch the meaning of pain.”

  She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him to a stop. “Aidan, you can’t call him up. I already said we’re handling it.”

  He met her golden brown gaze. “And I will. Nobody will hurt my wife.”

  She slashed her fingers through the air. “I’m your wife in name only.”

  His brows shot up as he leveled her in his stare. “Keep tellin’ yourself that, Liberty.”

  She allowed him to step around her and continue to the house. That morning he’d shared coffee with his lawyer and the paperwork was right this minute being drawn up. A cease and desist against her ex would be a start. If the man continued to escalate the situation, then Aidan would slap him with a harassment lawsuit. As it was, they were tossing around whether or not to take him to court for stealing those funds out of Liberty’s account or if the amount would be worth the trouble. At this point, he felt like pouring years and thousands into suing the asshole for everything he had only to get his point across.

  In the house, he picked up the phone and stopped a moment to think. Instead of phoning his lawyer again or trying a directory in order to locate Liberty’s ex, he called Cort.

  “What’s up?” Cort answered after a few rings.

  “You gotta stop me from killin’ a man, Cousin.”

  “Oh fuck. Now that might be fun to watch. Who you dragging off to the woods?”

  “Liberty’s ex-husband. He’s stolen from her and now he’s harassing her again through their lawyers. If I go put a stop to it, I’ll end up in prison.”

  “Can’t have that now,” Cort’s drawl calmed him as he hoped it would. “I thought you mentioned seeing your lawyer today.”

  “I did.”

  “Get it taken care of then?”

  “Waitin’ on paperwork. But I’m thinking of pressing charges.”

  “I can hear you’re pissed, Aidan, but give it a few minutes to calm down. Cool off a bit.”

  “And if I can’t?” he grated out through his clenched jaw.

  “Then Kaoz and I will back you up. Even if it means making somebody disappear. You know we can uncap that old well on the Bellamy easy enough.”

  For a moment, Aidan saw nothing but his haze of red fury. Then it cleared and he processed what his cousin said. He sighed. “We take care of our own, and Liberty is mine,” he said in a hard tone.

  “Same as Joss is for me. We’ll protect Liberty in all ways too, man. Never worry about that. Calm down for now. Take a walk. Look at the land that belonged to our great-grandmother and dream about how to make that water system work for the herd. Okay?”

  “Yeah.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “You all right, man? Do I need to send the Bellamy posse after you?”

  He dropped his hand. “I got it. I’m in control now.”

  “Good. I’ll call you in a couple hours to make sure.”

  When Aidan ended the call, he bowed his head. Some of his anger trickled away but when he thought of Liberty’s statement that she was his wife in name only, it flooded in full force. Is that what she believed? He was in love with the woman, and she felt a helluva lot more for him than she admitted to.

  He shook his head. That would come in time—or it wouldn’t. But either way, he would still protect her. He guarded what was his…and she had become his world.

  * * * * *

  Keep tellin’ yourself that, Liberty.

  The words echoed inside her—had haunted her dreams and the last few waking hours of her day. She hadn’t seen Aidan since that talk, and she didn’t know if she was ready to.

  He basically called her out for denying they were more to each other than…

  They were more.

  Lovers, yes. Friends, absolutely. Partners in fun had recently been added to the list. Also, he’d stepped in as her support system. She’d gone to him with her troubles—even allowed him to try to fix them. They woke up beside each other and fell asleep in each other’s arms, totally sated from lovemaking. They shared work, chores and their passion for ranching.

  If that isn’t what makes up a marriage, I’ll eat my boot.

  She felt herself slowly swirling but pictured Aidan holding her afloat.

  Her hasty words had come out harsh and stung him. His grimace and the flash of fire in his blue eyes told her as much.

  She never wanted to hurt Aidan, but hadn’t she been careless with his feelings, thoughtless too, while he did nothing but give her a chance to protect herself?

  Thinking hard on it, she could have fought Redding on her own, but instead she chose to stay and to plan a whirlwind wedding to a man she didn’t know all that long. What had made her do it?

  She liked him. She lusted after him.

  She…

  Loved him.

  Nearly doubled over with the shock of the realization, she dragged in deep breaths.

  In a time when the last thing she was looking for was a man to love, fate brought them together all because she lost a bid to him. She could have lost that bid to anyone sitting at the auction that day, but it had been Aidan.

  Her life would have taken a very different turn if not for everything he’d given her—a job, a purpose in life, more confidence, a safe haven in his arms.

  “I do love him,” she whispered, straightening.

  She ran to the fence, gripped the top rail and heaved herself up and over it. When she landed on the other side, she took off running toward the garage—the place where they’d danced to George Strait and cut their wedding cake, stuffing crumbs in each other’s mouths.

  She’d been kidding herself that their marriage was a sham, when it was the furthest thing from it.

  “Aidan!” She spotted his parked truck but saw no sign of the man. She ran around the garage and scoured the land for him. She didn’t see that sexy dip of his hat or the roll of his shoulders as he strode across the field.

  Her stomach plunged, and she whirled to the house. Her feet beat across the ground. As she reached the porch, she called for him again while leaping the steps. He came to the screen door, brows etched with concern.

  When he saw her face, he pushed the screen open. “What happened?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. Everything. Aidan—”

  “I’m about to head into town. Will you go with me?” The direct way he looked at her left her trembling on the inside.

  “I’m dusty from chores.”

  “You’re fine.”

  “Aidan, I’m sorry about earlier. What I said—”

  “You were upset, rightfully so.” He assessed her for another heartbeat, but in the end he didn’t say more on the subject. “You ready to go?”

  “Yes.”

  With her nerves skittering, she followed him to the truck and climbed in. Seeing his hard profile stopped all the words she planned to say. He almost wore a mask.

  They drove in silence the few miles into Crossroads, past the winery she always wanted to stop at and browse the shelves. The quaint streets were dappled with shade thrown by the trees planted next to the sidewalks, and pedestrians window-shopped or carried bags of delights from the bakery.

  As they passed the coffeeshop, she saw a few couples seated at the outdoor tables, enjoying each other’s company over coffee.

  She swung her head to look at Aidan. Without speaking, he stared back before turning his attention to the road once again. She didn’t ask about their destinatio
n. When he pulled into a spot along the street, she read the sign over the building they stopped in front of.

  “Your attorney?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Since Crossroads is a small town, he only practices out of this office once a week, and he happens to be in.”

  “What are you doing, Aidan?”

  For the first time, his expression softened to that of the man she knew. “If everything goes well, we’ll grab ice cream on the way home to celebrate.”

  Before she could respond, he dropped her a wink and hopped out of the truck. She sat there, fingers knotted in her lap, wondering what he could be doing that would be a cause for celebration.

  She waited for a few minutes and then fiddled with her appearance in the visor mirror—combing her fingers through her hair and smoothing the flyaway strands. She placed her hat on her head again and examined her reflection. Did she look like a woman in love?

  Staring out the window now, she took in the sights of Crossroads. Up the road a short distance she made out the signs for the park and knew the town square with the big fountain would be filled with young mothers and small children at this hour of the day. Little kids tossing pennies into the fountain. And on the Fourth of July, the town shone red and blue lights on the water in honor of their nation’s birthday.

  She loved this town, and the few weeks she’d spent here had been the best of her life.

  When the driver’s door opened, she swiveled in the seat to look at Aidan.

  He dropped behind the wheel and started the engine. She noticed a business envelope tucked into the breast pocket of his chambray shirt.

  She linked her fingers in her lap again and shot him glances as he drove the few blocks to the ice cream shop. At the parking lot, they passed the massive wooden cutout of a twist cone.

  He stopped the truck and put it into park.

  “Does this mean you have good news?” she asked him.

  That crooked grin she’d grown to live for tipped one corner of his lips. He reached for the door handle and climbed out. She did the same. They converged at the front and moved into the short line of people grabbing early lunches of hot dogs and hamburgers.

  “Do you want lunch?”

  “I’m not that hungry,” she admitted. Her stomach still did somersaults after what she said to him about being his wife in name only, and not knowing what he was up to at the attorney’s office.