Cowboy Kind of Reckless
Page 2
The beams from her headlights illuminated a porch swing and a dying geranium in a hanging basket. From somewhere nearby, a barn owl let out a hoot.
Nolan remained rooted to the seat of her truck.
“You gonna get out or…” She gestured at the door.
“I’m gonna die alone in there.” Utter devastation carved lines on his face.
“What?”
“Tiff left me. She was pretty much my one hope for settling down.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’m not good at long-term relationships. They just kinda fall apart. Tiff stayed with me. She made me think… Austin’s got a family and I’ve got…this big, empty house.”
“Can’t help you there, tiger. I’m sure there’s another fish in the sea with your name on her. So get out of my truck, sleep it off, and start again in the morning.”
“You are really—” He stared at her. “You’re not nice.”
Like she cared what he thought about her. Keeping an edge meant nobody tried to get close to her. She wanted it that way. “So they tell me. Have a good night, Locke.”
He found the handle and pushed the door open. “Thanks for the ride.”
He no more than put one foot on the ground than tumbled out into his driveway. “Ow.”
Jody muttered a curse, then got out. She rounded the truck, hands on her hips. “How did you—”
Nolan hadn’t caught himself this time. He’d smacked his face right into the gravel. Blood gushed from his nose. “’M okay. You can go.” He pressed his hand to it, cringed, but left it there. All that did was smear more blood around.
“You really are a mess. Let’s get you up.” She hooked one arm beneath his shoulders and heaved.
He rose with her help. “Sorry.”
How many times had she helped her dad into the trailer after he’d been out all night drinking? Way too many to count. What was one more guy, even if he was practically a stranger? “It’s probably happened to all of us at one time or another. Is the door locked?”
“No.”
“Not very smart.”
“Never claimed to be.” He wiped blood on his jeans. “C’mon in.”
She took her hands off him to open the door. “I assume you have first aid supplies?”
“Bathroom down the hall.”
The foyer broke off to a sitting room and a hallway. As Nolan wobbled his way into the sitting room, she took the hallway.
What am I doing here? Taking pity on a moron. At least her good deed for the year would be complete when she left. Jody scoffed at herself. She’d thought telling Will about their dad was a good deed too, but it had turned into a pain in her ass.
She found a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide, bandages, and ointment in a cabinet with a mirror over the bathroom sink. Wetted a wash cloth for Nolan’s nose, suds up another for cleaning off his hands, and one more to wipe away the soap, then headed back with the supplies to find him.
He sat on a couch that had a plastic cover on it, head in his bloody hands. Nolan looked up, his dark blue eyes a little bloodshot. “You can go if you want.”
“I should.” She settled on the coffee table in front of him and passed him the wet cloth.
“The coffee table—”
“Is for glasses, not for asses. I think it’ll be okay for a few minutes. Let me see one of your hands.”
He offered the left, the one he wasn’t using to staunch the blood from his nose.
“What a mess,” she muttered.
“You said.” His voice came out muffled. “Sorr—”
“Enough. I got it. Don’t talk.”
His eyes were as mournful as a puppy abandoned at an animal shelter. A twinge of sympathy plucked at her heart. She wiped away grit from his palm and squinted to make sure nothing was left in the torn skin. It looked clean enough, so she sprayed the peroxide over the scrapes.
Nolan hissed like a wet cat.
She couldn’t help laughing at him. “Oh, please. You’re a grown man.”
“Who’s wounded.”
She rolled her eyes. “No one’s fault but your own.”
He grunted and pulled the wash cloth away from his face. “Did it stop?”
She had to admit, even a little battered, he had a fine nose. It fit perfectly with the rest of his face. A handsome face that betrayed his heartbreak over his ex-girlfriend. “I think it’s okay. Give me your other hand.”
She let the first rest on her knee as she picked a little piece of gravel from his skin. “You’ll be okay. Tiffany’s stupid for leaving you.”
He met her gaze. “You think so?”
She nodded. “Yeah, sure. I mean, she was living here with you, right? I was a little creeped out by this place outside, but the inside is great. Except I can tell she picked out your furniture. Who leaves the plastic on the couch? Lame. You should have a yard sale and get rid of everything that reminds you of her.”
He laughed. “Maybe so. But then the house would be even emptier.”
“Some of us just aren’t meant to be with other people. That’s okay.” She sprayed his hand with the peroxide, then cleaned the other one off again. “Let me put some ointment on there.”
“You mean that?”
“What?” She opened the ointment tube. “You don’t want it to get sore. It’ll mess with your roping.”
“About being alone. Not meant to be with others.” His eyes widened. “Are you okay with that?”
She shrugged and concentrated on his hand. “I guess so.”
“You don’t want a family?”
Jody pulled her hands away from his. “No. I’m happy by myself.”
“Why?”
“Because…someone has to look out for the family and I got tired of it being me. My dad was a lousy drunk who loved two things—horses and beer and not in that order. It gets a little old having to be the adult when you’re a kid.”
He tilted his head. “You have Will and Luke now.”
“I didn’t ask for either one of them.” Besides, they had wives and kids to take care of. They didn’t need her as an additional burden.
“I didn’t even know they had a sister until a couple weeks ago.”
“Funny. Neither did they. We were all doing just fine until I showed up.” She wiped off his right hand, then dabbed ointment on it. Bandages went over the worst of the scrapes. Then she got to her feet. “There, all better. Now get yourself to bed. I can see myself out.”
“Are you going back to the bar?”
She hesitated. “Probably.”
“There’s beer in the fridge.” He stood. “I’m goin’ to bed.”
She waited until he was nearly out the doorway. “What? No invitation to join you?”
He turned, gave her a smile. “Next time for sure.”
Jody laughed. For the first time all night, the tension she’d been carrying slipped away. There’d never been any harm in a little flirting. “Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.”
“I never do.” Nolan shuffled off.
Well, free beer was free beer. She went to find the kitchen.
Chapter Three
Nolan raised his head from his folded arms, but reached blindly for his coffee mug. Opening his eyes was a bad idea. Coffee was a great idea, except it took so much effort to make and then drink it.
A knock rattled the screen door and his brain.
Austin let himself in. “You up?”
“No, I think I’m dead and this is Hell.” Nolan slouched against the table. “But if I still have a pulse, please kill me.” Unfortunately, he knew he had a pulse. It throbbed right behind his eyes.
“Hard night?”
Nolan forced his eyes open, then squinted at the morning sun pouring through the kitchen windows. “Might’ve hit the bar a little heavy.”
Austin leaned against the counter and folded his arms. “That won’t bring Tiff back.”
“I noticed.”
“How’d you get home? Your truck’s not outside.”
Austin arched a brow. “Jody Caine?”
“Did I stutter? She wouldn’t let me drive home.” But who had helped her when she’d left his place? Probably no one.
“Nice of her. You didn’t sleep with her, did you?”
“It was a thought, but I was a little too out of it.” Jody had a pretty face, even if she was on the thin side. If he wasn’t so hurt after Tiffany’s departure—and drunk off his ass—he’d have taken Jody to bed in a heartbeat.
“She’s standoffish. How’d you get her to talk to you?”
“I practically fell at her feet.” She had a nice laugh. One he wouldn’t mind hearing again, but Austin was right. She made it a point to steer clear of most people. “She felt sorry for me. I think.”
Hard to tell with her. Those mysterious dark eyes didn’t give away much.
Austin drew in a breath. “I know you took Tiff’s leaving hard, but you’re not a teenager anymore. Getting drunk wasn’t the wisest thing you could’ve done. Let’s get back to work and you’ll forget about her.”
Nolan sat up. “The first woman I’ve been serious about, ever, and you think,” he snapped his fingers, “She’ll be forgotten just like that?”
His brother frowned. “All right, probably not, but there’s no sense moping.”
“If I recall right, you pined after Alaina for years despite my advice not to.” Nolan glared. Austin’s failure to make a relationship with his ex-girlfriend Alaina Rey work had dogged him the entire time his daughter Casey was growing up. Until he met Natalie.
“Turns out you were right. So take your own advice. Tiff might come back, but why cry about it until she does.” Austin shrugged. “You stink, by the way. I’ll wait while you take a shower.”
Nolan groaned as he got up. “Take a shower so I can get dirty again out in the fields. Great idea.” He could smell himself, Austin wasn’t wrong. “Give me ten.”
“Will do.” Austin helped himself to the coffee in the pot. “Casey missed you last night. You could’ve come with us.”
Guilt severed the last of Nolan’s pride. “I would’ve been in the way. It was something the three of you needed to celebrate.”
Austin smirked. “You’ve been in my way my whole life. Why change that now?”
“You were lucky to have such a kind, caring, responsible big brother.”
Austin’s smirk turned into a laugh. “I’m sorry, who?”
“Ha, ha. You know exactly who I mean.”
Nolan sipped from his coffee cup as he made his way upstairs. A couple of aspirin, a lot of water, and this mug of magic potion might almost be enough to fix his head. His heart…well, he needed something a lot stronger, but he didn’t know what. Most of his break-ups had been amiable, with neither party hurt in the end. After two years with Tiffany, he didn’t know what to do with himself.
Find a rebound girl. Something casual like he’d had before Tiff. Or two or three something casuals. Whatever it took to make him feel more like himself.
A silver sparkle on the top stair caught his eye.
Nolan’s head pounded as he bent to pick it up. A horse head pendant on a chain. Pretty, and it looked old. He’d never seen Tiffany wear anything like it. Which left Jody. She’d come upstairs for something last night. Maybe snooping, maybe checking to make sure he’d actually gotten to bed.
He cupped the necklace in his hand. Jody had done him a favor. The least he could do was return it.
* * * *
He found Jody at Peach McFallon’s Broken Noose Ranch. Her bay and white overo gelding tore around the arena where Peach usually trained cutting horses. Jody leaned forward in her saddle, then threw her legs over the gelding’s side. Her feet hit the ground before she vaulted back up and threw one leg over his neck so she was sitting backward in front of the saddle horn. She repeated the move on the other side and bounded back into the saddle. As the gelding made another turn around the arena, she leaned over his shoulder and threw her legs into the air, her head pointed at the ground.
Nolan’s heart jumped into his throat. Jody’s movements were beautiful. Awe-inspiring even, but he’d never wanted his head that close to a horse’s hooves. She rose in the saddle and stood on the swell, arms extended at her sides. The horse rounded another turn.
Jody’s gaze met Nolan’s. The relaxed, easy expression melted off her face, replaced by a slight frown. She dropped into her saddle, then drew up the gelding. They came to a stop where Nolan stood outside the panels.
“That was something else. I didn’t know you did trick riding.”
She gave him a terse nod. “Since I was a teenager.”
“Beautiful horse.”
“His name is Splash. He’s not just another pretty face. He’s smart too.” She grinned as she rubbed her hand over his neck.
Her smile almost knocked Nolan back a step. Jody’s whole face lit up with it. She was a damn prettier sight than either Will or Luke.
The grin faded and she swung down from Splash’s back. “Do you need something?”
Caught up in her act, he’d forgotten the necklace. He reached into his shirt pocket, then held it through the panel. “You left this. Dropped it, probably.”
She stared at it a moment before she took it. Almost as though she wished it had stayed missing.
“Thanks.” Her fingertips scraped across his palm when she took it. After a second of examining the clasp, she separated the ends, then fastened it around her neck. “I noticed it was gone this morning, but I figured I’d never see it again. It…” Her gaze fell to the ground. “Thank you for getting it back to me.”
“Family heirloom?”
Her mouth twisted up into a bitter smile. “Gift from someone I knew a long time ago.”
A former lover? His chest tightened. But it wasn’t any of his business.
Her fingers went up to trace the horse head. “How’d you find me?”
“I called Luke. He said you were probably out here riding. This is a great arena. Austin does some team penning and Peach lets the guys use it sometimes.”
“Peach is a nice lady. A good boss too.” She stroked Splash’s neck. “Well, thanks. I’d better go cool him down.”
“Jody, wait.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“I don’t know if I really thanked you for last night. It was an embarrassing situation, but it could have been a lot worse. You might’ve prevented a serious accident when you took pity on me. I’d feel really bad if someone got hurt because of me.”
She nodded, shifted her weight, and avoided his gaze again. “Give some thought to a DD in the future.”
“How’d you get home?”
“I drove. Obviously. My truck wasn’t in your driveway, was it?”
He put his hands on his hips. “Why was it okay for you to drive, but not me?”
She lifted her gaze. “Because I wasn’t even as close to drunk as you. I had it handled, thank you.”
“Jody.”
Her jaw tightened. “All right, I fell asleep on your couch. I woke up at five-thirty, then went home. Mildly hungover, not drunk.”
He laughed. “That’s a relief. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you either.”
“It didn’t, so I’m going to cool my horse. Later, Locke.”
“Wait.”
She paused mid-step. “Now what?”
A shot in the dark, but he didn’t have anything to lose. “You want to grab some dinner?”
She looked around as though searching for the person he was actually talking to. “Why?”
“I’m hungry and maybe after all that riding, you are too.” He nodded at the gate. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Nolan, I don’t want to do this right on the heels of your girlfriend leaving. I know you’re delicate and all, but I have to say no.”
His face warmed. “I’m not delicate. That’s-that’s not a thing men are.”
A hint of a smile curled her lips. “Whatever you say, tiger. It doesn’t matter. The point is, I don’t want to, so no thanks.”
“You have other plans?”
“No, but—”
“It’s me?”
“Not you. It’s more like everyone in general.” She frowned. “I’m not a people-person as much as Jessi and Faith want that not to be true. I spent a lot of time on my own growing up and I prefer my own company. No offense.”
“Weak excuse.” He crossed his arms, but smiled. “I owe you.”
Jody shook her head, then touched her necklace. “You paid me back.”
“I can do better than deliver a necklace. I’m not asking for anything else. A little conversation and a drink—no going overboard this time. What do you say?”
“Sorry, but the answer’s still no. I’m not in a place right now where I want a relationship, friendly or otherwise. It’s not you, really.”
He’d known he wasn’t going to change her mind. Luke had mentioned how stubborn his half-sister could be. Still, it hadn’t cost anything except the effort of talking to ask. “I can take a hint. The lady says no. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” He tipped his hat at her. “Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome.” She made a smoochie noise at Splash and led him to the gate.
It didn’t matter. If he’d talked her into dinner, he’d have been forced to call Austin and cancel their roping practice. At least while he was on his horse, rope in hand, he didn’t have to think about women.
But he couldn’t pull his gaze away from the curve of her backside as she walked the horse to the barn.
Chapter Four
The cheap clock on Jody’s wall ticked away the seconds. Like a countdown. She’d turned the TV volume low a couple of hours ago, too distracted to watch whatever program was playing. The hushed voices and occasional music from the programing didn’t drown out the clock.
It was late, but she couldn’t sleep. Even reading and rereading her bank statements and insurance policies weren’t enough to make her nod off. She worried about Splash. About how to start a conversation with her brothers about taking him. The very last thing she wanted was for her horse to end up at an auction. Maybe no one else was there for her, but Splash always had been. He deserved better.