Lookin' for Trouble (Honky Tonk Angels Book 6)

by Ciana Stone

  Pressley shook her head. “I find it hard to believe that Hannah would support something like Lucas suggested.”

  “So do I,” Bryson said. “Oh, and one thing that really had her upset was that Cody accused her of being more in love with Cooper’s money than with Cooper.”

  “Oh shit.” Pressley gasped. “That had to have hurt.”

  “Do you think there’s any truth to it?” Bryson asked.

  Pressley considered her answer before speaking. “I think it’s striking a bit close to home. Not to say that Hannah doesn’t love Cooper, but she’s been a lot more wrapped up in the wedding plans than the man lately so…so, I don’t know. But I’m betting she was really hurt by what Cody said. She doesn’t let on but what Cody thinks carries a lot of weight with her.”

  “Well, I’m with Cody,” Bronson spoke up and when Pressley cut him a hard look continued. “Seriously. That little girl’s cute as all get out. So let’s say she loses her mom. Now she’s all alone. To think about shipping her off to some boarding place where she doesn’t know anyone to grow up all alone? I’d kill to keep that from happening to my kids and can’t understand anyone with half a heart agreeing to something so cold and heartless.”

  “I have to agree,” Bryson said. “And have a real hard time believing Hannah would be in favor of something like that.”

  “And if she did?” Pressley asked.

  It took him a bit before answering. “Then I guess she wouldn’t be who I thought she was after all.”

  Pressley nodded. She had eyes and had seen the way Hannah would light up when she was on the phone with Bryson or when she headed out to meet him and talk about the church project. Hannah might be in love with Cooper, but there was something between her and Bryson.

  Personally, Pressley didn’t care if Hannah ended up with Cooper or Bryson. It was Hannah’s life and Hannah’s choice. She just hated seeing Bryson get caught in the middle of something and ending up getting hurt. He was a great guy and deserved better.

  But as she’d learned, there was no predicting or preventing love. She never thought she’d fall in love with someone like Bronson. Well, the handsome and sexy part she’d always hoped for, but she never dreamed she’d fall for a man who already had children.

  Yet here she was, agreeing to be a stepmother to those children and hoping she and Bronson could add another couple of kids to their family.

  Yes, life was full of surprises. She just hoped that whatever happened, people she cared about, like Hannah and Bryson, would end up finding happiness and not hurting one another.

  And she hoped Hannah didn’t wake tomorrow with one hell of a bad hangover and a case of “what the fuck did I do.”

  But she suspected that was exactly what would happen.

  Chapter Nine

  Cooper wasn’t sure what to expect when he knocked on Hannah’s door. When she opened it, he involuntarily took a step back. He’d seen her dolled up to the nines, a seductress in lingerie, the clean and wholesome sex-bomb-in-a-demure-dress and sex personified naked, but he’d never seen her like this.

  Her hair was pulled back from her face and braided into one fat braid on the back of her head. Her skin was free of makeup and her eyes puffy.

  “Hey.” Her voice was pitched low and it was her voice that gave the final clue. She was hung-over. He wondered what had taken place after she told him she wasn’t free for the evening.

  “Good morning,” he finally said.

  “Come in.” She stepped aside for him to enter and then closed the door behind him. “I just made coffee. Want a cup?”

  “Sure, thanks.”

  Without another word, she headed for the kitchen. He followed and took a seat at the table. She joined him and placed a cup of coffee in front of him. He noticed she’d already put cream in it.

  “Either you had a great time last night or a horrible one,” he commented.

  “The latter.”

  He reached out to touch her hand on the table and she flinched. “What’s wrong, Hannah?”

  She shook her head and sipped her coffee. Cooper felt there was something bothering her, but if she wasn’t ready to tell him, he wasn’t going to push. Instead, he’d do what he’d made up his mind about last night.

  “We need to talk.”

  “About?”

  “Everything.” He saw the surprise register on her face, but she made no comment so he continued while he still had the courage. “I’m…I’m having second thoughts.”

  “About?”

  “Us. The wedding.”

  “Oh?”

  “Hannah, you’re a fantastic woman, one any man would be lucky to have as a wife, but the truth is, over the last few weeks it’s become clear to me that what I really want is to follow in my father’s footsteps. Since he and I had made amends, I’ve realized that more than anything I want to one day take over Quinlan Oil, and to do that, I need to focus all of my time and energy on business. It would be unfair to you and to me as well to start a marriage when I know I’m going to have no time to devote to it or you.”

  She looked at him for a long time and he started to wonder if he should get up and run. When she spoke, he nearly jumped.

  “I agree.”

  “You—” It took a second for her words to sink in. “You agree?”

  “I do. Let’s be honest. We rushed into this engagement and honestly I think we were both more in love with the idea of being engaged and getting married than with one another. You’re sexy, sophisticated, ambitious and great in bed—all the things I thought I wanted in a man. But maybe I’m not cut out to be the wife of an oil mogul. I’m a small-town girl and while I’ve hated that my entire life and thought all I wanted was to escape this place, the truth is I belong here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I am.” She finally smiled and relief washed through him. Hannah took off her engagement ring and slid it across the table to him. “Just one thing.”

  “What?”

  “What do we do about things at the church?”

  “Finish it. I’ll pay whatever the balance is.”

  “Are you sure? I kind of lost my mind on these wedding plans.”

  Cooper chuckled. “Well, look at it this way, the church gets a really nice new backyard with a beautiful place for weddings and I get a write-off for the donation.”

  “Always the business man,” she said and smiled.

  They both looked around at the sound of the front door closing. A moment later they heard Cody. “Hannah!”

  “In the kitchen.”

  Cody entered, leading Bernice by the hand. “Well, hey there, butterbean,” Hannah said to Bernice.

  “Me not a bean. Me Burn-eese Smiff.”

  “Why, yes you are. So what brings you here this morning?”

  “I was hoping we could talk?”

  “And you had to bring the child?” Cooper asked.

  “Why, yes I did, Coop. And good morning to you.”

  “Why? Did you know I’d be here?”

  “No and I didn’t have anyone to watch her.”

  “What about her mother?”

  Cody glared at him and Hannah could tell she was about to light into him when Pressley entered the room. She took a look around and extended her hand to Bernice. “Bernice, did you know we have the coolest tire swing in the world in our back yard? Come with me and I’ll show you.”

  “Me can go?” Bernice looked up at Cody.

  “Sure, sweetie.” Cody smiled and then looked at Pressley. “Thanks.”

  “You bet.”

  Pressley took Bernice’s hand and led her out through the back door. Cooper spoke up as soon as they’d left the room. “That kid isn’t mine.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. We’ll know as soon as the DNA test comes in.

  “Yes we will.” He picked up the ring from the table and slid it into his pocket as he stood. “Soon everyone will know I’m not the father. God only knows who is.”

  “But what if you are?�
� Cody stepped in his way as he started for the door.

  He cut a look at Hannah and then at Cody. “I thought she would have told you.”

  “You mean about the boarding school?” she asked. “Yeah, she mentioned it. I thought maybe she’d misunderstood and you wouldn’t stoop so low or be so heartless.”

  “You thought wrong.”

  “Then you really are no better than your father are you, Coop?”

  “Fuck you, Cody.”

  “Not on a bet, buddy.” She stepped out of his way and gestured toward the door. “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass.”

  For a moment, Hannah thought he would come back at Cody but instead he just marched out.

  “Well, it was going well until you showed up,” she said.

  “You mean him breaking up with you? I saw him put the ring in his pocket.”

  “It was mutual.”

  “It was?” Cody took a seat.

  “Want some coffee?”

  “Sure.”

  Hannah got up and took Cooper’s cup with her. She put it in the sink, got a clean cup from the cupboard and poured Cody’s coffee. “You were right.”

  “About what?” Cody asked.

  “Me. I wasn’t in love with Cooper. Well, I was—a little, but not as much as I was what he had to offer.” She returned to the table and put the cup in front of Cody.

  “You know I’ve always thought what I wanted most was to leave Cotton Creek. Travel, go to exotic places, cosmopolitan places. Eat at fancy restaurants and go to the opera and hobnob in high society.”

  “Sounds about right.”

  “I really thought that’s what I wanted. And I knew I could have that if I married Cooper.”

  “So why aren’t you marrying him?”

  “Because despite him being great in bed, handsome and smart and rich, he’s not the man I want to have children with. Heck, I doubt he’ll ever have any, unless his father demands a grandson, but he’s not interested in having a family. He wants to be the head of Quinlan Oil.”

  “And you don’t want to me Mrs. Quinlan Oil?”

  “No. I don’t. Like I said, I thought I wanted to escape Cotton Creek but now I know that’s not true. This is my home and I love it. It’s where I want to be married and raise a family. Here with Mama and Daddy, you and KC and all the people I’ve known my whole life.”

  “And you have someone in mind to share that dream with?”

  Hannah smiled. “Well, I have really been enjoying spending time with Bryson.”

  “And he’s a great guy. But you just ended an engagement so maybe now is the time to take things a little slow and not jump so fast from one man to the next.”

  “Well, it’s not like I was going to pull him into my bed the next time I saw him.”

  “I didn’t think you would, but Bryson is a good man and I’d hate to see him hurt because you moved too fast—before you were sure.”

  “I hear ya, and I know you’re right, but…”

  “But what?”

  Hannah leaned in a little closer. “Have you ever seen him with his shirt off? Cuz, gurl.”

  Cody laughed and Hannah felt the last bit of unease fade. “Seriously,” Hannah said. “I’m not looking to rush into anything but I am eager to spend time with him.”

  “Well he is, as they say, fifty kinds of fine.”

  “Fifty shades.”

  “Shades, kinds, the man is hot.”

  “That he is. So, what do you have going on today?”

  “Hoping like hell Belinda shows up with my truck. I had to borrow a ride from one of my guys at the ranch just to come here.”

  “She still isn’t out of the hospital?”

  “I guess not. I can’t get an answer and honestly if I don’t hear something by the end of the day, I may have to go looking for her.”

  “Well, since you need a way to get around, how about I gather up some things and come stay at the ranch with you and Bernice until she shows up? That way we’ll have my car and can make do until you have your truck again.”

  “I don’t want to put you out and I do have Bernice to take care of.”

  “I’m happy to help with that. Really. She’s adorable.”

  “She really is. Okay, offer accepted and thanks, little sister. I owe you.”

  “Nonsense.” Hannah got up and took the cups to the sink. “Family helps family.”

  “Amen to that.”

  “To what?” Pressley asked as she came in with Bernice.

  “To heading back to the ranch and tending to those heehaws,” Cody said and scooped Bernice up to nuzzle her neck.

  Bernice squealed, wiggled and laughed until Cody stopped. “Me like heehaws.”

  “I know you do,” Cody agreed. “So let’s get home and get them some food.”

  “Yay, feed heehaws. Me help.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Cody looked at Hannah. “See you after while.”

  “I’m ten minutes behind you.”

  “Okey dokey, then let’s hit it, Bernice. Pressley, thanks, girl. See you later.”

  Hannah watched Cody leave and then smiled at Pressley. “So, you want the Reader’s Digest Condensed version before I leave?”

  “No, I want the full scoop, so talk fast.”

  “Okay.” Hannah headed for her room. “Well Cooper showed up this morning…”

  *****

  Riggs saw the car parked in front of his trailer. There was no question in his mind who it belonged to. Only two people in Cotton Creek had someone driving them around and Herbert Pursel didn’t own a Bentley.

  He parked his motorcycle and climbed off. The driver of the Bentley got out and hurried around the car to open the rear passenger door. Lucas Quinlan emerged, straightened his jacket, and approached Riggs.

  “Good to see you Jaxon.”

  “And you, Mr. Quinlan.” Riggs shook Lucas’ hand. “What brings you here?”

  “I’m here to make you an offer.”

  “I was just about to grab some lunch. Come on in.”

  Lucas gestured toward the door. “After you.”

  Once inside, Riggs went into the kitchen. Lucas followed but stopped just inside the doorway. Riggs started pulling things from the refrigerator to make a sandwich. “Can I make you a sandwich?”

  “Thank you, no. I’ll get right to the point. There is a strong possibility Cooper will pull out of Cotton Creek Oil to rejoin Quinlan. If he does, I want you to quit and come to work for us.

  Riggs was surprised, as much by the news that Cooper was thinking of pulling out as the offer. “I signed a contract with Cotton Creek,” he said as he took bread from the pantry.

  “Contracts can be broken.”

  “Not by me. I gave my word.”

  “I disagree. This is business. There’s nothing personal in it and contracts are terminated every day in business. Besides, as I understand it, you were given an out clause.”

  “Maybe.” Riggs looked up from piling sliced meat on the bread. “But there’s a nice bonus if I stay the entire year.”

  “There’s a million dollar signing bonus if you go with Quinlan. I’ll triple your salary and add a two million bonus at the end of the first year.”

  “Three million dollars?” Riggs laughed and put a couple of pieces of cheese on top of the sliced meat. “I’m not worth that.”

  “You’re worth whatever I’m willing to pay.”

  “Is that so? Then what if I wanted two million up front and three at the end of the year and four times what I make now?”

  “I’d say I’ll have the paper drawn up and delivered to you to sign by morning.”

  “Why would you do that? That’s an insane amount of money. There are a dozen guys who can do what I do.”

  “You know that’s not true. Having you is like having a rabbit’s foot in my pocket. You bring gushers.”

  Riggs’ laughter was accompanied by a shake of his head. “That’s such a load of shit.”

  “You and I both know better.”<
br />
  Lucas’ words had Riggs sobering. “Look, that offer is way more than tempting, but it sticks in my craw to renege on a deal. Besides, you said Cooper’s just considering it so as of right now, there’s no reason for me to jump ship.”

  “Correct. Right now I merely want your word that when he does come back to Quinlan, you’ll come with him.”

  Riggs turned his full attention to Lucas. “That’s a hell of an offer and I’d like to say yes, but I need time to think about it. I’m not sure I want to stick around Cotton Creek that long.”

  “I understand. There’s not much here of appeal. Fine, think about it. But the offer is only on the table until Cooper decides. I’ll need an answer then.”

  “And you’ll have it.” Riggs crossed the room and extended his hand. “Thank you.”

  “Say yes and that’s all the thanks I need.” Lucas shook his hand, released it and turned away to leave.

  Riggs watched him go then returned to the center island to pick up his sandwich. He took a bite and pulled over a stool to take a seat, thinking as he chewed.

  Quinlan’s offer was crazy. More money that he’d make in his lifetime. But why make it?

  Five million dollars? That was a whole lot of money. One year and he could retire.

  And do what?

  Cotton Creek might not have much of appeal, but it did have one thing that made him want to stick around. Cody Sweet. He sure hadn’t planned on it and he’d even fought it but damn if he hadn’t fallen for her.

  Riggs put down his sandwich and pulled out his phone. A quick call to check on things let him know he had a couple of hours to kill if he wanted and right now he did. He went outside and climbed on his bike.

  Riding was the easiest way for him to focus. There was no distraction or interruption, just him and the road. He didn’t even think about where he was going. He just started the bike and took off.

  He was surprised that Cooper was considering pulling out of the company. The way he understood it, it was Cooper who had convinced the others to throw in with him to form the company to start with.