by A. L. Loire
“Oh, Spencer, I don’t think I can—” Jess began.
Nate raised his hand. “Not another word,” he said.
Did Nate and Spencer intend to buy her these boots? She hadn’t even dared look at the price tag. Judging from the quality and the ambiance of the store—and the attitude of the saleswoman—they must cost a small fortune. She couldn’t let Spencer and Nate buy them. But before she could protest, they had already headed to the counter.
She glanced into the mirror again. The boots were divine—it was undeniable. She wanted to go and tell Spencer and Nate that she couldn’t accept such a gift, but she remained rooted to the spot.
“All ready,” Spencer said after a minute. He handed Jess a canvas bag containing her sandals.
“You really shouldn’t have,” Jess said as they trooped out of the store, the saleswoman watching them the whole time. “But thank you.”
“Of course we should have,” Spencer said simply. “No thanks necessary. But you’re welcome.”
“Now, how about some grub?” Nate said, rubbing his hands together. “Now that we have the leather, can we get into some cow of the steak variety?”
Jess laughed. “That sounds perfect.”
As they walked to the restaurant, Jess thought about how happy she was in Nate and Spencer’s company—new boots aside. She liked Nate’s humor and reckless spirit, but she also liked how Spencer made her feel cared for and safe. The two of them together, though, was what she really loved. She had been dreaming for months about meeting a dashing cowboy in a frontier paradise…and now she had two.
They stopped in front of a large restaurant bearing a wooden sign with the words “Big Horn Steakhouse and Saloon.”
“Home of the best prime rib dinner you’ve ever had,” Nate said as he held the door open for her. “Those New York steakhouses can shove it.”
The large restaurant was outfitted with a wooden bar where people sat chatting and nursing pints, as well as several large tables where people sat eating platters of steak, ribs, and other delicious-looking food.
At the center of the restaurant was a mechanical bull in an inflatable pit. “That looks familiar,” she said teasingly. “Are you guys going to have another contest?”
“This night’s not about competing,” Spencer said.
“It’s about you,” Nate added.
The waitress showed them to a table. Jess reached her hand towards the chair, but in a flash both Spencer and Nate had pulled it away for her, one man on either side like a princess’s escorts.
“Why, thank you,” she said, blushing, as she sat down. This was a lot of attention being lavished on her. She noticed a man sitting at the bar look at their table curiously, and her blush deepened.
Spencer and Nate sat down on either side of her. Instantly she felt a knee make contact with hers from Spencer’s side, while an ankle crossed hers on Nate’s. She felt her heart rate pick up.
The waitress came by. “The usual for you boys?” she asked, then glanced at Jess. “And your—friend?”
“We’ll have three prime rib dinners—rare,” he said, raising an eyebrow at Jess. He remembered that she liked her meat bloody. “And a bottle of pinot grigio.”
“You got it,” the waitress said, turning to walk away.
“Do you come here often?” she asked nervously, watching the waitress’s retreating back.
“One in a while, when we want to celebrate something,” Spencer said. “The staff all know us. Plus we bring them a lot of business with our guests.”
“Everyone seems to like the atmosphere, and the food can’t be beat,” Nate said. “Not like those overpriced New York gin joints. I remember all the boring evenings we had to spend wining and dining investors.”
“Tell me about it,” Spencer said, shaking his head. To Jess’s amusement, they began swapping memories about their times entertaining clients in New York, which usually involved trying to get the client drunk and sneak out as early as possible.
The waitress approached carrying a tray laden with steaming plates. She set it down on a tray stand and passed the large white plates around. Jess’s mouth instantly began to water as she looked down at the juicy slab of prime rib, baked potato, and pile of steamed vegetables.
The baked potato was loaded with butter, sour cream, and cheese, and the vegetables were delectably salted and seasoned. They paled in comparison to the prime rib, though. Spencer was right—it was by far the best she’d had. This beef was enough to convince her to move out West permanently.
“Good?” Nate said with a playful smile.
She chewed and swallowed the bite in her mouth. “Exquisite.”
Spencer refilled her wineglass, looking pleased. “Is it cooked the way you like it?”
“It’s perfect!” she assured him, digging her fork into the steaming potato. Her enjoyment was marred, though, as she looked nervously around her.
“I feel like we’re getting a lot of strange looks in this town,” she said. “First the woman at the boot store, now the waitress…”
“Forget about them,” Spencer scoffed. “That’s just how people react when they see something they don’t understand.”
“Yeah. They can take their judgment and shove it you-know-where,” Nate added. Jess giggled. She was already beginning to feel a little better.
“It really doesn’t bother you?” she asked. “This is your town. Your business is based here. You have a lot on the line.”
Spencer reached for her hand and took it into his own. “Jess, we didn’t come to Big Horn so we could worry about what people thought of us,” he said. “We left New York so we could get away from all that. We wanted to start a business that would allow us to live in nature and enjoy our lives. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
“Besides, what do these people have to do with Getaway?” Nate added, picking up her other hand. “It might be a little different if some of our guests or staff found out, but a few random townspeople…”
As if on cue, a blond woman sitting at the bar turned her head and looked squarely into Jess’s eye. Her blood froze in her veins. It was Caroline.
***
Caroline’s eyes went wide. She put the beer she was holding down on the bar. She attempted a smile and raised her hand at Jess in a weak wave. She leaned over and whispered something in the ear of the bearded man sitting next to her, who glanced around at Jess.
“I think we have a problem,” Jess squeaked. She freed her right hand from Nate’s grasp and raised it in a wave. It felt like lead.
Nate and Spencer looked towards the bar. She heard Spencer breathe in sharply on her left, while Nate cursed under his breath.
Irene and the man next to her had stood up from her bar stool and begun walking towards their table. Nate and Spencer had both moved away from her as if instinctually, so they were no longer touching. She felt them tense.
“Well, isn’t this a pleasant surprise!” Caroline said, but above her smile, her eyes betrayed her confusion. “You look beautiful, Jess.”
“Thank you,” Jess managed.
A moment of silence hung in the air. Jess’s mind raced as she tried to fish for something, anything, to say that would defray the awkwardness. To her relief, Nate finally did it for her.
“Well, coincidence or not, it’s great to see you!” he said. “How are you doing, Mike? It’s been awhile.”
“It has, hasn’t it?” Mike said, pumping Nate’s hand, and then Spencer’s. “I’m doing spectacular.”
“I’m Mike, Caroline’s husband,” he said, giving Jess a quizzical smile as he offered his hand.
“Lovely to meet you,” she said, forcing her brightest smile as she took his hand and gave it a hard shake. If there was one thing she had learned working in fashion PR, it was never to let them see you sweat, no matter how much of a mess you were on the inside.
“Have a seat!” Nate said. “Plenty of room!”
Caroline glanced at Mike and hesitated. “I don’
t want to interrupt your dinner.”
“You’re not interrupting at all!” Spencer said. “The more the merrier.”
Jess winced as Spencer turned bright red. Oh, boy. She grabbed the bottle of pinot grigio as stealthily as she could and slid it towards her. If she was going to get through this night, she was going to need some liquid courage.
“Well, in that case, we’d love to join you for drink,” Caroline said.
“Sure would. It’d be great to catch up,” Mike said. “Let me grab our drinks from the bar.”
“Jess was missing those New York steakhouses, so we decided to show her Big Horn’s best,” Nate said as Caroline sat down.
“I told them they didn’t have to use their precious night out to hush up a complaining city girl,” Jess jumped in after taking a large swig of wine. “But I guess my whining was just insufferable.”
“There are no lengths that Nate and Spencer won’t go to to make their guests feel at home,” Caroline said with a polite smile.
Shit. Does she suspect? Jess wondered. “You all do such a great job making us feel welcome at Getaway—you included, Caroline,” she said in an attempt to change the subject. “When I first came, you were right there to show me to my cabin and help me get settled in.”
Mike returned with the drinks and pulled up a chair next to Caroline. Even though Spencer and Nate had moved slightly away from Jess, it was still an odd arrangement: she sat on one side of the square table with Nate and Spencer on either side, slightly closer to her than was normal at a four-person table, while Caroline and Mike were crowded together on the opposite side. They looked like they were on a slightly imbalanced double date.
“I was just telling Caroline how welcome she made me feel when I first got to Getaway,” Jess said to him as she cut another piece of prime rib. At least she had her meal to occupy her amid the awkwardness.
“That’s my Caroline. I always thought the hospitality industry was a natural fit for her,” Mike said.
“Oh, I don’t do anything except give people their cabin keys and point them towards the dining hall,” Caroline said, waving her hand. “It’s Spencer and Nate that do the real caretaking. Mike, I told you about the time that Spencer drove all the way to Cheyenne just to pick up Mrs. Havermeyer’s luggage after it got lost on her flight.”
“That woman just about had a heart attack when she found out she’d have to tough it out without thirty pairs of shoes,” Spencer said, shaking his head. “Believe me, it was in my interest as much as it was hers to get her that suitcase, the way she was going on about it.”
“And I’ll never forget the time that Nate dealt with little Joe Johnson’s bee sting during that camping trip a few summers ago,” Caroline said. “That kid went from hollering bloody murder to walking around like a proud little Ranger Rick in three minutes flat. It was the cutest darn thing you’ve ever seen.”
Jess grinned and took another sip of wine. She felt her heart swell with pride in spite of herself. Spencer and Nate were such good-hearted, humble men. She liked hearing Caroline talk about them.
The bottle of wine was almost finished. Nate seemed to notice. “Another bottle?” he asked Jess.
“Yes, please,” she said.
They ordered another round of drinks. Nate had gotten Mike into a conversation about the auto shop he owned—it turned out that the men had a love of cars in common.
Jess tuned out, sipping on another glass of wine. Her head was starting to feel pleasantly muddled. She didn’t usually drink much, so a few glasses was enough to get her tipsy. She felt Caroline looking at her.
“Did you resolve those matters of the heart, Jess?” she asked.
“I sure did. In fact, I took your advice, Caroline,” Jess said. “I listened to my heart.”
Caroline nodded slowly. “How do you feel now?”
“Ecstatic,” she said. “Happy as can be.” It was the honest truth.
She sat back in her chair and sipped her wine. Her gaze wandered across the room and landed on the mechanical bull. “I want to ride that bull,” she said suddenly.
“You want to do what?” Caroline exclaimed. Jess looked around the table. Nate looked amused, while Spencer’s face showed more concern.
“I want to ride the mechanical bull,” she repeated.
“Those things are pretty rough,” Mike said. “They’re not made for city girls like you.”
“Mike’s right. Those bulls can get pretty dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Caroline said.
“Say what you want. I’m doing it,” Jess said firmly. Once she had set her mind to something, she was not one to back down. “I’m not concerned about breaking a nail or mussing my hair.”
Mike chuckled. “Girl knows what she wants.”
“That I do,” she said, fixing him with a pointed look. She picked up her wineglass, drained it, and stood a tad unsteadily.
Spencer and Nate both stood at the same time. “I don’t know if now would be a wise moment to attempt this, Jess,” Spencer said.
“Let Jess have her fun,” Nate said. “It’s plenty safe. That’s what the inflatable pit is for.”
“Yes, but Nate, she’s—” Spencer began, turning to his friend to protest.
Jess had already begun making her way across the restaurant, navigating between the tables with intense focus as she kept her eyes on the bull.
“A little blitzed?” Nate said with a grin.
Spencer sighed, and without a word, he and Nate followed Jess’s retreating figure across the dining room.
Jess felt the gazes of the other patrons sitting at the tables and at the bar swivel towards her as she got closer and closer to the bull.
“Can I help you with something, miss?” the bartender asked, coming out from behind the bar.
“Yes, sir. Is the bull in operation?” she asked.
He smiled, clearly amused. “Well, we usually don’t get a lot of riders on a quiet weeknight such as this.”
“But if I want to ride, you can turn it on, right?” she pressed.
“I don’t see why not,” he said. “Hop on.”
Jess stepped over the low barrier of the pit, holding her skirt down over her behind as she did. The soft give of the inflatable threw her off, and she stumbled before regaining her balance. If all eyes in the place weren’t on her before, they were on her now.
Spencer sighed. “Keep it on low, will you, Joe?” he said to the bartender.
Joe chuckled. “You got it,” he said. “Is this gal a friend of yours?”
“She’s one of our guests,” Nate said. “From New York.”
“Glad you’re showing her a good time,” Joe said drily. “Something to write home about.”
He picked up the control box from below the bar. Jess was standing in front of the bull, staring, as if trying to decide how best to approach it. Resolving herself, she placed her hands on the bull and hoisted herself up. She was sure she had given the restaurant an eyeful, but it was too late to care.
“Ready, darlin’?” Joe called.
“Ready,” she said, though she felt anything but. Suddenly she felt like a swarm of butterflies had invaded her insides, fluttering around her stomach and up to her throat. She straddled the bull and gripped the horn, leaning forward as she tried to find a position that felt steady. The bull was harder than she thought, and covered in a rough hide that scratched her bare thighs. A short white eyelet dress was definitely not the best choice of outfit for the occasion, but she definitely hadn’t anticipated this when she was getting dressed.
Without warning, the bull bucked. Her hands practically flew off the horn. She managed to keep them steady, her thighs gripping the bull hard as it moved.
“Are you ok, Jess?” Spencer called anxiously.
She didn’t trust herself to speak. The bull turned a quarter turn and turned its nose downwards, then repeated the same movement going the other direction. While jerky, the movements were slow enough that Jess could hang o
n.
Hey, this is kind of fun! She was about to toss her head and give a “yee-haw!” when the bull bucked forcefully forward. “Shit!” she yelled instead. It spun around quickly to the right, and then to the left, sending the restaurant spinning before her eyes. Her hands flew off the horn. The bull pitched backwards, sending her flying through the air.
Her stomach lurched up into her throat. She landed without impact on the cushioned surface of the inflatable pit.
“Jesus, Jess, are you alright?” she heard Spencer’s voice say through her daze. Her short skirt had flown far up past her hips. She felt Nate and Spencer’s strong arms around her, hoisting her up.
“I’m just fine,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster, smoothing down her skirt.
“I think it’s about time we call it a night,” Spencer said.
“Good call,” Nate said. “Unless you want another go, Jess?”
Chapter 4
Jess blinked a few times. The sunlight pouring in through her window entered her head and curdled like sour milk. She shut her eyes again, groaning as she pulled the blankets over her head.
Dimly, memories of the night before came back to her. How had she gotten back? She remembered saying an embarrassed goodbye to Caroline and Mike, and then getting into the truck with Spencer and Nate and falling asleep in the back. They must have gotten her to her cabin. She looked down. She was wearing only her bra and panties. She wasn’t sure who had undressed her.
She looked at the clock. It was close to eleven—she had missed breakfast. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept this late. She groaned again and stuffed a pillow over her head. Her mouth was parched.
Come on, Jess. The sooner you get out of bed and get moving, the better, she urged herself. Somehow her body didn’t want to listen.
She had almost sunken back into sleep when she heard a rap at her door. She decided to ignore it. The knock came again.
“Are you alive?” a voice called.
Instantly her mind sprang to attention at the sound of that voice. She heaved herself out of bed, wrapping the bedsheet around her. She padded across the bedroom to the front door, fumbled with the lock, and opened it. Standing in front of her, looking chipper and handsome in jeans and rolled-up plaid button-downs, were Spencer and Nate.
