Cowboy 12 Pack

by Cynthia D’Alba, Paige Tyler, Elle James, Donna Michaels, Shoshanna Evers, Randi Alexander, Cora Seton, Beth Williamson, Sabrina York, Sable Hunter, Lexi Post, Becky McGraw

  For the first part of the ceremony, Jamie’s face was stony and she knew he was still angry. Because she’d ruined his game? Certainly not because he’d been serious. As the ritual came to an end, however, some silent message passed between him and Rob. Then Jamie smiled suddenly—a wicked, triumphant smile.

  It made her insides flip, and then tighten with the realization that she’d been right—Jamie and Rob were in cahoots. Once again she tried with all her might to pull the engagement ring off her finger, inadvertently nudging Autumn’s friend Becka, who sat beside her. Becka peered down at her hands to see what she was doing, and Claire quickly covered up the ring. What was Jamie planning now? Had he decided to humiliate her further?

  Why?

  Because she’d left his house last Saturday and driven home rather than spend the night with him? Was he that pathetic? Did he really need her particular notch on his bed post to feel like a man?

  She glanced at the thin silver watch on her wrist. Five hours at least until she could make a break for it. No matter how badly Jamie behaved she couldn’t ditch Ethan on his wedding day. He was depending on her. Her gaze slid back to Jamie. He was still smiling.

  The former hired hand had been full of surprises lately, and she didn’t want to guess what he’d do next. He must have saved every penny he earned since he came to work on the spread. And done incredibly well with his investments.

  Maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised he wanted to buy into the ranch. He respected Alex Cruz, her father—worshipped him, in fact. He stuck closer to Alex than even Ethan did, and that was saying a lot. She guessed Alex was the father Jamie wished he had, instead of the dour man who pressured him through four years of business school when all he wanted to do was live and breathe horses.

  Jamie was born a cowboy the way other people were born athletic, or smart, or pretty. Every move he made around horses was a symphony of understanding of the beasts. Claire always appreciated that about him, because she loved horses, too. Adored them.

  Of course, she hadn’t touched one in thirteen years.

  Damn her mother. Damn Mack. Damn Jamie, too.

  Jamie—sensing her agitation, perhaps—lifted an eyebrow.

  She fought to keep her ragged emotions in check. The cowboy had soothed the jangled nerves of many a mare with a touch or a murmured word, but he wasn’t soothing her at all. Instead, she felt all too exposed in her thin, cotton sundress—a new, pretty one she’d bought especially for the wedding since her usual severe suits didn’t fit the occasion. She felt silly, too, in her old cowboy boots, but she knew the combination would garner a smile from Ethan, and after this last year, she’d do anything to make her brother smile.

  But the damn engagement ring made her feel most conspicuous of all. It wouldn’t come off—her knuckles were swollen from the heat. She tugged at it again.

  Under the lattice archway, Autumn lifted her veil and Ethan leaned in to kiss her soundly on the mouth. The crowd cheered and clapped as the kiss went on and on, and when the happy couple pulled apart, Autumn was flushed and Ethan grinning ear to ear.

  They will be happy, Claire thought, surprised at how sure she felt. They really are in love. A pang of deep loneliness followed that thought. Would she ever experience that kind of connection?

  As the wedding party filed out, Jamie stopped next to her chair, bent down, and before she could push him away, he leaned in and kissed her cheek softly. “Look at them,” he said in his husky, velvet voice. “We could be like that.” He kissed her again. There was nothing she could do about it and he knew it—not in this crowd. Not without making a scene. She was trembling with rage when they stood up along with everyone else as Ethan and Autumn paced up the aisle together.

  Jamie took her arm. “I like the way that ring looks on your finger. I hope you never take it off. You’ll need a wedding dress like Autumn’s before too long,” he murmured as the crowd surged around them. “Better start looking.”

  She confined her answer to an unladylike snort, turning the ring around so only the band showed. “Fat chance.”

  “Wanna bet?”

  Those two words again. That knowing look. What did it mean? And why did his low, confidential tones make her hum all over?

  Before she could question him, she realized Autumn’s mother was watching her with raised eyebrows.

  Right.

  Since she was the only other remaining member of the Cruz family besides Ethan, and the marriage was taking place on the Cruz ranch, it was her place to keep this shindig going smoothly.

  “Okay, everyone,” she called out in what she hoped was a happy, steady-sounding voice. Heaven knew she was a master at masking her emotions. “The barbecue will be ready shortly and the bar is open. Please help yourself to appetizers and drinks and we’ll call you to dinner in a few minutes. Thanks for coming and celebrating with us!”

  Autumn’s mother headed over to check on the buffet table, and Claire knew she was off the hook for the moment—at least as far as her wedding duties went. Autumn and Ethan disappeared into the Big House for a moment to themselves. Once they returned, the wedding party would have to take photos while hors d’oeuvres were served to the waiting guests. The bulk of the crowd meandered slowly toward the area of the lawn where tables and chairs were set up for dinner, stopping to chat with each other and exchange news. Claire knew all the guests, of course. How could she not, growing up in a small town like Chance Creek—population 7865? That’s why she moved to Billings—for the anonymity a city afforded you, even a relatively small city.

  She knew her father and brother didn’t understand why she left home and why she didn’t come back. No one but her knew about her mother or what she’d done. First Aria had made fun of her schoolgirl crush on Mack, the man who trained the Cruz ranch horses. Claire had put up with that, spending every possible moment in the stables or corrals watching the much older man work with the animals. But when she came home early from school one day and found Aria and Mack in the barn—together—she couldn’t stand to stay.

  The apology she hoped for never came. In fact, nothing changed between her and her mother even after she moved out. Just like always, Aria Cruz came and went from the ranch like a hummingbird—beautiful, lively, and incapable of standing still. Surely she spent more time in Europe than she ever spent at home. How her father bore her escapades she had no idea.

  Claire tried to push away her memories as she moved toward the photographer, noticing Autumn and Ethan had reappeared and were heading his way, too. But how could she not think of her mother—both her parents—on her brother’s wedding day? As for weddings in general, if she had her way she’d never go to another one.

  “First we’ll take pictures of the bride and groom,” the photographer said as he led the wedding party to an open-air pagoda her mother had had built on the property years ago. As she watched Ethan and Autumn pose on the pagoda’s steps, she knew she’d never be the one wearing a wedding dress. Whatever romantic notions she’d once had, her mother, Mack, Jamie and Daniel had long beaten out of her. Daniel’s betrayal had nearly killed her. Just when she’d convinced herself she was over Jamie, and pinned her hopes on him instead, he’d taken all her money and left town with another woman.

  Ninety thousand dollars.

  Gone.

  “Mother of the bride, sisters, join us, please.” Claire moved stiffly to stand by Ethan’s side, with Teresa and Lily Leeds taking their places next to Autumn. “Smile.”

  She tried her best, but knew her attempt was a dismal failure, as memories of Daniel’s desertion swirled in her mind. She hadn’t reported the crime to the police. She had no proof. When she brought up signing a contract, Daniel had blown her off. “It’s just for a couple of days. By the time we get the paperwork drawn up and signed, I’ll have the money back to you. Plus interest, and maybe something else.” He smiled at her and took her hand. “Something sparkly to put on your finger.”

  Marriage. She’d actually thought Daniel want
ed to marry her. Like any man cared about her that much.

  There wouldn’t be any justice for her—just the humiliation of the whole world knowing how gullible she was if word got out. Bad enough the whole office was talking about how she’d been dating Daniel when he ran off with Edie. At least they didn’t know she thought he was about to propose to her.

  “Groomsmen and bridesmaids, come on up.” It took several minutes for the photographer to arrange everyone this time. Jamie grinned at her as he took his place and she scowled back.

  The day she realized she was back to square one—less than $5,000 in her bank account, betrayed by the man she thought would be her fiance—was devastating, but she didn’t shed a tear. Nor did she high-tail it back home, although if she had she would have gotten to see her parents one last time before they died. No, she’d dealt with the police as a representative of Ledstrom Designs since Daniel had cleaned out the business accounts, too. She’d handled their clients and her coworkers in a calm and professional manner, and she hadn’t missed a single day of work. When one of the other designers suggested that Claire should take over all the open accounts and keep the business running, that’s exactly what she did.

  To her surprise, it worked—barely. She used her multiple credit cards to fund the supplies she needed for the current contracts, and when those jobs were finished and paid for she had earned enough money to do it all over again with new ones. She was managing to get by—just.

  “Smile for the camera. Big smiles.” The photographer’s flash went off again and again. The more Claire smiled, the more she wanted to cry.

  Then came Ethan’s phone call in August, telling her their parents died in a car accident, followed soon after by the news of the ranch’s debt.

  She couldn’t help Ethan even if she wanted to, since she was barely scraping enough cash together each month to make payroll and rent. She thought he would have to sell the ranch. There was no other way, or he’d end up in the same situation she was—running, running, running as fast as she could and still barely getting by.

  But he found another way. Who would guess Jamie Lassiter, hired hand, would save the day? Together, Ethan and Jamie remortgaged the ranch and bought out her share—to the tune of six hundred thousand dollars.

  She was rich.

  Her ordeal was over.

  “All right—I want a few more photos of the bride and groom. The rest of you can go.”

  Thank God. Claire walked to the house as fast as she could, shrugging Jamie off when he came to take her arm. “Not now, okay?”

  To her surprise he actually let her go. Five minutes in the bathroom was time enough to splash water on her face and get her emotions under control again. She wouldn’t think about the past anymore. Time for a new start.

  Just as she walked out of the front door, a cheer went up from the crowd as the happy couple rejoined them on the lawn, and people rushed to offer their congratulations. Jamie joined her and nudged her toward them, too, and she let herself be led over, playing with the ring on her finger once again. Get married to Jamie on Labor Day? A sudden image entered her mind of the two of them boarding an airplane, flying off to their honeymoon on an island shore where they could make love for days…

  For heaven’s sake—what was wrong with her? If she was ever so stupid as to marry Jamie, she’d just find herself single again a week or two later when another woman turned his head.

  She forced another smile to her face as she hugged first Autumn, then Ethan. She was happy for them—really. It was just that all of this—the wedding, the guests, even the ranch itself—made her feel as lonely as the sole survivor of a shipwreck trapped on a desert isle. She would never trust a man enough to marry him. Certainly not Jamie.

  “Let’s get on with the eating so we can get the band going,” Ethan said.

  “You got it,” Claire said, hoping her voice sounded normal.

  Ethan tugged her closer. “Stop it—you’ll hurt someone with that fake smile. Why didn’t you just say yes to Jamie? You could be as happy as I am. Wait a minute—are you wearing his ring? Did you say yes?”

  Claire gaped at him, her eyes stinging once more. She couldn’t believe Ethan was in on this joke and would carry it to such an extreme—on his wedding day. She and her brother had their spats over the years, but he’d never been cruel. She opened her mouth to tell him so, but he pulled Jamie into a man-hug, pounding him on the shoulder.

  “Congratulations! When’s the happy day?”

  He was in on the joke, wasn’t he? But he was doing an incredible job acting like it was real. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Ethan this happy—especially not since their parents’ deaths.

  “Labor Day,” Jamie said emphatically and grinned at her, daring her to deny it.

  She looked from one to the other, at a total loss for what to do.

  “You’re getting married?” Autumn shrieked, grabbing her hand and pulling it close to see her ring. “Oh my gosh, Claire—it’s beautiful. I’m so happy for you!” She threw her arms around Claire and gave her a stifling hug.

  This can’t be happening, Claire thought, waiting for Jamie to tell them it was all a joke—waiting for Ethan at least to let Autumn in on it. Her stomach twisted when she realized both of them were going to play it straight. Ethan was beaming, and Jamie…he looked like the cat who’d swallowed the canary.

  Damn it, she wasn’t a helpless bird.

  But as she turned to set Autumn straight, her new sister-in-law cupped her hands to her mouth and called out, “Everybody! Everyone—can I have your attention? Yoo-hoo!”

  The crowd immediately quieted, all eyes turned to the bride.

  “I just have to share the happy news—I’m so excited!” Autumn’s face was flushed and her eyes shining. She pointed to Claire.

  “Wait…” Claire began, but Autumn rushed on.

  “Claire and Jamie have just gotten engaged—they’re getting married on Labor Day, so everybody better save the date! We’ll all be right back here in a couple of months to do this all over again.”

  As the crowd cheered and clapped, Claire turned to Jamie, begging him silently for help. He just threaded an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. As people surged in to offer their congratulations, she once more pasted a happy expression on her face.

  She would be a laughing-stock when September rolled around and no wedding took place.

  If she survived this day she would never speak to any of them again.

  “CAN I GET you a drink?” Jamie asked a few minutes later, touching Claire again—just because he could. Hell, he was having a hard time keeping his hands to himself. When Ethan kissed his bride, it was all he could do not to stride across the lawn, pull Claire close and kiss her just as long and hard. Now that Autumn had announced their nuptials to all and sundry he didn’t have to hold back. He knew Claire; she wouldn’t spoil her brother’s wedding day, and that gave him time to recover from his earlier tactical error. Why, oh why had he blurted out that proposal this morning? Given a chance, she’d bolt from the wedding early, get a jeweler to cut the ring off her finger and he’d never see her again.

  “Whatever.”

  Uh oh. That didn’t sound good. It didn’t sound good at all.

  “Something wrong?” He stopped and turned her to face him, ignoring the throngs of guests around them all heading for the buffet where trays of appetizers had been laid out by some of the local ladies who’d volunteered their help.

  “Of course something’s wrong.” Her eyes blazed up at him and he knew that if they weren’t in the middle of a crowd, she’d be tearing him a new one.

  “Relax. Enjoy yourself.”

  “Like that’s possible now that everyone thinks we’re engaged. With this on my finger.” She waggled her hand and the ring sparkled in the sun.

  “Okay. I get it—I blew it. I should have spent a lot more time with you before I proposed. Maybe taken you on a date once or twice. I’m sorry—the romance of the occasio
n turned my head.”

  “You shouldn’t have proposed at all. It’s mean, Jamie. I’m not part of your little…gang,” she waved a hand at where Cab and Rob stood next to Ethan. “I don’t play practical jokes and I don’t like it when you do.”

  Jamie swallowed the urge to march over to Rob and knock him upside the head. His stupid joke this morning had done some serious damage to his chances with Claire. “Hold on. This isn’t a joke.”

  “Of course it is. What else would it be?”

  Jamie hesitated. He had one chance here to turn things around. If he tried to explain and kept apologizing, she’d walk away from him, disgusted. If he kept up the caveman act, she’d probably punch him. Time to get those competitive juices flowing. He hoped the brainstorm he’d had during the wedding ceremony worked.

  “It’s not a joke. It’s a bet.”

  He could have laughed out loud at her expression. Frustration, anger, and something that looked an awful lot like desire crossed her face in swift succession. Maybe he was getting to her. He sure hoped so. Maybe he’d finally found the key to her heart.

  All-out competition.

  “Would you stop saying that word?”

  No, he didn’t think he would. “The foundation for my house is being laid this week. Pretty soon it’ll be framed up and ready to finish.”

  “So what?” His change of topic had her voice rising.

  “I also need help with the horses when the guest ranch gets going.”

  “And?” She looked ready to explode, crowd or no crowd.

  “Here’s the bet. You put off your round-the-world trip for six weeks. Design the interior for my new house and then help me out with the first batch of guests that come to stay.”