After bidding them good night, Kash and Celia went for a walk along the strip. The evening was pleasant and neither one of them cared about the concert. They simply wanted to spend time together.
An hour later, Celia knew they had to call it a night. She ducked into a nearby casino to use the restroom while Kash waited for her near the door.
As he studied the crowds, a group of rowdy men walked up and one slapped him on the back.
“Hey, Ransom, we missed you over at the club tonight. They had a dancer that would have peeled the hide off an old armadillo. Heck, she might have even gotten the barest hint of reaction out of that tight-laced brother of yours.”
Irritated, Kash decided to let the group of drunken idiots go on thinking he was Ransom. “Is that right? What else did I miss?”
“Well, we saw Saint Kash and the red tart that sunk her hooks into him at a concert down the street,” a second man commented. “Haven’t you figured out a way to get rid of her yet?”
“Not yet,” Kash said, about ready to knock all five of their dense heads together. “Any suggestions?”
“Well, if it was me, I’d take full advantage of the situation,” a man with a big, bulging red nose added his comments. Kash recognized him as a rodeo photographer, one who thought he was something special. “She’s a red-hot looker, even if she’s got a temper to match. Too bad she doesn’t have any aptitude with a camera.”
“Yeah, too bad.”
Celia possessed more talent in her little finger than the idiot mouthing off. One more perverted look from him as he spoke about Celia, and Kash might just flatten him.
“I made sure she didn’t get in the running to take photos here for the rodeo. Those of us with talent have got to stick together, isn’t that right?” Big nose turned around and slapped the back of one of his friends, nearly knocking the drink from his hands.
“So, what you’re saying is Celia doesn’t have the talent of a five-year-old with a toy camera and should give up on besting the members of the good ol’ boys club. She should find someone willing to put up with her temper and stay home catering to his every whim.” Kash suggestively raised an eyebrow. “It would be a shame not to wring every drop of pleasure out of that hot body while she’s still got a few good years left. Isn’t that what you boys think?”
The men all laughed and agreed, missing the sarcasm and malice dripping from Kash’s tone.
“Why I ought to…” His hand clenched into a fist. He drew it back, prepared to clobber big nose when Celia brushed past their group, gave them all a furious glare, and marched outside.
She’d left the restroom and stepped around the corner to see Kash talking to the group of chauvinistic photographers who made her consider what kind of home life they had to make them dislike women so much.
As she approached them, wondering why they spoke to Kash, she heard him say she didn’t have the talent of a kid with a toy camera and should give up trying to compete with the rest of the men. She wouldn’t consider the rest of what he said.
They’d never done more than kiss and there certainly wouldn’t be more of that. Not when he thought she was a temperamental, untalented nitwit with only a few good years left to serve men like him.
Seething with anger, she couldn’t even speak as she breezed past him. Obviously, he’d been lying to her the day he told her he thought she had true talent.
He’d been pretending to support her while bad-mouthing her all along. If Ransom had said it, she wouldn’t have been surprised or cared. However, the fact it was Kash spewing the horrible words carved a hole into the space formerly occupied by her heart.
Already sensitive to the topic of her photography, especially where the tight knit group of men he was talking to were concerned, Kash’s comments pushed her beyond the boundaries of reason.
“Celia! Celia, wait!” Kash grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop in front of the casino, but she yanked away from him.
“I’ve heard about all I care to from you, Mr. Kressley. Do not, and I mean do not ever, talk to me again. Goodbye.” She nodded to a valet. He opened the door to a waiting taxi and she climbed inside.
Stunned by her outburst, Kash watched her leave, wondering what he’d done to make her angry. Too late, he realized she must have heard what he said to the group of blitzed yahoos.
“Guess she heard what you said, Ransom. You’d better watch out if your brother catches wind of this. He’ll be on the warpath.”
“He’s definitely on the warpath,” Kash said, shoving big nose into his friends. Two of them fell down and they all gaped at him. “By the way, you,” he pointed to big nose, “can’t shoot your way out of a paper bag. Celia has far more talent than you’ll ever know and she’s a wonderful woman. If I ever hear any of you say anything derogatory about her again, you’ll regret it.”
Kash took off, running for the casino up the street where he’d left his pickup. He rushed to Celia’s hotel and up to her room. No amount of knocking and pleading would get her to open the door. One more pounding knock would undoubtedly get him thrown out of the hotel altogether.
Defeated, he returned to his truck and tried calling Celia’s phone. It went straight to voice mail. He sent her a text, telling her it wasn’t what she thought and he could explain everything. Not surprisingly, he received no response.
There was nothing to be done at two in the morning, so he gave up and went back to his room.
The next morning, he checked to see if Celia had texted or returned his call, but she hadn’t.
Despondent, he went to meet his dad for coffee at a nearby restaurant. Much to his shock, Ransom joined them, bleary-eyed but awake.
“Who poured salt in your sugar shaker?” Ransom asked as he slid into the booth next to Kash.
“Leave it alone, Ransom. I’m not in the mood for caustic comments this morning.”
Ransom gave him a long look as he sipped his coffee. “Trouble in paradise? Where’s the perky little growth that’s been attached to your side all week?”
Kash’s fist banged the underside of the table as he brought it up to punch his brother, sending silverware dancing across the surface and coffee sloshing out of his cup.
“Kash, calm down,” Frank warned. “You boys will not get into a fight this morning. I’m tired of refereeing you two.”
The older man took a long drink of his coffee then pinned Ransom with a hard glare. “And Celia isn’t a growth. She’s a sweet girl and your brother is lucky she tolerates him and us.”
“From what I saw, he’s not near so sulky around her. He even laughed, if you can imagine,” Ransom teased. He turned to his brother with a more serious expression. “For the record, I know she’s not like the girls I hang out with and wouldn’t expect to see her with you this morning.”
Kash’s head snapped around to look at Ransom. It was the closest he would come to saying something nice and the notion left him bowled over.
“She’s not speaking to me anyway.” Kash used his napkin to wipe up the spilled coffee.
“What did you do, son?” Frank asked. “We can fix it. Just give me the lay of the land.”
“It’s not going to be as easy as that, Dad. She thought she had a good chance at being invited to be one of the official photographers for the rodeo, but when it didn’t happen, she was bummed about it. This one photographer, one who is official, keeps rubbing her nose in it and making snarky comments, letting her know women don’t belong out there with the real men.” Kash looked to his brother again. “From a conversation I had with the dimwits last night, I take it they are personal friends of yours, Ransom.”
Frank stared at Ransom. The troublemaker refrained from answering their questioning looks and studied the menu.
“What happened?” Frank asked as the server arrived at their table. Once they placed their orders, he repeated his question.
Kash sighed. “When I ran into those guys, they thought I was Ransom. For once, I pretended to be you.” He glanced at R
ansom. “I won’t make that mistake again. They said some nasty things about Celia, and me — so thanks, Ransom, for that. Anyway, to go along with them, I made some comments that would normally roll out of this one’s mouth.” Kash pointed to his twin. “When they agreed with what I said, I was just about ready to knock them all into next year when Celia blew by me with a glare so frosty, it could have shattered ice. She told me she never wanted to speak to me again then took a cab to her hotel. I followed her, but she refused to talk to me. After pounding on her door for a while, I gave up and tried calling and texting. Nothing. I shouldn’t have said what I did, but those guys were just…”
“Don’t say it,” Ransom warned.
Kash scowled at his brother. “Like you.”
“If I wasn’t tired of getting beat up by you, I’d take this outside to defend my honor.” Ransom shot Kash one of his fake, toothy smiles.
“If you had any honor, this wouldn’t have happened,” Kash fumed.
“That’s not entirely true, son. Ransom wasn’t there when you got into this mess with your lady. You stirred up your own pot of trouble this time and you’re gonna have to figure out how to get her to talk to you.”
“She’s heading home today. We’re supposed to go to some holiday concert thing on Friday. Maybe between now and then I can figure out a way to apologize and get back in her good graces.”
Ransom leaned back as the server appeared with their orders and set them on the table. When the man left, he picked up his fork and cut into his runny eggs. “I don’t know why you let her twist you around her finger like that, bro. There are dozens of women out there who’d be a lot less bother and much more eager to please.”
Frank rolled his eyes while Kash viciously stabbed the sausage on his plate. “I don’t want dozens of women or any other woman. The woman I want currently hates me and I don’t know how to fix that.”
Ransom took another bite of his eggs. “Like I said, there are many, many other fish in the pond.”
Kash scowled and ate the remainder of his breakfast in stony silence.
When he finished, the three of them discussed what needed to happen to get the stock and all their equipment ready to roll on the road home.
“It’s my turn to buy,” Kash said, trying to dig his wallet out of his pocket with his brother right beside him. “Let me out and I’ll pay at the counter.” He set his phone and pickup keys on the table.
Frank stood and looked at Ransom. “I know you hate working around the stock, but we really could use your help this morning. Make sure you change your clothes, though.”
Ransom bit his tongue to keep from mouthing off to his dad as he glanced down at his basketball shorts and flip-flops. Unlike his brother who stayed ripped through hard work, he had to spend an hour at the gym every day to keep in shape.
An idea formed in his head as he glanced at his twin. Kash stood in line to pay for breakfast. Frank talked to him while they waited.
Ransom picked up Kash’s phone.
It didn’t take long for him to find Celia’s contact info. In fact, he quickly scanned through the pathetic messages Kash sent her last night trying to apologize and begging her to let him explain.
Ransom sent Celia a message, pretending to be Kash. Once the message was sent, he deleted the evidence, sure his brother wasn’t tech savvy enough to figure out what he’d done.
That redheaded bombshell had been nothing but trouble to Kash and him. His brother needed to get his head back on straight because he had a good idea their old man was serious about selling the business if the two of them weren’t willing to work together. Ransom had far different plans than spending another year on the rodeo circuit shaking hands and pretending he cared about the whole thing.
He set Kash’s phone back exactly here his twin had left it and finished his second cup of coffee.
Kash returned to the table and grabbed the phone and his keys. “Dad said you’ll meet us over at the stock pens. You need a ride?”
“No. I’ll take my car.”
Kash nodded his head then strode out the door.
Ransom swaggered along behind him, smiling to himself. If Celia McGraw was mad at Kash for what he said last night, the text this morning would send her through the roof.
Chapter Fifteen
Madder than she’d ever been in her entire life, Celia slammed things around her hotel room as she packed.
Last night, when Kash stood outside her door pleading with her to talk to him, she almost gave in just to shut him up.
Hurt and furious, she wasn’t of a mind to listen to anything he had to say. He’d tried calling her phone and had sent her texts, but she wasn’t ready to reply to him.
Weary and heartbroken, she’d slept far later than she planned. She only had half an hour to check out of her room before they’d charge her for another day.
After taking a quick shower, she dressed in a sweater with jeans and boots. She applied a quick swipe of mascara and pink lip gloss before combing her hair back into a ponytail.
Swiftly gathering the last of her things, she made three trips down to her pickup to load everything. The air was nippy, catching her by surprise. The past week, the weather had been beautiful in Las Vegas. However, it seemed fitting that it was cloudy and gray on the day she had to drive ten hours home with her heart in tatters.
She returned inside the hotel and checked out, thanking the staff for the great service then hurried back to her truck.
Despite her best efforts, begging then pleading, the pickup refused to start. She called Cort to see if they’d left, but got his voice mail. She remembered Kaley saying something about an early flight.
Mentally running through the list of people who might still be in town, she called Cooper.
“Cooper? Are you still in Vegas?” she asked. The loud and lively background noise made her think he hadn’t left yet.
“Yes, ma’am, I am. I’m having lunch with some friends then I’m out of here.”
“Before you leave, could I talk you into helping me?” She would drive him home if he missed his flight, but she wouldn’t spend another day in town. Not with memories slapping her in the face of the amazing, magical days she’d spent with Kash.
In between his work, they’d visited Christmas vendor shows, attended concerts, drove around and looked at lights. He’d even taken her on a tour of a chocolate factory where they got delicious samples that were almost as rich and scrumptious as his kisses.
Twice, they’d gone back to the art show, once with his dad, and once with Cort and Kaley to show off her work.
He seemed so proud of her, of the photograph, yet he’d said all those awful things about her last night.
Admittedly, the subject of her not being good enough to fit in with the “big boys” was an extremely sore subject. Hearing Kash utter such malicious words about her, about her talent, cut her to the core.
The last thing she needed to deal with today was a pickup that wouldn’t start. She wanted to go home and forget she’d ever met Kash Kressley.
“Celia? What do you need, darlin’?” Cooper asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“My truck won’t start and I’ve tried everything I can think of. Can you take a look at it?”
“Sure, honey. Let me finish my lunch and I’ll come over. Where are you at?”
She told him how to find her. “I really appreciate this Cooper. You’re the best.”
“Don’t forget it. I’ll be there in about an hour.”
Celia hung up and released a relieved sigh. If Cooper couldn’t fix it, she’d just have to find a mechanic. Curious, she wondered how hard it would be to locate one on a Sunday afternoon.
Determined to think positive, she checked through her voice mail and text messages. Cort left her a message, asking if she wanted to have breakfast with them before they left. A smile eased the worry on her face as she listened to him lecture her about sleeping in and to get her lazy behind out of bed.
A message fr
om her mom warned her to be careful driving home because they’d had snow the past two days. Jana worried the roads might be slick.
A few friends sent messages saying how much fun it was to see her.
The couple that purchased the canvas print of Kash sent her a text letting her know how much they loved the piece of art. Their granddaughter happened to be the tutu-wearing toddler in the photo. Celia was glad the image went to a family who would treasure it.
With no other messages left to check, she listened to Kash begging for an opportunity to explain why she’d heard what she did and that it wasn’t what she thought.
The first three texts he sent repeated his request to speak with her. The fourth text, one he sent that morning, nearly made her crush her phone in her hand as she read it.
Mistakenly, she thought it impossible for her to get any angrier than she’d been last night. Yet, after reading the message on her phone, she briefly considered if her blood might actually boil in her veins.
Her breath came in sharp gasps and for a moment she felt so woozy she could hardly see. Finally, she opened the pickup door to let in cool air and breathed deeply.
In shock, she read his message a second time.
Celia,
Life’s too short to put up with a crabby, clingy, mouthy girl like you. The thing we had going on is definitely not working for me. I’m calling it quits.
Kash
P.S. I meant what I said last night and I’m not sorry you heard it. Get a clue about how to keep a real man happy.
Numb, she was beyond tears, beyond emotion. She stared out the windshield until Cooper arrived then popped the hood and waited as he poked around. After half an hour of trying to get it started, he gave up and called someone who knew a local mechanic.
Cooper waited with her until the tow truck arrived. Celia hugged her friend then climbed inside the truck and went to the mechanic’s shop. The mechanic told her he’d do his best to get it running, but it would most likely be the next day before he had it fixed.
He offered to run her back to the hotel, so she grabbed her suitcase and accepted the ride then checked back in. They hadn’t filled the room she’d vacated that morning, so she returned to it, curled up on the bed and fell asleep. It was dark when she awoke.
Capturing Christmas Page 17
