He liked taking in her scent. He would be hard by the end of dressing her, but he knew now was not the time.
Now she stood in the bathroom, balancing on crutches, doing her make up. He leaned on the doorjamb, watching her. Having never had a sister, he was fascinated by women and their make-up routines. Jessica had worn a lot of it in her younger days.
He preferred the fresh-faced look, and what Gemma did was to enhance the beauty she had. She didn’t look made up. She was subtle. She was gorgeous with or without make up.
“Is this interesting?”
“It is. I’m an only child. No sisters. Never really watched anyone do this.”
“Jessica didn’t wear make-up?”
“She did, but she did it in private. Never let me watch.”
Gemma shrugged, almost losing her balance. Brandon’s hand snaked out to keep her from falling. He loved the tingle from her touch.
What he didn’t want to admit was that he’d seen love in her eyes in bed. He didn’t want her to love him back. He could nurse his wounded heart when she was gone, but he didn’t want to think that she felt the same. If she did, he’d have to tell her.
She had a right to know.
But knowing Gemma, if she loved him, she would have said something. He must have read her wrong.
“You better get dressed.”
“We still have fifteen minutes.”
“I don’t want to be late.”
“I am never late.”
“Good, don’t start now. Do you have another snappy shirt?”
“You going to tell me what to wear now?”
“You’ll be my date, so I want you to look presentable.”
“I think I have some jeans with cow shit on them.”
“Not funny.”
He chuckled as he put on clean jeans and another shirt from his rodeo days. With his trusty worn cowboy boots, he figured he looked okay.
“Wow,” Gemma said when he returned. “I see how you were a hit with the ladies on that circuit.”
He felt his face redden. He’d always been embarrassed by the attention he received from the rodeo groupies.
“You blushed. That’s adorable.” She went up on tiptoe on her one foot and kissed his nose. “Hat?”
“I have a few of those.”
“Not the one you use to work with,” she said.
He laughed again at her presumptuousness. Retrieving a hat he hadn’t worn in a few years, he put it on his head. Gemma appeared in the door to the bedroom.
“That’s hot.”
He’d never thought of himself as attractive, but Gemma seemed to think so.
“Hot?”
“Hot.”
***
Gemma could not get over how well Brandon cleaned up. It exhilarated her to know just what kind of body he had under those jeans.
And those jeans were to die for. Worn in, just enough, the pants hugged all the right parts. His shirt was unbuttoned enough to see his chest hair. Wouldn’t he be cold? Never mind. She enjoyed the view.
The hat topped it off perfectly. She hoped to knock that hat off his head later. Maybe with her mouth on his cock.
She licked her lips. She had delightful plans for their last night together. Having nothing to lose, she would be the pig tonight, not the chicken.
“What are you thinking?” he said.
She chuckled. “I promise, I’ll tell you later.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“You bet. You ready?”
“Yeah, let me get the truck.”
She put on her coat with his help, then waited on the bench by the door. When she heard the big diesel engine, she told the dog farewell, and then she hobbled out onto the small porch. Brandon slid her into the cab, and handed her the crutches.
“Don’t forget, I need to pick up my car.”
He frowned. “Right.”
“The guy said he’d leave the key under the mat.”
Brandon drove her there. “Are you sure you can drive?”
“I can drive. It’s an automatic, and it’s my left foot that’s injured. I just hope he did it right.”
“You leaving him a check?”
“Yes. Already written.”
Brandon parked in front of a bay. Her Mustang sat in front of the other one. He helped her out, then waited until she started her car. A wind went right through him as he stood out in the cold. “When we get there, let me park the truck, then I’ll park your car.”
“Thanks.”
When they reached the bar, it was already hopping even though service didn’t start for ten more minutes. The sun was just finishing up its day. Gemma couldn’t think of where else she’d want to be on a Friday night. Her last Friday night in Iowa. Her last night with Brandon.
She shook away the thought. This was part of her life plan. Her dream. She had to keep telling herself that.
Brandon was a wonderful distraction. Nothing more. He’d go back to his life, maybe with Jessica, and she’d go meet that agent who could launch her career.
Brandon parked the truck. She stopped the Mustang by the front door and left it running. No one would steal it.
She would have waited for him, but the air was too cold. When she opened the door, music was playing from the jukebox. People were seated. Gemma gave her ticket to the person sitting at a table by the door.
“Busy?” she asked.
“Yeah, we sold out when people heard that Jessica Steele was going to be here.”
Gemma nodded, knowing that would be true. She wondered if she would ever be that much of a draw. She hoped. If she ever made it to Hollywood. There was a certain cowboy who was making her think about changing her plans.
***
Brandon brought Gemma her guitar as she stood talking to some people that Brandon didn’t even know. He approached the group, wondering why she hadn’t found a seat.
“Hi, this is Brandon. Brandon, these are Lyle and Wanda Love. Lyle owns the gas station and Wanda is a nurse at the urgent care.”
“Nice to meet you,” Brandon said. To Gemma he said, “You learned all that in the time that I parked the truck?”
She shrugged. “People tell me things.”
Lyle shook Brandon’s hand. “How’s the ranch coming along?”
“I’m doing okay. I’m keeping my head above water so far,” Brandon said. He wasn’t sure why this man asked him that.
“Good to hear. I know a developer was looking at that land before you bought it,” Wanda said. “We were so worried.”
“A developer? What did he want to do with it?” Brandon asked.
“Build houses.”
Brandon shifted his hat on his head. “There isn’t a demand for housing here.”
“At one point, spur of the interstate was going to be built along with a business park,” Lyle said. “The developer wanted to get the land while it was still cheap.”
“What happened to that spur?” Brandon said.
Wanda smiled. “The bill was defeated in the legislature. Ringo Falls will stay a small town.”
“What’s the draw for a company?” Gemma said.
“Low taxes and a workforce that would be happy to have a job,” Lyle said.
“I see. Could you excuse us? I want to get a seat for Gemma. She needs to get off of her feet,” Brandon said.
“Nice to meet you Brandon and Gemma,” Wanda said.
Brandon held Gemma’s guitar as he directed her to the nearest empty table. Helen had put more out for this shindig. “I think we found the last table.”
“Helen reserved it for us. I invited Jessica to sit with us. She isn’t singing until after the meal.”
“That’s fine. Where is she?”
“In some room she’s using as a dressing room. Probably putting on her make-up.”
“Right.” He’d seen a picture of Jessica with her stage make-up. Too much. Even more than she had put on while married to him. “You don’t get a dressing room?”
She waved a h
and. “No need, I’m just the opening act. I don’t need the star treatment.”
“And Jessica would, of course.”
“Was she always high maintenance?”
Brandon tapped his chin. “Looking back, yes. She appealed to my male need to take care of someone.”
“That knight in shining armor thing that men have,” Gemma said.
“That’s it. Our fatal flaw.”
“Only if you’re with the wrong person.”
Brandon couldn’t see Gemma ever wanting a knight in shining armor. She was more than capable of taking care of herself. “I don’t see you need a knight at all,” he said.
“Why? Because I’m a strong personality?”
“Yes.”
She shifted a coaster advertising a beer around the table. Her gaze didn’t meet his. “I can be vulnerable. Just don’t usually have a need to.”
“A need? I would think being vulnerable would just happen.”
“Then I guess it doesn’t happen to me often. That doesn’t mean I don’t want someone to love me or provide a safe place for me.”
Really? He wouldn’t have thought Gemma felt that way at all. She seemed so self-contained. There was more to her than he could see. “Interesting.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gemma wondered if she’d let too much of herself go in that conversation. If Brandon was going to be her boyfriend or even her long-term lover, she wouldn’t be so uncomfortable with his analysis or her answer.
But she was leaving. Heading towards her dream. But in truth, she wasn’t nearly as excited as she had been when she left New Jersey. So much had happened since then. The biggest one being Brandon in her life. He hadn’t just taken her to bed, he’d taken her heart.
Too bad he didn’t want it.
Jessica appeared in the bar, having come out from backstage. It took her a few minutes to get to the table as she stopped to talk and sign autographs. To Gemma, that looked like Heaven.
Sort of. If she were famous, would she ever get to be left alone anywhere? She hadn’t thought about that part.
“Everyone wants a piece of you,” Gemma said when Jessica finally sat down.
The star shrugged. “Part of the job. You better get used to it.”
“Is there nowhere you can go to be alone?”
“When I had a house in Memphis I could be alone, but I had big walls around it,” Jessica said.
Gemma didn’t like the idea of living in a prison. She grew up in a tightly-knit neighborhood. Neighbors dropped by at all hours. What would she do alone in a big house?
“That sounds lonely,” Brandon said.
“That’s funny coming from you, Brandon. Who hides behind his animals,” Jessica said.
A waitress came by to take drink orders. She left them, and then dinner was called.
“Shall we let our entertainment eat first?” Helen said into a microphone on the stage.
The crowd cheered. Gemma laughed. “That’s a perk of the job.”
“Pay attention to the dishes that have a star on their sign. These are the recipes you will be voting on,” Helen said.
Gemma struggled to her feet. She couldn’t believe that even after this long on crutches, she still couldn’t balance well on them. “I can get you food if you want,” Brandon said.
“I should come with you to see what’s there.”
“True. I don’t know what you like.”
Brandon walked beside her. She bit her lip as she realized she’d be there when he discovered his recipe. Would he make a scene?
“Everything looks good,” she said.
Brandon carried two plates. “It does.”
His dish wasn’t among the first ones on the table. She’d have a few minutes to decide what to do. She didn’t regret giving up the recipe, but she knew he’d be pissed. Just when they’d had a great afternoon together.
Just when she’d hoped for a great last night together, here she was rethinking her impulsive decision to enter his recipe.
Too bad. She’d just have to live with his reaction.
***
Brandon juggled both plates as Gemma told him what she wanted. She could eat as much as he did. He loved that she did eat. Too many women didn’t.
“My plate’s full. Let me put it at the table,” he said.
“Actually, that’s all I need. “
“You sure?”
She seemed to be eying something down the table. If she wanted it, she should ask.
“Yes, I’m done.”
She smiled at him, and he forgot whatever he’d been thinking. He’d really miss her and her straightforward attitude. How refreshing for a woman to tell a man what she was really thinking.
Jessica didn’t understand that.
His ex-wife waited at the table for them to come back. He settled Gemma’s plate then her on her chair before he sat down.
“Everything looks good,” Jessica said. “Did you enter a recipe?”
“No, I didn’t,” he said. “Why?”
“Well, there was something further down the table that I thought had your name on it.”
Brandon glanced back at the buffet table. “I didn’t see it. Doesn’t matter. I didn’t enter anything.”
Gemma stilled. He thought maybe she was in pain.
“You okay, Gemma?” he asked.
“Yes, fine. Just hungry.”
She took a bite of food.
“How odd that I thought your name was on it,” Jessica said.
“Nope,” Brandon replied.
“Have you tasted these meatballs?” Gemma said.
“That’s next,” Jessica said.
Brandon noticed she didn’t have much on her plate at all. Of course she wouldn’t. She worried about her figure. If you asked him, she was too skinny. Gemma had something for a man to hold onto. She had curves and more substance. More substance overall, too.
He wondered for a moment how he had fallen for Jessica. Maybe she hadn’t been the right person for him, and she’d done them both a favor by leaving.
In fact, maybe he should be thanking her.
***
Gemma couldn’t wait until the meal was over. Why was this bothering her? She’d made decisions like this before and owned up to them. Why now? Why was this one so hard to accept?
Maybe because this could make or break how Brandon felt about her.
Should she wait until the announcement was made? If he didn’t win, he’d never know. She hated feeling this indecisive. It almost took away her appetite. Almost.
Instead of engaging Brandon, she dug into her food to think a little more. Not one to normally shy away from confrontation, she knew what she had to do.
This time, it was different. She had more to lose. She had Brandon to lose and that didn’t just mean sleeping on the couch tonight. It meant that she would lose his friendship. She might need that as a stabilizing force in her life. She saw how Jessica dealt without it, and Gemma didn’t like the idea.
She screwed up her courage. She had to tell him and not wimp out. If he hated her, so be it. Maybe that would make her leaving easier.
“Brandon?”
“Yeah, hon?”
Hon? He’d called her hon.
Did he even realize that? She swallowed.
“I have to get backstage for a few minutes, “ Jessica said. “You’ll be ready to go on in five minutes?”
“Yes.”
“Come use my dressing room to tune your guitar,” she said.
Gemma looked from Brandon to Jessica. “Okay.”
She’d wanted to tell Brandon. Hopefully she’d have time before the winners were announced.
Jessica took Gemma’s guitar and walked along side of her. “You sent in that recipe of his, didn’t you?”
“Yes, and I am thinking that I’m regretting it.”
“Why? It’ll probably win.”
“He’ll be pissed at me.”
Jessica shrugged. “You’ll be gone tomorrow, so it do
esn’t matter.”
Gemma knew she should probably take comfort in that, but she didn’t. Part of her wanted to stay. If Brandon asked, she just might.
“You really love him,” Jessica said as they entered the closet that was her dressing room.
Gemma didn’t answer until she sat down and had her guitar out. “I do. I’m not sure when it happened.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I have no freaking idea.”
***
Brandon was glad that Jessica had whisked away Gemma. He’d called her hon. It had just slipped out.
He didn’t know why. Well, he did, but he wasn’t willing to admit his feelings for her. If he ignored them, they would go away. Just like Gemma was going to.
The thought made his heart ache, but he knew he couldn’t ask her to stay. A few people passed his table and greeted him. He smiled back at most of them. He hadn’t made any friends in this town, and now he wondered if that had been the right thing to do.
He’d kept to himself, and only came into to town to shop. Maybe if he could make the effort to be more neighborly, his life would be a little fuller. He would know who owned the pony Houdini.
The lights dimmed, and he knew it was almost time for the show. He cleared the table, then dumped it all in a trashcan. Gemma had cleaned her plate while Jessica had left most of it. Would Gemma succumb to that when she was a star? He couldn’t see her that way. She had shape and a fullness to her face that was part of what made her beautiful.
He had it so bad for her. Could he ask her to stay? Could he let her go? Whatever happened, he’d make tonight last as long as he could.
That was when he noticed the sign on one of the dishes. It read:
“Chicken Francaise by Brandon Steele.”
Damn! Had Gemma done this? She probably had. He clenched his fists. He had told her not to do this. Not being able to deal with the situation now, he stormed back to his seat. Gemma hobbled onto the stage with someone trailing behind her with her guitar.
He couldn’t make a scene now, but he’d probably seethe throughout the performance. Damn her for doing that.
Now he glanced around the darkened bar to see if anyone was staring at him. He suddenly felt like he was in the spotlight instead of Gemma. He didn’t want to be in the spotlight. His willingness to be more neighborly was one thing, but being the center of attention was another.
Tamed By The White Cowboy (BWWM Romance) Page 5
