And built. Holy cow. She’d gotten a good grip on his muscled biceps when he’d kept her from making a complete fool of herself.
Now she felt totally perverted since she’d been sneaking peeks at Jamie and him on the dance floor, mesmerized by his fast, sexy, smooth moves. She’d kept watching them when they returned to the bar. Saw him draw Jamie in. He hadn’t given a damn who knew he was seducing her. Jamie had been his only focus in a bar full of people.
Lucky, lucky Jamie.
What would it be like on the receiving end of such potent sexual attention? She’d know if she hadn’t tuned Jamie out as the girl had regaled Stephanie with explicit details of her last hookup with the man she’d referred to as “cowboy hottie”.
What an understatement.
She’d spiraled back ten years when Tell’s eyes met hers. Even back then, she’d felt he saw so much more than other kids their age, which sent her into full retreat. Maybe she’d even acted a little cold to him sometimes because she hadn’t wanted anyone—especially a sweet-talkin’, sharp-eyed McKay—to see that deeply inside her, fearing he’d find her…shallow.
Georgia dodged dancers on her way back to the booth.
Stephanie stirred the ice cubes in her glass and watched her approach. “Jamie had to bail. Issues with her sister.”
At least she wouldn’t have to break the news to Jamie that Tell had left.
“I saw you talking to Jamie’s mystery guy.”
“So you didn’t know the hot cowboy Jamie was going on about…was Tell McKay?”
Stephanie’s eyes became enormous behind her purple glasses. “Seriously? Jamie never said his name.” She groaned. “Then again, she did say she wasn’t the type to kiss and tell.”
Georgia choked on her vodka tonic.
“I shouldn’t be surprised. That’s how karma works.”
“Karma? What are you talking about?”
“You. Running into Tell McKay. He always had a crush on you. But you were too busy being Deck’s girlfriend to notice.”
Wrong. She had noticed. But it wasn’t like she could’ve acted on it. Deck had been insanely jealous, and enough bad blood had lingered between Deck and Tell in rodeo club that she hadn’t wanted to add to it.
“Tell was surprised we were friends.”
Stephanie shrugged. “Our friendship was off the radar. No biggie.”
“Did that bother you?”
“Of course not. When we saw each other at school, you didn’t pretend you didn’t know me. I never understood what you did to earn such animosity from the girls in our class anyway, besides their bitchy attitudes being from stupid, petty jealousy because you were beautiful and dating the class stud. You weren’t a mean girl, not like Sally Hermanson and her group. You just stuck with your own crowd—RJ, Deck and his groupies. Who can fault you for that? Besides, look at us now. We’re still friends. Can either of us say that about anyone else in our graduating class?”
“No, but that’s because you took pity on me after I divorced Deck and let me room with you in Laramie.”
“It worked out for both of us. What else did Tell say?”
“Nothing.” After the cocktail waitress took their order, Georgia steered the conversation away from her embarrassing run-in with Tell. “You know who else I ran into from our class? Maggie Malone. She looks exactly the same.”
“That’s it? You have been keeping a low profile since you moved back to Wyoming.”
Moved back. Banished to purgatory was more like it.
“I’ve been busy the last week setting everything up to Barbara’s specs.”
Stephanie adjusted her glasses, which meant she was getting ready to grill Georgia. “I don’t understand why your boss picked Sundance to open a branch office.”
“It’s not a branch office. Since she took over promotions for L bar K Rodeo, we have to maintain a physical presence throughout the summer rodeo season. Mostly to reassure the committees that hired L bar K that we plan on honoring those contracts. Plus, Barbara believed my former ties to this area would work in our favor now.”
“So you won’t be living here permanently?”
“No. But that tidbit has to stay strictly between us. You know how locals get about an out-of-state company relocating here temporarily for tax benefits and then pulling up stakes.”
“But it still seems bizarre and…coincidental. How did a promotions and advertising firm in Dallas end up owning a small rodeo promotion company in Wyoming?”
That same question had crossed Georgia’s mind, especially after Barbara’s strange edict: take the job in Wyoming or lose her job in Dallas.
“L bar K has fallen on hard times and they approached Barbara about a buyout.”
Both Stephanie’s eyebrows rose. “Again with the coincidence.”
“Barbara does this buyout thing all the time. And she’s getting plenty out of this deal, trust me. Some of the rodeos around here are overlooked gems just needing the right PR company to put a shine on them.”
“What are you getting out of it?”
“A promotion, if everything goes smoothly. In the meantime, I get to spend my summer at the rodeo grounds, instead of taking calls at my desk in Dallas.”
“Does your dad know you’re here?”
Georgia reached for her fresh drink. “He’s probably heard rumors. Have I called him? No. Do I intend to? The jury’s out on that one.”
Stephanie sighed. “I don’t blame you. But I feel the need to point out that people change. You have. Why couldn’t you at least give your father the benefit of the doubt, just once?”
That comment made Georgia think of Tell. Not of how he’d changed, but what had remained the same.
His piercing blue eyes were the same.
That dimpled smile was the same.
His sweet, helpful disposition was the same.
“You’ve gotten better at evasion,” Stephanie inserted. “You don’t want to talk about your dad? Fine. We’ll finish the conversation about Tell McKay. Did he recognize you?”
“He was too busy trying to get into Jamie’s pants to pay attention to anything but her zipper.”
“Not what I meant.”
“Yes, he recognized me. Right away.”
Stephanie said, “And?” with exasperation.
“And what? He was polite, even when I sort of freaked out on him.” Georgia groaned and put her forehead on the table.
“That bad? Really?”
“Yes.” Georgia raised her head and mimicked herself. “Wow, I can’t believe you’re Tell McKay! Wow, let me feel your big muscles! Wow, you look amazing! God, Stephanie. What was wrong with me?”
“You were sideswiped with lust?”
“Me and every other woman in the bar. But they didn’t gasp and swoon. Can you believe I almost fell on my ass, so the poor man had to catch me?”
“He didn’t have to catch you,” Stephanie pointed out. “But the fact he did is great insight into his character.”
Georgia wanted to roll her eyes, but her psychologist friend would read something into it. “I didn’t talk to him long enough to find out anything about his character. Besides. What does it matter? He’s with Jamie.”
Stephanie shook her head. “Jamie’s commitment issues preclude her from anything but casual relationships. After what she’s told me, I’m assuming cowboy hottie, aka Tell McKay, is the same way.”
Georgia wanted to point out she’d overheard Tell’s phone conversation and he had a kid, but that didn’t mean he had a wife or even a significant other. Just a baby mama, who was at home, dealing with his child while he caroused at the local bar.
Maybe Tell had turned into a player. Wouldn’t be much of a stretch, given his good looks and the wild reputations the McKay men had built up over the years.
“You know, he could solve a major problem for you.”
She glanced up. “What major problem? That I need to get laid?”
Stephanie laughed. “I don’t know if I’ll
ever get used to hearing you talk like that, G. Anyway, maybe this will be a two-fer in the problem-solving department for you: you’ll get laid and score a date to our ten-year class reunion.”
“Uh. No. I’ll take the sex but I’m not going to the reunion.”
“Bullshit.”
Georgia started to retort but Stephanie cut her off.
“You are going. You cannot not show up at our class reunion, Georgia. Especially when people find out you live here. Especially not after you and Deck were voted class couple and prom king and queen.”
“Those titles worked out so well since we’ve been divorced for seven years,” she retorted.
“Which is why you have to go. Don’t let Deck have the upper hand. Plus, you know he’ll be there with Tara-Lee.”
She scowled. “All the more reason to skip the damn dog and pony show.”
“You really don’t care if Deck badmouths you?” Stephanie asked. “Because you know he will if you’re not around to defend yourself.”
“I dealt with the Deck drama a lifetime ago.”
“That’s why you have to show up at the reunion on the arm of a gorgeous cowboy. It’d give you cred. It’d give Tell cred because you’re still the hottest woman from our class. Add in the fact Deck and Tell were rivals in rodeo club? Sweet, sweet revenge.”
That would be a way to prove she’d moved on. That she no longer had that purity ring around her neck like a noose.
No. She could not possibly be considering the idea of attending that farce of a reunion. “Who are you taking to the reunion?” she asked Stephanie.
“No one. I’m going stag.” Stephanie held her hand up again. “And before you blow a gasket, let me remind you that you were in the thick of things during high school. I was very happily in the background, observing.”
“You’re still observing.”
“So make it interesting for me. Show up and show off. The introverted high school girl you were wouldn’t dare ask Tell to go to the reunion with her. That’s exactly why you should ask him.”
“What if he says no?”
“I think you’re more afraid that he’ll say yes.”
Chapter Two
Landon calmed down immediately when Tell walked through the door. The four-year-old crawled onto Tell’s lap with his dinosaur blanket and promptly fell asleep.
“He prefers you, even to Brandt.”
Tell glanced at his younger brother. “Only because Brandt hasn’t spent much time with him, Jessie bein’ pregnant and all.”
Dalton shook his head. “It’s more than that. I think Landon is drawn to you because you two look so much alike—like Luke.”
Total bullshit, in Tell’s opinion. His nephew had been born several months after their brother Luke’s death. No one had known about the kid’s existence until the boy was almost a year and a half old. Having a piece of Luke had been a catalyst for change in their family—some good, some bad. But it’d become important that Landon grow up around his family.
Tell was aware that he most closely resembled Luke—at least in physical appearance. In temperament he was light-years away from his hotheaded oldest brother. Every time he dealt with a frustrated Landon, Tell was reminded that he’d been the one to calm Luke down when his temper had gotten the best of him.
“I could use a beer, since my night of drinkin’ was cut short.”
Dalton brought back two bottles of Bud Light. He gulped down a mouthful before he said, “You’re probably gonna need more than one when I tell you that Dad called.”
“What’d he want?”
“To see Landon.”
“Bullshit. He just wants to see if Mom’s boyfriend will be along when she picks up Landon tomorrow.”
“Probably.”
“So what’d you tell him?”
“That you’d be at the park in Sundance tomorrow afternoon.” Dalton shrugged and took another drink. “He probably won’t show.”
“I can hope.” Tell let his head fall back on the couch cushion and closed his eyes. He did not want to think about the fucked-up family shit now when he’d have to deal with it again tomorrow.
“So who did I pull you away from at the bar that’s put that crabby look on your face?” Dalton asked.
The thought of Georgia snapped him out of a potentially sour mood. He raised his head. “Georgia Hotchkiss. Remember her?”
Dalton whistled. “Of course I remember Hot Lips Hotchkiss. You had it bad for her.”
He felt his cheeks heat. “I did not.”
“No need to lie, bro. You let her run roughshod over you. But damn, I might’ve let her roll over me, too. She was all that and a bag of chips. A little stuck-up, though. She still that way?”
“No idea. You called right when I started talkin’ to her. I haven’t seen her since a week after graduation.”
Dalton gave him a considering look. “Weren’t you friends with her twin brother, RJ?”
“I knew him, pulled a couple pranks with him, but we weren’t friends since he ran with Deck.”
“You weren’t around the summer he was killed. Sad deal.”
Landon stirred.
Tell stood, carrying him to the spare bedroom and slipping the kid into bed. He pulled the blanket up and smoothed back the boy’s hair. Then he returned to the living room, plopped back on the couch and stretched out with a sigh.
“I take it you’re staying tonight?”
“Yep.”
“What if I had plans?”
Tell quirked a brow. “At ten o’clock when we gotta be up at five?”
Dalton sighed. “I wish I had plans. Been awful damn hard getting back into the swing of havin’ a social life after calving. Don’t know if I’ll ever catch up on sleep. Man. Was this year brutal or what?”
“We added an extra hundred head and Brandt is uptight and so, yeah, it was rough.”
“Glad it’s not just me bein’ a whiny pussy.”
“That’d make me one too.”
“Now I feel better.” Dalton drummed his fingers on the chair arm. “I heard something that might interest you.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s all over for Jim and Charlene Fox—’cept for the fightin’.”
Tell frowned. “Why would that interest me?”
“You dated Charlene, right?”
Dated. More like he banged her a couple times and then she married someone else. “Yeah. Like six years ago. Why?”
“She remembers your time together fondly. Hell, I think she remembers every man fondly, which is probably why her marriage is on the skids.” Dalton smirked. “But she told me—in confidence—that when it gets down to the wire with Jim, she wants to sell off everything and move to Austin to live with her sister.”
“When did Char spill her guts to you, D?”
“She stopped by here yesterday when me’n Landon were outside. Something about a cute kid makes a woman go all soft and talkative. Anyway, if we play our cards right, we could get first crack at it.”
That caught his interest. “First crack at everything?”
“Yep.” Dalton’s face turned into pure business. “The land is already divided into two parcels. That larger section wouldn’t be a bad investment. Especially if you were serious about starting a feedlot in a few years.”
“I am serious. But given land prices, there’s no way we can afford it. Even if she gives us a friends and former lovers discount, even with what we’ve got saved up.“
“There’s no way we can afford to pass up this opportunity, even if it takes us a few years to get the feedlot up and running. This time we wouldn’t have to rely on someone else to run interference for us. We could handle the details ourselves and no one would know until after the fact.”
They both had a bad taste after a land deal had fallen through a year and a half ago. “I don’t know. I’d hate to get my hopes up again. We’ve been talkin’ in abstracts. What if I’m wrong and a feedlot isn’t viable?”
�
��You’re not wrong. You’re the smartest person I know, T, and if anyone can make it profitable, you can show us how. You’ve done more than talk in abstracts. You’ve already studied up on the regulations.”
His brother’s faith in him was humbling.
“And wouldn’t it be sweet to stick it to Little Miss Know-It-All-Ecologically-Sustained-Agriculture after what she done to us?”
He spit out his beer at hearing Dalton refer to sweet Rory Wetzler in such a way. “Hey, you’re the one who got drunk with Rory and spilled the beans about us wantin’ to buy her mom’s land so we could turn it into a gigantic feedlot.”
Dalton sighed. “Yeah, that wasn’t smart of me, especially since we managed to keep that part of our plan even from our cousin Ben.”
“You should’ve expected Rory would blab to her mom right away, which is how Rielle ended up selling to Gavin so fast. Both Rielle and Rory have that hippie attitude and don’t want any changes to the land.”
“Well, they’re getting their wish since Gavin hasn’t done shit with it.”
They chewed on that in silence.
“You be all right doin’ chores Sunday morning alone?” Dalton asked. “There’s a poker tournament in Deadwood. The pot is twenty grand.”
“Go for it. Get drunk, get laid and win the pot. I’ll need payback next weekend.”
“Where’s the rodeo?”
“Buffalo. Friday and Saturday night.”
“Deal.” Dalton stood. “Night, John-Boy.”
“Night, Mary Ellen.” Tell snagged the afghan off the back of the couch and let sleep overtake him.
The next afternoon after Tell got Landon cleaned up and fed, they headed to town. It was one of those perfect Wyoming days—the sun shining above an enormous, cloudless blue sky. Just enough bite of cold in the air to remind him winter had ended but summer wasn’t here yet.
Landon exuded energy and ran from the swing set to the jungle gym to the sandpit and every place in between before he decided to shinny up the monkey bars.
Tell chased the boy, ran when Landon chased him, and let himself be caught and tickled. Finally Landon settled into the sandpit to dig—an activity that’d keep him occupied for more than five minutes.
Kissin' Tell: Rough Riders, Book 13 Page 2
