Kissin' Tell: Rough Riders, Book 13

by Lorelei James

  “What’s that?”

  “Money, mostly. It’s expensive to keep competing if you ain’t winning. Hell, it’s expensive even if you are winning.”

  “I don’t know how these rodeo cowboys do it. They’re gone at least a couple times a week over the summer.”

  “It’s no different than you flying off here and there to do your job.”

  “I’m the remain in the office to put out fires type of employee. No jet-setting for me.”

  Tell studied her. “When you’re not working, what do you do for fun?”

  “I’m happy to stay home on the weekends. I live forty-five minutes from where I work and the traffic is awful during the week. Sometimes in the summer I head to this small lake that has great walking paths. I pack a lunch and hang out all day.”

  “By yourself?”

  “Yes. Why? Do I sound pathetic?”

  He snatched her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. “No. It does sound a little lonely, sweetness. So I’m glad you don’t have to go back to that.”

  Georgia felt guilty for letting him believe she was sticking around. “Your off-the-ranch hours are packed with stuff. What else do you do besides play in a dart league, mentor the rodeo team, judge rodeo events and charm and bed all the women in the county?”

  “Only one woman I’m interested in charming and bedding.”

  “Do I know her?” she asked innocently.

  “Intimately. And if we weren’t waitin’ for some grub, I’d haul you out to my truck right now and we’d get reacquainted.” He lifted a brow. “How come you’re sittin’ so far away from me?”

  Georgia stood and scooted next to him in the booth, secretly thrilled he always wanted her physically close to him, not just in bed.

  “Much better. So when you come over tomorrow, I’ve got a couple of fun things we can do. Since you don’t like surprises, I’ll give you a hint. It begins with Z.”

  “A visit to the zoo.”

  He rolled his eyes. “That would suck balls. Try again.”

  “You’re taking me on a Zamboni ride.”

  “In Wyoming. In June. Nope.”

  “We’re gonna catch some z’s after you tie me to your bed for twenty-four hours,” she purred.

  “There’s an idea, but nope. One last try.”

  She tapped her chin. “Does it have anything to do with a zipper?”

  Tell grinned. “Partially. I’m takin’ you for a ride on the zip line I built.”

  “Zip line. As in flying-through-the-air-with-no-safety-nets zip line?”

  “One in the same.”

  “No way.”

  “It’ll be fun. It’s safe. I promise.”

  Her fingers pleated the paper placemat that boasted facts about Wyoming. “Sorry, but that’s just not my thing.”

  Tell turned her face toward his. “It’s not scary or steep. I built it for Landon. Try it one time. Please.”

  How could she resist those damn dimples? “Fine. But if I take an ass-buster—”

  “Then I will kiss your ass until it feels better.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Tell’s phone rang at midnight Sunday night.

  Never good.

  Caller ID read: Brandt. “Brandt? What’s wrong?”

  “Jesus, Tell, Jessie is in labor.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  “No! She’s two weeks early!”

  “Is Jess all right? She’s not havin’ complications?”

  “She’s just…in so damn much pain she can’t even talk.”

  Tell set his feet on the floor. “Where are you?”

  “In my truck on the way to the hospital.”

  A loud female wail echoed through the phone. “Can’t you make this fucking thing go any faster, Brandt? You’re driving thirty miles under the speed limit.”

  “Just bein’ safe, baby. Got precious cargo on board.”

  “Brandt?” Tell prompted.

  “You’re gonna hafta do chores by yourself, at least in the morning.”

  “I’m pretty sure I can handle it. You need to be focused on Jessie.”

  “Come on, Jessie, baby, breathe.”

  Another groan, followed by, “It fucking hurts to breathe!”

  “Shit, bro, I gotta go.”

  He said, “Keep in touch,” to the dial tone.

  Georgia’s warm, naked body pressed against his back and her chin rested on his shoulder. “I take it Jessie’s in labor?”

  “Yeah. And Brandt doesn’t appear to be handling it any better than he did her pregnancy. They’re on the way to the hospital.”

  “Wouldn’t it be funny if they ended up sedating your brother instead of the pregnant woman?”

  Tell laughed softly.

  “Come back to bed. It’s hours before we have to start chores.”

  He turned and looked at her. “We?”

  “Yes, we. You said Dalton is gone this weekend and I know it’s too much work for one cowboy—even a McKay cowboy—so I’ll help you.” She kissed the cup of his shoulder. “I’m not all city girl.”

  “I know that.”

  “Did you also know that I’m having a pain on my right butt cheek? From where I fell off the zip line.”

  He grinned. “You didn’t fall off. Your arms gave out and you bailed off because you went on the damn thing like twenty times.”

  “But it was so fun!”

  “See? I told ya.”

  “Don’t be smug. Now get back under these covers and kiss my butt.”

  Tell kept checking his phone all morning, but he hadn’t heard from Brandt and he was getting worried.

  Georgia was a big help with chores. She’d brought all the paperwork for the upcoming rodeos and she started the ball rolling on getting him assigned as a judge. He was happy he’d be working fourteen more rodeos this summer, although none were PRCA-sanctioned, and not all of them were events she was working.

  They’d finished a late lunch when his phone vibrated. He fished it out of his pocket. “Brandt. You have good news?”

  “Yep. Jess had the baby about an hour ago. His name is Tucker. The boy weighed eight pounds.”

  “And Mama Jess? How’s she doin’?”

  “Weird to hear her called Mama Jess. But she’s already taken to the little guy like he’s been here forever…” Brandt cleared his throat. “She was in labor for five hours before she even told me, so it was eighteen hours in labor instead of just thirteen hours at the hospital. She’s sleepin’. The nurses came in and took Tucker for some tests or something about five minutes ago.”

  “If Jess is sleepin’, aren’t you supposed to be with Tucker wherever he goes?”

  Silence.

  “Shit. You’re probably right. I don’t know how to do any of this stuff.”

  “It’s no different than anything else. You’ll learn as you go.”

  “Will you come to the hospital?”

  “When?”

  “Ah…now.”

  “You think that’s a good idea, given Jess is sleeping? Who all have you called to spread the good news?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Jesus. Brandt was really a mess.

  “You’re the first person I called, bro. Jess called her mom.” He exhaled a frustrated burst of air. “I better call Mom, huh?”

  “And Dalton. And Skylar. If you call Keely, she’ll make sure everyone in the McKay family knows.”

  “Good idea.”

  Was it funny or sad that neither mentioned calling their dad?

  “Now go track down your kid, Brandt. That way when Mama Jess wakes up, you can fill her in on what happened to the little tyke. ’Cause she’s gonna want to know.”

  “Thanks. I just… I need you here, okay?”

  Had he ever heard such a note of panic in his older brother’s voice? “I’ve got some things to finish up here first, so it’ll be a couple, three hours before I’m there.”

  Georgia rubbed Tell’s arm after he stood there for several
long seconds without speaking. “Sounds like congratulations are in order.”

  “Yeah. I’m happy Jessie didn’t have complications. But man. Brandt is still uptight as hell.”

  “Then it’s a good thing you’re going in. Maybe you’ll calm him down.”

  Tell leaned down to kiss her. On impulse he asked, “Will you come with me?”

  Regret flashed in her eyes. “No. The first time seeing your nephew will be special. Jessie will have a ton of visitors and I don’t need to add to her stress, especially since she doesn’t know me.”

  But I want her to know you.

  Whoa. That’d come out of left field. Normally he kept the woman sharing his bed far away from the McKay family madness, so as not to give her ideas that he was serious about wanting her to become a part of his family.

  “Besides, I have work to do today. Somebody—” she pecked his mouth, “—has distracted me. Not that I’m complaining.”

  “Good. ’Cause I don’t plan to stop distracting you anytime soon.”

  She gave him that goofy smile. “Call me later?”

  “Sure. I’ll be in town. Wanna do something?”

  “If that’s your way of asking if I want you to fuck me senseless again? The answer is yes.” One last kiss and she sailed out the door.

  The odd thing was, Tell hadn’t been talking about sex.

  He killed an hour doing stuff around the house he’d been putting off. Stalling wasn’t normally his style, but he suspected Jessie might be as overwhelmed as Brandt.

  After he checked on Jessie and Brandt’s dog, he stopped at the grocery store to grab some flowers. The selection was shitty, so he drove to Spearfish.

  Somehow he managed to leave Walmart with flowers, a stuffed horse, a DVD of Parenthood, a box of chocolates and a bottle of booze.

  He felt like a dork schlepping all the stuff into the hospital. When he asked at the visitor information center for Jessie’s room number, the woman made him wait.

  His heart sped up. “Is something wrong?”

  The older gal shook her head. “Doc Monroe put a limit on visitors for the first twenty-four hours. The McKays could overtake the whole wing if y’all showed up at the same time.”

  He grinned. “That’s true.”

  “You’re cleared to go in, Tell. Room one nineteen.”

  He cut down the left hallway—due to various injuries over the years he’d been in this hospital several times—and stopped in front of the door. After shifting everything into one hand, he knocked.

  Brandt opened the door a crack. Then he threw it open wide. “Tell. Man. I’m glad you’re here. What took you so damn long?”

  “Had to get a few things to mark the occasion.”

  Brandt’s eyes were dark with guilt when he saw the bouquet. Dammit. His brother hadn’t gone out and brought Jessie flowers yet? Dumb-ass.

  Jess was sitting up, a blanket-wrapped bundle tucked against her body. She looked tired, but happy. She beamed at him. “Hey, Uncle Tell. Whatcha got there?”

  “Flowers from your adoring husband. He asked me to pick them up for him because he couldn’t bear to leave you guys.” Tell passed her the bouquet of yellow, white and pink daisies.

  Her lip trembled. She looked over at Brandt. “Thank you. Daisies are my favorite.”

  Brandt said, “I’ll get ’em in some water.”

  Then Tell pulled out the tie-dyed plush pony. “Looks like a hippie horse, but I’ve heard babies like bright things. And so you didn’t think I forgot you…” He waggled the two-pound box of chocolates and the DVD at her.

  She laughed.

  He took the bottle out of the paper bag. “My gift to the proud daddy. Koltiska liquor made right here in Wyoming. Figured my big brother and I needed to celebrate Wyoming’s newest resident.”

  “Maybe you oughta give Brandt a shot now,” she said dryly. “Anyway. Come see our son.” Jessie peeled back the blanket covering the baby’s face.

  His eyes were squeezed shut. In fact, his whole face was squished and red—not that Tell would point that out. The baby had a full head of dark hair.

  Jess murmured and stroked Tucker’s cheek. His eyes opened.

  “Whoa. He’s lookin’ at me.”

  “He’s actually awake more than I thought he’d be.”

  “Heya, buddy. Welcome to the family.” Tell kissed Jessie’s forehead. “Ya done good, Mama. He’s perfect. And so little.”

  She snorted. “He didn’t feel little when I was tryin’ to push him out.”

  Tell chuckled.

  “Do you wanna hold him?”

  “In a bit. He looks content. I ain’t gonna mess with him.”

  Jessie frowned.

  “Has Dalton been by yet?”

  “He’s on his way. Now that Tell’s here to keep you company, I’m gonna fill out that paperwork.” Brandt softly closed the door behind him.

  Tell’s gaze connected with Jessie’s. “Is everything all right?”

  “No. Brandt… He…” She shook her head. “This is gonna sound stupid, but I don’t think he likes Tucker.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Brandt was great during the delivery. He stayed right beside me and he didn’t blink when I sort of…took a swing at him.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. It didn’t faze him. He just kept me focused on getting through the next contraction. After I delivered Tucker and it was just the three of us alone in the room, Brandt was so quiet. When I finally made him hold his son, he just looked at Tucker like I’d handed him a rabid raccoon.” Jessie started to cry.

  Tell was going to slap his stupid fucking brother right upside the head when he got him alone.

  “What if he didn’t really want this baby? What if Brandt just said he did to make me happy and now he regrets it—”

  “Hey.” Tell wrapped his hands around Jessie’s face, wiping away her tears. “I promise you, I will find out what is wrong with him. But get it outta your head, right now, Jess, that he doesn’t love this kid.”

  Silence.

  Then Tucker squirmed and grunted and made the funniest face that both Tell and Jessie laughed.

  Three knocks and the door swung open.

  Keely McKay Donohue sauntered in, holding a shiny blue bag covered in rocking horses. “Thank God that baby is finally here.” She hugged Tell and then hip-checked him, completely horning in on his spot.

  He knew Keely would stick around awhile and he considered tracking down his shit-for-brains older brother. But he opted to stay in case Keely needed encouragement to leave because Jess was too nice to point her toward the door.

  “Do you wanna hold him?” Jessie asked Keely.

  “Yep. Lemme pull a chair over first.” She scooped Tucker up like a pro. “He’s hefty. Colt and India’s McKenna weighed in at seven pounds. That one pound makes a big difference.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  Keely kissed Tucker’s forehead. “God. I love the way babies smell. And they’re so warm and cuddly.”

  “After that remark, you know I’m gonna ask when you and Jack are going to start a family,” Jessie said.

  “I know.” Keely fussed with the blanket. “Can I ask you something? On a scale of one to ten, how bad did it hurt to have these eight pounds squeezed out of your va-jay-jay?”

  Jessie paused. “A nine.”

  Tell did not want to hear this conversation but now he was trapped.

  “Crap. That’s what I thought. See, AJ spews this ‘it’s a beautiful thing’ when she talks about giving birth, even when I saw her screaming at Cord when she was in labor with Beau.”

  “Yikes.”

  “And that was her second baby.”

  “Well, it hurts like nothing I’ve ever felt. I mean, I wanted to punch and scratch and scream at Brandt because I had to go through all of this and he didn’t. Yet the baby would still be half his. How is that fair? At the very least he should have to suffer somehow, right? I mean, months of being sic
k, being hormonal, being fat, being so desperately horny and then wanting to chop off Brandt’s hand or his dick if either so much as touched me again.”

  Tell’s legs automatically snapped together.

  “And now after the blessed event, not only is there no sex for six weeks, I’ve been warned that my nipples might crack and bleed while I’m breastfeeding. Not to mention milk leaks everywhere. And I have this extra pooch of skin on my gut that I’ll probably never get rid of. I’m pretty sure my hips or my ass won’t ever be the same pre-baby size.”

  Maybe they wouldn’t notice if he dropped to the floor and crawled out. Knowing women talked about shit like this and hearing it? Two. Different. Things.

  “See?” Keely pointed out. “Pregnancy sounds like a raw deal for women, doesn’t it?”

  Jessie’s face softened. “But look at him, Keely. He’s so perfect. He’s part me and part Brandt. I just stare at his sweet little face and wonder if he’ll have my personality or his father’s, or maybe his own. I wonder who he will look like.”

  “Hate to break it to you, but this boy already looks like a McKay. He’s beautiful.” Keely sniffled.

  Holy fuck. His cowgirl-tough cousin was…crying?

  Jessie’s voice dropped to a soothing timbre Tell hadn’t heard from her. “What’s this really about, Keels? Being scared of labor isn’t really what’s holding you back from having a baby. Is Jack pressuring you?”

  Keely wiped beneath her eyes. “A little. I love Jack like crazy. I love our life together. I never thought I’d be this happy. What if having a baby screws that up? What if everything in our life becomes about being parents? What if I lose myself in motherhood? We both know we won’t stop at one kid. Plus, I don’t think I’m cut out to be a full-time, stay-at-home mom. And I’m afraid that’s what Jack wants, because that’s what we both had growing up.”

  “Have you talked to Jack about any of this?”

  “No. He’s my best friend—hell, he’s my everything—but I don’t think he’ll understand. I can’t talk to AJ because she’s glowing with pregnancy. My mom had five kids by the time she was my age. My single friends remind me I’m only thirty and there’s no rush to motherhood. My sisters-in-law and my cousins’ wives nag me to get on the ball so mine and Jack’s kids will be raised around cousins like I was. I just feel that no one understands my fears, even when they sound stupid when I say them out loud.”