Kissin' Tell: Rough Riders, Book 13

by Lorelei James

  What happened now? He’d taken her to the reunion; she’d lined up judging gigs for him. Technically they’d each gotten what they wanted. Tell hadn’t mentioned wanting more.

  Neither have you.

  So what were her options?

  Crawl back in bed and yank the covers over her head?

  Get dressed and face the day—and Tell?

  Option two won out.

  When she entered the kitchen, Tell didn’t hug her or kiss her. In fact, he didn’t even get up from his seat at the table. He just gave her a once-over and a small smile. “Morning.”

  “Morning.”

  “This is my brother Dalton.”

  Her gaze winged between the two men. Same dark hair, same blue eyes. Dalton had rugged features where Tell’s were sharply defined. Dalton was a big guy—he had a couple inches on Tell and thirty pounds—all muscle, from the looks of it. Most likely Dalton had the same shit-eating grin as his older brother. But there was no sign of it as his gaze moved over Georgia. She fought the urge to fuss with her disheveled appearance, choosing instead to raise her chin a notch and give him an equally cool stare. “Hey, Dalton. I remember you.”

  “Georgia. You’re lookin’—”

  Tell smacked him in the back of the head. “Shut it, asshole. Why are you even here? Don’t you have something to do today?”

  Dalton scowled. “Not me, we. I’m waitin’ on you, because we both have to deal with that one thing, remember?”

  “What one thing?” Tell asked with confusion.

  “You know. That one thing.”

  “Oh. Oh! That one thing. Gotcha.”

  Talk about vague. Was “that one thing” some secret man code for lemme help you get rid of your pesky overnight female guest?

  Yes, if the looks exchanged between the McKay boys were any indication.

  Georgia’s cheeks burned. Yeah, she was some class act the morning after her high school reunion—wearing last night’s wrinkled clothes, smelling of sex, sporting bed head and dragon breath. No wonder Tell had the look of a trapped animal. Was he worried she’d somehow embarrass him in front of his studly younger brother? By acting clingy? Or worse…by making herself at home?

  Screw that. She’d hold her head up high. She could act casually slutty, as if rolling out of a man’s bed after a night of hair-pulling, toe-curling sex was a regular occurrence for a tigress like her.

  Big talk, Hot Lips. You’d run out the door if you could.

  Her fingers tightened on her purse. “I know you’re a busy man, Tell. But I’m afraid I’ll need a ride home.”

  “No problem. I’ll take you now.”

  “Want me to ride along?” Dalton asked.

  Both she and Tell froze, but they didn’t look at each other.

  “Nah. I’ll be back in thirty and we can go do that one thing.”

  So Tell wasn’t planning to hang out at her place.

  Georgia could feel Tell’s gaze on her as he held open the front door. She never pulled the I’m-so-busy-I’m-constantly-needed-on-my-cell-phone type of avoidance—but she was doing it now.

  She was so engrossed in the info on her phone she didn’t even glance at Tell after he helped her into his pickup. She was so immersed in the text scrolling across the screen she paid no attention to Tell McKay at all. Muttering to herself as she pretended to ignore the Wyoming countryside rolling by out passenger side window.

  “Something wrong?” Tell finally asked.

  “No.” She paused, wondering if she should take the chance and ask if she’d see him this week.

  “I’m sorry Dalton showed up this morning. I completely forgot I told him I would—”

  She held up the hand that wasn’t poking keys on her phone’s keypad, but she didn’t deign to look away from the screen. “No need to explain. I had to hit the road anyway, I’m just sorry I had to tear you away from your plans and you have to give me a ride. This is why I insist on driving. I hate being stuck somewhere without my car.”

  “Takin’ you home ain’t a problem, Georgia.”

  The hard set to his jaw and the clipped tone belied that statement. “I see my boss left me several e-mails about expecting updated status reports on three projects I was supposed to have finished last week. Now I know what I’ll be doing this week.”

  “What?”

  Georgia heaved a heavy sigh. “Burning the midnight oil. I won’t have time to breathe, let alone do anything else.” There was Tell’s opening, if he wanted it.

  But he didn’t take it. He didn’t counter with a list of things he needed to accomplish this week and then ask if they could carve out time for each other at some point.

  Tell left the engine idling when he pulled into her driveway. He didn’t offer to help her out of his truck like he always did. But he did reach for her hand.

  Georgia looked at him. Damn man was so freakin’ gorgeous it was unreal. And it smacked her pride that he was done with her. Fine. She’d be done with him too.

  Better to end it now rather than dragging it out until the end of summer. Didn’t last night with all the people in this town who are happy to see you miserable just prove that nothing, not even a smokin’ hot, super sweet cowboy who rocks your world in bed and comforts you when you cry, will convince you to stay in Sundance, Wyoming, anyway?

  That snarky little conscience of hers had taken on a southern drawl and prompted her back to the cold reality of this situation.

  Sweet Tell brought her knuckles to his mouth for a soft kiss. “I had a great time with you last night.”

  “Same here.”

  They stared at one another.

  He said, “Georgia. I—” at the same time her cell phone rang in her hand.

  Dammit. And it was her boss too. Calling her on a Sunday. She hadn’t been lying entirely; she had a shit ton to do this week.

  Tell retreated. “You’d better get that, bein’ you’re so busy and all.”

  Georgia snatched her purse and bailed out without looking back.

  Late Monday morning, Tell drove to Ben’s place to work on the baler.

  They’d been wrenching on the machine for over an hour when Ben said, “I’m takin’ a break before I haul out the sledgehammer and use it to try and fix this piece of shit.”

  “Good idea.” Tell threw his tools onto the canvas cloth.

  “So how was your reunion?”

  He wiped the sweat from his brow. “All right, I suppose. Didn’t seem a whole lot different from high school, except for the bar in the gym.” And for the fact he fucked Georgia in the history classroom.

  Ben chuckled. “Booze was the only thing that made mine bearable.”

  “It helps if you’ve got a hot woman hanging on your arm.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I went to my reunion solo.”

  That surprised Tell. “Really?”

  “Yep. I wouldn’t have gone at all except I found out the girl I’d been crushing on for years was coming. Naturally I wanted to show her how much she’d missed out on by not getting with me back then, and by giving her the chance to rectify that.”

  “And did it work?”

  He grinned. “Oh yeah. We drank. We danced. We ignored everyone. We ended up doin’ it in the boys’ locker room and missed the awards ceremony. Then we went back to her hotel room and fucked all night. Her plane left early the next morning.

  “We went our separate ways. We both got what we wanted. No regrets, no promises, no invites to become Facebook friends. Just one night of turnin’ those teenage fantasies a reality.” Ben popped the cap on a bottle of water and drank. “Did it play out that way for you too?”

  Tell leaned against the side of the barn, dreading that scenario. “It’s different for me because Georgia is back in town for good.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “Along the lines of what you said. Wondering if we just scratched an itch.”

  “You thinkin’ that’s all there is?”

  “No. I know there’s more
than that since we’ve been hangin’ out the last two weeks. But that don’t change the fact the only reason we started spending time together was because she needed a date for the reunion. Now that it’s over… I don’t know where we go from here.”

  Ben frowned. “You haven’t discussed it with her?”

  Tell shook his head. “I’m the fun hookup guy, remember? My morning after conversations are more along the lines of, Hey, darlin’, have you seen my pants?”

  His cousin laughed.

  “Then Dalton showed up Sunday morning two hours early. We’d promised Brandt and Jessie we’d be at their place when Dad came over to see Tucker. But my dumb-ass little brother made it sound like some big, stupid secret, callin’ it that one thing because neither of us wants to talk about our fucked-up family in front of someone that ain’t family.”

  “So Georgia thought you were what? Tryin’ to get rid of her?”

  Tell groaned. “Yep. Then she was dismissive. Like she couldn’t wait to get the hell away from me. And she was goddamn vague about her plans for this week. Complaining about bein’ so swamped she’d barely have time to breathe. Basically, she said don’t call me; I’ll call you. So see why I’m stuck on what to do?”

  “Yeah. I guess if she ain’t goin’ anywhere, I don’t see the harm in letting it ride. Give yourself a couple of days away from her to figure out if you wanna continue what you started and let her do the same.”

  Sound advice. Not what he wanted to hear though. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem. You gonna be crushed and moping around like a kicked dog if she’s done with you?”

  Probably. “Fuck you.”

  He grinned. “Couldn’t resist. But seriously, why aren’t you talkin’ to your brothers about this?”

  “I would if I could catch Brandt between diaper changes and Dalton between poker games.”

  Ben’s eyes narrowed. “Left you holding the bag again, did they?”

  “Like that’s a surprise. You know how it goes, Ben. Seems us middle kids—you, Colt and me—always get stuck with a shit ton more chores than the oldest or the youngest.”

  “No sir. It doesn’t have to be that way. Just because Brandt has added on the responsibility of parenting a kid doesn’t give him the right to blow off his ranch responsibilities. I know you and Dalton shouldered way more of the work in the last six months. I’ve been there, cuz, and it sucks ass.”

  “You had that issue with Quinn?”

  “Yep. Prince Adam arrived and Quinn’s priorities shifted, which meant the day-to-day ranch stuff shifted squarely onto my shoulders. Chase wasn’t around. My dad tried to pick up the slack, but shit wasn’t getting done. Pissed me off. I let my brother know it. Was ugly for a couple weeks, because Quinn is one stubborn cuss, but he got back on track. It would’ve gone on for as long as I let it go on. Confront your brother, Tell, or nothin’ will ever change.”

  “I hear ya. I guess if it was just ranch issues with my brothers, I’d be okay, but family stuff can eat away at me until I’ve been chewed up and spit out.”

  “Something going on with Uncle Casper?”

  “No, Dad ain’t the problem, if you can believe it. My mom… Jesus. She’s so involved in her own life she can’t see that other folks have lives too.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “Meaning, she expects me to…” Tell shook his head. “Never mind. I feel like a fuckin’ whiner. No one can take advantage of me without my permission, right? So I just gotta buck up and remember to say no.”

  “Good plan. As far as Dalton not pulling his weight?”

  Tell shrugged. “He ain’t bad. He covers for me about as much as I cover for him. It’s just Brandt who’s the deadweight.”

  Ben shot the baler a disgusted look. “Speaking of deadweight… I’m sick of fucking with this thing. It’s plain wore out. Time to put in a request for a new one.”

  “After all the times it jammed last summer, I’ll back you on that request.”

  “This ain’t the only piece of equipment that’s seen better days. Seems everything breaks at the same damn time.”

  Ainsley’s car pulled up and Ben’s entire demeanor changed. “Looks like my lunch is here.”

  Didn’t sound like Ben was talking about food.

  Tell took that as his cue to leave.

  On Monday, Georgia loaded her briefcase, trying not to dread the process of cold-call sales pitches. It’d be easier to drive the ten blocks to Sundance’s main drag rather than hoof it in four-inch wedge sandals. The day was much warmer than forecast, and she’d be sweating like a whore in church by the time she reached her destination.

  She waited in her car for a moment as she scanned the list of possible advertising sponsors for the Devil’s Tower Rodeo program guide. Barbara’s suggestion of hard-selling the locals—especially after the previous rodeo promotion company’s lack of communication—scared Georgia a little. They’d both agreed playing catch-up at this late date might mean no business owners would be interested. No sales would reflect badly on her, so she had no other option but to channel her inner saleswoman and sell, sell, sell.

  Luckily the committee that handled hiring the stock contractor, the entertainment, the rodeo announcers, the special guests and the individual chute sponsors also had commitments from the banks in Sundance for major sponsorships of the rodeo itself.

  Her idea—albeit not an original one—was to get the businesses in Sundance, Moorcroft and Hulett to sponsor a grand prize called the cash cow, where the winner could choose between a fully processed and packaged whole cow or the cash equivalent. Their company had seen success with this type of promotion for a small rodeo in Oklahoma, and the participating businesses had a big uptick in the amount of walk-in traffic to their stores.

  Georgia inhaled a couple of breaths to calm herself and smoothed the wrinkles from her khaki linen skirt. New businesses had popped up in the years she’d been away, so she’d start there.

  Fields, an upscale restaurant that featured locally grown ingredients from vegetables and grains to beef, pork and chicken, took out a big ad.

  The hardware store bought a full-page ad. As did Lettie from the Golden Boot. Then Georgia had to wonder if some of the businesses were doing it out of pity because she was a poor pitchwoman.

  So? Her inner demon argued. A sale was a sale. And if she had to answer gossipy questions to make that sale, so be it.

  She’d convinced the dentist’s office to advertise. As well as the feed store. The local implement dealership was providing ball caps, T-shirts and Frisbees for the breaks between events, and they placed a quarter-page ad anyway.

  All the places agreed to allow promotional signage and flyers in their establishments, in addition to the entry boxes for the grand prize.

  When her stomach growled, she realized she’d missed lunch. She ducked into Dewey’s for a quick bite.

  The restaurant was nearly empty. Thankfully the waitress who’d filled her ear with nastiness about Tell wasn’t serving. She ordered the soup and salad special, shuffling through her notes while she waited. She had quite a few businesses left to approach in Sundance and she hadn’t even started in Moorcroft or Hulett.

  The server set the salad down first and spilled the soup. When she swore in Russian, Georgia’s gaze snapped to the willowy blonde. Then she apologized in English. “Sorry. It’s pretty obvious I haven’t filled in as a waitress recently.”

  Georgia said, “No worries,”—in Russian.

  That startled the woman. “It’s not often I run across someone in Sundance who speaks Russian.”

  “My mother is from Russia.”

  “Ah. I was born in the Ukraine. I knew many women who found husbands here. Do you speak Russian fluently?”

  “Just passably.” Georgia slid her paperwork aside and pulled the salad and soup closer. “You’re welcome to join me if you’re not busy.”

  The woman smiled. “Really? That would be great. Let me grab the iced tea.�
� She returned and refilled Georgia’s glass. “Busy lunch. Feels good to be off my feet.” She took a long drink of tea. “I’m Domini.”

  “Georgia.”

  “Named after Soviet Georgia?”

  “Yes, few people catch that. I haven’t seen you in here before.”

  “I’m usually in the back, making schedules and placing orders. I used to cook, hostess and serve, but I’m part time now.” Domini shrugged. “Most people think I’m crazy for working at all when I have six children at home.”

  Georgia nearly choked on her soup. “You have six kids?”

  “Yes. All of our sweet darlings came to us through adoption. While I love being a wife and mother, I need something for me too.”

  “My mother didn’t understand that until she divorced my father.” Georgia stabbed a few pieces of lettuce onto her fork.

  “So your mother…?”

  “Was basically a Russian mail-order bride? Yes. It’s strange to say, even now. How about you?”

  Domini shook her head. “I came to the US with a church group. Became a citizen and met my husband here a few years later. I spent most my life in an orphanage, so I am grateful that Cam has a large family in the area and they’re willing to help out with our kids. Are you from around here?”

  Georgia shared the edited version of her life, finishing with, “It’s strange to be back. We had our ten-year high school reunion Saturday night.”

  “My husband is a deputy. He was disappointed the police didn’t get called to the gym to break up any fights.”

  “Who is your husband?”

  “Cam McKay.”

  Didn’t it just figure? Another McKay. “Tell was my date to the reunion.”

  Domini pointed at her. “Aha! You’re the one they were talking about. The beautiful woman from Tell’s past.”

  She muttered, “We didn’t have a past.”

  “Maybe that’s the problem? Tell’s definitely got a past now, with his love ‘em and leave ‘em reputation. So watch your step with him. Now that I’ve done my duty in warning you—” Domini gestured to the pile of papers, “—what are you selling?”

  “Ads for the Devil’s Tower Rodeo program guide.” Georgia grinned. “Wanna buy one or ten? All the other restaurants in town have bought space.”