Fiddling with her purse, she fished her keys out of the side pocket and hit the back emergency exit without a second to spare. As luck would have it, she ran smack dab into Travis, Corbin’s sidekick.
“Where are you headed in a hurry, little gal?” he asked, knocking the dust off his cowboy hat.
“Hey, Travis,” she drawled. “I’m taking my lunch. Gotta run over to the bank and cash my check.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah,” she replied, thinking no better time than the present. “I only get thirty minutes.”
“Not long enough,” he said, grinning.
“What do you mean?”
“Corbin came by to talk to you. If you’re running from him, thirty minutes ain’t gonna buy you any time worth havin’ because we ain’t on the clock today.”
“I don’t have anything to say to Corbin,” she snapped, marching toward her car.
“He knows you just had a birthday.”
She stopped as soon as she reached her ’87 Olds. Tossing her purse inside the lowered window, she wheeled around to face him. “My birthday was three months ago, and what does that have to do with anything? I’ve been over the age of eighteen for several years. Most folks considered me an adult after I graduated from high school. Corbin, however, has yet to make the first step in my direction.”
Travis grinned. “Boy says he has a lot on his mind.”
“And that matters to me, why?” Bella asked, placing her hand against the small of her back.
“Ah shit, Bella. Don’t act like that. Corbin has always had his eye on you but he’s just a man. What’d you expect him to do—wait on you to grow up?”
A maroon pickup truck pulled in the parking lot about the time Bella started to answer. There, behind the wheel, was Benson Leary, another eligible Texas bachelor, a guy many of the ladies in town couldn’t wait to unzip and ride.
“Hey, Bella, where you headed?” Benson called out, flashing big dimples and pearly whites.
Smiling sweetly at Travis, Bella saw her chance to even old scores. “I gotta go, Travis.” She grabbed her belongings and slammed the car door. Pursuing Benson, she yelled, “Wait up, cowboy. I need a lift to the bank.”
Travis went pale, and Benson lit up the otherwise dull afternoon when he rushed around the cab of his truck and opened the passenger door. Large, calloused hands fell to her waist, and Benson hoisted her up, making sure she was properly assisted. Providing an even better show, Benson helped her fasten the lap-style seat belt as well.
Bella rolled down her window as Travis walked toward her. By that time, Benson was behind the wheel again. “That ain’t your smartest move, girl,” Travis said, frowning.
“And buying whores and opening the motel drapes so the whole world can watch what should’ve been kept private, ain’t the best idea either. You tell Corbin I said hello, ya hear?”
Chapter Three
“She got in that truck with who?” Corbin asked, leaning over the table and glaring at Travis.
“You heard me. Benson rolled in about the time she was fixin’ to leave. Bella hopped right in there like she’d been sitting next to him a lot here lately.”
Corbin scratched his chin. “Well, ain’t she just full of surprises?”
“Yep. But I imagine she’s gonna get what she’s got comin’ to her if she’s messin’ with Benson Leary. You know what the women ’round here say about him, don’t ’cha?”
“You fellows decided on what you want for lunch?” Nancy asked, flipping her pen against the order pad and standing over them before Corbin had a chance to probe Travis for more information.
“We’re waiting,” Corbin told her.
Nancy batted her eyelashes. “Got somebody else joining ya?”
“No,” Corbin snapped. “We’ll be ready by the time Bella gets back.”
“Suit yourself,” Nancy said, sashaying away.
Travis chomped on a piece of ice, and from the corner of his mouth, he said, “Benson looked pretty interested in Bella. And back to what I was a’sayin’ about him. If rumors are true and Bella gets in bed with him, she ain’t gonna have anything else to do with the likes of you.” Travis extended his arm and clasped his free hand around his elbow. “Women say he has a bigger one than that rocker Tommy Lee.”
“Benson ain’t got anything Bella wants. That I can promise you.”
“How in the hell would you know? You’re the one who’s been running from that girl since she first made eyes at you.”
“She was fourteen, for God’s sake.”
“Bella looked like she was eighteen back then. I still remember her in those hide tight short-shorts, riding bareback and gripping that old gelding like she was scared to death he was gonna get away from her. Dear God, she was a prize.”
“She was a child!”
“Hell, Corbin. I could look then. I was a kid, too, remember?”
Corbin snarled.
“I seem to recall asking her out for a movie and you beatin’ the tarnation right out of me. Taught me a lesson, that’s what ya did and look where it got me. You still ain’t asked her out, and she’s been of age for a right smart while now.”
“I’ve been gettin’ around to it,” Corbin drawled, copping a smile. “She did always look like a picture postcard riding through town on that old plug horse, didn’t she?”
“More like a centerfold.”
“She hasn’t changed much, has she?” Corbin asked, sipping from his straw.
“Maybe not yet,” Travis said, pointing toward the parking lot and acknowledging Bella’s return. “But by the time he’s finished, you can bet on one thing if nothin’ else—her innocence will be gone and that light you see shining in her eyes will be forever lost.”
* * * *
Benson went around front, and Bella entered the diner through the back. Nancy met her at the lockers. “Sugar, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing with Corbin Cansey, but if cat-and-mouse is your thing, we need to have a chat.”
Stuffing her purse on a nearby shelf, Bella turned around. “What do you mean?”
“He’s refusing to let me or anyone else wait on him. He said he’d be ready to order just as soon as you got back. Now, he’s sitting there like a toad on a log telling Travis all the reasons why you couldn’t possibly have an interest in Benson Leary.”
“He is, is he?”
“Sure is. You got him tore up, darlin’, tore the hell up, I’m tellin’ ya.”
Bella felt a sudden sense of satisfaction. “Good, maybe by the time he chokes down his lunch, he’ll know what it feels like to be an outsider looking through a window with his nose mashed against the glass.”
Nancy shrugged. “I don’t know if I’d push that cowboy’s buttons, Bella. I’ve seen a lot of possessive men in my lifetime, but that one there came here for you. Now I know you’ve had a thing for him and you were hurt when you came back from San Antonio, but give the guy a chance. He’s here to make amends. I’d bet all the tips I’ve made today he’s planning on asking you out. A man like Corbin Cansey could show a gal a real fine time.”
Bella smiled at the woman who’d been a lifelong friend of her mother’s. Nancy was pretty, but she’d been used up pretty good by some of the cowboys around there. If anybody knew men, Nancy probably earned her right to form expert opinions.
“You’d better listen to me, Bella. I know what’s what around here. You don’t wanna mess with that look Corbin has in his eyes. He’ll bring down hell on those who stand in his way of getting what he wants, and that Leary boy is no match for a Cansey. Why, Corbin’s very own uncle used to look at me that way, and I’ll go to my grave knowing Mac Cansey was the one who got away.”
Mac Cansey was nothing but a drunk, but Bella didn’t bother telling Nancy the facts. He was, and perhaps always would be, Nancy’s blind spot, her truest weakness.
“I have plans for Corbin,” Bella said, thinking she never wanted to end up like Nancy, with an apron pocket full of regrets
. “I’ve waited all my life for that damn cowboy. If he wants me now, he’s gonna know how it feels to stand at the back of the line and watch from the rear of the pack.
“Way I see it, one of these days, he’s gonna have to man-up. If he doesn’t do it soon, I’m gonna look somewhere else and I might as well start with Benson Leary.”
Chapter Four
Benson tilted his hat toward Travis and Corbin. Travis tossed up his arm and waved, slapping his palm against the Formica table. Corbin didn’t bother. “I didn’t think the guy had the nerve to come in here after he left with my girl.”
Travis chuckled. “Your girl? Since when?”
“Shit, man, you know how she’s always rattled me.”
“I never saw her shake you enough to make you mind your manners and keep your pants up.”
“This coming from a man who’d fuck around the clock if he had a different woman waiting at the stroke of another new hour?” Corbin asked, arching his brow. “I swear I’d like to beat Benson’s ass just for looking at her like he’s done been there and done that.”
“We’ve been on the circuit,” Travis reminded him. “We don’t know for sure what Benson’s been up to, or for that matter, what Bella’s been down on.”
Corbin snarled. “Watch it.”
“I’m just sayin’. For all you know, Bella’s already shined and polished something other than his belt buckle.”
Corbin sneered. “Shut up, Travis. Here she comes.”
Bella had just about made it to their table when Benson caught her arm. “Sweetheart, I wanted to ask you something.”
Corbin cut his gaze toward Bella. Her back was to them and Benson was very much aware of the fact that Travis and Corbin were watching him. Corbin almost fell out of the booth trying to stretch and bend so he could watch the whole Bella-Benson saga unfold.
“Ask away, Benson,” she chirped, acting and sounding a little too excited about all the attention.
“There’s a new club opening right outside Shamrock this weekend. Wanna go check it out? I could pick you up around seven on Friday.”
“What the hell does he think he’s doing?” Corbin rasped, keeping his voice low.
“Sounds to me like he’s introducing little Bella to his way of life and he ain’t wastin’ a cowboy’s second doin’ it up right.”
Corbin grated back a round of curse words.
“I don’t go to clubs, Benson,” she said sweetly.
Corbin released a burdened sigh and settled his back against the vinyl seat. “See there? What’d I tell ya? My girl.” He poked his thumb against his chest. Then, he grabbed his cup and slurped down a hearty drink. After a stifled burp, he quickly said, “But I admit that was a close call.”
“I hope you’ll reconsider,” Benson said, refusing to take a no and go.
“You ain’t out of the woods yet, Smokey,” Travis said, swinging his arm over the back of his seat so he could look on with direct interest.
“This isn’t your typical club,” Benson explained. “I get VIP service since I know the owner. If you’re with me, you’ll be treated like a star from the moment we arrive there.”
Corbin gripped the table with both hands. “What the hell is he doing?’
Travis looked over Corbin’s shoulder. “Looks to me like he’s scheduling a date with your woman.”
“Here,” she drawled. “Give me a call. We’ll talk about it.”
“I’ll do it,” Benson said, rolling his tongue over his bottom lip and looking at Bella like she was the dessert he’d forgotten to eat.
Corbin slumped in the booth, trying his dead-leveled best not to gawk at the slip of paper in Benson’s hand. About the time Bella headed their way again, Corbin grabbed his hat and took off for the exit.
“Hey Corbin. I was just coming to wait—”
“You can keep right on waiting, Bella. I’ve lost my appetite and I may never get it back.”
* * * *
Truth told, Corbin had never been hungrier. He stalked around the barn that afternoon madder than a caged bull waiting for his first rodeo. He’d been unable to think of anything other than Bella since he’d returned from San Antonio. Then as bad luck would have it, when he finally decided to approach her, what had she done?
Humph! She’d hooked up with that damned-ass kink mongrel. Benson Leary was no proper match for a lady. He certainly wasn’t a good man for Bella.
“There you are,” Travis said, entering the office. “Danny Carlton is outside. He’s here with that load of Holsteins you wanted brought back from the Wheeler feedlots.”
“Put ’em in pin five. I’ll see to ’em tomorrow.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
Corbin slowly lifted his gaze and stared at Travis. “You have to ask?”
Travis laughed. “No, but I’d love to hear the excuses you give for being as ornery as a hornet trapped under a woman’s skirt.”
Corbin sneered. “It ain’t a woman’s skirt I’m worried about.”
“The hell it ain’t,” Travis said, going for the door.
“Wait,” Corbin said, standing. “I want to know something. How come you never told me exactly what Bella said when you saw her in San Antonio?”
“You never asked.”
“You should’ve volunteered and told me what she allowed all the same.”
Travis shrugged. “Some things a man is better off not knowing.”
“Maybe so, but I’m askin’ and you’re gonna give me the straight of it.”
Travis sat on the end of the worn leather sofa. “Corbin, the way I see this mess here is that you’ve got two choices. You can either leave Bella alone—and I do mean leave her be, don’t go near her, don’t think about her, nothin’—or you can start actin’ like the kind of fella that girl deserves. If you do that, you best take a warning before you pursue her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Travis took a deep breath. Upon releasing the dramatic sigh, he rubbed his chin and said, “If you hook up with Bella, you’re done man. She’ll ruin you for other women. She’s gonna latch on and never let go.”
“I ain’t lookin’ for a permanent relationship.”
“Then like I said, you best be leavin’ her alone then. You may not be lookin’, Corbin, but what you’ll find if you get a hold of Bella is more than you’ve ever had in this lifetime. Take it from someone who’s been there.”
“She’s too young.”
“Yep.”
“She’s barely a woman.”
“Yep.”
Corbin shrugged. “For the first time in your sorry life, you’re right. I best be leavin’ her alone.”
“Yeah, buddy. That’s for sure. Besides, Benson is known to train ’em young. Let him break her in for ya. Then, if you’re still interested, go see her. She won’t have all those silly little fantasies by the time Benson takes her on a first ride.”
Corbin flinched. “Are you trying to make me feel worse?”
“I’m not tryin’ to do anything except tell ya the straight of it, buddy. Women like Bella want a man they can keep. We ain’t keepers and you know it. We’re married to the rodeo.
“Let someone else teach Bella the ropes. Then, one of these days, you can slip into her bed and have yourself a real fine time. You can wake up in the morning, kiss her good-bye and then be on your way. Benson will make your life easier. All the town gossips say he loves ’em hard and leaves ’em tired…and fully trained for a better way of life, if you understand my meaning.”
“Bella deserves better than Benson.”
“After what she saw in San Antonio, she deserves better than you, too.”
Chapter Five
Cowboys and Cowgirls was hopping. The grand opening was such a huge success that there had been a waiting list just to drive through the gates. Kegs were tapped, and the party outside was alive with chatter, music, and free-flowing alcohol.
Bella was nervous. She’d never been to a bonfire, much less a
nightclub, and she’d never tasted a mixed drink until Benson handed her a shot of what he called Hot-Sex-on-the-Beach.
Draping his arm around her shoulder, he whispered, “This crowd is something else, huh?”
Bella locked gazes with Corbin, spotting him the second he walked through the lower fields, strolling toward an exhibitor’s tent where provocative apparel and sex toys were sold. “It’s something all right,” she agreed, feeling that familiar lump in her throat.
Taking a sip of her fruity beverage, Bella puckered. The tangy fruit drink was sweet to the palate but stout enough to alarm all other senses.
Benson watched her with curious eyes. “I told the bartender to make it a strong one. Good?”
“Yes,” she replied, smiling up at him. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”
He winked. “That’s my girl. Drink up. We should be inside in about half an hour.”
Bella raised her plastic cup and took another sip. About that time, Benson spotted someone he knew. “Hey, wait right here. I’ll be back.”
She nodded and then stood there alone, watching Corbin as he made his way through the crowd. Oh boy. Here comes trouble.
Unfortunately, trouble trotted over without so much as a pause in his gait.
“Bella,” Corbin muttered, tilting the brim of his hat.
“Corbin,” she said nervously, swirling her drink and refusing to meet his gaze.
“You look nice tonight,” he said, staring at the low-cut scoop of her red tank. “I’m surprised your momma let you out of the house dressed like that.”
Bella felt her skin heat. His hot gaze dripped over her like melted butterscotch. She glanced over his shoulder, searching the crowd for Benson.
“How ya been?”
“Good,” she quickly answered, clearing her throat. “Great, in fact. Never better.”
He grunted. “What ’cha got there in that cup?”
“A fruity cocktail. I don’t like beer.”
“You ain’t old enough to be drinking a’ tall.”
“I’m twenty-one now, Corbin.”
Blaine, Destiny - Roping in Forever [Forever 1] (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 2
