Stay with Me (Cowboys of Crested Butte Book 4)

by Heather Slade

  “What about who, darlin’?”

  “Never mind.” She looked down at his hand, which still held her arm. “Please, let me go.”

  Rather than let go, Jace pulled her closer—close enough to kiss her.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Bree saw the blonde, walking toward the fire pit. “Her,” she said, pointing.

  “Who?” he looked into the crowd of people. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

  “The blonde.” Bree cringed at the sound of her own voice. “Listen, this isn’t any of my business, at least I don’t want it to be.”

  “That blonde? The one wearing the black leather jacket?”

  Bree looked again. “Yes, that blonde.”

  “Do you see the guy sitting in the chair beside her?”

  “What about him?”

  “That’s her husband, Ty Rinaldo. Didn’t you meet them at Patterson Ranch the night we all had dinner there?”

  The man did look familiar. She didn’t remember ever meeting the woman.

  “Oh, wait, she wasn’t there. She was at dinner the next night. The night you refused to join us.”

  “You mean she’s…”

  “Ty’s wife? Yep. Come on, I’ll introduce you.” Jace took Bree’s hand and walked toward the fire pit.

  “No, wait.” She pulled her hand back. “I’d rather not.”

  Jace looked over and saw Kaleb-the-cop sitting on the other side of the fire pit. “Yeah, me either. Wanna get outta here?”

  Bree hesitated, but when she nodded her head, Jace led her to the parking area.

  “Where are we going?” she asked when he drove into town and parked on a side street just off the main drag.

  “You’ll see.” He opened the door. Bree jumped out, and he took her hand. “It won’t be too crowded in here yet,” he said. “And we can talk.”

  “What is this place?”

  “It’s called the Dogwood Cocktail Cabin.” Jace led her inside and to a table in the corner.

  They hadn’t yet sat down when a pretty woman approached them. “Is that Jace Rice?”

  He felt Bree stiffen.

  “How the hell are you, cowboy?” When the woman threw her arms around Jace’s neck, Bree tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go of her hand.

  “Ayla,” he said, “have you met Bree Fox?”

  The woman extended her hand. “I don’t think so, but you look familiar.”

  “Bree’s sister is married to Tucker.”

  The woman’s eyes wandered to where Jace had a firm grip on Bree’s hand. She looked back up at Jace and smiled, then turned and winked at Bree.

  Bree cringed and tried again to pull away.

  “Huh uh.” He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “Ayla and her husband are both good friends of mine.”

  Bree rolled her eyes as Jace moved so she could slide into the booth first, letting him trap her there.

  Jace spoke to Ayla and pointed at the menu. “She’ll have this, and how ’bout you bring me one of these.”

  “What if I didn’t want a drink?” she asked when Ayla walked away.

  “You do.”

  “You’re such an arrogant asshole sometimes—”

  Jace stopped her from talking by covering her lips with his. “I missed you, Bree,” he breathed.

  She pushed against him. “I thought you wanted to talk.”

  Now that he had her this close, talking was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had to. He had a lot he needed to say.

  “I’m mad at you,” he began. Probably not the best approach, but the only place he could think to start.

  “You’re mad at me? Really?”

  He expected to see anger in her eyes, instead he saw hurt.

  “Do you want to know why I’m mad at you?”

  “You’re not giving me any choice, are you?”

  “I’m mad at you because you wouldn’t go to dinner that night.”

  “I did go.”

  “What do you mean? I was there, and you, were not.”

  “Yeah, actually I was. I felt bad about saying no, so I walked over to the restaurant. When I walked in, you were at the bar, talking to someone. So I left.”

  He didn’t remember talking to anyone that night, other than Ty’s wife. Oh. “You saw me talking to Nancy.”

  “I don’t know who Nancy is.”

  “Ty’s wife.” He stroked her cheek with his finger. “I wish I’d known you were there.”

  “Here you go,” Ayla interrupted, setting their drinks on the table.

  “I really don’t want to drink tonight, Jace. I—”

  “No alcohol.”

  “Huh?”

  “There isn’t any alcohol in these drinks, is there Ayla?”

  “Nope. No alcohol, buddy.” Ayla winked at Bree again before she went back to the bar.

  “Are you hungry?” He started to get up from the table to order food, but stopped when Bree put her hand on his arm.

  “You know I don’t like it when you do that,” she told him, but in her eyes, he saw the beginning of a smile. She was softening up, letting go.

  “Sorry,” he smiled back at her. “We’ll wait until Ayla comes back, and ask for a menu.”

  Bree took a sip of her drink. “What is this?”

  “It’s a chai apple cider.”

  “What are you having?” she eyed his glass.

  “Hot chocolate, with habanero whipped cream.”

  “You don’t feel like drinking either?”

  “Nope, I don’t.” He wanted a clear head tonight. He couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes where Bree was concerned.

  She took a sip of her cider. “This is good,” she said softly. “And you’re right, I’m famished. I guess it would be okay if you ordered for us.”

  That wasn’t easy for her, but she said it anyway. Jace smiled.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course you can, darlin’.”

  “Do people talk to you about me?”

  “People?”

  “You know what I mean. Liv, Ben, Lyric…”

  “Yeah, they do. But it isn’t only them. Billy can’t seem to stop himself from giving me advice. He’s become the relationship whisperer.”

  “Billy?” she giggled.

  “Right? I started callin’ him that, thinkin’ it would shut him up. No such luck.”

  “Do you think this is real, Jace? Are we together right now because it’s convenient?”

  She’d gotten right to the point and pushed his most sensitive button, the root of his insecurity. But what choice did he have? Drunk or sober, busy or idle, even sleeping, his mind drifted back to her, without fail.

  “You are anything but convenient. It’s damn hard for you and me to be in the same place at the same time. All I know for sure is I can’t get you off my mind. Can’t. And I don’t want to.”

  “It worries me,” she admitted.

  “That I can’t stop thinkin’ about you?”

  “No, that I can’t stop thinking about you either.”

  He smiled, leaned over, and kissed her. “I’m happy to hear that, Bree.”

  “But, Jace—”

  He put his finger on her lips. “Shh, now. What do you say we set aside our doubts, just for now, and pretend we’re back in Idaho, just you and me? All the months in between then and now don’t matter. Let’s go back to who we were then, and have a nice, quiet, simple conversation.”

  “But—”

  He tried to stop her again by kissing her, but she turned her head away. “Stop. I need to say this.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “It isn’t the same. We can’t go back. I can’t go back.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because we hadn’t made love then, Jace. Everything is different now.”

  “I get your point. So, we don’t have to go all the way back to Idaho. Instead, we can just be here. Now. And instead of talkin’ about us, let’s just talk. Tell me how you
’ve been. How’s the academy?”

  They spent the next two hours talking, and Bree didn’t hold anything back. She hadn’t told anyone else how hard being at the academy was for her.

  “I love being with Cochran. Now, with another baby on the way—”

  “Wait. What? Tucker and Blythe are having another baby? Jesus, Tuck didn’t tell me.”

  “I probably shouldn’t have said anything. Blythe told me before we left Monument. She just found out. I’m sorry.”

  “Nah, don’t be sorry. I’m sure Tucker will say somethin’ when he thinks the time is right. He and I haven’t had much time to connect on this trip.”

  “I’m sorry about that, too.”

  Jace put his hands on either side of her face. “Will you listen?”

  She nodded her head.

  “There isn’t anybody here this weekend that I wanted to see more than you.”

  Bree nodded again, and then she yawned.

  “Are you ready to go back to the Flying R?”

  “Do you mind? I’m so tired.”

  The house was quiet when they got back. Jace lit the fire and sat down on the sofa.

  “Everyone asleep?” he asked when she came back upstairs. She had changed into the same oversized sweatshirt and pajama bottoms she had on the night before.

  “I don’t think everyone is back yet. Blythe is, she was getting Cochran to sleep.”

  She sat down on the hearth of the fireplace, pulled her knees up in front of her, and rested her head on her arms. “We haven’t talked about the other night. I owe you an apology. At least, I think I do.” She closed her eyes. “Just the fact that I’m not sure, must mean I do.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  She didn’t open her eyes.

  “Please, come over here and sit with me.”

  She raised her head and looked at him.

  “Please, Bree.”

  It took her a minute, but eventually she unfolded her legs. Her feet were bare, and when she sat down and drew them up on the sofa in front of her, Jace rested his hand on them. Her toes were like ice. He stood and pulled a blanket off a nearby chair and covered her with it, tucking it under her feet.

  “There,” he murmured.

  “You’re too nice to me.”

  “No one in this house would agree.”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Jace. I didn’t mean to get drunk. I just hadn’t eaten all day.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I know better, and that’s a lousy excuse. I drank too much. It’s that simple.”

  “Why did you?”

  “It isn’t what you’re thinking. It wasn’t because of you.”

  He studied her face. “You sure about that?”

  Bree rested her head against the pillowed back of the sofa. Part of her wanted to call him out on his arrogance, tell him that everything that happened in life, hers or anyone else’s, wasn’t about him, but their earlier conversation had been nice. She didn’t want to start an argument with him. The truth was, most of her actions were in reaction to him. She’d be lying if she said otherwise.

  “Bree?”

  “I was upset. I didn’t like seeing you with another woman.”

  “I didn’t like seeing you with another man, either. Especially not seeing you kiss him.”

  She put her hand on her forehead and groaned.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “Water would be good.” She kept her eyes closed but felt him get up from the sofa. The air in the room cooled without him next to her. She drew the blanket closer, willing him to hurry back.

  “Here, drink this.” Jace unscrewed the cap and handed Bree the bottle of water.

  “Thanks.”

  He sat back down and pulled her closer to him.

  “How much longer will you be in Crested Butte?” she asked.

  “At least until Tuesday. Billy has meetings scheduled most of the day Monday.” Jace shook his head and laughed.

  “What’s funny?”

  “Just Billy.”

  “How are things going with the rough stock business?”

  Better than they’d ever imagined. Word was out that their bulls and broncs were rank. That’s what mattered most. He and Billy were the front men of the business. As a former saddle bronc national champion, Billy Patterson had his foot in doors most rough stock contractors would never have.

  They decided, earlier in the day, about who would go to the National Finals Rodeo next week. They agreed it would take the whole crew to represent Flying R Rough Stock properly. They wouldn’t have rough stock in the finals this year, but they were optimistic that next year they would. The trip to Las Vegas this year would be more about seeing and being seen.

  “What’s it like?”

  “NFR? Crazy,” he sighed. “A big, damn party.”

  “Is it always in Las Vegas?”

  There’d been talk, the year before, about moving it to Florida, but eventually a deal had been reached to keep it in Las Vegas a few more years. Jace couldn’t imagine it anywhere else. “Sure is. Where it belongs, too.”

  “You’re looking forward to it?”

  “Part of me is. Part of me isn’t.”

  “Why?”

  “That life…I’m gettin’ a little too old for. Come here, girl.” He gently moved her so her back rested against him. He shifted, turning enough that his legs were on the sofa and she was nestled in front of him. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her closer, and tucked a pillow under her head.

  He looked over and saw her water bottle was empty. He should have thought of that before he’d gotten them both so comfortable. She needed to rehydrate, especially at this altitude.

  When he saw Blythe peek around the corner, he caught her eye and pointed toward the bottle sitting on the coffee table. She understood and brought two more and set them down.

  “She’s out,” she whispered.

  He already knew she was. He’d spent more than one night close enough to her to know the way her breathing evened out when she fell asleep. He longed to slide his hand under her sweatshirt and feel her warm skin, but didn’t. He shifted, so if she woke, she wouldn’t feel what being that close to her was doing to him. He closed his eyes and willed sleep to come to him, too. It didn’t take long before it did.

  “Shh,” followed by a giggle woke him. He opened his eyes and saw Liv tiptoeing past them, warning Ben to keep quiet. When Jace opened his eyes, Liv waved. Ben waved too, mimicking his wife. He put his finger in front of his lips, as if to say they’d be quiet.

  He tried to move his arm from around Bree’s waist, but she clung to him. He leaned down and kissed her shoulder through her thick sweatshirt.

  “Jace?”

  “Yes, sweetheart?” He hadn’t realized she was awake.

  “Do you think anyone would mind if you came downstairs with me?”

  “No, darlin’, no one will mind at all.” Least of all me.

  Why did she keep doing this to herself? She woke up in bed with Jace again this morning. It wasn’t that she didn’t remember asking him to sleep with her last night, after they’d fallen asleep together on the sofa, again, it was just that, each time, she vowed it couldn’t happen again.

  He shifted and pulled her closer. She closed her eyes, knowing she wouldn’t be able to fall back to sleep, not with him pressed against her. So many nights she’d fallen asleep imagining he was holding her as he was now. She’d let her mind drift, imagining his hands on her body, his lips always followed…in her dreams.

  His arm was draped over her, his hand close enough that she could run her lips over the fingers she so often imagined bringing her body pleasure. She couldn’t resist. She kissed his hand, and then brushed her lips over the back of it.

  Before she knew it, she was under him. He urged her legs open with his knee, holding himself over her with his powerful arms. He leaned down and ran his lips over the pulse points in her neck, murmuring her name as he made his way lower.

  Her arms went around
him, urging him closer than he was. She wanted him as close to her as he could be. She wanted them to be one.

  Instead, he continued moving further down her body, soft lingering kisses making a trail lower, and lower. Her body arched against him. Yes, this had been part of her dream too. Jace loving her with his lips, his tongue. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on how it felt to have Jace take her to a place she’d never been, not even with Zack.

  “Bree,” he breathed. “Baby, I need you. Do you know how much I need you?”

  “I need you too.”

  This is the last place he’d expected to be, and more, the last thing he expected to be doing. He rolled away from her. “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “Bree, darlin’, I, uh, don’t have anything with me, sweetheart.”

  “You don’t?”

  Her voice was so soft, so sweet, he could just eat her up. “I’m sorry, sweet girl.”

  She sighed. If he didn’t know better, he might’ve thought it sounded more like a huff than a sigh.

  He raised himself up on his elbow so he could look at her face. Sure enough, she was pouting. He leaned over and kissed the down-turned corners of her mouth.

  “I can try to find some.”

  “What? No. God, Jace, please, tell me you’re joking.”

  “Okay, I’m joking. Sort of.”

  “It’s bad enough that everyone knows you slept with me. They don’t need to know you slept with me.”

  “Almost slept with you, baby.”

  She nudged against him, until he was on his back. She rested her head on his chest.

  “Jace?”

  He recognized her lilt of insecurity. “Yes, Bree.”

  “Is it bad that we always do this?”

  “No, honey. It isn’t bad. Nothing this perfect could ever be called bad.”

  “But—”

  “No, no buts. I love sleepin’ next to you. I love making love to you. I’m not going to let you tarnish it by labeling it with the word ‘bad.’” He raised up and turned so he was on his side, facing her, and she was facing him.