Secret Pressure (Rhinestone Cowgirls Book 4)

by Rhonda Lee Carver

  Ruby followed Sapphire up the stairs and into the bedroom where Ruby had lived all of her thirty-three years, minus the four years of college. “And how do you know exactly?” As kids, they’d always shared clothes, but once they grew into adults, they’d formed a hands-off rule when Violet had worn a pair of Sapphire’s favorite Manolo stilettos and broke the heel.

  “Because I borrow them.” Sapphire winked and placed Jack on the floor with a foam football.

  “We might live under the same roof, but that doesn’t mean my things are your things.” Ruby shook her head, biting back a smile. Since Sapphire could talk, she’d always ‘borrowed’ Ruby’s things, even a boyfriend once or twice. Thankfully, they were losers and she hadn’t missed them.

  “Someone has to wear these things.” Sapphire stepped into the walk-in closet, skimming through the full racks.

  “True.” Ruby sighed. These days, if it wasn’t wash and wear, it wasn’t going on her body.

  “I saw something in here…still had tags…that I thought would be very cute. Hmm…oh, here it is.” She took out the blue, sleeveless, low V-neck dress and held up the tags that were still attached. “This dress is beautiful and you’ve never worn it.”

  “That was a pre-mommy dress. Back when I dated.”

  “This is as good a time as any.” Sapphire shoved the dress toward Ruby.

  “Petty, ma.” Jack pointed.

  “See, even the kid thinks it’s pretty.”

  Ruby shook her head and pushed the dress back. “I probably don’t even fit into it. I’ve gained weight.”

  “In the boobs. And wouldn’t we all want that problem.” Sapphire laid the dress over Ruby’s shoulder and pushed her toward the adjoining bathroom. “Now go.”

  “Go, ma.” Jack encouraged.

  “Don’t teach my child anything while I’m in the bathroom, you hear?” Ruby turned and saw Sapphire’s reflection in the dresser mirror. Her tongue was stuck out, aiming right at Ruby’s back. “I see that.”

  Sapphire sucked her tongue back in and smiled. “And I thought you would.”

  Ruby had always been close with Sapphire, the baby of the bunch, and very seldom told her no. She could make anyone feel better with her bubbly, energetic personality. Whether she’d admit it or not, Ruby knew her younger sister had suffered most from the loss of their parents.

  Heading into the bathroom, outvoted by a stubborn woman and a playful toddler, Ruby changed out of her comfortable clothing and into the dress. It fit snug on her hips and breasts, and she started to unzip it when she looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She actually liked how the dress fit her frame and was surprised. It’d been so long since she’d dressed in anything but loose cotton that she’d forgotten she had legs and breasts which, in the dress, looked longer and firmer. Right after her son was born, she’d taken up yoga, which seemed to help her mind and body, especially her creativity. She was glad to see it’d done some good.

  Smoothing her hands down the soft material, she smiled. She could definitely call this sexy.

  Stepping out of the bathroom, Sapphire whistled. “Now that’s a dress worthy of an auction.”

  “Okay, I’ll admit that it looks good on, but it doesn’t mean I should wear it. I want men to bid on me, not bed me.”

  “Yeah, don’t knock something that you could certainly use. On occasion a girl needs a good—” Ruby gave her a stern look, glancing at an oblivious Jack. “—ice cream cone to make the world appear brighter.”

  “I don’t want ice cream. I don’t need the calories.”

  “Humph. After reading the hot scene in your last book, I’d say you definitely are in need of a scoop or two.”

  Ruby rolled her eyes. “Do you, Crystal, and Violet ever get tired of preaching to me on my relationship status? I find that interesting when none of you have married or are in a relationship.”

  “Stop arguing. Go with the flow and see where it leads you.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  “I found you a pair of heels.” Sapphire pointed at the floor. “If you don’t wear them, I’m stealing them. No one places Manolo in a closet and forgets them.”

  Ruby spied the heels Sapphire had picked out. They were at least three inches tall and could second as a weapon if her date got out of hand. That is if she was bid on. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m going for a cowgirl professional look, not lady of the night.”

  “You look amazing, not slutty.”

  “Seriously?”

  “I don’t ever joke about fashion, sis.” Sapphire smiled. “And every woman needs to let her naughty side out to play on special occasions.”

  “Shh!” Ruby was glad Jack seemed interested in pounding his ABC blocks. “Can you please not teach my son bad language?”

  “Just sayin’.”

  “I did that once, uncaged the beasty, so to speak. And what did I get?” She pointed at Jack. “I wouldn’t exchange him for anything in the world, but I’m just not interested in repeating the past.”

  Sapphire shrugged and sat on the floor, helping Jack stack a row of blocks. “Just think of all of the hunky cowboys who’ll be there bidding for a date. Ooh…tight buns and whiskered jaws in abundance. I want to go myself.”

  “We could switch places. Anyway, how did I get talked into this and you didn’t?”

  “Someone had to watch Jack.”

  “I wouldn’t have needed a sitter if I was home.” Ruby dropped onto the end of the bed. “I don’t want to meet a cowboy. Not for one date, or ten.”

  Sapphire narrowed her eye. “I’m worried about you.”

  “I’m worried about me too.”

  “Talk to me, sis.” The concerned look was back on Sapphire’s face. “What is it?”

  “I think I’m broken.”

  As if to verify what his mother claimed, Jack chimed in, “Bwoke.”

  “See, even Jack will tell you.” Ruby sighed. Sapphire’s chuckle made Ruby’s mood worsen. “At least one of us finds this humorous.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. You’re not broken. You’re beautiful, sensual and a man would be danged lucky to have you. We all need something to recharge our battery at times.”

  “Is it normal, you know, not to have any desire to date?”

  “Just as normal as it is for me to want to date all of the time and I don’t have one interested man.” She chuckled.

  “That’s because you’re too particular,” Ruby snorted.

  “Ain’t that one horse calling another horse’s bottom big?” Sapphire sniffed.

  “It’s different.” Ruby stood and slipped into the shoes, gaining her balance before attempting to move. It had been a long time since she wore something that didn’t have tread and shoestrings.

  “How so?”

  “I have a son—a young son at that. I’m his mother above everything and anything. I can’t bring just any man into my life. Especially his life.” Ruby sat at her vanity, adding lipstick and a necklace.

  “How about your dentist? You said he was a nice guy. He’ll eventually stop asking you out and you could regret not saying yes.”

  “I just don’t feel anything for him.” Abe had always been nice and every time he saw her, he asked her out to dinner. But she wasn’t attracted to him or any other man who had asked her out. She’d used Jack as an excuse each time. The first year of his life had been a whirlwind of feedings, changings, and bits of writing. She hadn’t had the time to take a shower let alone think of having dinner with someone who didn’t need a bib. Then when he turned two, her options had broadened and she’d decided it was time to step into the dating world again, slowly of course. Yet when the dentist asked her out, she just couldn’t form the word yes on her lips.

  “Then don’t bother. If you don’t feel tingles and see fireworks when he’s near, he’s not worth it.”

  Like I did with Jobe.

  “Eventually I’ll date again. Who knows? Maybe I’ll take Abe up on his offer for dinner. It wouldn’t
hurt.” Harmless was exactly what she was looking for when it came to a man.

  ****

  Jobe Walters pulled off his hat and swiped an arm across his forehead. The sun beat down like a son-of-a-bitch. Sweat soaked every part of his body, running down his back and into the crack of his ass, making his balls stick to him like glue. No cowboy liked slick gonads. The temperature was rising and no outlook for a break from the sweltering heat made him want to go back to his hotel room and relax.

  He was used to working in high temps, but he was unusually cranky this evening.

  He’d needed time away from the Walters R&R so when a friend suggested they take a trip into San Antonio for the rodeo, Jobe had jumped at the chance for different scenery. Things just hadn’t been the same around the ranch. His brothers, DJ and Nash, were hitched and the old farmhouse seemed empty. Sure, he still saw them every day out on the land, but it wasn’t like it used to be. They had their own family now and every few minutes one of them had to talk about how sweet marriage life was.

  Damn, he didn’t like feeling sorry for himself.

  If he was honest, his brothers getting married wasn’t the big change that sent Jobe’s world spiraling downward.

  When Ruby Stone took off without saying goodbye, he’d gone through a whole barrel of emotions—hurt, bitterness, pain until finally he’d settled on anger. A man could deal with fury unlike the sting of a heartache.

  He could see now he’d been on a dangerous path. Working too hard, drinking too much, and sleeping with any woman who batted her eyelashes. Then he’d met Patricia, her dazzling smile and understanding ear had eased some of the pain in his heart. Two weeks after meeting her, he’d asked her to marry him and surprisingly she’d said yes. It didn’t take the truth too long to settle in. Any man worth his weight knew he couldn’t use a woman, no matter how pretty or sweet, to salve the ache another woman had left in his soul. So, after being engaged for a mere three months, he finally came to terms with the facts in his heart—and with Patricia. He just wasn’t ready to marry her or any woman. She’d been hurt at first, but she knew it was best that he’d figured all this out before they walked down the aisle.

  Eventually, after she’d cursed him a red streak, she’d forgiven him and they were now friends—close friends. She met a cowboy and they were happy. It all worked out in the end.

  Except he wasn’t having much luck himself.

  Ruby had done a number on him, dragged him down a path of passion and pleasure only to leave him cold and empty handed. He just couldn’t figure out why his mind wouldn’t slip into forward drive, move on, and forget Ruby Stone. After all, the sex hadn’t been that great.

  Liar!

  The sex had been downright incredible. In fact, he hadn’t met another woman who could make him go two times in a row. With everyone else, he needed a solid break before he was ready to come again.

  And it wasn’t all about the sex…

  Ruby’s smile couldn’t have been brighter if he’d reached up and grabbed a star from the sky and handed it to her. Her eyes, the color of molten chocolate, were expressive and told their own story. She put on a good show of strength, but when she’d cried when a deer had gotten stuck in a barbed wire fence at the ranch, he knew he’d seen a softer side she didn’t allow many to see.

  She’d called his cell phone once, sometime after she’d gone, but just as he answered, the call went dead. He’d stared at the screen for a long time, her number flashing like a neon of warning as his thoughts unraveled. He’d went through an internal debate on whether he should have called her back. Eventually, he’d decided she must have butt-dialed him. He’d done that a few times.

  These days, he liked spending a lot of time alone on the land and taking care of the R&R, rubbing elbows with people from all over the place who came to stay. Long rides at sunrise and sundown, mulling over his thoughts, meditating on the back of a stallion. Unloading bales of hay, refusing to let any of the hands help came in handy when he had a bad day. Hour after hour building fences, some on the property and some inside his heart, until finally he’d come to grips with what happened with Ruby. Somehow, some way, during the short time he’d spent with her, he’d fallen for her—head over heels, bones-to-mush kind of love. And she hadn’t had one clue. She’d ran away before he could say a word.

  Cold hearted woman. That’s all he could say.

  A bout of anger sliced through him, but it didn’t last long. The pain had numbed—some.

  He kicked his boot up on the bottom rail of the fence and watched the action in the arena.

  “You think he’ll last eight seconds?” Cal Rowan, a Walters hand and one of Jobe’s oldest friends, asked.

  He rolled his shoulder and slid a glance Cal’s direction. “Keefer’s only gotten tougher since I saw him ride last year. Riding the bull is second nature for him, but that bull’s a high-caliber bucking tornado.”

  His old buddy, Keefer Lane, sat on the restless bull behind the gate, waiting for the buzzer. The shrill sound cracked the air as the gate shot open. The bull charged out of the enclosed pen, snorting and shaking his head back and forth, kicking up his back legs sending a cloud of dirt above Keefer’s head. He steadied himself, arm lifted high, holding on to the leather strap with a gloved hand. Jobe’s knuckles turned white as he clenched the top rail, watching the two great athletes, the bull and the rider.

  Across the arena, on the other side of the fence, Jobe caught a flash of long, silken dark hair and his gut tightened. His breath left his lungs in one long exhale, then a deep moan that came from a hidden place. The mere second seemed like an hour until finally the woman turned and he saw her profile. His muscles relaxed. She wasn’t Ruby.

  When the hell would this stop? Every time he spotted a brunette, out came the nails that scraped down his insides.

  “Ah, shit!” Cal pounded the fence.

  Jobe turned his focus on Keefer who was now sprawled on the dirt. The rodeo clowns corralled the bull that pranced back and forth with insurmountable pride at throwing the rider.

  “That’ll hurt in the morning.” Jobe rubbed his jaw as he watched his friend pick himself up from the dirt bath and limp toward the gate, climbing and disappearing, probably for an ice pack and strong pain meds.

  “Jobe?”

  He stiffened, swearing he heard an angelic voice call his name.

  “Jobe?”

  The sweet sound had a way of tweaking his heartstrings, and other parts of his body, and he didn’t need to see her face to know who it was. Against better judgment, he acknowledged her by turning.

  His mouth dropped and his dick jerked painfully. He needed a good kick to the heart because it stopped. His breath rushed from his lungs, leaving a burning sensation. Standing five feet in front of him was the beautiful brunette who’d haunted his every waking hour since she’d tumbled into his life some three years ago. She’d been a dream come true, and then a bloody nightmare.

  The scene could have been straight from a horror movie, excluding the knives, although it sure did feel like her name was being carved inside of his stomach. He shifted his boots as Ruby Stone laid her poignant gaze upon him. He hooked his thumbs into his pockets and sniffed loudly, forcing his breaths in an out. He wanted to be anywhere but here. He wished he was in a saddle, riding at the speed of the wind and not here, not right now, facing the hot-headed female who he had a thing for—a very, very bad thing.

  This was definitely a fucked up situation, and he didn’t like it, not one bit.

  He’d spent a lot of time working his ass off to forget her. To say he was shocked to see her here would be an understatement. The sweat dried up on his body and his balls shrunk to the size of walnuts.

  Moving his gaze over her, he swallowed but it didn’t help the agonizing clump blocking his airways. The short dress fit her like a second skin and he had an itch in places he couldn’t scratch alone.

  He should have known the moment he laid eyes on Ruby at DJ and Pearl’s wedding, with her
long hair, pert nose, and body that begged for a cowboy’s touch, that he should have looked for an exit. The Stone girls were nothing but trouble, every single one of them, and he’d sat back and watched his brothers fall for them, and then he did the same.

  Jobe rubbed his forehead looking at her bright red painted toenails in the open shoes, then brought his gaze back on her face. Her eyes seem to penetrate every layer of his skin, sizzling his bloodstream. Why the hell wasn’t she saying anything?

  “What are you doing here?” he snarled.

  He had known from the very beginning they wouldn’t last, but he’d allowed himself to remain hopeful. She’d made it clear that she wasn’t interested in a relationship, especially with a cowboy who lived across the state of Texas.

  He thought he could control his anger, however, seeing her now, he became madder at the whole situation. At himself, mainly.

  Ruby narrowed her gaze, looking at him through the veil of her long lashes that were lighter at the tips. “I’m here for an event. What are you doing here?”

  “What does it look like? I’m watching a football game,” he growled the words.

  His sarcasm didn’t seem to unravel her. After a split second, one corner of her mouth lifted into a nervous grin. Damn, why did she have to smile? “Yes, I guess it’s obvious what you’re doing here. I was just wondering if you planned—”

  “To see you while I was here?”

  “That’s not what I was going to say,” she snapped.

  “Oh it wasn’t?” Cynicism dripped off his words, just how he wanted.

  There went that thin brow flicking up in irritation. “Of course not!”

  He shrugged. “Sure, doll.” The words stuck in his throat like a dry piece of bread. Had he hoped—slightly—that she’d say yes?

  She lifted a shoulder and dropped it. “I just thought you’d be busy back home. I hear the R&R is doing very well.”

  “Since you’re getting news from a source back home, then you should have known I’d be here,” he snapped back.

  “I don’t keep track of your comings and goings.” She rolled her tongue along her bottom lip and his zipper stretched.