Expelled

by Claire Adams

  I wanted to tell him to hurry up and get back to bed, but instead I joined him and brushed my teeth as he flossed.

  Then we walked into the bedroom and climbed in bed. Gabriel turned over and kissed me goodnight, and as he backed away, I stopped him and held him close. “I have another gift for you.”

  His eyebrow jutted upward and he grinned. “I know. I’m getting ready to unwrap it.” He trailed his hand down to the hem of my camisole and his cool fingertips trailed upward to my sensitive breasts.

  I leaned forward and kissed him as he trailed his hand down my tummy and slipped it inside my panties, cupping my mound. I broke the kiss and put on the brakes.

  “Wait. That’s not the gift I wanted to give.”

  He frowned, but rubbed my sex with a delicious pressure that had me reconsidering. No. I had to tell him now, while I still had the courage. If I didn’t do it soon, I’d ruin the surprise.

  “What is it?” He dipped his head to my stomach and kissed me there, and I wondered if he somehow instinctively knew.

  I slipped my hand under my pillow and pulled out the little box that would change everything. We hadn’t talked about children. With all the other things we had in our lives, we’d both been content, and we certainly hadn’t felt we were missing anything. We hadn’t been too careful, either, or tried to prevent anything from happening, so if he didn’t like the idea, he should have said as much.

  I placed the small box on my stomach and he sat up on his elbow and met my eyes. “You didn’t have to get me anything else.” I’d given him cologne along with his other gifts at the party.

  “Open it,” I urged as my stomach twisted in knots.

  He pulled the bow off the top and slipped his finger into the paper. When he got to the small white box, he gave me a glance and opened the lid. His mouth went slack and his eyes widened. “No way.”

  It wasn’t exactly the reaction I’d hoped for, and his eyes darkened as he looked away. I thought he’d be happy. My heart dropped like a rock to the pit of my gut and I held my breath.

  “I can’t believe this,” he whispered, taking the tiny pair of baby shoes from the box.

  I wanted to react. I wanted to ask him what he expected would happen. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know how to make babies, and with all the raw sex his appetite craved, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

  He turned to me, his eyes ringed red with tears and he fell onto my stomach, planting kisses there and pulling me into his arms. I breathed a sigh of relief as he met my eyes and smiled.

  “This is the best gift ever.” He shifted himself closer so he could kiss my mouth and his hands held my face as he gazed into my soul. “I love you, Luna.”

  “I love you, too.” I hid my face, grateful I’d been wrong, as tears of relief washed across my cheeks.

  “What’s wrong?” His eyes were filled with concern.

  I wouldn’t spoil our happiness by telling him I’d had doubts. My heart filled with joy thinking about the year to come. “Nothing, Gabriel. I’m so happy. You give me everything, you know. I’m happy to finally give you something for a change: something special.”

  He smiled and placed his hand over my heart. “Every day you love me, Luna, you give me something special.”

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  COWBOY ROOMIE

  By Claire Adams

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams

  PART ONE

  Chapter One

  Cash

  July, Early Evening

  I ran my hand down the long nose of my only remaining quarter horse, whispering under my breath to him while he stamped his feet in the hay. I had a stable that could hold 20 horses, but only had 12 left, not to the mention the cattle I lost, culling a quarter of the herd, all of it happening over the course of two terrible weeks that shook both me and my business to the core. I had to have money to live, but I cared more about these animals than what they could do for my wallet. I’d raised them and tended to them for years in most cases, and only wanted what was best for them, profit be damned if need be.

  Eric was at the other end of the barn, spraying down one of the empty stalls. Losing horses had made it a little easier to muck out the stables. We could play musical stalls with the horses, moving them from one place to another. We were about finished with the work out here, having fed and watered the horses out in the corral before giving them a light brushing. Tomorrow they’d need cleaning for real with shampoo and water, meaning a full day of work for me since Eric wouldn’t be coming up from town, but I didn’t worry over that right now.

  Eric came over as soon as I finished with the quarter horse, smiling like all get out, the way he had since we first ran into each other back in grade school. People in town called us opposites—he was always grinning, and I always looked like my best horse died. Right now, that was true. I’d lost more horses last month than I had in all the years I’d owned the ranch. Hell, in all the years I’d been riding and tending horses, which had been since I learned to walk. The losses were still stuck in my craw, but there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it except keep moving forward like I had my whole life.

  “You see those fireworks on the Fourth?” Eric asked, still grinning.

  “Yup,” I said, and meant to let that be the end of the conversation, but Eric had other ideas.

  “What’d you think of ‘em?”

  “I liked ‘em okay,” I replied. I gave Dusty, the quarter horse, one more rub from the top of her head down to the tip of her nose and turned to face my best friend. He hadn’t been able to wipe the smile from his face all damned day.

  “Just okay?” Eric shot back. “They were the best Jackson has ever had! Did you see the big booming ones at the end?” He shook his head, his eyes far away, like he was still seeing that fireworks display. I had to smile at the look on his face.

  “You’re like a little kid, Eric,” I said, and it wasn’t the first time I’d accused him of it. “No grown man should take such pleasure in a bunch of fireworks.”

  Eric’s high mood couldn’t be spoiled that easily. He just shrugged his broad shoulders and then reached to give old Dusty a scratch behind the ears. “You’ve been an old man since the day you were born, Cash. Don’t begrudge another man his fun just ‘cause you aren’t capable of enjoying anything.”

  I snorted but didn’t respond, turning my back so I could take a halter off one of my two remaining appaloosas.

  “You been worse than usual over the last month,” he said, picking up speed as he went on without interruption from me. “I’m like to stop talking to you altogether.”

  I clenched my teeth rather than answer back. His comment pissed me off, mostly because he knew how hard the last several weeks had been since I lost all those horses and cows. The worst part had been watching them drop one right after the other from sickness, but the aftermath wasn’t great either—the loss of several thousands of dollars that put my business in jeopardy. If I’d lost more livestock, I’d have flat out lost the ranch. I had to work even harder now to make sure it didn’t happen again.

  I mopped the sweat from my brow with the handkerchief in my back pocket, then let my cowboy hat drop back over my head before I responded to Eric. “The last month ain’t been good for me, and you know why. I haven’t felt much like joking lately.”

  That sobered Eric up a little, wiping the smile from his face, though his dark eyes were still shining the way they did when he had something funny to tell you. “There wasn’t nothing you could do about that. You take good care of your animals here. Your
ranch is the best in the county.”

  I clenched my jaw even harder. The only thing worse than the fact that so many of my animals had fallen ill and died was that I’d let it happen. Not that I’d just sat there. And not like I mistreated my horses and cattle. I did the opposite, caring for them from morning until night and making regular appointments for the veterinarian to come out to the ranch to look them over. This sickness had come out of nowhere and raced through several animals before I even knew what was happening. I couldn’t help but take their deaths as some kind of commentary on me as their owner. I should have seen the signs and done better somehow. No one that I’d talked to over the last few weeks since the tragedy blamed me—even the vet, who said she’d never seen such a sudden and acute outbreak—but that sure as hell didn’t stop me from blaming myself.

  I grumbled a response, turning away to tidy up another part of the barn that didn’t really need tidying. I kept this place in good order—everything cleaned and put back where it belonged. I’d been this way as far back as I could remember, but I was extra careful now, after what had happened.

  As always, Eric kept going on without me. That boy could listen to himself speak for hours. As long as he had someone to talk at, he was good to go.

  “Everything’s gonna work out in the end; just you wait,” he said, the certainty in his voice rubbing me the wrong way.

  “You ain’t the one lost thousands of dollars you didn’t have to lose in the first place,” I replied.

  “But I am the one who knows you’ll get back on your feet, Cash.”

  That drew another snort and shake of the head from me. I turned to glare at him but was tired too. It’d been a long day, and I was ready for a cold beer, something to eat, and a few hours of good sleep.

  “Maybe if you were a little more flexible and open to other ideas, you could come up with some more ways to boost your income.” Eric lifted his light eyebrows that were a shade or two darker than the honey-colored hair on his head. “You know? Just for a few months or so until you get back on your feet.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. Eric was a fan of get-rich-quick schemes, while I was a fan of putting in the work to reap the reward. It was just how I was brought up.

  “I mean, this is the modern age,” Eric continued, though I hadn’t said a word yet in response. “The digital age. You know, technology? That shit everyone else talks about?”

  “I have access to a computer and a cell phone, asshole,” I shot back, grinning myself, and he laughed. Of course, the computer in question was the one down at the county library in town, and the cell phone was prepaid and sat mostly unused in a drawer in my bedroom.

  “Do you know there are people in town that are making their living by being rideshare drivers? They just answer requests for rides whenever they get them and rake in money.” He snapped his dirt-smeared fingers. “Just like that.”

  I pressed my lips together, squeezing away what was left of my small grin. “I have no intention of being anything but a rancher. Leave the internet taxi driving game to those that don’t want to put in a hard day’s work.”

  “Being an internet taxi driver’s not all bad.” His smile widened and that glimmer sparked in his eyes that had meant trouble for me going years back. “You might meet some folks if you actually set foot off your property longer than it took to go back and forth from the feed and supply store.”

  He was all about annoying the hell outta me this afternoon. “I don’t want to meet any damned people.” I leaned against the stall, giving the little appaloosa a good long scratch along her neck the way she liked. She was strong and healthy, which was its own blessing after all that’d happened. “If I cared to be surrounded by people on all sides, I’d live in town, not out here on the ranch.”

  Eric had a good long laugh at that.

  “You ever think I’m happy out here on my own? That I don’t actually want people around all the time?”

  He shrugged as he wiped the sweat and dirt from his face with his handkerchief. “People means women, Cash. Ain’t you interested in having a woman around? It’s been a long damned time since you’ve been with one.”

  “You’re the last person who needs to give advice about women,” I huffed. He didn’t quite have a reputation around town for his dating habits, but he was close to it. He’d been crazy for the opposite sex as far back as I could remember, and it had gotten him in plenty of trouble throughout the years. He always seemed to recover in time to date the next pretty face that passed by, but I was exhausted just watching him, no way did I want to join in.

  “I think my job as your best friend is to push you out of your comfort zone as much as I can,” Eric said, hooking his thumbs in the pockets of his dusty jeans. He wasn’t wearing a cowboy hat, said they cramped his style. He’d always worried about his hair and clothes much more than I thought a man should. As long as I could get dirty working in whatever I was wearing, I was good to go.

  “Oh, you think so?” I challenged.

  He nodded, his grin cranking up. “That’s a friend’s job, ain’t it? To make sure you don’t get stuck in a rut out here in the middle of nowhere?”

  “I’m not sure why I’m even listening to you. When the hell have you ever known what you’re talking about?”

  “When it comes to women, I’m pretty much the authority.”

  We both had a laugh at that, Eric slapping his thigh. Just past the open doors of the barn, the light was fading from the sky quickly. I had to get supper going before it got too late. I’d been up at 4 am this morning and was looking to be up at the same time tomorrow.

  I started off towards the house and Eric followed, not saying another word until I’d slid the alleyway door shut to the barn, closing the horses inside for another night. The cows were out in the far field—I’d checked on them before stabling the horses, looking them over for signs of the disease that’d moved through the herd so quickly. Everything was fine, but I couldn’t help the worry that crept in on me when I worked with my animals.

  “I’m gonna find you a woman, Cash,” Eric said, tailing me up to the house. I’d told him he could stay for supper, which I was regretting right about now. “Just you wait.”

  I shook my head as we climbed the porch steps and went inside. “Mind your own goddamned business, will you? The only help I need from you is tending to the animals.”

  He laughed. “You got beers in the fridge?”

  “Of course.”

  He went to grab a few, but I couldn’t get my mind off what he’d brought up. It had been a long time since I’d been with a woman longer than the few minutes it took to check out at the supply store. The vet was a woman, but she was about 50, and married besides. I didn’t want to add any unnecessary complications to my life. I already had all the trouble and responsibility of the ranch. But I couldn’t help thinking that I was missing something important. Not that I’d ever let Eric know any of that.

  Chapter Two

  Hailey

  July, Early Evening

  My phone was ringing, but I couldn’t find the damned thing. I’d already missed the initial call—the bare floors and high ceilings in my apartment created an echo effect, and I couldn’t tell where the hell the noise was coming from—but, luckily, whoever was on the line was calling again. My place was a disaster, as usual—boxes overflowing with interesting things I found on my travels, piles of books and periodicals, some of which had fallen over onto the floor, dishes from meals eaten at my desk stacked on every available surface, and papers strewn everywhere, looking a little like I’d taken a few reams and simply thrown them in the air to land however gravity decided. I had working drafts of a few novels spread out everywhere, too.

  I dashed around my living room like a madwoman, tearing through piles of crap until I finally found my purse and, inside it, my phone. It was my agent, who definitely knew what to expect where I was concerned. If I’d missed this call, she’d have called at least two more times. I lost my phone
inside my own house on a daily basis.

  “Hi, Andrea,” I said, and collapsed on the only empty cushion on the couch, a little out of breath from the ordeal. I’d been both looking forward to and dreading this phone call for days. Andrea had spent the week pitching my newest idea for a novel-length project to my editor. Everything depended on how well that had gone.

  “Hello, Hailey,” Andrea replied, and it was impossible to tell by the sound of her greeting how the conversation was going to go.

  My stomach was in knots, but I didn’t want to pounce on her. She’d called for a reason, and I didn’t mean to rush her, no matter how anxious I was.

  “I have good news.” She paused, and my stomach relaxed a little, though the knots were still there. “The pitch for your cowboy novel went great with the editing team at the publishing house. They are definitely on board and stated that they already have the early workings of an advertising campaign. They even hinted at the possibility of making this into a series.”

  My brain was taking a long time to process the things she was telling me. This was better than I’d expected, and it was a bit of a shock after so much time spent worrying. When I didn’t respond, Andrea just continued, all business, as she explained the rest of the meeting.

  “The editors praised the authenticity of your earlier novels, even the ones that didn’t do as well where sales were concerned. They know that you’re a solid writer who can deliver beautifully written content, dynamic characters, and engaging plotlines.”

  I was still too stunned to speak. I knew I was a good writer—I’d been doing it since I was in elementary school in one way or another—but it was amazing to hear professionals in the field deliver such high praise. Finally, the words came loose, and I spoke them through a rush of relieved giggles.

  “Too bad that authenticity isn’t helping me sell more novels,” I replied, and I had to consciously put a lid on the giggles to get them to stop. Once I got started, it could go on for several minutes at a time, much to the chagrin of whoever I was talking to.