by Becky McGraw
“Well Tina can want in one hand and shit—“ Dean started then cleared his throat when Hope’s amber brows shot up. He brushed past her to go to the next stall in the line. “I’m not doing it—end of discussion,” Dean said, but it evidently wasn’t over yet he realized when Hope followed him again.
“That little girl that was with her out here is her niece. Tina is all but raising her, since her sister runs around and leaves Laney with her all the time. The kid has nobody but Tina to look out for her. If she’s successful with this new line, Tina’s company is offering her a big promotion and raise. Tina needs that raise and promotion to support Laney.”
Dean huffed out a breath, and hardened his heart against the compassion trying to take root there. He definitely knew what that felt like. Cindy had dumped Jeremy with him all the time to go out too. “That’s not my problem,” he grumbled, reminding himself he had enough of his own without taking on someone else’s. “This family is what I’m concerned with.”
“This will help us too, Dean. You ought to at least listen to Tina’s offer, before you turn her down,” Hope volleyed.
“If she wrote me a blank check, I wouldn’t do it,” Dean said throwing up his hands.
Hope’s eyes watered, and she covered the small mound of her stomach. Dean swallowed down the emotion that shot up to his own throat. Her eyes were determined, but her voice quavered when she told him, “Then I need every penny of the money I loaned you paid back. She wants to buy a house for herself and Laney and I’m going to help her do that, since she won’t get her promotion now.”
“God, you sure know how to put the screws to me, don’t you? Why would you care?”
“Because that’s what friends do, Dean. She helped Cord and I when we needed her and I’m going to return the favor. Maybe if you stopped letting what Cindy did to you make you hard as nails, you would have a friend. Then you might understand.” Hope dragged her eyes away. “Maybe your son wouldn’t think you hate him.”
Anger the likes of which he hadn’t felt in a long time engulfed him. He clenched his fists and grated, “Don’t you say that woman’s name again. You and your friend just need to mind your own fucking business. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I will get you that money back. Every fucking cent.”
Hope’s lips pinched like she was holding back a scream. She turned away from him and he heard her whimper as she stiffened her spine to storm down the aisle toward the barn door. Rage built inside of him with every step she got closer to the door.
Dean needed to scream too.
He needed to get away from civilization for a minute. Visit the place he hadn’t been to in a year to do just that. Scream. Until he found peace again. Dean’s hand shook as he unlocked the door to the stall that housed his stallion, Blaze. His daddy and Cord wanted to run the ranch? Well they could go to the auction on their own too.
It was nearly six o’clock when Dean finally rode Blaze back into the barn. He was still frustrated as hell, as he swung out of the saddle. The solitude he always found out at the lake at the back of their property wasn’t there this time. Neither were the answers he needed.
No matter how he sliced and diced it, Hope’s demand had backed him into a corner he couldn’t escape. He had no chance of paying her money back without doing that damned photo shoot. Taking out another mortgage wasn’t the answer. The reason he owed her the money in the first place was because she used her inheritance to pay off a mortgage that almost took the ranch from them. Taking out another one would defeat the purpose of the loan. And they couldn’t afford a note right now. Besides, they needed the ranch free and clear for collateral in case his daddy got sick again. He was in remission, but now he couldn’t get the insurance Dean had been after him to get for years.
The money from the auction today was going to buy cattle. Last fall, Dean had to sell off the entire herd to help pay the last mortgage note, before Hope came along and paid it off. They were starting over now.
He was just going to have to keep thinking about it, and come up with another solution.
Dean dropped the reins, and reached to unbuckle the cinch under Blaze’s belly. He heard someone come into the barn behind him and glanced up. His brother stopped in front of him with fire in his eyes and his fists balled at his sides. The look on his face said he was ready for a fight. Well Dean was ready too. A good fight with Cord would probably go a long way to making some of the anger and frustration inside him go away.
“What the fuck did you say to Hope?” Cord demanded, giving him a push when Dean stood to face him. “And why the hell weren’t you here to go to the auction with us?”
“I needed a break,” Dean said defensively. He shoved Cord with his shoulder as he bent to jerk up the reins.
“Break?!?” Cord yelled crowding him.
“Yeah, you know all about taking breaks, don’t you? Your three-year break almost broke this ranch and your family. I think I deserve a small one for keeping this shit together for so long by myself, don’t you?” Dean knew that would get Cord going. He pushed past him to lead Blaze to the cross-ties where he removed his bridle to slip on a halter.
“I’m sick and damned tired of you throwing that in my face.” Cord said crowding even closer to him.
Too close. If Cord knew what was good for him, he would back off. Dean pushed him away and spat, “And I’m sick and tired of carrying the load around here. You haven’t pulled your weight around here in a long time. Going to the fucking auction is the least you could do.”
“Your pity party is getting old, Dean. I’m back now, and I’m working as hard, harder, than you are. It’s time you quit taking out your frustrations on the people who love you, or pretty soon there won’t be anyone left. I’m beginning to wonder why I do.”
“Well you might want to work a little harder. Your wife told me earlier she wants her money back right now, and I have no idea where it’s gonna come from,” Dean said nastily.
“Hope wouldn’t say that. She doesn’t even want the money back. I had to force her to take my check from the calendar payment.”
“Well she wants it from me, and I don’t have it,” Dean informed. His brother needed to feel some of the stress he was feeling, so he added, “I guess we’ll just have to get another mortgage on the ranch to pay her off.” Dean leaned back under Blaze’s belly to loosen the cinch on the saddle. Dean thought he might up the pucker factor for his brother a little. He was enjoying himself. “I’ll probably need you to co-sign. I don’t want to be the only one putting my balls on the chopping block this time.”
Cord huffed out a breath, then said, “Hope is at the bunkhouse locked in the bedroom, and I think she’s crying. What the hell did you say to her?”
“I just told her I wasn’t doing that damned photo shoot for that woman Tina. I’m not a model, I’m a rancher. You got the looks in the family. I have a ranch to run. You do the damned photo shoot.”
“Tina wants you to represent Texas Tomcat?” Cord asked with a laugh.
“You think that’s funny?” Dean replied, a little insulted as he pinned Cord with a glare.
“Hell yeah I do. Why would Tina want a grumpy old bastard like you to be her guy? What happened to the two guys she shot with on Saturday?”
Old. His brother was thirty, and Dean was thirty-four. Considering the ages of those men Tina had at that photo shoot with her on Saturday, Dean guessed he was old. Those guys didn’t have to worry about shaving their bodies. They probably weren’t old enough to grow hair. With all that Cindy had put him through, it was a wonder Dean didn’t have a headful of gray hair and look ninety-five. That’s how he felt sometimes. But Tina Montgomery had asked him to model for her, so he must not look that bad. As bad as his brother seemed to think he did.
“Hope didn’t say why they didn’t work, but she did say Tina wants me to do it now. Those guys did seem pretty damned prissy for pretend cowboys. Let ‘em actually work out here for a day or two, and that’ll toughen them up.” Dean knew a
ll the hard work and problems at the ranch had toughened him up over the last few years, that was for damned sure. Hell, according to his family, he was practically tough as an old boot now. He felt that way too. Worn out and used up.
What the hell was Tina Montgomery thinking asking him to model for her? Why him?
Dean slid the saddle off of Blaze’s back to drop it on the ground. But he had other things to worry about than what that woman thought of him. He bent and hefted the saddle over his shoulder. “How did the auction go?”
“Not good. Daddy was pretty upset. Four of the horses didn’t even sell. They’re in the trailer outside.”
“Well, he’s going to be even more upset when he finds out that Hope demanded her money back,” Dean said as he walked past Cord toward the tack room.
“Just do the damned photo shoot, Dean,” Cord said following behind him.
“I’d rather be shot. I’ll even load the shotgun for you,” Dean offered tossing the saddle onto the saddle rack. “I’m not going to shave all the damned hair off my body, and coat myself in oil so I can prance around in my underwear. I’ll leave that to you, baby brother.”
“I did not prance around in my underwear,” Cord corrected indignantly.
“But you did shave your ass, so you looked like a ten-year-old boy. I saw the proof in those magazines.”
“You saw my pictures?” Cord asked with surprise.
To Dean’s own surprise his brother’s face heated, and he looked a little embarrassed. Embarrassed wouldn’t begin to describe how Dean would feel if he were in his brother’s shoes. And that is exactly where Tina Montgomery wanted to put him. So she could get a promotion. What the fuck did he get out of it, other than getting the money to pay back a loan he hadn’t even taken out? Cord and Hope had decided on that plan of action themselves, without his permission or knowledge even. But that loan had saved the ranch, and saved his Daddy’s life. It also resulted in his brother settling down. Dean did owe her a lot.
“Yeah, I saw ‘em,” Dean said, remembering his brother in those jeans ads. Shaved and shirtless looking like a greased pig, showing off his gym generated muscles.
How could he have not seen them? Those ads were in every fucking magazine and newspaper he picked up, and on television too. His brother had been famous, and Dean was sure Cord got laid every time he blinked at a women who saw him in those ads. They didn’t impress him, though. Why women would want to see a man like that, Dean didn’t know. It might sell jeans, but it just wasn’t reality. It sure as hell wasn’t how he wanted the world, his family or his son to see him. Regardless of whether it got him laid.
“Is shaving the only thing you have against doing it?” Cord asked, following him out of the tack room, then back down the aisle toward Blaze.
“Hell no, it’s not the only thing,” Dean grated.
“What else then?” Cord asked impatiently, but Dean could almost hear the wheels in his brother’s head spinning.
Well, he could just shut them down, because Dean wasn’t doing that damned shoot no matter what he came up with. He had too much work to do. His brother seemed to have forgotten in the last three years how much work this ranch took to keep going.
“Who is going to manage this ranch while I’m off prissing in front of a camera? And I have a son to raise. Did you forget that small, but important, fact?” Dean replied shortly, as he grabbed the towel off of his shoulder and rubbed at the sweat on Blaze’s black coat.
“I’ll do the work, just tell me what you want done. I’ll make sure it gets done. Mama and I will help with Jeremy, while you’re shooting. Besides, you’ll be here too.”
“She wants to take the pictures out here?” Dean asked with surprise.
“That’s what Tina told Hope on Saturday. I agreed, because we need the money. I didn’t know the shoot would be with you though,” Cord said with a snicker.
It wasn’t going to be with him, and his brother sure agreed to a lot on his own these days. But Cord was right this time, they did need the damned money. Dean couldn’t help but wonder how much his dignity was worth. “Did she mention how much?”
“She offered five grand to use the ranch for the location. Probably a grand an hour for your time. That was my rate when I was modeling.”
Dean’s heart shot to his throat, and his knees went weak. “Holy fuck!” he shouted as the towel slipped from his hand to the dirt floor.
A cocky smile eased up his brother’s mouth. The same smile Dean had seen on his face in those magazines, the same one that women all over the country seemed to go weak-kneed over. “A lot more than ranching or rodeoing, huh?” Cord asked smugly.
“That’s just stupid. Those companies have more money than sense,” Dean said, trying to regulate his breathing.
“Understand now why I shaved my ass and moved to Dallas?”
Dean picked up the towel, then met his brother’s eyes. “No, I’ll never understand why you abandoned your family for money.”
Dean thought about it while he made one more pass over Blaze’s back with the towel. He didn’t have much choice really. Hope was forcing his hand. Dean hated being cornered, but that damned money was too tempting to resist even if she hadn’t pressured him.
“I’ll do it, but I’m not shaving my ass,” he said firmly.
“You got it. No ass shaving,” Cord agreed with a chuckle. “I’ll let Hope know, so she can call Tina. They’ll both be happy.”
Tina Montgomery had outmaneuvered him after all, and she’d won. Dean was sure she would be ecstatic. He was going to do the damned shoot, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for her. She was going to do things on his terms.
CHAPTER FIVE
Friday morning, Tina and her crew of rodeo clowns invaded the ranch. By then Dean was having second, third and fourth thoughts about agreeing to this crap. He sat on a stool in the bunkhouse where they set up what they called a staging area, while a man who looked as feminine as the women in the group cut his damned hair. He needed a haircut yeah, but what this guy was doing to him was way beyond that.
Gel? Hairspray? Definitely not him. And Dean had about had enough of his flitting around. When the guy named Paulo reached for the hairspray again, Dean clamped his fingers over his wrist and gave him a glare. “That’s enough,” he said, standing but not releasing the hairdresser’s wrist.
“Daddy, can Paulo cut my hair now too?” Jeremy asked with excitement as he skidded to a stop beside the hairdresser. “He said he would cut my hair too.”
“Not now. Go find Grandma,” Dean said gruffly, still not releasing his hold on Paulo’s wrist. “Paulo is finished with the hair for now.”
“But, Daddy—“ Jeremy started, but Dean gave him a hot glare. Jeremy’s eyes dropped to the toes of his dusty boots, and he turned and walked off. Dean swung his gaze back to Paulo. “Where is Tina?” he asked darkly.
She needed to get this show on the road, or he was going to do what he should be doing. Helping unload the stock his father and brother bought at the auction. He wanted to see the stock anyway. He trusted his dad, but Cord had a way of talking Silas Dixon into things that Dean didn’t agree with. Dean wouldn’t put it past him to have talked their daddy into buying peacocks to stock the ranch, instead of cattle.
Paulo jerked his wrist from Dean’s hold and folded his arms over his chest. “I haven’t put the wax in your hair yet to separate it,” he complained. “And I did tell your son I would cut his hair too.”
Tina Montgomery scheduling this shoot right away, now when Jeremy was on spring break from school for two weeks, was just stupid. But according to Hope, it had to be now. She had some kind of big meeting she needed the photos for. With his son, and her niece, who must be on break too, under their feet it would be damned tough for Dean to focus on anything.
This was a shit show waiting to happen, and Dean didn’t have time for the delays that was going to cause. He had to get back to his real job. Ranching. And his fricking brother needed to watch Jeremy like h
e said he would. And Tina Montgomery needed to get this shit show on the road. Now. “Where is Tina?” Dean repeated with a growl this time.
The small man took a step back, and his perfectly arched eyebrows shot to the edge of his slicked back, black hair. Paulo tilted his chin to say indignantly, “Don’t get huffy with me, cowboy. She went out with Hope to scout out locations.”
“Well, I need to talk to—“ Dean grated through his teeth, but stopped when a tall, thin woman dressed all in black slid her hand through his arm and pulled him back.
“Time for wardrobe, Tomcat,” she said evenly.
Dean pulled his arm from her grasp, and clenched his fists. “My fucking name is Dean, and I want to talk to Tina first!” he shouted. Texas Tomcat. What a stupid name, Dean thought. And he was the pussy who was going to have his face attached to that stupid name.
The woman’s brown eyes narrowed, and anger sparked there. “Don’t you curse at me, mister,” she said with a haughty tilt of her chin similar to Paulo’s. “They are getting the equipment set up, and expect you to be ready when they are. Time is money here, and if you don’t want your paycheck docked, you’ll cooperate.” A thousand dollars an hour. Dean kept repeating that to himself since they arrived there this morning. Since he agreed to this insanity.
“Fine,” Dean replied, storming past her to go stand beside the clothing rack at the back wall. When the woman got there she yanked a pink and green shirt with pearl buttons off the rack, and a pair of creased dark blue jeans. She handed the hangers to him, then knelt to dig in a box under the rack. Her black leather pants creaked as she stood back up to hand him a rhinestone-studded black leather belt. Dean stared at the sparkly, girly belt like it was made of snakeskin and the snake was still in residence.
“I’m not wearing that,” he said firmly. He had to draw the line somewhere, or he had a feeling this woman might have him looking as prissy as Paulo.
“Yes, you are,” she said folding her arms over her chest.
