Logan thought about inviting Jesse to Skyler’s shindig at the music hall, but he kept quiet. As out of character as it might be, he was considering not going. Sure, he’d taken a doozy of a fall off a bull the previous weekend, but he didn’t think he’d hit his head so hard that he was suddenly avoiding beautiful women. But he got the distinct impression that Skyler Harrington wasn’t just any beautiful woman.
She was way too much trouble personified. Even if she was hot as a firecracker.
* * *
“NOW, SEE, WE’RE NOT all bad,” Elissa said as she walked out of the movie theater next to Skyler and India.
Skyler eyed Elissa as her friend shifted to walking backward in front of her. “Yes, this is more of what I had in mind in the first place.” A giant movie screen with Jeremy Renner’s fabulous arms on full display and a tub of buttery popcorn—what wasn’t to like?
“Although why you’d prefer your movie boyfriend over an actual living, breathing hottie, I have no idea.” Elissa shrugged.
“Maybe because my ‘movie boyfriend’ doesn’t think he’s God’s gift to women.”
“Aw, come on, what’s wrong with a little flirting?”
Skyler reached the SUV and stood with her arms crossed. “What was it India said when you were pushing her toward Liam so hard? Oh, yeah. ‘Then you go out with him.’”
“I think India’s probably glad that I didn’t take her suggestion.”
“Sorry, but she’s right about that,” India said.
Elissa hit the key fob to unlock the doors, and Skyler chose to sit in the back this time. She eyed Elissa when her friend slid into the driver’s seat.
“You and Verona aren’t going to be satisfied until you’ve paired up everyone in Blue Falls, are you?”
“Once again, the surefire way to keep Verona pointed away from me and my personal life is to shift her in other directions.”
“Thanks for throwing me under the bus.” Skyler met India’s eyes when India glanced into the back. “Tell me again why we’re friends with her.”
“Half price on landscaping supplies?”
“Drat. I guess I have to keep her.”
All three of them ended up laughing. There was no sense in staying irritated with her two best friends in the world. After all, it wasn’t as if she had to worry about Logan Bradshaw anymore. Being a lifelong resident of Blue Falls meant she knew everyone who lived in the area, and Logan didn’t. He was only here visiting his cousin and would be gone soon.
But India had thought Liam was going to be gone in a matter of days, too. Instead, he’d moved his business from Fort Worth to Blue Falls and proposed marriage.
Skyler laughed under her breath before she caught herself.
“What?” Elissa asked as she put the SUV in Drive.
“Nothing.” But as she stared out the window at the coming twilight, Skyler almost laughed again at the idea of Logan asking anyone to marry him, especially someone as opposite to him as her.
Opposites attracted, didn’t they?
She closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest. But that didn’t keep images of Logan from playing through her mind. She didn’t have to admit it to her matchmaking friends, but he was pretty dang hot. Tall, with strong, wide shoulders, a naughty smile and dark hair that was made for a woman’s hands to run through.
“You okay?” India asked.
Skyler’s eyes popped open, and she hoped she hadn’t made some sort of embarrassing sound. “Yeah, just tired. You know, the stress of jumping out of a plane and all. And so you know, I’m going to think up something really creative to get you all back.”
“A lot of people say skydiving is the best thing they’ve ever done.” India sounded so serious that Skyler figured Elissa and probably Verona were the driving force behind the matchmaking. No surprise there.
“Oh, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the whole convincing-Jesse-to-fake-being-sick thing.”
India’s eyes widened. “How did you figure that out?”
“Verona is not as sly as she thinks she is. And neither one of you seemed overly surprised when Jesse said he spent the morning hurling.”
India smacked Elissa on the shoulder.
“Ow!”
“I told you I wasn’t good at lying.”
“Turns out we didn’t have to be.”
When they got back to Blue Falls, Elissa didn’t head to the inn. Instead, she pulled into an empty parking space next to the Blue Falls Music Hall.
“Come on, girls. No birthday is complete without a little dancing.”
Part of Skyler wanted to protest, to go back to the inn and end the day with a glass of wine on her balcony. But despite her friends’ shenanigans, she’d still had a good time with them today. She might as well end the day with a little dancing before she returned to the inn and got sucked back into work.
But when they stepped inside, Skyler considered asking Elissa to take her home. The place was wall-to-wall people, many of them obviously cowboys in town for the upcoming rodeo Liam had organized.
And right in the middle of them stood Logan Bradshaw and his cocky smile. That man was walking, talking trouble, and Skyler fought the urge to turn on her heel and leave. She did shift and eye her friends.
“What?” Elissa said. “It’s a small town, and not like there are a lot of places to go at night.”
“You know I don’t believe for a minute you had nothing to do with him being here.”
“Is there a problem with me being here?” The rumble of Logan’s voice close behind her made Skyler’s nerves hum.
He had the kind of voice that could coax the clothes off a woman. Heck, she halfway wanted to start tossing articles of clothing right there in the middle of the music hall. Like she’d thought, Trouble with a capital T.
She took a step away from him before she turned to face Logan. “No. It’s a public place.”
He wore a knowing grin that told her he didn’t believe her nonchalance any more than she believed her friends hadn’t invited him here.
But why was she fighting it so hard? It wasn’t as though this was going to be a fall-in-love-forever match. It was her birthday; why shouldn’t she dance with a sexy man?
“You here to drink and socialize or do you actually know how to dance?” she asked.
He smiled and extended his hand. “Why don’t you come with me and find out?”
Skyler hesitated a moment, feeling as if she was playing with a white-hot fire, before she placed her hand in Logan’s and allowed him to lead her through the crowd to the middle of the wooden dance floor.
When he spun her into his arms, she’d swear her heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t as if she’d never danced with a man, even good-looking ones, but there was something crazy intoxicating about Logan. It felt a little as if he’d fritzed her common sense and she didn’t mind. Who knew there was a little hidden part of her that wanted to throw all her normal caution out the window and live free and wild for a night?
“So, do anything else adventurous today, birthday girl?” Logan guided her through the dancing couples without taking his eyes off her.
“No, jumping out of a plane pretty much used up my adventure quota for the year. That and dancing with perfect strangers.”
His lips quirked up at the edge. “You think I’m perfect?”
She cocked her head to the side a little. “You’re full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I live life to the fullest. Nothing wrong with that in my book.”
“So you make jumping out of planes a habit, then?”
“When I can. That and deep-sea diving, backpacking, rappelling, riding bulls.”
She looked up from where her gaze had been resting on the third button down his shirt. “You’re here fo
r the rodeo?”
“Didn’t the hat and boots give it away?”
“It’s Texas. Those don’t exactly qualify as unusual.”
“True.”
So he was in Blue Falls for the rodeo. At least now she knew when he was probably leaving town. If she ended up flirting a little, no harm done. She wouldn’t have to worry about backpedaling later. He’d be off to some other rodeo risking his neck.
She glanced to her left in time to see Liam and India dance by in the opposite direction. Neither of them paid her any attention, wrapped up as they were in each other. The music hall could empty out around them and the music stop, and they wouldn’t notice. A pang of envy squeezed her middle. Despite the emotional ups and downs of her parents’ marriage, she couldn’t deny that there was a hidden romantic streak in her that wanted the kind of love Liam and India had, the kind that was pure, honest, that you didn’t have to worry about. The kind that wouldn’t up and disappear one day.
“You okay?”
Skyler jerked her attention back to Logan. “Yeah.” She forced herself not to explain, or she might start babbling.
“So your friend and Liam are together?”
“India, yeah. They’re getting married soon.”
“Another one bites the dust.”
Skyler stiffened involuntarily. She shouldn’t be surprised he had such a dim view of marriage. Hadn’t she thought as much about him earlier? She forced herself to relax, at least as much as she could in her current situation.
“You know Liam from the rodeo circuit?”
“Yeah, we’ve crossed paths a few times. Was surprised to see he’d moved to the little town where my cousin lives.”
“Probably no more surprised than Liam and India were.”
The song ended, but Logan didn’t let her go, instead pulling her along with him as the next song began. “That’s enough about other people. Let’s talk about you, Skyler Harrington.”
“What about me?”
“Like what you think about me.”
Skyler laughed, unable to help herself.
“Look at that, she can smile.”
“I smile.”
“You had me wondering earlier today.”
“I don’t typically smile when I’m scared half out of my mind.”
He leaned closer, robbing her of breath. “Come on, admit it. You liked it.”
She was tempted to deny it, but then again, why? “Okay, fine. It was beautiful.”
“So are you.”
“I’m guessing these smooth lines usually work for you, don’t they?”
“That’s not a line. It’s the truth.”
When she looked up into his dark eyes, she believed him. Flustered, she lowered her gaze back down to the blue checkered shirt he wore. “Thank you.”
Her nerves sizzled as Logan’s arm slid around her and eased her closer. As the last strands of another song faded, Logan leaned close to her ear.
“I think I owe you an ice-cream cone.” It was the most innocent of sentences, but the rich timbre of his voice that close to her ear made her go all gooey inside. He had her thinking things that were totally out of character for her.
“They have ice cream at the bar.”
“I was thinking we ditch the crowd and walk down to the Ice Cream Hut.”
Why did everything that came out of this man’s mouth make her think of writhing in sheets, sweaty skin and tangled limbs? For heaven’s sake, he was talking about ice cream.
For just the two of them.
Under the stars.
When she looked up at him, her eyes focused on his lips. His full, oh-so-kissable lips. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She sounded breathless, probably because she was.
“Why not?” He said it close enough that she could feel his warm breath brush against her cheek.
She swallowed hard, searching for words that refused to form in her brain. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Logan smiled. “Do I make you nervous, birthday girl?”
“Yes.” Great, the power of speech came back in time for her to embarrass herself.
“You know what I think?”
She shook her head, unable to look away from him.
“I think it’s been very rude of me not to give you a birthday present.”
“You don’t even know me.”
Something flickered in his eyes, something that made her hyperaware of everywhere his body touched hers.
“I know enough.”
And then those lips of his came closer and closer until they captured hers.
She knew she should resist, but she couldn’t. When he deepened the kiss, Skyler decided that this was the best birthday ever.
Chapter Three
He’d died and gone to sensory-overload heaven. Logan pulled Skyler close, splaying his hand along the small of her back. What he’d meant to be a playful kiss went deeper because he suddenly couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. Her curves fit nicely against him, and his blood pumped faster at the thought of seeing all those curves the way they were meant to be seen.
She broke the kiss but didn’t back away. He took that as a good sign, that and the drugged look in her eyes.
“Hey, everybody!”
Skyler jerked back a step as her attention spun toward the stage. Her friend Elissa stood at the microphone.
“We’ve got a big birthday in the house tonight.”
“I’m going to kill her,” Skyler said under her breath.
He leaned close to her. “You said that already.”
She glanced up at him. “Well, this time I mean it.”
“We’ve got a special surprise for Skyler Harrington if she’s not too busy,” Elissa said, eliciting a few laughs from the crowd.
He chuckled, too, at the teasing look on Elissa’s face.
Skyler thumped the back of her hand against his upper arm. “Cut it out. You’re already on my list.”
“Depending on the list, I might want to be on it.”
Skyler’s fair skin betrayed her as a blush crept up from her neck to her cheeks.
“You’re even prettier when you blush.”
“Hush.” The way she said it with her gaze averted made him believe that she actually liked the compliment but didn’t want to admit it.
He’d never claim to be an expert on women, but he couldn’t help thinking that Skyler just might be worth the effort to learn more. She may try to hide it, but he got the feeling there was an entirely different Skyler Harrington simmering below the surface.
Movement at the edge of the stage turned out to be another woman carrying a birthday cake complete with lit candles.
“Okay, everybody together now,” Elissa said, then launched into a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Even as Skyler’s cheeks flamed redder, Logan joined in. Thank goodness it was a short song or Skyler might actually combust. As the song ended, everyone clapped and Skyler was urged to the stage. She walked as if she were heading to the gallows. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or wrap her in his arms and hurry her away from the crowd that was making her so uncomfortable.
Well, wasn’t that a gallant thought, so unlike him. He wasn’t a jerk when it came to women, but he’d never been a knight in shining armor either.
Gradually, the crowd filled in the space between him and Skyler as she accepted a piece of cake and was surrounded by her friends. After a couple of minutes, the music started up again and he made his way to the bar. He’d barely gotten his beer and turned around to see if he could spot Skyler in the throng when Verona stepped up next to him.
“You and Skyler seemed to be having a nice time,” she said.
“We were.”<
br />
“That’s good. She needs a night where she can loosen up a little.”
Logan didn’t respond beyond a grunt that indicated he’d heard her.
“You think you’ll be staying long?”
“Just till the rodeo’s done.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. Blue Falls is a nice place to settle down. You could ask Liam about that. He seems to like it.”
“I’m not much of the staying-in-one-place type, ma’am. Can’t make much money riding bulls if you don’t go where the bulls are.”
“I guess not.” Verona sounded as if he’d shot the air out of her very pretty balloon.
He glanced in her direction to find her scanning the crowd. He got the oddest feeling she’d stricken his name from a list and was already seeking out a new potential mate for Skyler. And damned if that didn’t make him angry.
Not for himself. What he’d told her was the truth. He was just annoyed on Skyler’s behalf. If she was the least bit like him, she didn’t like other people trying to carve out her life for her. Before he slipped and told a woman old enough to be his mother to mind her own business, he took another swig of his half-finished beer and set it on the counter behind him.
“If you’ll excuse me.” Before Verona could respond, he pushed his way into the crowd, intent on finding Skyler. The night was young, with plenty of time for more dancing and hopefully a few more kisses.
But by the time he made it to the middle of the dance floor, he noticed she was no longer near the stage. He searched the faces around him and finally spotted her heading out the front door as if the place was on fire.
Something told him he should let her go, that if he followed her, he would be getting in over his head. That thought was still repeating in his mind as his feet carried him toward the exit.
* * *
WHEN SKYLER STEPPED outside the music hall, she inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, what felt like the first true breath she’d taken since arriving. Between the crush of people, kissing Logan and then having every eye in the place turned toward her, she’d felt more and more of her breath stolen with each passing moment.
She still couldn’t believe she’d kissed Logan, someone she’d met only hours ago, right there in the middle of the dance floor. And it wasn’t just a peck either. It’d been a mind-melting, blow-her-shoes-off type of kiss. Whatever else she might say about Logan Bradshaw, the man could kiss. When his arms had pulled her close against his hard body, she’d wanted much more than kissing. Honestly, her body still hummed with that insane longing. For a crazy moment, she’d wished she was the type of carefree person who could indulge her yearnings without thinking it to death.
Having the Cowboy's Baby Page 3
