A hard knock on the door made her jump. If it was Coby, she fully well intended to kick him off the step and out into the dirt. Damn him, anyway, for taking all the joy out of the win. She slung open the door to find Trace standing there with a grin on his face.
“Good ride,” he said. “I expected to see you dancing around, not looking like you just sucked all the juice out of a lemon.”
“I’m sorry. That damned Coby made me mad.”
Trace stepped inside and his expression went stone cold serious. “What did he do?”
“Nothing that I didn’t take care of.”
“Don’t be getting too happy with your place. It’s a long way from here to there.” He pointed to the top of the horseshoe.
Gemma smiled. “Oh, yeah, cowboy! Well, I intend to make the journey and be the winner.”
He pulled her into his arms. Every nerve ending in her body purred. She actually felt her back arching like a cat.
“I missed this all last week.”
“Me too, but you were being a stubborn ass and wouldn’t talk to me. Which reminds me, we still haven’t had that talk yet.” She quickly turned around. No way was he kissing her in her trailer.
“Want to blow off the dance and fall into bed?”
“I want to go to the dance and then…” She let the sentence drag.
“As long as there is a then, I can wait. And we’ll have that talk later,” he said.
“Give me two minutes to get out of these chaps and get my spurs off,” she said.
He sat down on the edge of her bed and unbuckled her chaps. “Anything else I can remove for you, darlin’?”
“Later, maybe. Right now I want to dance and I don’t want to see Coby again,” she said.
“If he comes around I’ll take care of him,” Trace said.
“No, if he comes around, I’ll take care of him again. He doesn’t think I belong in the competition and he’s just mad because he’s getting his ass whipped.” She brushed out her hair and reapplied lipstick. “You ready?”
“Sure I am,” he said.
When they reached the arena, Trace led her out into the center and drew her into his arms for a slow dance. The lead singer of the band was doing a number by Josh Turner called “Angels Fall Sometimes.”
It seemed like everywhere he turned lately Josh was singing. Was it an omen?
The lyrics talked about her being out of his league and that she’d found out he wasn’t a saint. It said he woke up every morning surprised to find that she was still around and said that every now and then angels fall sometimes.
Trace swallowed a lump in his throat. He felt the song rather than heard it, and he would give his kingdom if the angel in his arms would fall in love with him.
They danced through six or seven dances. During the slow songs she melted into his arms so close to his body that air couldn’t get between them. During the fast ones, he swung her out from him until she was giggling and breathless.
And then a redhead tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Mind if I cut in?”
Gemma stepped back and laughed when Trace rolled his eyes toward the star-studded sky. It was all part of the dance and she’d had him to herself for half an hour. She turned to walk away and Landry Winters grabbed her arm and spun her around. She came to a screeching halt right at his chest and he tipped her chin up with his fist.
“Rumor has it that you and Trace are getting awful close. Is that really true?” he asked.
Gemma backed up. “I’d say that’s our business. You said something like that this afternoon when we drove up on the grounds, remember?”
“Yes, but I heard some more. I hear you are living with him now.”
“That’s none of your business, Landry. But even if I was, is there something wrong with that?” she asked.
“Be careful, darlin’. He’ll break your heart.”
Landry was a good dancer, but other than the hot July night, there wasn’t a bit of heat between them. She looked up into his pretty face and smiled.
“Would you break my heart?”
Landry’s dimples deepened when he smiled. “Of course not. I’d be right up-front and say that it was a fling, but that Trace, he’ll promise you the moon and deliver a heartache.”
“That’s a helluva pick-up line.” She laughed.
“It’s my best one. Is it working?” Landry asked.
She shook her head and took a step back when the song ended. “You’d best try it on one of those girls over there staring right at you. I bet they’ll be willing for a rodeo fling.”
“You get tired of him, come on around to my trailer. I’ll kick them all out for a night with you.” Landry tipped his hat and in a few long strides he was shooting a line of bullshit to the women who’d been eyeballing him.
“You ready for that game of poker?” Trace whispered right behind her as he slipped both arms around her waist.
“I’m ready to go, but I forgot to buy cards and I bet your deck is marked, isn’t it?” she teased.
“Forget the cards.” He laced his fingers in hers and led her out of the light into the shadows.
They’d only gone a few yards toward the trailers when he scooped her up into his arms and carried her tightly against his chest the rest of the way. He unlocked the trailer door and set her down on the steps, stood back, and let her go in ahead of him. When he was inside, he shut the door, locked it, and wrapped his arms around her tightly. His lips found hers in a clash of passion, and he backed her up toward the bedroom. His big hands splayed out on her bare flesh under her shirt, and every sane thought left her mind as a tsunami of raging desire took over her body. With one tug she undid the pearl snaps on his shirt and ran her hands across the hard muscles on his chest and abs.
“You are getting pretty good at undoing my shirt,” he whispered.
“Yes, I am. I love the way those snaps pop and reveal that big broad chest,” she said.
Sugar whimpered when they landed on the bed and took off in a trot into the kitchen. Trace pulled the door shut with one hand without stopping the steaming hot kisses. Suddenly, she was undoing his belt buckle and he was removing her clothing as fast as his hands could move.
She didn’t even think about a long hour of foreplay or about him taking off her bikini underpants with his teeth. She just wanted him. The foreplay had happened on the dance floor when he dropped his hat over the small of her back as they danced, when he’d sang along with Josh Turner about angels falling out of heaven and how lucky he was, and when he’d picked her up and carried her to the trailer.
Clothing flew into every corner of the room and she wasn’t even aware when she lost her boots, but when he rolled on top of her on the bed, his lips still on hers and his tongue doing wicked things inside her mouth, she realized she was still wearing socks. She wrapped her legs tightly around his body and he found his way into her with a firm thrust. Trace’s lips felt like fire on her mouth and she didn’t want his hands to ever stop playing all over her body.
She arched against him and called out his name, “Trace!”
“What did you say?” he groaned.
“I said, Trace!” she repeated.
It was over in a flash.
“God, I’m so sorry, darlin’. I wanted it to be so good tonight. I wanted to take you to the top a dozen times, but you said my name,” he growled.
He eased to one side and she cuddled up next to him, her face buried in his shoulder. Landry had been wrong because something that felt so right couldn’t produce a heartache.
“Who gives a damn about a dozen times when the first one knocks your socks off?” She panted.
He buried his face into her hair. “You really are an angel.”
“I’ve got you fooled. All this hair isn’t covering up a halo. It’s hiding horns,” she said.
“Gemma, you said my name. You didn’t call me cowboy!”
“Well, I’ll be damned. I did, didn’t I?” She laughed. “Rolls off the tongue rig
ht well.”
“Say it again.”
“Trace… Coleman,” she whispered seductively into his ear.
“God, that’s so sexy.”
“And that’s a corny line,” she said.
“Well, try this one on for size. You are sexy even in your socks, and you are beautiful even with your hair all mussed up,” he said.
“You are sexy with one sock on and one off and all sweaty in tangled up sheets,” she whispered.
He sucked in air to say something, but a hard knock on the trailer door brought him to a sudden sitting position. “What the hell?”
He threw his legs over the side of the bed and grabbed a pair of plaid pajama bottoms, jerked them on, and opened the door. Sugar bounded up the stairs and into the bed, turned around three times on his pillow, and laid down, her big eyes staring right at Gemma.
Moonlight silhouetted Trace in the doorway. Gemma sat up for a better view of him standing there, shirtless and his pajama bottoms riding low on his hips. But she couldn’t see well enough so she grabbed the top sheet, wrapped it around her, and tucked the ends under her arm. She stepped around the corner out into the kitchen to see three young women circling the steps below him like coyotes after a roadkill possum, all giggling and pointing one to the other.
Trace shook his head and one woman stepped out away from the others. “I drew the long straw so I get to be the one since you don’t want a group party. But I’m telling you we could have a hell of a foursome if you’re willing.”
Her voice was tinny and slightly slurred. Her hair was that brassy red that comes from a bottle. She wore skin-tight shorts, a skimpy halter, and cowboy boots. Her face looked like she’d been ridden hard too many times.
Trace shook his head and chuckled. “No thanks, ladies.”
“You sure, honey? We promise to give you a ride even wilder than that bronc did tonight,” the redhead said.
“Good night, ladies.” He started to shut the door.
The redhead stuck her foot in it. “I got a message for you since you don’t want to play ride ’em cowboy with us tonight. Ava says hello and she’s got a surprise for you. Says she’ll definitely have it for you at Lovington, New Mexico.”
“And what is this big surprise?” Trace asked.
“Can’t tell you now, but it’s goin’ to blow your world apart.” The redhead laughed and backed away from the door. “Okay, girls, we’ve bombed out. Let’s go back to the bar and see who is left.”
Trace shut the door and leaned on the backside. “Guess you heard that?”
“I did.”
“Ava was my one big journey into the groupie world. It happened last year and it lasted one weekend. And she wasn’t even a groupie. She just came to a rodeo to see if cowboys were all she’d heard they could be. After one weekend, she went on her way and I’ve not heard a word from her since.”
“Thank you, Trace. You don’t owe me explanations about your past, but I appreciate that. Come on back to bed and let’s get some sleep.”
He drew her into his arms and shut his eyes. Any other woman would have thrown a fit and left him to sleep alone. He really had an angel in his arms just like Josh sang about.
***
Trace and Sugar were gone when she awoke at seven o’clock the next morning, but he’d left a pot of coffee on the counter. She wanted to be mad about the Ava woman, but she couldn’t. Gemma had a past too. She’d lived with her last boyfriend before they’d had the fight of the century and she’d moved out. So what right did she have to be mad because Trace had a past?
“But jealousy is a different matter. I can be bullfrog green with jealousy if I want to and it can even make me cranky,” she said.
She poured a cup and drank it as she pulled her cell phone from her purse. She dialed the beauty shop number in Ringgold and Noreen picked up on the first ring. “Hi, Gemma! You ready to sell me this shop yet?”
“Hell, no! I can’t wait to get home and back into the business. I don’t know whatever made me think I was cut out to be a rambler. I miss my roots,” Gemma said.
Noreen laughed. “Maybe when you start winning money hand over fist you’ll change your mind. I can only hope. I heard that you whupped the boys last night.”
“I did, but that don’t mean I’ll change my mind about home,” Gemma said.
“Suppose you want all the gossip?”
“I’m withering up and dying from lack of it.”
“Okay, Lucy and Tyson went to the courthouse and got married Monday morning.”
“What!” Gemma gasped. “And she didn’t even call me. Did she wear a pretty dress and have flowers and a cake afterwards?”
“Jasmine and Ace went with them. Guess Tyson is moving into her trailer out on the ranch and they’re going to keep working there as usual. I love that woman. She’s my savior. And yes, she wore a pretty blue sundress and Jasmine made sure she had white roses in her bouquet and Tyson was real handsome in his Sunday suit. And you knew that Jasmine and Ace are expecting a baby?”
“I got that news already and I’m still mad at Liz for getting my cards and hers all mixed up.”
“Here comes Slade’s aunt and granny, so I’ve got to go. You think real hard about selling me this business. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life, and I think I could get a banker to float me a loan,” Noreen said before she hung up.
Noreen Featherstone was another of Lucy’s stray puppies. Lucy had appeared at the Longhorn Inn a couple of years before, right after Pearl inherited it. She was on the run from an abusive husband and Pearl hired her to work at the Inn. Before long Lucy had formed a group somewhat like AA, only for abused women, and she was still running it. Lucy worked like an employment agency as well as a counselor to the women. When Gemma first started talking about doing the rodeo rounds, Lucy knew about a hairdresser looking for a job. So she and Noreen decided on a deal and now she was fixing hair and hearing all the local gossip in Ringgold while Gemma busted broncs.
“I don’t want to wait years and years. I want a baby now and I want a husband to hold me. I want one who’ll think I’m the queen of the universe. I want my cowboy and I want a baby and it ain’t happenin’ by Christmas this year because it ain’t possible. Hells bells, I’m out here busting my butt for a title when I should be back home chasing cowboys,” Gemma grumbled.
Her phone rang and she pushed the answer button.
“Gemma, guess what? Me and Tyson got married. I would have called you sooner but he planned a little three-day honeymoon. We flew to South Padre and had a cabin right on the water and it was fantastic,” Lucy said.
“Noreen just told me,” Gemma answered.
“Oops!” Lucy giggled.
“So tell me all about it,” Gemma said.
“I’m in love. I mean I’m really in love. I was married before but I didn’t even know this kind of thing existed. If you ever find it, grab hold with both hands and don’t let go. Words don’t even describe what I’ve got with Tyson. We are so happy and we’ve decided to stay right here on the ranch in my trailer for now, but later on Jasmine and Ace said we could build a small house anywhere we want. We’ve been looking around trying to decide where to put it.”
Gemma sighed. “I’m happy for you, Lucy. I really am. You aren’t going to stop your abused women meetings, are you?”
“There will always be abused women who need a helping hand. It’s helped me as much or more than it helps them, and Tyson doesn’t want me to quit my work. Got to go now. I’m making chocolate cakes for lunch today.”
Gemma groaned as the phone went dead. “Home cooking! I’d do murder for a chunk of Lucy’s chocolate cake.”
“Mornin’, sunshine,” Trace drawled as he and Sugar came inside. “What’s that about doing murder? Am I in trouble?”
“No, you aren’t in trouble. I just talked to the lady who’s leasing my beauty shop and found out my good friend Lucy got married. And then I talked to Lucy and I’m really, really homesick,” she sai
d.
Trace sat down on the edge of the bed. “Are any of your friends and family coming to the finals in Vegas?”
Gemma’s eyes twinkled. “Every one of them, I’m sure. I have three older brothers and I’m the baby sister of the family. Plus there’s Ace and Wil, who are like brothers since they’re my oldest brother Rye’s best friends. You sure you want to meet them?”
***
The nurse wheeled the baby into room 312 and the woman pointed at the door. “Take it away. I do not want to see it.”
“But she is so cute. She’s got dark hair and…”
The woman raised her voice. “I said to take it away. I don’t care what it looks like and I will not touch it. I told the doctor to advise the whole staff not to bring that into my room and I want no visitors allowed in my room either. So go!”
The nurse wheeled the clear bassinet out into the hallway and eased the door shut. They’d said at the desk that she didn’t want to see the baby, but sometimes mothers did change their minds. It was instinct to love your child, wasn’t it?
“Still isn’t interested?” Dr. Joyce asked right behind her.
The nurse shook her head. “Help me to understand, Doc. How can a mother carry a baby nine months and not want it? This isn’t a rape case, is it?”
“No, but it was like a one-night stand from what I gather. She didn’t ever want children and her contraceptive failed.”
“We going to keep her here and put her up for adoption?”
Dr. Joyce shook her head. “She has hired a nanny who will take the baby home with her. Who knows? Maybe the nanny can help her change her mind.”
“I don’t think so. She looks pretty determined. Who is she?”
“A very determined woman who does not want children.”
Just a Cowboy and His Baby (Spikes & Spurs) Page 17
