Cook County: Lucky in Love

by Love, Crystal-Rain

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Praise for Crystal-Rain Love

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Other Books You Might Like

  Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  Cook County:

  Lucky in Love

  by

  Crystal-Rain Love

  Cook County, Book Two

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Cook County: Lucky in Love

  COPYRIGHT © 2013 by Crystal-Rain Love

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com

  Cover Art by Tamra Westberry

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

  Publishing History

  First Yellow Rose Edition, 2013

  Digital ISBN 978-1-61217-951-3

  Cook County, Book Two

  Published in the United States of America

  Praise for Crystal-Rain Love

  “SECOND CHANCE COWBOY defines what a romance should be. It touches the heart and mind of a reader and leaves a lasting impression that makes them feel good beyond that final page.”

  ~Xeranthemum, Long and Short Reviews

  About GUARDIAN COWBOY: “Ms. Love has done a fabulous job taking your usual storyline and flipping that sucker right on its ear. Nothing happened the way I expected, and the uniqueness of the plot kept me turning pages. Even the ending was different than I expected and completely satisfying.”

  ~Poppy, Long and Short Reviews

  “I laughed out loud at some parts, and I cried a little, I must admit. Those kinds of gut reactions are the way I tell how good a book is. And this is one great book!”

  ~Christle Gray

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to

  all the men and women living with autoimmune disease.

  Chapter One

  The chime over the door rang out as Lucky Masters stepped into Flo’s Fixins, the small diner nestled along the other little shops on Main Street, the longest street in Cook County. Flo herself waved from the kitchen, where a cutout section of the wall allowed diners to watch as their food was being cooked.

  Lucky inclined his head, acknowledging the plump woman’s greeting. He removed his Stetson as he stepped over to the booth in the far corner, away from the few other patrons of the diner. Placing his hat on the table, he slid onto the seat and wiped his tired eyes with his fingers. Sleep hadn’t been plentiful for months, and his body was starting to feel the effects.

  “Hey, Lucky. Do you want your regular?” Cammie May’s soft voice came from his right, followed by the clink of a glass as it was set on the table before him.

  He grinned at the waitress’s familiarity as he opened his eyes to see the glass of orange juice before him. “You know me better than I know myself, Shortie.”

  Cammie beamed, her eyes sparkling before she cast them down. “I already had your steak put on when I saw you pull up. You haven’t been here for a few days. I was starting to worry.”

  Unease niggled at Lucky’s gut as he met her gaze full on and saw the puppy-eyed look of infatuation. She was a sweet girl of twenty-eight with long chocolate brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and hazel eyes that seemed to warm every time they took him in. And it gave him cold chills.

  “Thanks, Cam, but you should never worry about me. I’m always fine.” He redirected his gaze toward the window, pretending to actually take in the view, though all he saw was Margie Lindell jogging down the street in not nearly enough clothing. “Young girl like you should be out there worrying about some young fool too dumb to know what a lucky bastard he is, not worrying about your patrons.”

  She made a sound in her throat as if she were about to form a word, but after an awkward moment in which Lucky found himself forced to endure the heat of her heartbroken stare on his profile, she walked away, taking the hint.

  He sipped his orange juice, keeping his gaze out the window. Watching the overweight woman in the leopard print, spandex shorts jog down the street was more appetizing than seeing the frown on Cammie May’s angelic face. She wasn’t unattractive, and she wasn’t exactly jailbait, but he had far more years on her mentally than she could ever catch up to, and she was truly a sweet girl. Therein lay the problem. Lucky Masters was no damn good for sweet girls. Lucky Masters was no damn good for women, period.

  The bell over the door chimed, snagging his attention. He looked over to see Delia Mayberry, Cook County’s biggest gossip, enter the diner with her family. Married to the sheriff, Roger Mayberry, the bigmouthed woman had access to more information than she needed to know and loved nothing more than to disperse that information to the whole county. It was because of her that he’d been the most talked about topic for the past three months. Her and Sylvia Case, the woman who had killed herself in their motel room shortly after he’d slept with her.

  Yep, Lucky Masters is no damn good for women at all.

  “Lucky.”

  He raised his head to see Roger tipping his hat in greeting and nodded back, glad they were passing him by. His relief was short-lived though as Delia ushered her two children forward, ordering them and Roger to find a seat while she stayed next to his booth. It was all he could do not to groan as she turned her cold, calculating blue eyes on him.

  “Good morning, Lucky. I’m surprised to see you here at this time. I heard you’ve been spending a lot of time helping to fix Kenzie’s ranch.” Crow’s feet formed around her eyes as she forced a smile. “Well, I guess it’s as much your brother’s ranch now too, or at least once the wedding happens. He sure lucked out on that deal.”

  Lucky gritted his teeth and reminded himself the hag was purposely baiting him, and giving in to the anger she caused would just satisfy her. He was generally all about satisfying women, but not this one. “I’m sorry you view marriage as a deal. Must be pretty sad.”

  Delia stared at him blankly for a moment, then he saw the tell-tale widening then narrowing of her eyes as the light bulb came on.

  “I wouldn’t know. My marriage is definitely one made of love.”

  “Roger’s such a lucky man,” he drawled, liberally lacing the compliment with sarcasm so there was no mistaking the implied insult. “Your children look hungry. I’m sure Cammie will take everyone’s order as soon as the whole family is seated.”

  Delia’s smile tightened so harshly he was amazed her face didn’t crack.

  “I won’t take up any more of your time, Lucky. I just know that you’ve been over to the Calhoun ranch every day helping out your brother, and well, I haven’t been able to get Kenzie on the phone to ask if she needed any help with her wedding. There’s so much wor
k to be done, you know. There’s the cake, the flowers, letting out of the wedding dress if nec—”

  “Kenzie’s wedding dress doesn’t need to be let out because she’s not pregnant,” Cammie growled as she used a slender hip to nudge Delia out of the way before setting Lucky’s steak and eggs on the table before him. Fire burned in her eyes as she redirected them at Delia, facing the woman head on. “You only want to help with the wedding so you can collect gossip and start rumors, which is exactly why Kenzie doesn’t answer the phone when you call, and why she’d probably punch you in the face if you offered your help in person.”

  Delia’s jaw dropped open. “Well, I…I… You can’t talk to me that way. My husband is the sheriff!”

  “Yes, dear, I know. It’s probably the only reason why no one has beaten you to a pulp yet.”

  Lucky choked back a laugh as Delia floundered for a comeback and came up empty. In all the years he’d known Cammie May, he’d never known her to be so outspoken. Under all that sugar appeared to be some fiery spice. He liked it, and that was a scary thing.

  Taking a deep breath, Delia smoothed her blouse and fluffed her hair. “I will ignore your ill behavior, Cammie May, seeing as how you must still be wounded after finding your boyfriend in bed with that tramp last week and are just taking your anger out on innocent people. But you can forget about a tip, young lady.”

  “I’ll tip her for you if you’d just go to your own table and quit ruining my meal,” Lucky offered as he cut into his steak, earning a big smile from Cammie.

  “Oh, that’s nice of you,” Delia replied. “I imagine doing as many nice things as you possibly can helps a little bit to take away the bad karma of causing that poor woman’s death. Enjoy your meal.”

  Delia stormed off in a huff to join her family, much to her hungry children’s delight. Lucky marveled how such a hideous woman could bear anything but demons.

  “What a wretched woman,” Cammie muttered in disgust before offering one of her warm smiles to him. “I’m sorry she said that, Luck. I wish people would just get over it already.”

  He glanced away from the strangely soothing smile, focusing on his food. It briefly entered his mind how no one else except his brother called him Luck, and how he liked hearing it said in Cammie’s sweet voice. But a quick glimpse of Sylvia Case’s dead face as it flashed through his mind chased such thoughts away.

  “It’s fine, Cammie. You should go take their order before she causes trouble.”

  “Flo won’t care if she does, but those kids can’t help being hers,” she replied, “so I won’t make them wait any longer.”

  He watched as she walked away, feasting his eyes on the gentle sway of her curved hips, and found himself pondering on the idea of some fool cheating on her. Who would be that stupid? The girl was as sweet as they came. Wait. Lucky shook his head. Since when was that a turn-on for him? And since when did he even think of Cammie May that way?

  He’d been coming to the diner forever and didn’t even know who her ex was, let alone that she’d had a boyfriend. He paid her no attention except for the normal friendly greeting and generous tip, which wasn’t that big of a deal. He always tipped well, having known what it was like to struggle, and from what he heard, waitresses didn’t make much of an hourly wage.

  Cammie May was just a young woman he’d known for years, Kenzie’s childhood friend. The two girls used to drive him crazy when he was a teenager. The girls would follow Chance everywhere, Kenzie mooning over him something pitiful, and Cammie would come right along. She’d try to talk to him while Kenzie batted her eyelashes at his older brother. At sixteen years old, the last thing he’d wanted to do was hang around talking to a ten year old little girl. He’d preferred older ones with littler clothes and bigger curves. Even now, Cammie wasn’t much by the way of curves. Great ass, he had to admit, but small on top.

  And so damn sweet.

  He’d destroy her.

  ****

  “Get your head out of the clouds, girl.”

  Cammie snapped out of a lovely daydream of rolling around in the hay with the gorgeous, blond and blue-eyed Lucky Masters. Mischief was in her boss’s green eyes as the heavyset woman joined her behind the counter, nudging a rounded hip against Cammie’s much narrower one.

  “Sorry.”

  “No apologies, sweetcheeks. It’s good to dream, and we’re not busy right now anyway.” Flo pulled a barstool out from under the counter and plopped down on it before pulling out the other one and slapping the top with her hand. “Sit your little fanny down, missy.”

  Groaning, Cammie sat down behind the counter with Flo, knowing it was coming. The lecture. The questions. The look of sheer pity. “I’m fine, Flo. I promise.”

  “I heard what that badger-faced bitch said to you,” she grumbled in a low voice so the few people still eating in the diner couldn’t hear. “Don’t you pay her no mind. If she were truly happy with her life, she wouldn’t be constantly meddling in others’ lives, and for the record, she was pregnant when she got married or it wouldn’t have happened. Believe me, that man tried to get away once he realized what he had.”

  “I’m not worried about her.” Cammie waved off Flo’s concern. “The entire town can know Jim cheated on me. I have no shame over the fact he chose to go to a slut who’d give him what he wanted instead of being true to me. That’s his shame, not mine.”

  “Good for you, girl.” Flo squeezed her shoulder. “I wish more of these young women nowadays held on to their values and didn’t fall apart over worthless men.” She frowned as she tilted her head. “But something is bothering you. You’ve been pretty glum since Delia left and nothing else happened except…”

  Flo turned her head toward the corner booth where Lucky had been sitting. “Now, girl, we’ve had this talk.”

  “I know.”

  “Some people can’t be changed. That man is definitely in the Can Not Change category.” Flo punctuated her statement with a high-browed look of warning. “Any woman with a pulse would be tempted by those Masters men, but they should have a No Trespassing sign all over them.”

  “Even Chance?” Cammie’s heart did a little flip as hope sparked inside it.

  The upcoming wedding between Kenzie and Chance had awakened a dream she thought long lost. If Kenzie could get Chance to walk down the aisle with her after having sent the man fleeing town just to get away from her ten years earlier… Well, it gave her some hope that Lucky Masters might actually look at her as a woman, and not just the bratty little girl he knew from his high school days.

  “Now, that I don’t know what to say about. Chance… Well, he was trouble growing up, but always had a measure of responsibility about him. Lucky is a loose cannon. The man gambles and drinks like it’s an Olympic sport, and goes through women like toilet tissue. And after what happened to that last one…”

  “That was not Lucky’s fault!” Cammie quickly pressed her lips together, realizing the statement had come out sharper and louder than intended. “Sorry. I’m just so tired of hearing everyone dog the man when anyone with eyes can see how much it hurts him. He didn’t kill that woman. What happened in that room was her own doing.”

  “Were you in the room?” Flo raised an eyebrow.

  “No, but it doesn’t matter.” Cammie took a deep breath and watched as a man entered the diner and took the closest seat to the door. It was no use getting angry. “I know Lucky though. He would never willingly hurt a woman.”

  “Ask the dozens of them he’s left behind,” Flo said as she stood and checked her apron pocket for a note pad. “I’m sure they’d have something else to say about that.”

  Cammie lowered her head into her hands as Flo went to take the man’s order. First, she’d walked in on her boyfriend having sex with Stacy Cove, the town slut, in her bed, and then she’d gotten the voicemail from her doctor, urging her to call as soon as she could. She hadn’t bothered yet. News from the doctor delivered over the phone was never good.

  The last
thing she’d needed today was the run-in with Delia. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the barb that Delia directed toward her that had hurt. It was the one she’d slung Lucky’s way. To be exact, it was the reminder that Lucky was a real person that could be wounded, not the rough, hard as steel cowboy everyone made him out to be. It was the reminder that no matter how badly she wanted to wrap her arms around him and chase his demons away, she couldn’t…because Lucky Masters would never let her.

  Chapter Two

  “Be my best man.”

  It wasn’t a question, it was an order. Lucky grinned. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a delicate touch, bro?”

  Chance’s lips twitched, giving Lucky a pretty good idea just who had told him that he did, and what they’d been doing when she told him. “TMI, Chance.”

  His brother only laughed.

  “When’s the wedding gonna be anyway?”

  “ASAP. We haven’t exactly been careful, so Kenz could already be pregnant, and you know how folks in this town like to talk about that.”

  “Wow.” Lucky shook his head as he leaned against the railing with his older brother, observing the herd of cattle Kenzie owned, and soon Chance would as well. “This coming from the man who still to this day harps on me about never leaving home without a condom in my wallet?”

  “I want kids. So does Kenzie, and we’re already engaged. Not much sense being careful.” Chance looked over at him. “So?”

  “Do I have to wear a monkey suit?”

  His dark-haired brother grinned ruefully at that. “Kenzie’s picked them out already. You have an appointment to be fitted at Bernie’s Boutique.”

  “Fitted? Sounds like torture.”

  “It is.” He chuckled as he straightened from the fence. “But you know how women are. They want everything to look just so. It’s just for a few hours one day, and then I get her for the rest of my life. I can’t say no to that.”

  Lucky rolled his eyes. “Twitterpated.”

  Chance barked out a laugh, recognizing the Bambi reference. They’d watched that movie a billion times as kids—not that they’d dare admit it to anyone else. “It’ll get you too one of these days, just like it got Thumper and Flower.”