Tag studies her. “I’d say you’re the one whose face is lit up.”
Amber looks at him like he’s crazy. “It is not.”
“Like a goddamn Christmas tree.” He looks between Amber and me, heavy in thought. Thankfully, Sophie comes back in the room, pulling his attention away from us and onto her cleavage.
Amber’s phone rings. She hands Josie off to Sophie and leaves the room. Sophie hands her to me. “Do you mind feeding her while I eat my lunch?”
I take Josie and the bottle. She immediately starts eating. “This one packs it away like a fat kid on Halloween.”
Tag tells me about his upcoming meeting while I feed, burp, and then change Josie.
Amber joins us. “Need me to change her or anything?”
“We’re good. She ate, burped, and took a crap. She’ll probably go down for a nap soon.” I tickle Josie’s belly. “Won’t you, Jojo?”
“Show Tag how you make her smile.”
“No.”
“Oh, come on. You should see it, Tag. I swear Josie only smiles for Quinn.” She sighs. “She’s in love.”
“She’s not the only one,” Tag says under his breath.
“What’s that?” Amber asks.
He shakes his head. “Quinn, what is it you do to make her smile?”
“Stupid shit nobody should have to see.” I hand her off to Amber and get my hat. “I’m outta here. See you all later.”
Tag stands. “Wait, you can’t leave me here with three chicks. Ordinarily, I’d be okay with it, but considering one of them might vomit or crap on me, I think I’ll take a pass. Where are you off to?”
“To take some lodge guests on a helicopter tour of the ranch.”
“No shit? Can I come?”
“I don’t see why not? You can sit up front.” I turn to Amber. “Is that okay with you?”
She rolls her eyes dramatically. “Yeah, sure. My two favorite guys going up together in a death trap. What could be better?”
“You still haven’t gotten back up there?” Tag asks.
“I got her as far as the cockpit last week,” I say. I wink at Amber, having fond memories of what we did in the front seat of the chopper that day.
Tag slaps me on the shoulder. He must have caught the wink. “You dog. Nice.”
Amber turns a shade of pink. “Will you just go? And make sure your life insurance policies are paid up.” We go for the door. “And that I’m the beneficiary!”
We laugh and walk out. We take my truck over to the helipad on the airstrip, where Luca has corralled the guests. I give everyone a safety briefing and show them how to use the headphones. In the cockpit, I hand Tag his headset. “These are for the pilots. We can talk between ourselves, and they won’t hear us unless you push this button.”
“Got it.”
We take off and I run through the usual spiel, taking them over the pastures, the ridges, the stables, the windmill farm, and the undeveloped land. I fly over some neighboring ranches and along the river.
“What’s going on down there?” Tag asks.
There are hundreds of trucks and horse trailers out at the county livestock and rodeo. “There’s a rodeo there tonight. Horse auction going on now.”
“Amber tells me you ride broncos.”
“Broncs,” I say, touching my sore ribs. “Not this week, though.” I laugh. “Amber used to love it, but for some reason, she doesn’t want me to ride anymore.”
“I can probably guess the reason. Or more accurately, the two reasons.”
One of the guests asks a question, and I spend the next few minutes explaining what they’re seeing down below.
“What are you gonna do, man?” Tag asks.
“Well, I’m about to head back. We’ve seen all there is to see.”
“That’s not what I mean. What are you going to do about her? Them?”
“There is no them. We’ll get the results any day now. They’ll prove what I already know, and everything will go back to the way it was.”
“Then why go through this whole dog and pony show? No bullshit, Quinn. Tell me.”
“Amber thinks Josie is some kind of representation of her life. Both were abandoned by their mothers. I guess I felt like if I didn’t do anything, I’d be the dick who didn’t care.”
“You’re doing all this to score points with your girlfriend?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“You really don’t think the kid is yours?”
I shake my head. “I don’t. And it’s more than just wishful thinking. I just have this feeling, deep in my gut, that she’s not.”
“So the kid goes back to her mom, or some relative, or social services, or whatever. What then?”
“Like I said, everything will go back to the way it was.”
“With one exception.”
“What’s that?”
He huffs into the microphone. “Exactly when are you planning on telling her you’re in love with her?”
Chapter Twenty-eight
Amber
“Your friend didn’t want to join us?” Andie asks.
“Tag was only here for the day. He left for Dallas already.”
“I’ll bet it was nice to see someone from back home,” Devyn says. “Do you miss it?”
“Yes.” I glance at Quinn. “And no.”
Quinn, Aaron, and Maddox pay our way into the rodeo. Maddox thumbs right. “I know where Andie wants to go. Barrel racing is this way.”
We stop for drinks and make our way into the stands. Devyn checks her phone. “Do you think the kids are okay?”
“Sophie and Tara are both old pros,” Andie says. “They’ll be fine.”
“You hear anything yet?” Aaron asks Quinn.
Quinn shakes his head.
“You’re a saint—taking on a kid who might not even be yours.”
“She’s not mine.”
When he says it, my heart hurts. It’s not even what he said as much as how he said it. Like he knows for sure. Maybe even like he knows for sure and is sad about it. Over the past week, I’ve felt Josie and Quinn have made a connection. He would never admit it, but he loves playing the peek-a-boo game with her. He loves it when she smiles at him. He loves knowing he’s the only person she smiles for. I turn and study him as he talks with the guys. Does he love her?
“Amber?”
I realize Devyn has been trying to get my attention. “Uh, sorry.”
She nods to the arena floor. “Can you believe Andie used to do this?”
Andie leans over. “What do you mean used to?” She rubs her growing tummy. “If I weren’t pregnant, I’d still be doing it. Not competitively, but I’ll never stop loving the sport.”
After the barrel racing, we watch calf roping. Then something called cutting, where a rider and their horse have to separate a cow from a herd.
“This shit is boring,” Quinn says. “Can we please go where the action is?”
Aaron laughs. “It’s like a drug to you, isn’t it? How long before you can get back on a bronc?”
Quinn twists his torso and shrugs. “Few more weeks.”
“A few weeks?” I say, my tone an octave higher than normal. “It’s been less than three weeks since you got injured. I read broken ribs can take months to heal.”
He arches a brow. “Are you my doctor now?”
I lean close and whisper, “If I was, I’d order strict bed rest. Only, you wouldn’t be resting.”
His arm comes around my waist, and he tugs me close.
“I’m with Quinn,” Maddox says. “Let’s go see some poor chaps get their asses whipped.”
Quinn scoffs. “Is that why you like watching it? Dude, when you come see me, are you hoping I’ll fall on my ass?”
“You? No. Some poor bastard I don’t know? Hell, yeah. It’s good entertainment.”
We leave the current arena and go next door to where the bucking broncs are. As I watch, I realize it’s not as exciting as I once thought it was. It’s
dangerous. And somehow, over the past few months, danger has become less of a turn-on. What if Quinn got hurt? Like badly hurt. Where would that leave me and Josie?
I close my eyes. I can’t think of us like that. There is no me, Quinn, and Josie. Not really. We’re playing house. Like Sophie, we’re babysitting. We’re not a family, and we shouldn’t be. Families don’t last. Someone always leaves. And someone else always gets hurt.
“You okay?” Quinn asks.
“I’m fine. Just daydreaming about later.”
He smiles. “Will we be stopping for supplies?”
I swipe my tongue across my upper lip. “Suddenly, I have a craving for chocolate and strawberries.”
“You better put that tongue back in your mouth, sweetheart. My pants are getting tight.”
Someone screams, bringing my attention to the arena floor, where I see the pickup men trying to get the rider off the horse. He’s tangled in the lead rope. My hand covers my mouth in horror as he’s flung around like a rag doll. Finally, they get him free, and the horse is removed from the floor. A medical team runs out. The man is lifeless as they work over him. Everyone in the stands is on their feet, and it’s practically silent even though there are hundreds of spectators.
A paramedic puts something around his neck. “That’s a cervical collar,” Andie says. “To stabilize his spine.”
My eyes are drawn to the gate when a woman carrying a toddler bursts through and runs to the scene. Someone takes the child from her, and she sinks down to the dirt next to the injured man, who still hasn’t moved. She’s crying.
And I realize, so am I.
Quinn pulls me close. He doesn’t say anything. What is there to say?
A backboard is brought in, and the man is carefully loaded onto it and carried off the arena floor by four medical personnel. The woman walks alongside. Once off the dirt, he’s put on a gurney. An oxygen mask goes over his mouth and nose.
“They wouldn’t be doing that if he were dead,” Andie says.
Maddox adds, “Unless they’re going through the motions for our benefit.”
Quinn elbows Maddox hard. “Dude, not helping.”
Maddox looks guilty. “Sorry. I’m sure he’ll be okay.”
“We should probably go,” Devyn says.
Nobody objects and we leave. On the way out, we run into Quinn’s uncle, who’s standing with four other men.
After spotting Quinn, he nods to the ambulance. “I’m surprised you’re not the one being loaded into the meat wagon with the shitty way you ride.”
“Keep walking,” Quinn says.
I glance back.
“That’s right, sugar,” Jon says. “You want to see how a real man rides?” He pumps his fists and gyrates his crotch. “Come ride this and I’ll show you.”
Quinn releases my hand, turns, and takes a swing at Jon, his fist connecting with Jon’s jaw. Jon’s head snaps to the side. The four men he’s with swarm Quinn and hold him back. Maddox and Aaron run over.
“Don’t,” Quinn says to them. “If Jon needs his cronies to hold me so he can get in a swing, he’s not much of a cowboy.”
“Let him go,” Jon says. The men release him and back away like obedient dogs. Jon puts up his fists. “Ain’t much to do in prison but work out and punch shit. You want a fight, nephew, you got one.”
“Quinn!” I call, but he ignores me.
Maddox and Aaron stand in front of me, Andie, and Devyn. I try to break through, but Aaron holds me back. “Let him,” he says. “He needs to do this.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” Maddox adds. “Don’t worry, we won’t let it go too far.”
I glance around. People are starting to gather as if this is just another event at the rodeo.
“You think you’re all high and mighty with your new friends?” Jon says, circling Quinn. “You need to learn your place, boy.”
“My place will never be with you. Doesn’t matter what you do to me.”
“I ain’t talkin’ about what I’ll do to you,” Jon says then looks directly at me.
Quinn lunges forward and swings. Jon ducks, then straightens and punches Quinn in the stomach.
“Fuck!” Quinn yells, stomping a foot in the dirt as he’s doubled over in pain.
All I can do is stand here and hope Jon didn’t further injure Quinn’s ribs.
“Pussy,” Jon says. “I barely touched you.” He takes another swing, connecting with Quinn’s face this time. “Ah, yeah. That’ll leave a mark.” He laughs.
Quinn pushes Jon to the ground and shoves a knee into his back. He twists one of his arms around until Jon cries out. “I could break this like a twig,” Quinn says.
“Won’t be the first time,” Jon says. He looks up at me. “You like broken bones, sugar? Most hussies do.”
Jon’s hat falls off when Quinn smashes his face into the dirt. “Leave me the fuck alone. Don’t come near me or any of them. Do you hear me? I’ll ruin you.”
He eases his pressure, and Jon raises his head, spits dirt, and chuckles. “I’d like to see you try.”
Three men wearing event security shirts appear. “Is there a problem here?” one says.
Quinn releases Jon and stands. “Nope.”
They look at Jon, who gets up, dusts off his cowboy hat, and lifts his chin to his posse before they all strut away. “This ain’t over,” he says, turning.
Quinn spits blood. “Yeah, it is. You just don’t know it yet.”
“Jesus,” Aaron says on the way back to our trucks. “That was intense.”
I try to examine Quinn’s jaw, but he pulls away. “I’m fine.”
“What did you mean when you said he doesn’t know it yet?”
“I’m taking him down if it’s the last thing I do. He’s a criminal. He doesn’t know any other way. I just need to figure out how to do it.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Aaron says.
The four of them get into Maddox’s truck while Quinn and I get into his. He says, “Well, I promised you an exciting evening.”
I eye his reddening face. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind.”
“A few months ago, you’d have found this sexy.”
“A few months ago, you were a one-night stand.”
“So what, you want me to be some boring banker now?”
“I never said that.”
“Then what?”
I sigh. “I don’t know. I mean, yeah, I like the rough and the cowboy and all. It’s just…”
“You don’t want anything bad happening to me.”
I nod.
“Admit it, sweetheart. You can’t get enough of me.”
I roll my eyes.
He pulls me close. “I don’t want anything bad happening to you, either. It’s why I have to put an end to Jon.”
“Put an end to him?”
He chuckles and starts the engine. “I’m not going to kill him, Amber. But I am going to figure out how to keep him away from everyone I lo—uh, everyone on the ranch.”
I stare at him. Was he going to say what I think he was? My stomach turns. Because I know how these things always turn out. I scoot back over and put on my seat belt. “I was talking with Tag earlier about when I might be going back to Calloway Creek.”
“You’re leaving? No, you can’t leave. At least not until we figure out everything with Josie.”
“What’s to figure out?” I say. “If you feel so strongly that she’s not yours, all that’s left is to get your name off her birth certificate, then you can go right back to the way things were. That’s what you want, right?”
He hesitates. “Yeah. Of course.”
“But I’ll have to leave sooner or later.”
He nods. “I know.”
“You’ll come visit me?”
“I’ll bring chocolate and strawberries.”
I laugh. I don’t think I’ll ever look at a strawberry the same way.
I don’t think I’ll ever look at anything the same way.
Not after this. Not after him.
Hours later, languid and fully satiated, we lie among the sticky chocolate sheets. Quinn goes into the bathroom and returns with a warm, wet towel. He wipes me down. “I suppose we should call housekeeping to change the bed.”
“How embarrassing,” I say with a giggle. “Are we going to stand and watch while they do it?”
He appraises the bed. “So we’re just gonna sleep on this?”
My phone vibrates with a text. I sit up. “Sophie sent us a video.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Don’t know. Let’s watch.”
He sits next to me, and I play it. Josie is on her tummy on the floor. Sophie is cheering her on. “You can do it,” she says. “Come on, Josie.”
Our eyes are glued to the video as we watch Josie push up on her arms. Then her weight shifts to one side, and, wham, she rolls over. “Oh my god! She did it.”
Quinn swipes my phone and plays it again. “She had to do it for Sophie,” he grumbles.
I try not to laugh. “You got the smile.”
“Still,” he says, watching it a third time. “Maybe if we go home, she’ll do it again.”
“You want to leave?”
He eyes the dirty sheets, then shrugs. “Do you want to sleep on all this crap? It literally looks like we shit the bed, Amber.”
I have to bite my lip so I don’t smile too big. He wants to go home. To Josie. “You know she’ll be asleep by now.”
“Yeah, but… the bed and all.”
“I guess it would be nice to sleep on fresh sheets.” I hop up. “Okay, let’s go.”
Forty minutes later, we’re standing over Josie’s crib, watching her sleep. Quinn takes my hand, and I realize this is everything I never knew I wanted.
And it scares me to death.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Quinn
It’s early. I don’t check the time, because I can’t pull my eyes away from Amber. She’s sleeping so soundly. She’s on her stomach, hugging a pillow, her head turned my way. The sheets have come off and her bare leg is curved, knee out, almost touching me. Her T-shirt has ridden up and her barely there panties reveal the soft globes of her ass. It’s hard for me not to reach out and touch her. She’s gorgeous.
Texas Roses (The Devil's Horn Ranch Series) Page 17
