She never spoke of her parents but he knew based on past experience she either shut the talk down, refusing to speak to them when they called the bar for her or avoided speaking about them all together.
“You better,” she whispered.
He pounded down the stairs to find his aunt hammering on the door. “Boy, wake up, don’t you leave family out here in the cold!”
Ty shut his eyes and took a moment as a stone formed in the pit of his stomach. Please let this day get better after she leaves. With a sigh, he headed to the door, unlocked it and threw it open, a smile on his face. “Aunt Patsy!”
Aunt Patsy’s coral red painted lips curved into a shining smile. “Tyler, Tess told me that you were at the ranch this weekend with your new girlfriend. Child, put on a shirt. This is no way to greet your favorite aunt.”
She brushed past him into the foyer, head swiveling this way and that, gaze roving over the empty living room and sitting room.
“Where is she? I brought some biscuits, fresh from the oven and thought I’d make you both breakfast while I get to know her.”
Before his aunt got the bright idea of searching the house for Nessa, he decided to head her off at the pass. “I’ll go get her. Why don’t you go on into the kitchen and get started? We can’t wait to have breakfast with you.” The lie came out rushed, but if his aunt noticed she didn’t say anything. Instead, she shuffled on her way, taking in every piece of furniture.
“You should really get a new decorator, dear, everything looks so generic,” she sniffled.
Ty rolled his eyes. “I’ll think about it, Aunty Patsy.”
“Good, maybe I could do it. You should also think about opening this place up, make it a bed and breakfast. My friend…”
Her voice trailed off as he tiptoed upstairs and back into the room to find Vanessa dressing, her phone on the nightstand. She glanced up at him, her features unemotional, guarded. His heart stuttered as he took in that look. It was the same one she’d worn when she’d applied for the job at his bar. She’d been so low, hesitant, like a person who'd been brought down and feared never seeing the light again. His heart had ached at the sight. When Candi had asked him for a favor; to interview her friend for the bartender gig—even though her friend had no experience—he’d done it because he remembered what it was like to have someone take a chance on him when he'd been at his lowest point. When she’d walked through the door, looking so nervous and downtrodden he’d wanted to protect her, lift her up and worship her, all at first glance. After the interview, he’d wanted to fuck her sideways. Despite their chemistry she’d kept a wall between them, keeping things both friendly and sexy but making no further commitment to a relationship. He’d accepted it to give her time to recover from what life had handed before she’d entered his world.
Without a word he went to her, enfolded her in his arms. She hugged him back, holding onto him as if she were gripping the edge of a cliff, expecting to slip off at any moment. “Whatever is going on, I’m here for you and whatever you need is yours. I’m here for you.”
She let out a sob that racked her body but he felt no moisture on his shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered. She sniffed and stepped back far too soon for his liking and continued to dress. “Who was at the door?”
Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears, ripping his heart up into little pieces. Below them he could hear Aunt Patsy banging around the kitchen. Each clang and thud reminded him that he’d have to deal with whatever was going on later. He cursed his nosy relative and kissed Nessa on the tip of her nose. “We’ll talk later. My Aunt Patsy is here to make us breakfast. She’s on a health kick to lose weight, and her version of healthy is light on flavor. I promise, once she’s gone to make you a proper breakfast but for now just smile and nod. In the meantime you can watch me dress or allow yourself to be used like a pump handle by my aunt.”
He waited for her to turn, rush back to the bedroom pack her things and return to demand he take her home. Instead, she sat down on the bed, pulled on her socks and boots and gave him a small smile. “I can deal with your aunt. I’ve had worse encounters with relatives.”
He let the last remark slide and said, “And that flood Noah had to deal with was a little bit of rain. Okay, just be warned, don’t let her upset you okay? If it gets too much, it’s okay to come get me. I won’t be long.” He kissed her, this time on the lips and moved around her, taking care to brush his body against hers, reminding her they weren’t done with the fun they’d started earlier.
“I know. See you downstairs.” She brushed passed him and shut the door behind her.
He changed into a fresh pair of jeans, a T-shirt and work boots and rushed downstairs to join them.
“You do know how to make a pitcher of sweet tea, don’t you?” Aunt Patsy asked.
“Of course. I may have only lived in Texas for a year but I had to learn quickly. Ty loves the stuff.”
He heard the thud of the pitcher on the counter.
“Not as much as he loves you, obviously.” Aunt Patsy laughed maniacally.
Ty’s heart stuttered before it began to beat again. He skidded to a stop at the entrance of the kitchen but his feet didn’t get the memo and he stumbled forward, crashing into one of the barstools at the island.
Vanessa’s eyes were wide, fear etched on every line in her face, her mouth agape, color drained from her face.
“Nessa?” Ty took a step forward only to be stopped by another barstool, which turned into him rushing around the island.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered before she turned and rushed through the mud room.
“Well! You sure know how to pick ‘em, Tyler. Rude!” Aunt Patsy glared after Nessa.
“Aunt Patsy, I love you, but you show up here unannounced and she’s going through something right now. I think it’s best if you come back later, invited.” He waited for the red head from a bottle to say something.
She narrowed her eyes to slits, her ruby colored lips thinned. “Well—” she lifted her head and plastered a fake smile on her face. “I’ll take my leave. At least your bother Daniel knows how to be a good host–unlike you.” She sniffed, turned off the stove, picked up her basket of biscuits and brushed past him. “I’ll see myself out. You call me when you’ve learned manners, boy.”
He didn’t pause to see if that was true. Knowing his aunt, she’d pretend to leave only to sneak around the side of the house and, under the guise of admiring the gardening, eavesdrop on him. He pushed out into the early morning sunshine, a light heat filled the air already. The chirp of birds and rustle of vegetation filled the air. He breathed deeply, the sweet perfume of sunflowers planted on the side of the house drifted past on him a soft breeze.
He spotted Nessa’s retreating figure heading towards one of the beds of lavender furthest from the house that formed the border between the fields of flat grass and the start of the backyard.
“Nessa!” Maybe this had to do with her distance of last night.
She glanced over her shoulder but didn’t stop until she reached the flower bed where she sank down on a mosaic bench–a leftover piece of furniture from the previous owners.
“Nessa?”
Her body shook but he heard nothing.
“Not now, Ty.” The words sounded gritted out, as if pushed between clenched teeth.
He shook his head, not caring that she couldn’t see him. “Not gonna just walk away.”
“Why? You know nothing about me.” The low, angry tone to her voice made him hiss.
“So, tell me,” he urged, hoping to understand what was going on.
“You love me?” She lifted her head, anger burned in her brown eyes along with, pain and confusion clear on her face.
“Aunt Patsy got— ” he started then stopped, trying to find the words that would put her at ease or stop her from hurting.
She snorted. “Of course, how could you love a disappointment like me? I can’t even hold down a good job or keep an asshole of a man—or so
my parents believe Why would a good guy like you want me? I ruin everything I touch, just ask my family.”
The derision in her tone caused him to jerk back. He’d never heard her say such things about herself, much less in that tenor.
“Nessa?”
“I got fired at my last job. They called it a lay off but it was really a firing.” Fury turned her words so hot they scalded him just hearing them. “I was dating the boss’ son at the time, should’ve made me exempt, right? God, I was so naïve.”
He winced but remained silent, both horrified and fascinated by what he was learning about her.
“Not likely. The asshole left me. He even instigated our firings because he was the snitch. Betraying his own father and his company. His inheritance, for money.” Her words became sharper, more pointed as she went on. “You’d think my parents would be sympathetic…think they’d be understanding, right? Not likely. They thought I didn’t work hard enough, said that I didn’t know how to work—unlike my brother—and adjust to the hard blows of life and then I got a job with you at a bar. God, my father damn near had a heart attack and my mother freaked the fuck out. You’d think I asked to come home and live with them or joined a brothel.”
Words he wanted to say started and stuttered out on his tongue as he tried to find something to help her, soothe her, something to smother her past pain and whatever hurt her in the present.
“I thought I’d made a mistake by moving here. The shit with the movers, the headaches with my mail but you were so sweet through it all. And despite my not wanting to, I gave into my attraction to you, thinking I’ll keep it no strings attached, won’t repeat the past. And now you love me?” She huffed out a breath
“Nessa, what my aunt said is true.” He decided on saying it quietly to counter the acid she spewed forth.
Nessa shot to her feet. “Oh, he loved me, too! Loved my curves, loved my naughty suggestions, loved me so much he got me fired to cover his own ass,” she shouted. “And now you love me, too.” She used air quotes around the word love, hurting him to the quick. “And one day you’ll get tired of me. Mark my words, women like Jolene will turn your head and you’ll dump me. I can’t keep a good job, just like I can’t keep a man. Everything always gets fucked up when feelings are involved and I won’t let that happen. Not again.”
“What?” He got to his feet, at a loss for words from her accusation.
“Well, the joke’s on you–,” she poked him the chest. “I have an offer from a startup IT outfit in Boston. I can walk away. And I’ll prove my parents wrong! Fuck up? They call me out of the blue, after weeks of not speaking to me to say I’m a screw up? Ha!” She moved around him, heading towards the house.
“Whoa.” Ty reached only to stop himself from grabbing her arm. “What the fuck? You can’t just drop these bombs on me and walk away. I need information here, Nessa. You got offered a job?”
“Yes,” the single word came out clipped.
“So, everything we’ve had; that was all sex? There’s nothing between us? Nothing at all?” Acid burned through his heart and up his throat. Fuck, history was repeating itself with him. Why do I always hope for something more?
“Yes.” Another monosyllabic response that only riled him up.
“So, when were you gonna tell me, or were you just going to give me notice and walk away?” He folded his arms over his chest, his body shook with emotion. It was hot behind his eyes and his face was on fire. His heartbeat pounded in his ears but the din didn’t stop him from hearing her next words.
“I was going to interview with Briar, find out my options and make a decision.” She met his gaze head on but some of the fire had banked.
“And when were you going to tell me any of this? Or were you going to hit me out the blue?” A bitter taste filled his mouth at his words. For a second, a sense of déjà vu assaulted him. Heather. The name seared its way through his brain, setting everything in its path alight. He ignored it to focus on Nessa.
“I…” For the first time she stalled. “I…”
“Don’t stop now, honey. You started this mess, keep going.” He waited.
She glared at him. “I was going to weigh my options.”
“And you think this IT job will make you happy? Make you more money? Protect you from getting hurt? From having some man hold his position over you? Do you really think that little of me?” Each word was bitten off, leaving a foul trail over his taste buds as he uttered them.
“Ye-yes.” She dipped her head.
He felt little to no sympathy for her in that moment. “So, we just used each other? Why’d you even move down here, then? Why’d you take the job? You could’ve just told me all this was temporary that you had no intention of staying.”
She ducked her head. He moved forward, crouched down and slipped his index and middle finger under her chin to lift her head. Once he could see her eyes, he asked again, “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me that we’re more than just fuck buddies.”
She swallowed but didn’t glance away. Doubt fluttered across her face and her lips turned into a frown. “I…I don’t know what to think.”
“So when I call you gorgeous or beautiful, that’s just to get in your pants, right?” he pushed, wanting to see how far she’d take this line of thought.
Her lips thinned and she tried to turn her head, but he held on tight.
“Say it, Nessa, tell me that I when I go down on you until you orgasm, that’s just me being selfish, right? Or last night when I asked you to please yourself with that vibrator, that was for my own pleasure right? Or all the times that I asked you to masturbate for me or sent you those dirty texts, that was all about me, right?” The more words that came out of his mouth the hotter he became.
He pressed on, not giving her a chance to deny him. “And when it’s not about sex, when I show you affection in public, in front of our friends, our regulars, hell, my brothers and mother, well, that’s just me using you, right?”
“Ty–” Tears glittered in her eyes, she blinked at him. She sniffled but he refused to be swayed.
“I’m not that guy, Nessa. I’m not what you want to believe I am, some boogeyman who will steal your heart and smash it into itty bitty pieces. Get that out of your head right now.” He shook his head. “And I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me. Been there, done that, got the shit stomped out of my heart to prove it.”
He let go of her chin and stood, his legs strained and he wobbled once upright. Pain shot through his hip and he grunted.
“Ty!” She stood, hands reaching out for him.
“No.” He didn’t brush away her arms, instead, he took a small hop-step back. Pain throbbed up and down his thigh. “I gotta go. I can’t be here with a woman I thought I loved who can’t even do me the courtesy of not only being honest and open with me, but also thinks so little of me that she’d compare me to her prick of an ex.” He hobbled off, going as fast as his throbbing hip would let him.
“Ty!” Her footsteps pounded out after him.
He ignored her, made his way to the house, through it and grabbed his keys to the truck.
“Ty, stop! Your hip!”
“Fuck my hip! I need air.”
In the garage, he started the SUV while waiting for the garage door to open.
She tapped on the car window. He ignored her, opting to turn on the radio and turn up the volume. How You Remind Me by Nickleback blared at him through the speakers.
“Perfect.” With an empty driveway and an open road beyond, all he could think of was the freedom it offered him. He didn’t even want to think of coming back or what she would do during his absence. He took off down the driveway, no place in particular in mind. All he wanted to do was cool down and being around her only brought up hurt and anger. His cell phone rang as soon as he hit the end of the pathway.
“Answer call,” he told the Bluetooth system.
“Hey, bro, what the fuck is going on? Nessa called me in tears. What’d you do?” His bro
ther Danny demanded.
“Let me explain what your new best friend Nessa did.” He poured out the entire conversation, editing out what he’d told her. Their sex life wasn't fodder for public consumption, brother or otherwise.
Danny whistled. “Dayum. Jesus, shitstorm indeed. Look, she didn’t tell me all that. She could barely get the words out. Something about screwing up. Jesus, bro. So Aunt Patsy spilled the beans, eh?” Danny chuckled.
“I don’t see how this is funny, Danny.” Despite his brother’s words, her admission of making a mistake didn’t put a dent in his emotions. His heart ached. He actually felt tears burn his eyes. How could she doubt me so much? How could she let some asshole from her past distort her perception me?
“The way I see it, her family fucked her up so badly that she doesn’t think she’s worthy of love, much less can make it last.”
“Fuck.! I said that out loud, didn’t I?” Ty slammed a palm on the steering wheel only to curse at the sting and heat spread through his hand.
“Yep, you let her get under your skin, and you never do that. Since, Heather, you’ve been careful about getting too close and yet I’ve seen you with Nessa. You don’t act the way you did with Heather.”
Curious, Ty prodded his brother for more. “Oh, do tell.”
“For one thing, you’re more affectionate, and she didn’t look the least bit put off by your attention. There was hesitation, but once she gave in, yeah, it was all you, bro.”
He could hear the smile in Danny’s voice and grumbled, “And why does that make you so damn happy?”
“Because we were starting to worry that you’d never let yourself fall for someone again. The fact that you left your ranch instead of kicking her out, tells me a great deal.”
“Well, doctor?” Ty pressed.
“Remember when Heather came to your hospital room after your first hip surgery and told you she was leaving you for that movie star and you told her to give back her keys and everything you'd ever given her, then to get out.”
Ty took in Danny’s words from a distance. “I can hear what you’re saying, but I’m not taking it in,” Ty confessed.
Once with a Cowboy: Loving Day Collection (One Night Only Book 1) Page 5
