“Oh. Um. I don’t know.”
Jess pointed to the two lounge chairs under the window. “Let’s sit. I’ll talk, and if you don’t want to listen, just go to sleep again, and I’ll never know.”
“Very funny.” Lexi smiled. “I’ll listen, if you insist.”
“Good girl.” They settled on the chairs, and Jess took a sip of her water. “First, he’s single. I imagine that’s a good thing to get out of the way.”
“Kind of a relief, yes, since he was allegedly kissing some girl in the park last night.”
Jess smiled. “And if it’s of interest to you, he’s been single for kind of a long time. I know you’re looking at the same man I am, and we’re both looking at the same man that’s on the Whisper Creek website and brochures. This is a cowboy who gets far more than his share of female attention…and offers.”
“That’s probably not the part I wanted to hear about, but thank you.”
“I think you probably do, actually. Gunnar has dreams, and they don’t include casual hookups with women who come through here for a week or two at a time.”
“Oh.”
Lexi felt her face fall at about the same speed as her stomach. She was a woman coming through for a few weeks. And her dreams for the past few nights had included a boatload of hookups with one particular cowboy. Had Jess been sent here by Hayley—or Kyla and Ma—with a warning? Was she supposed to get Lexi to back off and leave Gunnar alone?
Lexi was mortified.
She cleared her throat. “What do his dreams include?”
“That’s easy.” Jess smiled. “A piece of land, a stable of horses, and eventually, a wife and kids to settle here with him.”
Lexi had a fleeting glimpse of a lighthouse on a point, a long, sandy beach, a cottage she’d had her eye on for years. She sighed, realizing their settling-down dreams were practically a continent apart.
“So—here? Definitely here? The settling part?”
“Yes.” Jess nodded. “Definitely here. He bought a piece of land already, and now he’s just squirreling away money to build stables and a house on it someday. Till then, I imagine he’ll be right here at Whisper Creek, but he’s been talking with Decker lately about site plans, so I think he’s getting closer to thinking about building.”
Lexi flipped through her internal catalog of names and jobs. “And Decker’s an architect by trade, when he’s not playing cowboy.”
“Right. He’ll be designing the house and stables with Gunnar.”
“Sounds very…decided.”
Jess looked at her for a long moment, her eyes searching Lexi’s. “You really like him, don’t you?”
“Oh, God, Jess.” Lexi sighed, looking out the window. “I don’t even know. I came out here on a mission to get my ex back, and then…Gunnar. And now? I don’t know whether I’m coming or going, really.”
“I know that feeling.” Jess nodded. “Whisper Creek men are ridiculously good at bringing it out in us. It’s really not your fault.”
Lexi laughed softly. “Not comforting, I’m afraid.”
“I know. But three of us Eastern chicks have come before you. Learn from our mistakes, okay?” She raised her eyebrows. “I’m being serious now. I know you don’t know whether you’re coming or going, but just…maybe don’t close the door on possibilities quite yet. You never know what could happen.”
Then she stood up, patting Lexi’s shoulder gently. “And if there’s supposed to be something sparked between you and Gunnar this summer? Well, it’s going to be, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it except to hang on for the ride.”
Chapter 13
“Gunnar! Gunnnn-nnnar!” Later that afternoon, Gracie came running into the stable where Gunnar was repairing the stall wall that Duke had tried to take down last night in the thunderstorm. The horse was out in the small pasture next to the barn right now, but Gunnar was keeping one eye on him and one eye on his hammer.
“In here, Gracie.”
She skipped down the middle of the stable to where he was working. “Whatcha doing?”
“Fixing the wall.”
Her eyes widened when she saw the splintered wood. “Did Duke do that?”
“Yep. The thunder scared him. I didn’t get here in time to let him out.” Gunnar shook his head. He knew the horse was terrified of thunder—didn’t know why yet, and probably never would—but he knew. And instead of getting up here as soon as he’d heard the first rumble last night, where had he been? Sitting in his cabin, trying to get a redheaded nurse out of his head.
When he finally had leaped up to head to the stable, Cole had beaten him there by two minutes. Gunnar hadn’t missed the veiled disappointment in Cole’s eyes as they’d spent the next hour bandaging Duke’s forelegs before letting him out to run off his terror in the pasture.
At least repairing the stall gave him something to do with his pent-up frustration.
“Was your ice cream good last night?” Gracie asked, hanging over the stall door.
“Huh?” He looked up, almost whacking his thumb with the hammer.
“I saw you in town. Having ice cream with Lexi. Just asked if it was good.”
“Um, yeah. It was. Sure.” He went back to hammering.
When he paused, she continued. “If it was good, why are you in such a bad mood?”
“I’m not in a bad mood.”
“You look like you’re in a bad mood.”
He sighed. “Gracie, I’m just busy.”
“Daddy says men use their busy to cover up their mad sometimes.”
Gunnar couldn’t help but let a short laugh escape. “Oh, he does, does he?”
“Yup. That’s how Bryn and I know to steer clear.”
“I see. Well, I’m not mad. I promise.”
She nodded and continued to watch him rip boards and replace them with new lengths of lumber. After he’d nailed the third one in place, wondering if she was going to hang out on the stall door all morning, she finally spoke.
“So did you have fun with Lexi?”
Thwack! He swore silently, raising his thumb to his mouth. Dammit. There were far too many women at this ranch, kid or otherwise.
“Yep. We did. Thanks for asking.” There. Keep it simple.
“She’s nice. I like her.”
He nodded. “I like her too.” Then he pointed at the wall. “I need to get back to—”
“I saw you kiss her.”
Oh, hell. She really wasn’t going to let this go. But what was he supposed to say?
“Well, grown-ups do that sometimes, right?”
“Yeah, but you don’t.”
Gunnar stifled a sigh as he shook his head. How many times had he heard Hayley say kids had no filter? Why should it surprise him now?
“Well, I save my kisses for really special people only. And I haven’t found one for a long, long time.”
Really frigging long, yes, Gracie.
“But Lexi is?”
Ha. He wished he knew. He’d sure thought she might be, as electricity had arced back and forth between them at dinner. He’d sure hoped she might be, as he’d felt her tremble under his touch—felt her melt when he’d kissed her.
But then the phone. The text. The Idiot, feeding out just enough of a line to keep her hooked, but probably having no intention of ever reeling her back in.
Asshole.
“I’m not sure, Gracie. We haven’t known each other for very long.”
“But you kissed her.”
“I know. Sometimes that sort of just…happens. On the spur of the moment, when you didn’t actually plan it.”
“Oh.” She nodded wisely, like this all made complete sense in her nine-year-old mind. “So are you going to kiss her again, maybe?”
He sighed. “Gracie, I really have to fix this wall.”
“Is this one of those times when Daddy says ‘Gracie-Lou, if someone’s trying to get rid of you, pay attention?’ ”
Gunnar laughed. “I’d never try t
o get rid of you. I just have to get this done, and the hammering’s too loud to let us keep talking. That’s all.”
“Sure.” She rolled her eyes. “Did you know Hayley and Jess are taking Lexi to do karaoke tonight?”
He felt his eyebrows lift. “At Salty’s?”
“That’s what Hayley said. I heard her on the phone with Jess. They said Lexi needs to wash her head or something.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Or clear it. I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense. But I was thinking maybe you should go, too.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Because I like Lexi, and you like her. And maybe you could ask her to dance or something.”
Gunnar laughed as he reached out to ruffle her hair. “Thanks, munchkin. If I need any more undercover work done, I’ll let you know.”
She hopped down from the stall door, saluting playfully when she landed. “I’m your girl.”
And then she was gone, running at top speed back up to the main lodge, where—now that he looked—Hayley and Jess were sitting on the wide front porch. And not that he kept looking, but he could swear Hayley took something out of her pocket and handed it to Gracie—something like a quarter, or candy, or another appropriate reward for ferreting out information she and Jess were too chicken to come out and ask themselves.
Well, he’d be damned.
The only question was, did Lexi know they were asking?
—
“Another Thursday night, another busted eardrum.” Gunnar winced as another wannabe singer stepped up to the mic at Salty’s bar. “Tell me why we bring the ranch guests here, again?”
Cole took a slug of his beer, his eyes roving the room watchfully. “Local flavor. They love it.”
“Has bad karaoke not been invented elsewhere yet?”
“It’s bad karaoke with cowboy hats that we’re selling, buddy.” Cole raised his eyebrows. “And usually you wouldn’t be caught dead in this place. Why’d you volunteer for chaperone duty this week?”
Gunnar shrugged, knowing very well why he’d volunteered, but also knowing very well how much harassment he’d get if anybody knew.
“Just figured you could use a hand. Big crowd tonight, and Decker’s out of town. Trying to earn my keep.”
“Gotcha.” Cole took another drink. “So it doesn’t have anything to do with a particular redhead who’s having her first night at Salty’s?”
“Nope.”
That’s it. Play it cool.
“Seriously. You haven’t taken your eyes off her since she walked in. If you think you’re playing it cool here, I gotta tell ya, you’re failing miserably.”
“I’m not trying to play it anything. She’s a short-timer, here for a summer getaway, then back to her life in Maine.”
That made sense, right?
“So? Could be a good rest of the summer, if you play your cards right. But you’d better start playing them soon, or you’re gonna lose your chance. You’re not the only one with eyes on her.” Cole tipped his chin toward the other end of the bar, where some guys from Scully’s ranch were downing their third or fourth beers. Gunnar’d lost count, even though part of the job of watching over the guests involved keeping track of who was drinking what, and how much of it—as well as where their eyes were roving.
Salty’s wasn’t a rough place, by any stretch. They wouldn’t bring the guests here if it was. But there were always those guys who’d been lonely a little too long and came into town hoping for some action. It was Cole’s and Gunnar’s job to make sure that action didn’t come by way of Whisper Creek’s female guests.
“When’s the last time you had a woman, Gunnar?”
Gunnar rolled his eyes. “I’ve had plenty of women.”
“Evasive answers for ten points, Alex.”
“Shut up.”
“She looks good tonight.” Cole smiled. “Just saying.”
“You shouldn’t be looking. Just saying.”
“Looks like Hayley’s got girlie shots started.” His eye caught on the little paper cups filled with gelatin and who-knew-what-else littering their table. “Think our school nurse does a lot of shots back in Maine?”
Gunnar grimaced without meaning to. “I don’t know. Haven’t seen her drink more than half a beer since she’s been here. She doesn’t even like wine.”
“Well, could be about to get interesting, then.”
Gunnar chose not to answer, lifting his bottle to his lips instead. Yeah, Lexi did look good tonight. She had on those sexy damn boots, which led straight up to tight jeans that cupped her curves in a way that made a man’s mouth water. Looked like maybe Jess had let her borrow a sexy little Western shirt to put over a tank top with silky little straps that kept showing when the shirt slipped off her shoulder.
The damn shirt was killing him.
“Music’s changing. Here’s your chance.” Cole didn’t look at him, just smiled that shit-eating grin the ladies always loved. “You gonna go get her before you lose your shot?”
“Nope.” Because looking at the woman was hard enough. Touching her—holding her in his arms while they swayed slowly on the wooden dance floor—that might just do him in. He’d gotten a taste of it—of her—last night, and he knew for certain that there’d be no coming back if he let it happen again.
“Well, I’m gonna go get mine.” Cole smiled. “But mostly because she’ll kill me if I leave her sitting at that table when our song’s playing.” He slid off his barstool and headed for the table. Gunnar tried to scan the room like he was supposed to be doing, but his eyes kept gluing themselves to Lexi’s hair, her eyes, that damn ocean-blue strap on her shoulder.
Her cheeks were getting pinker, the longer she sat there with Hayley and Jess, and he suspected it was partly because she was amped up and having fun, but partly because of the alcohol she was downing. He hoped she knew her limits, or she might regret those shots in the morning.
Just then, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and his hand tightened on his beer. One of Scully’s guys was headed straight for Lexi’s table, and Gunnar felt his entire body tense as he watched the guy introduce himself and ask her to dance.
She nodded, smiling, and Gunnar felt like swearing.
This moron was going to have his hands on the woman Gunnar himself didn’t dare touch again, for fear he’d never want to let go. And now he was going to have to watch. Because there was no damn way he was taking his eyes off Lexi now. He didn’t know the guy, but he knew the type, and ten bucks said he’d bet his buddy ten bucks he could get Lexi out to his truck by midnight.
The thought made Gunnar’s blood boil.
But as the two of them danced, the guy acted like a gentleman, as far as Gunnar could see. One hand held Lexi’s, and the other curved around her waist, but his fingers stayed innocently north of her jeans, and whatever he was saying to her out there on the dance floor was making her smile.
Gunnar felt a stab of jealousy. Damn it all.
He wanted to be the one making her laugh, not some stranger.
Chapter 14
“No way. I’m not asking Gunnar to do a duet.” Lexi shook her head, then had to blink hard to bring Hayley and Jess back into focus. “And also? Time to ixnay the ots-shay.”
“Come on—go ask him.” Hayley elbowed her, grinning.
“I’m not a sing—” Her foggy brain stopped her. Wait. She mentally scanned Katie’s list—the list she actually hadn’t thought about in days. Oh, right. Guitar named Dahlia, clubs on weekends, yadda yadda. But she hadn’t actually admitted to singing, had she? “I don’t really do—you know—this type of singing.”
“Everybody does karaoke if they’ve had enough to drink,” Hayley argued. “Am I right, Jess?”
Jess smiled. “And if they have Hayley at the table.”
“Fine.” Hayley frowned. “If you won’t ask Gunnar, then I think the three of us should go up there and do a song.”
“Hey, Lexi?” Jess leaned closer to Lexi. “In case you haven’t no
ticed, Hayley loses about three years with every shot she does. You’re looking at college sophomore Hayley right now.”
“Very funny.” Hayley narrowed her eyes. “And just so you know, college sophomore Hayley already put us on the list, so there.”
“What?” Jess and Lexi chorused in stereo.
“You like Beyoncé, right?”
Lexi shook her head. “No way. Beyoncé is ridiculous. We can’t sing like her.”
“We can try.” Hayley swept her hand out sideways. “And really? Does it look to you like anyone’s expecting Grammy-quality vocals in here?”
“No.” Lexi laughed, thinking about how hard it had been not to put her hands to her ears for the past three singers.
“Good, because we’re next.”
“No, we’re not. Hayley, I can’t get up there.” Lexi felt her eyes widen. Loosening up with shots and dances with strangers was one thing, but she already felt like she was kind of at her limits here. Getting up on a stage in front of those strangers—in front of Gunnar—was way out of her league.
Just then the deejay pulled his mic closer to his mouth. “Hayley, Jess, and Lexi, come on up here. You ladies are up!”
Before Lexi could argue, Hayley took her hand and lifted her out of her chair, and then Jess had no choice but to follow. When they got to the stage and turned around to face the bar, Lexi was almost relieved to realize that the two cheap spotlights on the ceiling were so bright that she couldn’t even see the rest of the crowd.
The first notes of her favorite Beyoncé song filtered out of the speakers as Hayley handed her a mic, and she took a deep breath. What was she doing? Though she’d been on some sort of crazy mission to change all summer, right now she’d be happier to melt right back into the woodwork.
Then Hayley started singing, and it was so, so awful that Lexi had to laugh. And then, as Hayley put her arm around Lexi, she couldn’t help but lift her own microphone. She could do this. If not here, in a small Western bar where most of the patrons were half in the bag, then where, right?
So she took a deep breath, pasted on her bravest smile, and joined Hayley on the chorus.
When they finished, the crowd clapped and whistled for a full minute, and Lexi felt herself smiling widely. Wow! That had actually been fun! As they jumped off the makeshift stage and headed back to their table, Kyla joined them, laughing as she hugged each of them.
Unlucky in Love Page 12
