Last of the Red-Hot Heroes

by Tina Leonard

  Fallon shrugged. “It’s true. No rise in my Levi’s, if you know what I mean. Hate for that gossip to get into the Hell gossip beehive. The customer is always right, and all that.”

  “Oh! Get out!” Ivy yelled. “Get out of their way,” she told her big-muscled friends. “Get every single one of them out. Not you!” she told Winter, grabbing her long, dark braid.

  “Cool off, Ivy,” Winter said. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Let me get this weak-kneed weasel home.”

  “Hey!” Fallon kissed Winter’s cheek. “I resemble that remark!”

  “Back off,” she told Fallon. “You’re disgusting.”

  “You like me,” he said happily. “I always knew you did.”

  Declan led the charge out of the room. Fallon would have to straighten out his issues with Ivy and Winter later. Right now, he just wanted out of the pleasure palace; he was getting woozier by the moment.

  Harper glanced at him. “Are you all right?”

  “Something in this place doesn’t agree with me. I’ll be fine when we’re outside.” He told himself to keep heading forward, leading his group to the exit.

  They made it down the stairs and out a secret door Declan had never noticed before. Once he got outside, Declan’s head cleared almost immediately. “Wow, that’s some crazy brew she’s got going on in there.”

  Fallon was slower to stand steadily on his own two feet—or maybe he just wanted to keep leaning on Winter. For her part, Harper had moved away from his twin once they’d cleared the doorway.

  “You smell good,” Fallon said, trying to take full advantage of his closeness to the beautiful rider.

  “Bite me,” Winter told him. “See you around, Harper, Declan.”

  She walked away.

  “I thought you wanted to talk to me,” Harper called after her.

  “No, you want to talk to me!” Fallon yelled. “Come around any time, beautiful!”

  “Holy crap, Fallon, you’re her instructor,” Declan said. “Let’s get you home so you can get your head cleared.”

  Fallon stood still, electrified by the sight of Winter walking away. She’d put her hand up in the air at his parting words, her middle finger extended for his benefit.

  “There goes the woman of my dreams,” he said, laughing, “the whole time I was in there, all I could think about was her. How messed up is that?”

  Declan’s gaze met Harper’s. She looked sympathetic, shook her head at him not to say anything. He got the message: it was a lost cause. Fallon wasn’t going to win Winter.

  “Come on,” he told Fallon. “Harper’s going to drive us home.”

  “I am?” Harper looked at him.

  “You are. I have something to say to you, little lady.”

  “That’s true,” Fallon said. “He wants you to marry him.”

  Declan slapped his brother on the back jovially. “I think you had enough smoke and mirrors in Ivy’s funhouse to last a lifetime, brother. That mouth of yours is stretched and flapping like it’s in a funhouse mirror.”

  He glanced at Harper to see how she’d taken his brother’s pronouncement, but she seemed focused on leading them to Declan’s truck. He handed her his keys silently, and she took them, her gaze meeting his for just a second. Long enough to make him realize that, while Fallon very well might be the equivalent at the moment of the village idiot, he’d blurted out the truth.

  He did want to marry Harper.

  * * *

  Winter packed up her duffle and her horse crap, gathering up anything she’d brought with her to Hell. “You don’t have to come with me,” she told Cassidy and Micaela. “It’s not your fault. The fireworks were my idea.”

  “It was an accident,” Cassidy said. “If you tell them we didn’t mean to start the fire, I’m sure the town council and Steel will be forgiving. We’ll probably have to do community service until we want to gag, but we kind of owe it to them.”

  “You didn’t see Harper’s face. She knows.” Winter felt awful, horrible about the whole thing. “I’ve never given a shit in my whole life about anybody, or any kind of authority. But tonight, when she turned around and saw us come in, I could tell she knew we did it. And she looked so disappointed, those big green eyes of hers staring at me so sadly.” Winter tossed some stuff into her duffle with more force than necessary. “It was just a colossal fuck-up. It’s all fucked up.” And then Fallon acting like she was some kind of cupcake he just had to eat. That had slayed her. She’d wanted to brain him for going into Ivy’s palace, which had been dumb, because she had no claim on him. None at all. She’d stayed far away from him, in fact.

  But she’d always had a little thing for the wild-eyed cowboy—and she’d sort of sensed he was a little sweet on her. She’d just figured he was the kind of guy who could be sweet on anything with breasts—and judging by what she’d seen tonight, she’d been right.

  “Why’d you go into the pleasure palace?” Micaela asked. “While we kept the bouncers busy tearing up the place, why’d you go behind the red doors?”

  “To do something right for once. I knew Ivy wasn’t going to let them out of there without a major drama.” Winter zipped up her duffle. “I figured I could slow her down a little, give Harper and Declan a chance to rescue Fallon and get out of there.”

  “You’re one of the bravest people I’ve ever known,” Cassidy said, wiping her eyes. “Please don’t leave. We’ve always figured out something before.”

  “Yeah. We will this time, too.” Micaela stared at her, her eyes swimming a bit suspiciously.

  “I’m not going to jail. Now, listen, here’s what I want you both to do.” Winter ceased her packing and looked at her friends. “I want you to go to Harper, apologize, tell her it was all my idea and all my fault. Beg her to take you back on the team.”

  Cassidy blinked. “What about Ivy?”

  “This isn’t a team. It’s a revenge game, and it stops with us.” The house burning down had frightened her more than anything in her life ever had. The idea that little Michael had been in there—she couldn’t bear to think of it. “Anyway, all Ivy wanted us for was to destroy Judy’s dreams of building a squeaky-clean, family-friendly face for Hell.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve always been wild. I don’t think I was meant to be on a team, or to be the soft and gentle face of a place like Hell. But you guys can be. And if Harper won’t take you back, go to Madame Griselda. Tell her you need jobs with the traveling show.”

  “What about Fallon? We can’t just leave him with no team, can we?” Micaela asked.

  Honestly, she didn’t know what to do about Fallon. The man actually had the potential to be a great instructor. From the short time they’d been with him, Winter had noticed he really knew his stuff, and he was organized and fair when it came to team stuff.

  And he was hot. Which had nothing to do with his skills as an instructor, but it made it awfully hard to leave Hell. When he’d made a move on her, she’d been shocked—and nearly gave up on her plan of ditching Hell.

  But the burning Honeysuckle Bungalow had convinced her she wasn’t the kind of person who belonged in this small town trying to make good. “If Ivy tries to make trouble for you,” she said slowly, “tell her you know she shot Declan. Tell her you saw her bow and arrow in one of the rooms behind the red door. The room that was decked out like a hunter’s paradise.”

  Her friends gasped. “Are you sure?” Micaela asked.

  “Yeah. I’m sure. I always suspected it, but tonight I saw the confirmation. Ivy had to slow Declan down to hurt the team, and therefore her cousin Mayor Judy.”

  “But Declan wasn’t coaching the new team,” Cassidy said.

  “Doesn’t matter. He was sleeping with the instructor. Harper. And those two were getting really close. Ivy would have figured Harper would spook since she was a young single mother. She can’t risk being taken out by some crazy person with a bow and arrow.”

  “So what was Harper supposed to do? Turn tail and run?” Cassidy looked
incredulous. “Even I know that’s not going to happen. Harper’s tough.”

  “Yeah. She is,” Winter agreed. “You should have seen her smack the claw of the ‘ho that dared to lay a hand on Declan!”

  Micaela giggled. “Did it work?”

  “All the skanks stayed pretty well back after that. And Declan looked astonished that she’d warned them off. But I wasn’t surprised. She’s tough. And she’s in love.” Winter grabbed up her bags. “I’ll miss you both. Good luck. This is a great town, and I hope you’re happy here.”

  “Damn it, Winter, we’re coming with you!” Cassidy hopped up from her perch. “We’re all for one and one for all, remember?”

  “Not this time, Sweetie.” Winter hugged her and then Micaela. “You two can’t keep following me around every time I mess up. You deserve a chance to make a team.”

  “What about the bulls?” Micaela asked, tearing up again.

  “Bulls?”

  “Madame Griselda said your future was in bulls,” Micaela reminded her.

  “Oh, jeez. Madame Griselda can blow magic smoke out her ass. She just says shit to make her nickel.” Winter perked up. “But the thing is, she really does know how to turn a nickel. If Harper won’t take you back on, I’m serious about going to the Griz. Tell her you admired her business skills, and want on as apprentices in her business. She’s turning some serious dough with that dog-and-pony show she’s running back there.”

  “Text us. Call us. Promise,” Cassidy said, and Winter nodded.

  “It’s going to be all right,” she told them. “Tell Steel it was all on me. And that you’ll babysit for free for Cameron and Ava and Harper, and go to work in Hattie’s restaurant. Raise funds so that Eli can get some new shoes and maybe some hearing aids. Whatever it takes to get back in the town graces. It’s worth it.”

  She went out the trailer door, looking at the Honky-tonk for one long moment. Then she glanced up at the sky, found the North Star, and got in her truck.

  * * *

  “What an evening!” Harper tossed her backpack down in Declan’s kitchen, watched him greet Gypsy and let Toad out of his crate. “Absolutely crazy even by Hell standards.”

  “I agree. Which is why we’re going for a relaxing swim. Unless you want to pick Michael up.”

  “By now, Cameron has him tucked into bed. He was pretty afraid after the fire, so I’m hopeful he can sleep without being frightened. She texted me to say that Saint had given him a short pony ride to take his mind off everything that happened.”

  Declan turned toward her slowly. “He’s at Cameron and Saint’s?”

  “Yes. Where’d you think Michael was?”

  “Well …”

  “No. I didn’t let Blair take him. I don’t know Blair well enough to let my son go with him. Let me see your shoulder.” She walked close to him, unbuttoned his shirt, slid off the sleeve so she could peer at the wrapping.

  “You might as well take it all off. I’m serious about a swim.”

  “You can’t swim with these stitches.” Harper looked at him. “You’re going to be healing for a long time, Declan.”

  “Get your suit.”

  She looked into suddenly glittering eyes. “I don’t have a suit here.”

  “Birthday suit works just fine then.”

  Harper realized she was holding her breath, told herself to relax. “I think we’ve done enough skinny-dipping.”

  “There’ll never be enough skinny-dipping for me, where you’re concerned.”

  “Declan,” Harper protested, laughing. “I’ll sit with you for a minute around the pool, and then I—”

  He silenced her with a kiss, diving into her mouth, holding her close. She moaned, stunned by how fast he could make all her protests fly away.

  “Skinny dipping,” he murmured, breaking away after he’d completely stolen her breath. “I want what I nearly had the night I was shot. Go back to where we were before it happened. It gets better from here.”

  She wanted that, too. Harper’s fingers touched her top button—then Declan stopped her.

  “You know I’d do anything for Michael.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I do.”

  I guess I’m a little jealous his father’s come to town. I’m glad Michael has gotten to meet his dad, but I think it broke my heart, too. I sort of saw myself in the father figure role.” He looked down at her, cupped her chin. “I know you were never looking for that for Michael. But I guess I was trying to sneak into that position, and I had to admit that to myself tonight.”

  “It’s all right,” she said softly, surprised. Gypsy and Toad, realizing they weren’t going to get any human attention at the moment, ran outside. “Michael likes you a lot.”

  He clasped her hands inside his, placing them against his chest. “And tonight, when you smacked that woman who was getting too close to me, I kind of had hope that you feel something for me.”

  “I do feel something for you.”

  “I mean, beyond trying to protect me from strange women. And thinking you have to help me rescue my crazy brother.”

  “I didn’t feel like I had to do anything. We’re in this together.”

  He nodded. “I got that.”

  She looked down at their hands for a moment. “Actually, I’ve liked you for a very long time, Declan. I hide from it a lot, but it’s true.”

  “Hide from it?”

  “Yes. I didn’t want to rush anything.”

  “You certainly haven’t rushed anything. The wait has just about killed me.”

  She smiled. “You seem pretty hardy to me.”

  “Yeah, but the damage is inside.” He took one of her hands, put it over his heart. “Feels pretty roughed up.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that.

  “Shall we swim?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “If you promise not to get your shoulder wet.”

  He guided her out to the patio, lit a couple of candles in hanging pots. “We’ll see what happens. Gypsy, off my chaise.”

  Gypsy got down obediently. Wagged for Harper, who petted both dogs the way they were dying to be patted. “Michael loves Toad.”

  “Come on, gorgeous.” He drew her off the chaise by the hand, guiding her toward the pool steps. “We’re taking off our shoes, and we’re going to pretend the other night never happened.”

  She smiled—until he took off his shirt, tossed it to the side. Helped her with her blouse, pushed her jeans over her fanny, sank his hands into her buttocks. He groaned, and she leaned her head against his chest, feeling his heart pound.

  “Harper,” he murmured, as she undid his jeans button.

  She glanced into his eyes. “Yes?”

  He kissed her, long and sweet, not hard and demanding the way she was expecting. Almost wistfully.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked when he finally released her.

  Declan took a deep breath. “Tonight, when I heard that the Honeysuckle Bungalow was on fire, I think I died a little inside. I know I did.”

  She smooth her hands over his chest, put her arms around his neck. “It’s okay now.”

  “But it wasn’t okay then.” He kissed her, held her against him, his hands still cupping her buttocks. “I can’t really describe how—well, I wasn’t afraid in the military. Not even in war zones, not like I should have been. I guess I always knew I’d get by somehow. But when I heard the bungalow was on fire, I was . . .”

  She kissed him, lingering at his lips as she murmured, “It’s over now.”

  “Whoever did it is in big trouble. Not only with Trace and with Hell, but if I find out my brother had anything to do with it, I’ll—”

  “He didn’t, Declan. I know he didn’t.”

  “I don’t think he would. But I can’t trust him, either.”

  “You rescued him tonight.”

  “Because I told my father I’d take care of him. So that Fallon can have his ranch. I don’t want any of that, but to keep peace in the family, I went in the
re to get him out. He’d told me he had a one night pass behind the red doors. I knew he was there.” He took a deep breath. “Don’t make me into a hero, because I was just doing what had to be done. It wasn’t bravery. What is brave is being a single mother, moving to a small town called Hell, and putting up with a lot of crazy folks because you want a better life for your child.”

  She smiled at him. “Thank you for that.”

  He nodded. “It’s true.”

  “Can I take your clothes off now?”

  He gazed down at her. “Aren’t you going to worry needlessly about my shoulder?”

  “Yes, I am.” She reached up to kiss him, loving the fact that he had an erection she could feel through the denim. “But I see you’re not suffering from whatever was afflicting Fallon tonight.”

  “I’m like a jack-in-the-box around you, beautiful.”

  She giggled. “I’m glad.”

  “Marry me, Harper,” he said, surprising her.

  “Marry you?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Make an honest man out of me.”

  “I don’t think you require marriage for that, Declan. You’re already a good man.”

  He kissed her hand, placed it over his heart, then got down on one knee. “I’m in love with you, Harper Castleberry. I have been long before I ever knew it. You’re part of my soul, and honestly, my soul feels real empty when you’re not around. I miss Michael, and I miss you, every single minute I can’t see you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  Harper was so astonished she couldn’t speak for a fraction of a second—then joy washed through her. “Yes,” she said, laughing, “Yes, I’ll marry you, Declan O’Rourke. I thought you’d never ask.”

  “On second thought, maybe no swim for you tonight after all. I believe our engagement should be celebrated in a real bed, where I can make love to you for hours. At least until I need to make a donut run. Or eggs, whichever you prefer.”

  She smiled, her heart overflowing with love. “I love you, Declan.”

  “I love you, too.” He walked toward the house, as Gypsy barked at their feet, confusing Toad. The magnolias scented the air with their summery peach-scented wonder, and the black horses neighed in the pasture, and Harper thought she’d never been happier. “Not that I believe in donuts as a rule, but if I make a donut run early enough, I can swing by and pick up Michael, and we can have our first meal as a family.”