Tough Luck Cowboy

by A. J. Pine

  “Fuck,” he said, louder this time.

  “Still want to tag the calves?” Jack asked with an I told you so grin.

  “Fuck you.”

  His brother raised a brow. “Consider yourself grounded for the next four weeks, cowboy.”

  Despite his desperation for the prescription they filled on the way home, Luke couldn’t help but push back. Limits were not okay.

  “And what the hell am I supposed to do until then? That gives me zero time to train for Anaheim. And shit, we have a business to run. Two now that you said yes to that damned mess of a wedding.”

  His brother smiled, which was not a good sign. The only things that made Jack Everett smile were Ava and their son, Owen.

  “You’re freaking me out, man,” Luke said.

  Jack nodded. “The wedding,” he said. “It’s perfect. You’re in charge of getting the space ready for the wedding. Tucker’s your buddy. You can make sure the Callahans stay on task with finishing the interior, and you can help Lily with the food stuff. Hell if I know why she still wants to cater this thing, but I bet it’ll help if she has an ally.” He slammed the car door shut behind Luke. “And she can make sure you stay the fuck out of the stables.”

  Jack didn’t wait for a response, just turned and headed for the front porch where despite the late hour, Owen had just thrown open the door, his chocolate Lab Scully bounding down the steps. Luke struggled to keep up the pace behind him.

  “I don’t need a chaperone!” he called after him. Certainly not Lily. She was the goddamn reason he was in this situation in the first place.

  Jack dropped to his knees to give Scully, who was already stretched out on his back, an enthusiastic belly rub. Then he caught up to Luke. “Well, then consider yourself lucky. You’ve got more than you could possibly need.” He slapped the small white bag from the pharmacy against Luke’s leg. “Ava has your old room all ready for you. Take your meds and get some rest.”

  And since the events of the night had finally caught up with him, Luke didn’t argue. He just crossed his fingers the painkillers would knock him the hell out and let him sleep in peace, with no unwelcome thoughts of a certain blond caterer invading his dreams.

  Chapter Three

  Do I have to do this blindfolded?” Ava asked.

  Just for that, Lily tightened the tie they’d stolen from Jack’s side of the closet.

  Ava laughed. “Guess that answers my question. Still don’t see how this makes me better qualified for the job, though, if at all.”

  Lily sat across from her at the kitchen table. “You grew up learning how to identify the ingredients in a glass of wine just from sniffing its bouquet.” She overemphasized that last word. “I’m gonna venture to guess that you have a very discerning palate. The blindfold is so you don’t let presentation influence your vote because these are just sample cakes. What the final product will look like is still up for consideration.” She bit her lip and stared at the seven Tupperware containers in front of her. “The bride is a freaking Food Network pastry chef. I have to make sure I’m bringing my A-game when she does the official taste test.”

  Ava lifted the tie and peeked out with one eye. “The bride is also marrying your ex. Are you sure any of this is a good idea?”

  Lily lovingly slapped Ava’s hand away from the blindfold. “This is what I’ve always wanted to do, and if anyone can put me on the map as a go-to caterer, it’s Sara Sugar.”

  “Tucker’s fiancée.”

  She nodded even though Ava couldn’t see her. “Tucker’s fiancée.”

  “Who’s pregnant,” Ava added.

  “Who is definitely pregnant. I know,” she said. “It’s probably the worst decision ever. But something in me just sorta snapped, I think. I said yes before I knew who she was and then once I did, I couldn’t figure out how to say no. Especially when she was all, This was supposed to happen.”

  Ava snorted. “And you’re sure you’re over—”

  Before the woman could get another word in, Lily tore open one of the containers, pinched a piece of cake between her fingers, and shoved it into Ava’s open mouth.

  Ava’s palms splayed against the top of the wooden table, and her head fell back as she let out a groan. “Oh my God,” she said.

  Lily beamed and clapped her hands together. “Tell me what you taste!”

  Ava’s tongue swiped at a bit of frosting still on her bottom lip. “It’s not buttercream. I’m sure about that.” She pursed her lips. “There was fruit, too. The tiniest bit tart but mostly sweet. Raspberry, I think.” She did a little happy dance in her chair, and Lily knew she’d figured it out. “Not buttercream but white chocolate. White chocolate raspberry. Oh, Lil. How can any of the others be better than this?”

  “Looks like I’m missing the part— Shit. He’s got me chaperoned even when I’m in the house?”

  Lily’s gaze darted past the kitchen—and to a half-naked Luke Everett who’d just emerged from the hallway. Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. “What the hell happened to you?”

  Angry purple bruises mottled the right side of his torso, and his right arm hung in a sling. And she couldn’t help it. Her eyes dipped to where his dark jeans hung just below his hips. She swallowed, hoping no one noticed. But then ogling kind of came with the territory when you were near any of the Everett brothers. If you were into that whole blond-hair, blue-eyed cowboy sort of thing. Which she certainly was not.

  “The rodeo was not kind to our Luke last night,” Ava said, pulling the tie over her head.

  “Neither is all the damn commotion out here,” he said, his initially playful tone growing cold. “How’s an injured man supposed to sleep with all this—” He stepped closer to the table, leaning over to peer at the lined-up containers. Then he sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Well damn. Guess I’ll have to add leaning to the list of things that hurt like hell.”

  Ava snorted. “Commotion? Poor baby. Next time we’ll simmer down so you can sleep past eleven.”

  He didn’t smile, just strode past the table and to the coffeemaker that still had a cup or two left.

  “What else hurts?” Lily asked, his back to them as he awkwardly poured the coffee with what she could tell was his nondominant hand.

  He moved toward the fridge, still not looking at her as he answered, “Breathing. Getting out of bed. Being woken up earlier than I’d like to be.”

  Ava rolled her eyes, which gave Lily permission to do the same.

  The jug of milk he set on the counter was brand-new and therefore not yet open.

  “You want help?” she asked. “I can open it for you.”

  He looked at her, then at the jug, and slid the milk back onto its shelf in the refrigerator.

  “I’ll drink it black,” he said coolly.

  I’ll drink it black, she silently mimicked, only Luke turned around before she finished.

  Busted. Yet his expression remained impassive.

  He leaned against the counter, still shirtless. Did he know he was still shirtless? She was sure now that he wasn’t a lefty, his hand not quite steady as he took his first sip.

  “Where’s Jack and Owen?” he asked Ava, but she’d already sneaked another taste of the white chocolate raspberry cake, and her mouth was full.

  “They left for the park about fifteen minutes ago. Something about pitching practice, I think,” Lily said. “They were complaining about two hours in the car this morning.”

  Ava nodded and groaned again. “Brought Jenna’s car back. Park. Pitching. Yes.” She licked frosting from her fingers. “Sorry. I’m a little preoccupied with orgasm-inducing pastry. Don’t mind me.”

  Luke raised a brow, but absent was that ever-present grin he wore whenever she saw him with Tucker. Well, unless she was with them, which wasn’t often. Tucker liked his boys’ nights separate from date nights, and Lily liked to pretend that the boys’ nights didn’t exist.

  “Do you—want a taste?” she asked him, holding up the almost empty c
ontainer. “Before Ava leaves your brother for this last bite?”

  “Oh I might,” Ava said, trying to stab the last morsel with her fork, but Lily flinched just in time. She grabbed a clean fork, got up from the table, and strode right up to Luke.

  She had the ridiculous urge to rub her fingers over his bruised ribs, to soothe what she assumed must be more painful than he was letting on, even if he was complaining. And the sling. What was that for? She knew injury was par for the course when it came to rodeo, but something about this time was different. She could see it in those ice-blue eyes.

  She forked the last piece of the first cake and held it in front of his mouth.

  “I can still feed myself,” he said.

  She could smell the coffee as his warm breath filled the space between them, the scent far less bitter than his tone.

  She cleared her throat. “You gonna put that coffee down, then, and take the fork? I was just trying to—”

  “Help,” he interrupted. “Yeah. I know. Fine. I’ll eat your damn cake.” And he nearly snarled as his lips wrapped around the fork, wiping it clean. His eyes widened, and Lily allowed herself a smug smile. “Shit,” he said, and though it was not the sweetest of words itself, the way he said it made her think it was the nicest thing he’d said to her in quite some time.

  “You’re welcome,” she said, then spun on her heel and turned back toward the table where she again sat across from Ava. “Time for blind taste test number two!”

  Ava’s phone buzzed with a text as soon as Lily opened container number two. Lily watched her friend smile and knew that it must be Jack. Ava had a certain smile that was just for him, and as much as she loved that she could recognize it, it also made something in Lily’s gut ache.

  Had she ever had a smile like that for Tucker? Or he for her? Ava and Jack’s connection spanned more than a decade. She didn’t know their whole story but had gleaned enough to know that even when they weren’t in each other’s lives, that connection hadn’t faded. And now that they were together again, she felt like she was watching a snippet of a romance movie every time she saw them together.

  Ava’s smile turned to a wince when she looked up from her phone screen.

  “You’re leaving me alone with all this cake. Aren’t you?” It wasn’t a question. Lily knew that look.

  “Well…?” Ava started. “Owen and Jack drove through town on the way to the park and saw on the signboard that Baker’s Bluff had Owen’s favorite grilled cheese sandwich on the menu today, and they’re going to lunch and wanted to know if I could meet them. But you know what? I can totally stay. This is important, and I promised I’d help you. I’ll just text him back—”

  “Stop,” Lily said, laying her palm on Ava’s hand. “I’m not going to keep a friend from spending time with her almost-husband and child. What kind of a monster do you think I am?”

  Luke snorted, and her head shot up.

  “What was that for?” she asked. “Did Tucker call me a controlling monster or something?”

  He shrugged, then winced. “I’m not saying he didn’t…”

  “Luke!” Ava said. “What’s gotten into you?”

  Lily waved her off. “I walked right into that one. I’m not saying your almost brother-in-law isn’t an asshole for saying it, but it wasn’t wholly unexpected.”

  “Noted,” Luke said.

  She felt a little triumphant that his dig at her had caused him physical pain—but also a little like an asshole herself for relishing in someone else’s misfortune. The truth was, he looked terrible all banged up like that—yet downright gorgeous. How could a man put his body through the ringer like Luke did and then roll out of bed with that sexy swagger that never seemed to leave?

  She sighed. It was an Everett thing. The gene pool had been kind to all three brothers—at least in the physical respect. Ava got the nice one, and Lily had been verbally sparring with Luke for the better part of three years. What happened to the charmer who made a fool of himself on the dance floor just to talk to her?

  “I know you’re in a lot of pain,” Ava said to Luke, “but Lily didn’t deserve that. You know what? You can make it up to her by helping her with the cake tasting while I meet up with Jack and Owen. And, Lily, you can make sure he ices his ribs and keeps his arm in the sling.” She pointed at Luke. “No being an asshole, and no sneaking out to the stables.”

  “I don’t need a damn babysitter,” he mumbled into his coffee mug.

  “I’ll just taste my own cakes,” Lily said under her breath.

  Ava laughed. “I think you two can call a truce for the sake of wedding cake,” she said. “Can you both promise to behave for an hour or two?”

  Lily did need an outside opinion to tell her which flavors were her true A-game. Otherwise she’d just choose her own favorite, lemon curd, and call it a day.

  Lily crossed her arms and sighed. “I can behave.”

  Luke narrowed his eyes and lowered his coffee mug. “I’m only doing this because that first cake was fucking good.”

  Ava raised a brow. “Say you’ll behave.”

  Lily watched the muscle in his jaw pulse once before he spoke. “Fine. I’ll behave.”

  “Good!” Ava stood and handed Jack’s tie to Lily with a wink. “Time to blindfold your victim.”

  Chapter Four

  A throat cleared in the kitchen entryway.

  Lily yelped while Luke simply chewed the next bite of cake he’d been fed, pulled off his blindfold, then gave their party crashers a sly grin.

  “Mornin’, Sheriff. Who’s your friend?” Luke raised a brow at Sheriff Cash Hawkins and his lovely brunette guest.

  “Sheriff!” Lily said. “I was just—I mean, Luke was helping me pick a cake for the wedding.”

  Cash narrowed his eyes. “You two are getting married?”

  “Hell no!” Luke said. Didn’t matter how good she smelled or that she could bake the hell out of a cake. Marriage wasn’t on his radar, especially with the woman indirectly responsible for his broken ribs and dislocated shoulder.

  Lily gave Luke a pointed look, then laughed nervously. “No. Luke and I are not getting married. But my ex-husband is. To Sara Sugar. From that Food Network show Sugar and Spice? Right. You don’t watch television. Anyway, Tucker’s getting married, and I’m happy for him, and I’m sort of catering the wedding.”

  “What?” the sheriff’s mysterious companion blurted. “I’m sorry. I don’t know you, and that was rude of me, but—what? You’re catering your ex-husband’s wedding?”

  Lily bit her lip and nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but I need the job.”

  “And she agreed to it before she knew whose wedding it was. Not that I didn’t try to stop her.” Luke put his coffee mug down on the counter and swiped the fork out of Lily’s hand. “If you all are going to keep on talking about Lily’s excellent decision-making skills, I’m just going to take care of the cake.” He dug the fork into the hunk of cake and stuffed it into his mouth.

  “You’re an asshole sometimes. You know that?” Cash said.

  Luke just raised his fork in a gesture of cheers and kept on chewing.

  “Jack in his office?” Cash asked Lily.

  She shook her head. “Is he supposed to be? Ava just went to meet him and Owen for lunch.”

  Cash pulled his phone out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, and then cursed under his breath.

  “What is it?” the other woman asked. She sounded worried.

  “Nothing,” he said. “Just missed a text from Jack.” He went on to explain something about how Jack having lunch with Ava and Owen instead of being there to meet with the two of them wasn’t a sign. Luke had no idea what the sheriff was talking about but didn’t care. He welcomed the interruption. Because Lily Green feeding him cake after the night he had? It felt more dangerous than getting back on the bull.

  “Heard about the rodeo last night,” Cash said, turning to Luke. “Bull threw you pretty hard.”

  Luke’s grin
faded. “I got—distracted,” was all he said. Yet here he was, standing inches from the woman who’d invaded his thoughts when he’d least expected it. It was the closest he’d been to her since the night they’d met, and the memory of her on that dance floor—of her hand in his—made him suddenly dizzy. Or maybe it was the pain of his injuries, though nothing seemed to hurt at the moment.

  Lily invited their surprise guests to stay for cake, and Luke—unable to shake the feeling he might indeed need a chaperone if he spent any more time alone with Lily Green—half hoped the sheriff would say yes.

  “We’ll take a rain check,” Cash said.

  “I’m Olivia, by the way,” the other woman said.

  Luke opened his mouth to introduce himself, but Lily beat him to the punch.

  “Lily,” she said. “And this ray of sunshine is Luke.”

  “Ray of sunshine my ass,” Luke mumbled as the two women continued to exchange pleasantries. But what burrowed under his skin was the thought that he was a goddamn ray of sunshine 99 percent of the time. He’d swear on it—even call witnesses. But that one percent of the time when he crossed paths with Lily Green? Cloud cover came real quick. Sometimes even a storm.

  “Uh…Earth to Luke? Do you copy?”

  “Huh?” he asked, blinking to realize he and Lily were the only ones in the kitchen again. Cash and Olivia were gone.

  “I was just wondering—I mean, what if someone else walks through the front door. Are you—gonna put a shirt on?” she asked.

  Luke lowered himself into a chair, looked down at his bare, bruised torso and then up at the only woman who ever seemed to have a problem with it. Sure, he could finish getting dressed, but what would be the point? It wasn’t like he was leaving the house today. Plus it would hurt like hell to get up again.

  “Wasn’t planning on it,” he said. “Most women actually prefer me this way.”

  Lily groaned. “Yeah, well, I’m not most women.”

  He raised a brow. “Then I guess you’re missing out.”

  She narrowed her eyes, those green pools of poison threatening to obliterate him. What the hell was her problem? She was the one who got them into this mess—her baking multiple wedding cakes for her ex-husband and him benched and having to help her do it.