“Sure. I know when I’m not wanted.” He walked to the table and picked up a large brown envelope bearing their attorney’s logo. “Griff asked me to give this to you.” He swung the envelope between his finger and thumb. “Your ‘fiancée’ is not very happy with you.”
Nick looked toward the hallway, but it was clear. Hopefully, she’d closed the bedroom door. He grabbed the envelope. “Thanks.”
Rory tipped his beer toward Nick. “The baby is due any day.”
Nick needed him gone. He walked forward, crowding him. “Okay, I’ll look at the papers and call you if I—”
“Aw, hell, big brother.” Rory held out a hand, stopping Nick’s forward progress. “You’ve got a babe here, don’t you.” He nodded toward the screen door. “I saw the strange truck out there, but didn’t think you’d be having a nooner.”
“Yeah, I got a babe here.” He pointed outside. “Now go, please, before I—”
“Fiancée?” Genny’s voice choked on the word.
Nick turned.
She stood in the doorway, fully dressed, holding her palms over her belly.
“Wait, Genevieve.” He stepped toward her. “I can explain.”
“Genevieve? Jellybean?” Rory shouted. “No effen way! Jellybean Riley.” He laughed. “It’s so great to see you.”
She forced a smile for his brother, but her eyes watered. “Hi, Rory. I...was just using the bathroom.” She walked past Nick, past Rory, and stopped at the box she’d left on the counter. “I’m returning this.”
Rory walked over and opened the box. “What is it?” He picked up the gun.
Behind him, Genny wiped a single tear from her cheek and took a deep breath. “My father stole it from yours.” She looked at Nick. “I thought maybe you’d like it back in your life, but things have changed too much. We’ve changed too much to ever go back.”
Rory’s gaze shot to her face, then to Nick’s. “Damn.” He slowly set the gun in its foam protection. “We aint’ talking about the gun right now, are we.” He patted her arm. “Sorry I interrupted.” He left through the screen door, clomping down the steps.
Nick waited until his brother drove away. “Let me explain.” He looked at the envelope in his hand and set it on the table. “I did have a fiancée, but we—”
“No.” She blinked rapidly. “I don’t need to hear it. I’m just sorry if my coming here has caused you to think about abandoning your fiancée and baby.” A shiver shook her. “I couldn’t live with myself if I—”
“Stop.” He stepped toward her.
She raised a hand. “No, you stop. I heard Rory clear as the Texas sky. A fiancée and a baby.” She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “When were you going to tell me all this? After a couple more rounds of fucking?” The last word came out as a shout.
That wasn’t what they’d had together, and she knew it, but he’d correct her on that later. Right now, he just had to keep her here and make her listen. The best way to do that was to use brains, not muscle. Backing up a couple steps, he propped one hip on the corner of the table.
Some of the tension left her body. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that.” She placed her hand on the screen door.
He would not let this new start with Genny slip away. “You were justified in your anger. Don’t ever hold back when you want to yell and scream at me. We can work anything out if we keep communicating.”
Genny blinked a couple times. “What?”
“I’m gonna fight for you this time. I’m not going to let you go.”
Her lips puffed out with the breath she expelled. “I think it might be too late, Nick.”
“Hear me out, first.” He touched the envelope next to him. “Then, if you don’t believe me, you can read the legal documents.”
Genny let go of the screen door and held onto the counter. “I’ll hear what you have to say, but if I think you’re lying, no paperwork will stop me from leaving.”
He nodded once. “You could always tell when I wasn’t truthful.”
“Just tell me, Nick.” Her voice broke. “I can’t stand this another minute.”
“Tessa and I, we’re not engaged any longer. She’s not carrying my baby.”
“So what Rory said...”
“She’s suing me for breach of contract for calling off the wedding.” This had been the most embarrassing event of his whole life, and he would give anything if he didn’t have to tell her. If he wanted a chance with her, though, he had to bare his heart.
“We dated, not exclusively. One night, we slept together and she showed me the torn condom. Four weeks after that, she showed me the pregnancy test. Positive.”
Leaning on the counter, Genny wobbled as her legs shook. Adrenaline leaving her body?
“I offered to do the right thing. Dad made me draw up a prenuptial agreement, and insisted on a paternity test before the wedding.”
Genny just nodded.
“Tessa went crazy. She started stalking me, accusing me of cheating on her, insisting she move onto the ranch immediately. She threatened to run away and never let me see the baby if I made her sign the pre-nup.”
“Oh, Nick. I’m so sorry.” Her beautiful mouth turned down at the corners.
“I won’t lie, it was hell.” He’d hired a company to guard the gates to the ranch day and night. Because she’d watch for him in town, he eventually stopped leaving the ranch.
“Finally, Dad and I went to talk to her parents in San Antonio. They had no idea what was going on.” Ironic, because Tessa’s parents were what his father would have called good stock, and still the woman had turned out crazy.
“Tessa had called them a month before she and I had slept together and told them she was pregnant and getting married.” He stood and walked to the sink, looking out the big window. “They hadn’t been able to contact her since then.”
“The baby isn’t yours.” She still held onto the countertop with a white-knuckle grip.
“No. It belonged to a man who didn’t want anything to do with a baby.” He shook his head. “Part of me was devastated, but that’s just the guy who wants to have a houseful of kids some day.”
“Where is she now?” she asked quietly.
“She’s with her parents, getting the psychological care she needs.” He gestured to the envelope. “For some reason, she’s still paying her lawyer to sue me for stopping the wedding.” He narrowed his eyes and looked at Genny. “We had two in-vitro pregnancy tests done, both of them proving her ex-boyfriend is the father. She admits lying to me about the paternity.” He shook his head. “But according to her, that’s not reason enough to cancel a wedding.”
“Nick, my God, I’m so sorry.” She moved a few inches his way.
He took that as a good sign and went to her, pulling her into his arms. “I would have told you. I swear I would have. But today...just didn’t seem like the right time to haul out all the manure and dump it between us.”
She squeezed him tighter. “No, you’re right. I’m sorry I overreacted.”
“You didn’t.” He eased her shoulders back and ducked to look into her eyes. “Your reaction was perfectly natural. That’s what I want in a relationship. Honesty, emotion, all of it.”
“Well, that’s what we got.” She smiled. “Thanks to Pest.” His nickname for Rory.
A cicada buzzed outside and a soft breeze blew through the screens. “Listen. It feels like we’ve lived a couple lifetimes already in this dang kitchen. Let’s take a walk. I’ll show you the new barns, the corrals, the tractors.”
She nodded. “That would be fun. Let me get my boots out of my truck.”
Nick kissed her, quick and hard. “That’s my cowgirl. Always prepared.” He took her hand and they stepped out onto the porch. “Then we can head to town and finally have our Valentine’s Day meal.”
Genny gazed off across the landscape. “Just like we’d planned, but eleven years late.”
“It was worth the wait.” Her hand fit perfectly in his as they walked dow
n the steps and toward her truck.
“It was.” Her smile lit her face. “Just think. It might never have have happened if my father hadn’t left me his stolen treasure.” She opened the back of the topper and gestured to boxes marked with the names of Texas cities. “One down, seven to go.”
****
Genevieve sat on her tailgate pulling on socks and boots as Nick looked at the things in the boxes in her truck bed. Her body still whirred with tension after the scene in the kitchen.
When Rory had mentioned Nick’s fiancée and baby, she’d nearly passed out. Releasing some of that emotion by shouting at him had helped, but his quiet explanation, his sweet hug after their talk, had calmed her soul.
“This is the stuff your dad had?” He lifted a faux-diamond-crusted tiara from the box that also held the sash proclaiming Miss Texas and the year. It’d been easy to track down the rightful owner of that one.
“How in the hell...”
She stood, stomping to settle her feet into her boots. “I have no idea how he got his hands on that one, but I’m heading to Houston to return it.”
He set down the tiara. “That’s a long drive.”
She shrugged. “I took a few weeks off to handle Dad’s estate, so I have time.” A spike of apprehension knocked her in the belly. How were people going to react to her showing up and apologizing for her father’s kleptomania? “It’ll take me a week to hit all those towns.”
“I’ll go with you.”
She blinked and narrowed her eyes. “What?” That was the last thing she’d expected him to say.
“After we finish, on the way back here we’ll swing by Harlingen and you can give Dad his gun.”
“Oh, no.” She held up one hand and took a step back. “That’s more than I can handle in one week.”
Nick took her hand in his. “I’ll be with you. You won’t be alone.”
Her chest swelled and she had to swallow a couple times before she could speak. With him by her side, she could do anything. “Okay, as long as you don’t mind leaving the ranch for that long.”
“Rory needs to learn how to run the place alone.” He grinned. “And we have a reliable foreman now.”
Her smile turned sad when she thought of the way her father had affected Nick and Rory and their whole family. “I’m glad you’re a better judge of character than your father.”
“He was of the firm belief that a person deserved the opportunity to prove themselves without prejudgment.” He shrugged. “Just a different…philosophy…on life, I guess.” Nick gave her a smirk.
“And your judgment on me?” She set her palms on his chest.
“Genny, that summer you spent here…” He cupped her face in his hands, his eyes staring into hers. “You were an amazing girl. Now, you’re an incredible woman, and I won’t let you go again.” He shook his head, his brow furrowing. “Not without trying to make this work.” He kissed her. “Say you’ll stay.”
Her heart swelled and her chest almost hurt with the joy of loving this man. “Nick, how can I say no?” She let emotion fill her eyes with moisture. “You’ve always been home to me.”
####
Cowboy Jackpot: Valentine’s Day
Looking for another sexy cowboy for Valentine’s day? You’ll enjoy Cowboy Jackpot: Valentine’s Day. To read the book blurb and find out where you can order it, click HERE. Here's a sneak peek:
Chapter One
Dallas Burns shifted on the plush chair in the high-stakes area of the Old West Casino in Las Vegas. He tipped his black cowboy hat back on his head and glanced around the red velvet-lined room.
Hell, he hoped his buddies didn’t see him playing roulette. Not that it was a woman’s game or anything, but rodeo men only talked about poker. The way they liked to tease each other, this would be a tough one to live down.
“Twenty-four black.” The dealer set five more chips on Dallas’s bet on Black, and five on his Even bet.
He scooped up his winnings and stacked them in front of him. He’d been fascinated with the game since he was a kid watching an old cowboy movie. Tonight, he was having the best luck of his life. He did a quick count. He had over six thousand dollars in chips and he’d started with three hundred.
He set five chips on First Twelve, and five on Odd. Mixing it up had been working for him tonight. The table was busy. Seven other people stood or sat around the board and placed bets that were quite a bit larger than his. A few wrists flashed diamond-studded watches as they set down their chips.
He glanced around the room and caught a very familiar green gaze.
Kira Morrow. Her eyes opened wide and she leaned toward the strawberry blonde next to her, pointed at him, and said something he knew couldn’t be good.
Kira wore a soft-looking blue sleeveless dress and low-heeled white sandals that matched the little purse hanging on her shoulder. It was nearly noon, had they been out on the strip? Her bright red hair hung loose and shimmery halfway down her back. He’d loved running his fingers through it two months ago at Christmas. The day his buddy Boone had met his fiancée, Gigi, right here in this same casino.
Dallas, Boone, and his brother Jayden, had been competing in a rodeo put on for local charities. They’d driven down from Reno for a few days, and had run into Gigi and Kira, who they’d mistaken for buckle bunnies.
Dallas looked back at the table, hoping she would keep walking. He and Kira had gotten into a nasty dust-up on Christmas Day. She’d stormed off and flown back to New York before he’d had a chance to cool down and apologize.
Her unmistakable floral scent threaded through his nostrils and into his brain, making his body remember how he’d wanted her crazily back then. He turned his head. “Kira.”
“Dallas.” She stood right next to him, too close for safety.
She looked better than ever, her long body slim and graceful, her beautiful breasts large and round.
“Stop staring at my tits.”
A couple people at the table laughed.
He met her gaze. “Then get them the heck out of my face.”
She lifted a brow. “As charming as ever, I see.” She gestured to his other side. “This is my cousin Stormie.”
He turned and started to rise.
“Oh, don’t get up.” Stormie pressed her hand on his shoulder, keeping him down. She was strong. Her denim shorts showed toned legs ending in flip flops, and her white tank top displayed some noticeable but feminine arm muscles.
He held out his hand to her. “My condolences for being attached by blood to this…sweet lady.”
Stormie giggled and shook his hand, then leaned closer to Dallas. “She’s always been mean, but now I’m big enough to fight back.”
He took a closer look at her. Green eyes like Kira’s, pale skin with cute freckles. Much too young for him, but he liked her spunk. “Are you here for the bachelorette party?”
“Dallas?” Kira interrupted. “Can I play a chip?”
He turned his head. “Sure.” He could afford to lose one chip to get Kira less irritated with him. He needed to work on accomplishing that before they had to walk down the aisle together in New York next week, at Boone and Gigi’s wedding.
“I am going to the bachelorette thing.” Stormie drew his attention. “I hadn’t planned on it so Kira and I were just out shopping. I’m here with my parents for the stock show. When I heard Kira would be here too, we arranged to meet. We had drinks with Gigi last night and she invited me to the party tonight.”
Dallas nodded. She worked with stock, probably rode a horse. That’s where her well-shaped curves came from.
“What kind of stock do you raise?”
“Horses, mostly, and we’ve diversified into bucking broncs.”
“I’ve met a few of those.” He cracked his neck, relieving the tightness from an old injury.
“Oh right, now it clicks. You’re a bronc rider.” Stormie grimaced. “When Kira saw you, and told me your name, I didn’t place you right away.”
&
nbsp; More than likely because Kira had been saying something insulting about him.
The dealer spun the wheel and set the ball rolling. “No more bets,” he called. “No more bets.”
Dallas glanced at the table. All his chips were gone. “What the fuck?”
The chips stood in a tall stack on one spot on the roulette table.
“Kira.” His heart palpitated and sweat broke out on his forehead. “Why?”
She smirked. “I put them all on double zero, ‘cause you’re a big old crusty double zero in my opinion.”
Curses rained through his head, followed by a vision of grabbing her long, pale neck and choking the life out of her. Then he felt the need for tears. “Damn it to hell, woman.” He grabbed her wrist. “Do you know how much that was?”
She rolled her eyes and tugged her arm free. “You big baby. What was it? Fifty bucks? I’ll pay you back.” She huffed out a breath and opened her purse.
“More like six thousand.”
She froze and her eyes widened. “Say that again.”
####
Connect With Me
I hope you enjoyed Genny and Nick’s story. The idea came to me when a friend showed me her prize possession - a pistol that belonged to her father. Then I just added a cowboy, and the story came to life. I'd love to hear from you. I've listed all the places I hang out, and I hope you'll connect with me at one or more of them.
All my best,
Randi
"Rode Hard and Put Up Satisfied"
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About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author, Randi Alexander, is an adventurous spirit with a naughty imagination. Prepare yourself to be rode hard and put up satisfied on the sexier side of happily ever-after! http://randialexander.com/
Other Books by Randi Alexander
Double Her Fantasy - At a comic book convention, artist Megan Shore is amazed to find action movie hunk Garret McGatlin sharing the same elevator. Usually reclusive, she jumps on the rare opportunity and flirts shamelessly with the man who has starred in more than one of her sexy fantasies. He responds strong and seductive, and she agrees to meet him for a drink—in his suite. When she arrives, it's his rancher brother, Trey, who opens the door and unleashes Megan's cowboy fantasy. Both men pour on the charm, and she's uncertain which of them she desires more.
Redneck Romeo: A Red Hot Valentine Story Page 4
