by Gary, Codi
She leaned against him and looked up at him through her lashes. “I’m not really drunk. Not like last time.”
“She’s fine, Jake. I was handling it,” Red said, and Jake wanted to punch his best friend’s dopey, grinning face.
“If you were handling this, then you wouldn’t have let her drink and she wouldn’t be making a fool of herself,” Jake snapped, grabbing her arm. “Come on, I’m taking you home.”
Jake noticed Rand’s bulldog expression as she ripped her arm out of his grasp. “You aren’t the boss of me.”
“Hey, Hansen, we weren’t done.” Jake felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to face Branson who had an angry scowl on his face.
Jake shook his hand off. “Yeah you are. I’m taking Rand home now.”
Branson’s scowl bled into a sneer. “Jealousy doesn’t become you, Hansen. Obviously there’s a lot more to Miss Miranda than we all thought. Now, why not step back and give someone else a turn? I want to get a better look at what she’s been hiding all these years.”
Jake looked down at Rand and realized she was wearing a black dress that showed off her creamy round shoulders. The tops of her beautiful breasts could be seen from his vantage point and his scowl darkened. “Where did you get that dress?”
“It was my grandmothers. Why are you acting like this?”
Jake shrugged out of his jacket and laid it over her shoulders. Not because her dress was really so immodest but because he didn’t like Branson ogling her. He turned back to the other man and said, “I catch you looking at her again and I’ll break every bone in your pretty face.”
Branson was either drunk or stupid. He tried a fake away before throwing his fist forward and catching Jake in the cheek. Jake stumbled back into Rand who fell against Red, and all hell broke loose. Jake jumped up and tackled Branson to the ground, sat on his chest, and started pounding him. Someone grabbed him and pulled him off, but he kept trying to shake them off until he heard Rick Johnson’s deep voice boom, “You want to fight, you take it out of my bar!”
Jake pulled away from the restraining hands and looked over to where Rand had been only moments before, but she was gone.
Rand really wasn’t drunk, she’d only had the one beer, but she was angry and frustrated. Red tried to insist on taking her home, but she had told him no. She hadn’t been mean about it, but she also wasn’t going to let any man control her. Not Red. And definitely not Jake.
How dare he start ordering her around like she was a child? She was a grown ass woman.
Angrily, she walked through the door of her house and Scout greeted her with a rapidly moving stump of a tail and a whiny meow.
“Yeah, I get it, you’re starving and I suck. Thank you so much.” Flipping on the light she grabbed up the water dish and food bowl, and filled both, muttering to herself.
The sound of flinging gravel and a slamming door outside told her Jake was out front. Putting the bowls back on the floor, she walked to the front door just as he started banging on it.
Opening it roughly, she looked up at him and noticed the side of his face was swelling. She reached up to touch his face before she remembered she was irritated with him. “Ouch. You okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. You were auctioning yourself off in a bar to the highest bidder. Whatever R.E. had planned for you with that stupid clause in his will, I doubt it was that you marry whoever paid the most,” he shouted at her.
“Stop yelling at me. You are not my grandfather, my father, or my husband. You have no right to act like I’m at your beck and call or that you’re my keeper!” She shouted back.
“Let me tell you, you need a keeper! You have caused me more grief in the last two weeks than any other woman has my whole life,” he countered.
“Well, you can just stop, because I’m fine! Just freaking dandy. You know, this is all your fault!” She stepped onto the porch, and pushed her finger into his chest.
“What’s my fault,” he asked, grabbing her hand to stop her poking.
“You had to go and kiss me! Now all I can think about is kissing and I want to keep doing it! Before I could just pretend I didn’t mind being alone and I could live with a man for a year without any hanky panky, no problem. But I like kissing! And that is all your fault!”
Taking the hand he had captured, he pulled her against his chest. “Do you like kissing?” He was no longer shouting, his voice had dropped to a soft, coaxing tone. “Or do you just like kissing me?”
Staring up at him in the porch light, she swallowed hard. “I don’t know. I don’t have anything to compare it to.”
“You don’t need to compare anything,” he said, two seconds before his mouth covered hers.
Rand was highly aware of everything involving Jake’s kiss. His spicy cologne, soft mouth, and the hard muscles under his t-shirt were high up there on her favorite-things-list now a days. She melted into his body, and kissed him back with abandon. His hands tangled in her long hair and she slid hers inside his open jacket, down over his chest, stomach and waist. She marveled at all the hard bumps and ridges under the thin cotton of his shirt and how badly she wanted to touch him with nothing between them.
She felt Jake’s hand slide up and over her breast and nearly jumped out of her skin. She knew men liked breasts, she couldn’t help but catch on being around her ranch hands and Jake and Red for most of her life, but what she’d never figured was how good it would feel to have a man touch her there. He ran his thumb over her nipple and it came to life under the layers of cotton. When his mouth left hers to leave soft kisses over her jaw, neck, and the top of her breasts, she realized the soft moans of pleasure were coming from her.
Her fingers reached up and ran through his hair. His second hand joined his first caressing her through her dress and she was panting with excitement.
Suddenly he pulled back, his hands dropping away from her. He was breathing hard and she protested the loss of his mouth on her skin and the touch of his hands. She still had her hands wrapped up in the short strands of his hair and he leaned over to kiss her hard, before pulling back far enough to say, “You should go back inside.”
Awash with disappointment she blurted, “You’re not coming in?”
He tucked her hair behind her ear and shook his head. “I’m not in the habit of taking advantage of drunk women, no matter how much I want to.”
“I’m not drunk,” Rand said, lust riding her hard and all she could think about was how badly she wanted to see exactly what was so hard and ripply under his shirt.
He stared down at her intently. “Rand, if I come inside, it’s going to get a lot heavier and I don’t think you’re ready for that.”
The rational side of her brain screamed to say good night and shut the door, but that wasn’t the part that reached out and dragged his mouth down to hers again, whispering against his lips, “Come inside, Jake.”
Chapter Nine
Rand kicked off her boots at the door and was greeted by Scout’s insistent meowing.
“Hey the world does not revolve around you, vermin.”
Scout disagreed with another high pitched meow and with her stub tail twitched back and forth quickly, marched toward her food bowl.
Rand shook her head as she looked down at the bowl. “It’s still half full. You’re fine.”
Scout’s yellow eyes glared at her, but Rand still walked down the hallway toward her bedroom, ignoring the angry meow that followed her, and yanked her t-shirt over her head. She finished undressing and thought about Jake, leaving her with another long searching kiss at her door, instead of coming inside like she’d wanted. In the harsh light of the afternoon she was thankful, but last night she’d been furious and cursed a blue streak at his retreating back.
She was ashamed of her behavior the last few weeks. She was not someone who got drunk, acted like an ass, and abused her friends.
She showered, dressed, and went to transfer the laundry. She’d decided to just wash all of her grandmother’s
clothes; so far, they’d all been to her taste and she didn’t have to go shopping. Oh, how she loathed shopping.
Maybe she’d call Jamie or one of Red’s sisters and see if they wanted to head over to Longview. That’s what women did right? Got together in a group and went to bars together? It was only twenty minutes away, and it wasn’t too late. She should be able to find a man there without a criminal record and who wouldn’t mind marrying someone they barely knew, with the proper incentive of course.
Picking up the phone, she called Red’s sister Tabitha and got her voicemail. Nervously, she left her a message, asking if she wanted to go bar hopping. As she hung up, she called herself every kind of idiot. Tabitha probably had plans already; it was Saturday night at five.
Oh well, she could just head into Longview by herself. She had survived this long without girlfriends.
She grabbed a floral blouse that had thick straps and a square neckline, with form fitting slacks. She dried her hair and fluffed it over her bare shoulders. Satisfied with her appearance, she started making dinner and turned on the radio.
Dancing around to Jason Aldean, she breaded some chicken breasts and dropped them into her deep fryer. After that was done, she peeled potatoes and boiled peas. It wasn’t exactly a light or healthy dinner, but she had worked hard and was hungrier than a cougar after a long winter.
A shrill sound blasted through the music as her phone rang. Turning down the radio, she picked it up by the third ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, its Tabby! Jamie and I were heading out tonight, and if you want, we would love for you to join us.”
“Really, are you sure? I don’t want to ruin your night-
“Hell no, we don’t mind. It will be fantastic to get you away from my idiot brother and Jake. Want us to get you in an hour? We can ride together?”
“That sounds great, I’m just eating dinner now.”
“Sweet, see you then. This is gonna be awesome!”
Tabby hung up and Rand took a deep breath. Having only ever hung with Jake and Red, she was afraid of what Tabby and Jamie considered fun.
She sat down to eat and was about to take a big bite of fried chicken when someone knocked on her door. “Dad burned and blast.”
She stood up and walked to the front door, opening it with a deep scowl on her face that melted when she got a load of her visitor.
Red stood on the welcome mat, looking spiffy and handsome in a collared flannel shirt and wranglers. He had a bouquet of tulips in his hand and Rand couldn’t take her eyes off the cheerful flowers wrapped in colorful paper.
“What are you doing here?” She squeaked the question.
”I wanted to talk to you,” Red said.
“What are those,” she asked dumbly.
He held them out to her. “They’re for you. Can I come in?”
She blinked at him. Red was standing on her porch with flowers? And he wanted to talk to her?
She stepped back and held the door for him. “Sure. I made fried chicken if you’re hungry.”
“Starving,” he said, handing her the flowers and kissing her cheek. She jumped in surprise, and he just let out a deep chuckle.
Her cheeks burned as she watched him head towards the kitchen. What was going on with him? She wondered as she shut the door and followed him, bumping into his back when he stopped.
“What’s so funny-” She peeked around his broad, shaking shoulders and shouted, “SCOUT! Damn it I’m going to kick your furry little behind!”
Scout growled at Rand from the little cat’s perch above Rand’s plate, a leg of chicken hanging from her mouth. Scout took off with her bounty at Rand’s first angry steps, skidding down the hallway to Rand’s bedroom, presumably to hide under the bed.
“Little beast!” She turned back to Red, who was bent over with mirth. “Good thing I made extra.”
Tears were pooled at the corner of Red’s eyes as he wheezed, “What are you doing, starving the poor thing?”
“No,” she cried. “She just thinks her bowl should be full at all times and if it gets below the rim, she cries until I give in.”
His chuckles subsided and he went to the stove, making “mmm mmm,” sounds.
She bumped him out of the way with her hip and laid his flowers down. “Go sit, I’ll make you a plate.”
He did as she said and asked, “So why do you look so nice. Were you expecting someone else?”
No, just hoping.
Damn it, she needed to get a grip and stop thinking about Jake. What they had was this crazy attraction, but it wasn’t anything more.
“I’m actually going out with your sister,” she said casually.
Red started coughing behind her.
Turning, she took one look at his red face and hurried to set both of their plates down before whacking him hard on the back.
He waved his hand as he sucked in air. When he finally seemed to get his surprise under control, he asked, “Which sister?”
“Tabitha. Tabby, I guess,” she said with a small shrug as she sat across from him.
He hiked an eyebrow. “Where are you going?”
“No idea,” she said, smiling at him sheepishly.
“Well, just be careful. Tabby can get rowdy.” Red said.
Rand laughed. “After twenty years with Jake and you, I figure I can handle it.”
“Speaking of Jake, what’s really going on with you? Cause last night, I know he wasn’t faking being pissed off. I thought he was going to tear me apart after you left.” Red took a bite of his chicken while he waited for her answer.
Rand felt heat spreading over her face and chest. “I have no idea.”
“But there’s something?” Red’s expression was grim.
“No…I mean…I have no idea. It’s like, one minute we’re fighting, or even just playing around and the next thing I know, he’s kissing me.” Talking about it was making her appetite dwindle and she pushed her peas around with her fork.
“Are you in love with him,” Red asked.
Rand dropped her fork and cried, “Of course not.”
“Hey, I’m asking as a friend. Jake’s not the most reliable guy when it comes to women.”
“I know that, Red. I’m not an idiot.”
“Okay, look, I’m not trying to give you shit. You’re a grown woman and it’s your business what you do. But you and I both know that casual things like this do not end well between friends, and the last thing I want to see is you getting hurt.” Red’s big hand reached across the table and grabbed hers, squeezing it, “I’m just saying, you should choose someone who appreciates you.”
Rand’s eyes widened. “Red-
“Just hear me out. I know we have our differences and I can be…difficult. But if you need to get married, wouldn’t you rather do it with someone who knows you and the inner workings of your dark and twisted mind?”
“My mind is not dark and twisted,” Rand argued.
“Okay, you aren’t any twistier than any other woman, but you still need to get married. And I think we could have a good life together.” Red ran his hands through his short hair and his next words had her catching her breath. “Lately, I can’t stop thinking about finding someone to share my life with, and when this whole thing with your Granddaddy’s will popped up, it really got to me. I mean…I moved out of my parents place a long time ago, but I find myself there more and more. I miss having a family, Rand. I miss living with someone and having someone to come home to.”
Rand felt her heart squeeze at his honest admission. Red was lonely; Red wanted to make a commitment to her, not just for a year, but for the rest of their lives. “So, by a life together, you mean…I mean, you want…” She swallowed, and pushed her peas at her potatoes. “You want sex.”
“Well, yeah. I mean, if we’re going to go through the whole thing, I was thinking we could at least try to see if the feelings are there.” There was a pregnant pause before he added, “I know I have those kind of feelings for you, but do you…d
o you think of me that way?”
Did she? Red was handsome and funny, with a sweet side not many people saw. He was protective and loyal, but if she couldn’t do what he wanted, would it ruin their friendship?
“I need time,” she blurted.
He lost his smile. “Time for what?”
She didn’t exactly know, but she answered as best she could. “I just need a little time to think.”
“How long’s a little time?” His tone was mild, but there was a slight edge to it.
She hesitated before suggesting, “A few days?”
He was silent for a time, making her feel vulnerable and nervous. When he finally said, “Fine.” She let out her breath loudly.
“Thank you. It’s not that I don’t appreciate your offer, I was just trying to avoid dragging you and…and Jake into my problem,” she explained.
“I think you already managed to drag Jake in.” He must have seen her wince, because he apologized. “I’m sorry, that was low. You’re my friend Rand. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you.”
Oh, don’t say things like that. You’re making me feel worse.
The sound of his laughter broke through her thoughts. “What’s so funny?”
“Scout just grabbed another piece of chicken off the counter.”
She jumped up and chased the cat down the hallway. “Why didn’t you stop her?”
“I was distracted,” he called after her.
She slid into the room, fell to her knees, and lifted the dust ruffle up. Staring under the bed at the reflective eyes of her cat, she hissed, “If you think I’m giving you any tuna this week, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Her only answer was a high growl and the sound of munching.
Rand escorted Red to the door after dinner and as she walked him to the porch, she wondered what Jake would say if she said yes.
Stop worrying about Jake. He knew you’d have to pick someone eventually.
“So, I guess I’ll call you tomorrow or something.” he asked, leaning against the door of his truck.
“Sure, sounds good,” she said, stiffening when he stood back up and grabbed one of her hands. Reeling her into him, her stomach fluttered nervously as she found herself in his arms. “What are you doing?”
