Valentine Cowboys

by Cat Johnson

  Dakota hadn’t recognized her. Justus’s instinct to be jealous began to kick in before he squashed it.

  “Dakota?” Melody laughed. “Wow. You guys are still friends? That’s great.”

  Looking confused, Dakota frowned. After a few seconds, realization dawned and his eyes opened wide. “Melody? You’re back.” He shot a sideways look at Justus.

  “She’s back for a visit with her grandparents.” Justus knew they were both remembering the same thing—their fight in the woods behind the monkey bars.

  “Ah.” Dakota nodded.

  The players may be the same, but things were very different now. Mainly, he and Dakota were twenty-two-year-old men, not ten-year-old boys. They lived and worked together, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, at the Maverick ranch. They were best friends. More than that, they’d begun to train and compete together as team ropers, so they were partners, too.

  Twelve years ago they’d vowed to never let a girl get in the way of their friendship, and now the girl who’d caused them to make that promise stood before them. Justus glanced at Dakota, trying to judge if they were still on the same page in that respect. Dakota liked the ladies well enough. Hell, so did Justus. But this particular one had spelled trouble for them both. Though that was a long time ago. People changed. Had Melody?

  “So how long you here for?” Dakota took a step closer to where Justus stood. He leaned his ass against the edge of the pool table so they were shoulder to shoulder, facing her opposite them. Was that move meant to show Melody it was the boys against the girls? Maybe things hadn’t changed all that much since fifth grade.

  Then again, maybe Dakota’s new boots hurt his feet and he needed to lean against something.

  Matters involving females were just as confusing to Justus now as they had been then. Sad but true. He needed to get out more.

  “Just for the week, but if things work out, there’s a chance I may be moving back.” Melody eyed their mugs. “That beer looks nice and cold.”

  That was a hint if ever Justus heard one. His brow rose as he waited to see how Dakota would react.

  Dakota took a sip and nodded slowly. “Yup. It sure is. You should get yourself one.”

  Melody’s brows rose in surprise and Justus had to restrain a smile. Dakota was still pissed about what she’d done all those years ago. They had gotten in some pretty big trouble for fighting. Their parents had been notified, so they’d both been grounded. And then for the rest of the month the two of them had to sit inside the classroom alone during recess and do schoolwork while the others in the class played outside. All that punishment had done was seal their friendship. They grew closer from spending all that time together.

  But once the rumor had spread they were fighting over Melody, she got even more popular while Justus and Dakota got nothing but teased about it. Come to think of it, Dakota probably had a right to be pissed off. Hell, if Justus wasn’t such a forgiving person, he might still be mad too.

  Melody, in the meantime, had pasted a sweet smile on her face. If she was shocked that the two cowboys she’d played so easily twelve years ago weren’t going to jump to buy her a beer now, she’d hidden it. “So do you two still live with your parents?”

  Ouch. There was a dig in that question. He’d heard a rumor she’d gone to college. She was probably insinuating two cowboys with no more than a high school diploma couldn’t make enough at whatever they did for a living to afford to move out.

  Justus shook his head. “Nope. We both moved out years ago.”

  “Oh? You got your own places.” Her brows rose.

  “We both live at the Maverick ranch.” Dakota delivered that piece of news with a cocky smile.

  In these parts, hell anywhere really, the name Maverick commanded a lot of respect. Old Jake Maverick may no longer be around, but the retail corporation his family had founded a hundred years ago, and the four-thousand-acre cattle ranch that had been in his family for generations, were household names.

  Growing up, Justus could remember sitting in his father’s truck and passing the big gates over the ranch entrance that read Maverick. Back then, Justus had never dreamed he’d ever work there, or actually live there, right along with the Maverick family.

  Pride swelled in his chest. “We don’t just live there. We work there, too, as ranch hands. Blue Boyd’s our boss.”

  “Bonner Blue Boyd, the state rodeo champion?” Her eyes opened wider.

  Ha! Score one for the cowboys. Whether she wanted to be or not, she was obviously impressed they knew Blue so well. Justus nodded. “Yup.”

  “Well, I see I was wrong about you two.” Melody crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Wrong about what?” A deep frown creased Dakota’s forehead.

  She shrugged. “I’d assumed you’d never amount to anything. Ranch hands, impressive.”

  Justus didn’t know much about a lot of things, but he knew sarcasm when he heard it. She was making fun of them. His insides steamed.

  “Dakota, we probably should be getting home soon.” Justus glanced at Dakota, and then swung his gaze back to Melody. “The live-in housekeeper has breakfast on the dining room table for us at dawn every morning. She gets mighty pissed if we’re late.”

  “That’s right. And besides that, with Blue still away in New York handling stuff at Maverick Western corporate headquarters, we’re in charge of the whole operation here. It’s only four-hundred head, but we’re nearing calving season, so there’s a lot more to worry about.” Dakota, quick as a whip, caught right on to Justus’s plan and added more information that would hopefully fuel Melody’s envy.

  The best part was, not a word of it was a lie. They may sleep in the bunkhouse, but they did get to eat three meals a day, served to them by Mrs. Jones in the Maverick homestead’s dining room. On holidays they even ate with the good silver. And with Blue away they really were in charge of the whole place. Blue may keep talking about hiring a ranch manager to run things when he was traveling, but he never seemed to get around to doing it.

  Justus nudged Dakota in the side with his elbow as he thought of more to say to impress Melody. “Oh, and you know what else? We still have to email Miss Casey the changes we made to the agenda for that executive retreat she’s planning to hold at the ranch next month.”

  “You’re right.” Dakota glanced at Melody. “Miss Casey is Maverick Western’s director of marketing. When Mr. Maverick hired her for the New York headquarters last year, Justus and I had to take her around and show her ranch life and stuff. Now she wants us to help with this big training thing next month for the other managers and directors and stuff from New York.”

  That was kind of a stretch since it had been Blue who’d been assigned to show Miss Casey around, but they were right there working with him, so it was close enough to the truth. Justus glanced at Melody and saw an odd expression on her face. Maybe she was starting to realize they weren’t such dumb hicks after all.

  Justus smothered his smile at that. “So, Melody. What are you doing with yourself nowadays? You working? Going to school?”

  “Well, um, I graduated from college.”

  “Congratulations.” Dakota managed to be gracious. Meanwhile, all Justus could think was aw, crap. She had a college degree. No wonder she was acting all superior.

  “Yeah, thanks.” Melody kicked the toe of her boot against the dingy bar floor and didn’t make eye contact with him, which made Justus think there was more here than met the eye.

  He decided to pursue it. “So you must have a really great job then. Right?”

  “Not exactly.” For the first time tonight, Melody looked human, with all the insecurities the rest of them had. Gone was Miss Perfect with the superior attitude. Cracking through the uppity façade she’d put on since walking in here was what he suspected was the real Melody, the person she was when she wasn’t putting on a show for everyone.

  “Oh? What’s up?” Justus asked.

  “It’s a really bad economy. And i
n hindsight, getting a degree in art history probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.” She finally raised her gaze from the floor. “I’m having trouble finding a job. I’ve been looking since I graduated last May.”

  Today was February first. That was a long time to be without work. Justus had started working part time when he was fifteen and hadn’t been without employment since. He couldn’t even imagine what Melody was feeling. He glanced at Dakota. Even he looked like he had softened a little bit toward her as well.

  Justus turned back to Melody. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find one eventually,” Dakota added.

  “Yeah. Eventually. That’s why I’m here actually. There’s an opening at our old school for a teacher. I have an interview. Can you imagine if I get the job? Me teaching fifth grade.” She smiled and this time, it looked genuine.

  “You’ll be a huge improvement over old Mrs. Stowe,” Justus said with a grin.

  Melody laughed. “The sad thing is, old Mrs. Stowe was probably only like thirty when she taught us.”

  “Could be,” Justus agreed, remembering their teacher’s signature ugly sweaters. She had a different one for each holiday. “She’s still there, you know, but she’s assistant principal now.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I heard,” Melody said.

  “Hey, you want a beer?” Justus was aware of the look Dakota shot him at that offer.

  She smiled. “I’d love one. Thank you.”

  “Be right back.” Justus pushed off the pool table, and tried to ignore Dakota’s glare.

  “I’ll come with you.” Dakota launched himself after Justus, and the moment they were out of earshot he poked him in the side. “Justus, what the hell are you doing?”

  “Buying an old school friend a drink.” Justus kept walking toward the bar.

  “She hasn’t changed.” Dakota’s tone let him know he wasn’t happy with this new turn of events.

  “One draft please.” Justus leaned an elbow on the bar and turned toward Dakota. “I don’t know. She seems a little bit more humble now that she has a fancy college degree and still can’t find a job.”

  “And that’ll change once she does get one. Then she’ll be playing her little games with us again, just like she did back in Mrs. Stowe’s class. What are you going to do then? Buy her another beer?” Dakota’s expression turned hard.

  After digging his wallet out of his pocket, Justus threw a five-dollar bill to the bartender. “No, I’m not. No girl comes between our friendship again. Remember?”

  Dakota’s brows rose. “Oh, I remember. It’s your memory I’m worried about.”

  “Well, stop worrying. Kill them with kindness. That’s what my gramps always used to say.” He pushed a dollar bill from his change back toward the bartender and grabbed the foam-filled mug off the bar.

  “Let’s hope your kindness doesn’t kill our friendship. I’m going to take a piss.” Dakota turned and stalked toward the restrooms in the back as Justus sighed.

  Yup. Women sure did complicate things.

  Chapter Two

  From the rear of the dimly lit bar, Dakota watched Justus standing close to Melody as she sipped on her beer—the beer Justus had bought her. She seemed to be drinking it in the most seductive way possible. How could Justus not see she was the same girl she had been way back then? She’d probably be happy to see them rolling around on the beer-splattered floor fighting over her while the rest of the folks in the bar cheered them on. She’d probably be wearing a big old grin the entire time, just like she’d done in fifth grade when she’d orchestrated their first and only fight.

  Well he, for one, was not going to allow it to happen, no matter what Justus said or did. Scowling, Dakota walked back to the pool table. Justus glanced up, and must have caught on to his unhappiness from the expression on his face, because his smile disappeared.

  Justus’s brows drew down in a frown as he looked at Dakota. He turned back to Melody and hooked a thumb in the direction of the restrooms. “Ah, Melody, I’ll be back in a sec. Okay?”

  “Sure.” She smiled sweetly.

  Bitch.

  “Stop looking so pissed off.” Justus leaned close and hissed.

  Dakota’s eyebrows shot up. “Then you stop acting as if she’s changed.”

  “Whatever. Try and be nice while I’m gone.” Justus let out a huff of breath and pushed past Dakota, heading back to the bathrooms.

  “Whatever,” Dakota mimicked Justus after he’d walked away. That had to be the most annoying word in the English language, and the fact his best friend was saying it to him in such a nasty tone was proof that Melody was trouble. Nothing but trouble.

  Luckily, Dakota was good at dealing with problems. Hell, he dealt with difficult issues all damn day, and sometimes all night, at the ranch. Compared to stubborn young bulls and a couple of hundred cows about to give birth, one stuck-up chick shouldn’t be too hard to handle.

  Dakota made his way back to where he’d left his beer on the table and picked the mug up. Taking a swallow, he leaned against the pool table again—these new going-out boots weren’t broken in yet and they were starting to pinch.

  “So, you’re back and looking for work.” They’d covered this topic already, but Dakota enjoyed it so much the first time, he decided to revisit the subject.

  “You don’t like me very much, do you, Dakota?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head and sipped at his beer.

  She laughed. “Well at least you’re honest about it.”

  “I’m always honest, which is more than you were when you invited Justus and I to fight over you in front of the whole fifth grade.”

  “First of all, I can’t believe you’re actually still upset over something that happened in fifth grade. And second, I was being honest back then. I really didn’t know which one of you I liked best.”

  Dakota’s brows shot up. “So you thought you’d see which one of us could beat the crap out of the other? Then what? You’d suddenly like the winner best? Nice.”

  “No.” Her dark brows knit in a frown. “I really wanted to kiss you both. You two are the ones who started fighting. I never wanted that.”

  “Bullshit. You smiled through the whole thing.” He knocked the brim of his hat back a bit so he could better glare at her.

  “Because I couldn’t believe you both liked me enough to fight over me.” She put her mug down on the table with a splash and planted her fists on her hips.

  “You’re right, fifth grade is long gone. That shit doesn’t matter now.” He made direct eye contact with her to make sure she knew he was serious. “But I’m telling you one thing—Justus and I are closer than brothers now. We’re not ten years old any more and we sure as hell ain’t gonna be fighting over you again. So if you’ve got any ideas in your pretty little head about pitting us against each other in some sort of competition for you, you can just forget about it.”

  Movement caught his eye and he turned to see Justus standing nearby, watching them. Dakota spun to face him, silently daring him to contradict what he’d said.

  “Dakota’s right, Melody. He and I aren’t going to be fighting over anything.” Justus swung his glance from Melody to Dakota. “But I’m sure Melody has more weighing on her mind right now. Her interview for one thing. She won’t have time to be worrying about us. Right?” He shot her a look.

  “Right.”

  Dakota’s gaze moved between Justus and Melody. “That’s fine, but I needed to set things straight, right up front so there’s no doubt in anybody’s mind how things stand.”

  “I understand just fine,” Melody snorted. “And don’t you worry because I have a boyfriend.”

  “Oh?” Justus swatted him in the ribs. “See, Dakota, she has a boyfriend.”

  Yeah, and Dakota had a million dollars buried under the bunkhouse. Bullshit. He knew a lie when he heard it. Damn girl had better never play poker because she couldn’t bluff for crap. “Uh, huh. That’s nice. What’s his
name?”

  “Bob.” There had been the briefest hesitation before Melody answered, during which she got a look of panic on her face.

  Dakota stood by his theory that she was lying. “Bob, huh? And what does Bob do for a living?”

  “He’s a, uh, attorney.”

  “Attorney? Wow. That’s impressive. How old is he?”

  “He’s my age. Well maybe he’s a year older.”

  She didn’t know how old her boyfriend was? She was totally lying. Dakota smiled. “Hmm, that’s extra impressive since attorneys have to go to regular college for four years then to law school for three years, and then take the bar exam. He must be really smart. Did he graduate high school at like fourteen?”

  Melody’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, fine. There is no Bob.”

  Justus spun to her with a frown. “Then why did you lie?”

  “Because you two have your lives together and I don’t, and all these years later I still wonder what it would be like to kiss you both, which is really annoying because he’s being such a dick to me.” Melody’s rant concluded with a frustrated huff, as Dakota stood by in shock.

  He didn’t mind being called a dick, but the rest was quite a revelation. She still, after all these years, wondered what it would be like to kiss them…both of them.

  Melody hadn’t changed at all. This was all part of her game. Her life was a mess but she still had her looks. She’d probably just love to ride the high of having two guys after her again. Dakota was sure of it. Well, if that’s what she wanted, then that’s what she’d get.

  He’d kiss her, all right. So would Justus, if Dakota had anything to say about it. They would call her bluff, only this time, unlike all those years ago, they would be united against her. If she were playing games and saying she wanted them both when all she really wanted was the attention of them fighting over her, she’d likely run out of the bar and never bother them again. But if she was serious, and was really willing to kiss them both, and more, then hell, he was up for giving her what she wanted. No problem. What man didn’t fantasize about having a threesome at least once in his life? Damn, just the thought had his throat feeling tight—parts lower, as well.