Cowboy Strong (Cowboy Up Book 5)

by Allison Merritt

  She toyed with telling him her story of betrayal, but couldn’t. He’d help her because—well, she wasn’t sure why. And maybe right now it didn’t matter. But she understood how he felt. “Okay.”

  She checked her inbox, answering two queries from college students who needed help editing their papers. One of her former English professors recommended her, resulting in a steady stream of work and a surprisingly helpful income. She’d take the laptop with her to Dallas, if she couldn’t talk him into going alone.

  “Why Dallas?” she asked, before she realized she was going to.

  “Honey, this is Texas,” he drawled. “Where else would I get money?”

  She smiled and answered the one last email she couldn’t ignore, one from Eric, asking her to look at a couple of letters for him.

  She corrected the letters in seconds and sent them back with a message saying she and Joe needed to talk to him tomorrow. Then she turned off the computer and turned around, stretching. “All done.”

  “Fast,” he said. “No Facebook gossip or tweeting?”

  “Not tonight. I mostly use the computer for work.” She stood, wishing she could walk while she talked, but there literally was no room to pace. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to speak normally. “Joe, I had no right to ask you to do this. I don’t know—”

  He was on his feet before she could finish, wrapping his hands around her upper arms and giving her a slight shake. “Don’t you dare, Jody. Don’t worry about money or think that you owe me anything. We’re saving a horse that you love and I respect, and a bunch of others that should be allowed to live. It’s the right thing for me to do. For us to do.”

  She looked down, then back up. “Some would say that much money would help the established rescue operations so much, that they’ve been saving horses for years.”

  “But they couldn’t have saved Cowboy. Or any of Benton’s horses,” Joe pointed out. “I admire the folks who do this year after year, Jody. I’ve helped sometimes. Maybe not often enough. But we’re saving these horses.” He let go of her and stepped back. “That’s about all we can do this week,” he added, winking.

  She smiled slightly, but worry came rushing back. “So we pay Benton, check the horses and see Eric tomorrow?”

  “You left out throwing some stuff in a bag and heading to Dallas, but that sounds like a good start. Oh—and finding a place to put sixty horses when neither of us has property.”

  “Oh, that.” Jody twisted her hands. “I said I didn’t, but—I have property.”

  Joe’s shock was clear. “You do?”

  “It’s not legally mine, yet,” she explained. “Part of Eric’s ranch is mine now, and—” she looked uncomfortable saying it, but added, “He has nobody. The ranch will be mine when he’s gone. But right now, my portion is held by a trust.”

  “You surprise me, Jody. You’ll be able to get him to agree so easily?”

  She sighed and looked away from him. “Tomorrow. He’ll agree tomorrow. He loved my mother—he still loves her. So, before Saturday we’re back here with tons of money and a way to move sixty-something horses?” She rubbed her arms. “Anything I’ve forgotten?”

  “Only little stuff,” he assured her. “We need a vet on the grounds to check all of them. And we’ll need to feed them, too.”

  Jody nodded once. They were crazy. He made it all sound so easy. She still didn’t believe deep down that they could do it. The image of the horses at the export pens hit her. Joe was right.

  This was just little stuff. Saving Cowboy and the others was what mattered.

  She couldn’t imagine anyone else who would have undertaken this fool’s challenge. She looked at him, so close, solid as a rock. Light glinted in the brown eyes watching her and he seemed unshakeable, someone she could count on to help hold her together. She’d been wrong when she told him she didn’t need a hero. Tonight, she did. She needed him. Her body flushed with heat. She couldn’t speak, just stumbled forward and wrapped her arms around him, standing on tiptoes to press a kiss on his jawline. He went hard against her and his arms wrapped around her, his lips touching her forehead. Not returning her kiss, just holding her close.

  “Jody,” he whispered urgently, “are you sure? This isn’t something you think we have to do, is it? Something you think I expect because I’m helping?”

  She tilted her head far enough back to meet his eyes as she answered. “No. I just want you.”

  He sighed and lowered his mouth to hers. Gentle turned to desperate. Somehow clothes came off. Jody pulled him closer as she inched back, falling when the backs of her legs hit the bed, bringing him down on top of her.

  His lips left her lips and moved over her cheek, his chin scratching her throat. She reached for his head to urge him closer, but he muttered something and half fell off the bed as he fished for something, his bare midriff and ass exposed. She leaned over and pressed a kiss near his waist and he jerked and slid to the floor.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” he said from the floor. “I’m ticklish.” He climbed back up and put on the condom he’d been seeking, then turned and pushed her back to the middle of the bed. “Where were we—right about here?” he asked, brushing her throat again with his lips.

  So long. Jody caught his cheeks between her hands, urging him over her. “Later,” she murmured. “I want you. Now.”

  He thrust into her and she cried out in pleasure, digging her fingers into his back and moving under him, her body reacting to his demands and making its own, until their frenzied mating ended in explosions of noise and flaming colors.

  He turned on his side and pulled her close, holding her loosely while their breathing steadied.

  Almost immediately, the anxiety pressed in. What if he expected her to talk, to compliment him? Or claim love neither felt? She’d gone through that with the first—the only—mistake she’d let herself make.

  But Joe just held her, snuggled against him, occasionally brushing her sweat-dampened hair.

  “Wow,” he murmured eventually, sighing contentedly.

  She nodded, her lips against the wall of his chest, and felt him harden against her.

  “Wow,” she echoed, and he laughed and disappeared off the bed again.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Somehow during the night, they both wound up on the floor. Jody lifted her head briefly and glanced at the nearby bed, but it seemed impossibly high and far away when Joe was sleeping inches away. Smiling, she scooted over and found a comfortable position against him. He mumbled and moved, but didn’t wake up.

  She didn’t wake up after that until her alarm belted out its usual morning clamor. Even then, she pressed against Joe until Brooks and Dunn blasted her a second time.

  “Lord have mercy! You could have just called me,” he grumbled, pushing himself up. “Then again, after last night…we really have to get up, right?”

  “Right.” She wished she’d had the foresight to throw something on before he woke up. Standing up naked in front of him was agony. Her whole body burned. He’d been married. Who knew how many other women he’d slept with? She bet none of them turned fire engine red just because he watched them move.

  She wrapped herself in the shawl on her desk chair, feeling stupid, and nodded at the bathroom. “I’ll take the first shower, but if you need to go first—”

  He went without saying anything, pausing to kiss her forehead. When he came out, he waved at the door. “All yours. I need to get stuff out of my bag.”

  She rushed through the shower, pulled on clothes and went out to the kitchen. Joe was standing buck naked by the couch with his arms full of clothes, not looking at all abashed. She moistened her dry lips, and he noticed and grinned at her.

  “Benton,” she said curtly, not sure how to get him out of her living room. “We have to go meet Benton.”

  “Killjoy,” he muttered, but headed off with his bundle.

  While she waited, she fixed breakfast—fried egg sandwiches again. He’d probab
ly be polite and eat them, and they didn’t have time for anything else.

  She sat down abruptly as she thought of the daunting week ahead. Benton, Eric and whoever or whatever was in Dallas. She couldn’t look up at high buildings. Her mother had taken her to Dallas several times. She’d walked with her head down, trying not to bump into people. Her mother encouraged her to look up once or twice, but she’d gotten dizzy and stepped off the curb into the streets.

  “You look pretty glum,” Joe said, from the other side of the bar. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She waved at the sandwiches. “We need to eat and go.”

  He sat and began eating, watching as she bit her sandwich and pushed it away.

  “Nervous?”

  “How did we hook up, anyway?”

  He looked surprised at the question and she shook her head. “I don’t mean last night. I mean, at all. You’ve got a championship belt, an ex-wife and an invitation to be a reality TV star. I never deal with people face to face if I can help it. I—I’ll freak out after we see Benton. I might throw up when I have to argue with Eric.” She jumped up, picking up the plates as he took the last bite. “And Dallas? I would give anything not to go to Dallas.”

  He walked up behind her and pulled her back against him, resting his chin on the top of her head. “You’re stronger than you think, Jody. And there’s one thing you wouldn’t give up to skip Dallas.”

  She nodded and turned, leaning into his chest. His arms closed around her in a gentle hug.

  “Yeah.” She didn’t say it, but knew he was thinking it. Scared or not, she’d do anything to save Cowboy.

  ***

  Joe watched his speed and highway signs more closely than usual. All they needed was a traffic stop to ruin everything. He wondered if Benton would be on time or would arrive late just to make them squirm.

  Jody was already tied up in knots. She sat too stiffly, mostly staring straight ahead, her hands in tight fists. The one time she seemed to notice any of their surroundings was when they passed a pasture with quarter horses and Appaloosas grazing near a fence line. Her face softened and she turned to look at them until they were out of sight.

  When they arrived at the desolate pens, Benton’s car was already there. Joe pulled up a few yards from the car and hopped out. “Let me get the door for you,” he told her softly. She blinked in confusion, then shrugged and waited.

  He pulled it open, glad she hadn’t questioned. Benton was a snake. She might not appreciate the gesture, but he didn’t want her to deal with any unpleasantness that he might be able to buffer. Keeping her as close as possible seemed the best way to shut Benton out.

  As Jody slid down, he impulsively brushed her cheek with his lips.

  “This isn’t the time,” she muttered.

  Behind them, Benton chuckled. “Any time’s the right time, eh, Cowboy? But I’m in a hurry. Go look at the horses you’re in so hot to buy. Count ‘em. Then we’ll go get my money.”

  So much for protecting Jody. His hands knotted into fists and he was surprised he didn’t shake with the rage burning through him. But Jody was already halfway to the first pen, cell phone in hand, so he ignored Benton and followed her.

  She made a quick count, then turned to them. “You two count. We’ll see if it matches what I got. Then we’ll do the second pen.”

  She sounded all business, completely in control. But Joe noticed the tiny dots of perspiration forming on her forehead and above her lips.

  “Thirty-eight,” Joe said, pointing at the roan yearling nearest them.

  “Thirty-eight,” Benton agreed. “I hope you notice they got food and water.”

  “Where’s the buckskin weanling?” Jody asked him.

  Benton shrugged indifferently. “I buy horses that are going to die. Some of ‘em just don’t make it down to the slaughterhouse. The colt was sickly. That’s why he was in a kill lot, Colton.”

  Joe drew in his breath, wishing he could flatten Benton. Or hug Jody. From her expression of loss, she’d had plans for the little guy. Soon. Soon we’ll be through this. He willed Jody to understand his thought.

  Watching Jody march to the next sad head count, he remembered telling her he wouldn’t stay. That he didn’t know what he wanted.

  But what if he did? What if Jody was just what he wanted—and it turned out that he wasn’t what she needed at all?

  CHAPTER TEN

  Jody stared at Joe as they headed toward the bank. She wasn’t used to being driven around. She didn’t say anything, because Benton probably believed men should drive and women should sit idly by and paint their nails. She looked at her own unpolished nails, then back at Joe. Usually she was alone in her car. But Joe was good company.

  Memories of the night they’d spent together made her smile in spite of herself.

  Joe looked at her just then and her smile faded. Their first night together might have been their last. Better to focus on the problems ahead.

  “Left at the second light,” she said as they passed the city limit’s sign.

  A few minutes later, Jody’s account manager waved them into the office. She fidgeted. She’d been here a few times, but usually managed everything online.

  Efficient and pleasant, Ms. Ramos collected the paperwork she needed and returned quickly with thirty thousand dollars. She’d agreed to it and Joe had committed them to four times that amount, but Jody had to swallow a couple of times as she watched Benton count the bills.

  “You’re buying horses?” Ms. Ramos chatted while Benton counted a second time. Jody didn’t really want to talk, but coming here had been deliberate; she wanted others to know in case Benton tried to back out.

  “Sixty-three of them,” Jody told her.

  “Reckon that does it,” Benton said, standing. “I’ll look for the rest Friday morning, Roberts.” He ignored Ramos’s outstretched hand and walked away.

  “I’m sorry,” Jody apologized, “he—”

  “It’s not your fault, honey.” Ms. Ramos walked with them to the door. “But I bet those horses will be happier with you.”

  You have no idea. They shook hands with her and the bank officer smiled. “Jody, tell Eric hello for me, next time you see him.”

  “Sure,” Jody answered automatically.

  “We’re on our way to see him now,” Joe noted, and Jody glared.

  “Really?” Ms. Ramos sounded delighted. And nosy, as she prodded for more gossip. She looked from Jody to Joe and grinned ear to ear. “So, will we be hearing some kind of announcement soon?”

  “Maybe,” Joe answered.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” Jody whispered as they left. “You know she thinks—she was checking my finger for an engagement ring!”

  “Gotta love small towns.” He looked around. “I guess.” Then he stretched and handed her the keys. “Faster if you drive, since you know the way.”

  Could the man read minds? Jody climbed into the cab without asking him. Better that he let her drive here than in Dallas. Sooner than she wanted, they were pulling up outside the sprawling ranch house where she’d grown up.

  “He’s in the office,” Jody told him, leading him down a hall. “I’ll be right back. He’s expecting us.”

  He nodded and stepped into the office, hoping Eric wasn’t armed and that Jody would come back. What exactly was he supposed to say?

  Eric got up to shake his hand and motioned to a chair. The man looked old, Joe thought. And as if he expected to be hammered with bad news.

  Jody came in and her stepfather merely nodded at her. No physical contact at all. How sad. It made him wonder how in the world he could take Jody home with him. His family would be on her like ticks.

  She sat down in the empty chair, inching it closer to him than to Eric’s desk.

  “How are you?” she asked formally, her hands clasped together.

  “Fine. I got your text, Jody.” Eric shook his head. “I didn’t understand the damn thing. You want me to turn over your mother’
s part of the ranch now because of what? You know she didn’t want that used until the ranch was sold or you inherited it outright.”

  “But I need it now,” Jody argued. “You know if I could ask her, she would say yes.”

  “So what’s the deal with you and Jody, Joe?”

  Joe shrugged. “We’re trying to save some horses, including her horse—including Cowboy. But we’ve only got a few days and we need to put up some shelters and maybe separate some that need special attention. We just really need your help, Eric.”

  “That’s not what I was asking, though,” he said to Jody.

  She flinched. “We’re together. Not permanently. Neither of us wants that. But I won’t lie. Right now, we’re together.”

  He sighed. “You know how I feel about that—and how Katie would have felt. She tried to tell you.” He turned his attention back to Joe. “When I married her mom, it was hell. At the time, there was still oil on the ranch. Fracking wasn’t a thing. Everyone—all the gossips, workers on ranches, especially the press—knew I was marrying her for money. I wasn’t. We loved each other. But you’re going to hear that, too, you know. And there’s not even much money to speak of, now.”

  “I told you we’re not marrying!” Jody snapped.

  “But where do the two of you plan to stay? What are you going to do with a bunch of sick old horses?”

  “We don’t know yet. We’ve thought about setting up a non-profit foundation but all the rules and regulations…the horses have to be moved by Saturday at midnight, Eric.” Joe shrugged. “It’s a lot to ask.”

  “And we need to stay here. We wouldn’t ask you to look after a bunch of horses you didn’t want,” Jody added, her tone calmer. “We can stay in my room.”