I hear Dot snort at that and I want to second that snort and raise it two more. I may not be partying and drinking all the time, but who can find the time or the energy for that tripe when Jones had me knocked out cold with a smile on my face?
“Okay, so let’s say she agrees to stick around here with me for a while. What then?”
Oh please do tell, I’m dying to hear what the little sneak has up her sleeve. Not that it’ll work since my plans are already in motion as we speak, and by this time next month Jones, that rat bastard, will be engaged. Idiot!
“Well Jack and Freddie are going to get to him tomorrow and give him a good talk about the shit he’s been making my poor Indie suffer. He needs to know how she feels before he can make the right choice, and knowing Calamity Jane she hasn’t bothered to tell him.
As if I want to just put that out there and have him reject me anyway. That would be so much worse, and since I have no intentions of taking myself out before they find proof of aliens, I haven’t done that to myself.
I had self-preservation in mind just like every other human being with a brain, ya know.
“Fine. But I swear if he doesn’t come through on this I will kill him and have Paul feed him to the pigs. They eat almost everything. I read it somewhere. All we’d have to get rid of is the knee caps.”
Those words coming out of sweet little Dotty’s mouth make me want to laugh and do a fist pump. I guess all those pregnancy hormones must finally be kicking in. Percy chuckles softly and they move on to other topics while I lie there and just think.
I really don’t like Percy calling me fragile. I’m not weak, I’m strong and one hundred percent rock solid and that is that. I am whatever I want to be, and I never, ever want to hear my name and the word fragile used together.
I also am not too jazzed about Jack and the boys going to Jones and telling him I’m in love with his dumb ass.
The only thing worse than unrequited love is having someone pity love you.
It’s not great that the fam has decided to step in, but whatever. Percy is completely right. I’m tired, I need some time to just rest and think about what I want, and you know what? I think I will stay here. It’s far from Jones, far from my troubles, and I kinda like it here even though I can smell cows and horse shit from time to time.
Yeah. That’s right, Indie, you deserve a break to just kick back and relax. Plus, I’ve met some of the ranch hands that work here and live in the bunkhouse and maybe what Indie needs is a little rebound action to make things all better.
Oh hell yeah. What’s that saying? Save a horse and ride a cowboy?
Well, Mama is about to get her some fine man flesh and by the time I’m done showing these good old boys what a girl with a wild streak can do, I’ll be thinking Jones who?
I’ve never had a cowboy, and far as I can imagine, riding a stranger is much preferable to going back to what I know and getting hurt anyway.
***
Jones
Irmina…I can’t even remember her full name, but she is a nice enough woman with blond hair a shade too light for my liking and blue eyes that do nothing for me but remind me that the brown eyes I want to be looking into are nowhere nearby, avoiding me, my calls, and whatever issue made Indie walk away after flipping me the bird.
I was so pissed at her last night when I came home from yet another evening watching the time and wishing I could just leave and…dammit, when she wasn’t at home and I couldn’t slide into bed and cuddle her sleep-warmed softness I was just angry.
Then I started to worry, and then when she wasn’t answering my calls I got pissed all over again. When she came in so drunk she could hardly walk I was ready to kill her, but something about the look in her sad brown eyes gave me pause, so instead of yelling I put her to bed and held her all night, checking to making sure she didn’t puke in her sleep.
This morning I woke with new resolve to find out what had her so mad in the first place, only to get the cold shoulder before she locked herself in the bathroom and left for Percy’s with some feeble excuse that they had a breakfast planned.
I let her go again and maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I did because I was still wary of asking her what I’d said to hurt her, but then…
She just up and disappeared on me and only called me when they were in the air and it was too late for me to go get her stubborn ass and demand answers.
“So, Woody, what do you do for a living?”
I refocus on Irmina, not wanting to be rude since the poor woman is so painfully shy it must be almost torturous for her to be here and talking to me.
“I’m part owner of a brokerage firm that we branched out a while back. I handle acquisitions and I mostly buy and sell companies that are going bankrupt. Sometimes I break them down and sell off what I can for a good profit, and sometimes I work up a rescue plan and keep it as a subsidiary of our firm.”
I can see she isn’t the slightest bit titillated as much as Indie was. That little wretch was salivating at the thought of me breaking apart companies and salvaging what I could from an already bad situation. Plus, she’s sort of a snob about rich people and she likes hearing how they got cut down to size. Little savage.
“Forgive me for being forward.” She blushes and I find myself holding back a grimace.
After Indie and her brash manner and refusal to feel shame or embarrassment or anything, it’s sort of annoying to have to see a woman with zero confidence stutter and look anywhere but at me. A few weeks ago I would have been taken with how soft spoken and genteel this girl is. Now all I feel is the need to leave and go find the woman who has captured my mind and taken over my every waking thought.
She’d never look away when talking to me. She’d meet my eyes head on, challenge me, and then insult my manhood. She’d also cut a main artery before letting a blush stain her cheeks since she considers that weak and gross.
Ah, my Indie.
Did I just say my Indie, and am I really sitting here looking at this beautiful woman who is everything that I have ever wanted and thought I needed, and coming up dissatisfied?
Yes. The answer is yes because right now instead of being satisfied that I’m on a date and could potentially be with this woman who is well educated, poised, and understated in her manner, all I can think is…
She’s too quiet.
She’s not brash or in any way outstanding.
She’s too shy.
Her skin isn’t as perfect as Indie’s, even with all those tattoos.
She’s not Indie.
My Indie.
The woman I love.
The truth of that statement hits me from out of nowhere and it’s so startling that I have to stop myself from jumping up immediately and running hard.
To Indie. Who I need to apologize to and beg to forgive me because it just whammies me that I treated the woman I love as if she wasn’t even there until I wanted her.
Woody, you fucking ass! What the hell have you done?
I see it all now, with such clarity that I groan with remorse and not a little amount of fear. All those times I told myself to focus only on her flaws and see the worst in her, I was denying the attraction that even then had me by the balls.
“Oh shit.”
“Um, Woody, are you okay? You’re looking pale.”
My eyes snap up to Irmina and I shake my head, feeling like I’ve just lost my Jenny like Forrest did.
“No. I think I may have fucked up the only good thing in my life and I’m sitting here with you when I should be with her.”
That gets me a soft smile and I almost swallow my tongue when she laughs at me and nods.
“Good. Taylor told me you might realize your mistake quick enough, but I was starting to seriously wonder about your intelligence after I spoke to Indie for so long.”
“Huh?”
That earns me another giggle, and while I can’t say the woman is in any way more brazen, she is not at all what I’ve seen for the last hour.
/> “I spoke to her on the phone, Woody. She is such a great person. I liked her immediately, which is saying a lot since I don’t usually like people without a lot of convincing. She had me relaxing within the first five minutes of talking to her and even had me wondering why she would match you at all when every word she spoke told me clearly of the love she has for you.”
I feel like I’m going to puke even as she pats my hand and signals to the waiter to bring us another round of drinks.
“I’ve messed it up. She’ll never forgive me for the way I’ve treated her. Indie isn’t a very forgiving person, like at all, and she hardly spoke to me after…”
After I made love to her with so much heat and intensity I wanted to beat on my chest and bite into her, mark her in some way because I was staking my claim even without knowing it. And then I screwed it all up and hurt her by talking about another woman minutes after having her.
She must think I am the worst prick on the planet, and the truth is I am. I am because instead of cherishing what was right in front of me, I have hurt her around every turn.
“But she does love you, Woody, enough to give you what she thinks you want even when it hurts her. That is so rare that you can’t just give up, not when you have the chance to have something amazing. You need to make this right.”
Yeah, I really do because if I don’t, if I just accept that she’s gone I won’t ever be happy again. I can’t go on without her. I won’t. I will never have another woman in my life because none of them will ever compare to her.
“How? How do I get her back?”
Irmina smiles at me and looks up. When I do the same I’m met with three grinning faces that make me groan with acceptance because I know they’re about to screw me over in the best way.
“Well now, boy, you asked just the right question.” Jack laughs, slapping my shoulder hard enough to send me sprawling onto the table.
“Goddammit, don’t enjoy this too much, asshole.”
He, Freddie and Marks are grinning at me evilly and I look over to the window where I hear banging to see Callie, Luci, and Percy smiling with sadistic glee, Percy doing some sort of belly dance that bodes very ill for me in its happy jig.
“Ah, Wood, no pain, no gain. Tell me, have you ever considered YouTube?”
Chapter Sixteen
“You shall not pass!” -Gandolf
Indie
The last week has been one of the best of my life. I’ve slept late every morning and slouched around the house helping Dot with her chores and feeding the men at lunchtime. I’ve just been…free, I guess.
For the first time in years I’m not working myself to death, studying, hopping bars looking for a distraction or thinking about anything other than the peace and tranquillity around me.
Sometimes I trail Paul or his foreman Jules and watch as they fix fences or do all the cow stuff they seem to find so satisfying, though that’s been cut down of late since I stepped in a cow shit minefield with my sneakers. They were un-saveable and I had to toss them, leading me to believe that walking around on a ranch is not great and neither is Dot’s life, no matter what she says, because if it gets on me after one little amble, her washing must be toxic.
The point is that I’m at peace and feeling good. All I have to do to keep this up is not think about real life or Jones and I do just fine. I haven’t even cried yet because I just can’t.
Percy was so right. I should never had set him up on that last date and sent him off to wedded bliss.
What I should have done instead of throwing a tantrum is kicked him in the nuts, tied him to the bed where he couldn’t move, and told him the two million reasons why he is mine.
Instead here I am, mooning over the man and his memory rather than doing what I should be doing and spitting in karma’s eye.
Maybe yelling at her isn’t a good idea, but come on, like I care what she throws at me when I’m too awesome to get the hint.
Mind made up, I hop from the bed and run around in a circle before stopping with a frown. I can’t do a damn thing right now, it’s one in the freaking morning!
Dammit.
What am I gonna do for the next four hours before Paul wakes up and I can start harassing him about getting the jet here?
I know!
“Goddammit, what the hell, Indiana? It’s not even morning!” Jack barks when he answers the phone.
“So listen, you know how I was all pathetically sad about Jones and how I ran away to lick my wounds like a tragic little puppy who lost a dog fight against the big boys?”
“Yeah?” he says hesitantly, his fear of my reaction making me giggle a bit as he breathes out and waits.
“Well that is just so not me, Jack. I mean, I’m the girl who danced down the aisle with my crew and went topless to the wet shirt contest, because hey, I was aiming to smoke the competition.”
“Ooookay.”
I can hear the amusement in his tone and I feel my spirits lift at the crazy, stupid idea I’ve been brewing for the last hour.
“That got me thinking. If I can do all that crazy shit and not give a damn about what others think, then why should I be licking my butt out here in the boonies when I could be home telling Jones just how it is, you know?”
“Really?”
He sounds so excited I can hardly stand to listen to him.
“Stop being gross and teary-eyed, princess. It’s just me coming home and being me, as usual. If that man thinks I’m gonna let him ruin the future I dreamed up just because he’s an idiot stuck on an ideal woman, he’s got another thing coming. Coincidentally….you wouldn’t happen to be okay with helping me get rid of a body, would you?”
“Jesus. What have you done?”
“Not done. What am I going to do. I may or may not need to eliminate a certain woman. If he’s taken into his head that she’s his one, of course. Was the date okay? Did he go for her? Is he blind? Dammit, I should have just stayed there and beat him up a little, knocked some sense into him. Great, Indie, just fan-fucking-tastic, you fool. You basically pimped out your boyfriend because you’re a coward. Dammit.”
“Slow down there, crazy. It’s all good.”
“He liked her, didn’t he? And what’s not to like? She’s perfect.”
“Not for him. And yes, he did like her. I think he’s taking her to some wedding or something.”
“That asshole! He’s taking me to that wedding and he damn well better not think otherwise or I will murder him and hide him in the linen cupboard. I need the jet, Jack, and no, I don’t even care that I’m jerking you around. I need to come home and get my guy before his stupidly stubborn ass goes too far. By the way, tell Callie I may need her boss skills with the teeth if things go bad.”
He laughs, a full-bellied sound and I hear Callie grumbling and the rustle of sheets.
“Who you talking to?”
“Indie.”
“Gimme! Hey, girl, you coming home soon or what? Percy is about ready to pop.”
“What? That can’t be right. She’s only…”
“Yeah well, that’s what the doctors thought but she’s further along than they calculated. Apparently getting a period doesn’t mean you’re not cooking and booking.”
“I’ll be home today. If Jack stops hemming and hawing about that jet. By the way, cowboys are not as hot as we thought.”
“Noooo! Well there goes my dream of an affair with a hot wrangler,” she muses, giggling when Jack snarls. “Just kidding. Okay, good. You’re coming home. That took you way too long, loser, you should be ashamed of yourself. You’re a Naughty girl, you should have never retreated. What is it we always say?”
“If you can get it on merit alone, cheat?”
“The other one.”
“Um, if they don’t wanna bend, break a limb?” I say hopefully.
“No.” She chuckles. “The other one.”
Christ, we have so many little rules to live by I can hardly keep them straight anymore.
“I
don’t know! Never say die and spit in their eye?” I guess, my brain working furiously.
“That’s the one bad girl. Now get your ass packed, Jack is coming to get you.”
***
Turns out I don’t get to go home till her next day because Callie and Jack rushed little Jack to the hospital when the poor mite toddled into their room, puked on the carpet, and complained of a tummy ache.
What that means is that by the time I land late in the afternoon, just as the sun is setting, I miss Jones completely. I ran all the way here—well I took a cab but you get the message—only for the doorman to tell me that Mr. Jones has already left and is at the airport as we speak with his date for the wedding.
You can just about imagine my mood when I run out of his building and dive into another cab, my heart racing as I tell him to hit the gas and get me to the airport before I miss Jones altogether.
Am I furious that he’s hit it off with little Irmina Shakle, or whatever the fuck her name is? Yes! I want to kick his ass and my own for being so dumb and mule headed.
But I have to table that for now.
“What’s up?”
I look over at the cabbie and roll my eyes, but before I know it I’m spilling the whole messy tragedy as he speeds through traffic.
“Well now, that’s one I’ve never heard before. You really set your man up with other women?”
“Yeah and stop looking at me that way, cab driver person, I know it’s messed up. I just, I didn’t want him wanting me if he still had all those pathetic dreams about having some little asshole who doesn’t speak as his wife and the mother of his children.”
Grates my nuts just saying it, because as far as I am concerned I am the future mother of his little demon horde, and that is just that! If he so much as touches that woman in a way that spells attraction or seduction I will remove his dick with a rusty blade!
“Sorry, I’m just a little surprised is all. I’ve given you and that friend of yours—Callie, I think her name is—a ride on two other occasions and I never pegged you for a girl who lays down and gives up.”
Stupid ass! Like I really need him pointing that out to me right now when I’m pretty darn positive I’m not gonna make it to the airport on time!
THE NAUGHTY ONES: The Complete 5-Books Series Page 59
