Still buzzing from the sex and falling in love, Cleo dried off and got dressed. It had been Lissy’s day to get the boys off to school, and before Cleo had slipped into the shower with Judd, she’d gone over to the house to say goodbye to them and wish them a good day. She’d gotten hugs from Isaac and Leo and enthusiastic licks from Mango and Popsicle.
There’d been nothing enthusiastic about Beckham’s mood, but that’d been the norm since they’d found out that Mrs. Gateman was looking into fostering them herself. Cleo didn’t have any doubts as to what she felt for Judd, but she had plenty of both doubts and concerns about the social worker taking the kids. Unfortunately, some of those concerns were selfish ones on Cleo’s part.
She could lose them.
That pierced her heart in the total opposite way that falling in love had. Plain and simple, it sucked. She loved the kids and wanted to raise them. Having them had messed up everything and made it better at the same time.
Actually, that was an apt description of falling in love, too.
Judd probably didn’t feel that way about the “made it better,” and that was probably why she’d yet to hear him stir around in the bathroom. Considering that he might be waiting for her to leave so he could have some breathing space, Cleo finished dressing so she could pop over to the main house and have a quick cup of coffee with Rosy before she headed into work at the bar. But before Cleo could even make it to the door, she heard a car approaching.
Her first thought was that it was maybe a visit from Mrs. Gateman, but when Cleo opened the door, she spotted a man getting out of an SUV. A red-haired stranger who was so skinny that she wondered why his clothes didn’t just slide right off him.
“Miss Delaney,” he greeted as he approached her. “I’m Crawford Banning.”
There was instant name recognition, but because she knew who he was, it pretty much shot down what was left of her sex buzz. It was the reporter who was “friends” with Lavinia.
“What do you want?” Cleo asked.
His sigh let her know that he’d picked up on her hostile tone. “We need to talk.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. If you’re working with Lavinia, then you and I have nothing to say.”
“But we do,” he argued, catching onto the door when she tried to close it. “Lavinia has found some things that could cause lots and lots of trouble.”
* * *
MAYBE HE’D MISUNDERSTOOD CLEO.
Yeah, that had to be it, Judd decided as he hauled himself off the bathroom floor and to his feet. He’d misunderstood her or else she had truly meant it as a joke. But what if it wasn’t? What if she’d meant it?
Judd, I’m in love with you.
Well, fuck, fuck, fuck.
That wasn’t good. Falling in love with him was the highest ladder rung of things not to do. It would mess up everything. Including sex. And while sex wasn’t his top concern right now, it wasn’t something he wanted to mess up with her.
Still cursing, Judd turned off the shower, cleaned up and got dressed. He didn’t hurry because he was trying damn hard to figure out how to go about handling this. Cleo would probably want to talk it out, might even want to plead her case for why she’d done something so stupid as fall in love with him. He only hoped she wouldn’t want to do any case-pleading while she was naked. He already had strong evidence that her nakedness didn’t give him a good foundation for thinking straight.
Judd steeled himself, took a couple of deep breaths and came out of the bathroom. Much to his relief and to his dick’s disgust, Cleo was fully dressed. But she wasn’t alone. She was at the door and was talking to some guy. A tall lanky man with ginger hair and a pinched face. And she definitely wasn’t smiling now, something that put Judd on full alert.
“Judd,” Cleo said on a rise of breath. “This is Crawford Banning.”
Even though Judd had never met the guy, he knew exactly who he was. “Lavinia’s pissant reporter.” And, no, Judd didn’t bother to tone down his scowl or sound even remotely pleasant. “Fuck off,” he added since that was what he’d been wanting to tell the guy.
Crawford held up his hands when Judd went to shut the door in his face. “I need to talk to you. You should hear what’s going on.”
That stopped Judd, temporarily, anyway, from slamming the door, but he kept his hand in place in case this idiot said something he didn’t want to hear. Since he was in cahoots with Lavinia, there was a good chance of that happening.
“First of all, I’m not Lavinia’s reporter,” Crawford insisted. “Yes, she came to me to find dirt on you two. I had some time, thought it could have an interesting angle if I pulled up something.”
“You have a grudge against cops,” Judd snarled. “Because you got arrested for trespassing when you were trying to chase down a story.”
Crawford acknowledged that with a nod. “It started out as a grudge. Sort of. Coupled with Lavinia making me believe that the two of you were trying to screw her over. But then I found plenty of dirt on Lavinia herself.”
Judd’s grip on the door didn’t relax, but he gave the guy a nod to signal him to keep going.
Crawford took some folded-up papers from his pocket and handed them to Judd. “It’s a report about the dirt I found on her. I believe Lavinia’s the one responsible for destroying some plastic cows at the Angry Angus,” Crawford revealed, causing both Cleo and Judd to give him a flat look. “And I believe she vandalized the sign so that it read ‘Anus’ instead of ‘Angus.’”
More flat looks from Cleo and Judd. Obviously, this guy wasn’t giving them any news flashes.
“Lavinia’s been calling CPS to pressure them into taking the Morrelli children, her grandchildren,” Crawford went on, “and putting them into another foster home, one that has no association with either of you.”
Since Judd couldn’t flatten his look any more without his face imploding, he started to shut the door.
“And Lavinia’s going to feed some avocados to some chickens and set them loose in the bar,” Crawford blurted out. His words were a lot faster now. “Apparently, chickens get severe intestinal problems after eating avocados, and she wants them to crap all over the place and stink it up. She plans to sneak them in through the back door just before closing so that no one will notice them until it’s too late.”
The reporter stopped, maybe surprised when he finally got reactions from Cleo and Judd. Definitely not flat any longer. Cleo now had a similar expression as to when she’d made the asshole reference. An “ewww.” Judd just wondered if he should introduce Lavinia to Mercy so that Mercy could flatten her.
“I’ve installed some extra security at the bar, and she won’t be able to get in through the back door without a security code,” Cleo informed him. “But don’t tell her that. I’d like for the chickens to stink up her car while she’s trying to get inside.”
That was almost as good as having Mercy punch her lights out. Well, not good for the chickens.
“There’s more,” Crawford went on. “Lavinia asked me to dig into both your backgrounds.” He shifted his attention to Judd. “She thought there might be some dirt connected to your transfer out of Austin PD.”
Judd went with a glare this time. It was his favorite way to neither confirm nor deny a vague shit-fling like that while sending a strong signal that this was none of the reporter’s damn business.
After some moments of silence crawled on, Crawford turned to Cleo. “I don’t know how Lavinia found out, but I didn’t tell her,” the reporter said.
“Found out what?” Cleo snapped, and she sounded about as pissed off with this conversation as Judd was.
Maybe it was Judd’s intensified glare or Cleo’s narrowed eyes, but Crawford made an audible gulp before he continued. “That you actually own the Angry Angus. I’m sorry, Miss Delaney, but I think Lavinia plans to use that to cause some trouble for you.
She says she’s going to tell the cops.”
Since Judd had already cursed enough this morning, he didn’t add any more “shits,” “damns” or “hells.” He just stood there, shoulder-to-shoulder with Cleo, and watched the reporter hurry back to his SUV and drive away.
“I’ll make some calls to my cop friends,” Judd volunteered. “If all the paperwork for the sale of the bar was legit, then you should be okay.” And he hated that he had to qualify that with the “should.”
Cleo stayed quiet.
“I’ll also try to touch base with Mrs. Gateman today,” he went on when her quietness continued. “Or I’ll have Kace do it.” He was hoping by now the social worker had come to her senses and had decided to leave the boys at the ranch, but that was a mighty big hope. One that Cleo probably didn’t buy into.
“Thanks,” Cleo finally said. She turned toward him, their gazes meeting.
Judd went through another steeling up, figuring it was now time for them to have that talk about why she couldn’t be in love with him. But it wasn’t a talk look she gave him. Nor was there any gloom in her expression.
She smiled, and it wasn’t one of reassurance. Nope. It had a naughty edge to it with her teeth clamping over the side of her bottom lip. And—what the hell?—that glimmer in her gaze was an eye fuck. One that made his body wish they were right back on the bathroom floor again.
She fisted a handful of his shirt, pulled him down to her and kissed him. “Accept it, Judd. I’m still in love with you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CLEO HADN’T WANTED to have this conversation with Daisy over the phone while she was driving to San Antonio, but she couldn’t put it off any longer. With Daisy’s and her work schedules, there just hadn’t been a lot of opportunities for face-to-face conversations. Heck, there hadn’t been time for a lot of things.
Well, other than telling Judd that she loved him.
That had been pretty monumental. Along with hearing from the reporter that Lavinia might cause a stink about the bar—both literally and legally.
Both Cleo’s declaration of love and Lavinia’s plan had been important in their own way, but Cleo figured there was little she could do about either of them. The balls were in Judd’s and Lavinia’s courts now. Judd could either accept that she loved him or erect walls to keep them apart. Of course, in an ideal world, Judd would fall in love with her, too, but Cleo wondered if his past had already messed things up for his future. That’s what he thought, anyway, and it was why he’d wanted only rec sex from her, had a stuffed rattler and went all mantra with “dick inches.”
The ball was a little easier to decipher in Lavinia’s case. The woman would continue to spew her venom, period, and if she couldn’t do that by using the bar, she’d likely just find some other way. That’s why Cleo had to prepare Daisy for the storm that could be coming.
It was still early, barely 9:00 a.m., but if Daisy was on schedule, she would have already gotten her daughter off to preschool. Cleo got confirmation of that when Daisy answered on the first ring.
“I was about to call you,” Daisy said. “Lavinia came by this morning to gloat about how she’s going to bring down you and the bar. Can she do that?” Daisy asked after a pause.
“Not really. I paid for the bar and put it in your name.” It didn’t matter, she hoped, that she’d done that only so there wouldn’t be any hitches with a liquor license—something that had seemed so important just several months ago.
Apparently, some monumental things didn’t stay so monumental.
“I’m on my way to see Lavinia now,” Cleo explained. “I want one last chance to reason with her.”
“You can’t. She’s not a reasonable woman.”
The understatement of all understatements. But Cleo needed to try to get the woman off Judd’s back. Cleo didn’t know what had gone on in Austin to make him transfer, but if Lavinia had found some dirt, Cleo couldn’t have her using that against Judd. The memory of his near meltdown was much too fresh for him to be put through anything else like that.
“Isn’t there still a restraining order against Lavinia?” Daisy asked.
“Yes, but that’s so she can’t come to the ranch and get anywhere near the boys. I can still go to her house and get some things straight.”
Daisy’s huff was easy to hear. “You’d have more success just putting a voodoo spell on her.”
“I’ll keep that as an option,” Cleo said dryly.
“You should.” And Daisy wasn’t in the dry-tone mode. “It works. Power of suggestion and all that. Just say ‘I curse you’ three times and fling an imaginary wand at her. If you believe it hard enough, it’ll happen.”
Cleo really hoped it didn’t come to that. She equally hoped that her desperation level wouldn’t hit so high that she started to believe malarkey like that would work.
“What could you possibly say to Lavinia that would make her change her mind about anything?” Daisy persisted.
Well, Cleo did have an approach in mind, but it was one that Daisy might not like. Since there was no way to soften this, Cleo just blurted it out. “I want to sell the bar.” And she held her breath, waiting for Daisy’s reaction.
“Uh.” And that’s all Daisy said for several seconds. “So you can be closer to the boys and won’t have to drive back and forth?” Daisy asked. Cleo couldn’t tell from her tone if she was upset or just shocked.
“That’s part of it. A big part,” Cleo added. “There’s a chance the boys might not be able to stay in Coldwater, and I want to be able to move wherever they are. I don’t want to skimp on my promise to Miranda.”
“No,” Daisy quietly agreed.
“And I’d like a fresh start to do things the right way. If I buy another bar or have another business, I want everything out in the open. I want my name on the ownership papers. Then no one, including Lavinia, will have anything they can hold over my head.”
Cleo did more breath holding and waited for Daisy. She hoped her friend wouldn’t be so upset—
“Good,” Daisy said, interrupting Cleo’s mental trip down a worst-case-scenario lane. “I can tell you’re not enjoying this as much as you should be, and that means I’m not enjoying it, either.”
“I’m sorry,” Cleo said with a wince.
“No. Don’t be. You bought this place before Miranda got sick, and you had no idea what was going to happen. It’s just too much for you with the boys there and the bar here. Plus, I get the feeling you’d like to be closer to Judd.”
Yes, in more ways than one. But Cleo stayed quiet about that because there was a possibility that her being closer to Judd might not make things better for him.
“That’s why I have a business proposition for you,” Daisy went on a moment later. “Tiny and I could buy the bar together, and we’d both run it.” Daisy’s explanation came so fast that Tiny and she must have discussed it. “Tiny wants to change the name to the Pissed-Off Cow.”
Yes, definitely a discussion had gone on, and while Cleo didn’t exactly approve of the name change, she was glad that neither Tiny nor Daisy were the ones pissed off about this.
“My mom said she’d lend me the money for my half,” Daisy went on, “and then she could take care of doing some of the books and paperwork.”
Cleo felt as if she’d just had a massive weight taken off her shoulders. A weight that returned when Lavinia’s house came into view. Maybe this visit would go as well as the chat with Daisy had.
“Thanks for this,” Cleo told her. “Once I’ve chatted with Lavinia, I’ll come into the bar, and we can talk some more about this.”
“Why don’t you take the day off instead?” Daisy suggested. “You’ll need some downtime after you deal with Lavinia.”
Maybe, but Cleo was going to think positive about this. She ended the call and was about to get out of her car when she spotted the tru
ck pulling up behind her. Judd. She hadn’t mentioned coming here, but maybe he’d followed her. Or else he wanted his own version of a showdown.
Both Judd and she got out of their vehicles at the same time, and at the same time said, “I’ll handle this.”
They stopped, stared at each other. “You’re here to try to stop her from screwing me over,” Judd concluded.
Cleo only lifted an eyebrow to let him know that she was aware he was there to prevent the same for her. Apparently, screwing each other had spurred him to protect her.
“And you’re here to stop Lavinia from messing me over,” Cleo replied.
“She can’t do that. Not over the bar, anyway. SAPD won’t go after you for buying the bar and putting it in Daisy’s name.”
“Really?” Cleo asked.
“Really,” he assured her. He paused. “Sorry about that,” Judd said, tipping his head toward her. It took Cleo a moment to realize he was motioning toward her neck, which, of course, she couldn’t see. “A love bite,” he explained.
Oh. “I missed that when I was getting dressed. There’s another one.” She touched the top of her right breast and expected him to babble another apology or at least show some regret. But no.
There was heat in his cool brown eyes.
Heat that caused her to smile, and since she thought they could use some levity, she nudged him with her elbow. “You know, if you ever want your own personal suck mark, then all you have to do is ask.”
He glanced away, taking that heat from her, and he cursed. “I’d let you give me a thousand hickeys if it’d make you stop thinking you’re in love with me.” He stopped, frowned. “Guess that wouldn’t be the best way to prove that.”
“Probably not,” she agreed.
It was somewhat evil of her to enjoy watching Judd squirm. Of course, Cleo had to admit that her enjoyment was probably because of the tingle and tug he sparked inside her. The man could make her body burn. And she could apparently make him curse because that’s what he did when he started walking toward Lavinia’s front door.
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