Borrowed Cowboy (Shadow Maverick Ranch) (8 page)

Chapter Twelve

Pax stumbled over his tongue when Reese walked into the kitchen.

The voice in his ear muted as she rounded the counter and headed for the coffee pot. She filled a mug and, with a grin and a saucy wink, slipped her bikini-clad body out to the deck.

Distantly aware of a buzz in his ear, Pax craned his neck as she settled on a chaise lounge and started rubbing lotion over her legs.

Fucking
hell
, that was sexy.

“Earth to Pax. What the shit? Did I lose you?”

Dragging his gaze away, Pax refocused on his phone call. “Sorry about that, Gav. Reese just woke up.”

His brother was quiet for a moment. “Do you need to call me back?”

“No, it’s cool. She’s outside catching some sun.”

“Ah. Gotcha. Lemme guess, skimpy bathing suit?”

Pax peeked out the door, just to refresh his memory. As bikinis went, he guessed it could be considered on the modest side. No tiny strings holding the thing together, all her bits securely covered. But still, bikini. Reese. A combination guaranteed to get his blood pumping.

“It’s a bathing suit, man. Skimpy or not, do the math.”

“I hear you. The first time Lauren came to the beach house … yeah, so not sharing that memory.” Gavin cleared his throat. “You sure you want to do this?”

“Positive.” It was all he’d thought about since last night. “It’s time. Hell, it’s past time, but I’m at a loss as to where to start.”

“No worries. I got this,” Gavin told him and Pax’s chest swelled. He really did have the greatest family. Ever.

“I really appreciate it, Gav. Let me know what you need from me.”

“You got it.”

Pax hung up, unable to keep the stupid grin from his face.

He swiped his own mug from the counter and stepped onto the deck. They had a few hours of broken sunshine, tops, before the rain came in and they had to head home. He planned to make the most of it.

His shadow blocked the sun from Reese’s face. She cracked an eyelid to look at him.

“Good morning.”

Fuck yeah, it was.

“Morning, sunshine.” He leaned down and kissed her lips.

“You look happy. Did you get some good news on the phone?”

Pax stretched out on the chaise next to hers, feeling happier than he had in years. At peace. “I hope so.” He rolled his head so he could look at her. “Gavin’s going to help me put my house on the market.”

“Is that something you’ve been wanting to do?”

Not until now. Until you.

He grabbed the sunscreen and started on his arms and chest. “It’s something I’ve needed to do for a long time. It’s not as though I live there. It’s been empty for awhile.”

Reese rolled to her side and propped her head against her hand. “So, where did you live before your parents went on their extended vacation?”

He smirked as her eyes followed the path of his hands. He didn’t give much thought to his looks, but he was damn glad she liked what she saw.

“The bunkhouse.”

“The bunkhouse,” she repeated as though she needed to hear it again. “Why in the world would you stay there?”

Wiping his hands across his stomach, he willed his dick to stay put. Hard seemed to be his permanent state around her, especially when she looked at him with such open appreciation. Made him feel like a goddamned superhero.

“Going to my house hadn’t really been an option.”

“You can tell me, you know. I’d like to know what happened, if you’re willing to share with me.”

He didn’t want to keep secrets from her. He was in this—all in—but where to start? He considered the options. Straight to the point seemed the best one.

“I got divorced because my ex-wife cheated. I caught her with two of our ranch hands. I walked into the barn and found them. All three of them.”

“Jesus. Pax.”

“Sorry. I guess I could sugarcoat it, but facts are facts, no matter how you dress ’em up.”

Now that he’d gotten started, he might as well tell her everything.

“You deserve to hear the story, so you’ll understand why I’ve done some of the things I’ve done. Tammy and I met a couple of years after I got out of college. At first, it was a casual thing. Then she started pursuing me pretty hard. After awhile, I just sort of stopped running. We were only married a couple of years.”

He hated talking about another woman with Reese. Reese was the only woman that mattered.

“Anyway, Gavin had been home on vacation. He, Clay, and I had gone to the fishing cabin for a couple of days. A storm rolled in, so we decided to head back early. I called, but she didn’t answer. She never answered, so I didn’t think much of it. I stabled Midas at the main barn back then—the one by the house—so my brothers and I rode there, trying to beat the rain.”

He hesitated, waiting for the familiar bitterness to fill him. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

All he felt was relief. He was truly free.

“I was first through the door. I heard them before I saw them. I remember my feet. They were frozen in place.” The scene unfolded in his mind as it had a thousand times before as Reese sat quietly next to him.

“I watched them. For how long, I don’t know. A second or two probably. Tammy was naked. I remember that. The men she fucked hadn’t even bothered to take off their boots. They had their jeans around their knees and Tammy held between them, her legs wrapped around one while the other rammed her from behind.”

It replayed in his mind more as a low budget porn flick than an emotionally charged memory.

“Oh my god.” Her eyes glittered with unshed tears.

“It’s okay, Reesey. I was just one of many, as I found out later. That woman loved my money, but the reality of it was, it wasn’t my fault. There’s a word for women like her, but I’ll let you fill in the blank for yourself. Would’ve been nice if I’d figured out her extracurricular activities before I’d married her, but live and learn, right?”

“I’m sorry she hurt you, Pax. You must have loved her once.”

He shook his head. “Hindsight’s a funny thing. At the time, I thought I did.” He chuckled in wonder, realization finally falling into place. “Now, I know better. Kind of makes me an asshole for marrying a woman I didn’t love, doesn’t it?”

Reese rose up, her eyes blazing. “You’re not an asshole.”

He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I was seriously angry. I fought her for the house out of spite. She wanted to live there. I wanted a reminder of what happened so I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.”

“The mistake of trusting a woman not to betray you?”

He sighed. “We do the best we can in the moment we’re in, sweets. I’m just a man, flesh and blood. Understand this, Reese. I’m over it. One hundred percent. I’m ready to move on and leave the shit where it belongs, but I still get stuck in my head sometimes.” He thought about his conversation with Marjorie yesterday. “The point is—it’s a process, Reese. Selling the house is part of that. It’s not so much a reminder anymore as a dead weight. I have no desire to live there. It’s time to let it go. It’s time to let all of it go.”

Reese fell to her back. “I know all about trying to let go,” she whispered. “It didn’t work for me.”

“Huh?”

She stared at the sky. “It’s not important. There’s something I should tell you, about why I came back to Texas.”

“I’d wondered about that. Marjorie said you’ve only been back for a couple of years. I guess I assumed you’d come home after college.”

“I stayed in Connecticut after I graduated. I’d been there more than four years at that point, and I’d built somewhat of a life. I always missed Texas though.”

The selfish part of him hoped when she said
Texas
, she meant
him
. “So, what brought you back?” And was he going to hate the reason?

She stared at him, hard. “The man I was with got transferred to a firm in Houston.”

“You moved back home because of a man?” Oh yeah, he definitely hated that.

“There’s more.”

Of course there was. He rubbed his forehead, wanting to kick his own ass for starting them down this conversation trail.

“He asked me to marry him.”

On the outside, Pax kept his cool. Inside, he felt as if he’d taken a sucker punch to the kidney.

Reality check. He’d actually been married. No reason to think Reese wouldn’t have thought about doing it as well.

Holy shit, did she do it? How could he not know the answer to that?

“I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m assuming you said no.”

“Repeatedly.”

Thank fuck. “How long ago did you break it off with him?”

“It’s been awhile. Months.”

Months? Years, he could handle. Years meant distance and less chance of reconciliation.

Months implied recent.

“Why’d you keep turning him down?”

Reese gave him a shit-eating grin. “Because he kept asking.”

And she hadn’t answered the question.

“Reese.”

“It’s not a big deal, Pax.” She flexed and stretched her red-tipped toes. “To quote you, I’m over it.” Her head fell back against the chaise and she turned her face toward him. “Thank you for confiding in me. I wish…”

“What? What do you wish?”

She studied his face. “I wish we could stay longer, but since we can’t, could we save any more talk of exes for another time? I’d rather focus on you and me.”

“Right, makes sense. Enough of this serious downer shit.” Pax got to his feet and held a hand out for her. “Just you and me now. You up for a swim?”

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. She collapsed against his chest, her baby blues promising he’d like what came next. “That after our swim, you’ll help me shower all the saltwater out of my hair.”

Pax swung her into his arms. Laughter filled the air as she looped her arms around his neck.

He kissed the tip of her pert nose. “I’ll do you one better than that, sweets.” He took the steps down to the beach. “I’ll make sure to shower every inch of you.”

* * *

The rain started just as Pax pulled into her apartment complex. Neither of them spoke as he walked her to her door.

Now that she’d learned the pleasure of sleeping in Pax’s arms, she didn’t know how she’d go back to sleeping al
one.

She wondered if he felt the same way.

He’d been different today. More relaxed than she’d ever seen him and holy cow, the smile he’d worn all day had melted her heart. There were other things too. The way he looked at her. The way he’d fucked her. She couldn’t put her finger on what had changed, but something had.

“Dinner tomorrow night?” he asked as he held out his hand for her key.

She handed it over and stepped aside so he could let them in. Interesting little habit he had there. With any other man, the move might appear as antiquated male chauvinism, but for Pax, it just worked.

“Are you sure? I mean, won’t you be needed at the ranch after being gone for a few days?”

He tossed her overnight bag on the couch. “I’ve got to eat.” He lifted her chin with his knuckle and brushed his lips against hers. “I can’t go another week without seeing you. Say yes, Reese. Give me something to look forward to.”

“In that case, I’d love to,” she murmured against his mouth.

The kiss that came wasn’t a kiss to devour. It was a kiss to devastate the senses. Slow. Soft. Complete.

A few minutes later, he eased the kiss. His forehead rested against hers as if he dreaded the tiniest separation.

“I’ll miss you tonight.” His hushed words warmed her. He pulled back and cupped her cheek, the intensity in his eyes making her wonder what was going on in that head of his.

“Pax?”

He blinked.

“’Night, Reesey.”

With a final quick kiss, he was out the door.

Reese stared after him.

Very different, indeed.

Chapter Thirteen

How he could go from the best day of his life to one of the shittiest was beyond him. Yet, here he was.

Pax fed Midas and then finished securing his tack. His clothes were soaked clean through, the weight of them making his movements slower than usual. He fucking hated storm season. They’d been lucky so far this year, but that could change in a heartbeat.

He sure as hell didn’t want to cancel his dinner with Reese. The thought of seeing her had gotten him through this hellish day, but how was he supposed to leave with another round of storms on the way? Simple. He couldn’t.

He toyed with the idea of inviting Reese to spend the night at the ranch. Now that he knew what it felt like to have her beside him, sleeping alone last night had been torture.

Guilt pinched his chest.

If the severe weather continued, he’d end up leaving her alone anyway as he checked on the stock. It would be selfish of him to ask her to drive through the storm. After their night at the beach house, it seemed his selfish impulses were at an all time high. He liked the way she curled around him as she slept. He liked waking up with her. Yeah, he wouldn’t mind a little more of that, but he wouldn’t risk her life for anything. He’d feel better knowing she was somewhere warm and dry. Safe.

Pax closed and secured the barn door as Clay’s truck came to a skidding halt beside him, spraying mud across his already filthy jeans.

“Thanks a lot, fuckwad.”

Even in the drizzling rain, Clay’s window was down and his arm hung out, fist tapping a nervous beat on the outside of the door. “Trouble in the west pasture.”

His heart ricocheted in his chest. “What kind of trouble?”

“Lightning hit along the tree line and started a fire. Gavin said it was contained and the rain’ll finish it off, but it got the herd stirred up. Some broke through the fence. Several head are injured, although I don’t know all the details.”

Shit. There were calves out there. The western pasture was the largest, which meant it had the greatest potential for loss. Pax spun back to the barn door. “We’ll need the horses.”

“No, we won’t. The crew out there can handle the round up. If not, we’ll use their fucking horses and do it ourselves. Gavin’s more concerned with the numbers tangled up in barbed wire. With all the rain, the creek’s gotta be runnin’ high. If any cattle slip the ridge…” Clay’s fist banged against the door with urgency. “We’ve gotta go, Pax.”

Pax muttered a violent oath, his feet already moving. He jumped into the rolling truck and slammed the door. “Go.”

Clay hit the accelerator and made a hard left around the barn, angling the truck toward the service road that wasn’t much more than two overgrown ruts in the ground.

“I called Colt,” Clay informed him. “He’s headed over.”

Colton Lancaster, primary veterinarian for Shadow Maverick Ranch, was an old high school bud of Clay’s. “Great.”

Speaking of calling…

Pax wrestled his phone from his pocket with a silent
thank you, Jade
for convincing him to get the waterproof case.

The truck rocked hard, and Pax’s head bashed against his window. Pain exploded across the side of his face. His vision blurred. He bit back a curse and braced his palm against the roof of the truck, bracing himself against further assault.

Clay slowed the truck. “Sorry. We’re running out of daylight.”

Dark clouds covered the horizon, threatening to bring night several hours early. “A few more bruises won’t matter.” He swiped at his brow. Blood. More than a bruise then. “Just get us there.”

Clay gave him a quick glance. “Shit, you okay? We really need to fix this road.” He maneuvered around a hole big enough to keep them stuck until the storm passed.

“I’m fine. Let’s worry about fixing the road later.” With his free hand, Pax found Reese’s number and put the phone to his ear.

A noticeably male voice answered on the second ring. “Hello?”

What the fuck?

Pax checked the display to confirm he’d dialed the right number. “I’m calling for Reese Jameson.”

“Who the hell is this?”

Was he serious? Pax so didn’t have the time for this. “None of your goddamned business.” And his patience snapped. The storm, the herd, and now this asshole? Fuck that. “Look buddy, I don’t know who the hell you are, and I really don’t care. I didn’t call for you. I need to talk to Reese.” He fought to keep his tone steady against the jostling truck.

“Well that’s not going to be possible at the moment. She just got out of the shower. She’s still in the bedroom getting dressed. And since I’m her
fiancé
, I believe I have a right to know why you’re calling.”

Blood ran into his eye. His head started to pound.

Reese. Showering, naked. Getting dressed, slipping into a frilly bra and panties. All while this asshole stood by? How could she do that?
Why
would she do that?

Paxton saw red, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t the blood seeping from his eyebrow. Goddamn it. Reese was his. Not some jackoff’s with a pompous accent.

Yet, Mr. Jackoff was with Reese right now, and he was stuck in this goddamned truck.

“Fuck you,” he snarled. He couldn’t do this again. Wouldn’t.

He jerked his wrist, hurled the phone across the dash and into the windshield. The fucking thing came flying back at him, smacking him in the chest before bouncing to the floor. Only the threat of an emergency stopped his boot from finishing the job and smashing the thing to bits.

“You okay?” Clay had to yell over the sudden downpour. It’d be a miracle if they didn’t get stuck out here.

“Not even close.” He felt like a caged animal, pacing with no way out.

“What was that about?”

Pax clenched his teeth, refusing to give in to the pain that strangled his heart. His family needed him. Time to focus.

“Something I should’ve seen coming from a mile away.”

* * *

Reese walked into the living room and stopped dead in her tracks.

Adrenaline pumped into her system as
her
fight or flight
instinct kicked in at finding a man in her apartment. Confusion melted into disbelief that quickly turned to anger as she realized who it was.

“Todd?”

He turned and gave her a charming smile. “Hi, Reese.”

“How did you get in here?” Oh right. The key she’d demanded back, yet he never seemed to have with him to return. Looked like that excuse had dried up. “You better be here to give me my key back.”

“I came to talk.”

“Haven’t we done this already?”

He scowled. “I took the job in Houston for you. You were homesick, even if you wouldn’t admit it. I picked up my life and
moved
for you because I thought we were going to get married. That we’d be together forever.”

Reese had suspected, but until now hadn’t been sure. “I didn’t ask you to do that. Please, don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

“Harder for who? You don’t seem to be having any difficulty.” Todd stared at something in his hand. “In fact, I just had the most interesting conversation. Who’s…” he glanced at the phone in his hand. “…Paxton?”

“Is that my cell?” Reese demanded. Cold dread filled her as she stalked toward him and snatched the phone from his hand. He was bluffing, right?

Shit, shit, shit.

“What’s the big deal, darling?”

“Don’t you
darling
me. What is wrong with you?” She shoved him. Hard. “My clients call my cell. Did you ever think about that? You can’t just barge in here and violate my privacy like this. I told you, we’re over. I’m not going to marry you. Ever.”

His eyes widened. “You don’t mean that. Come on, Reese. We’re perfect for each other. We can work this out.”

God, she hoped not. She checked the screen. Paxton had called.

“You answered my phone?” Her stomach did a somersault.

“Colorful language on that friend of yours. Especially after I set him straight. Who is he?”

No, no, no.

“You son of a bitch. Set him straight about what? What did you do?”

Pax wouldn’t believe whatever Todd had said. He wouldn’t.

Reese’s hands shook so hard she couldn’t work the screen. She had to call him back, had to make sure he knew she loved him and only him.

Fuck!

“Good lord, Reese. Listen to yourself. Did
he
teach you to talk like that?”

“He taught me more than that over the years. Like how to kick your balls into your throat with one swing. Stick around another thirty seconds and I’ll give you a demonstration. In case you missed it, that’s your invitation to get the fuck out of my apartment.”

Todd’s mouth gaped like a fish out of water. “Who
are
you?”

Panic threatened to get a stronghold. Her chest tightened, her oxygen cut to a critical level. Holy crap, was she having a panic attack?

She needed to get a grip. Breathing deep, Reese focused on the matter at hand. Counted to ten. Got her shit together.

First thing’s first. Todd, out.

“I’ll tell you who I am. I’m the woman who’s done with you. Finished, do you hear me? I’ve tried to be nice about it, but you’ve left me no choice. Give me my key back.” Her hand shook as she held it out. “Don’t make me ask you again. I’ll call the police and have your ass removed before the hour’s up.”

Todd reached in his pocket and pulled out his keys. “I thought I knew you. Paxton, the man on the phone, he your new fuck buddy?”

Reese’s hand shot out, the resounding crack of palm meeting cheek not nearly satisfying enough to calm her temper. Plus it hurt like the devil.

“Go to hell,” she snapped. “You don’t get to talk about him like that. In fact, you don’t get to talk about him at all.”

Todd rubbed his offended cheek. “He’s obviously a terrific influence on you,” he snarked and slapped the key into her palm.

“You don’t know the first thing about him. Or about me. Get out. Now.” Before he reached the door, Reese added a warning. “And lose my number. I mean it, Todd. If you try to contact me again, we’ll have a serious problem. One I won’t hesitate to solve legally.”

The door closed and Reese made sure to flip the bolt.

Frustration hit her hard as she got Pax’s voicemail.

Reese paced the floor as doubts rushed in. She imagined what Todd had told Pax. Did Pax believe she would hurt him like that? He’d snapped at her before, sure. But he wouldn’t truly think … would he?

Why wouldn’t he answer his goddamned phone?

Things had been so good between her and Pax. Better than she’d ever imagined. She’d started to believe they could build a future together. How could everything go so wrong, so fast?

Her knees hit the carpet. She dropped her face into her hands, hot tears wetting her palms.

Not again.

They’d been here before, hadn’t they?

A phone call.

That’s how it ended.