Just Shoot Me (Cowboy Way, #1) (4 page)

He was right, Tina decided. She was totally
not in her right mind to be out here in the middle of this obvious
battle of wills between the brothers. She would just have to find
somewhere else to shoot.

“
I’m leaving,” she said, trying to
pull away from Dean to stand again, but his fingers only tightened
on her hips. Dean sat up with her on his lap, and Tina put her
hands on his firm chest to push away. He muscled his way to his
feet holding her against his hard body. Tina had no choice but to
grab his neck, or end up on her ass in the dirt.

Dean Dixon carried her back down the hallway
to the office. He kneed open the door and carried her to the chair
where he’d been sitting earlier where he sat her down. Tina tried
to stand, but he put his hand on her shoulder. “Stay,” he growled
as if he she were a dog.

He stomped behind the desk and bent to open a
drawer, pulled out a rolled bandage and slammed it down on the
desk. Kneeling in front, he grabbed her calf and balanced her foot
on his thigh. Dean gripped her calf tighter, and darts of tingly
heat shot up her thigh as he carefully removed her shoe.

Cord came in and Dean glanced up to growl,
“Make your damned self useful. There’s a pair of Mama’s rubber
boots in the tack room. Go get ‘em.” It seemed like the man loved
to growl, and issue orders. He wasn’t very pleasant. Tina was going
to steer clear of him while she was here. She had no idea how Cord
worked with the man.

Cord shook his head as he disappeared through
the office door. Dean took the bandage from the desk and unrolled
it, then laid the end against her ankle.

“
I don’t need that,” she protested,
and tried to pull her foot away. His fingers became a hot vice on
her ankle. The tingly heat turned into fire that shot up her leg to
the top of her thigh, teasing the nerves there into a frenzy. Tina
wiggled in the chair trying to settle them.

“
Hold still,” Dean growled, and
Tina relaxed as much as she could. He made a round around her ankle
with the stretchy bandage. “It’s swelling, and if you don’t put
this on it, it will only get worse. Get some ice on it at the
bunkhouse too.”

It was damn tough, but Tina gritted her teeth
and sat perfectly still. “Yes, sir,” she replied sarcastically, and
he looked up at her. Was that actually a fleeting smile she saw at
the corner of his mouth? If so, that would shock the heck out of
her. This man’s personality, his whole demeanor, wasn’t that of a
man who found humor in much. Tina liked funny guys who could laugh
at themselves, at life. This man wasn’t her type at all. She didn’t
even like him. But dammit if he wasn’t turning her on, even as
impersonal and prickly as he was being.

It had to be because she hadn’t had a man
touch her in
any
way in nearly three years. Embarrassing to
her, but understandable. Her sister was the one who had the luxury
of getting laid every weekend. Because Tina stayed home and kept
her daughter for her to do that.

Cord walked back into the office dangling a
pair of ugly black rubber boots in his hand. He set them beside the
chair, and Dean shot him a look, then wrapped the bandage around
her ankle a final time as he mumbled, “Daddy says you can be here,
so I guess that means you aren’t leaving. But you will not wear
those shoes here again, it’s dangerous.”

He stretched the bandage to the side of her
foot then secured the end with a silver clip. He lowered her foot
to the floor, then stood. Tina looked up into Dean Dixon’s slightly
weathered face, his haunted blue eyes that had a story to tell, and
saw a person she never expected to find.

Her Texas Tomcat.

“
I’ve got work to do,” Dean said as
he spun and walked out of the door.

What the heck was she going to do? Now that
she had Dean Dixon as the bar in her mind for Texas Tomcat, nobody
else was going to do. Not the men who were showing up here in a few
hours for the photo shoot, and not the hundreds of others she had
considered. She would just have to figure out how to make Dean
want
to be the man to represent the line.

Somehow she didn’t think money was going to do
the trick. Dean Dixon seemed like a pretty down-to-earth—no
earthy—kind of guy. Which is why he was perfect for the job. He was
damned good looking, but there wasn’t an ounce of flash to him. He
was what he was and if anyone didn’t like it, they could kiss his
ass. Watching that ass in those jeans walking out that door made
her want to bite it instead of kiss it. It was
perfection.

Cord shot her a sympathetic glance, before he
followed right behind his brother out of the door. Tina sat there
stunned, wondering why it had to be him. The odds of her convincing
Dean Dixon to be her model were about the same as the odds of her
being made president of Texas Tomboy. She’d be better off buying a
lottery ticket.

With a sigh, she reached for one of the rubber
boots that Cord had sat beside the chair. She slid her uninjured
foot down into the long neck of the boot and found out the boots
were about one size too big for her. Not surprising really. Not
many women had feet the size of a ten-year-old girl. She grabbed
the other boot and slid her bandaged foot down into the throat,
flinching as pain shot up her calf. She picked up her shoes, then
went out to get Laney out of the car. As they walked to the
bunkhouse, Tina thought about Dean Dixon again.

Maybe Hope could help her figure it out later.
Give her some advice on how to approach the totally unapproachable
man. Right now though, Tina needed to talk to her about the photo
shoot. She limped toward the porch in the too big boots, picturing
photos in her head, but none of them included the two men who would
be here at ten o’clock.

CHAPTER THREE

At ten o’clock her assistant and stylist,
Belinda, and Paulo, her hair guy, showed up together. The models
didn’t arrive until almost eleven o’clock. She helped Hope get her
equipment out and sorted, but their organization went all to hell
once Paulo and Belinda brought in their stuff in big duffle bags,
and began laying things out.

“
Get them their clothes so they can
change,” Tina said to Belinda, casting a sharp look at the two men
standing beside Paulo shooting the breeze. They didn’t have time
for breezes. Those guys were late and she was not happy. “Paulo
make the hair quick. We need to get started. Half the day is gone
now.”

“
I’m sorry we’re late,” Brandon
Sanchez said with an eye roll, as he took the jeans and t-shirt
from Belinda. “He was late picking me up.”

“
Because you didn’t answer the
phone when I called,” Joshua Gleason snapped.

“
Because I was in the fucking
shower,” Brandon shot back.

“
Because you were still in the
bed,” Joshua corrected with some neck action, taking a step toward
Brandon. “You had to shower when I got to your apartment, dude.
Don’t you lay this off on me! Unlike you, I am a
professional!”

All she needed were bruised and bloody models,
and it looked like these two were about to go to fist city. “This
isn’t accomplishing anything! Get your asses dressed!” Tina yelled
just as the front door flew inward and Dean Dixon walked inside. He
didn’t look happy.

“
Where the hell is Cord?” he
demanded.

Tina crossed her arms over her chest and
asked, “How the hell would I know? It’s not my day to watch
him.”

“
Obviously it’s not your day to
watch your kid either,” Dean shot back. “That girl has been
bothering the crap out of me all morning!” He stepped to the side
and pulled Laney inside the bunkhouse. Her lower lip trembled and
it looked like the usually happy child might cry at any moment.
Anger shot through Tina, as she unfolded her arms and walked over
to Dean and pulled Laney away from him.

Tina stepped in front of her and pointed her
finger at him. “For your information,
that girl
is my niece.
She has a name and it’s Laney.”

“
Well you need to keep
Laney
in here and out of the barn. She almost got stepped on by a horse.
I don’t have time to entertain her, or make sure that doesn’t
happen.”

Fear replaced her anger, and Tina guessed she
shouldn’t have let her go out there alone when she asked if it was
okay. Tina didn’t know a damned thing about ranches or areas that
might be dangerous here.

“
Fine. I’ll watch her closer. I’m
sorry she bothered you.” Tina turned away from the man she was fast
seeing was a big bully. But not really in this situation. He was
right, there were large animals out there, and Laney was only six.
She could have gotten hurt. Tina felt like the incompetent guardian
he had all but accused her of being.

She took two steps but his gruff growly voice
stopped her. “I’m not done.” Tina turned back toward him and raised
a brow. “Who the hell is driving that piece of shit black
convertible?”

“
My assistant,” Tina replied
haughtily, crossing her arms over her chest.

“
It’s blocking my truck and I need
to go to the feed store.”

“
Daddy can I go to the feed store
with you?” a little red-haired boy about the same age as Laney
asked as he nudged his way past Dean into the doorway.

“
No. Jeremy. Go find your grandma
and tell her I’m leaving for a little while,” he said with
frustration in every line of his big body. “I don’t have time to
deal with you right now either.”

The little boy’s face fell, and his eyes
dropped to the toes of his scuffed up boots. “I’m sorry,
Daddy.”

“
He can stay here with us,” Tina
offered, feeling damned sorry for the little boy. It seemed like
nobody was given a pass from Dean Dixon’s surly attitude. Not even
his own son. “He’ll keep Laney entertained.”

“
Like you watched Laney this
morning?” Dean asked nastily. “I don’t think so. Jeremy, go find
your grandma, and stay up at the house until I get back.” The kid
nodded, and walked past his father onto the porch. Dean looked back
at her. “I need that car moved now.”

Tina shook her head, and turned to go find
Belinda who was in the bedroom laying out clothes for the shoot.
“I’ll get the keys.”

Dean Dixon might be one of the best looking
men that Tina had seen in a long time, but he was also the most
snarly and sour. It was no wonder his wife had left him. According
to Hope, that had happened three years ago and Dean had been bitter
ever since. Well Mr. Dixon needed to focus that bitterness on the
person who caused his pain, not the world in general, definitely
not his son. Just like Laney deserved better from her mother, that
kid deserved better from his father.

Working with him on this project became less
and less appealing.

Maybe he wasn’t her Texas Tomcat. That
imaginary man would never be rude to his kid like that. He was a
genuine cowboy and cowboys just didn’t do that. They were
good-hearted men who loved kids and animals. And they treated women
with respect.

Her eyes traveled over Dean Dixon’s firm body,
his square jaw with the beard scruff. But he sure looked like a
real cowboy, and he was the best bet she had for getting that
promotion. In the photos nobody would be able to tell that he was
an asshole of the first order. They would just see an alpha male
with experience who looked good in a pair of blue jeans. Hope was a
damned good photographer, and she knew this man. She could find his
good side. If he had one. Tina was starting to doubt
that.

If she could even convince him to do it. Hope
didn’t think so, but Tina wasn’t giving up yet. The best thing Tina
could do was keep her mouth shut, and let Hope work her magic. Try
not to antagonize Dean until Hope had a chance to talk to him.
Telling him right now what she thought of him, like she wanted to
do, wouldn’t accomplish that. Tina didn’t see Belinda in the
bedroom, but she saw her keys on the dresser, so she jerked them up
and went to move the car for Mr. Cranky Pants.

Dean sat in the truck staring at the dusty
black convertible in the rearview as Tina Montgomery ground the
gears on the manual transmission, but still didn’t find reverse. He
needed to get out of here before the feed store closed at one
o’clock. Cord was supposed to restock the feed room yesterday, but
he’d been too busy, according to him. What he’d been busy doing,
Dean had yet to figure out.

The gears ground again and the little car
bucked, but didn’t move. Dean had enough, so he threw the truck
into park and opened the door to go move the damned thing himself.
Stopping beside the driver’s door he tapped on the window. “Get
out,” he ground out.

Tina held up a finger to him, then pushed the
hair on her forehead back with her wrist, before she tried to crank
the car again.

Dean flung the door open. “Just get out!” he
shouted, and her head rocked back on her shoulders, and her gray
eyes widened. “I don’t have all fucking day!” Her left eyebrow
lifted and she shot him a glare with her angry blue eyes, before
she swung her legs out of car. He noticed she was still wearing the
rubber boots. At least the woman had a little sense. But not enough
to get the hell out of his way evidently. She just sat there
staring up at him. Dean pulled the door wider and shouted, “I said
get out!”