Some Like It Hot (Sweetrock Cowboy Romance Book 1) (13 page)

“Well, I think so. I mean, Nick didn’t actually ask me to stay, but it seemed like…”

“Of course, it does. I know he’ll want you to stay, and Rena was practically begging me to ask you to consider working at The Chuckwagon. This is awesome!” Tessa leaned across the polished wooden bar and waved at the bartender.

Tall glasses filled with drinks colored a vibrant blueish green appeared in front of them. Sam eyed them skeptically. “What are these?”

“Just drink. They’re good.” Tessa held up her glass and tilted it toward Sam, and they clinked. “I’m so excited that I’m going to get to see you all the time. You can stay with me…unless you’re going to stay with Nick?”

Sam hadn’t thought about where she would stay. Was she rushing into things? Maybe she should give it a little more thought before committing to staying. Either way, it was too soon to move in with Nick. Not that he was asking. “If you don’t mind, I’ll stay with you until I get my own place.”

“I’d love it.”

Tessa spun around in her seat, sipping through her straw. The place was relatively small and loaded with oak and stained glass. It was less crowded than The Bull Sheep and less noisy so they could hear each other talk. They perched on oak barstools at the bar itself, which ran along one entire wall. The main floor of the room was dotted with tall pub tables and dividers that stood about five feet high with green potted plants sprouting out of the top that broke the room into sections and added to the noise insulation. Sam rested her feet—clad in white cowboy boots this time—on the brass foot rail.

Was she making the right decision?

The bar was only about half full and Tessa had greeted a few of the patrons. Having lived in town her whole life, she knew most everyone. If Sam moved here, she’d know all those same people pretty soon, too. She liked the idea of walking into a bar and knowing people. Of recognizing familiar faces everywhere she went. It wasn’t like that in Boston.

Tessa waved to someone in the back corner, and Sam looked over, recognizing Cash. She gave him a wave. Would Nick be coming here to join him?

Thoughts of Nick caused a rock to lodge in her stomach. She’d be excited to see him tonight even though she promised the night to Tessa, but something was bothering her. He’d left his booth at the fair without even saying goodbye and hadn’t bothered to phone or text her since.

Was he mad because she was spending the night with Tessa?

The thought made her realize that she didn’t know Nick all that well. If he was one of those controlling jerks, she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He wouldn’t be the first boyfriend that acted nice during the first few months and then changed into an ass after that. But if Nick was a jerk, Tessa wouldn’t want her to be with him.

Sam took another sip of the drink. Her mind was just playing tricks on her due to her uncertainties over staying in Sweetrock. Her imagination was acting overtime, and she was second-guessing herself. A few more drinks and that would pass.

Tessa spun back around to face the bar. “So what’s going on with your car?”

“More good news on that,” Sam said. “I should be getting it tomorrow.” So I won’t need to bother you for rides anymore.”

“It hasn’t been a problem. I’m sure Nick will be disappointed, though.”

Sam laughed. “I don’t know. It’s probably been inconvenient for him to drive me around.”

Tessa snickered. “I don’t think so, judging by the way I saw him looking at you. Seems like he’d like to give you as many rides as possible.”

Sam felt a rush of warmth from Tessa’s assessment of Nick’s feelings. See? All those self-doubts were stupid. Tessa should know. She and Nick had been buddies forever.

She sucked down the rest of her drink then swiveled around in the stool. “I have to head to the ladies’ room.” She threw some money on the bar. “I’ll buy the next round.”

On the way to the ladies’ room, Sam slid her eyes to the corner where she’d seen Cash. Cash was sitting with Jackson, who seemed to be paying more attention to the ladies at the neighboring table than to Cash. Nick wasn’t there.

Why was she looking? Lord, please don’t let me turn into one of those clingy women who can’t go anywhere without her boyfriend.

Boyfriend?

On her way back from the bathroom, Sam noticed the bar had started to fill up. Most of the pub tables were now occupied. And one familiar face sat at a table she’d just passed. Sam pressed her lips together trying to remember if she was someone Tessa had introduced her to.

No, wait. She wasn’t someone she’d met through Tessa. She was the blonde she’d seen Nick with at the fair.

Sam slowed her pace. The table was on the other side of one of the divider planters, and she chanced a peek through the large leaves to verify it was the same woman. Yep. Same turquoise cowboy boots. It was the same girl.

So what? As she’d already guessed, the woman probably lived in town. And everyone in town knew everyone else, including Nick.

Standing so close on the other side of the wall she wasn’t visible, but she could hear snatches of the conversation. The blonde was saying, “...at the fair...Nick...said he'd be here..."

Was she talking about Nick? No. Nick wouldn't make plans to meet another girl here. Not while he and Sam were...were what, exactly? They weren't even officially dating. And they'd never discussed anything about being exclusive. Sam had just assumed...but maybe Nick wasn't on the same page.

She leaned closer to catch more of what the turquoise-booted blonde was saying.

"...did you see those weird menu changes?...said he hasn’t dated anyone serious in a while...”

Weird menu changes? Was she talking about The Chuckwagon menu changes that Sam had suggested?

Something about the woman's voice set Sam on edge. She had that same twangy tone that Lizette had and the reference to menu changes brought back memories of Sam getting fired. And of Eddie dumping her for Lizette.

No sense in jumping to conclusions.

The blonde could be talking about anyone. Surely other people were named Nick. And she had been at The Chuckwagon and probably saw the new menu. So what if she didn't like the changes? You can't please everyone. She was probably just reading things into her words that weren't there.

Determined not to become one of those suspicious girlfriends that won’t let her guy have a night off, Sam turned away from the blonde and hurried back to the bar.

Tonight was for fun and celebrating with Tessa, and she wasn’t going to ruin it by being unnecessarily paranoid. She slid onto her bar seat grabbed her fresh drink, plastered a smile on her face and pushed down the little niggle of doubt that pecked at her heart.

T
essa dropped
Sam off at the fairgrounds the next morning, and she hurried to her booth, feeling ridiculously excited and somewhat apprehensive about seeing Nick. Her heart fluttered around in her chest like a frightened bird, wondering what he would think about her decision to stay in Sweetrock. Would he ask her the question he seemed to be on the brink of asking yesterday?

She didn't get a chance to talk to him right away, though. Cash, Jackson, and Kade were in his booth, and she didn't feel comfortable going over. She wanted to talk to him alone, but by the time they left the customers started coming. Oddly enough, Nick had not come over to her booth, nor had she been able to catch his eye the many times she looked over at him.

Her feeling of apprehension deepened.

Was he avoiding her? The fact that he hadn't said goodbye the day before or texted or called didn't settle well. Nick seemed like a nice guy, the kind of guy that would make it a point to say hello to her, especially considering what had been going on between them.

Then again, she hadn't said hello, texted or called
him
, either. She didn't want to seem over-eager or controlling. Maybe he was thinking the same thing.

Cash, Jackson, and Kade had been in his booth earlier and then he'd probably just gotten busy making sure he had his chili set up for the day.

Something which she should also be doing.

She glanced up at the scoreboard. The score which had been so important to her at the start of the contest was barely on her radar now. She and Nick had been so close each day she was sure one of them would win.

She squinted at the board. Nick had pulled ahead, but it didn't matter who won the contest now, especially since she was hoping to use the winnings to invest in Nick's restaurant. But it was a matter of pride. She had her grandmother's recipe and reputation to uphold.

She
wanted
to be the one to win.

Not only that, but the winnings would be added insurance for her. What if Nick didn't want her at the restaurant? It would be in her best interest to win the money. Then if her doubts turned out to be just her own lack of self-confidence, she would give the money to Nick as she planned. If not, then she'd have it for her own restaurant.

It was the smart thing to do. The thing an organized planner would do.

She glanced over at Nick and found him looking back, but instead of the friendly, sexy gleam she usually saw in his eye, this time, his eyes were filled with something dark.

He looked away without even a nod.

What was up with that?

Last time they'd been together things had been fine. He'd mentioned he needed a pastry chef. She'd assumed he'd been about to ask her, but then he seemed hesitant. Maybe he'd just been nervous...or maybe that wasn't what he was going to ask her at all.

Her thoughts turned to the blonde. The way she'd talked about the menu sounded like she knew something about restaurants. Was she the pastry chef Nick was going to hire? And was there more going on between them?

It all came crashing down on her. Painful memories of Lizette and Eddie came flooding back and Sam's eyes stung.

Had Nick done the same exact thing to her?

That would explain why he was ignoring her right now. Just like Eddie had done before he dumped her. Didn't want to lead her on.

But Nick hadn't been in the bar last night meeting with the blonde. Had he seen Sam in there and quickly left so as to avoid a scene?

And to think, she was excited about telling Nick about her decision to stay in Sweetrock thinking he'd be happy. Sam's cheeks burned with embarrassment. What a fool she'd been. She thought they'd had something. Something real. That she'd finally found a place to put down roots. But she'd just been a blip on the radar, apparently easy enough to replace.

The blonde had won, just like Lizette had won at the restaurant and with Eddie, except losing Nick hurt so much more.

It didn't matter that she was partly to blame because she'd never told Nick she was going to stay. He could have at least waited until she left to replace her with another girl—and a blonde, no less! He could have at least
asked
her to stay. But maybe she hadn't meant that much to him.

Fine. If she didn't mean that much, then screw him. It didn't matter that Nick was ahead today. She could still win.

She was going to make the best damn chili Sweetrock had ever seen and win that ten thousand dollars. And if she never saw Nick Bradford again, it would be too soon.

* * *

N
ick had
to force himself not to look over at Sam’s tent. Every time he did, the ache in his heart grew more intense. He couldn’t believe everything he’d thought they’d had was a lie.

Throwing an onion on the cutting board, he took his sharpest knife and sliced off the end.

Chop, chop, chop
.

He slammed the knife down harder with each chop, the mindlessness of the task distracting him from the pain in his heart. The sulfur fumes wafting up caused his eyes to tear…or at least that’s what he wanted people, including himself, to think.

Earlier that morning, Cash had sensed something was wrong, but Nick hadn’t been able to tell the guys what had happened. He was too embarrassed to admit how he’d been taken in. And here he thought Sam was ‘the one.’ Heck, he’d even been so enamored with the whole idea of her that he tried to fix Cash up with that blonde so he could find the same happiness.

Nick snorted.
Happiness? What a joke.

In retrospect, it was a good thing Cash had not taken a fancy to the blonde. Nick had thought it was kind of strange. She was pretty enough and Cash didn’t often turn down a pretty blonde. Now that he was thinking about it, Cash had toned it down in the woman-chasing department lately. Maybe Cash was the smart one. He knew better than to fall for a pretty face.

He wondered if Cash had already known the painful truth that Nick had just discovered—that the fantasy of true love and finding ‘the one’ was just a cruel illusion.

Nick chanced a glance over at Sam, and his heart lurched as their eyes crashed into each other. The look of betrayal and anger in her eyes caused a hitch in his heart for a split second. What did
she
have to be mad about? Probably mad that he’d discovered her true intentions.

Slowly as the day wore on, the painful yearning in his heart turned to anger.

He wasn’t going to let any city slicker steal his restaurant right out from under his nose. He made a damn good chili, and he was going to win this contest fair and square and stop the foreclosure.

Nick thanked his lucky stars that this was the last day of actually cooking the chili at the fair. The last day he would have to suffer in his tent across from Sam Dunn.

Tomorrow they were to bring a crock pot full of chili to the judging tent and drop it off. The judges would taste during the morning and then the award ceremony would happen around noon. If Nick played his cards right, he’d never have to see Sam again.

And that was just fine with him.

He tore his eyes away and went back to chopping. Never mind that Sam had come up with the menu suggestions that seemed to be attracting customers to the restaurant or that her re-arrangement of the kitchen made cooking more efficient. The Chuckwagon had survived for a hundred years without Sam Dunn, and it could survive for a hundred more.

He didn’t
need
her.

Nick packed the hole where his heart had been with ice cold resolve and turned his back on Sam for the last time.