Wild Cowboy Ways (16 page)

Nadine drew back her fist and if Blake hadn't taken a couple of long strides forward and blocked it, she would have broken Bobby Ray's nose right there.

“Turn me loose. I'm going to kill him,” Nadine screeched.

“Who is that screeching bitch, Blake?” Scarlett asked.

“This would be Bobby Ray's fiancée, Nadine,” Blake said.

Scarlett slapped a hand over her mouth dramatically. “Oops.”

Nadine shook free of Blake's grasp and tiptoed so that her nose was only inches from Bobby Ray's. “You son of a bitch.”

“That would be calling the pot black after this little escapade, wouldn't it? You're running around taking pies to men after dark. I bet you didn't make me a pie, did you?” Bobby Ray said.

Scarlett ignored them. “And this one wearing my favorite robe, sweetheart? Who is she?”

Allie would have taken the robe off and stomped on it with dirty boots if she'd had another piece of clothing underneath. “I'm Alora Raine Logan. I happen to be working on this house and it's none of your business why I'm wearing this robe.”

Scarlett looked down on Allie, her blue eyes so cold that Allie could feel the chill behind them. Her voice was sweetly sarcastic when she said, “It's nice and warm and tickles all the right places, doesn't it? Gets you real ready for the bedroom.”

Allie met the challenge without backing down an inch. “Who are you?”

“I'm Blake's wife and this is my yearly booty call,” she said.

T
he entire room went so quiet that Allie's ears ached. Did that hussy just say she was Blake's wife? Allie whipped around and stared at him.

“Ex,” Blake said quickly.

A loud rap on the door frame took everyone's attention in that direction. Katy Logan stepped inside without waiting to be invited. “Have you seen…oh, there you are, Mama. It's time to go home now. What the…” Katy's eyes came close to popping out of the sockets when she saw Allie.

“It's a long story,” Allie said. “Come on, Granny. I think it's time for us to go home.”

Irene sat down in the rocking chair. “Why? I like this party. It's exciting. When are they bringing out the birthday cake and ice cream? I want cake.”

“We've got chocolate cake waiting for us at home. I'll get my boots and I'll see to it your robe gets brought home tomorrow,” Allie said coldly without even looking at Blake.

“Allie, let me explain,” he said.

Her shoulder bumped his as she stomped toward the bathroom to get her boots, but she didn't look back. “Enjoy your booty call. I'll get my boots and get out of your way.”

“Is this your new girlfriend?” Scarlett asked above the argument still going on between Bobby Ray and Nadine.

“That is none of your business. All of you need to leave,” Blake yelled above the din.

“Well, Walter, don't go screamin' at me like that. You invited me for cake and ice cream. I didn't bring all these other fools. It's not my fault,” Irene huffed.

Allie marched back up the hall in boots that were unlaced, took her grandmother's hand, and helped her up out of the rocking chair. “Come on, Granny. We'll have cake and ice cream and you can even blow out the candles.”

“Is it my birthday?”

“Not yet, but we'll practice for when it is,” Allie said.

The moment they were alone in the house, Scarlett draped her arms around Blake's neck and rolled slightly up on her toes to kiss him on the lips. One hand braced against his chest while the other one worked on his belt.

“A year is too long,” she whispered. “We have to start taking care of this every six months.”

He pushed her away and ran a palm over his mouth, wiping the kiss away. “Get out, Scarlett, and don't come back.”

“You can't resist me. You never could so don't give me that song and dance. I've looked forward to this for a month. We always get together right after New Year's to celebrate the fact that our parents were smart enough to get our drunken marriage annulled.”

He opened the door and pointed. “Out!”

“You can do a hell of a lot better than that mousy-lookin' little creature.”

“One more time. Out!” He raised his voice so loud that Shooter whimpered.

“Okay, then,” she growled. “Since you are in a pissy mood, I'll leave. Don't tell me that someone is about to tame you. I didn't think that could be done.” She headed toward the door.

Blake locked the door behind her and threw himself back in the recliner. “Dammit! Maybe this place is unlucky after all.”

Shooter gobbled down the apple pie and licked the glass pie plate clean. Then he curled up in front of the fireplace, his big brown eyes looking up at Blake.

“You're not in trouble, boy. I was going to heave the thing out in the yard,” Blake mumbled.

Shooter's tail wagged a few times.

“Now I have to explain the whole thing to Allie.”

The doorknob rattled and Deke yelled from the other side, “Hey, man, are you alone in there?”

Blake rushed to the door and slung it wide open. “Where in the hell were you thirty minutes ago when I needed you?”

“What do you need done?” Deke asked. “Or are we going somewhere to dance and flirt with the ladies?”

“I needed you to referee.” Blake ushered him inside and told him the rest of the story.

Deke removed his coat and tossed it behind the recliner. “Man, I can't believe all that happened tonight but I'm damn glad that Allie and even Irene were here when Nadine showed up. If you'd been alone and Bobby Ray hadn't decided to come around and ask about firewood, you'd have been in trouble.”

“If I can tell Scarlett to go away, and Sharlene and Mary Jo, I reckon I could get rid of that redhead.” Blake plopped down on the sofa. “There's still food on the table if you're hungry.”

“Already ate but don't put it away. I might get into it later,” Deke said. “Do you like Allie? I mean as in
like
her, not as in like her as a friend and neighbor? It seems to me you might have developed some feelings for her.”

 “Why are you asking?”

The dog on the television barked and Shooter's head popped up. “See, even Shooter thinks something is going on and he's voicing his opinion. The reason I'm askin' is because she's like a sister to me and I don't want to see her hurt, and you just now told me about this once-a-year booty call and I bet this is the first time you turned it down.”

“I could never hurt Allie. I…” Blake hesitated. “Yes, I do like her a lot.”

“You'd best be real sure before you make that statement because as good of friends as we've become, if you make her cry, I'll have to hurt you,” Deke said seriously.

Blake went to the kitchen and brought back two open beers. He handed one to Deke and downed a third of his before he settled into the rocking chair in front of the blazing fire. “You don't scare me as much as this crazy feeling inside me. I didn't move here with intentions of getting involved in any way with a woman. I should back away from her completely. She's already got baggage in her past and she don't need an old cowboy like me, and besides my brother and I have a rule about dating women too close to home,” Blake said.

“That's not your decision to make. It's Allie's.”

“After tonight I'll be surprised if she even comes back to finish the bedroom.”

“Man, I would have loved to have been here to see it but I'm more than a little mad at you for kicking that tall blonde out in the cold. I would have gladly let her come to my house for a booty call.” Deke laughed.

“Start talkin',” Katy said the minute they were in the house.

Irene clapped her hands like a child. “Cake and candles and ice cream.”

“We'd better take care of this first or she'll be a nightmare the rest of the evening.” Allie led the way to the kitchen. She found a package of two chocolate cupcakes in the pantry, unwrapped them, and put them on a decorative disposable plate before carrying them out to the table where Irene waited.

“Candles?” She frowned.

“Right here.” Katy brought them to the table with the container of ice cream.

Allie poked a candle in each cupcake. “Now blow 'em out, Granny.”

“Practicin' for my birthday, right? That means you have to sing to me.”

“You get them both with one breath and we'll sing,” Katy said.

“What's going on? It's not Granny's birthday.” Lizzy carried her damn wedding planning book into the kitchen. It was a thick three-ring binder with everything from pictures of centerpieces to candles to honeymoon places, all arranged neatly with tabbed dividers.

Allie hated the sight of the thing, hated everything about it from the pictures of the lavender dresses to the tuxedos that Mitch and Grady would wear. The wedding would be held in the Dry Creek church with the reception in the fellowship hall, not in a big city cathedral.

“I thought we'd talk about the ribbons for our bouquets tonight, but I see you are all crazy.” Lizzy pouted.

“We are practicin' and if you don't like it, go away,” Irene said.

“Practicin' what?” Lizzy asked.

“Granny's birthday,” Allie answered.

She blew out both candles and Katy started the birthday song. Lizzy and Allie sang with her all the way to the end.

Lizzy poked Allie on the arm. “What are you doing in that men's robe and why does she think it's her birthday?”

“It's a long story. Come on upstairs to my bedroom while she eats and I'll tell you.” She didn't want to confide in her sister, but by morning the rumors would have the story blown so far out of proportion that she might as well come clean.

Lizzy followed Allie to her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. “Well?”

“I'm going to get dressed first so be patient.” She stepped inside the big closet and shut the door. Like always, she'd held up good under pressure but now that it was over, her hands shook and her stomach hurt. Her skin turned clammy and tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them spill. She pulled on a pair of underpants and an oversized nightshirt that stopped midway down her thigh.

“You going to take all night in there?” Lizzy called out.

Allie pushed the door open and lay on the bed, curled up in a C with the pillow under her head. “Might as well stretch out here beside me. This might take awhile.”

Lizzy fell back on the bed. “What have you done? Don't tell me that was Blake's robe you were wearing down there. I thought it was one of Daddy's old ones but it was that cowboy's, wasn't it?”

“It is and there's a reason I was wearing it but believe me, sister, I will not be wearing it ever again.” She told the story from the time she finished the room, only leaving out the way his robe touching her bare body made her feel.

“Holy sweet Jesus,” Lizzy exclaimed. “Do you know what the gossip hounds are going to do with that before morning? To get the heat off herself, Nadine will call Sharlene and Mary Jo and they'll spread the news to everyone else, and by morning you will be having an affair with that cowboy. You might as well have gone on and slept with him.”

“Well, shit! Now that I have your permission, maybe I should go over there and boot that tall bitch out of his bed and have a turn with him,” Allie said sarcastically.

“Oh, hush! That hussy actually said that she'd worn that robe?” Lizzy hissed.

Allie nodded. “She did.”

Lizzy slid off the bed. “Put on some jeans and some boots. We are going to burn the damn thing out in the backyard right now. I may not agree with you but by damn, you are my sister and no one is treating you like that.”

“That won't solve anything. She is part of his past, like Riley is mine.”

Lizzy went straight to the closet and picked the robe up from the floor. “I don't give a royal rat's ass. There's going to be a robe burnin'. I'll do it if you don't want to.” She paused. “Oh. My. God. You have fallen for that cowboy, haven't you?”

Allie shrugged. “I like spending time with him but I wouldn't say I've fallen for him. That involves more than wearing his robe while my clothes are in the washing machine. Which reminds me, why wasn't Granny with you at the Lady's Circle meeting?”

Lizzy glared at the robe now lying on the floor. “No one showed up so we came on back home. We didn't have a meeting after all.”

“Nadine said she was there and you told her I was working over at the Lucky Penny.”

Lizzy's eyes rolled toward the ceiling. “Before or after Bobby Ray showed up? She was trying to save her own ass and you helped her out, so she owes you big time. And don't change the subject. Answer me.”

Allie sighed. “You sound like Granny when your voice goes all high and squeaky. I like Blake. He's a good person, Lizzy. Tonight wasn't his fault. It was one of those crazy cluster things that happen all at once.”

“Depends on the booty call woman, don't it? I wonder if he sent her packing or if she's over there right now.” Lizzy's fists were clenched. “Lord, I'd like to hit her or him or even Nadine. Do you realize what kind of gossip is going to be going through town by morning?”

“I need to sort it all out. Can you give me a few days to do that before you start bitchin' about it? Or before you go hittin' someone? Remember you're going to be a preacher's wife.”

Lizzy set her mouth in a firm line. “Fire starts in ten minutes. That's how long it will take me to stuff this in the fire pit and douse it with gasoline.”

“Wait till I get my jeans on. If that hussy had it on her body, then I want to see it burn,” Allie said quickly.

“That's my sister. The one I knew before Riley broke her heart.” Lizzy grinned. “And you promise you won't ever go back over there?”

Allie left the bed and jerked on a pair of jeans. “Hell, no! I've got things to say to him.”

“Well, shit! You like him more than a little bit if he makes you that mad.”

Allie pulled her dark hair up in a ponytail. “Maybe so. I'll have to figure it out but right now we've got a robe to burn. Wonder if he'd like to see it or maybe smell the smoke?”

“Wind is blowing toward the south. Call him once we get it lit and tell him to step out on the porch,” Lizzy said. “He'll probably tell you to keep your scrawny ass on your side of the fence from now on.”

They set the robe on fire and despite feeling childish and more than a little bit like a teenager instead of a twenty-eight-year-old woman, Allie did call Blake. He answered on the first ring and she told him what she and Lizzy were doing.

“Fine by me,” Blake said. “But next time you need to wash some insulation out of your clothes you need to remember that you'll have to run around naked. I have no problem with that. None whatsoever.”

“I will always have an extra set of clothing from now on.”

“Then that means you're going to finish the job you started?”

Allie drew in a long breath. “I don't let tall bitches keep me from doing a job. Just tell her to stay out of my way tomorrow morning.”

“She's gone and I don't expect she'll ever come back. Deke says to say hello.”

“Hello, Deke, and good night, Blake.”