[Truyện Tiếng Anh] Cowgirls Don't Cry

Author : Lorelei James

Good girls can play rough too...
Rough Riders, Book 10
Jessie McKay has accepted her marriage to Luke McKay wasn't perfect. After two years of widowhood, she's ready to kick up her bootheels-until Luke's younger brother shows up to spoil her fun. But if Brandt thinks she'll ever take orders from another McKay male, he's got manure for brains.
Brandt McKay has avoided his sweet, ***y sister-in-law ever since the night he confessed his feelings for her weren't the brotherly type. Unexpectedly faced with proof of Luke's infidelity, Brandt is forced to ask for Jessie's help in taking care of Luke's young son. Jessie agrees on one con***ion-she wants Brandt's boots exclusively under her bed for the duration.
The ***ual heat that's always simmered between them ignites. Brandt is determined to make the temporary situation permanent, proving to Jessie he's a one-woman man. And Jessie is shaken by feelings she's sworn never to have again for any man...especially not a McKay.Warning: Contains branding-iron-hot ***, the one McKay on earth who wants to be tamed, and a woman who's decided tame is for nice girls who finish last.

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Prologue

“Who’s up for a threesome?”

Whoops and catcalls echoed around the campfire while Brandt McKay seethed in the shadows of the pine trees.

“And I mean anyone,” Mike, that little ****ing prick, emphasized with a drunken leer. “Guys, gals.

Hell, it don’t matter if it’s more than three. In fact, the more the merrier! Me’n Jessica here—” he whacked Jessie’s bikini-clad butt hard, “—are up for a good ****in’ time tonight.”

“Or a good time ****ing,” someone shouted.

“You got that right,” Mike shot back to ad***ional wolf whistles.

Jessica. The little ****ing prick didn’t even know Jessie’s name, for Christsake. What the hell was she doing with him?

Ain’t that why you’re spying on her like some lovesick peeping Tom? To figure out why she turned you down but she’s hooked up with a loser worse than you?

Brandt ignored his sarcastic internal voice that resembled his father’s. He remained as still as a hunter tracking prey as he spied on his brother’s widow. The woman he’d purposely stayed away from for the last six months. Sweet Jesus, sweet Jessie looked good. Better than good and it didn’t have a damn thing to do with the skimpy string bikini she wore. He’d always suspected a knockout body lurked beneath the frumpy western clothes she’d favored, but holy ****. She was perfect—all long, lean muscles with a few well-placed curves.

“Any takers?” Mike prompted the motley group of drunks.

“Hell yeah!”

“But Mike—”

Mike ground his mouth into Jessie’s, cutting off her protest.

Encouraging whoops rang out when Mike wrapped his arms around Jessie’s bare thighs. He clumsily threw her over his shoulder, half-stumbling past the fire pit as he headed toward the campsites.

Since Jessie was hanging upside down, Brandt couldn’t tell how she felt about Mike’s invitation for a ***ual free for all.

He scowled and picked his way around rocks and shrubs, trying to keep the couple within his line of sight. But his damn flip-flops slipped on the pine needles. Tree branches scraped his bare chest and legs since he only wore board shorts. His fishin’ buddies, Rob and Brent, had already packed up their tackle Cowgirls Don’t Cry

boxes. He should’ve gone home an hour ago, after his less-than-productive chat with Jessie…except he didn’t trust these douchebags, and his gut instinct had been dead on. He doubted Jessie had turned into a party girl, indulging in random ****s with strange guys.

Maybe she’s changed. Maybe she wants to experience every ***ual scenario Luke had indulged in.

Highly unlikely. But he wanted to keep her from doing something she’d regret.

Mike stopped in front of a mid-sized camper. He let Jessie slide down his body and pushed her against the side of the camper as he opened the door.

Was she that drunk Mike had to hold her up?

Nope. Jessie walked into the camper on her own accord.

****.

A couple minutes later, two guys, talking loudly about blowjobs and double penetration, wandered up from the bonfire.

Brandt was out of the darkness, blocking them before either reached the door.

“Hey, man.” A sunburned, shirtless blond guy waved a bottle of vodka in Brandt’s face. “You here to **** that skinny chick too?”

“I don’t wanna **** her. I’m gonna ram my dick so far into her mouth she’ll feel my balls on her chin,” boasted the second guy, who sported an ape-like chest.

Brandt crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ve got enough players, so take off.”

“**** that, man,” the blond spat. “We were invited.”

“Yeah,” the hairy one chimed in, “move it.”

“Make me.” No way was he letting these guys past him. No. ****ing. Way.

“You think you’re tough,” hairy guy sneered. “There’s two of us and only one of you. I’d say the odds are in our favor.”

“Yeah? Then bring it, mother****er, ’cause I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

The blond dude squinted at Brandt. “Hold up a sec.”

“What? We can take him.”

“You’re that cowboy asshole from the bar fight at Rockin’ R last month.” The blond guy spoke to his friend. “He’s the one who punched Troy.”

“Is that the guy whose ribs I broke?” Brandt asked, hoping the lie sounded credible.

“No. You busted Troy’s tooth. ****ed up his face good too.”

Brandt shrugged. “Huh. I guess it must’ve been the other guy who wanted a piece of me—right after I handed your buddy his ass. Or should I say after I handed him his tooth.”

The two guys exchanged a look.

“To be honest, I don’t remember a helluva lot from that night except I was pissed off, ****faced and spoilin’ for a fight.” He flashed his teeth in a feral grin. “Unlike now. I’m pissed off, spoilin’ for a fight, but I’m completely sober.”

“****.”

“So we doin’ this? Or are you two walkin’ the **** away?”

Both guys held up their hands and backed off. “No problem, man. We’re going.”

“Good. And feel free to pass along the message that Mike’s invitation for an orgy has been canceled.”

They nodded and stumbled back toward the party.

Brandt waited another couple of minutes, but no one else appeared.

His deep inhalation didn’t provide a sense of calm. Chances were high his temper would still get the best of him tonight, but it couldn’t possibly be worse than his imagination. He opened the door.

The older model camper smelled musty and was dark except for a light shining from the back. He passed a cramped living area and froze by the miniscule cook top when he noticed two naked forms. One standing. One…not.

Jessie was on her knees. Her strawberry blonde waves hung down her spine, brushing the dimples above her bare ass when she bobbed her head. Mike’s hands were twisted in her hair as he bumped his pelvis into Jessie’s face. His chorus of “That’s it, baby” and “Suck it harder” bounced off the fake paneling.

Brandt had been ready—eager even—to jump in and pummel that little ****ing prick Mike if he’d taken advantage of Jessie. But it appeared Jessie…was enjoying giving Mike a blowjob. Brandt must’ve made a noise, because Mike looked up with a drunken leer.

“I was beginning to wonder if anyone was gonna take me up on my offer. Go ahead and get nekkid.

I’m about finished.” Mike’s hold on Jessie’s head tightened as he rammed his **** into her mouth.

“Almost there. That’s good, baby. Get ready to swallow.”

Jessie vehemently shook her head no.

Mike’s braying donkey laughter grated. “No swallowing on the first date, huh? I’ll come on your tits.

But you hafta do the work.”

She pushed back, dislodging his **** from her mouth with a soft pop. Her arm moved up and started moving fast as she jacked him off.

Mike shut his eyes, not watching as Jessie finished him.

Brandt should’ve been turned off. He should’ve walked off.

So why was he having the exact opposite reaction? Why had his dick leapt to attention as if it were next in line?

“That was fantastic.” Mike pulled up his trunks as Jessie got to her feet.

“Can I get a drink?” Jessie asked, wiping off her chest with a beach towel.

“I’ve got something right here.” Mike handed her a nearly empty bottle of Southern Comfort.

Jessie grabbed it, chugging until Mike snatched it out of her hand, warning, “Hey, leave some for me.”

“I thought you wanted me drunk so we could get our freak on.”

Another donkey like laugh erupted. “You need to be drunk to do that?”

“Probably.”

He swatted her ass. “Hop up on the bed. I’ll be right back.”

Jessie face-planted in the center of the mattress.

Before Brandt moved, Mike blocked him and whispered, “Don’t do nothin’ to her until I get back.”

“Where are you goin’?”

“Ah. I left a joint in my truck. I’d offer to share, but there’s really only like half left, so…”

Man, Jessie really knew how to pick ’em. This ****er had no problem sharing her with another guy or two, but he had an issue sharing his pot?

Unbelievable.

Mike pointed at Brandt’s swimming trunks. “Might as well strip them off so we can get right to it when I get back.”

Brandt shook his head. “I’ll be leavin’ them on.”

A slimy smile distorted Mike’s face. “You sly mother****er. You like to watch, eh?”

I’d like to watch my fist connect with your face. But Brandt merely shrugged.

“Suit yourself.” The camper door slammed behind Mike.

Brandt paused by Jessie’s side, unsure what to do. He swept her silky hair from her face, which caused her to emit a disgruntled sound and turn her head away from him.

Awesome.

...

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“Goddammit, Jessie, look at me.”

Miracle of miracles, she rolled over, angrily pushed her tangled hair from her face and squinted at him.

Brandt didn’t let his gaze fall below her chin.

Jessie had that glassy-eyed look from too much alcohol, and her reaction time was slower, but she didn’t react like he’d expected. No embarrassment. No trying to cover her naked body. Hell, she didn’t even shriek with surprise. She just stared at him.

He stared back.

“I forgot how much you and Luke sound alike.”

“I wasn’t tryin’ to pretend to be him,” Brandt said softly.

That comment brought her sad smile. “I know. There’s no comparison.”

There was that kicked-in-the-heart sensation again.

“Why did you stick around? I wasn’t very nice to you.”

His thoughts skipped back to Jessie’s bored appraisal of him and her insulting parting shot. “I intended to take off. B-but…” Goddammit. Why was he such a stammering freakin’ idiot around her?

“But you didn’t because you were worried about me.” She held his gaze. “Why? Luke would have left me.”

“I’m not Luke.” Like he needed to remind her of that fact, after she’d already done such a bang up job of reminding him.

“I know that too, Brandt.”

Do you? Do you really?

She frowned, almost as if she’d heard his internal thoughts.

“Come on. Get dressed and I’ll take you home.”

Jessie shook her head. “I’m staying here with Mike.”

“Why in the hell would you do that?” he demanded.

“Because he treats me like I’m ***y.”

“Christ, Jessie. He almost treated you to a gang bang.”

“Maybe that’s what I want.”

“Huh-uh. I know you and that’s not you talkin’.” Brandt pointed to the bottle of Southern Comfort.

“That’s the booze talkin’.”

The camper door slammed.

She tossed her head. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do, McKay.”

The emphasis on McKay, as if it were some sort of disease, had Brandt seeing red.

The instant Mike swayed into the doorway, Jessie scooted to the end of the bed, cooing, “What took you so long?”

“Why? Didja miss me?”

“Yep. Let’s get this party started.”

Enough. Brandt pushed to his feet. “I’m outta here.”

Mike shot Brandt a stoned look. “I thought you were gonna watch us ****? You know. Like live porn.”

When phrased that way? Jesus. It made him sound like a loser who couldn’t score his own woman. He looked at Jessie—just as she started to slide off the bed.

Brandt dove for her, snaking his arm around her waist, bringing her naked back against his chest as he anchored himself.

“Dude.” Mike blinked at him. “Talk about Superman reflexes.”

“That’s Brandt. A superhero in the flesh. A boy scout. A real trooper. The ultimate gentleman cowboy, always willing to lend a hand.”

They’d known each other for four years and that’s how Jessie saw him? A damn do-gooder? While some guys might like those comparisons, he didn’t. Not at all. Especially not from Jessie. Especially not tonight when he was skating so close to the edge of disproving that gentleman cowboy remark to her in explicit detail.

But she wasn’t done taunting him. “He’s the guy who always does the right thing. Which is why he’ll skip out, even if he wants to stay.”

And with that smartass comment…Jessie had pushed him too far.

“You know, on second thought, I do believe I will stick around and lend a hand.”

Jessie gasped when Brandt brought them down on the edge of the mattress. He hooked her legs over the tops of his thighs, then moved her body forward so her ass hung off the bed. After circling her wrists with his fingers, he rested on his elbows and placed her palms flat on the mattress and nestled his groin against her back.

“You hold her and I’ll go first. Then it’ll be your turn,” Mike promised.

She squirmed, sliding her smooth shoulders against Brandt’s bare chest. The friction of his swimming trunks rubbing against his **** as her body writhed on his instantly turned his **** into granite.

Brandt allowed his gaze to drop to the Mike’s groin after he ***ched his cutoffs.

What the hell? Mike’s dick hung between his scrawny thighs like a limp worm. Seeing Jessie’s naked body spread out for him like a feast didn’t affect him at all? Jesus. How would that make Jessie feel?

Maybe she’s so drunk she won’t notice.

For the first time, Brandt hoped that was true.

Will you step in and show her how she affects you if this douche ****er can’t get it up?

No. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t distract her. Brandt angled his head and spoke quietly. “Jessie, is this really what you want?”

“I-I d-don’t… Yes,” she reiterated firmly, “it’s what I want.”

“Then close your eyes.”

“But you—”

“Do it,” he said harshly. Then he softened toward her, in mind and body, nuzzling the tender, fragrant skin behind her ear. “Just close your eyes. I’ve got you.”

A heartbeat or two later, Jessie relaxed into him, turning her head so her rapid breaths drifted across his chest.

In that moment he wanted her with an ache that defied reason. It went beyond ***. It went beyond anything he’d ever felt before.

Brandt tore his attention away from Jessie and looked up at Mike—who frowned at the state of his non-responsive dick. Mike knocked back a slug of Southern Comfort and set the bottle aside. His fingers traced the inside of Jessie’s thighs as he leaned over *****ck her right nipple into his mouth.

Jessie arched and she tried to move her hands to touch Mike, but Brandt held her firmly. She wiggled, moaning as Mike kissed down her belly and staggered to his knees. Brandt knew the instant Mike’s mouth connected with Jessie’s ***. Her back bowed as if she’d been touched by a defibrillator.

Goddammit. This was so ****ing bizarre, but also almost…erotic, holding her, feeling her body’s response as another man pleasured her.

She whimpered, “Yes. Please. More.”

Mike kept a slurred dialogue, extolling the virtues of Jessie’s ***** in outdated porn terms, which he probably believed turned her on. But the idiot didn’t notice Jessie reacted most strongly when he quit flapping his gums and put his mouth on her.

Finally, Mike got to it, spiking Brandt’s jealousy to epic proportions to hear Mike’s slurping, sucking noises from between Jessie’s quivering thighs. He wanted to be the one eking out her feminine sighs and moans. He wanted to be the one tasting her. He wanted to be the one driving her to the brink of ecstasy.

Sweat broke out on his brow. On the back of his neck. Moisture coated his balls. And it didn’t help that Jessie’s ***y, slippery body was sliding all over his. Specifically against his impatient ****.

A loud thud sounded and Jessie’s thrashing stopped abruptly. Brandt released her wrists to see what the hell the noise was.

Jessie maneuvered her body away from Brandt’s. They peered over the edge of the bed.

Holy ****. Mike had passed out cold on the floor.

In the middle of going down on Jessie.

Un****ingbelievable.

She whispered, “You think he had a heart attack or something?”

But she wasn’t frantically checking him over, which meant she wasn’t so out of it she couldn’t see the truth. She nudged his leg. “Mike?”

Mike let out a soft snore.

Once again Brandt’s heart broke when Jessie made a soft sob. She scampered away from him quickly, like a crab sinking back into the sand. “Jessie—”

“Just go away.”

“No. I’m takin’ you home. Where are your clothes?”

No answer.

Focusing on his anger on her behalf kept him from pitying her. “Fine.” Brandt tossed the comforter over her, rolled her like a sausage, and lifted her into his arms.

She gasped, “What’re you doing?”

“Takin’ you home.”

“But I’m naked!”

“Wasn’t like that swimsuit covered up much anyway.” And yeah, when Brandt stepped over Mike’s sprawled form, he might’ve kicked the guy’s ribs. The idiot wouldn’t have noticed if he’d been kicked in his numb nuts.

“Put me down, Brandt. I mean it.”

“No way in hell.”

The walk from the camper to his truck was mighty long and mighty quiet. He deposited her in the passenger side of his pickup before he climbed in. After he started backing out, she said, “Wait.”

“What? You feel like you’re gonna barf?”

“No. I forgot my purse.”

“Where?”

She bit her lip. “I’m pretty sure it’s still in the cab of Mike’s pickup.”

Brandt whipped a U-turn and followed the bumpy trail from the public parking area back to...

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He couldn’t believe Jessie had kept the wallet. She’d seemed embarrassed when she’d opened his present. Too late Brandt learned such a labor-intensive gift was appropriate for a girlfriend. Or a lover. Or a wife. None of which Jessie was to him. Luke had been a real prick about it, too, teasing him mercilessly.

Ragging on Jessie. They’d both ignored Luke, and Brandt figured Jessie had probably thrown it out to keep the peace with her husband. Warmth expanded in his chest even as he called himself ten kinds of fool for feeling that spark of pleasure.

He scrutinized the inside of the truck cab for anything else that might belong to her before he zipped up the purse and jogged back to his pickup.

Jessie had wedged herself in the corner. Relief swept over her when he tossed the purse in her lap.

“Thank you.”

“You wanna check to see if anything is missing?”

“No. Just take me home.”

He let her be, even when he wanted to assure her that Mike’s reaction was a result of booze and pot, not a reaction to her. They’d barely driven two miles when he heard Jessie sniffle. Brandt glanced over at her. “Jess. Baby. Please. Don’t cry. I swear to God you’re killin’ me here.”

Her voice was a raw rasp. “Chin up, buck up, right? Be strong, be tough. Don’t snivel. No man likes a crybaby. Yeah. I know. I’ve heard that a time or fifty.”

That wasn’t what he’d meant and her response jabbed that raw wound in his gut again. Before he could explain, Jessie said, “Do you wanna know something? Tonight was supposed to be ‘the night’ when I’d finally…” She sniffled again. “God. How pathetic is it that I had to build up my courage to do it and this is how it turned out? How ****ing pathetic that I’m twenty-seven years old and I haven’t been with any man besides Luke?”

“Ever?” spewed out of his mouth before he could stop it. Brandt knew Jessie hadn’t dated at all during the year they grieved together over Luke. But he hadn’t expected she’d stayed celibate during the months he hadn’t seen her, especially since he’d heard she’d been out, hitting the local honky-tonks.

It burned his ass to think her experience with that little ****ing prick Mike was her first foray into reclaiming a ***ual part of herself.

Her soft sigh tempered his anger. “Yes, Luke was my first, my only, but we were married for two years. So I’m not…inexperienced as much as I’m out of practice.”

Brandt wanted to tell her to shut up as much as he wanted her to keep talking.

“I miss ***. A lot.”

She intended to torture him all right.

“Does it make me sound like a horny widow if I admit I want that body-to-body connection? I can get myself off with my vibrator a dozen times a day if I want. But it’s not the same, is it?”

I can demonstrate the difference, if you want.

She was quiet for a minute or so, and Brandt thought she’d fallen asleep. But her voice broke into his thoughts.

“When was the last time you had ***?”

It’d been a few weeks, which didn’t compare to the two years she’d gone without.

“So out there in the dating world, does oral *** count as real ***? Because I’m thinking if I didn’t get off, even if he did, then it shouldn’t count as ***.”

“I cannot believe we’re havin’ this conversation.” He sensed her studying him, but he kept his eyes on the road.

“Well, it is a pretty one-sided conversation, Brandt.” She paused again. “Think Mike will tell everyone we did the nasty?”

Brandt snarled, “If he opens his goddamn mouth and says anything to anyone about you, I will track that little ****ing prick down and cut his tongue out.”

“Oh. That’s sweet. Okay, maybe not sweet, and wow, I never imagined you had such a violent streak, Brandt. It’s kinda scary.”

You have no idea.

Jessie made a noise that sounded like a choked laugh.

“What?”

“Then again, maybe you’d be doing a service to womankind, cutting out his tongue. Because, man, he really did not know how to use it.”

Jesus, Mary and Joseph give him strength *****rvive this discussion with Jessie about oral ***, vibrators, tongues, abstinence and…nope. The devil had taken over his thoughts and was conjuring up some smokin’ hot scenarios, adding in rope for fun.

When she thrashed to get more comfortable, Brandt looked over to double check she hadn’t wiggled too close to the door handle. He hit the automatic locks as a precaution.

Always looking out for her, aren’t you?

Somebody has to.

The rest of the drive might’ve been awkward if she’s kept peppering him with questions about *** and freely offering her own insight. But she either drifted off or pretended to, and Brandt was grateful for the reprieve. Didn’t keep his brain from offering advice in case she suddenly became chatty again.

At the turnoff to her trailer, Jessie stirred. After he parked by her front porch steps, she faced him. Not with a sheepish look, as he expected, but with a resigned look. “Thank you. I’m sorry you had to…” She gestured wildly. “Be party to my humiliation tonight.”

“It wasn’t—”

She held up her hand. “It was. And you don’t have to be nice about it. So thank you. Please…now that I’ve had time to think about what an idiot I was, I never want to talk about it again, okay?”

Brandt bit back, No, it’s not okay, goddammit, what the hell were you thinking tonight?

“In fact, I don’t want any kind of reminder of tonight.”

Like he’d ever forget this night.

“Get rid of it. Burn it, use it as a rag, I don’t care.”

He refocused on her. “Get rid of what?”

“This.” She unwrapped the comforter from around her body and shoved it between them.

Then Jessie was as naked as a newborn babe, in the front seat of his truck.

Oh no. No, no, no.

Brandt was so pole-axed he couldn’t make his mouth work when Jessie bounced out of his truck and strolled to her house, wearing nothing but her birthday suit.

If he hadn’t been so busy gawking at her perfectly pear-shaped ass, or if he hadn’t become mesmerized by the sassy way her hair teased the dimples above that perfectly pear-shaped ass, or if he hadn’t been drooling over the way her long-legged strides made that perfectly pear-shaped ass shake so jauntily, he might’ve remembered Jessie had warned him that he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did.

When she turned in the doorway and blew him a kiss, Brandt realized he should’ve listened to her.

He also understood some things hadn’t changed, namely Jessie’s brotherly feelings toward him. So he’d do as she asked, pretend this night never happened, and continue to stay away from her, as hard as that would be.

Chapter One

Four months later…

Talk about being a total chicken****. Here she was, twenty-seven years old, doing her best wallflower imitation again.

Story of your life, Jessie McKay.

At least she’d had the foresight to bring along a couple of beers for company. Or solace. Or courage.

Jessie swigged from the bottle of Corona as she watched the newlyweds swaying to an old George Strait tune. Keely and Jack fit the love song they’d chosen for their first dance as husband and wife. The happy couple only had eyes for each other, despite repeated attempts from Keely’s assorted male family members to cut in. Although Jack used a charming smile to dissuade interruption, a possessive male lurked beneath his polished demeanor.

Keely deserved a man so perfectly suited for her. A man who worshipped her as a strong-willed cowgirl, but clearly was fierce enough to stand up to her—and her family. Because when you married one McKay, somehow you ended up with them all.

So it wasn’t a surprise that Jessie was still considered part of the McKay family. Well, most of the McKays. They’d been supportive after Luke’s death, especially during the first month of shock and grief.

She’d been forced from her home. Forced to find a job. Forced to stand on her own. If it hadn’t been for Luke’s brother Brandt, she might’ve taken the easy way out and driven her truck off a cliff.

But Brandt became her pillar of support. He helped her, no matter if her problem was big or small. He was there for her like a brother would be. Except one night, a year into her widowhood, Brandt had confessed his feelings for her weren’t merely brotherly.

At the time, she’d been shocked. She’d never looked at Brandt in that light. In her heart, in her mind, she would always be Luke’s wife. She hadn’t known how to explain it without sounding delusional.

After that night, everything changed between them. Brandt stopped coming over. He’d quit answering her calls. In a moment of clarity a month or so later, she realized it was time to let go.

In those soul-searching moments, she’d faced a lot of truths, half-truths and untruths. About herself.

About Luke. About their marriage. Then she’d taken three steps that helped her move on for good.

...

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Soul patch? Gone. Despite the leaner appearance, Brandt’s angular face was still too rugged looking to be considered handsome in the classical sense, like Luke’s had been.

What hadn’t changed about Brandt? His captivating smile that managed to be both ****y and shy.

The stunning blueness of his eyes. His overprotective instinct. The first thing he’d done after seeing her for the first time in months was lecture her on hooking up with a douchebag like Mike.

At that point, Jessie had told Brandt she was predestined to wind up with douchebags like Mike and Luke, and if he were smart, he’d continue to stay away from her.

He’d started to argue and she’d glimpsed something dangerous in Brandt’s eyes she’d never noticed.

But true to form, he’d walked away.

Or so she’d thought.

She’d been so eager to convince Mike and his friends she was good-time Jessie the party girl, not a mousy widow with a pathetic past, that she ended up drinking way more than was healthy or smart.

The details were hazy through the veil of alcohol. Except for the humiliation of not holding Mike’s ***ual interest even when she was naked and willing. Chivalrous Brandt had taken her home. She hadn’t seen or heard from him until today.

Jessie slumped against the wall. So far she’d been able to avoid talking to him.

Or maybe he’s avoiding talking to you.

She heard, “Miss Jessie!” and saw her boss’s twin daughters racing toward her.

Peyton exclaimed, “There you are,” and attached herself to Jessie’s hip. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Not to be outdone, Shannie hugged the other leg and added, “Yeah, everywhere.”

“I’ve been here the whole time.” Jessie whistled. “You look like princesses in those dresses.”

Both girls beamed and twirled in a flurry of ribbons, ruffles and frills that adorned their pink and lavender dresses. Not matching dresses. Peyton and Shannie were fraternal twins, but they’d exerted their individuality early on. Since Jessie ran the daycare at Sky Blue, she’d watched these girls over the last two years, always amazed by how different they were from each other, and from their older sister, Eliza.

Eliza, who was trying to keep up with her dozen or so boy cousins.

“Will you dance with us?” Shannie asked.

“Please?” Peyton begged.

“Where are your mom and dad?”

Shannie rattled off, “Mama is right over there, see? She’s helpin’ Aunt Ginger with her little babies since Daddy and Uncle Buck hadta take Hayden’s grandpa home.”

Jessie wasn’t surprised Kane and Ginger McKay had brought their twins, Madelyn and Paulson, to Keely’s wedding. Babies abounded at McKay gatherings because there were plenty of hands to help out harried mothers and fathers.

“Miss Jessie, can we ask you something?”

“Sure, Peyton.”

“How come we don’t call you Aunt Jessie? You’re a McKay, just like us, right?”

Boy howdy. How long had these precocious three-year-olds been waiting for a chance to ask her? She snagged a chair and sat. The girls scrambled onto her lap. “I became a McKay after I married your dad’s cousin Luke.”

“But he’s in heaven, huh?” Shannie said.

“Yep. Right after he…went to heaven, I started working for your mom at Sky Blue. We decided it’d be too confusing for the other kids in daycare if you two and Eliza called me Aunt Jessie, so we thought it’d be best if everyone called me Miss Jessie.”

Shannie exchanged a sly look with Peyton before she said, “So if you don’t got a husband hogging all your time, then you can dance with us.”

She smiled at their logic. “I suppose so.”

“Yay!” The girls hopped down, each grabbed a hand and tugged her onto the dance floor.

Jessie spun the girls through two songs. When a slow number started, she started to herd them off the dance floor, but Calvin McKay intercepted, scooping both his giggling granddaughters into his arms for a dance.

Before she reached her table, a firm grip circled her waist and she was towed back to the dance floor.

Brandt slipped his arms around her—at a proper distance naturally—and said, “Thanks for dancin’ with me.”

“Like you gave me a choice.”

“You would’ve said no if I asked, so I didn’t ask.”

She couldn’t help it; she smiled.

Brandt’s gaze wandered over her face. “You look beautiful tonight, Jess.”

She blushed. “Thank you. You clean up pretty good yourself.” No lie. Brandt wore a black suit with a silver vest. The same silver vest all Keely’s male McKay relatives wore, but he somehow wore it better…which was really saying something.

“How have you been?”

Lonely. “Busy. How about you?”

“The same.”

The song shifted tempo and he slowed them to a gentle sway.

“It was a beautiful wedding. I’ve never seen Keely so happy,” Jessie murmured.

“Me either.”

They stayed quiet in the moment, just dancing. The song ended and another one began. “I should go,”

she said, trying to slip from his embrace.

But Brandt’s grip tightened. “Stay. We need to talk.”

The last thing she wanted was to talk about the fiasco at the lake. “If in my drunken idiocy I forgot to say thank you for…what you did for me that night—”

“You said thank you,” he replied tersely, “repeatedly, and that’s not why I wanna talk to you.”

“Well, thank heaven for that. Because God knows I haven’t relived the most embarrassing night of my life in my nightmares enough times in the last four months.”

“You’re not the one who oughta be embarrassed.”

“Can we please stop talking about this?”

“No.”

She took a step back.

He jerked her forward again.

“Knock it off, Brandt.”

“No. We are gonna talk about this now that you brought it up. Did Mike call you the next day?”

She knew he wouldn’t let it go. “Yes. He didn’t remember anything, okay? Not a single thing.”

“That little ****ing prick. Do you remember anything?”

Heat rose in her cheeks. “Some.”

“What did he say when he called?”

“He asked me out again.”

“Did you go?” Brandt demanded.

She glared at him. “What the hell do you think?”

He stared back, pulling that silent accusing crap he did so well. Once again she tried to get away from him, once again he didn’t let her.

“Let me go.”

Before Brandt answered, Dalton appeared. “Hey, guys. Mind if I cut in?”

“Get the **** away, Dalton,” Brandt snarled.

“Look, people are watching. Dad especially. I ain’t gonna let either of you **** up Keely’s wedding reception by givin’ Dad the chance to cause a scene. Which we all know he’d love to do. So back the **** off, Brandt, and let me dance with Jessie.”

“Fine.” Brandt leaned in and kissed Jessie’s cheek. Then he whispered, “This ain’t over. Mark my words, Jessie. We will talk, even if I have to hogtie you to make it happen.” He gave them both a feral smile and ambled off the dance floor toward the bar.

Without missing a beat, Dalton brought her into his arms. “I ain’t gonna ask what the hell that was about.”

“Smart choice, Dalton.”

“I may be slow, but I ain’t dumb.”

She relaxed and let him lead. Her relationship with Dalton was more sibling-like than her relationship with Brandt. Dalton still called her every couple of weeks just to shoot the breeze. Last month he’d come over and helped her fix fence, regaling her with tales of his dating life, which always made her laugh.

“So, sister, you’re lookin’ good.”

“You’re looking dapper yourself, young McKay. Did you bring a date to the wedding?”

“Are you kiddin’? Bring a woman to a wedding and they immediately start hearin’ wedding bells.

And I ain’t close to ready to settle down.”

“The wild McKay boys are still goin’ strong?”

“You know it.” He danced them toward the stage. “Although, lately, Tell seems to be takin’ a page from Brandt’s book, actin’ like a freakin’ monk.”

Jessie’s pulse jumped. Dalton never talked about Brandt around her. “Oh really? A few months back someone mentioned Brandt seeing a woman from Hulett.”

“Lydia? She’s old news. They’ve been on-again, off-again for the last ten months.”

Her immediate burst of jealousy was ridiculous.

“Something is goin’ on with him. He’s been a real dickhead the last month. I thought maybe he was pissy because he wasn’t getting laid, but I ain’t sure that’s what’s been bugging him. I wondered if he’d said something to you, ’cause he sure as hell ain’t talkin’ to...

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“Such a loving family,” Jessie muttered as Tell took her hands.

“Miss us, doncha?”

She smiled. “Not touching that one.”

He laughed. “So what’s new?”

“You’d know if you ever bothered to call me.” At his guilty look, she whapped him on the shoulder.

“Tell. I’m kidding. Since my life is incredibly boring, why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to?”

“I’ve been hittin’ as many local rodeos as possible, tryin’ to complete my PRCA judges course.”

Tell had been talking about doing that since the first time they’d met. “You actually followed through with it?”

“Yep. I got tired of waiting for the right time to get certified and they accepted me as a candidate because of my past rodeo experience. I’ve been studying DVDs and scoring the rides. Then they match how I scored them to the real scores to see how I did.”

“It hasn’t interfered with your ranch work?”

Tell scowled. “To hear Dad talk, I’ve all but abandoned the ranch. Hell. I’m gone one day, two at the most in a month. Brandt and Dalton ain’t complaining. And since Brandt’s pretty much in charge, he’s the one I’m the most concerned with. The season’s almost over. Dad’s just pissy because I’m headin’ to the NFR in December for a week’s worth of hands-on classes.”

Casper had always condemned any activity that took his sons away from the ranch. She remembered Luke saying that Tell could’ve gone pro in saddle bronc or bareback riding, but Casper wouldn’t allow it.

Of all Casper’s sons, Tell was the peacemaker. So this new direction in his life, against his father’s wishes, surprised her and she said as much.

“After Luke died, I realized that Dad wouldn’t ever be happy again about anything any of us did. I decided to do what I want and he can deal with it.”

Jessie studied him. Tell resembled Luke more than either Brandt or Dalton, but he had the same world-weary look she’d seen on Brandt. “Are things any better between you guys and your dad?”

He shook his head. “Worse, actually.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are.” Tell smiled. “So let’s look like we’re havin’ a blast out here on the dance floor, eh?

That oughta really piss Casper off good.”

She laughed.

As soon as the dance ended, she booked it to the women’s bathroom. Halfway down the hall, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t have to turn around to know it was Brandt.

Why wouldn’t he just leave her alone?

“Jessie. Wait.”

She spun to face him, shrugging out of his hold. “What do you want now?”

“We need to talk.”

“I’m talked out.” She wheeled back around…and found herself pushed against the wall with Brandt in her face.

“Goddammit, this is really important.”

“So is the fact I was on my way to the bathroom.”

His eyes darkened and his grip on her biceps increased. “I’m serious.”

“Fine. Spit out what is so important that I’m not even allowed to pee first.”

He stared at her with that wordless threat.

She’d had enough of his tough guy attitude. “Let me go…or I’ll punch you in the stomach.”

His shock gave way to a smarmy grin. “Punch me? You? Sweet Jessie? I’ll bet you’ve never hit another person in your life.”

Mistake.

Jessie released a fast, hard uppercut to his solar plexus that immediately had him falling back to clutch his gut. She leaned closer and hissed, “I might not’ve hit a person, but I own a punching bag now, so back off.”

A gasp echoed and she looked up to see Keely and AJ McKay staring at them in openmouthed horror.

****. “Sorry, Keely. I didn’t mean…”

“To punch Brandt in the stomach? That was an accident?”

“Umm. No. I meant to do that. I didn’t mean to cause a scene and I…really have to wash my hands.”

Keely’s gaze darted between them. “Okay. Don’t be too long. I’m about to throw the bouquet.”

Like that was an incentive not to run out of here screaming. Jessie watched Keely and AJ disappear into a dressing room and hightailed it to the ladies room, not sparing Brandt a second glance.

She hid out as long as she could—or at least until all the wedding guests were occupied with the tossing of the bouquet.

As soon as the coast was clear, she snuck out the back door and drove straight home.

Take that, Brandt McKay. I won’t talk to you if I don’t want to and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.

Chapter Two

Brandt couldn’t believe Jessie had snuck out.

He really couldn’t believe she’d sucker punched him.

Not a sucker punch if she warned you.

True.

Fifteen minutes after she’d socked him a good one, he’d noticed she hadn’t returned to the reception.

He checked the parking lot and saw her pickup was gone.

Brandt had left immediately.

The drive to her place had been little more than a blur. He knew when he’d cut the truck’s headlights and pulled into her driveway that she hadn’t gone to bed yet. Even if her trailer had been completely dark he’d still be standing on her porch, ready to rip the damn door off the hinges if she didn’t answer his knock.

A knock, which she’d ignored for the fifth time.

Screw it. Jessie already thought he was heavy handed, so he used that heavy hand to beat on the aluminum siding. “I ain’t leavin’ Jessie, so open up.”

Lexie barked inside and Jessie shushed her as the door swung inward.

His braced himself, half-expecting she’d be aiming a shotgun at him.

Why that thought heated his blood just proved how twisted he was when it came to his conflicted feelings about his former sister-in-law.

But Jessie wasn’t packing heat. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him through the screen door. “Did you bring the ropes to hogtie me with?”

“Funny. I’m comin’ in.”

She muttered, “Typical McKay macho bull**** ,” and unlocked the screen door.

Any relief that she’d relented to listen to him vanished when he remembered what he had to tell her.

Inside, he absentmindedly patted Lexie’s head and watched Jessie grab two beers out of the fridge.

She passed him a bottle on her way to sit on the couch.

She’d changed out of the slinky gray ****tail dress and into baggy red sweatpants and a black sports bra that molded to her upper torso, emphasizing the slenderness of her shoulders, the gentle curve of her breasts and the flatness of her belly. Damn woman looked good no matter what she wore.

Or didn’t wear. The image of her naked in his arms had been permanently burned into his memory banks, but oddly, that wasn’t the first thing that popped into his head whenever he saw her. Usually the word mine flashed behind his eyes in big red letters, and that was just all kinds of ****ed up.

By the time she faced him, he’d managed a bland expression.

Jessie’s gaze dropped to his stomach. “Sorry for punching you.”

“No, you’re not.”

Her smile was there and gone. “Why are you here?”

“Because I need to tell you something.” At her uncomfortable look, he held up his hand. “I promise it doesn’t have nothin’ to do with the embarrassing way I threw myself at your feet last year.”

She frowned.

“You don’t remember?”

“Of course I remember. I just…didn’t see it that way.”

“Thank God for that,” he muttered, swigging his beer.

“What’s up, that you had to chase me down at eleven o’clock on a Saturday night?”

Blurt it out.

No, break it to her gently.

“Brandt?”

“It’s…” ****. This was gonna suck ass.

“What? You’re scaring me.”

“I came across some information… Well, that ain’t exactly true. I wasn’t the one who made initial contact… Ah hell. I’m doin’ this all wrong.” He chugged another drink of beer. “Last month a woman called me. She said she knew Luke.”

Jessie didn’t speak. She just blinked those amazing baby blues at him.

“She said she knew Luke intimately, so intimately in fact, that he’d knocked her up.”

“What?”

“This woman claimed she’d been sleepin’ with Luke and didn’t know she was pregnant until after he died.”

Every bit of color drained from Jessie’s face.

“She said she broke it off with him a week before his accident. When she discovered she was pregnant…somehow she’d heard you got kicked off the ranch. She figured she’d get the same treatment from Luke’s family, and get nothin’ but grief from you, so she didn’t tell anyone Luke was the father.”

“Bull****,” Jessie spat. “She knew carrying...

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“Because I did demand proof. Right away. I contacted Dr. Monroe and she put me in contact with a place that specializes in fast paternity tests. Long story short, Landon is Luke’s child. But really, all I had to do was look at the kid and I knew.”

Jessie’s tough shell cracked and her face crumpled. “Oh God. No. This is not happening.”

Brandt was beside her in an instant. He wanted so badly to pull her into his arms, offer her comfort, but he wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t slap and claw at him, taking her rage out on the messenger since she couldn’t take it out on the person who deserved it.

Goddamn you, Luke. What the **** were you thinking?

He hadn’t been. As usual his brother thought of himself first.

Jessie hugged her knees to her chest, hiding her face beneath her tangle of hair. Her shoulders shook as she rocked on the couch.

Brandt was helpless to do anything but watch her fall apart.

Lexie came over, whining at her mistress’s distress, but even the dog seemed at a loss.

He drained his beer. Then he got up and grabbed another. Staring out the window, his thoughts as jumbled now, as when Samantha Johnston had contacted him six weeks ago.

Brandt hadn’t told anyone in his family about meeting Samantha and Landon. It’d been ripping him up inside to the point he was pretty sure he’d given himself an ulcer.

He lifted the bottle to his lips only to come up empty. He’d sucked down the whole damn thing without thinking about it, without tasting it—which was why he hadn’t been drinking the last month. It’d be too easy to wind up drunk every damn night, without intending to.

“Am I the last one to know about Luke’s secret love child?” Jessie asked.

Her tear-choked voice startled him. “No. Hell no. I wouldn’t do that to you.” He crossed the room and sat next to her. “You’re the first one I’ve told. You’re the only one I’ve told.”

“Why me first? Why not Tell or Dalton or your folks?”

How did he phrase this?

You’ve gone too far to worry about sparing her feelings now.

“Because this isn’t happy news for you, Jess.”

Her mouth trembled and he watched as she fought to stop it. She inhaled. Exhaled. “But it will be happy news for them.”

Brandt nodded.

“Jesus. This is a nightmare. Just when I think it can’t get worse, it does. Just when I think Luke McKay can’t possibly hurt me any more than he already has, he does.”

He didn’t dispute it, which forced her to meet his gaze.

She paled further, if that were possible. “It gets worse, doesn’t it?”

“Afraid so. Look, Samantha has had a rough go of it. She’s young, a single parent with no one to turn to, so she’s made some mistakes.”

“What kind of mistakes?”

“She got a DUI when Landon was six months old. She managed mostly to stay on the straight and narrow…until two months ago.”

“What did she do?”

“Got a second DUI.”

Jessie’s mouth dropped open. “Are you joking?”

He shook his head.

“Is that why she contacted you? To bail her out of jail?”

“No. She contacted me after the arrest because she knew she’d be sent to jail. She moved away from the guy she’d shacked up with and moved back in with her aunt. But the aunt can’t take care of Landon. So she needs…”

“Oh no. Please tell me you didn’t volunteer to—”

“What choice do I have?” He stood and paced to the door and back. “If one of Landon’s blood relatives doesn’t take him, her aunt will turn the child over to Protective Services.”

“It sounds like the kid will be a helluva lot better off with a child protection agency than with her,”

Jessie snapped.

Brandt froze. “You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do. She’s a perfect example of why there are these types of agencies, Brandt. Let them deal with her and with the kid. They’re more qualified to make a rational decision about—”

“The only living link I’ll ever have to my dead brother? I’m just supposed to say, oh well, not my problem? Not care? He’s little more than a baby, Jess. None of this is his fault. Don’t you see that? I’m sorry, but I can’t walk away. I won’t.”

“Fine. You can’t. I get that. But I don’t understand what any of this has to do with me.”

Here was the moment of truth. He knelt in front of her. “Because I can’t do this by myself. I need your help.”

“No.”

“Just hear me out.”

“No. God. No. Stop. Brandt. Please. Just stop.”

The look on her face was killing him, but somehow he soldiered on. “It’s a temporary situation. Just a few months.”

“You can’t be serious. You really aren’t asking me to help you take care of my dead husband’s illegitimate child.”

“That’s exactly what I’m asking.”

“Oh God, I’m gonna be sick.” She shoved him aside so hard he fell on his ass and she raced to the kitchen sink.

Her retching sounds, mixed with her heartbreaking sobs, made his eyes burn and his throat tighten.

He was asking the impossible of her. He knew that. But he also knew that Jessie had the kindest soul and the purest heart of anyone he’d ever known. That’s why he hated how his brother had treated her. And it pissed him off that Luke still had the power to hurt her—to hurt both of them—from beyond the grave.

Brandt wasn’t a religious man, but maybe there was a reason this child had happened and a reason why Samantha had come to him for help. He had to believe this ****ty situation would mean something good in the end. Because if he thought too hard about the cruelty of it, he’d go stark raving mad. Hell. He was almost there.

He picked himself up off the floor and went to her. Jessie didn’t shrink away when he wrapped his arms around her. She turned and burrowed into his chest, sobbing.

Brandt held her and let his tears fall along right with hers.

Finally, she whispered, “I can’t do it.”

“You don’t know that,” he soothed. “I’m only askin’ you to try.”

“How? By forcing me?”

He tipped her chin up. “I’d never force you. You know me better than that.”

Again, she looked away. Again, Brandt lifted her chin and studied her eyes. The misery was still there, but something else was too. Something that resembled anger. “What?”

“Why me, Brandt? Why am I the first person you thought of?”

Because you’re the most caring person I know.

“Is this some sort of punishment?”

Confused, he frowned. “Punishment? Why would you ask that?”

“Because I hurt you. Then you cut me out of your life completely. And you can deny it all you want-”

“I’m not denyin’ that you hurt me, Jessie. But I was the one outta line, not you. I was mad at myself, not at you.”

Jessie’s entire face held an expression of disbelief.

“So you think I’m usin’ this as an opportunity to get back at you? To hurt you?”

“That’s what I’m asking,” she said softly.

“Christ, just bringing the goddamn thing to your attention is hurting you. I can see that. You think I like the way you’re lookin’ at me right now? No. But I remember you looked at me the same way right after Luke died. I remember how we helped each other through it. One day at a time. How bein’ together somehow made it…bearable at times.” He closed his eyes against the pain in hers. “Do you remember the night you told me you wouldn’t have survived that first year if it hadn’t been for me? How you owed me and if I ever needed anything from you, all I had to do was ask? Well, Jess, right now, I’m askin’ you. I’m begging you. Please. I need you to help me do this.”

After a minute or so of hellish silence, she burrowed into him again. Her tears soaked his shirt. “I don’t know if I can do it. I need some time, Brandt.”

“I hate to say it, but that’s the one thing I can’t give you. I’m picking Landon up tomorrow.”

“And you’re just telling me now? This is going way too fast.”

“I hadn’t intended to spring this on you. But Samantha’s sentencing was moved up last week. She went to the women’s correctional facility in Lusk on Wednesday. Her aunt agreed to keep Landon only for a few days. If I don’t go get him tomorrow…”

Jessie jerked back. “Why is her aunt being so difficult?”

His hand shook as he brushed baby-fine strands of hair from her tear-stained face. “She’s actually her great aunt, who’s nearly eighty and is almost legally blind. It was easier takin’ care of baby contained in a crib. But now that Landon is walking, she literally cannot keep an eye on him.” That wasn’t all, but Brandt wasn’t about to put the cart before the horse.

So he...

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There was Jessie’s horror-filled look. “But Casper—”

“Is the worst possible choice, yeah, trust me, I know. My mother would be fine takin’ care of Landon, but she won’t stand up to my father, which means I’d have to leave Landon at their house. Every goddamn day. And I don’t trust my dad not to go around me.”

“Go around you how?”

“Given Samantha’s circumstances, he’ll try for full custody of Landon, and the court would award them guardianship, even temporarily, over me. I don’t want it to come to that. Ever.”

“When did you plan on telling them about him?”

“Tomorrow. I’d hoped to have a firm plan in place first, but if I don’t, I’ll wing it. Tell and Dalton will back me up, no matter what happens.”

In the unbearably long, brutal silence, Brandt felt his hope drying up. Felt her pulling away.

Shivering, Jessie wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s late. And I’m…”

In shock. Heartbroken. Angry.

Every emotion was written on her face. “Do you want me to go?”

She said, “Yes,” then amended, “unless you’re too tired to drive home. You can crash on the couch.

But you won’t get much sleep. It’s the last thing on my mind right about now.”

When Jessie was upset, she cleaned house like a maniac. He’d rather sleep in his damn truck than surround himself with her strange compulsion and the smell of bleach. He snagged his suit coat off the back of the chair. “I’ll go. Think about it, okay?”

She looked him dead in the eye and said, “I doubt I’ll think of anything else.”

Jessie didn’t sleep. She paced to the point it annoyed her dog. She drank two shots of whiskey and the booze stopped the shaking in her hands, but didn’t blot out the surrealness of the situation.

Luke had a child.

With someone else.

That alone would’ve been bad enough, if not for the fact she’d lost a baby. Every problem they’d ever had stemmed from that unintended pregnancy, which had forced them to get married. She’d miscarried at four months, after getting thrown off her horse. Luke hadn’t been devastated at the loss of the child as much as she had.

No, his devastation came from being trapped in a shotgun marriage.

The doctor’s suggestion that she remain at home to heal gave Luke an excuse to go out. While he’d been carousing in honkytonks in four counties, she’d been the dutiful wife.

He’d been so sweet and loving to her at times she wondered if she’d exaggerated his surliness when he wasn’t around. She’d wanted to try for another baby right away, but the doctor suggested she wait a year and put her on birth control pills. Which had re-ignited their *** life for a while. But she hadn’t been enough for him. He’d gone elsewhere to satisfy his ***ual needs.

She’d stumbled upon evidence of the first affair by accident. She hadn’t confronted him about it. She just tried harder to satisfy him—in bed and out—hoping it’d keep him home.

It hadn’t. As the months wore on, it was almost as if Luke wanted to get caught. He wanted Jessie to know he’d been with other women. He hadn’t tried to hide it from anyone, including his family. Casper McKay had been snide about it. Joan looked at her with pity. Dalton and Tell skirted the subject. But Brandt had seethed.

One afternoon Brandt had yelled at Luke for screwing around on her. Luke told Brandt to mind his own goddamn business and he could screw whoever he wanted. When Brandt insisted Jessie deserved better, Luke had laughed, warning Brandt that he wasn’t the better man, and if Brandt ever touched Jessie, Luke would kill him. Neither man knew Jessie watched in misery from the shadows of the barn.

She’d never understood why Brandt had stood up for her. It wasn’t like they’d known each other before she’d married Luke. She’d never understood why Luke had threatened Brandt over her, because she wasn’t the type to turn heads or inspire fierce loyalty. Or fidelity.

So the question on her mind now: Would he have left her for this Samantha girl once he’d found out she carried his child?

No. Luke would’ve bucked up to his responsibility for the kid, but he wouldn’t put himself in a repeat situation of being stuck in a relationship because of a child.

What a mess.

Imagining her husband in bed with another woman was bad enough. But seeing the proof of his passion? Of seeing the physical embodiment of what he’d denied her but he’d given to someone else?

She felt hollow. Totally eviscerated.

How could she look at the child with anything but loathing?

Brandt’s words, He’s little more than a baby, Jess, none of this is his fault, rang in her head and slashed at her heartstrings.

She would not feel guilty. She owed this Samantha girl nothing. She owed Luke nothing.

But she owed Brandt McKay everything.

Didn’t she?

She’d just gotten her life back on track on her own terms. She owed it to herself not *****ffer through the heartbreak of wishing the little boy was hers. Of getting pissed off because he should’ve been hers. Of resenting Luke because he should’ve left her pregnant, not some strange teenager.

So when Brandt called tomorrow, she’d tell him no.

She’d scream no if she had to.

But she would say no.

Chapter Three

When Brandt pulled up to Jessie’s place late the next morning, she didn’t immediately exit the house.

He waited in his truck, listening to Landon’s soft snuffles drifting from the rear cab. The boy had screamed from the time he’d left his aunt’s house until ten minutes ago when he’d conked out.

Thank God.

He hoped the kid would be on his best behavior, all cute smiles and big blue eyes, because Brandt didn’t want to give Jessie a reason to say no.

She couldn’t say no. She was the key to everything.

Brandt unbuckled Landon and lifted him out of the car seat. He adjusted the hood covering Landon’s head and cuddled him against his body to block the wind. At the last second he remembered the diaper bag.

Kids came with a lot of stuff.

Fine flakes of snow pelted him in the face as he climbed the stairs. He stood in front of the door, figuring he’d use his foot to knock on the bottom aluminum panel if need be.

But the door opened and Jessie stared at him through the screen. Her eyes never left his, never strayed to the sleeping child on Brandt’s shoulder. “So much for not forcing me, huh Brandt? You just show up on my doorstep?”

This did not bode well.

After glaring at him, she held the door open and shushed Lexie’s excited barks.

He put Landon onto the couch, wedging him against the middle couch cushion facing out. He unzipped the tiny winter coat and tried to rearrange the hood, but the kid didn’t seem to mind it, so he left it as is rather than risk waking him. Turning around, he expected to see Jessie behind him, but she’d shooed Lexie outside and retreated to the kitchen.

Brandt ***ched his coat and followed her.

“Coffee?” she asked softly.

“That’d be great.”

After she poured his cup, she leaned against the counter, keeping her back to the living room. Keeping her back to Landon.

He searched her face. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes, the only color on her too pale skin. Her lips were drawn in a tight line, as were her eyebrows. She looked like one wrong word would shatter her. “Did you sleep at all?”

Jessie shrugged. “I think I dozed off around dawn, but then I had to get up and feed the animals.” She blew across her coffee. “What about you?”

“About the same.” He’d lain in his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to make plans for the next few months—a pointless endeavor, when everything was up in the air.

“What time are you meeting your parents?”

“I don’t know.”

She frowned. “You’re just gonna spring this on them too?”

He felt his face heat. “Not an ideal situation, but I’m in limbo until you…”

“This decision shouldn’t be on my shoulders,” she snapped.

“It’s not. But your answer does have an affect on what I do next.”

Her chin dropped to her chest and she gazed into her coffee mug. “I’m sorry.”

Disappointment lodged in his gut like a stone. “Jessie—”

“I’m sorry, Brandt. I can’t do it. I can’t help you—”

The remainder of her sentence was lost in Landon’s cry.

He set aside his mug and crossed to the couch. Landon had already pushed himself upright and was looking around with confusion. Brandt dropped to his haunches, keeping the kid from scrambling down.

“Hey, buddy. Didja have a nice nap?”

Those somber blue eyes studied him as Brandt removed the little guy’s coat.

“I brought some of your toys.”

But Landon held up his arms.

“Okay. I guess you’d rather be picked up.” Brandt settled the boy on his hip and turned around.

Jessie had her back to him as she faced out...

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Cowgirls Don't Cry Page 8



Landon’s whole body wiggled, he was so excited.

So Brandt kept helping the boy pet the dog, keeping Lexie’s head and teeth away from Landon’s poking fingers. He shot a glance toward Jessie, but she hadn’t moved.

Come on, Jess. You can do this. I know you can.

Three things happened while he was silently begging Jessie to look at them. His cell phone rang in his back pocket. As he shifted to reach for it, he stepped on Lexie’s tail. She yipped and scampered away, heading toward Jessie. When he loosened his hold on Landon, the monkey kid jumped down and raced after the dog.

But Lexie had wormed her way between Jessie and the kitchen cabinet. Before Brandt could catch Landon, he smacked into the back of Jessie’s calves, squealing, determined to get a hold of the dog.

Startled, Jessie spun around and knocked Landon to the floor. He landed with a thud on his diapered butt and cried out.

The rest of it happened in slow motion.

Jessie instinctively picked him up, with a reassuring, “You’re okay,” and smoothed her hand over his dark head.

Brandt watched, not breathing, as Jessie realized what she’d done.

A tiny gasp escaped. Her hand froze, as if the kid had suddenly become radioactive, but her gaze tracked every inch of Landon’s face.

“My God. I can’t believe how much he looks like Luke.”

“It’s a little spooky.” He took another step closer. “I’ll take him, if you want.”

She swallowed with difficulty. “No. It’s okay. I’ve got him.”

“You sure you’re all right?”

“No, not really.”

Tell her she doing great.

The words stuck in his throat. An excruciatingly long minute passed before he said, “I didn’t mean—”

“I said I’m working on it, Brandt. Just give me a second.”

He nodded. He’d give her all the time she needed.

Jessie hiked Landon higher on her hip. He seemed to be studying Jessie as closely as she was studying him.

Then Landon pointed to a package of crackers on the counter and grunted.

“Has he eaten anything?”

“Not since I’ve picked him up.”

“Does he have food allergies?”

Brandt scratched his chin. “Not that she mentioned.”

“Maybe she left instructions.” She wandered into the living room and rummaged in the diaper bag.

Landon started to fuss when she pulled out an empty bottle. She frowned. “He’s still on a bottle?”

“I guess. Is that bad?”

“Most kids I’ve dealt with have been weaned by this age. But I’ll be the first to admit all kids develop differently, so I’m not sure.” She dug out a can of baby formula and studied it. “This is a special formula for underweight toddlers. It has more nutrients than regular formula.” When Jessie realized she’d been babbling, she backtracked, “I only know this because one of the kids at Sky Blue was on this formula until she turned two.”

“Good to know,” Brandt murmured.

“Here.” She passed Landon to him. “Entertain him while I fix his bottle.”

Lexie decided to give Landon another chance and let herself be petted, patted and pulled on. By the time Jessie brought the full bottle over, Landon was antsy for it.

Brandt held Landon while the kid sucked down his bottle, keeping an eye on Jessie.

She sat in the couch, knees drawn to her chest. Her gaze hadn’t wandered from Landon for several long minutes. “You knew once I saw him I wouldn’t say no, didn’t you?”

He shook his head. “I’d hoped.”

“So what now?”

“Now I need to know if you’re really on board with this.”

“It’s temporary, right?”

“Right. Samantha was sentenced to two months in jail in Lusk and two months in a halfway house in Casper. Which might actually end up less time if she exhibits good behavior.”

“So we’re looking at four months before she’s out and can take him back.”

“Roughly.”

She tipped her head back and sighed. “I can’t believe I’m saying this…but okay. I’ll help you.”

Brandt nearly shouted with relief. “You are an amazing woman, Jess. Thank you, for doin’ this.”

“Before you sing my praises, I have a couple of con***ions that we can talk about after I hear the plan you’ve sketched out with me on board.”

“What makes you think I’ve got more than one plan?”

Jessie gave him a wry look. “Because I know you, Brandt McKay. You prepare for every possibility.”

“I’m not exactly a go with the flow kind of guy.”

“That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a better trait than impulsiveness.”

“You always say that.” He smiled. “I figured since you work in a daycare, and if Skylar was okay with it, you could take Landon to work with you. Not every day. Three days a week.” Brandt suspected it’d be harder to convince Jessie than her boss Skylar, married to Brandt’s cousin Kade, to agree to the arrangement.

“It’ll be good for him to be around other kids. I’m no expert, but he seems to be behind in stuff, like…talking.”

Her eyebrows rose. “He doesn’t talk at all?”

“I’ve heard him say no and mama and goggie, which means doggie as far as I can tell. That’s it.”

“When I take Landon to daycare with me, I won’t be spending all my time with him teaching him to talk. In fact, it’ll present a conflict.”

“How so?”

“After Sky hired me, she changed the daycare structure. Before, because each employee had kids, they had to rotate into the daycare for a week. But since I don’t have kids and wasn’t trained for factory work, she made me fulltime in the daycare. I won’t put Sky in the position of assuring her employees—

who are also my friends—that Landon won’t be getting all my attention.”

“Anyone who knows you, Jess, understands you won’t play favorites.”

“No need to flatter me. I already said yes.” She ran an agitated hand through her hair. “What happens after the five o’clock whistle blows?”

“After I’m done workin’ on the ranch during the week, I’ll be at your place.”

“Every night?”

Was that alarm in her tone? “Yes. Why?”

“You didn’t say a dang thing about moving in with me, Brandt.”

“Well, I didn’t say I wasn’t movin’ in with you either.” He gave her his most charming grin.

She didn’t even crack a smile.

“To be blunt, my place is too far away. It doesn’t make sense for us to drive back and forth a couple times a day. I’ll be here after you get off work to take care of him, including anything he needs at night. In the morning you guys will go to Sky Blue, I’ll head to the ranch.”

“There’s some other reason you’re insisting on this happening here at my place, so spill it.”

Brandt sighed. “It’d be easier for everyone if I wasn’t livin’ so close to my folks while he’s under my guardianship.”

“Oh, yeah, I can see where it’d be so much better if you tell Casper you’re living with me.”

“Guess I didn’t think that one through, did I?”

“No.” Jessie’s eyes kept wandering to Landon. “I just want you to make sure they both understand that this was not my idea, Brandt.”

“I promise.”

“And as long as we’re heading down this road, I have a few con***ions. First, I will not have any contact with Landon’s mother. Period. You will deal with her. I don’t want to hear about how she’s doing in jail or any of her problems. Ever.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

“Second, I will not have any contact with Casper. Your mom? Fine. Casper. No way.”

“Understood. Which is why it’ll be best that I stay here for the most part.”

“Third, I’m done in four months. Regardless of what Landon’s mother does, or what you’ve promised her beyond that, my part in helping you is finished.” Brandt started to speak, but she cut him off. “I’m not kidding about this. Four months. That’s it.”

“Fine.”

“I know I won’t have to spell it out to you that I won’t be doing everything myself for this kid, like feeding him, changing him, entertaining him, plus all the regular household stuff I already do.”

“And why don’t you have to spell it out for me?”

Jessie looked away. “Because you’re not like Luke. For the record, that’s a compliment. You’d never ask me to help you and then abandon me.”

Yeah, Luke had been awesome at that. He’d called it delegating. Everyone else called it bull****.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“Last thing. You won’t bring women into my house and no expecting me to baby-sit while you’re...

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Cowgirls Don't Cry Page 9



Evidently Brandt hadn’t been successful in keeping his voice down. Landon’s eyes popped open and he wiggled until he was sitting on Brandt’s lap.

Jessie stood. “I’ve said my piece, you’ve said yours. Can we just move onto the next thing? Because there’s plenty of other stuff we have to deal with today.”

“Yeah.” He squinted at the clock. “I need to get goin’. I’m supposed to meet my brothers at my place in an hour.”

“I’ll call Skylar and give her a heads up, but it’d probably be best if I drove out there and talked to her.”

“True.” He reached for Landon’s coat. “Come on buddy. Let’s ride.”

Jessie insisted on meeting Skylar face to face because she had the overwhelming urge to put distance between herself and Brandt.

Don’t you mean between you and Landon?

What’d happened to her backbone? She’d sworn last night she’d say no. She’d said it out loud. Hell, she’d screamed it. No one in the world would blame her for washing her hands of the situation. In fact, now she’d have the exact opposite problem. People in the community would think she was a masochist or a martyr.

But when she’d seen that sweet little innocent face…something shifted inside her. Something big.

Something beyond pity or a sense of duty. Something she was afraid to put a name to.

She turned off the highway and bypassed the Sky Blue manufacturing plant. Seemed strange to drive past it and through the gate that divided the manufacturing plant are from Kade and Skylar McKay’s private residence. As handy as it was for Skylar to have her business so close to her home, she kept the two buildings separated.

Girls and dogs raced up as soon as Jessie parked.

“Miss Jessie,” Peyton exclaimed. “Mama said you were comin’ here.” She stood on tiptoe and peered around Jessie.

“Someone else you’re looking for, Peyton?”

“She’s checkin’ to see if you brought the llamas, which is just stupid,” Eliza drawled.

“I’m tellin’ Mama you called me stupid,” Peyton shot back.

“Go ahead.”

Shannie stepped between her warring sisters. “Stop or Daddy won’t take us ridin’.”

“’Cause you’ll tattle,” Eliza said.

“Yeah,” Peyton added. “You got us all in trouble last night.”

Three dogs sniffed Jessie as three girls argued.

The screen door slammed and Skylar started down the steps, followed by Kade.

The girls’ fighting ended immediately and they lined up, all sweet smiles, the pictures of innocence.

Jessie bit her cheek to keep from laughing.

“Hey, Jess. It’s good to see you, but you didn’t have to drive out here.”

Maybe she was interrupting some family thing. “Oh, if this is a bad time, I can go.”

“No,” Skylar assured her, “it’s fine. Actually, I’m happy to see you.”

Kade set his hands on Skylar’s shoulders and spoke to his daughters. “You girls get the tack ready for the horses and I’ll be right there.”

“’Kay. Bye!” All three girls took off, boots clomping on the gravel, pigtails flying as they raced each other to the barn.

Before Jessie uttered a word, Kade demanded, “What’s this I hear about Luke havin’ a kid?”

“Kade,” Skylar murmured.

“No sense in beatin’ around the bush, Sky.”

Jessie jammed her hands in the pockets of her vest. “Obviously it was news to me too, but Brandt has been dealing with the boy’s mother for the last month.” She relayed the story, knowing she’d better get used to telling it, even when the news would spread through the McKay family like wildfire.

Both Kade and Skylar were quiet, yet Jessie could sense some silent communication between them.

Kade sighed. “Hell, Jessie. I don’t even know what to say. I’m sorry none of us can kick Luke’s ass for what he done. But I’d be lyin’ if I didn’t tell you I wanna kick Brandt’s butt for even suggesting that you be a party to takin’ care of this kid.”

“I’m pretty sure you’d have to get in line. Not to mention how Casper…”

“Casper can shut his big goddamn mouth, as far as I’m concerned. He’s never—”

“Kade,” Skylar said, stopping his tirade. “This isn’t helping. Go hit the trail with the girls. They’re waiting for you.”

“All right.” Kade held Jessie eyes with a sympathetic look from beneath his gray cowboy hat. “If you need anything at all, just ask.”

“Thanks, Kade. I appreciate it.”

Kade kissed his wife and sauntered off.

Skylar grabbed Jessie’s shirtsleeve. “I made iced tea. Or maybe you’d prefer something stronger?”

Jessie shook her head. “Tea would be fine. I think if I start drinking I won’t stop and that won’t help anyone.”

After they settled in wicker rockers in the three-season porch, Skylar sighed. “I thought the girls would sleep in this morning after their late night at the wedding reception, but they were up at the crack of dawn, as usual. They definitely take after their father in that respect.”

How would Landon take after Luke? Just in looks? Or in temperament?

Jessie braced herself for more questions because Skylar wouldn’t pull any punches.

“I hope you don’t think I’m taking advantage of the situation, but there’s something else I needed to talk to you about anyway.”

That didn’t sound very good. “Am I in trouble?”

“No. Not even close. Despite the circumstances that brought you to Sky Blue, Jessie, I’m thrilled to have you working for me.”

“But?” she prompted.

“But it seems the dynamic in the daycare has changed in the last year. I’ve always had the daycare for just my employee’s children, but with those kids growing up we’ve got vacancies. Even my girls aren’t around fulltime anymore.”

“You thinking of opening up the daycare for non-employees?”

“Just family. You, naturally, for as long as Landon needs it. I know India has been dropping Hudson off occasionally and taking Ellison with her to the shop. Ginger needs to go back to work soon, but she doesn’t want to put the burden of caring for twins on Kade and Kane’s mother Kimi, although Kimi has volunteered.” Skylar smiled. “Grama Kimi loves her grandbabies. She’d happily take all three of our girls and all three of Kane and Ginger’s kids every day.”

Kimi McKay was the mother-in-law Jessie wished she’d had. Vivacious, caring, fun, fiercely protective of her family, yet the blonde spitfire didn’t take any crap from either of her twin sons or her husband or the rest of the McKay clan.

“Ginger and I talked last night at Keely’s wedding reception, she weighed her options, and I sort of volunteered the daycare at Sky Blue.”

“Of course you did, she’s your family. And it’s your business Sky, you can do whatever you want.”

“True. I just don’t want to take advantage of the situation, or you, especially now that Landon will be part of the mix.”

Jessie was quiet for a minute or so while she considered the options. “To be honest, it’d be easiest for everyone if we could arrange it so the twins and Landon weren’t there the same days.”

“Ginger plans to work four days a week. Have you given any thought to what Landon’s schedule will be?”

“Brandt and I discussed having Landon come on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

“So it’s okay if I tell Ginger Tuesdays and Thursdays work best? The babies won’t start coming for another two weeks.”

“Sure. Thanks, Sky, you have no idea how much…” Don’t cry because once you start you won’t be able to stop. Jessie sipped her tea and tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

“Okay, now that we’re done with the business portion of this conversation, Jess, tell me how you’re really doing.”

“I’m…” A mess. “Handling it. Yes, I’m in shock. Yes, I’m pissed off. Really pissed off at Luke on so many levels I don’t think I’ve even discovered them all yet. And this probably will sound horrible, but right after Brandt told me about this kid, I wanted to hate him. Before I ever laid eyes on him. I thought I could look at him and not feel a goddamned thing.

“But when I saw him? I didn’t see a dead ringer for Luke, or a kid who should’ve been my son. I saw a lost little boy. A kid who wouldn’t have anyone to see to his basic needs if not for Brandt stepping up to the plate. But Brandt is smart enough to admit he can’t do it alone. He’s also smart enough to know that if he left Landon’s future in his father’s hands, Casper would take legal action to ensure the boy’s mother never saw her son again. Landon doesn’t need that. None of us needs that. What Landon needs is the stability Brandt and I can provide until...