Bad In Boots 02 - Ty's Temptation (15 page)

When his hand went well past her knee, he tilted his head in surprise and asked, “How far up does this garter go, darlin’?”

The crowd all laughed at his comment while Jena grinned and bent forward to whisper something in his ear.

“Now that she’s got me all hot and bothered she tells me it’s on the other leg,” Harm mock-complained to the crowd. Among uproarious laughter and even more catcalling, Harm moved his hands to Jena’s other leg, shaking his head at his wife’s sense of humor.

Conversation buzzed around her as Evan watched Harm remove Jena’s garter. When he stood up and held his prize aloft on one finger, Evan immediately looked for Ty. Was he among the men who waited to catch the garter?

When she saw him on the fringes of the group of men, as if he only stood there because he had to since he was a groomsman, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. She knew what tradition said the garter symbolically meant…the one who caught the garter would marry next. Is that why Ty didn’t seem to want to join in?

Harm turned his back to the crowd and tossed the garter over his head. The garter sailed through the air until one very determined male hand reached out above all others and grasped the blue and white material in a tight fist. Chad came down from his jump in the air with a triumphant smile on his face.

As she watched the other single men clap Chad on the back in congratulations, Evan let out a breath of thanks. Good. Chad would be busy for a little while at least.

Her neck tingled and she instinctively knew she was being watched. Evan turned to see Ty standing beside her.

“Hey.”

The intensity in his gaze as it slowly moved down her body then back to her face took her breath away.

“Hey yourself.” She took a sip of her wine and tried to act nonchalant. Ty didn’t need to know just how much he affected her. No one who was leaving tomorrow should affect her this much, damn it.

Ty reached up and cupped the back of her neck. Her stomach tumbled when he rubbed his thumb along her jaw line.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around.”

She smiled. “I understand it’s the groomsman’s duty to ‘work’ the party.”

Ty gave her a sexy smile. “I’ll do my best to make sure at least one guest has a great time.” He began to pull her closer when his mother’s voice came across the mic once more.

“Okay, all you single ladies. Now it’s your turn to grab for the golden ring…well, in this case Jena’s bouquet. Come on. Gather around.”

Ty wrapped his arm around Evan and kissed her temple before he gave her a push. “Get going, sassy. There’s a bouquet with your name on it.”

As Evan walked away, she grinned at Ty over her shoulder. “For once my height just might come in handy.”

Ty winked and called after her, “Elbow throwing is illegal.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Evan felt on top of the world. Just those few moments alone with Ty put a bounce in her step as she made her way to stand among the group of single women waiting for Jena to throw her bouquet.

“I heard Jena’s right-handed, so my guess is since she’ll be throwing over her head to us the flowers will go toward the left.”

Evan shook her head at the two dark-haired ladies in their early thirties who stood in front of her discussing their tactics. They had their plans of capturing the bouquet down to a science.

Harm stood behind Jena as she waved to the group of women. “Hi, ladies. Are you ready?”

“Yes!” everyone called in unison.

Evan didn’t plan to get involved in the fun but everyone’s enthusiasm around her was so infectious. She called out “yes” along with everyone else as her heart rate picked up in excitement.

Jena smiled and turned her back to the crowd. “One, two, three,” she said right before she launched the bouquet over her head.

The purple and white floral bouquet made a high arc in the air before it zoomed straight down into Evan’s hands.

Evan stood there dumbfounded as the crowd applauded and called out, “Evan, Evan, Evan!”

She even laughed when she heard a loud, “Yeehaw!” But her laughter turned into a gasp of surprise when Chad barreled through the crowd yelling, “Evan’s next to get hitched and so am I.” At the same time he grasped her around the waist. Throwing her over his shoulder, Chad played right into the uproarious laughter around them. “Guess we’d better have our fun while we can. Right, folks?”

Everyone laughed and more than a few men yelled out, “Hell yeah!”

“Very funny,” Evan mumbled from her upside-down position facing Chad’s back.

When Chad headed off the dance floor and straight toward the edge of the tent, apprehension made her stomach tense.

“You can let me down now,” she said in as low a voice as she could.

Ty narrowed his eyes as he watched the bullshit excuse Chad concocted to capture Evan’s attention. The prick knew she wouldn’t cause a scene in what appeared to be a good-natured joke. But Ty saw the way Chad’s arm tightened around Evan’s thighs when he walked off the dance floor. As the arrogant cowboy headed to the side of Harm’s ranch home as if he planned to continue toward the front, Ty felt a tight pain in his chest. When Chad’s hand cupped Evan’s ass right as he turned out of sight, Ty clenched his jaw.

Ty had taken all of five steps when a heavy hand landed on his arm.

“I don’t want to have to arrest anyone today.”

Ty cut his sharp gaze to the person who dared stop his exit and was surprised to stare into Sheriff Master’s intense gaze.

“Am I clear?”

Ty gave the sheriff a curt nod. “Perfectly.”

As soon as Jake let go of Ty’s arm, Chad came barreling around the side of the house riding a horse. Evan sat across his lap. Her legs dangled down the horse’s left side as she grasped Chad’s shoulders tight.

“Yeeeeehaw!” Chad yelled as the horse thundered toward them. The crowd clapped and laughed at his antics.

Ty cast a murderous gaze the sheriff’s way. Before he could speak, something hit him on the side of his head as the horse pounded past them.

Ty’s heart jerked at the impact, but he recovered and captured the assault weapon before it fell to the ground. He was holding Jena’s bouquet.

“Hold that for me!” Evan called out.

Ty’s gaze locked with Evan’s annoyed one as she shifted her gaze to Chad and rolled her eyes.

Biting, possessive anger, unlike anything Ty had ever experienced in his life, spread through him like wildfire. He turned and started to walk toward the side of the house, his shoulders and back tense, already mentally preparing to defend his woman.

“Hold up, son.”

Ty stopped walking, ready to explode if the sheriff tried to tell him to stay out of it. He cast his gaze back toward the imposing man.

Jake’s stare narrowed on Chad’s retreating back as the horse took off toward the open pastures behind Harm’s home. “I’ll bet with your skills you can do some damage without any physical evidence, can’t you?”

Ty’s tense shoulders relaxed. He gave the sheriff a broad, deadly smile. “Only in defense.”

The sheriff squinted after the horse and flicked his tongue over his teeth. Fatherly protection emanated from him as he crossed his arms. “Looks to me like my daughter needs some defendin’.”

* * * * *

Once they were out of sight, Chad slowed the stolen horse to a trot.

Evan scowled up at Chad. “Very funny. You can take me back now.”

Chad’s arm tightened around her waist. “No can do, honey.” He glanced down at her for a second. “You owe me a dance, remember?”

She was already annoyed with Chad for absconding with one of Harm’s horses. The horse was saddled and tied up in the stables. It had streamers of purple and white ribbons tied to the saddle horn for a reason. Chad was starting to piss her off.

“Fine. But the music and the dance floor are back under the tent.”

“Where you’ll try to avoid me the rest of the wedding.” He shook his head. “Nuh-uh, woman. You promised me a dance.” He lowered his head and nuzzled her neck. “I guess I’ll just have to sing to you for the background music.”

“And just how do you expect me to dance with you while I have my hands clapped over my ears?”

Chad smirked at her insult as he stopped the horse. “Nice try, but you’re not getting out of it.” When he finished speaking, he moved his legs back a little and set her on the saddle. Evan gripped the top of saddle horn and prayed the horse didn’t move while Chad jumped down or she’d be kissing the grass.

Chad grabbed her waist before she had a chance to turn and sit astride. She’d have done so, even in her dress, just to get back to the wedding. Evan ground her teeth and placed her hands on Chad’s shoulders to steady herself while he lifted her down. Once her feet hit the ground, she let go and took a step back. “I know what you’re really after, Chad. You may as well give up, because it isn’t going to happen.”

Chad grabbed her around the waist and yanked her close. “Why? Is it because of that Yank? I understand he’ll be leaving tomorrow. But I’ll always be here, Evan. Boone is our home.” His grip tightened on her waist as his mouth lowered to hers.

Chad had deliberately made her face facts. Ty would leave tomorrow. Gone. Back to his home and his business in Maryland, and all she’d be left with was memories of their time together. She’d never been so angry in her life.

She tried to shove Chad back, but he grasped her shoulders and planted his lips over hers in a hard kiss.

Evan felt nothing, absolutely nothing when Chad tried to deepen the kiss. Other than anger. That emotion definitely ran rampant through her mind. She pulled her mouth away from his and whacked him in the nose. Hard.

“Ow!” Chad yelled as he backed up and held his hands to his nose. Then he turned his blood-streaked palm toward her. “Shit! I think you just broke my nose.”

Evan crossed her arms over her chest. “That’ll teach to take ‘no’ as a ‘no’.”

His eyes widened in disbelief as he covered his nose once more. “But you didn’t say ‘no’.”

“Oh, so me trying to shove you back was a ‘yes’ in your book?”

“No. I mean…yes. Hell, woman, you’re trying to confuse me.”

“Lean forward.”

“Huh?”

Evan turned at the sound of a horse’s hoofbeats approaching fast. “I said, lean forward. Don’t tilt your head back or you might swallow the blood. Pinch your nose, too. It’ll stop the bleeding faster.” Her heart leapt at the sight of Ty galloping toward them on the back of one of Harm’s horses. The man leaned into the horse like he’d been born in the saddle. He’d ditched his jacket and tie and had unbuttoned his collared shirt, but in her mind, nothing was sexier than seeing Ty riding in to save her in his wedding garb and a huge purple and white floral wreath swaying around the horse’s neck. The sight of the flowers made her stomach tense. Those purple and white ribbons on the horse Chad stole definitely had a purpose.

The ground shook beneath her feet until Ty stopped his horse a few feet away.

“Need a ride, ma’am?” he asked.

She noted the smirk of amusement that lit in Ty’s green gaze when he glanced at Chad and saw the man’s predicament.

Evan walked over and put her hand in Ty’s outstretched one. As he helped her up to sit sideways on the saddle in front of him, Chad called out in a nasal voice as he continued to pinch his nose, “I can take Evan back.”

Ty wrapped his arms around Evan’s waist and nudged his horse forward until they stood beside the horse Chad had taken.

Leaning over, he grabbed the other horse’s reins and started to turn both horses around.

“Wait! You can’t leave me here. I need a ride back.”

Evan felt Ty’s body tense behind her. “I’m taking both horses. They were waiting to be Harm and Jena’s ride away from their wedding reception.”

“Oh no,” Evan whispered at Ty’s confirmation of her concerns about the decorated saddle horn on the horse Chad took. Chad might’ve been the one who stole the horse, but she couldn’t help the embarrassed heat that rode her cheeks as Ty began to trot away with the horses.

When they reached the stables, Ty’s arm tightened around Evan’s waist and his lips moved close to her ear. “I want to know why you didn’t tell me you were a vet.”

Evan turned to look up at him. “Only if you tell me—”

Ty’s lips landed on hers, heated and demanding.

Her heart raced at the intensity of his kiss. Evan reached up and touched his jaw. She opened her mouth under his, wishing they were alone for more than a brief few minutes. She had a feeling someone would come looking for them soon.

Ty pulled his mouth away and stared down into her eyes, waiting for her to answer.

Evan returned his heart-stopping stare. For several seconds her pulse pounded in her ears. Did she really want to open up to Ty? To tell him one of her biggest insecurities. His hand moved from her waist to her thigh and squeezed. Not a word was spoken, but she realized from that one touch her trust seemed very important to him.

Evan started to speak when a familiar booming voice interrupted her.

“Evelyn! There you are.”

Her father walked up to the horse and put his hands in the air to help her down. Evan cast an apologetic look Ty’s way before she put her hands on her father’s shoulders and allowed him to lower her to the ground.