Bad News Cowboy (2 page)

Kate dressed for functionality, not decoration.

He had no issue with that. Kate was... Well, as women went, she was more functional than decorative, so it fit.

“I think most people would say they couldn't survive without one,” he said.

“Well—” Kate flashed him a smile “—look at me. Surviving and shit.”

“Good job.” He tapped the counter. “Now let's see if you can order me a carburetor as handily as you can survive.”

“Watch it, Monaghan,” she said, still typing numbers into the computer. “I am bringing dinner tonight, and I don't have to bring any for you.”

“Oh, do we have the option of excluding people from dinner now? I'll remember that when my turn comes around.”

Lately, Kate was usually prickly as a porcupine when he was around. He was never sure why. But then, he seemed incapable of leaving her be. He wasn't sure why that was, either. She brought out the devil in him. Of course, the devil in him seemed to live real close to the surface.

It hadn't always been like this. Sure, they'd always hassled each other. But beneath that, he'd known where he stood. Somewhere in the vicinity of her brothers. Both of them had had some pretty shitty home situations. His mother stressed, angry and resentful of his presence. While Kate's mother had been gone, her father a slobbering drunk.

Eli and Connor had done their best to take care of her, but when they'd needed help? He'd been all in. Making her smile had been his goal. Because she'd been so short on reasons to smile.

An only child, he'd had no one around to take care of him. To cheer him up when he'd been smarting from a slap across the face delivered by his mom. He'd had the Garretts. And he'd soon realized that the void he'd felt from having no one to take care of him could be filled by offering Kate what he'd so desperately wished for when he'd been young.

Somewhere along the way they'd lost some of that. Something to do with her not being a kid anymore, he supposed.

The bell above the door rang again and Alison Davis walked in, carrying a white pastry box with a stack of brochures on top. “Good morning, Kate.” She offered Jack a cautious smile, tucking her red hair behind her ear and looking down at the ground. “Good morning.”

“Hi, Alison,” he said, softening his tone a bit.

Though she'd left her abusive husband a year and a half ago, Alison still seemed skittish as a newborn colt. Maybe that was just him, too.

“What brings you by?” Kate asked.

Alison appeared to regroup in time to focus on Kate. “I wanted to bring you a pie. And also to ask if it would be all right if I put a couple of advertisements for the bakery here in the store. I have two new employees, both women who just left men who were...well, like my ex. I'm happy to have them working for me, but now I need more business to match the expense. One of them hasn't had a job in fifteen years and no one else would hire her.” Alison let out a long breath. “It's hard to start a new life.”

“I'm sure,” Kate said. “Yeah, I'll take a whole stack of those ads. I don't think Travers will have a problem with it. But if he does, I'll tell him he's being stupid. And then he'll probably change his mind because he's pretty cool.”

“I don't want to get you in trouble,” Alison said.

Kate snorted and planted her hands on her hips. “Nobody gets me in trouble unless I agree to be in trouble.”

“I appreciate it.” She set the bakery box on the counter and took the brochures off the top of them. Then she lifted the lid, revealing the most perfect meringue he'd ever seen in his life. “Lemon meringue,” she said. “I hope you like that.”

“I do.” Kate took the pie and moved it behind the counter. “I gladly accept. I promise to refer customers to you, too. If anyone comes in with a pie craving I can send them right down the street.”

“I appreciate it. Really I appreciate what everyone has done. I thought when I quit the diner, Rona would be mad at me. But instead she decided to order all of her pies from me now that I'm not making them there.”

“That's great!” Kate smiled.

Yes, she seemed perfectly capable of being nice to other people. So it was him.

“I have a few other businesses to go to. And I don't want to distract you from your work.”

“Great—just leave the brochures here on the counter.”

“Thanks, Kate.” She offered a shy wave, then turned and left the store.

Jack watched her go, then turned his attention back to Kate. “That was nice of you.”

“I am nice,” she said.

“To some people.”

She scrunched up her face. “Some people deserve it.”

“Oh, go on, Katie. You like me.”

Kate looked at the computer screen, a slash of pink spreading over her cheeks. “I like my brothers, too, but that doesn't mean I don't want to punch them in the face half the time.”

She was blushing. Honest-to-God blushing. But he didn't have a clue as to why.

“That embarrassing to have to admit that I'm not the worst person in the world?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking back at him, her dark eyes glittering.

“You're blushing, Garrett.”

She pressed her palm to her cheek before lowering it quickly. “I am not. What the hell would I have to blush about around you?” She turned her focus back to the computer screen, her expression dark now.

“You wouldn't be the first girl I made blush.”

“Gross.”

“Are you bringing that pie tonight?” He thought it was probably best to change the subject, because something about it was making him edgy, too.

“I don't know. I might hide it back in my house and keep it all for myself.”

“You can't eat a whole pie.”

“I can absolutely eat a whole pie. And will.”

“Better idea. Only you and me know about the pie. Save it, and I'll come back to your place with you.”

Kate blinked rapidly. “No.”

“What?”

“I don't think it's a good idea for you to come to my house. I mean, I think we need to share it.”

He wasn't sure why it was so difficult to find a topic that didn't make her mad or...weird. Jack never had problems talking to women. Women liked him. He liked women. The exception seemed to be Kate. And seeing as he'd known her the better part of her life, he couldn't fathom why. Usually, their banter was pretty good-natured. Lately, he wasn't sure that was the case.

“Your total is one ninety. That includes shipping,” she said, the change in topic abrupt.

“Great. When do you expect it to be here?”

“Should only take two days.”

“Even better.” He reached into his back pocket, took out his wallet and handed Kate his debit card. “I might actually swing by the bakery and pick up another pie on my way home.”

“Yeah, I wish there was more I could do to help. For now, all I can think of is increasing my pie consumption. Which I'm not opposed to. But there has to be more that can be done.”

Ideas started turning over in Jack's head. His brain was never still. Not unless he was on the back of a bull intent on shaking him loose. Or riding his horse so hard and fast all he could hear was the pounding of hooves on the ground. In those moments he had what he imagined was tranquility. Outside that, it never happened.

“If I think of anything, I'll let you know,” he said. He was already determined that he would think of something.

The printer whirred, spitting out a receipt that Kate tore off and handed to him. “You're all set. Someone will give you a call when it's in.”

“Great.” And then, for no other reason than that he was curious whether or not he could make her cheeks pink again, he tipped his hat, nodded his head and treated her to his patented Monaghan smile. “See you later, Katie.”

He didn't get a blush. He didn't even get a return smile. Instead he got a very emphatic middle finger.

Jack laughed and walked out of the store.

CHAPTER TWO

“I
COME
BEARING
FISH
!
And chips. Well, French fries. But you knew that.” Kate pushed her way through the front door of Connor's house holding two large white takeout containers. One held the fried fish fillets, and the other the fried potatoes.

“I'm starving.” Kate rounded the corner and saw her sister-in-law, Liss, standing in the center of the dining area with her hand on her rounded stomach.

“You're eating for two,” Kate said. “Or so I've heard.”

Liss screwed up her face. “That would make sense. If I knew I was gestating a ravenous wolverine rather than a human child.”

Kate laughed and walked over to the table and set the cartons down. The only other thing on the scarred wooden surface was the big green Oregon Ducks ice bucket her brother put his beer in. Well, beer and soda now, since Liss was pregnant and Connor barely drank anymore.

“Although, if it isn't a wolverine, it just means that I lack restraint.” Liss groaned. “I can't pass Rona's without going in for a milkshake. And I can't pass The Grind without getting an onion cheese bagel. I'm a cliché without the pickles.”

Connor leaned in and kissed his wife on the cheek. “You're having a baby. You can be a cliché if you damn well please.”

Kate's heart squeezed tight as she watched the exchange between Connor and Liss. Connor's first wife, Jessie, had been an influential figure in Kate's life. The two had gotten married when Kate was only nine, and seeing as she didn't have a mother, Jessie was as close as she'd gotten to a female influence.

Jessie's loss had been devastating for everyone. Though she knew it had been the worst for Connor. Considering that, him falling for and marrying Liss was only good in Kate's eyes. And Liss had always been a fixture around their house, seeing as she'd been best friends with Connor since they were in high school.

Having her as a sister was a bonus that Kate quite enjoyed.

“Ugh. Can I be a cliché eating French fries?” she asked, sitting down at the table and digging a Coke out of the ice bucket.

“I'll get you a plate.” Connor turned and walked back into the kitchen just as they heard a pounding on the door.

“Who even knocks?” Liss mused.

She had a point. Jack, Eli and Sadie never knocked. “I'll go see.” Kate walked back out to the entryway and jerked the front door open, freezing when she saw Jack standing there holding a stack of four pastry boxes. Her heart did that weird thing it did sometimes when she was caught off guard by Jack. That thing where it dramatically threw itself at her breastbone and knocked against it with the force of a punch. “Were you kicking the door?”

“I couldn't open it. Not without setting all of these down.”

Kate looked up, studying his expression. He was so very tall. And he always made her feel...little. Sure, Connor and Eli were tall, too, but they didn't fill up space the way Jack did. He was in every corner of every room he inhabited. From the spicy aftershave he wore to his laugh, low and rough like thunder, rumbling beneath every conversation.

Kate stepped to the side and held the door. “What do you have?”

“Pies. From Alison's.”

“Four pies?”

He sighed heavily and walked past her into the dining room. She shut the door and followed after him. “Yes.” He placed the boxes on the table next to the fish and chips. “Four pies.”

Liss's eyes widened. “What kind?”

“I'm not sure. I just bought pies.”

There was something about all of this that made her feel weird. A little bit weak, a little bit shaky. He'd done this for Alison, which was...touching. Definitely touching. And nice. Beyond nice of him. And a little bit curious. Because he was Jack, and he had a tendency to be kind of a self-centered asshole. So when he did things for other people, it was notable.

And strange.

And it made her throat a little bit dry. And her face a little bit hot.

“Is that going to be your solution for her?” Kate asked. “Going on a four-pie-a-day diet?”

“Obviously not,” he said, sitting down at the table and snagging a beer out of the bucket.

“What solution are we talking about?” Liss asked, crunching on a French fry.

Connor returned then, setting a plate in front of Liss before setting places in front of the rest of the chairs, then taking his seat next to his wife. “Hey, Jack,” he said.

“Hey,” Jack replied, putting a handful of French fries on his plate.

“I brought fish,” Kate said. “It's healthy. And you people are eating French fries.”

“Don't worry, Kate,” Jack said. “We'll get around to eating your healthy battered fried fish in a minute.”

“Solution?” Liss prompted, her eyebrow arched.

“Alison stopped by the Farm and Garden today,” Kate said. “She had brochures for her bakery. And she mentioned that she's hired on a couple of other women who just got out of circumstances similar to hers. But of course, it's a new business, and she has a lot more overhead now since she's renting out store space. Anyway, Jack and I were talking earlier about how we wish there was more we could do.”

“So Jack was also at the Farm and Garden?” Connor asked.

“I had to order a carburetor.” He ran a large hand over his jaw. His very square jaw. And she heard it. The brush of his palm over his dark five o'clock shadow. She swore she could feel the friction, deep and low in her stomach. And it wrapped itself around the general feeling of edginess firing through her veins.

For some reason the line of conversation was irritating to Kate. Possibly because it was preventing her from figuring out just what Jack's motives were where Alison was concerned. And even more irritating was the fact that she cared at all.

For some reason a lot of little details about Jack's life sometimes ended up getting magnified in her mind. And she overthought them. She more than overthought them; she turned them over to death. She couldn't much explain it. Any more than she could make it stop.

“So you obviously stopped by the bakery and bought pies,” Kate said, trying to speed things along.

“Obviously,” Jack said, sweeping his hand in a broad gesture, indicating the still-stacked boxes of pie.

“It was nice of you.” She was pushing now.

“I don't know that I'd go that far,” he said, shrugging his shoulder before pushing his fingers back through his dark hair. “But you know I was raised by a single mom who couldn't get a lick of help out of her deadbeat ex. Stuff like this... I don't like hearing about men mistreating the people they're supposed to care for. It sticks with me.”

Kate felt as though a valve had been released in her chest and some of the pressure eased. “Oh. Yeah. That makes sense, I guess.”

Jack arched a black brow, his blue eyes glittering. “I know you don't think I make sense very often, Katie. But there's usually a method to my madness.”

“Don't call her that,” Connor said. “She hates that.”

“Thank you, Connor,” Kate said, feeling exasperated now. “But I'm perfectly capable of fighting my own battles. Especially against Monaghan. He's not the most formidable opponent.”

“I'm wounded, Katie.”

He'd said it again. That nickname that nobody else but Connor ever called her. But when Connor said it, it rubbed the wrong way, made her feel as if he was talking down to her. Like he was still thinking of her as a kid.

When Jack said it, her skin felt as though it had been brushed with velvet, leaving a trail of goose bumps behind. It made her feel warm, made it hard to breathe. So basically the same as being rubbed the wrong way. Pretty much.

Either way, she didn't like it.

“You're a slow learner, Monaghan.”

He chuckled and leaned back in his chair, crossing his forearms over his broad chest. “There are quite a few women who would beg to differ.”

Her cheeks caught fire. “Shut. Up. You are so gross,” she said, picking up her plate with shaking fingers and serving herself a heaping portion of fish. No fries. Ungrateful bastards not eating her fish.

She heard the door open again, and then Eli's and Sadie's voices. Now the gang was all here. And she could focus on playing cards, which was really what she wanted.

Sadie led the charge into the dining room, holding her now-traditional orange-and-black candy bowl in front of her, a wide grin on her face. Eli was a step behind her looking slightly abashed. Probably because his fiancée was breaking sacred football laws by bringing the colors of an opposing team onto hallowed ground.

But she did so every week. And every week, Connor made a show of not eating the candy in the bowl. Eli didn't eat it either but didn't make a big deal out of it. While Jack ate half of it without giving a crap what anyone thought. Which summed them all up, really.

Kate always ate the candy, too. If only because she didn't see the point in politicizing sugar.

“Fish and chips!” Sadie exclaimed. “That makes a nice change from pizza. And pie!”

“The feast is indeed bountiful tonight,” Liss said, eyeing the pie. “We have Kate to thank for that.”

“Excuse me,” Jack said. “I brought the pie. I will have you all know that Katie has a lemon meringue pie hidden back in her cabin. And she did not bring it to share with you.”

Kate lifted her hand to smack Jack on the shoulder, and he caught her wrist. Her heart hit the back of her breastbone so hard she was afraid it might have exploded on contact. His hand was so big his fingers wrapped all the way around her arm, holding her tight, a rash of heat breaking out from that point of contact outward.

Her eyes clashed with his, and the sharp remark she'd been about to spit out evaporated on her lips.

She tugged her wrist out of his hold, fighting the urge to rub away the impression of his touch with her other hand. “I didn't bring it because I don't want to share my pie with you,” she said, looking at Jack.

“Selfish pie hoarder,” he said, grinning at her in that easy manner of his.

And her annoyance tripled. Because him grabbing her wrist was a whole event for her body. And he was completely unaffected. That touch had been like grabbing ahold of an electric fence. On her end. Obviously, it hadn't been the same for him.

Why would it be? It shouldn't be that way for you.

Yeah, no shit.

“I am not.” And she cursed her hot cheeks and her lack of snappy remark.

“I might have to side with Jack on this one,” Liss said, her tone apologetic. “Or maybe I'm just on the side of pie.”

“Traitor,” Kate mumbled.

“Though, on the subject of pies,” Jack said, turning his focus to Sadie, “we were trying to figure out if there was something that could be done to help bolster Alison's business.”

“Hmm.” Sadie piled food on her plate and sat down, Eli taking a seat beside her. “I'll have to scheme on that for a while.”

“You have to watch her. She's a champion schemer,” Eli said.

“The championest.” Sadie smiled broadly.

“Scheme away,” Jack said.

“You don't have to tell her to scheme,” Eli said. “She can't stop scheming. This is how I ended up with an annual Fourth of July barbecue on my property.”

“I'm delightful.” Sadie nodded, the expression on her face comically serious.

“She is,” Eli agreed.

“Are we going to play cards?” Kate asked.

“So impatient to lose all of your money,” Jack said.

This was a little more normal. A more typical level of Jack harassing her.

“To me,” Sadie said, her grin turning feral. Sadie, it turned out, was a very good poker player for all her wide-blue-eyed protestations to the contrary when she first joined their weekly games.

Kate opted to stay silent, continuing on that way while the cards were dealt. And she was dealt a very good hand. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her expression steady. Sadie was cocky. Jack was cockier. And she was going to take their money.

By the end of the night Kate had earned several profane nicknames and the contents of everyone's wallets. She leaned back in her chair, pulling the coins toward her. “Listen to that. I'm going back home, dumping all this on the floor and swimming in it like Scrooge McDuck.”

“No diving in headfirst. That's a sure way to spinal trauma. It isn't that deep of a pool,” Connor said.

“Deeper than what you have. I have all your monies.” She added a fake cackle for a little bit of dramatics.

“Then I will keep all the pie,” Liss said.

“That's my pie,” Jack said.

“You have to stay in fighting form, Monaghan. Your bar hookups won't be so easy if you lose your six-pack,” Liss said cheerfully.

“I do enough work on the ranch every day to live on pies and still keep my six-pack, thank you very much.”

“You aren't getting any younger,” Sadie said.

The conversation was going into uncomfortable territory as far as Kate was concerned. Really, on all fronts it was getting to an awkward place. Jack and sex. Jack's abs. Yikes.

“I would return volley,” Jack said, “but I'm too much of a gentleman to comment on a lady's age.”

“Gentleman, huh?” Eli asked. “Of all the things you've been accused of being, I doubt that's one of them.”

Jack squinted and held up his hand, pretending to count on his fingers. “Yeah, no. There have been a lot of things, but not that one.”

“Anyway,” she said, unable to help herself, “you comment on my age all the time.”

“I said I never commented on a lady's age, Katie.”

She snorted. “I am a lady, asswipe.”

“I don't know how I missed it,” he said, leaning back in his chair, his grin turning wicked.

For some reason that comment was the last straw. “Okay, hate to cut this short, but I have an early morning tomorrow.” That was not strictly true. It was an optional early morning since she intended to get up and spend some time with Roo. “And I will be stopping by The Grind to buy a very expensive coffee with the money I won from you.”