Getting Lucky (A Nugget Romance Book 5) (11 page)

She really had to talk to the man about calling first. He seemed to think that he could show up whenever he wanted to. Katie was at school, so she couldn’t imagine why he was here in the first place.

“You shouldn’t leave your door unlocked while you’re in the shower,” Lucky shouted back.

She’d come in after spending the morning in her studio and must’ve forgotten to fasten the deadbolt.

“What are you doing here?” She ditched the jeans laid out on her bed and hunted through her closet, landing on a short vintage dress.

“I needed to talk to you.”

A few moments later she burst out of her bedroom. “Did you get the results?”

“Not yet. No, this is about something else.” He eyed her dress. “You going somewhere?”

Embarrassed that she’d gone a bit overboard, she lied. “Yeah. I have a . . . a thing . . . a meeting with a prospective client.”

“You in a rush?”

“No. The meeting isn’t for a while. I’ve just been working all morning, needed a break and figured I may as well get ready. You want a cup of coffee?” She headed for the kitchen and he followed.

“Sure. Where are you meeting this client?”

“His house,” she said, because it was the first thing she could think of. Clients always came to her studio.

“You know this guy?”

“Uh . . . yeah. Cream? Sugar?” She poured him a mug.

“Black’s fine. How do you know him?”

“Lucky, what’s with the third degree? I own a business. I know lots of people.”

“Which reminds me, what’s going on with those boots I want?”

Tawny fixed her own mug and took it to the table. “He doesn’t want to sell ’em. In fact, he picked them up the other day.” She touched her nose to see if it had grown. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“There’s a lot of construction going on at the ranch today. I think we should put off Katie’s visit until things calm down. The dust and commotion are too much. I don’t want her getting sick.”

“That sounds smart. I’ll pick her up then. She’ll be disappointed, but—”

“Nah, I’ll get her after school and we’ll do something fun. Maybe we’ll go to the Bun Boy for supper and do a little bowling next door.”

“All right,” Tawny said. “Just have her home early. It’s a school night.”

He winked at her. “Yes, ma’am. Why don’t you drop by after your appointment? Bowl with us.”

“What? Raylene busy?” Tawny didn’t know what got into her sometimes.

“Bowling is not really Raylene’s thing. She and I have plans later.”

Tawny could only imagine. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Lucky. Your time with Katie should be yours.” Precocious Katie was already plotting ways that they could be one big happy family together.

“Unlike you, I don’t have a problem with sharing,” he said, getting a little dig in. “But if you don’t want to come, I understand.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to come. I just don’t want Katie getting any ideas.”

“Ah,” he said. “I get it. I figured she understood that Raylene and I were together.”

“She’s nine. That’s not really how her mind works.”

“I guess not,” he said. “So we’re not ever allowed to do stuff together because it might get her hopes up?”

“I don’t know, Lucky. This is all pretty new. What does it matter anyway?”

“I just think it would be nice for us to occasionally do things together.”

“Why?” she asked.
Just to drive me crazy?

“I would think it would be good for Katie to see that we’re friends. Besides, I like you.”

Tawny didn’t say anything. Before the silence could grow awkward, Lucky’s phone rang. More like mooed. His ringtone was that of a bellowing bull. He must’ve changed it. Last time it had just been a plain old ring.

“Hey, babe.” He got up from the table and went into the living room. Since the house was all of a thousand square feet, Tawny could still hear Lucky’s side of the conversation. “Let him press charges, then . . . Don’t worry, my lawyer will handle it . . . Hey, Raylene, I’m at Tawny’s right now. Can we do this later?”

There was a long pause and then Tawny heard Lucky mutter a curse.

“She hung up on you, didn’t she?” Tawny walked into the living room. “She’s angry that you’re over here. See, this is why we can’t all spend time together.”

Tawny had enough drama with Katie’s illness; she didn’t need any more. For once she just wanted a calm life.

“She’s just a little jealous of you.”

“What in God’s name for?”

“Woman, have you looked in a mirror lately?” Lucky raked his hand through his hair. “It’s like what you said: This is all pretty new. Me being a father, and you and Katie having me in your lives, Raylene didn’t bargain for any of it. She didn’t bargain for the fact that her husband dumped her for her best friend. I think we all need to cut her some slack. But, Tawny, the one thing I know for sure is that I want the mother of my daughter to be my friend. It’s important to me. And I think it’s important for Katie.”

“All right,” Tawny said. “So is Ray pressing charges against you for threatening him?”

“He says he is, but who really knows? The man’s full of bluster.”

She fixed him with a look. “Of course he’ll press charges. You went on his property and you laid into him. What do you expect, Lucky?”

“It was a stupid thing to do, all right? Does that make you feel better? But I can’t exactly take it back now.”

“You could apologize.”

“Never gonna happen.”

Tawny shook her head in exasperation. “Really, Lucky, you should—”

“Someone’s knocking.”

She walked to the window and pulled the lace panel aside. Brady.

Opening the door, she said hi and let him in. “What a nice surprise.”

He handed her a basket. “Muff ins for you and Katie.” That’s when he noticed she had company. “Oh. Hey, Lucky. This a bad time?”

“No, of course not,” Tawny said. “But how did you get my address?”

“Are you kidding me? This is Nugget.”

She laughed and held up the basket. “Thanks for these. Should we have some with coffee?”

“I’ve gotta get going,” Lucky said, but she sensed that he was annoyed. “I’ll get Katie home at around seven.”

“Okay. Have a nice time and go easy on the junk food.”

He nodded, grabbed his hat off the credenza at the front door, and stepped out.

“Shoot,” Brady said. “Seems like I might’ve been interrupting something.”

“Nothing. Actually we were arguing, so it’s good that you came.”

“What were you arguing about? If I’m being too nosy, feel free to tell me to mind my own business.”

“Apparently, Ray Rosser is planning to press charges. I told Lucky to just apologize, but his pride—and bullheadedness—won’t let him.”

“Since I’m already sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, is there something between you two?”

“You mean besides the fact that we have a daughter together?”

“Yep,” he said. “Look, I’ll just put it out there. I thought you and I could start hanging out. I left a weird situation in LA, like seriously effed-up weird, and I’m still gun-shy. But you seem like one of the normal ones. So if you and Lucky are a thing . . .”

“We’re not,” she said. “He’s with Raylene.”

“Really? Because I was kind of picking up a vibe a few minutes ago.”

“You must’ve imagined it,” she said. “So what happened in Los Angeles?”

“I’ll tell you sometime after we’ve had twenty drinks.” He looked at the half pot of coffee on the kitchen counter. “Caffeine doesn’t count.”

“You’re actually planning to make me wait for this story?” she said.

“Afraid so.” He reached into the basket. “Here, have a muffin.”

By the time Brady left, she’d told him her life story and he’d told her nothing. A man of mystery. But a very engaging one.

Tawny went back into her studio and used the rest of the day to work on Clay McCreedy’s boots. He’d chosen soft kangaroo leather and a simple design. The McCreedys, with the exception of Clay’s first wife, who was now dead, didn’t go in for the flashy stuff. The showiest Clay got was a medallion with two-color stitching. But both he and his late father had always liked quality.

With Hayes Carll playing in the background, she managed to make a great deal of headway. By quitting time, she realized that one of Brady’s muffins was the only thing she’d eaten all day and went inside the house to scrounge up something for dinner. Halfway through a ham sandwich, she saw Lucky’s Ram truck pull into the driveway and glanced at the clock. The man was punctual.

Katie ran in. “We went bowling, Mommy, and I got a strike. That’s when you knock all the pins down in one try.”

“Congratulations,” Tawny said. “Come give Mama a kiss and then put on your pj’s.”

Katie dutifully kissed Tawny, then whined, “But it’s only seven.”

“I know, but it’s a school night and you’ve been under the weather.” Tawny felt Katie’s head. “Brush your teeth while you’re at it.”

Katie reluctantly complied, leaving Tawny and Lucky alone in the kitchen.

“Sounds like she had fun,” Tawny said.

“Yep. When did Brady leave?”

“Uh, hours ago. Why?”

“It just seemed like he was planning on camping out.”

“Camping out? We barely know each other.”

“According to Raylene, you seemed pretty hot and heavy the other day at the Lumber Baron. She said you were practically making out in the kitchen.”

“We weren’t, but I can’t see how it would be either of your business if we were.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s not.” He sagged into one of the kitchen chairs. “But all day it’s been bugging me. And I don’t know why. I guess I don’t want another man in Katie’s life—not so soon after I found her.”

A small part of Tawny had hoped it was about her. “Perhaps you’re overreacting, since Brady and I just met.”

“Probably.” He smiled at her so warmly that her stomach did cartwheels. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that I was jealous.”

“Obviously that would be ridiculous.” The sarcasm went right over his head because he nodded in agreement.

“I’ve only met him a few times,” Lucky said. “But everyone says he’s a stand-up guy. I suppose the four of us should go out sometime. Maybe if I got to know him better I wouldn’t be having this odd reaction to the two of you.”

When hell freezes over
, Tawny thought. “Sure. Not to be rude or anything, but it’s getting kind of late.”

Lucky glanced at the kitchen clock on Tawny’s electric stove. “I can take a hint.” He started for the front door. “You’re coming to dinner tomorrow night at my mother’s, right?”

“I’ll drop Katie off, but I’d like to use the time to catch up on my work. If we get the green light for a transplant, I’ll have to take time off.”

“As far as money, I’ve got your back now,” Lucky said.

“No, you have Katie’s back. I make my own way in this world. Good night, Lucky.”

“You don’t need to be so tough. You took care of my kid for nine years. Even though I’m pissed about it, the right thing to do is to take care of you.” And for no reason at all he kissed her. Nothing that would go down in the annals of all-time great romantic kisses, just a rough peck on the lips.

And how pathetic was Tawny for knowing that she’d live off that kiss for a good long time?

T
he following weekend Jake took Cecilia to wine country. During the romantic stay, Rhys was setting up an undercover team with the sheriff’s department to take down the drug dealers at Lucky’s cowboy camp.

Jake had run the license plate numbers of the vehicles he’d seen coming and going at the ranch that morning. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out the backgrounds of the people on the list, leaving no doubt that Lucky’s construction crew ran a lucrative side business. Probably methamphetamine, given the histories and reputations of the buyers.

But they weren’t the target. Jake and Rhys wanted to go as far up the chain as possible. Meth was a scourge in these mountains, where cookers found abandoned cabins and mobile homes in desolate areas to manufacture the drug and have their minions distribute it.

At one time, while the Lumber Baron was still vacant, meth dealers commandeered the inn to store their cache of chemicals and equipment. Rhys wound up killing one of them after the man took Maddy hostage.

“What’s going on?” Cecilia asked as Jake texted back and forth with Rhys, finalizing plans for the sting.

“Just police business. Nothing to worry about.” He pulled her into his arms. God, the woman was beautiful. Strands of silver ran through her ebony hair. And her dark eyes . . . Jake could drown in them. Although she was slender, she had enough to hold on to. And Jake never wanted to let go.

She reached up on tiptoe to kiss him, winding her arms around his neck. “Does it have anything to do with Lucky’s ranch?”

The woman was also smart as hell.

“Sweetheart, I can’t talk about that. Plus, we’re supposed to be on vacation.”

“He’s my son, Jake. I can’t help but worry.”

“I know. You’re a wonderful mother.” Perhaps a little overprotective since Lucky was a grown man. But Jake was the same way with his daughters. They’d never get too old for him to stop worrying about whether they’d remembered to lock their doors. About them driving alone at night. Or who they were dating. “But I really can’t talk about it.”

He started to unbutton her blouse and he could feel her intake of breath as he reached for the front clasp on her bra. Unlike the women of his past, Cecilia didn’t go in for the frilly stuff. Practical, sturdy beige. But what was under it completely undid him. Round, heavy breasts that somehow had managed to defy gravity after forty-eight years.

“Want to take a shower first?” he whispered in her ear.

“That would be nice.” They’d never done it in the shower before, and he had a fantasy about taking her while watching rivulets of water run down her naked body.

He tugged down her skirt and panties in one fluid motion and walked her backwards into the bathroom. Nate had gotten them the best room in the best hotel in St. Helena. His cabin could fit inside the bathroom alone. The shower was a work of beauty. Multiple shower heads and one of those hand-held faucets Jake planned to make good use of.

He turned on the water and quickly stripped off his clothes, taking the time to look at Cecilia in the mirror. The woman made him harder than concrete. These days he typically needed little blue pills for that. But not with Cecilia. She made him feel twenty-five again.

They moved under the spray and he pressed her against the tile stall, touching and kissing every inch of her. She murmured something in Spanish.

“Was that something dirty?” He nibbled on her earlobe. “I certainly hope so.”

“Very,” she said, and let out a throaty, sensual laugh that nearly made him come. “Maybe you should learn
español, mi amor
.”

He knew enough to get by. Almost every Anglo cop in Los Angeles did. “You should give me lessons. How about I put my hands on you and you tell me what you want me to do with them in Spanish? Let’s see if I can figure it out.”

She seemed to like where this was going because she moved his hands over her pubic bone and said, “
Te deseo
.”

He knew what that meant. First he took her with his fingers, then with the hand-held water nozzle, turning the pressure up high, then with his mouth, and finally with the part of him that throbbed for her.

“Good?” He turned her around so she could brace herself against the wall.

“Don’t stop,” she moaned as he took her from behind, and then crumpled as she climaxed.

“I’ve got you.” In a fireman’s hold, Jake carried her out of the shower, laid her on the bed, spread her legs, and entered her again. “This is unbelievable,” he said, the halting words coming out like breaths. “If I die from a heart attack, it will have been worth it.” He pumped one more time, threw his head back and shouted her name.

Ten minutes later, with their limbs twined together like tree vines, Jake said, “I think I’m in love with you, Cecilia.”

She cradled his face in her hands. “I think you’re in love with being in love, Jake Stryker.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “But this feels different. Like the real thing.”

She laughed and kissed him. “Time will tell,
mi amor
.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t give my love so freely,” she said, and kissed him again.

He knew she’d been hurt, left by the father of her child when Lucky was just born. So he couldn’t be upset with her for being leery of a three-time loser. “Time will be good to us, Cecilia. My gut tells me so. And a cop’s gut rarely steers him wrong.”

“How does your gut feel about a meal?” She laid her head on his chest. “There’s so much good food here and we only have another day.”

“Let’s do it. What’re you in the mood for?” Jake swung his legs over the bed, wanting to duck back into the shower for a quick rinse.

“Italian,” she said. “That place that Nate recommended.”

“Italian it is.”

“You go first.” Cecilia nudged her head at the bathroom. “I want to call Tawny and see how Katie is. Maybe they got the results.”

“On a weekend? Doubtful, sweetheart. But go ahead. I’ll be right out.”

When he got done with his shower, Jake put on a pair of khakis, a long-sleeved shirt, and a light jacket. St. Helena wasn’t as chilly as Nugget, but still nippy in the evenings. He told Cecilia to meet him in the lobby, hoping the concierge could get them a reservation. Luckily, everyone seemed to know that they were Nate’s people. Nate was clearly revered in the hospitality industry, because so far, Jake and Cecilia had been treated like royalty.

While waiting, Jake checked his messages. Looked like everything was a go for Monday. Frankly, he’d like to get Lucky off the ranch for a few days, make up a story that he was going away with Raylene or to a bull riding competition. But he knew Lucky would never go for it. The kid would demand to be there when the shit went down, making sure no harm came to his ranch or livestock. Jake couldn’t blame him. If he were in Lucky’s shoes, he’d do the same.

Cecilia came down in a red dress that knocked Jake’s socks off. God, the woman was gorgeous.

“That new?” he asked her, having never seen her this dressed up before.

“Mm-hmm. I got it at Macy’s in Reno. You like?” She twirled for him.

“Are you kidding? I love. Red’s your color.”

The concierge let them know that the restaurant could take them in an hour. So they strolled down Main Street, looking in the shop and gallery windows. Rhys had been right on the mark about the place being money. Lots of expensive clothing and shoe boutiques and stores that sold nothing but olive oil and crackers for prices that made Jake flinch. But Cecilia seemed to enjoy it. She liked going inside, browsing through the racks, and making conversation with the shopkeepers.

Such an elegant-looking woman, Jake was sure that the proprietors thought they had a real live one on the wire. But they never seemed to mind when Jake and Cecilia didn’t buy anything.

“You talk to Tawny?” Jake asked as they passed an “artisan” chocolate shop. That was the other thing about wine country; everything was “artisan.” Artisan sandwiches, artisan soaps, artisan toilet paper. The term was a little overused, if you asked him.

“No results yet,” Cecilia said. “And Katie is doing fine. No fevers, thank goodness. I also talked to Lucky. He was with Raylene.” On Cecilia’s lips, “Raylene” may as well have been a curse word.

“What are you gonna do, Cecilia? He loves the girl.”

“I don’t know how I raised a blind son.”

“I don’t think his sight is off, just his judgment.”

“Raylene may be a beautiful girl on the outside, but she’s no good on the inside. I knew what went on in that house. Ray was a tyrant—a bully, quick with his hands and even harsher with his mouth. And for a time I felt sorry for Raylene. I even loved her. But she started becoming just like him, sneaky and manipulative. That night that Ray accused Lucky of attacking her and Raylene just stood there, playing the victim . . . it’s unforgivable.”

Jake rubbed Cecilia’s back. “There’s a chance she’s changed. All you can do is give her a chance.”

“Never,” Cecilia said.

Jake knew that Ray Rosser’s accusations against Lucky had crushed Cecilia to the bone. No mother wants to hear her son called a rapist. But Raylene had been a kid, and from everything Jake had heard about Rosser, probably a deeply abused kid. She’d been afraid to speak up. As a detective, Jake had seen it many times before.

“You might want to rethink that,” Jake said. “Lucky loves her and you love Lucky. You don’t want to alienate him.”

“I want him to start thinking with his brain, not his penis. He has a daughter now. He needs to settle down with a good woman like Tawny.”

“Tawny?” Jake grinned. “I thought you disliked her as much as you do Raylene.”

“I’m angry with her for keeping Katie from us. But in that crazy head of hers she was protecting her daughter—and Lucky and me, too. No matter what, she’s always been a good girl. A family girl, who took care of her father. And now Katie.”

“You certainly know how I feel about Tawny.”

“Yes. I think if you were twenty years younger, you’d be chasing after her instead of me,” Cecilia teased.

“Unfortunately, when I was twenty years younger I would’ve been chasing after Raylene. And the moral of that story is: People change, Cecilia. They get wiser and better with age. What else did you and Lucky talk about?”

“He wanted to know what we were doing.” She arched one perfectly shaped ebony brow and quirked her lips in a sly little smile.

“You tell him?” Jake winked.

“Why do you keep looking out the window every five seconds?” Raylene pulled her shirt over her head and scowled. “Bored with me already?”

“Everything isn’t always about you, Raylene.” Lucky pulled her hips between his legs. “Do you ever wear any underwear, woman?”

“Not when I don’t have to.” She sat in Lucky’s lap, grabbed her phone off his nightstand, made those ridiculous kissy lips she apparently thought looked sexy, and took a selfie of the two of them on Lucky’s bed.

“What are you doing with that?” He motioned at her phone.

“Posting it to Facebook. Why?”

“I have a manager and an agent who need to okay stuff like that before it goes on the Internet,” he said, grabbing the phone from her and deleting the picture from her gallery.

“Why?”

“Because I’m a public personality. And this”—he waved his hand between their mostly naked selves—“isn’t G-rated.” The PBR didn’t go for racy. Bull riding is family entertainment.

“Well, excuse me.” Raylene rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t aware I was bad for your oh-so-clean image. I wanted Butch to see what a hottie I’m with now.” She nuzzled his neck.

Lucky pulled away. “You’re posting this shit to make Butch jealous?”

“After what he and Barb did to me, why shouldn’t I?”

“Raylene, sometimes I don’t get you at all. Is this just a game to you?”

“Of course not. I’ve loved you since middle school. If you’re embarrassed of me and don’t want me posting stuff about us being together, I won’t.”

“I’m not embarrassed of you, Raylene. I just don’t want to be used to torment your ex-husband . . . who, by the way, is still your husband on paper, which I’m getting damned tired of.”

“At least I’m not hanging out at his house every day.” She got off his lap and put on her jeans.

“If you’re talking about Tawny, I was never married to her.”

“You had sex with her. You made a baby with her. Am I supposed to feel better that you two were never married? At least Butch doesn’t live in this state.”

“There’s nothing going on between Tawny and me.” Although to be truthful, Tawny was a hell of a lot easier to get along with. She might be snappy at times, but she was reasonable. And sensitive. You could have a real heart-to-heart with Tawny. Raylene only liked talking about herself.

Lucky leaned back on the bed, spread the blinds open with his fingers, and peered outside.