Looking For Trouble (14 page)

She couldn't help the singsong quality of
her voice when she said, "Oh, and where will
you
be
staying?" It certainly wasn't in the house with them. She could
barely tolerate his overbearing personality for a few hours, there
was no way she was going to be able to do it, if they were under
the same roof.

"Stop, it, Jess..." Jazzie hissed and her
eyes sparkled angrily.

It seemed like they were both on Wade's
team, her brother
and
her best friend, and Jess had never
felt so alone. Clenching her jaw, she said sweetly, "What did you
have in mind, Wade?"

Jess saw a muscle in Wade's jaw work a few
times, then he told her, "What I was going to
suggest
, is
that I buy a house, and you, Angel and Jazzie live there, while
you're in town, then when you go on tour, I'll stay there and take
care of Angel. Otherwise, I'll be at the bunkhouse at the Double
B."

What he said made perfect sense, and Jess
fought her inner wildcat instinct, and tried to be reasonable,
"That sounds fine, but our stuff is in Dallas, we have an apartment
there."

"We can go get your stuff...that's not a
problem," he told her, then it looked like he was holding his
breath.

If she was lucky and waited long enough,
maybe he'd pass out. "Fine, just let me know when you find
something," she told him, then folded her arms under her breasts
and added, "Jazz and I can stay at the bar, until then with the
band."

"You're going to be living in that house,
Jess, so you need to go with me to find a place. And as for you
staying at the bar, until we get something set up..." Wade took a
deep breath then blew it out slowly, evidently rephrasing what he
was about to say, "There are three extra bedrooms in the bunkhouse,
and I'm sure Cassie and Luke wouldn't mind you and Jazzie using
them, until we close on a house. That way your band members can
have some space."

Jazzie smiled, then winked at Wade, and Jess
wanted to throw up when she said, "I'd love to stay at the
bunkhouse Wade...it sounds like we'd have plenty of room to spread
out there too."

His warm smile for Jazzie, put Jess's teeth
on edge, then she ground them to dust when he said in that low sexy
voice of his, "And I'd love to have you there, Jazz...it's only
temporary, but it's a helluva lot more comfortable than shoving six
people into two one-bedroom apartments."

Wade looked over at Travis and offered,
"You're welcome there too, you can have the third bedroom."

"Thanks, man, but I'll just stay with the
band..." Travis said then added, "Hopefully, I won't be in Bowie
too long...if I can get them signed with a label, or at least
opening for a big name."

"With Jess's talent, you shouldn't have a
problem," Wade said without looking at her, and he turned his focus
back on the road, and kept quiet the rest of the ride back to
Bowie.

The humming of the tires, and whisper of the
air conditioner put Jess to sleep, and she stayed that way for most
of the ride, but when they pulled up in front of the big farmhouse,
her nerves went right back on edge. A claustrophobic feeling
squeezed her throat and she had to get out of the truck,
quickly.

Wade was at her side in an instant, as she
slid down to the ground. "Wait, baby...I'll carry you to the
bunkhouse so you don't trip on one of the holes between here and
there."

"No, need...I'll be fine," she said and
turned her back to him, then unbuckled Angel from the car seat and
lifted Angel to her shoulder. Wade leaned over her shoulder and
took Angel from her, and she spun around on him, with her hands on
her hips, then hissed, "Jesus, you have to control
everything
, don't you?"

"
Goddammit
, Jess, stop being so
prickly. You can bust your ass if you want to, but I'll be
damned
if you're taking Angel down with you!" Wade spat then
grabbed a few bags from the back of the truck and took off toward
the bunkhouse.

Jess huffed a breath, and admitted to
herself, she
was
being prickly with him, and that attitude
wasn't going to make the time she was forced to spend with him any
better. She needed to get a grip on her anger, for Angel, and deal
with this man better, because it looked like he was going to be in
their lives for a while.

Jazzie came up to her side, and put her
hands on her hips, then got some head action going, "You need to
quit being a bitch to him...he's done nothing but try to help your
sorry ass, Jessie...and all you've given him is hell. Grow up!" her
best friend told her then grabbed the rest of the bags from the
truck bed and stomped off toward the bunkhouse.

It looked like she was batting a
thousand...now everyone was pissed at her...she was even pissed at
herself. Jazzie always told her like it was, and that's why they
got along so well. She could count on her best friend to lay it all
out there without soft soaping anything.

Jazzie was right this time too, even if she
was mad at her for siding with Wade. She was a
twenty-seven-year-old mother, and needed to start acting that way.
Wade Roberts was accepting responsibility for their daughter...way
above that really...and she needed to do what was best for her
daughter, accept what he was offering, at least until she could do
something else.

Travis finally came around to her side of
the truck and looked at her with sympathy in his eyes, "I know this
is tough for you Sis, but Jazzie is right...Wade is helping, and
you need it."

"I know...but I've worked hard to take
control of my life from Dad...then Ray...and giving even a piece of
that control up is hard now...and scary."

"Wade is nothing like them...he's not going
to use you, or rob you blind...he just wants to take care of you
and Angel," Travis told her then slipped his arm around her
shoulders and finished, "I'm going to try and get ya'll signed as
soon as I can, but you need to be writing, while you're off. You
need some new stuff to cut some demos. The bar would be a good
place to try them out too."

Jess said in a trembling voice, "I do need
to start writing again...I still have a few songs that Ray didn't
get his hands on, and I need to polish them, then start some new
ones."

Reaching inside the truck, she got the
diaper bag, then stuffed in the toys that Wade had bought for
Angel, and the cute little angel shorts set, then slammed the door.
"Can you get my suitcase?"

They walked toward the bunkhouse with the
heated sun beating down on her head, and Jess had to carefully pick
her way around the dirt clods and holes, trying to make it there
without breaking her other ankle. It didn't take her long to figure
out she should have let Wade carry her, because it was taking three
times as long to get there. When her cast landed wrong and she
twisted her knee, Jess sat down on the ground with a grimace. She
dropped the diaper bag, then just sat there a second resting her
head on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Travis left her
there and kept walking to the bunkhouse.

"You done being stubborn, sugar?" Wade's
deep voice made her jerk her head up to see his eyes sparkling with
amusement, and a sexy grin on his damned face that made that
irresistible dimple dent his cheek.

"Yeah, I guess I am," she said with
resignation pouring through her. That stubbornness sure hadn't
gotten her anywhere, except on her ass in the middle of a
pasture.

"Good, let's go then," he leaned down and
picked her up in his arms then told her, "Put your arms around my
neck."

Looking into his warm brown eyes, she slid
her palms up his chest then around his neck. He held her gaze as he
carried her toward the bunkhouse. "Better watch where you're going,
or you're gonna find one of those holes, and we'll both wind up on
our butts."

"I won't let you fall, sugar..." he told
her, seeming to impart a message with his words and his eyes that
went far beyond the surface.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Three days later, the real estate agent Wade
had contacted, the only one in Bowie, had several houses he wanted
them to look at. Wade had gotten up really early to get all the
chores done at the ranch, before Angel and Jess got up, so they
could go see them later.

He was just finishing up feeding the horses,
when she walked into the barn behind him. "You're up awfully early
this morning," she said with a yawn then a smile. She'd been doing
a lot more smiling in the last few days, since she'd gotten some
rest, and was eating right, thanks to Imelda, and the groceries
he'd stocked up the bunkhouse with. Her whole attitude had improved
tremendously, and he was thankful for it.

Since he was an early riser anyway, and
wanted to spend quality time with Angel, he'd been getting up to
feed her when she wailed at four in the morning, because she was
wet and hungry. He didn't mind, those quiet times with his daughter
had made him fall even more in love with the little bundle of
energy, and it gave Jess more time to rest. When Angel looked up at
him with those green eyes, so like her momma's, while she drank her
bottle, he felt like their hearts were connected by a string. There
wasn't anything Wade wouldn't do for her.

"Thought I'd get done early...we have some
appointments to go look at houses this afternoon," he told her,
looking up from inspecting Titan's hoof. It had seemed a little
tender when he'd exercised him yesterday.

"That's great...I cooked some breakfast, if
you're interested, and made some fresh coffee," she said with a
proud smile.

Wade's eyebrows raised and he stood up, he
didn't even know she could cook. "You did? Thanks, darlin'," he
said with a grin, then walked over to give her a hug, and she
pulled back a little, probably because he was sweaty and dirty. "I
smell like horses, sorry," he said stepping back and looking down
at himself.

"You don't smell bad..." she said then
grinned, and told him with a wink, "And I kinda like you a little
dirty."

He had been walking back toward Titan and
stumbled when he heard her words, then turned back to face her.
"Watch what you say, sugar...or I might misunderstand your
signals," he said in a low gravelly voice.

These last few days, being in such close
quarters with the beautiful blond, had been sheer hell on his
libido. At night, when he closed his door, with her down the hall,
all he could think of was the magical night a year ago they'd spent
wrapped up in each others arms.

"What's to misunderstand?" she said saucily,
then turned around and walked back to the door to the bunkhouse.
"Come in when you're done," she told him then went inside.

"Holy, shit," he hissed then hurried up with
Titan, so he could go inside.

The smoky scent of fried bacon teased his
nostrils when he walked through the door, and his stomach rumbled.
Wade saw a platter with scrambled eggs and bacon and a bowl of
grits, on the long table, and his mouth watered. It also watered
seeing the leggy blond in the short shorts and worn out t-shirt
standing at the stove. With her hair pulled back in the perky
ponytail, and her face bare of makeup, she looked young and fresh,
and good enough to eat with a spoon.

Wade swallowed thickly against the desire
that flooded through him, and said, "Um...I'm going to take a quick
shower, I'll be right back."

"Hurry up, or it'll get cold," she said and
smiled at him over her shoulder.

"Yes ma'am...won't be but a second." The
only thing that would get cold hopefully was the heat that poured
through him, from the cold shower he was going to take.

Dragging his eyes away from her delectable
ass, Wade walked down the hallway and went to his room to get some
clean clothes. The small bathroom with the shower was off to the
right of the kitchen, so he headed back that way. When he passed
Jess and Angel's bedroom again, the door was ajar and he heard soft
crooning coming from the room, and he stopped to listen. He loved
hearing Jess sing to Angel, it didn't just tug on his heartstrings,
it yanked them tight.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
daddy's gonna buy you a mocking bird, and if that mocking bird
don't sing, daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring..." she sang
sweetly to the little girl in her arms, who stared up at her as if
she was hanging onto her every word. He knew he was...because that
song was supposed to say 'momma', and she'd replaced it with daddy.
Happiness welled up inside of him, and he held onto the moan that
wanted to escape. When she got to the last line, "Hush little baby,
don't you cry, daddy loves you and so do I," he had to go
inside.

"That was beautiful, sugar..." he said in a
choked voice, then went over and took Angel from her and gently
laid her in the middle of the bed, then pulled Jess into his arms,
and covered her mouth with his.

Her lips were the sweetest thing he'd tasted
in a year, and he feasted on them, and pulled her closer against
him. She whimpered then slid her hands around his neck, and kissed
him back with equal enthusiasm. Desire slammed into the wall he'd
been trying to build around his heart and crushed it. With a groan,
he deepened the kiss and she opened for him, then he was lost,
swamped with a craving for her, he had no hope of controlling.