The Cowboy Takes A Slave (Cowboys & Cowgirls) (3 page)

“Fine. You can drive me, but I’m going to need my car to get back at some point.”

“If worse comes to worse, I’ll have Lyle or Gus bring it out. Leave your car key
s on the counter.” Lorna turned and deposited the keys and followed Jake out the door.

***

“Mom, it’s so cool that you’re working on a ranch!” Liam exclaimed. The fever that he had earlier broke and Lorna was relieved. Liam used to be sick a lot when he was smaller. It nearly depleted all of Lorna’s divorce settlement.

“Yeah, buddy, it is. You should see the horse that I rode the other day. She was a beaut.”

“I think that’s a great idea, Lorna,” Jake said, coming into the bedroom. He made her place look so much smaller. His presence felt like it took up the entire room.

“What’s a great idea?” Lorna asked.

“I think you should bring the kid to the ranch. Show him around, hell, bring his stuff out and he can stay the night.”

“I hardly think that’s—”

“Ah, Mom! Please, let’s go. I’m feeling so much better. I’ll sleep tonight, and then tomorrow you can show me what you’ve been doing!”

Lorna’s face reddened as Jake grinned. “Well, we can’t show you all of our tricks in one day, buddy, but I can show you the stables, and if your mom allows, you can ride with me on top of Charlie.”

“Charlie?” Liam questioned.

“My horse.”

“Jake, now…”

“Ah, come on,
Mom
,” Jake teased.

“Yeah, come on, Mom!” Liam mocked.

Lorna was in a tough situation. She conceded though because it wasn’t often that her son was included in any activities with another man.

“All right, but tonight you sleep,” Lorna said as she kissed Liam’s forehead.

“Awesome!” Liam cheered, then high-fived Jake.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU just did that! You know the position you put me in!” Lorna chided. Jake just smiled that slow smile that she was used to, and damn if it didn’t work, she smiled back.

“Now, Lorna, you don’t want to disappoint the kid.”

“His name’s Liam.”

“Liam.”

“Why are you doing this, Jake?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Why are you offering to bring my son out to your ranch? From what you said a few days ago, kids weren’t your thing. Why are you so eager to play house with mine?”

“Teenagers aren’t my thing, and that’s only becaus
e they’ve been on my heels all summer. And besides, don’t you think I should start getting to know my girlfriend’s kid? I mean, I kind of think that’s important if we are going to see where this thing is going.”

Lorna nearly fell over. “Girlfriend?”

Jake looked down at his boots; it was the first time that she could remember him not giving her full eye-contact. “Well,” Jake began, a blush of red highlighted his features. “I kind of thought that’s what we were doing.”

“How could you possibly…”

“Hey, kids,” Lorna’s mother said as she came around the corner. “I see that…” She noticed Jake’s red ears and she stopped. “I can come back…”

“No, Ma’am, I can assure you that nothing is going on here. Give my best to Liam, though, all the same. I have a lot of chores yet to do. I’ll make sure Lorna gets her car back,” Jake said, turning toward the door to retrieve
his hat. “It was great seeing you again, Mrs…”

“Silverton. Moriah Silverton. And y
ou don’t have to go right now, Son. I’m just…”

“Now don’
t you worry about that, Moriah; like I said, I have a lot of stuff to get done. My head has been in the clouds lately, inventing scenarios up that didn’t need to be invented.” Lorna gasped, and she went to speak, but nothing came out. “Lorna,” Jake said, nodding, “now don’t you worry about finishing up that week. And I don’t want any money back, I want that money going straight to the kids. You take care of your boy.” Then Jake turned around, silencing Lorna and her mother.

When he got into his pickup, he turned on the radio to find every single romantic song he had ever heard. Disgusted, he turned it off and rolled down the window. It would be a cold day in hell the next time he trusted a woman. Girlfriend? How stupid was he? Hell, he was thinking marriage and roses and babies, and she was thinking money for her charity! For a minute back there he thought she might say something.
Once a fool, always a fool,
Jake thought.

Driving the long stretch of road, Jake couldn’t help but think of the one time he had with her. He should have known not to expect anything else. She made something so awesome into something trashy within fifteen minutes of doing it!

As he pulled into
his drive, he saw his sister Jenny’s car. No faster than he unbuckled his seat belt, did he see his niece Sarah come running toward him. “Uncle Jake!” she cried happily. “Mom! Uncle Jake’s here!”

As soon as Sarah yelled to her mother, Jenny came around the corner. Now he knew the reason why she hesitated in seeing him. She was bruised from head to toe, and she didn’t even try hiding it. With a warning look in her eyes, she stopped him from saying anything in front of Sarah. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, Sarah Jane!” Jake said lovingly as he held his niece in his arms. “I sure missed you and your momma.”

“I missed you, too, Uncle Jake!”

Jake looked over his niece’s shoulders and stared right into Jenny’s eyes. “I’ll kill that son-of-a-bitch,” he mouthed to Jenny. He could see tears collect in her eyes as she bravely kept them from falling. “I’m so glad you’re home, Jenny.”

“Me, too,” she said softly. “Me, too.”

“SO WHERE DID ALL of these flowers come from, Jake?” Jenny asked with laughter in her voice. Jake rolled his eyes, and continued down the long hallway, stopping in front of the room that he and Lorna fixed up for Sarah.

“Sarah Jane, I fixed up this room for you. It’s my favorite spot because it overlooks all of the pretty horses.” Jenny smiled her appreciation as Sarah came run
ning, with her teddy bear in tow.

The room was freshly painted pink with a horse border. There were also a few stuffed animals on the bed. Lorna helped him pick them out. “Uncle Jake!” Sarah squealed. “I love it! I love it! I love it!” she exclaimed.

“I can’t believe that
you
did all this, Jake. Pink?”

Jake reddened. “Well, I had a little help.”

“I knew there was something with the flowers! What’s her name?” Jenny asked, teasingly.

“Her name
was
Lorna.”

Jenny frowned. “Did she die?”

“Uh, no. She’s just not coming around anymore.”

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything, Jenny Sue! I didn’t do anything at all. I rented her out for the week, she stayed for a few days, then her son got sick, and I took her home, thought she might be my girlfriend. Heaven forbid that I think that, especially after we made…Well, you know,” Jake said, slightly reddening. Jenny and Sarah were looking at him as if he grew another head. “Sorry, Sarah. I’m just a little…”

“I didn’t know you could rent people, Uncle Jake.”

Jake put his hand to his forehead and shook away his stupidity. “No, not…she was part of this…”

Jenny’s eyes widened,
then she told Sarah to shut the door to her bedroom. “Jake, come here.”

As they walked into the kitchen, Jenny located the coffee and started the machine. “Now, you rented a woman? A prostitute! Jake!”

This was much worse than he thought. “No, Jenny, I didn’t get a prostitute. There was this… Wait a minute, I’ll find it.” Jake looked for the ad that he thought would save his life for at least one week. “Ah, here it is!” Jake said, handing her the folded up piece of paper.

“Slave for a day,” Jenny read aloud.

“I reserved her for the week,” Jake commented under his breath, grabbing his cup and filling it with the brew.

“Okay, so let me get this straight… this woman,”

“Lorna,” Jake interrupted.

“Lorna,” Jenny said, then continued, “was doing… housekeeping?”

“Among other things,” Jake said quietly.

“Well that much is obvious, Jake. What happened?”

“What do you think happened? From the moment that I met her I’ve been an idiot. I can barely breathe when she’s around, I say stupid things; I’m in love with her.”

Jenny smiled. This was her brother? “Jake, that’s wonderful,” she said through tears. “I can tell! This is great.”

Jake rolled his eyes once more. “No, it’s not wonderful. She doesn’t feel the same way.”

“Well, that’s the easy part, Jake.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have to make her feel the same way.”

“Is that what Charlie did with you?”

His sister’s eyes rounded and she then looked like she wanted to murder him. Great. Two for two.

“What the hell kind of thing is that to say?”

“Are we going to dance around the fact that your hubby is beating you?”

“We aren’t talking about me, Jake.”

“No, we’re dissecting my life right now, just like you don’t want to happen with you. I can pretend that Charlie is a great guy if you want, but stay out of it with Lorna.”

“Jake, I…”

“Just stay out of it, Sis.”

Chapter Three

“
S
o, are you going to tell me what happened, or am I supposed to just guess?” Moira asked, as she followed Lorna into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Lorna went to the cupboard and grabbed two mugs.

“I don’t really want to talk about it, Mom. It’s nothing.”

“Oh, yeah, sure…nothing. Why was he in such an all-fire hurry then? And why did he ask Liam to his place and then all of a sudden drop it?”

“He didn’t drop it or him. He invited Liam. It just isn’t appropriate. I only agreed to it because Liam’s father—”

“Sucks,” Lorna’s mom finished. Lorna flinched then nodded.

“I was so shocked that he had invited him; how could I say no?”

“Why would you say no?  Look at him, Lorna! He is the sexiest man that I have ever seen, and that includes a pretty long list of Hollywood’s A List Men.”

Lorna rolled her eyes. “He’s gorgeous all right, but that has nothing to do with it.”

“No of course not the whole thing, but there is attraction. I can feel it in the room when you two are in it. Yet another reason for pushing this subject, Lorna. I’ve never seen you so distracted. I know you, baby. You like this guy.”

“Of course I like him, there is no question in that.” Lorna blushed, then busied herself with the coffee.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“You know what the problem is! I can’t trust men, Mom, or have you forgotten?”

Moira blanched. No, she hadn’t forgotten. She had never felt so helpless in her entire life, seeing her daughter’s bruises. “No, I haven’t forgotten, Lorna, but Jake’s not like that.”

Lorna shook her head. She didn’t think he was, but it was hard to tell. She also didn’t think her ex-husband was like that either. And then she married him. The nightmare started on the honeymoon and didn’t end until the divorce. “You can’t know that.”

“It’s in his eyes, Lorna. Just look at him the next time you see him.”

“There will be no next time. You heard him.”

“I heard him give you what you wanted. That right there should tell you that he is nothing like Liam’s father.”

“He is too intense. We’ve only known each
other for a few days. Four tops.”

“So,
the cosmos were built in a week!”

“Don’t get me on that subject, Mom!”

“I know—you, unbeliever, but he has that look about him, Lorna. He is very interested, and he included your son.”

“It’s way too fast. I knew Liam’s dad for a few years before…”

“I’m not talking marriage, Lorna, but look at the guy. He’s not young—he’s your age, no kids, a nice place, a good job. What’s there to not like? He likes you.”

“I know that. On paper he is wonderful.”

“Just on paper?”

“You know what I mean, Mom. It is way too soon.”

“I know you slept with him. It wasn’t too soon for that?”

Lorna could feel her whole body get hot. She couldn’t imagine the blush that betrayed her. “That’s different.”

Moira smiled. “Nope, dear daughter, I don’t think it is. You would never have slept with him if you didn’t feel something.”

“I really don’t want to talk about this with you, Mother!”

Moira grabbed the coffee pot and poured the coffee into the two mugs and helped her daughter bring them to the table. She hovered over her chair before sitting down. “I think you have deeper feelings for him than you want to admit.”

Lorna slumped down into the chair. “That’s just it, Mom, I can’t trust myself. Look at the mess I have made of my life.”

“Your life is looking wonderful right now, and without you making that ‘mess’ you wouldn’t have that adorable grandson of mine.”

Lorna sniffled, a few tears swept down her cheek. “Yes, Liam is wonderful, isn’t he?”

“He sure is. And this guy, he is…well, I checked around, Lorna. Everyone loves him. He has lots of good friends.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that about him, Mom, it’s just…”

“Take a chance, honey. You deserve it.”

“What about—”

“Liam will be fine. Show up at his place tomorrow with Liam. Act like nothing ever happened. You’ll see… everything will be fine. He’ll just think that you were on your period or something.”

Lorna laughed, “Oh, Mom! That’s crazy. I can’t do that.”

“You can, and you will. Now, tell me about him. Does he have a six pack?”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Lorna mumbled, then continued, “I am not talking about this with you.”

“So he does.” Moira let out a deep breath then looked up to the ceiling. “If I were your age, I wouldn’t wait until tomorrow.”

“That’s just wrong, Mom! Please, can we talk about something else?”

Moira nodded, twirled her thumbs for a second, then looked up. “Make sure you shave your legs for tomorrow.”

Lorna reddened once more then nudged her mom. “I waxed them a few days ago.”

Moira leaned her head back and guffawed. “That’s my girl!”

“SO YOU’RE REALLY NOT going to tell me anything about her?” Jenny asked as she grabbed the remote control from the small side-table next to the couch.

“What’s there to tell? I told you already that she doesn’t love me; that’s all you need to know.”

“Jake, are you really going to go there? Honestly? The woman has flowers all over this house! Pink walls, Jake! I never thought I’d see the day where my brother had pink walls in his house.”

Jake grunted then mumbled, “It was for the baby, Jenny Sue.”

“I know that, but you could have just…well you know. It doesn’t matter. The flowers, the candles, the girly smells?”

“Okay, shut up! I told you, I hired her to clean.”

“So, you hire this girl…”

“Woman,” Jake interrupted then leaned more into his pillows on the couch.

“Woman,” Jenny said, and smiled. “She comes over here and fixes up a room for my child, which is gorgeous by the way, and Sarah just loves it.”

Jake smiled. “She is very welcome.”

“You spoil her, you know?”

“Every child deserves to be spoiled.”

Jenny nodded, not wanting to discuss that just then. “And she brings candles and all sorts of romantic stuff into your home?”

“They came from outside, it’s not like we raided the
florist!”

Jenny put her han
ds up and laughed. “Okay, okay…it’s just. Well, Jake, I could never picture you with all that fluffy stuff and now, it, well it looks good on you.”

Jake rolled his eyes and slapped his hand down his face. Jenny grinned. “Jenny, look, I just let her bring that stuff into the house to make her happy and to make you and Sarah comfortable. Stop reading into things.”

“You love her, Jake,” Jenny whispered. “You don’t love anyone.”

That stopped Jake. He looked up just then into Jenny’s eyes. “I do so. I love you and Sarah.”

“I know you love us, Jake, but that’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not,” Jake said, watching the television now. His gaze was so intent that Jenny didn’t think he would say anything else. “I haven’t loved anyone for a long time, and look what it gets me?”

“I’ve never known you to be a quitter, Jake.”

“Ah, so now you are going that route with me? Well, I’ve never known you to be one either.”

Jenny closed up once again and crossed her arms across her chest. “Let’s just watch some Jeopardy.”

“Uh, huh, sure. I’ll watch that with you, quitter.”

“Shut up, Jake.” Jenny smiled, then looked over her shoulder to her brother. He was smirking just like she was.

“You shut up, Jenny.”