The Mobster And The Cowboy (A Cowboy Romance) (13 page)

He thought about how easy it was for him to ask her to stay over the other night.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had a woman stay over his house.

He was also nervous thinking what if Heath didn’t like her. He sure hoped he would because if he didn’t, this would go nowhere.

The party began arriving and Logan came out of the office to greet them.

He introduced Melanie to his friend
J.B. and his wife Laura. It was their son’s birthday.

From the barn came two boys that
looked to be about six years old.

J.B. had parked by Logan’s house and the kids went in through one side of the barn and came out the other which is why Melanie didn’t see them before.

The one who was carrying a saddle and huffing at the weight of it while smiling was the spitting image of Logan.

Melanie watched as his friend moved a stool over to the one pony that looked tough and didn’t have a saddle on it.
She watched as the kid with the saddle stepped up and gently placed the saddle down on him.

She walked over to him.
“Can I help you with that?” she asked him.

“No,
I can do it myself,” he said without looking up but concentrating on his task.

“Heath, say hello to Melanie,”
Logan said as he came up to stand next to Melanie and subtly grabbed her hand as he knew she was slightly trembling.

“Hi, ma’am,” he said shyly as he picked his head up to see her then went back to his task of securing the saddle on his pony.

“Hi
, Heath,” she said back, with a smile.

“This little guy next to him,” Logan said
as he ruffled the kid’s hair, “is Austin, the birthday boy. Happy Birthday, kid.”

“Thanks
, Logan,” he replied with enthusiasm. Austin looked up to Logan. He wanted to be a cowboy just like him and his dad. “Hello, ma’am.”

“Hi
, Austin, Happy Birthday. How old are you today?”

“Seven,
ma’am.”

“Such a big boy.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

All the while the exchange took pl
ace, Heath kept looking from the saddle, he was adjusting, to his father holding this lady’s hand.

“Heath, I like your horse.
What’s his name?”

“Wysteria.”

“Oh, what a pre…er, handsome name.”

“Yes
, ma’am.”

“You can call me Melanie.”

“Yes, ma’am. I mean Mellalee.”

Melanie smiled at him and got a kick out of the way he said her name.
She wouldn’t correct him though.

Logan smiled too at hearing his son pronounce her name.

Trevor came over. “Ready to go
, big guy?”

“Yep,
” Heath said as he threw himself on Wysteria.

Austin scrambled to get on the pony he would ride.

Melanie walked to Zeus and Logan followed her as he shouted to his son. “Behave!”

“Ok
ay, dad.”

“He wanted to name him Princess Plumrose from my tiny pony,” he said, laughing, referring to Heath’s pony’s name.

“Little,” Melanie corrected, laughing.

“Yeah, little. Thank God I talked him out of it. I can’t even bring myself to call him Wysteria. I refer to him as Buck.” He laughed.

“You’re crazy and tha
t’s gonna be one messed up pony,” she said, with amusement.

Logan enjoyed hearing her laughter.

He clasped his hands together on the side of Zeus and looked at her with that smile that brought out his dimples.

She placed her foot in his hand
s and he hoisted her up.

He knew she didn’t need help, but
he needed to touch her. From where they were standing, no one saw and when she sat atop Zeus, he placed a hand on her bare leg. Melanie felt warmth shoot up her as her eyes shot to his.

Logan smiled
, knowing the effect he had on her.

“I’ll catch up with you at Blue Hole.”

“What’s that?”

“A swimming hole not far from here.
You’ll like it,” he said as he gently caressed her leg.

“Ok
ay,” she said breathlessly. She couldn’t really concentrate on anything but his touch.

He removed his hand and she turned Zeus around and trotted off.

Blue hole was a picturesque swimming spot, surrounded by cypress trees.

The water was crystal clear and Cody told Melanie
the water was always pretty cold, but the day was hot so it would be a welcomed relief. He also told her, where they were was private property and that there was a public section too. The private property allowed for them to ride the horses there.

Melanie found she was connecting with all the boys except Heath. She was really nervous he wouldn’t like her and she was scared to interact with him.

Everyone was in or near the water and having a great time.
Laura came up to make small talk with Melanie. She was in a modest one piece bathing suit. Melanie had yet to strip down to her bikini. She didn’t feel comfortable, so she just stuck her feet in the water.

“Logan is friends with the family that owns this part of Blue Hole
,” Laura said, just as a crying Austin came up to them, with Heath.

“Oh, sweetheart, what happened?” Laura asked.

“I fell on the rocks, there,” he said, pointing in the direction they just came from.

“Yeah, he’s bleeding
,” Heath said.

His mom consoled him while Melanie went to get the first aid kit that was in Cody’s saddle bag.
When she came back, she handed Laura the kit and squatted down beside her, in front of Austin. Heath was sitting down next to Austin.

“It’s ok
ay to cry,” Melanie said, when she saw Austin was trying to fight it.

“Uh-uh,
” Heath said, shaking his head. “We’re cowboys like my daddy. He said cowboys don’t cry.”

“Oh
, right, of course not,” she said, just as she looked up to see Logan leaning against the tree behind his son, watching her. She smiled up to him. He nodded to her.

Laura looked up at the same time and caught Logan watching Me
lanie with interest on his face. Hmm, something she’d want to share with J.B. later. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw that expression on Logan’s face.

Heath turned around to see his father standing there and ran to him.
Logan picked him up.

“Having fun, buddy?”

“Yep. Austin was bleeding, but Laura and Mellalee fixed him up,” he said as he wiggled to get down. Austin was ready to go back to play and Heath and he took off running.

“Be careful!
” Laura yelled out to them. They didn’t even acknowledge it. She just shook her head. “Excuse me, I’m gonna go keep an eye on those two.”

Logan and Melanie just smiled.

“You’re not swimming.” he said as he walked up to her.

“No. It’s really cold
,” she said not wanting to tell him she was embarrassed to strip to her bathing suit.

“Too bad, I wanted to see you in this white bathing suit
,” he said as he got close to her and put his finger on the string at her neck. They gazed into each other’s eyes and she felt a wonderful shiver at his touch.

“
Dad, watch this!” Heath yelled, from the bank, with his hands on a rope from a tree hanging over the water.

He looked up and Melanie turned around just as Heath flung himself in.

“Good one
, Heath,” Logan said as the kid surfaced with a grin on his face. Melanie smiled.

Logan hit the water with the kids, and he and J.B. were picking them up and throwing them in, having a lot of fun.

Melanie sat at the edge
, on a rock, content to watch them interact. Once in a while she would catch Logan watching her and she would feel flushed.

“Logan’s good with kids. He’s like a magnet. They all gather around him,” Laura said as she came to sit down near Melanie.

Melanie turned her head to Laura.

“Relax, he’ll like you.”

“Does it show?”

“You seem so relaxed around the other kids
, but tense around Heath. Just be yourself. You know, I caught all of them checking you out,” Laura said laughing.

“Laura! They’re babies.”

“Honey, they’re cowboys. They learn to rope and ride, and how to get the girl.” They both laughed as Melanie shook her head.

There were two picnic tables set up behind the small corral, with pizza and soda. As soon as the kids dismounted and, yes, they had to groom their horse, they ran to the table to eat and drink.

Laura called Melanie over, but she
wasn’t finished grooming Zeus yet.

“Go ahead, babe.
I’ll finish up here.”

She turned around to see Logan next to her.

He took the brush from her and
finished brushing Zeus.

“Thank you
,” she said and she walked over to the tables thinking how she liked that he called her babe.

As she
helped Laura with serving the kids, Melanie heard one of the boys say, “Jackhammer Jack is gonna beat Dr. Dread next week on Sunday night.”

“
Nun-huh, Matt. Dr. Dread’s gonna win,” Heath said.

“No, he’s going down.”

“I’m with Heath. Dr. Dread’s gonna pummel Jackhammer Jack,” Melanie said.

Heath a
nd the other boys looked to her with wide eyes.

“You watch wrestling?”
Heath asked.

“Oh
, yeah. John Cena’s my favorite wrestler,” she said as she put her hand in front of her face and moved it back and forth. “You can’t see me.”

“He’s my favorite wrestler too
,” Heath said and he and the boys laughed and did the move to each other.

“What’s so funny?” Logan asked as he and J.B. walked up to them.

“Dad, Mellalee likes wrestling. John Cena is her favorite wrestler. He’s my favorite wrestler too.”

“How bout that,
” Logan said, with a smile for his son.

“She thinks Dr. Dread’s gonna win next week.
I do too.”

“Who’s Dr. Dread?” his father asked.

Heath looked at Melanie and
they both rolled their eyes.

“Dad, I showed you him before.
He’s the one that comes out with a thethicope.”

“And a nurse
,” Melanie said, wiggling her eyes.

“O
ooh, the one with the nurse,” Logan said, grinning, as he pictured the scantily dressed buxom blonde on Dr. Dread’s arm when he walks to the ring.

J.B., Laura and Melanie
laughed hysterically.

“Dad, could I show Mellalee how I mutton bust?”

“Another time, Heath. It’s getting late.”

Melanie mouthed the word
s ‘mutton bust’, while grinning at Logan as Logan looked from Heath to her. He slowly smiled.

“But
, dad.”

“Another tim
e, Heath,” he repeated.

“Ok
ay,” Heath said, dejectedly. “Can Mellalee come to see me play flag football tomorrow? Please.”

Logan looked to Mel
anie, “You busy tomorrow at six?”

Melanie shook her head no
, slowly.

“Do you want to go watch him play?”

Melanie was trying to read him. She wanted to go, but she didn’t know if Logan was being polite in front of everyone.

“
Please, Mellalee?” Heath pleaded.

She
looked from Logan to Heath then back to Logan and nodded her head ever so slowly and when she saw Logan smile, she turned to Heath. “I would love to come watch you play.”

“Yay!
” he said.

“I’m on his team.
Can you watch me play too?” Austin asked.

“Of course, I’d love that too.
”

After singing Happy Birthday to Austin, everyone started leaving.

Melanie helped Laura clean up.

The stables were already closed and Laura asked Logan if Heath could come back to the house and have a sleep over.
Logan said yes and the kids were happy. They always slept over each other’s house. Well, when Logan had Heath. Linda never did a sleep over for Heath.

Heath and Austin went into Logan’s house to pack a bag.