Tyler (21 page)

It was trickier getting Emily’s boots off and into her jeans, but fifteen sweaty minutes later, the cousins were presentable enough to get them upstairs without worrying about anyone walking in and seeing them strutting on the bar in their underwear.

“How will we sober them up enough to talk to them?” Jennifer’s question was a good one.

Too bad Gwen didn’t have a ready answer. “Our horse-saving, tequila swigging, redneck women here will have to sleep it off.” She sighed, wishing she’d been in on the fun. It had been quite awhile since Jolene had let loose and partied, but there had been a time…

“I’ll help Jolene upstairs,” Natalie offered. “You two get on either side of Emily there.”

Emily wobbled then giggled and Natalie sighed. “She doesn’t look too steady.”

After wrestling the two up the stairs and into bed, the women went downstairs to do damage control.

“Does this sort of thing happen often?”

Gwen tried not to take offense, but Jake’s question seemed to set her off. “I don’t see where it’d be any concern of yours if it did.” She had the ultimate satisfaction of seeing the man’s face turn red a moment before steam began pouring out of his ears.

“I’m sure they’ll both be downstairs in time for the first act,” Gwen said. “Why don’t you come back later?”

Jake narrowed his eyes and glared at her. Gwen shrugged. She had a bar to run, without Jolene and Emily for the next few hours. She didn’t have time to listen to the fire marshal’s jealous ranting.

“Jolene?”

“Mmmmpf…”

“Wake up.” Emily poked her cousin in the head until she lifted it up to look at Emily.

“What?”

“I think my tongue has hair on it.” It felt positively icky, and she was afraid to touch it. “Does it?”

Jolene rolled over onto her side, narrowed her eyes at Emily and said, “Stick it out.”

Emily did as she was asked.

“Uh huh.”

“Uh huh, what?” Emily demanded. “Do I or don’t I?

“Yep,” Jolene said without missing a beat. “Same shade as your hair.”

Emily’s stomach clenched, and for a moment before her head cleared, she wondered how that was possible. Then reason returned and she snorted. “You’re such a jerk.” At least Jolene hadn’t lost her sense of humor. “Um, Jo?”

“Mmmmpf…”

“Do you remember getting undressed?” A bad feeling that something happened that she couldn’t quite recall started to fill her.

“I’m still dressed.”

“Yeah, but I mean before.”

Jolene shifted her weight and sat up. “What time is it?”

Emily looked at the clock beside Jolene’s bed and then down at her cousin’s bare feet. The harlot red paint on her toenails had her gut churning. “Nine o’clock. Um… I think we may have had a little too much tequila.”

“Honey, you can never drink too much tequila,” Jolene purred, a sure sign that she was feeling more like herself.

“I’ve got that song by Big and Rich running through my head—”

“Which one?”

“The one about riding the cowboy.”

Jolene started humming the tune and a vague memory of stripping to the chorus filled Emily with dread. “I think we stripped in the bar.”

“Now why would we do that?” Jolene didn’t sound as sure of herself as she had a few moments before.

“Because you were trying to convince me to tell Tyler that I know he met his ex-bimbo in town, and I was trying to work out how to ask him while we kept drinking. And you know too much José can mess with your mind.” Emily started wringing her hands. “I remember dancing on the bar…”

“So?” Jolene said. “We’ve done that before.”

“In our underwear? With our boots on?”

Jolene grinned. “Well maybe not quite dressed like that.” She tilted her head to one side and stared at Emily. “How do you know you weren’t dreaming?”

Emily sighed. “Because it would be real strange that we had the same dream.”

Jolene frowned. “I didn’t say I did.”

“You didn’t say you didn’t.”

Jolene shook her head at Emily. “Let’s not worry about it right now. We have aspirin to take, water to drink, and a club that started the night without us.”

***

“In their underwear?” Tyler’s gut clenched. His imagination was working overtime and his libido was a half a second behind, picturing the curvaceous Langley women dancing on top of the bar in all of their lace-covered glory. The thought of Emily in particular baring so much of what she’d been sharing with him settled into his gut and began a slow burn. Jealousy wasn’t a new emotion to him, but it hadn’t happened in a long, long time.

“And boots,” Jake grumbled, taking a pull on his beer. “Damned if Jolene wasn’t all but buck naked.”

“And your problem would be?” Tyler asked, though he suspected he knew just what Jake’s problem was and how the other man felt.

Jake’s gaze met his and held. “I don’t intend to share.”

Tyler nodded. “I don’t intend to share Emily either. So what did you see when you walked in before?”

“They were up on the bar in their skimpy underwear with their arms flung wide open, heads tilted back, singing their hearts out.”

“And…?” Tyler prompted.

“I keep remembering how perfectly those damned scraps of lace cupped their breasts.”

The slow burn in Tyler’s gut warned him that his temper was about to erupt. Struggling for control, he ground out, “I’d forget what Emily looked like and wouldn’t spread any tales about it.”

“You’ve got it bad friend,” Jake pressed him.

“Ever since she laid her lips on mine.”

“As far back as that?”

Tyler drained his glass of sweet tea and set it on the bar. His break was nearly over and it was nearly time for the finale. “Just so you can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Jake nodded.

Tyler was about to remind Jake not to talk about Margarita Monday, but his tongue got stuck to the roof of his mouth watching the gentle sway of Emily’s jean-clad hips; there was just something about the movement that mesmerized him. He couldn’t get enough of her. There were so many facets to the lady that got to him—deep in his heart somewhere that hadn’t been touched in a long while.

Linda Lee never had that effect on him. Well, she had an effect on him, but only his dick had paid attention where Linda Lee had been concerned. Funny… more of the women in his life had been blue-eyed blondes with a wild streak a mile wide and a sex drive that matched his, than redheads.

Nothing wrong with that.

He just couldn’t figure out why this one redhead got to him. Tyler rubbed a hand over his heart, remembering the way Emily liked to press her lips there after they’d loved and were enjoying the afterglow, wondering at the deep ache there, not remembering a time when he’d ever felt like this.

“Hey there, cowboy.” He stiffened, refusing to believe that Linda Lee’d show up at the club again, telling himself it was just his tired brain messing with him. Hell, it must be guilt for not telling Emily he’d met his ex in town for ice cream. He’d wanted to but the timing just never felt right.

“You all right, Tyler?”

The concern in her voice just didn’t fit with the real Linda Lee Baker. It was part of her act, a damn fine one at that. Hell, she should have been on the silver screen.

He sighed; there was no avoiding her. The woman was obsessed with the idea of getting back together with him. Then he remembered his brother’s promise of help, the one Tyler hadn’t gotten around to accepting. Garahans stuck together; maybe Dylan had tried to nip Linda Lee’s lies in the bud even though Tyler hadn’t taken him up on his offer.

“Did you talk to Dylan?”

Her smile hardened into a grimace. “Your brother doesn’t understand what’s between us.”

Tyler did a mental head slap. Damn the woman was thick. “Look I don’t have time to talk to you right now. I’ve got to work.”

The look on her face softened. “Don’t worry about me, babe. I’ll just sit over here and watch.”

He nodded and walked toward the door by the stage.
What the hell was he going to do now?
Dylan’s idea to stonewall Linda Lee hadn’t worked. Or had it? Maybe she lied about that too. Tough call with that woman.

Man, he never should have dipped his wick in that poisoned well. He shivered. It was like his grandpa was standing beside him, handing out his favorite bit of advice. Of course, the old man would follow it up with a warning that he and his brothers should marry young and make sure the woman could handle life out at the Circle G.

Times like this he really missed the advice. He sure could use some now. Looking over his shoulder, his gut clenched. Linda Lee licked her lips and watched him like she was the cat and he was a bowl of fresh cream.

***

“Oh crap,” Gwen groaned. “Trouble’s back.”

“Anyone in particular?” Jolene drawled, turning to look in the same direction as her friend. “Didn’t you throw her out the other night?”

Gwen smiled. “Looks like I’ll get to do a repeat performance.”

“Joe said he saw her and Tyler at the Tasty Freeze too,” Emily said, watching the way the blonde was eyeing up Tyler. “That makes four people. So it must be true.”

Gwen and Jolene looked at each other and Gwen said, “Joe told us, but isn’t that only two people? Remember? Mavis’s best friend told her who told Ronnie.”

Jolene waited before asking, “We started to talk about this before, but you never answered me… did you? If you did, I don’t remember. So what are you gonna do about it?”

“Oh hell, y’all know that I’m stuck on Tyler. We had so much fun the other day… a real date. He took me out for dinner at the BBQ Pitt and introduced me to Bonnie, the waitress there, as his girl.”

“Honey, I know. It’s kind of corny but sweet,” Jolene said.

Emily shrugged. “I know, but it’s the sweetness of the fact that he wanted her to know I was his girl.”

Jolene smiled at Emily. “That cowboy is just full of surprises… corny but adorable.”

“So what are we going to do about the blonde?” Gwen asked.

“I don’t know,” Emily said, “but I can’t let that bitch steal my man!”

Gwen agreed. “So what are you gonna do about him taking her out?”

“I haven’t actually asked him yet, and I don’t think he realizes that I know. Besides, I really want him to
want
to tell me about it.”

Jolene frowned while staring at the blonde. “Don’t wait too long. Hey, Em… I thought you broke her nose?”

Emily frowned. “It felt like it, but she may have had a nose job… harder to break someone’s nose after that.”

Gwen nodded. “Bled a lot, but it’s not swollen. Too bad you didn’t break it.”

Jolene chuckled. “I think my darlin’ cousin would like to try a couple of those moves on our tall, dark, and hunky headliner.”

Emily sighed. “After I get him to fess up about his ex.” She scrubbed her hands over her face and sighed. “I’m really stuck, and it’s just a little scary. I’ve never felt like this before.” It hadn’t been all that hard to confess. Time to get down to the business of cleaning house. “So what are you going to do about her?”

“How about if we just roust her up some?” Gwen’s grin was contagious.

“I think I’ll go along with you and watch.” Jolene tossed her hair over her shoulder and glared at the blonde bimbo.

Emily wasn’t going to be left out. “Hey, wait! He’s my guy.”

Gwen froze and Jolene, not paying attention, walked into her back. “Damn it, Gwen!”

“Curse later, Jolene. Our Emily has just outlined her territory, and you know how we all protect our own.”

Emily’s mouth still felt like somebody jammed a wad of cotton in it, thanks to overindulging in José earlier, and she just couldn’t drink enough water to moisten it. Looking at the dark-eyed cowboy and the blonde bimbo salivating in the crowd, she knew she wouldn’t back down now that she’d staked her claim. “That man’s mine and worth fighting for!”

As she got closer, she realized it wasn’t going to be a quick and easy job after all. The bar was packed, and the blonde was now eyeing them as if she were sizing them up. Emily walked over to stand on the other side of Jolene, the three women presenting a united front.

Gwen wasn’t smiling when she said, “Surprised you came back after last night.”

“You’ll have to leave,” Jolene told her flat out.

Emily nodded. “You’re poaching in my territory and messing with my man. You’ll want to leave now before I hurt you.”

“Like the other night?” the big-busted blonde sneered. “Not gonna happen. Just who do you think you are?”

Jolene’s smile was lethal. “This is my place, and I reserve the right to kick out the people I don’t want inside it.”

The woman eyed Jolene up and down, then did the same with Gwen before saying, “Look, I’m not here to cause trouble.”

“You already are.” Gwen crossed her arms and gave her best impression of a staff sergeant ready to rip a green recruit a new one.

“Don’t I even get to order a drink?”

Emily looked around her and noticed what Gwen and Jolene hadn’t: everyone was watching and waiting. How they handled this incident would set a precedent for dealing with ornery clientele in the future. Although it burned her butt, she had to swallow her pride.

Emily wanted her gone more than anyone, but sensed it wouldn’t be without a scene worth calling the law over. Common sense returned and she relented. “I don’t see as how ordering one drink could hurt,” she said quietly. “As long as you leave as soon as you finish.”

The look the woman gave Emily was anything but friendly. She couldn’t keep from wondering what Tyler had ever seen in her… well, if he had been able to see past his ex’s two obvious assets.

“I’d like a cosmopolitan.” The blonde had the nerve to imitate Gwen’s stance, crossing her arms beneath her impressive breasts.

Bitch.
Emily didn’t like women who flaunted their big boobs to get what they wanted… mostly attention.

“I’ll take care of it, Gwen.” With a look, she knew Gwen and Jolene understood; Emily went to get the blonde’s damn drink. A few minutes later she returned, drink in hand, and knew she had missed something important from the look on Jolene’s face. “Jo?”

Her cousin turned toward her and a brief flicker of pain flashed through Jolene’s eyes.
This would not be good
.

“I don’t believe you,” Gwen said before turning toward Emily to reach for the glass. “Here’s your drink.” Gwen handed it to the woman. “You’ve got five minutes,” she said, looking at her wrist, “starting now.”

The blonde looked ready to spit. The woman sipped her drink and glared at Gwen.

Perfect,
Emily thought. She was ready for a good fight. It had been a hell of a day and from the looks of it… it wasn’t over yet, with just half an hour until closing time before she could corner Tyler.

Without looking at her watch, Gwen reached for the woman’s glass. “Time’s up.”

“Hey! I wasn’t finished.”

“Yeah,” Gwen drawled. “You are.”

Stepping in between the two, Emily put a hand out. “You’ve been asked nicely once,” she said. “I got your drink, and now you should leave while it’s still your choice.”

“How do you think Tyler would feel,” the busty blonde began, “knowing you kicked out his fiancée?”

Emily felt the blow all the way through to her spine. Bracing against the pain, she drew herself up for more, sensing the blonde wasn’t finished and that she wouldn’t go quietly.

“He didn’t say anything about being engaged,” Emily rasped, unsure of how to deal with the hurt lancing through her without letting it show.

“This should speak louder than words.” The woman flashed a diamond ring right under Emily’s nose.

It’s not what you think,
her heart warned, while her brain tormented her
, you’ve been had by a black-haired Irishman with a soft Texas drawl.