Cole parked the Cherokee and went to open the passenger door for Joey. She paused, one foot on the ground, as she caught the name in neon lights. "The Two Bit Saloon?" she asked, unable to hide her amusement.
"You'll see. This should be right up your alley."
With those mysterious words, he ushered her inside the saloon. Country music blared from the back room, blasting over and around the customers stacked three deep at the bar.
The rumble of loud male voices and shriller, feminine ones washed over Joey. The collected heat of bodies pressed closely together threatened to swamp her.
"Sweet heavens," Joey breathed as Cole elbowed a way for them. Clinging to his belt, she picked her way through the sawdust and peanut shells on the floor to the bar.
Cole caught the attention of the burly bartender who promptly drew them two draft beers. Joey watched fascinated, as he set them in front of them. Dressed in an old-fashioned white shirt with frills up the front, a black string tie with a turquoise clasp, voluminous sleeves kept in place with black armbands, the bartender was straight out of Joey's favorite cowboy movies. He flashed two gold teeth as he grinned at Cole. "This the new missis? Heard you got hitched."
Nodding, Cole pitched his voice above the music. "Joey, this is Buck."
Fighting back a smile, Joey compared him to the specimens she'd taken down and hidden up in the attic. The trophies looked slightly less disreputable. Even dressed in traditional attire, the man looked right at home as bouncer and enforcer. Under Cole's watchful gaze, she nodded and stretched out her hand.
When Buck released it, she moved it surreptitiously to her side to rub away the sticky beer residue. She glanced down at the bar top, saw row after of gleaming quarters embedded in acrylic and felt her eyes widen. "How many?"
"Close to thirty thousand, last count. We're doing the wall back there, now. Want to donate some?"
Following his gesture, Joey looked at the wall, partially covered with quarters, then stared in astonishment at the curio cabinet behind the minuscule tables. Filled with things she would have tossed out with the trash, what caught her eye was the red stiletto shoe with a heel buried in a cracked champagne glass. Next to it was a tiny top, more string than fabric, with red and white leather fringes. "Oh, my."
Buck winked. "All that's stuff got left behind."
Cole chuckled as he plunked down a handful of quarters on the shiny bar. "Must have been some night when the lady left her top. Wouldn't mind seeing that myself."
Joey dug her elbows in his ribs. "Those days are over, cowboy."
Cole grinned as Buck guffawed. From nowhere, a stool appeared and she perched a hip, turning to smile at her benefactor. Jim, a silly, drunken grin on his face, said something she couldn't hear and disappeared back into the crowd, a buxom redhead on his arm.
Frowning, she turned back to Cole, who leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Doesn't mean a thing, honey. Don't let it bother you."
She made a wry face. "Men."
"
Hey. Ellen's the one who told him to get lost."
I
t wasn't the time or place to debate man-woman relationships, but later she'd make sure she talked some sense into Cole's old-fashioned attitudes. Joey swiveled on her stool to watch the patrons. A game of pool in one corner held three men enthralled. Their girlfriends, clustered in one corner nursing beers, didn't look quite so enraptured. One filed her nails while the other two seemed to have nothing better to do than stare at the ceiling.
Smiling at more evidence of relationships between the sexes, Joey swung to watch the dancers in the back room. In moments, her foot tapped along with the music.
She leaned closer to Cole. "Hey, cowboy, want to dance?"
He eyed the line dancer's enthusiastic stomps and intricate footwork. "Damned if I know what they're doing."
"I don't know either, but c'mon Cole, let's try."
She hopped down off the stool and held her hand out to him. With a reluctant grin he placed his hand in hers and allowed her to tug him through the crowd toward the dance floor. By the time they got there, the raucous stomp had changed into a soft ballad.
Cole grinned more widely. "Now, that I can do."
He took her into his arms, placing her hand on his shoulder and swung her into a gap on the floor. Clasped close to him, she couldn't control her quick gasp of pleasure at the feel of his big, rangy body. Moving round and round the small dance floor, fast fast slow slow, she gave herself up to the music and to Cole.
When the music stopped, he slowed but didn't release her. "Having fun?"
She looked up at him, having to crane her neck slightly from this angle, and smiled radiantly. "I could dance all night."
"It's too crowded here. Let's go home, find some music on the radio," he coaxed. "We'll dance in private."
"We just got here," she protested.
He chuckled. "Nothing like a cowboy out on Saturday night. Guess it works for cowgirls, huh, Kid Joey?"
She aimed an imaginary pistol at him and cocked her thumb. "You gonna dance with me peaceable like, cowpoke, or am I gonna have to take you in?"
He raised his hands in surrender. "Looks like you got me fair and square, Kid."
She blew at her outstreched finger, then replaced her pistol in her imaginary holster and held out her arms. He laughed and scooped her in.
Over his shoulder, she saw Millie from the hospital. The nurse put down her beer mug and stared, a narrow, tight-lipped expression on her face. Joey smiled at her. Out of uniform, her face made up, and wearing a tight pink ruffled blouse unbuttoned a third of the way down, Millie had a sultry appeal that Joey couldn't help noticing. Neither did the two men at her table.
Cole swung Joey around and caught sight of Millie. "Hey, Millie, how come you're not over at the hospital?"
Instantly, Millie's face cleared. She made her way through the crowd, hips swaying in skin-tight black jeans, and smiled up at Cole. "Changed shifts, a while back. Gotta get out and enjoy life while I can."
Cole slowed his steps and brought Joey to a halt. "Ain't that the truth? You remember Joey? She's my wife, now."
oey heard the pride in his voice and couldn't help the thrill that went through her. She glanced up at him, then her gaze fell on Millie, who stared at her, transfixed.
"Your--wife?" she mumbled. "But I thought, you and--"
Cole's skin took on a deeper hue. Joey couldn't tell if it was anger or embarrassment that darkened his skin. Evidently he hadn't told her all there was to his relationship with Millie.
"Yup. Got married recently."
"Must have been recent, all right," Millie commented. "You work fast, Mrs. Lassiter." She all but spat the name.
Joey recoiled.
Cole tightened his arm around her. To Millie, he said, "You have a problem with that?"
Millie lifted her head and stared him straight in the eye. "No problem. You made yourself real plain."
Joey watched her stalk away, head high and cheeks burning. She turned back to Cole and kept her voice low. "Did you give her reason to think there was something serious between you?"
He swallowed. Joey watched his Adam's apple bobble. He raked his hand through his hair.
"No, never. I, uh, maybe she wanted something to develop, but there was nothing. I told her so."
He seemed nervous, as if he were hiding something from her. "Then why is she acting like that?"
"Hell, Joey, how do I know?" Somebody bumped into them. Cole started dancing again. "Could be she thought I'd come around, or something."
"Did I interrupt something you had going with her?"
"I told you, Joey. It was nothing."
"Maybe not to you," she said slowly, her gaze on Millie who grabbed her jacket and purse and stomped out of the bar. "But I'd bet anything that's not the way Millie felt."
"Can we forget her, Joey? We came here to have fun."
Joey followed his lead around the minuscule floor, silently going over Cole's conduct since she'd met him. He'd never given her the slightest indication that he was involved with anyone else, but she knew he hadn't lived his life in a vacuum. Surely that had to have been other women since Sally died. Poor Millie. It looked as if she'd read more into a few dates than was there.
"I'm sorry for her, you know," she said as Cole led her back to their drinks.
"Why?"
"You might not have felt anything for her, but I noticed straight off that first night that she has a soft spot for you. She must be hurting if she thought she had a chance with you and then I came along and ruined it."
He lifted one shoulder. "If she is, it's only in her own mind."
"That doesn't make it hurt any less."
He looked startled. "You are one damned fine woman."
When she looked up in surprise, she saw him grinning down at her with undeniable pride and something that looked very much like possessiveness. "What brought that on?"
"Not too many would worry about somebody else's feelings, especially if she was feeling a little jealous."
"Jealous, me?" she scoffed.
"I saw that green-eyed monster hanging around. You can tell him from me that the only woman I want is the one I've got."
"You silver tongued devil, you."
"Fact of the matter is, you can also tell him that I want to take my wife home and--"
"Why, Mr. Lassiter, what are you suggesting?"
He pressed her closer, letting her feel the undeniable evidence of his arousal. His voice was the barest rumble in her ear. "You know damned well what I'm talking about."
"Well, now that you mention it, a cowboy's got to get up early in these here parts..."
"This cowboy is already up," he growled. "C'mon, let's get out of here."
The drive back to the ranch wasn't the roughest Joey had ever been driven, but it was certainly the fastest. Cole didn't spare the Cherokee in his hurry to get her to bed. When she laughingly protested, he threw her a fierce glare. "Laugh now, but just wait until I get you home."
Home. Hanging on to the door with one hand, the other gripping Cole's thigh, she felt the word sink into her, making her feel warm and contented. Home. It felt good. Natural.
Later, much later, when Cole looked at the bedside clock and groaned, Joey opened one eye and murmured, "Don't complain, cowboy. You were the one who wanted to go out tonight."
He snagged her by the nape of the neck and brought her face to face with him. "Yup. But you were the one who wanted to dance."
She ran her tongue against his lips. "Yes, but you liked it."
Rasping his beard stubble across her cheek, he muttered, "There's dancing and there's dancing."
Joey ran her hand down his sleek back, still moist from exertion. "Weren't you the one who wanted to slow dance?" she teased. "Seems to me I suggested we go to sleep several hours ago."
"Shut up, woman."
"Or else what?"
He kissed her. When he finally let her up for air, he gasped, "Or else I won't get up."
She smacked his rear. "A cowboy's work is never done. And what do you want to bet you'll be up in no time?"
He reached to turn on the bedside lamp and smirked at her. "Sex, sex, sex. Is that all you ever think about?"
Blinking against the sudden light, she grinned. "Some times I think about food. Keeping you satisfied is hard work."
His return grin seeped away. "Is that how you see it? As work?"
Her good humor faded in turn. "It's only an expression, Cole."
"But did you mean it that way?"
She reached for him, but he backed away.
"Did you?" he pressed.
"Of course not," she retorted, more sharply than she intended, but she smarted from his rejection. She didn't know anyone who could change moods faster than Cole Lassiter. One moment he was loving and tender, then the next he turned into a suspicious, demanding Neanderthal. His mood swings left her unsteady as if the ground still rumbled after an earthquake. If he didn't settle down, she didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew one thing for sure. She couldn't put up with much more of this.
"Are you sorry you married me?"
His words seemed to echo her thoughts. She moistened her lips. "Straight?"
A small muscle flickered along his jaw. "From the hip."
"I'm having a hard time with your moods." Joey fluffed the pillow under her head. "One minute you're okay, I couldn't ask for a better husband, or lover, and then next..."
"The next what?"
"You change. You lose all sense of proportion. Have you seen a doctor about this?"
He came off the bed in a rush. "A doctor? What the hell for? You think I'm crazy?"
"No, of course not. But this must be as stressful for you as it is for me. And you don't seem to be handling it very well."
His eyes glittered. The pulses in his neck throbbed. "Well, excuse me all to hell, Joey, but I thought I was doing a damned good job of being your husband."
She sat up straight. "Most of the time you do."
"And the rest of the time?"
"You act like someone is out to steal your favorite toy."
"That is the most stupid, goddammed hell of a thing to say--you make me sound like some snot-nosed kid."
She hid a grin. "Well, if the shoe fits."
He raked a hand through his already mussed hair. The bright light picked out the healthy sheen and made her want to run her own fingers through it. He stomped over to the dresser.
He rummaged for clean underclothes and yanked an undershirt over his head, then pulled on his shorts. He snapped the elastic at his waist. Joey let her grin go wild.
"You think this is all pretty funny, don't you?"
She debated telling him what she found amusing, but then she remembered that he wanted her to be straight with him. She bit her lip. "I thought Greg was the only one who had snits."
He stopped short, one long leg thrust halfway into his Wranglers. "Snit?" He stood and hopped on one foot. "What the hell is a snit?"
"I believe it's second cousin to a temper tantrum."
His face hardened for a second, then relaxed. "I'm glad I give you so much to laugh at, lady."
She stood and went to him. Once she might have been embarrassed to stand naked in front of him, vulnerable to his eye, but now she didn't care. This was Cole. "Oh, you give me much more than that, cowboy."
Mollified, he dropped his jeans and put his arms around her. "We have something good going for us, Joey. I don't want to lose it."
"Neither do I." She rubbed her face against his chest, breathing in the scent of him, absorbing his warmth.
Cole tightened his arms around her and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. "So you think we'll make it?"
She hesitated, hating to give up the closeness they shared. Finally she found the answer. "If it weren't for the kids, I wouldn't even have to think about answering 'yes'."
"Tell me something I don't know."
His bitter tone made her step back. He reeled her in again. "How about if we work a deal?"
"What kind of a deal?" She leaned back to see his eyes.
"I'll cut Greg some slack. You cut Betty some slack."
"Sounds fair. I have the easier part, though. With Betty and Sam in the other house, I don't see as much of them as you do of Greg."
He rubbed his chin. The rasp of his hand against the stubble was loud in the silence between them. "Yeah, but I can handle it."
"And you think I can't?"
He looked at her for a long time, his face showing his confusion. "What the hell does that mean?"
She tsked. "It seems pretty simple to me. I'm working hard at this, and I think I'm doing a good job. Most of the time."
"Yeah." He gave her a satisfied grin. "So you're going to stay married to me."
She hesitated. "I didn't say that. Not exactly."
His grin disappeared into a straight line as his lips tightened. "Either you are, or you're not. Which is it?"
"It's not an either or answer, Cole."
"Why not?"
She blew out an exasperated breath. "If it were just you and me, I think we could be very happy together."
"But?"
Feeling pressured and exposed, Joey went back to bed, climbed in and lifted the sheet to cover her breasts. "You're pushing, Cole. I don't like it."
"Excuse me to hell and gone, lady, but I thought you and I had something going for us."
"Not if you keep pushing me into corners, we don't."
Without another word, Cole finished dressing and left the bedroom. Damn, Joey thought. Why does he do this? Just when things are looking up, he does something stupid.
* * *
Reluctant to hurry back to the ranch after taking Ellen to the airport in Butte, Joey procrastinated. Rehashing the stilted words and the brief hug she'd exchanged with Ellen, Joey knew she should have done more. At the last minute, she'd opened her mouth to apologize, but Ellen had already walked onto the apron, heading for the steps up to plane. Watching her, wishing she'd turn around and wave, Joey felt bereft when she didn't.
After the plane took off, Joey did a little shopping at the mall, half-heartedly picking up a few more things for the house. She sipped at a soft drink as she sat on a bench and watched the shoppers.
A blonde woman with a boy in tow came out of the toy store. Something about the woman's striking looks caught her attention. Where had she seen that face before? Then she remembered. An ad in the Butte newspaper for a play, and that woman was...Lucy Taylor! Smiling, she got up and approached.
"Ms. Taylor, could I have your autograph?"
The woman turned. "Sure. Mac, hold these, please," she said, as she passed her shopping bag to the boy. "My son," she explained with a proud smile. "I think I have a pen somewhere."
"Here." Joey passed her a sheet of notepaper and a pen. She watched while Lucy wrote a few words and her name on the paper and passed it back.
"Thanks. It's a pleasure to meet a celebrity. I'm going to get tickets for opening night."
Lucy gave her a sunburst smile. "I hope you'll still feel the same way after seeing me on stage."
Joey smiled as she watched the Taylors walk away. They seemed so happy together. Like she and Greg had been once. Her enjoyment slowly faded. When she couldn't think of another reason to delay, she headed slowly home.
She used the time to think. Did she and Cole have a chance? Or were they just kidding themselves, so much in lust that they'd do anything to prolong the sensual bliss they shared? The thought made her squirm. Even though she recognized that her feelings for Cole were daily growing deeper and sharper, a one-sided love affair wasn't what she wanted. She wanted him to love her, too. With that, they had a solid foundation to build on.
Well, then, she asked herself impatiently, just how are you going to get what you want?
That was harder to answer.
She stopped at the supermarket in Dillon to pick up something special for Cole's dinner. She still refused to eat meat, but she could make something they both liked. She hoped he'd see it as a sign of her willingness to make their marriage work.
She looked over the lettuce. Though the hand-lettered sign said it was from Salinas, California, not too far from Santa Cruz, the lettuce didn't look as fresh or as appealing as the produce she bought at her organic market. Still, it was better than nothing.
"Well, if it isn't Mrs. Lassiter. Going to make hubby a nice supper?"
Joey turned. Millie stood behind her cart, still in her white uniform, a red sweater over her shoulders.
"Hello, Millie. Yes, I'm getting something for dinner." Joey spoke pleasantly, as though there was nothing unusual about Millie's greeting.
"Better make it a good one. You might not be making too many more of them."
Taken aback, Joey could only look at Millie.
The other woman wore a cat in the cream look. Any moment now, she'd start to purr. "I heard tell that you and Cole are just trying this out. That you might not stay together."
"Where did you hear that?" Joey gasped.
"Oh, who knows? Might have been the emergency department. One of the Bar-L hands came in to get a cut stitched up. He heard you and Cole arguing."
Joey swallowed. Cole would hate this gossip. "Think nothing of it, Millie. All married couples argue."
"Wasn't much of a honeymoon, was it? But don't worry, if you decide to go back to California, Cole knows where to find me. I'll take good care of him."
That cat! Joey fumed but said nothing. She stared as Millie sauntered away, content with having drawn blood with those sharp claws.
And when she got her hands on that ranch hand who'd been discussing her private life, there wouldn't be much more than cat food left of him!
She made the drive back to the ranch in record time. She grabbed one of the grocery bags, gestured at Jim to take the others in the kitchen and stormed into the house.
She found Cole on the phone in the office. Without a thought for the trophies adorning every inch of wall space above the bookcases, she paced back and forth until he said a hasty good-bye and hung up the phone.
"You figuring to wear out the carpet, Kid?"
She jerked around. "Who cut himself and had to go into Dillon for stitches?"
Cole sat back and put his booted feet on the desk. "Walt. Why?"
"Because big-mouth Walt is history, that's why!"
"Whoa, honey. Slow down. What's eating you?"
She stared at him through silted eyes. "Walt told anybody who'd care to listen that you and I are 'just trying this out.'"
"When did he do this?"
"At the hospital! And guess who just happened to be there drinking it all in?"
"Oh oh. Millie, right?"
"Give the man a big cigar! And guess who I ran into at the supermarket, guess who couldn't wait to tell me that if I go back to California, she'll take real good care of you!"
Cole started to laugh, then choked it off as Joey's expression crumpled. He plopped his boots back down on the floor. "Come here."
Joey made her way around the desk to stand next to him. "Are you laughing at me?"
"No." He took her arm and drew her down on his lap. Closing an arm around her shoulders, he brought her in closer to his chest. When she laid her head on his shoulder, he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. She smelled of something sweet and feminine, yet with an exciting spiciness that was all Joey. The back of her neck under his fingertips was soft and smooth, oddly vulnerable and tender.
She curled into him, a feather-weight on his lap. The trust in her gesture touched him down deep, down where he'd shut doors after Sally's death had left him gaping and sore. He resisted, but the door cracked open an inch. "Joey?"
"H'mm?"
"I don't want Millie."
She lifted her head to gaze at him. "You don't? Really?"
"Really." He pulled her closer. "I married you, honey."
"But, the situation--"
"No buts, Joey. I knew what I was doing."
She cuddled more deeply into his embrace.
"You remember, that first morning in Vegas, when you woke up screeching--"
"Don't remind me."
"--And I told you then that I wanted this marriage? That I was pretty sure we had something special going for us?"
She nodded.
"I could have said yes, let's clean up the mess we made and get divorced as fast as we got married. Did I?"
She shook her head.
"Because I wanted you, Joey. I still want you."
She was silent for a while, as if absorbing the truth of Cole's statements. She sat quietly, her breathing even and slow, her breath moist and warm against his throat. He thought she'd fallen asleep and relaxed, oddly contented to have his wife, his wife, on his lap distracting him when he had ranch business to attend to.
She stirred. "What about Walt?"
He eased the cramp in his thigh. "Why don't we ignore ol' Walt? He's got a mouth a mile wide, but he doesn't mean any harm."
She started to protest, but he shushed her with a finger over her lips. "Besides, we'll just prove him wrong, won't we?"
When she didn't answer, he couldn't help wonder. Would they really? If Joey was upset about people gossiping about them, he couldn't be sure she'd be willing to stay and work out their problems, which seemed to piling up instead of going away. Damn. What was a man to do?
Joey lifted her head. Her green eyes glittering, she met his gaze straight on. "Never let it be said that Kid Joey backed down from a fight."
Ready for the next chapter?
Chapter Twenty-three -- posted May 30, 1998
Last updated: May 30, 1998