Tyler Read online

  Tyler sensed it was a struggle for Jake to keep a lid on his frustration, and his next words confirmed it.

  “Look,” Jake said, “Jolene needs you to do what she hired you to do.”

  The expression on Jake’s face was hard to read. Tyler was ready to pound on the guy if he added anything derogatory about Tyler’s job at The Lucky Star. But Jake didn’t do more than appear very concerned about Tyler’s boss.

  Finally, Tyler nodded. “I’d be obliged if you’d drive them over to the emergency room and stay with them.”

  Jake’s gaze met his and the silent communication between them was all that was needed. Jake would protect the women while Tyler did what Jolene needed him to do.

  “I’ll be here when you get back,” he told them.

  Jake nodded, but Emily blurted out, “That could be hours from now!”

  Tyler helped the women out of the bathroom and toward the stairs. “I’ll wait.”

  “But what about—” Jolene began, but he didn’t let her finish.

  “I said I’d be here.”

  “Won’t you be expected home tonight?” Emily asked.

  Tyler wondered if what she really wanted to know was who would be waiting home for him, and almost asked her if that’s what she meant. At the last minute, he was able to stop himself from looking foolish. They were a long way from asking each other those kinds of questions… for now. Besides, his gut told him that even though they hadn’t flat out asked, neither one was in a relationship right now. Ever since he’d broken it off with the brunette from over in Amarillo, he’d developed a sixth sense about lying women. Emily didn’t strike him as the type who would smile and lie to his face.

  The other man nodded as he placed a protective arm around Jolene and led her toward the stairs. “I meant it about hanging around tonight,” Jake said. “I’ll keep you company.”

  “Appreciate it,” Tyler said, slipping his arm around Emily’s waist. The woman had amazing curves. His arm fit snugly in the gentle inward sweep between her waist and hips. He clamped down on the need flaring to life inside of him and eased her toward the stairs. Later.

  When Emily’s step faltered, Tyler didn’t ask, he swept her into his arms and braced to catch an earful. But to his shock, Emily didn’t say a word. After a few moments the rigidness left her body as she relaxed against him.

  Contentment swept up from his gut right to his heart. This woman mattered. He couldn’t even begin to guess why now, why her, but was Irish enough to accept that fate often had more to say about the path of a person’s life than a sack-full of good intentions.

  As he followed Jake down the stairs and past the bar, Gwen called out, “Natalie needs you back in five to go over the dance steps.”

  He cringed at the thought of getting back on that stage. “Be right back.”

  Fate was a fickle son of a bitch sometimes. After he and Jake were satisfied that the ladies were settled in the car for the short ride over to the hospital, he headed back inside. He had a job to do and the sooner he did it, the sooner he could get back to where he wanted to be… right there beside Emily.

  ***

  “I told you to keep them from opening for business tonight, not permanently!” The head of the Pleasure Preservation Society stood with his back to the room.

  “It’s not my fault,” the other man was quick to explain. “My sister’s boys are good kids with dead-on aim. They hit their target.”

  Emerson glared at him.

  Jim Dooley continued. “Hell, they’re only sixteen; how were they to supposed to know the women’d get too close to their target?”

  Emerson’s mouth opened and closed. Was Dooley serious? “They had to notice two redheaded women on the sidewalk in front of the bar.”

  Dooley nodded. “Hell, Frank. They’re just a little trigger happy’s all… they haven’t got a mean bone between ’em. Besides, the women didn’t get hurt.”

  “Just tell them to lay low for a couple of days,” Emerson said. “We can get a rumor going about The Lucky Star and its owners so that people will line up behind us while we continue our campaign to change the town’s name.” At Dooley’s blank look, Emerson grumbled. “We need everyone in town behind us, or we can’t get enough votes.”

  “Are you worried about that?”

  “Pleasure’s an old town with shady beginnings; the odd thing is most of the townspeople were born and raised right here and proud of their beginnings. We’ll need to be very persuasive to convince them to change our Take Pride in Pleasure Day celebration and rodeo to Take Pride in Emerson Day.”

  “What about my nephews? Sheriff McClure’s deputies are sniffing around asking questions.”

  “I’ll handle everything,” Emerson promised.

  Chapter 8

  During the first break, Tyler walked over to the bar where Gwen did double duty as bouncer and manager. “Any word?”

  Her gaze slid over toward his and rested there for a moment. “Worried about your job, cowboy?”

  Tyler clenched his jaw to keep the words from tumbling out, words that no lady ought to hear. These women were a tough bunch, but he admired what they accomplished together. “It was a simple enough question.”

  Gwen shrugged and then turned toward the raised voices at the other end of the bar. “So was mine.”

  His hands fisted at his sides, and he consciously relaxed them. Women. He remembered his mother reminding him to pick his battles. Tyler nodded, realizing that now was probably not the time to get into it with Gwen.

  The raised voices reached a screeching crescendo, and a curvaceous blonde went flying backward. Without a word, Gwen stalked from her post to wade into the fray, grabbing the woman standing with her hands on her hips by the back of her skimpy shirt. The brunette’s shocked surprise turned to anger in a heartbeat as she pointed to the blonde at their feet and said, “She started it.”

  The woman pushing to her feet looked as though she wanted to do serious damage to the one who’d knocked her down, but when Gwen reached out a hand to help the blonde up, Tyler watched the look change from anger to innocence.

  “I didn’t do anything,” the blonde wailed as Gwen tried to yank her up, but the woman changed her mind, deciding to stay on the floor.

  “Need any help?”

  Gwen looked over at Tyler as if surprised that he’d followed her. She shook her head and turned back to the catfight. “Easy or hard, ladies?” Her words were short and sweet, just the way he and his brother Dylan preferred them. He smiled thinking of his brother and Gwen together… too bad she wasn’t a redhead.

  “What are you talking about?” the one in the skimpy shirt demanded.

  “Yeah!” the blonde echoed.

  “Real slow to catch on,” he said with a nod in their direction.

  The right corner of Gwen’s mouth lifted, but before the smile could soften the hard look on her face, she cleared her throat and answered for the troublemakers. “Fine then. Hard it is.”

  In a move that shocked the shit out of him, Gwen lifted both women off the floor so their feet were flailing as she hauled their pretty little asses toward the front door.

  Never doubting that Gwen could handle herself, Tyler followed along behind, just to make sure the women didn’t decide to turn on The Lucky Star’s impressive bouncer. Stepping around Gwen, admiring the way her biceps flexed under the added weight of the squirming women, he opened the front door.

  “Why, Gwen, honey,” Jolene drawled, “how nice of you to arrange a coming home party.”

  Gwen’s sharp bark of laughter told Tyler here was a woman he wouldn’t mind having for a friend.

  “Just cleaning up a bit while we waited for you.” Gwen shook her head as she set the women on their feet and shoved them out the door.

  Tyler wasn’t surprised to see Emily’s knee wrapped up with an ace bandage, but Jolene’s arm in a sling took him aback.

  “Well, boss?” he asked, ushering the women inside.

  “Jo?” Gwen
looked as if she wanted to press Jolene, but then she retreated behind the mask of indifference he was used to seeing on Gwen’s face.

  Jake walked in behind the women. “Tell them.”

  Tyler nodded to the other man. With a look, they communicated their like intentions. They would put together a brief plan for how they’d handle things tonight once the bar closed down. The women would have to go along with the plan.

  No exceptions. No excuses.

  “Just a sprained elbow,” Jolene said, nodding at Emily, “and a bump on the knee.”

  “That’s not what the emergency room doctor had to say.”

  Emily agreed. “Well of course not, they couldn’t charge as much if they called it that. They had some fancy medical terms, but in plain English, it’s a sprain and a bump.”

  “Which we wouldn’t have if Emily didn’t go in to protective mode and yank me down to the sidewalk.”

  Tyler watched the play of emotions on Emily’s face. Lord, what a show. He loved redheads and the way they shot straight to boil. Impressed, he gave Jolene a break and said, “You might have been hit by some of the shot. Just looking at the sign, you could tell they weren’t that far away when they fired.”

  “Gee thanks, cowboy,” his boss grumbled.

  He hated that nickname and the way it got under his skin. He closed his eyes and counted until he was calm again. “It’s—”

  “Tyler,” Jolene said for him. “I know, but I like the way you get all grumpy and insulted when I call you cowboy… cowboy.”

  Emily giggled. “Don’t mind my cousin,” she said. “She’s always been perverse that way. Besides, she’s just being difficult because I had to help her pee before.”

  “Way too much information, Em,” Jolene bit out.

  “Well, who knew how hard it’d be with only one arm?”

  Tyler struggled not to laugh. Hell, if they thought it was tough, trying peeing with one hand… He almost said it, but caught the knowing look Jake shot his way. The guy was growing on him. Men understood other men… but women. He sighed. They sure were work sometimes.

  “Well?” Natalie asked.

  “What’s the verdict?” Jennifer demanded.

  Emily repeated what she’d told him. “Sprained elbow—”

  “And a bump on the knee,” Jolene added.

  “Does it hurt bad, Jolene?” Natalie asked while Jennifer turned toward Emily and asked, “Shouldn’t you be sitting down?”

  While Jake eased Jolene into a chair, Tyler clenched his hands in frustration because he’d been too focused on what his boss was doing to notice Gwen had stepped around him to help Emily sit down.

  “Just a bad sprain,” Jolene said, reaching for the bottle of pain reliever Natalie handed her, while Jennifer tossed Emily another bag of frozen peas. “Did you break it?” Joe asked walking up to the group.

  Jolene sighed. “Sprained.”

  Dave sidled up alongside of Joe. “Did you tear the meniscus?”

  Emily grimaced but answered, “Just a bump.”

  Tyler’s gut clenched. “I’ve been there, and if you don’t keep it up and ice it, the swelling’ll take longer to go down, and you’ll be limping for the rest of the week.” Emily didn’t react the way he thought she would; she nodded and shifted the peas on her knee. “Maybe I could keep it up for the rest of the night.” The women closed ranks and started talking, effectively shutting him and Jake out. Female trick, he mused, but it wasn’t going to work until he’d finished asking his damned questions.

  Besides, Tyler wasn’t used to being ignored, especially when he was determined not to be. “Where’s the list of instructions?” he bit out, his tone sharper than he intended.

  But neither woman seemed upset by how he sounded. Jolene shrugged and immediately cringed, closing her eyes and drawing in a slow, steady breath.

  “That’s it. You should be lying down.” Jake moved toward Jolene, but before he could slip his hands beneath her legs and lift her up, Gwen’s next statement stopped him.

  “Jo just needs to sit awhile,” she said, looking from Jake to Tyler and then back again. “The crowd will distract her. Don’t fuss.”

  A new song began to play, a familiar George Strait tune this time, and the lull in the conversations around them picked back up again. Tyler looked at Jake and noticed the other man scanning the crowd, probably for the same reasons Tyler was about to.

  “We spoke to one of the deputies at the hospital,” Emily said, with a look over her shoulder toward the front of the bar.

  “And?” Gwen prompted.

  Emily shook her head. “Can you believe it? They really are serious about looking for suspects.”

  Jolene sighed. “I don’t know why they won’t listen to us. You’d think they’d believe us when we told them what we heard.”

  “One look at our sign and anyone with half a brain could see it was bird shot… otherwise there wouldn’t be much left of our star.”

  Emily sighed. “I guess we’ll have to let the law do what the law will do.” Tyler followed Emily’s logic and agreed wholeheartedly, but there was a hitch in his gut that had him going over the “what ifs.” Damned disturbing. How the hell could he and Jake protect the women during the day when he had to be home in the morning? There was a section of fence that he’d intended to repair in a remote part of the ranch, stock to be tended to… the usual chores. Then there was that damned elbow pipe under the kitchen sink he’d promised his brothers he’d replace. He had a knack for plumbing. Neither Jess nor Dylan could sweat a pipe without it leaking.

  As if the other man could read his mind, Jake spoke up. “I’ve got a few days of vacation coming and I—”

  “No.” Jolene’s refusal was short and sharp.

  “Well now,” Jake rumbled, “I’m just going to assume that you’re in pain and not thinking clearly, Miss Langley.”

  Jolene’s mouth rounded in shock but no words came out.

  Emily pushed to her feet again and moved to stand beside her cousin. “Although we appreciate your offer, Jake,” Emily said, “there’s no reason to take any time off. The Baxter boys’ll be laying low for a few days. At least that’s what me and Jolene did when we—”

  Tyler watched as the two women shared a look that reminded him of himself and his brothers. “You want to finish that particular story, Emily?”

  She flushed a pretty shade of pink. “Maybe later.”

  With a glance around the bar she nodded toward the other men, who hadn’t said anything more after inquiring about the women but hadn’t left either. “No need to worry about us though. Joe and Dave help out with the heavier jobs around the bar, so we’re not without extra muscle if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  If a man could spit flames, Tyler thought the fire marshal just might. The man was angry and wasn’t hiding it. He was obviously more than interested in Tyler’s boss. Tyler had taken the man’s measure and liked what he found. He knew he was overreacting, but knowing Jake could check in on the women during the day while Tyler was at the ranch eased some of the uneasiness that had caught Tyler off guard.

  “Let’s get one thing straight, ladies,” Jake said, looking from one redhead to the other. “We’re not certain your lives haven’t been threatened. You’re both injured and moving slower than you normally would.”

  “But it wasn’t a killer,” Jolene insisted. “It was the Baxter brothers.”

  Emily sighed. “While we appreciate that you’re worried about us—” she began, only to be interrupted by Jake.

  “If Joe and Dave are downstairs hauling kegs and the shooter shows up, you won’t be able to hide fast enough.”

  Jolene looked at Emily and they both slowly stood, shifting until they were standing shoulder to shoulder. “We don’t intend to hide.”

  “Of all the stupid—”

  “You’ll want to watch what you say to my cousin,” Emily warned, eyes blazing, chin lifted in defiance.

  Tyler couldn’t hide his admiration
for the women. They weren’t going to hide, and they didn’t like to be told what to do. Hell, if that didn’t add to his growing fascination with Emily.

  “At least I’m not too stubborn to recognize the truth when it kicks me in the ass and knocks me off my feet,” Jake grumbled.

  “Men,” Jolene grumbled. “Can’t live with them”—she paused and smiled up at Jake—“and you can’t live with them.”

  Jake looked at Tyler for help. He smiled and shook his head. “I need to make a call if I’m going to be staying in town tonight.”

  “You’re on in five, Tyler.” Jennifer reminded him.

  “That’s all I need to check in.”

  He walked over toward the other side of the bar where his cell phone reception was stronger. “Hey, Jesse. Where’s Dylan?”

  His brother grumbled something into the phone, but damned if Tyler could figure out what he’d said. Tired and just plain irritated, he bit out, “What?”

  His little brother actually growled before saying, “In the kitchen under the sink.”

  Tyler swore under his breath. “Well, tell him to cool his heels. I said I’d fix the damned pipe.”

  It was Jesse’s turn to swear, and Tyler could tell by the colorful string of adjectives that his little brother had had a day similar to his.

  “Look, I’m going to be tied up here in town tonight,” he paused and nearly bit off his tongue when Jennifer called his name. He covered the mouthpiece of his phone, but not before a deep chuckle sounded on the other end.

  “Man,” Jesse said, “I told Dylan you’d find yourself a woman now that you’d be able to spend more than twenty minutes at a time in town.”

  “It’s not what you think.” But how the hell could he explain just exactly what he would be doing in town without telling Jesse the whole of it? Embarrassment coupled with shame, mingled with worry.

  He braced himself to accept the fact that if he wanted to keep his lies straight, he’d have to keep them simple. A lie of omission was still a lie. Wasn’t it?

  Just tell them the truth, Tyler.