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meant for each other.”
“I knew you’d fuck it up somehow.” Hawke snapped. “Just like
back then, you’ve hurt her and now she’s running away. Fucking
hell, Vin. Can’t you think about someone else for once?”
Vin’s temper roared to life. “I haven’t stopped thinking about
that girl since she was eight years old. She’s in my brain almost every
minute of every day. Do you think I wanted to screw up her life?’
His blast of temper seemed to cool Hawke off, because suddenly
both of his brothers were grinning at him like Cheshire cats.
Slamming his fist against the wall, he snarled, “What the hell are you
too smiling at?”
“You love her.” Roman said softly.
Hawke let out a short whoop and then turned to Roman, “You
owe me twenty dollars. I told you he was head over heels for her.”
“You guys bet on me? Your own brother?”
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“Hell yeah, and you played right into our hands.” Hawke said
with a laugh, “You think we didn’t know about what happened
between you and Lauren all those years ago. Holy hell, she was
devastated, and you looked like someone who’d just lost their
childhood dog.”
“You never said anything though. Why didn’t you kick my ass
back then?”
Roman shook his head, “You weren’t ready and neither was she.
Besides, it’s not like you would have listened to us. We were kids.”
“So what now? She rejected me.”
Hawke shrugged, and Roman just chuckled like the answer was
obvious. Exchanging a glance between them, they gave a shared nod
and then walked away in silence leaving him fuming. Every manner
of emotion bubbled under his skin. He wasn’t ready to make nice
with Lauren yet. Even though he knew in his heart she hadn’t
planned to, she’d hurt him deeply. Not that he didn’t deserve it for
what he’d done to her all those years ago, but that didn’t make it an
easier pill to swallow. Hawke and Romeo had no idea what the fuck
they were talking about. They needed to just mind their own
business.
Female laughter reached his ears from the next cabin over, and
he moved that direction. Standing out of view of the open doorway
he could hear Lacy talking to Destiny and Jeanette. Lauren, Franki
and Marilyn were in another cabin doing their best to save what
could be cleaned.
“You should have seen it, Elvis stood up with Drannon, and
Jessica Rabbit stood with me. The minister was an Arnold
Schwarzenegger impersonator. We took tons of pictures.”
“I can’t believe you guys didn’t go for something more
traditional,” Jeanette responded. The pretty doctor had her hair
covered, and for once, she was dressed down in a pair of designer
blue jeans and a purple t-shirt. Vin even knew that the shoes she wore
were borrowed from Franki, because she didn’t own an old pair of
sneakers. He’d heard them discussing it that morning over a bowl of
Roman’s secret stash of Lucky Charms.
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“Nah. I think I wanted a traditional wedding because that’s what
I was supposed to want, not because it actually suited us. We had so
much fun, and we were both laughing and crying as we said our
vows. It was absolutely perfect,” Lacy said dreamily.
Vin grinned at his new sister-in-law’s idea of perfection. He was
happy for both of them; he just wished he could find the same
happiness with the woman who held his heart.
“I don’t know why you’d want to get married in the first place,”
Destiny said softly. Vin couldn’t see her from where he was standing,
but based on the emotion in her voice, he assumed she was wearing
that painfully sad expression on her heart-shaped face again.
“Aw, honey, eventually your heart with heal, and you’ll find
someone to love, too,” Lacy offered. “Hell, if you would have told
me the turn my life was going to take a year ago I’d have laughed in
your face. I was a city girl with a big career, and now here I am
mucking out cabins on a ranch in North Dakota married to a smoking
hot cowboy.”
Jeanette laughed. “What is it about these cowboys? They’re all
so good looking.”
Vin caught himself grinning at the compliment, until Destiny
piped up again.
“Looks don’t mean anything. The prettiest packages can still be
rotten inside.” She grew quiet for moment and then said, “I’m sorry.
I’m such a downer.”
“Don’t be sorry, sweetie. You’ve been through a lot, and you’re
still hurting. Jeanette and I understand.”
“Boy, do I,” Jeanette muttered. “Give yourself time. At least
here on Crawley Creek you know you’re safe from those people who
kidnapped you in the first place.”
“Has Bran heard any more from the FBI?” Lacy asked. Vin lost
interest at this point because he’d already been updated on the case
along with his brothers. Bran kept them in the loop so that they could
be vigilant about the security of the ranch. Unfortunately for Destiny,
the law had very few leads to go on. They were basically just waiting
for the bad guys to slip up.
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Claiming His Cowgirl
Moving away from the first three women, he ran smack dab into
the other three as they came out of the next cabin.
“Hey Vin,” Franki called out, “how’s it going in the Dr. Jekyll
cabin?”
“We’ve cleared away as much mud from it as we could from all
of them. Now we’re going to start removing sheetrock,” he answered.
His eyes automatically sought out Lauren, and he cursed himself
when he found her looking back. He didn’t want her to know how
much he missed her.
“Good! We just finished in here, and we’re going to check on the
other girls to see if they need help in the Wonderland,” Marilyn said.
She used the back of her hand to wipe away sweat from her face, and
Vin stared at her flushed cheeks with concern.
“Are you sure you should be doing all of this, mama-bear? You
look pretty wiped out.”
“Pfft, I’m fine. Just need to find me a drink of water and all will
be well.” Her refusal to meet his eyes had him questioning her words,
but she didn’t give him a chance to push harder. “Come on, we’d
better get back to it if we want to finish this part before sunset.”
“Ugh, haven’t I mentioned that I’m not into manual labor?”
Franki complained. “I work behind a computer so that I don’t have to
sweat.”
Following wordlessly behind the other two, Lauren brushed past
him without even looking up, making him feel even more unsettled
than before. What was it with women that made them so darn
unreadable? Did she want him to fight for her? Or was she truly
happy with them walking away from each other?
Frustration rolling in his gut, he stomped off to find his brother
and their young ranch hand, once again determined to work his
anxiety out with good hard work.
~ ~ ~ ~
By late afternoon, the bulk of the debris from the flooded cabins
was cleared away, and four of the six had been scrubbed and/or were
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Lori King
in the process of being torn apart. Lauren felt the exhaustion all the
way to her bones as she tossed her rag into the bucket and headed to
the main house. All day long, she’d listened to Lacy gush about her
wedding, and as much as she loved Drannon, she was over it.
Destiny had retreated to her room several hours before when
Bran stopped by to check in on their progress, and Marilyn had been
sent away to rest after Lauren spilled the beans about her recent heart
trouble. Unfortunately, that increased the amount of work for the four
of them that were left, but in a way, she welcomed the busy work. It
kept her mind off Vin and the obvious tension between them.
She wanted to confront him and force him to listen to her side,
but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. If he truly believed she could
be so heinous, then he clearly wasn’t the man she thought he was. It
was better to just let the chips fall and move on. Her heart was
already in pieces; there was no sense in setting fire to it as well.
Stepping into the kitchen, she froze. Hawke had Jeanette pinned
against the island, and he was kissing her for all he was worth. Their
embrace was so passionate her heart lurched in her chest. Unsure
how to back out without disturbing them, she gave the door a little
shove so that it banged into the wall behind it. The noise startled the
pair, and they jumped away from each other like scalded cats.
Lauren hurried to fill the silence, and ease Jeanette’s obvious
embarrassment. “Ugh, I’m wiped out. A long soak in that tub upstairs
is going to feel fantastic tonight.”
“Yes, yes I’m sure it will,” Jeanette said, giving her a fake smile.
The tiny line between her eyebrows gave away the unease in her
soul, but Lauren didn’t comment. Whatever was happening between
her younger brother and the pretty doctor was none of her business.
Hell, she was the last person who should give relationship advice.
“Good thing there are several tubs in this place. With the ranch
filling up with females I have a feeling we’ll be using them a lot
more,” Hawke said. He’d propped his hip against the kitchen sink,
and his demeanor was relaxed, but his eyes resembled those of his
namesake as he watched Jeanette.
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“I’m heading that way now, Jeanette, would you like to join me?
I have some great new pomegranate bubble bath I’ve been dying to
try. After I fill my tub you can snag it yourself and fill the tub down
the hall,” Lauren offered.
Jeanette looked relieved, and a real smile filled her face. “I love
pomegranate, thanks!”
“She’ll be up in just a minute, Lauren,” Hawke said, his eyes
narrowed on Jeanette. “After we finish our conversation.”
“Oh, I don’t think there’s any more to say, Hawke. Besides, I
want to have time for a good soak before dinner.” Jeanette rushed to
Lauren’s side, hurrying her out of the room before Hawke could
argue. The moment they were clear of the doorway, she sighed with
relief and Lauren laughed.
“Well done. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone put Hawke in his
place so easily since Sera died.”
Jeanette ran her fingers through her short hair and shrugged.
“That kid drives me crazy. I wish I knew how to handle him.”
“Looked like you were handling him pretty good when I came
in,” Lauren teased, making the other woman blush.
“That was…unexpected, and trust me, it won’t happen again.”
“Okay.”
“No, I mean it. I’m not getting involved with your brother,”
Jeanette insisted.
“Okay.” Lauren shrugged. “Look, you don’t have to convince
me of anything. As far as I’m concerned you and Hawke are both
adults. What you do with each other isn’t my business. Besides, I’m
dealing with my own Crawley Creek cowboy. I don’t need the added
drama.”
“Vin?” Jeanette gave her a searching look. When Lauren
nodded, she looked pleased with herself. “I’ve seen him watching
you when you’re not looking, and vice versa. There’s some definite
sexual tension there.”
“There was.”
They’d reached the top of the stairs and Jeanette paused. “Do
you want to talk about it?”
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Lori King
Laughing, Lauren shook her head, “I don’t need therapy. I just
need to bury dead dogs.”
“I didn’t mean it as a psychologist, I meant as a friend. I’m not
very good at relationship advice, but I’m a good listener.”
Entering her room, Lauren gestured for Jeanette to make herself
comfortable, as she plopped down on the bed. “I’ve known Vin since
I was eight, and we’ve had drama between us since I was eighteen.
I’m not sure there’s anything more to say.”
When Jeanette didn’t respond, Lauren fell back on her bed,
staring up at the tiny star stickers she’d placed on the ceiling all those
years ago. Back then, she’d believed that wishing on stars brought
good things, now she wasn’t sure wishing did any good at all.
“I love him.”
“Duh,” Jeanette said with a snort. “That’s pretty obvious.”
“Yeah, well, tell him that. He broke my heart when we were
kids.” Lauren’s voice caught on the bubble of emotion in her throat,
“I thought we’d moved on, but… The other night when we were out
in the storm, things happened, and we reconnected. Everything
suddenly became so intense. Like a firestorm that surrounds you,
blasting you with heat and there’s no way out.”
Tears burned her eyelids, and she swallowed hard, fighting to