Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (40 page)

He put his hand on the side of her face and said sincerely, "Anytime you need a shoulder,
sugar,
I'm here
.
"

A roar sounded behind them, and Karlie tried to turn around to see what was going on, but she was knocked to the side
,
then looked down to see Gabe on top of Wade about to put his fist in his face.  Karlie roared
herself and
dove at Gabe
knocking him
off of Wade, then she landed on top of him. 

Wade scrambled to his feet and stood over them
, and helped Karlie to her feet
. 
"What the fuck, Kelley!"

"You keep your fucking hands off of her, Wade!"
Gabe
said in a loud tortured voice that rang off the rafters of the barn
, then stood up and took a step toward Wade again
.

Karlie stepped between them and put her finger in Gabe's chest
, then grated,
"We're done
, Gabe Kelley, I told you that.
  I
t's none of your business who has their
fucking
hands on me anymore...
it
sure as hell
won't be
yours
.
Now,
get the hell out of here and leave me alone
."

She saw Gabe swallow hard and his eyes filled with emotion, then he nodded and walked out of the barn.  She glanced out the door and saw Cole's SUV parked at the house.
  Hopefully, they wouldn't be hanging around long.  She didn't want to see him again...ever again.

"Let me get my saddle, you want to ride out with me?  I'll ride one of the mares, and you can ride Titan?" Karlie asked then looked back at Wade who was standing there with sympathy in his eyes.  God, that's all she needed, Wade Roberts pitying her, she thought, then told him, "Get that look off your face, I'm okay...he's an asshole."

"Yes ma'am," Wade said then gave her a wide grin and tipped his black hat, "Get your tack and let's hit the trail, darlin'."

Exercising all the horses, took a lot less time than usual, with Wade helping her.  She knew he wasn't going to be able to do that every day, but today she counted it as a blessing, as she did his company.  They'd talked while they rode, and after they finished riding, they worked together to get the horses rotated and fed, then they cleaned the stalls and put down fresh bedding. 

"Thanks for your help today," she told him with a smile when they were putting up their tack in the tack room.

"It was fun...glad to help. You sure helped me the other night when all those cattle got loose, just returning the favor," he told her in his deep rich voice.

"Let me know if you ever need help with the cattle, I'd be glad to help you again," she said then grinned, and told him, "Wouldn't want my roping skills to get rusty."

"Even rusty, yours would be better than mine," he hooted
, then offered,
"But I sure as hell could help you break the new colts when they're born."

"That would be great, Wade...thanks," she said then wondered why she'd ever thought this guy was an asshole...he was a good guy.  "Hey, you want to go get something to eat in town, then go dance a little at the bar?  Have a few beers?"

"People are gonna think I did that to your face
...y
ou have a t-shirt that says 'My ex did it?'  I don't want to get my ass kicked," he told her with a laugh.

"No, but I have a white t-shirt and a magic marker...I'll wear it if you'll go," she said with a chuckle.

Wade raised his hands and took a couple of steps back. "I don't want to get within fifteen feet of you and that magic marker of yours," he told her with mock fright on his face.

Karlie burst out laughing and it felt damned good, she laughed until she was bent over with it. 
Snorting
a couple of times trying to get control,
she made
Wade started laughing
too
.
  The snorting made her think of Gabe, and how much he liked her snort too, and her laugh dried up and the tears in her eyes turned misty.
 

Wade noticed then dropped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze, "Let's just make it beers and dancing, you look like you need a little Bud therapy....but you do have to wear that t-shirt," he told her and she sniffled, then chuckled. God, she was an emotional mess.

She nodded then said, "It's a deal...but we at least need to let Imelda feed us, so we don't get sloppy."

"I'll get cleaned up then meet you at the house," he told her then kissed her cheek.

"Thanks for being a friend, Wade...I need one, badly," she told him
and
smiled
then
walked
out of the barn
toward the house.

She didn't see the SUV there anymore, and breathed a sigh of relief
,
as she stepped up on the porch and opened the door. 
Walking through the house, she went up the stairs to her room, then grabbed
a robe and underwear
then went to the shower.
  She scrubbed herself with honeysuckle shower gel, then shampooed her hair trying to wipe away any trace of Gabe from her body.
  Now, if it was just that easy to get him out of her heart, she'd be good.
  Emotion shoved up from her chest to her throat and she pushed it back down, then got out of the shower and dried off,
and
blow dried her hair.

Karlie cringed when she looked in the mirror and saw the purple bruises were turning green now, but the swelling had gone down some.  Maybe she could mask most of it with some concealer, she hoped so anyway...she really didn't want Wade to get his ass kicked, she thought with a chuckle.
 

She didn't use it often, so she had to dig around a while in her makeup bag before she found some and applied it liberally to the bruises, then covered that with a light layer of foundation, which made her pale, so before she finished, she had a full face of makeup on, including mascara and lipstick.  It wasn't often she went this heavy with her makeup, so it felt kind of odd, but it did the job to hide what Jake had done to her...on the outside at least.

Tightening her robe around her, Karlie walked to the bedroom, then dug around in her things and found a low-cut clingy black shirt that accentuated her cleavage, and bared part of her stomach.  She was surprised that Jake hadn't cut it to shreds, he had forbidden her from wearing it, which made her all the more determined to wear it
n
ow.  Karlie was done hiding and running. 

She put it on with a pair of hemmed and bedazzled
jean shorts
that were pretty brief,
adding her black
dress boots and a black Stetson.
  The hat kind of shaded the bruises on her face, making them less visible, so that was good.
  She put a rhinestone clip in her hair making a loose ponytail, then clipped on some dangly rhinestone earrings.
 
She looked good, and didn't give a damned who didn't like what she had on. 
This was her fresh start, her new life, and she wasn't going to let any man run it anymore.

Karlie shoved her cell phone in her pocket and grabbed her credit card from her purse, then walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where she smelled something good cooking.
  Cassie, Luke and Wade were already at the table and looked up when she walked in. 

Wade and Luke shoved their chairs back and stood up, and Cassie smiled at her then said, "Holy shit girl, you trying to set the town on fire tonight?  Wade said ya'll were going out dancing, but wow...you look great!"

Karlie grinned at her and told her friend, "Not trying to set anything on fire...maybe put
something
out though."

Wade
choked and beat his chest with a fist,
and Luke didn't look happy about her statement
, but Cassie belly laughed, "I'm sure there'll be plenty of cowboys signing up for the bucket brigade."

"I'm just kidding...the
last
thing I want right now is another man...I want some beer and dancing with this handsome cowboy here, then some uninterrupted sleep," she said with a nod at Wade, who really was looking smoking hot tonight in his dark wranglers, and red and black flame western shirt.  He didn't have his hat on, because he was at the table, but she knew it
was around his chair somewhere
.  She would probably be the one having to beat the cowgirls off of him tonight.

"Let's eat so we can get going," he told her then came around and pulled out a chair for her.  God, she loved southern manners, and southern men...
most
of them knew how to treat a woman.
  She thanked him, then sat down and dug in, jumping in the conversation when she could about the ranch, and Titan and how things were going.  When they finished, Cassie and Luke shooed them out of the kitchen and told them they'd clean up.

They walked outside and the sun had just set, so the air was a little cooler than it had been, and there were lightning bugs dancing across the pasture.  She pointed and said, "Is there anything more beautiful than that show?"

He looked over at the field, then back at her and he said with his brown eyes filled with warmth, "Yeah there sure is..." He held her gaze for a second, then opened her door and helped her into the truck, then shut it and walked around the truck.
 

Oh, Lord, she hoped Wade wasn't getting the wrong idea here...she really wasn't ready for anything romantic, and wouldn't be for a while.
  She didn't want to hurt him...he was being a good friend...and that is what she needed right now.

"So...what did Gabe do to get on your shit list?" Wade asked as he pulled down the long driveway of the ranch.

"Accused me of trying to trap him into marriage, by getting pregnant," she said bluntly.

Wade coughed and beat his chest then said, "Come again?"

"He said I was refusing to move in with him, because I was holding out for a ring...and I was trying to get pregnant to trap him."

Wade shook his head then slammed his hand on the steering wheel, "Wow
,
that guy really is stupid, huh?"

Karlie snorted then said,
"Yeah, since he was the one with the dry-rotted condoms
...and with that attitude why the hell would I
want
to move in with him?"

"Holy shit!! Dry-rotted condoms? 
Are
you pregnant, Karlie?" he asked incredulously, and stomped on the brakes.  If she was, he would probably turn them around and head right back home.

"Nope, dodged that bullet, then got on the pill...he just didn't bother to ask, just jumped off the deep end when he
forgot
to use one last time."

Wade whistled and shook his head again, "Dumbass for sure...."

"Yeah and that's something I've had more than enough of in my life, thank you," she told Wade then folded her arms under her breasts.  When she saw his gaze go there and linger, she unfolded her arms and crossed her legs.

"Might want to watch the road, sugar," she told him when she saw his eyes traveling down her legs now.

He chuckled then looked back at the road and drove them to town. 
They found a celebrity parking spot on the side of the street right down from the bar, and Wade shoehorned his truck in there and shut off the engine.  After slamming his hat down on his head, he opened the door and came around to her side and helped her out.  There were a couple of cowboys loitering on the sidewalk across the street and they all wolf-whistled when she stuck her legs out to slide down.  Wade turned around and gave them a hot look, and they turned away.

Putting his arm around her waist,
he put his thumb through her belt loop and rested his hand on her hip, as they walked to the door.  W
ade held
the door open, and walked inside the dark, smoky bar beside her
. 
I
t took a minute for her eyes to adjust from the street lights outside
, and when they did she saw the bar was really packed tonight
.  It was Friday, so the
re was a live band,
the music was loud
,
and the dancers plentiful.