Nashville cowboy, p.14
Nashville Cowboy, page 14
He rolled his shoulders. “I don’t mind being paired with you. Just wish it were anywhere but here.”
“That makes two of us.”
Each bridesmaid held a fake bouquet filled with bright ribbons and Jackson noticed Eve’s hands were shaking. Either that, or some critter was caught in the arrangement.
He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I’ve got you, baby.”
This earned him a wistful smile.
The line moved, and ahead of him, Sadie’s friend Lucy took the arm of Lincoln’s best friend, Wade, and they moved down the line.
“Let’s do this,” Jackson said quietly, and offered his arm.
Eve linked her arm with his and slowly walked beside him in time to the organist. Her arm felt soft and warm. She appeared to be in some sort of trance. Her eyes were staring straight ahead, no smile, walking zombie-like to the altar.
This moment was probably hardest on her. When sides were taken, most everyone rallied to his defense. At the time, he’d appreciated it. Now, not so much. He felt very protective about Eve and on the actual wedding day, if anyone dared say a word to her or so much as snicker, they’d have to deal with him.
He and Eve separated at the altar and she went to the bridesmaids’ side, while he joined the other groomsmen. The organist played the wedding march and everyone’s attention went to the bride as she prepared to walk down the aisle and join Lincoln. Everyone except for Jackson, who was watching his brother. He had such a gobsmacked, love-struck look on his face that for a moment Jackson thought he’d be sick. His stomach clenched uncomfortably while the rest of the family stared with awed smiles and starry eyes. He should be happy for Lincoln but instead he was terrified for him.
He could lose her. Lose everything. Maybe not today, or on the wedding day, but later. Marriages didn’t always work out. His parents were a perfect example. Eve’s parents, too. For those that actually made it to the altar, fifty percent of them ended in divorce. He didn’t see how everyone else could be so damn hopeful. He looked to Eve, and she was equally starry-eyed as she smiled at Sadie, her eyes shimmering.
That hit him harder than he would have imagined. Eve, after all she’d been through, believed in love. Believed in forever.
Finally, the ordeal was over, and they all filed out again. At the back of the chapel, he was one of the first to rush through the chapel doors where he could catch his breath. A small crowd dispersed to their vehicles, and Jackson did a fairly good job ignoring the fact that Eve piled into a car with Mima and Beau, Sadie’s very single brother. Jackson drove Hank to the Wild Rose, where they’d be having the so-called “fancy” dinner.
He walked in front of Hank, opening the door for him. Then Jackson strode over to the no-host bar and ordered himself a double.
He found Lincoln, already taking a seat next to Sadie at the main table. Others were still milling about, chatting, and finding their seats. Sadie’s parents and Beau, the other bridesmaids and groomsmen. All people he knew but hadn’t seen or talked to since he’d been back.
“You’re really doing this,” Jackson said, clapping Lincoln on the shoulder. “Gettin’ hitched.”
“Can’t wait to make this woman my wife.” He tenderly kissed Sadie.
“Y’all won’t have to wait much longer.”
“You okay?” Lincoln asked.
“Sure.”
Jackson narrowed his eyes. Eve now had her hand on Beau’s shoulder, leaning in to say something to him. He needed another stiff drink. Maybe he’d get his Dad to drive them back.
They’d be eating soon, and Jackson figured he’d get another drink in the meantime. He noticed that Eve had walked over to the bar alone, and it was as good a time as any.
“White wine spritzer, please,” Eve ordered and then she noticed him. “Hi again, you.”
“Hey, you.” He ordered a single shot this time, deciding to pace himself. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks, and so do you. I mean, handsome. Not…not beautiful.”
“I don’t know about you, but that was easier than I thought it would be. Walking down the aisle with you.”
“Oh, me too. So easy.”
“Eve…”
There were a million things he wanted to say to her. He wanted to ask her whether she’d ever consider coming out to Nashville to visit him. Whether she’d ever consider giving them another chance.
He was one sick puppy. Lovesick, and getting way ahead of himself. Eight years. They’d spent eight years apart and frankly weren’t the same two people anymore. There was no getting around that fact. She was still dealing with the repercussions from her past, and so was he.
“What?”
I love you. He wanted to have the guts to say it when she was wide awake.
He cleared his throat. “Nothing. I forgot I already said you look beautiful. I hate repeating myself.”
“You charmer.” She glanced at the table, nearly everyone seated now. “We better go find seats.”
“Wait,” he said, getting tired of talking to her back.
He stepped in front of her, blocking her way. “We should sit together.”
“I-I have to sit with Mima,” she said. “She needs me.”
“Then I’ll sit on your left side. You don’t have to talk to me, but you have to know that everyone here is acting like they’re sneaking around landmines whenever we’re too close to each other.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we need to show everyone that we’re gettin’ along fine. At least in private. Might as well let everyone else in on our secret.”
“Secret?”
“Face it. You like me.” He grinned.
“And you like me.”
Sadie rushed up to Eve. “You better come quick. They put a fancy bread tray out and Mima is trying to butter her bread with her left hand. She’s already dropped the knife twice and the pastor looks scared.”
“Excuse me.” Eve gave him the hint of a smile and followed Sadie.
Jackson took a few seconds to get his bearings, and then went to join the family.
CHAPTER 19
Oh, yeah so easy walking down the aisle with Jackson.
Frightening what a good liar she’d become. It would have been easier if there were no feelings left for him at all, but Eve obviously still had uncomfortable emotions that she couldn’t ignore. Deep feelings that went beyond anger and pain. Love. Desire. They were strings winding themselves around her heart until she couldn’t breathe.
He’d whispered that he loved her when he’d thought she was asleep. Some days, it was all she could think about. She didn’t honestly believe in second chances, least of all that she would ever be deserving of one with Jackson. But even she wanted to believe in true love. In two people who were meant to be together, and no matter what obstacles stood in their way, nothing and no one could keep them from being together.
She’d been hardly able to draw in a single breath inside the chapel. But then she’d seen Sadie walking with her father, so filled with joy that the intensity threatened to blow the ceiling right off the rafters. Eve’s heart swelled for her friend, who deserved every kind of happiness. She’d never once taken Lincoln for granted. Not once.
Toasts and their dinner finally over two long hours later, Eve just wanted to go home, get in her jammies, and go to sleep. Morning always came too early at the ranch.
“I’ll be right with you,” Eve said to Mima. “Just need to visit the ladies’ room.”
“Go ahead, sugar. I’m fine.” Mima waited next to the entrance with Hank.
It was silly that they’d come in separate cars, but she and Mima weren’t sure how long it would take Jackson to prod Hank away from the cattle. Turned out to be not nearly as long as anticipated. Washing her hands, she took a glance in the mirror. The woman in the mirror thought she was putting on a good act, but it was all a show. She was a washed-up shell because the attack hadn’t just taken her hearing. It took her hope. Her spirit. But she’d been gradually getting her old self back. She was content to spend the rest of her life in Stone Ridge, for the most part, until the moment Jackson arrived.
She’d thought there was no passion left in her. No desire. She’d certainly never felt a hint of it in years, even though Beau and many others had been after her for a long while. And Beau Stephens was as classically handsome as Sadie was beautiful, but he didn’t do a thing for Eve. She’d tried for a long time to feel something for him, or for anyone else. But she hadn’t felt the throb and pulse of desire again until Jackson strode back into the family kitchen and ordered her outside so he could fire her.
Then suddenly she’d experienced every emotion under the sun. Blazing hostility, paralyzing fear, and don’t forget deep regret. Desire. Lust. The emotions were too much, too intense, and she wanted to shut them all down. Go back to being numb again. If only he’d let her. But no, bit by tender bit, he was making her love him again.
Eve came out to a mostly empty restaurant. No one was where she’d last seen them, Mima and Hank included. What in the world. She was digging for her cell phone when Jackson came walking out from the back room.
“I hope everything was to your satisfaction, Mr. Carver,” Shula Velasquez, the manager, said. “Please do come again.”
“Thanks. Y’all did a great job.” When he noticed Eve, he stopped and slid her a half smile. “You’re still here?”
“Have you seen Mima? I drove her.”
“I was in the back. Told Hank to wait for me.”
“Maybe they’re outside.” Eve went to open the door, but Jackson beat her to it, holding it open.
The parking lot was empty save for two vehicles, and one of them was Hank’s four-wheel drive. Mima’s truck, which Eve drove here, was now gone.
“Looks like they left us.” Jackson snorted. “Subtle.”
“The Carvers have never been known for their finesse.”
“You damn right.” Jackson scanned the parking lot, then, hand on the small of her back, he led her toward the truck. “Get in the truck, woman. Looks like I have to take you home.”
She accepted his hand to hoist herself into the passenger seat. “Clearly, you’re a Carver through and through.”
Inside the truck, the close quarters were strangely intimate.
She breathed in the wonderful woodsy scent of him and told herself she was only intrigued by Jackson because she hadn’t been with a man for so long. To keep her excitement from bubbling over straight into anxiety, Eve employed an old trick. She comforted herself with the smallest of details. She strapped herself into her seat belt and heard it click into place. Adjusted the seat, which had last seated a much taller person. Routine was comfort. Safety.
But Jackson was of no comfort at all as he sat beside her, causing her heart to race wildly. She was alone with him, this time with no one around to interrupt. No one to question what the hell did they think they were doing, jumping right back into a relationship like they had good sense.
Eve didn’t even know if she could remember how to be intimate with someone. They’d just spent the night together, simply sleeping next to each other, which had been so warm and comforting. And thrilling. But she still felt unnaturally shy around the man she’d first given herself to at age sixteen.
Because she just wasn’t that young girl any longer, not even the twenty-year-old that thought she was ready to be married. It took a lot more than good sex and combustible chemistry to keep two people together long-term. Mutual respect, common life goals, and a deep trust in each other.
Jackson plugged his phone in through the stereo system and began swiping through it.
“Sometime tonight?” she said.
Head bent, he fooled with his phone. “Can’t wait to be rid of me?”
“No, not at all. I just…I get up early and I’m already tired.” She yawned to emphasize her point.
But nothing about Jackson would ever make her yawn. He’d always meant excitement, thrills, and red-hot lust. She couldn’t think of a single reason to avoid spending time alone with him, other than fear of what she might do.
Dear Lord, there could be no more doubt. She was avoiding intimacy. This should not surprise her, because she hadn’t been close to anyone since Bobby. And before that, it had just been Jackson. Always Jackson.
He finally, thank you, God, stop fiddling with his phone. Brett Young sang “In Case You Didn’t Know” through the speakers, and Eve’s shoulders unkinked.
“This is very convenient for me,” Jackson said, as he pulled out of the lot. “They played right into my hands.”
She smirked. “Just don’t forget there are two of us involved in this plan of yours.”
“Of course, and by the time I’m done, it will also be your plan.”
“My, you’re confident.”
“I prefer to call it positive thinking.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, as they passed the road that would lead them to the ranch.
“See if you can guess.” He flashed her an easy smile, wide enough to display both dimples.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she said a few minutes later when he made another turn.
She’d bet her Texas veterinary license that Jackson was taking her to Holiday Lake. Also known as the most popular make-out spot in Stone Ridge.
“Before you panic, remember that this is also the best stargazing spot in town.”
“You want to stargaze with me?”
He reached for her hand. “Yeah. And anything else you want.”
Eve’s wanted a lot more than kisses from Jackson, but her mind hadn’t yet caught up to her body. Her thoughts were reminding her that, for her, being intimate was a huge step in a relationship.
Jackson pulled the truck past the entrance to Holiday Lake, which was less a lake than a large pond. But when he drove the truck straight out into the field, past the trees, she remembered why she’d loved it here. The clearing gave way to the best view of stars in Stone Ridge. Jackson helped her out of the truck, taking her hand and leading her to the tailgate.
The June night was warm and there seemed to be no sounds at all in the quiet of the night.
They both hopped on and sat, their legs swinging over the edge, holding hands.
“Tell me about the last eight years,” Jackson suddenly said. “I know about two of the worst things that ever happened to you, but I have a feeling there may have been some good stuff I missed.”
“Eight years? That’s a long time.”
“A recap.”
Touched that he’d want to know what she’d been doing, what he’d missed, she didn’t quite know where to begin. She told him about Marisol, her roommate and good friend, about her dorm room, and later the apartment they shared.
“Tell me about this dude you almost married.”
“I didn’t almost marry Bobby!”
“You said you might have married him someday.”
“Wow, that’s not at all the same thing.”
“What was he like?” Jackson pressed, squeezing her hand.
“Nice. Bobby was good to me, very sweet.”
“But not as sweet as me, right?” He grinned.
That made Eve laugh. She couldn’t remember laughing as much as she had recently. “I probably wasn’t really in love with Bobby.”
“Good.” He nudged her. “Keep going.”
For the next hour, Eve shared the life she’d had so far. She told Jackson about her veterinary program, how hard she worked, and how she’d excelled. Whenever she came near anything to do with the attack, or the setbacks she’d had, she glossed over that. She took him all the way to her graduation, with honors, to coming back to Stone Ridge with no money and a pile of student debt, and later joining Annabeth’s practice.
“I should meet her.” He’d pulled Eve between his long legs and as she talked, from time to time he’d rest his chin in the crook of her shoulder.
“You will,” Eve said, leaving out the part where Annabeth didn’t think Eve had any business rekindling something with Jackson. “Annabeth loves country music. She’s from Austin.”
“Did you ever think of staying in College Station to work as a vet? Or any larger city?”
“No,” Eve said. “This is home.”
“I’m beginning to realize that.”
“Good, because we’ve missed—I’ve missed you.” Sitting up, she turned in the circle of his arms to face him.
“Yeah?” He grinned and his face took on a positively boyish look.
They were nearly nose to nose, so close they couldn’t tuck a breath between them. His mouth came crashing down on hers in a long, deep kiss that had her fisting his shirt, moaning softly. When his hand slipped under the skirt of her dress to glide up and down her leg, she let him. That seemed to heat things up and he groaned when he dipped a finger inside her panties and touched soft flesh. The delicious touch filled her with a sweet ache. She arched her back, wanting, needing so much more.
“God, Eve,” he breathed. “Baby.”
He covered her with hot, wet kisses. Up the column of her neck, his tongue darting in and out of the shell of her ear. But when he rolled on top of her, his big body pinning her, Eve froze. She hadn’t seen that coming, but he was so strong. So much bigger than her. She almost couldn’t move and her mind went to a dark place.
“What’s wrong?” He took some of his weight off her, pulling back to search her eyes.
“Nothing, I’m…” She fought for composure, worried she’d offend him. “I’m sorry.”
God, she was such a mess. After all that therapy, and all this time. Why couldn’t she just be normal again?
“Don’t be sorry,” Jackson said gently, bringing her hand up to his lips. “This is going too fast for you.”
“It’s not that I don’t want you. This. I want you. And I want to be ready.” Fingers on the pads of her eyelids, she pushed back the tears.
“But you’re not. That’s okay.” He brushed a kiss across her knuckles, then pulled her close. “Let’s just sit here for a few more minutes. If we don’t get back soon, Mima might just call the FBI.”
