Lady Luck's Cowboy: A Contemporary Western Romance Read online

“I’ll call in a bit to find out what happened.” That, and she wanted him gone when she had an opportunity to talk to Jack. What if he showed up to get stuff out of his truck? She almost dropped her coffee mug and smiled awkwardly at Buddy who had noticed the bobble. Thankfully, she caught it at the last second.

  “Problems?”

  “Just busy, you know?” she said offhandedly, hoping he’d take the hint. Seeing his crestfallen expression, she knew he had. “I appreciate you bringing it here first, Buddy. Thank you again.”

  “Maybe you can thank me over dinner?” Damn! He just didn’t stop!

  “Beth is coming over tonight.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “I have to go to the grocery.”

  Charlie flinched. That sounded lame, even to her ears. Taking a deep breath, she smiled politely. “Buddy, look. I appreciate the work, but I don’t want to complicate things and I am just not ready. Please understand that.”

  “Just call me when you decide that you are ready.” The frustration was written all over his face. His dingy cheeks were ruddy in hue and his eyes looked hurt. Nodding politely, she couldn’t answer what she wanted to say which was “when Hell freezes over” or “over my dead body”.

  8

  Charlie called Jack the moment Buddy was in the tow truck and pulling out of the parking lot. There was no need for him to walk back in for some forgotten thing and overhear her talking sweet and making goo-goo eyes over the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Is Jack Seguin in?”

  “This is him. Is this AAA?” His voice made her struggle to hold back a purr as she heard a husky timbre through the receiver. Oh yes, sultry didn’t begin to describe his voice. Some people had bedroom eyes, but this man was born to talk to women.

  “No, it’s Charlie. From last night? Remember me?”

  “Hey! You didn’t answer my text back. I figured you were thinking it over. Is this your work number?”

  “Yes, I’ve got your truck.”

  “What? They were supposed to take it to a shop!”

  “They did. They took it to MY shop. I own Charlie’s Garage on the west side of town.”

  “Impressive.”

  “I like to think so,” she said with a proud grin. “Now, what was I supposed to be thinking over?”

  “Seeing a movie or having dinner with me sometime?”

  “I’d love to! Now, tell me what happened with your truck before I get around to checking it out. All the details, please.”

  “Well, I had just finished dancing with the most amazing woman I have ever met…” she heard him say in the phone and grinned. She could feel herself flushing with excitement and her heart pounding. “…and when I left, I got halfway home and noticed the temperature gauge turned red. I pulled over and saw that the coolant was full, so I thought maybe it was a glitch of a sensor. But the more I drove, it started making a noise and died on me. I didn’t drive it far.”

  “That gives me a starting point,” she said as she thought idly, tapping a pen on her cheek. “I like that: the most amazing woman, huh?”

  “She took my breath away when she gave me a kiss on the cheek.”

  “Still think I’m your Lady Luck if your truck is here?”

  “I’d bet on it. The truck wasn’t the only thing overheating last night.”

  “You’re insane,” she said, laughing and inordinately pleased with the enthusiasm in his voice. She liked how up front and candid he was, he seemed to be so very genuine.

  “So, dinner tonight or a movie?”

  “Let me see what’s going on with your truck first. I’m good with either.”

  “Same here.”

  “Well, one of us has to decide!” she said with a smile.

  “How about a little of both? When’s the last time you’ve been to the drive-in?”

  “Is it still open?”

  “It is! Once a month they show old movies and tonight is Romancing the Stone, unless you’d rather see a newer release. Then we could go tomorrow night.”

  “I love Romancing the Stone!”

  “Sounds good. I will pick you, uh, slight problem.”

  “Right. Your truck is here in my little clutches. How about I pick you up instead?” His chuckle curled her toes through the phone and made her almost giddy. “That sounds like a plan. Pick me up at seven?”

  “It’s a date.” Charlie scribbled down his address, hung up the phone and called Beth immediately. “I am sooooooo dumping you tonight for our Beer-thirty girls night and I hope you understand!” she rushed out.

  “It had better be for some hot, magical sex that rings the bells in town! Or maybe it’s a fancy bazillionaire with a brother that is looking for spry gal like me!”

  “Neither. Jack Seguin’s truck broke down. I have it and we are going to the drive-in for a date tonight!” she screeched excitedly. “Beth! He asked me out and I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Hell no, I don’t mind! But if there is hot, bell-ringin’ sex or he turns out to be the bazillionaire, I must have all the juicy details!” There was no one else in the world she would confide in other than Beth. She’d been her best friend forever!

  “If there is hot sex, which there won’t be, I will give you the details. I pinky swear it!”

  Charlie got to work taking a look at the truck. It had overheated all right! There was coolant sprayed everywhere underneath the hood. The water pump had stopped turning and if Jack was lucky, that would be it. A lot of times when a water pump went out, the engine would get so hot that it would blow a head gasket or cause other problems. The fact that it had died concerned her. She wouldn’t know until she got the new water pump on if the cylinder head was warped. This truck had two heads, which meant two head gaskets. It was double the work for her, which was good money, but she hated to have that be the case. Calling the small auto parts store nearby, she had them run her over a water pump and gasket. There was no reason to call Jack and tell him yet because if it wasn’t just a water pump, she’d rather break the bad news all at once.

  She went to set an alarm on her phone and was reminded that it was destroyed. Sighing, she instead picked up an egg timer and turned it all the way to sixty. Charlie was really bad about losing track of time and she wanted to make sure that she had plenty of time to get ready for her date tonight. She would make sure that she knocked his socks off and wanted a second date…because she already did! Grinning, she grabbed her tool cart and dragged it over to the front bumper.

  “Let’s get started,” she muttered aloud to herself and lifted the truck up to where she could easily access the dripping water pump from the ground. Several hours later, she glanced up at the clock to see what time it was. Not only had she ignored the egg timer, she had gone way over her allotted time. Flipping off all the lights, locking the doors and racing up the stairs, she got ready in a hurry.

  There would be no time for setting the curlers in her hair. Instead, she would just blow it out straight. Her nails would need to be painted a dark color to cover the oil stains underneath the tips that she didn’t have time to soak in acetone or brake cleaner. Rubbing scented lotion on, she realized that she couldn’t remember the last time she actually went on a date!

  Grabbing his address off the counter, she locked the front door behind her and hopped in the truck. She put his address on top of the visor carefully so as not to lose it. Getting back out, she grimaced at the floorboard that had the drive thru bags and napkins on it. Picking them all up in a hurry, she threw the debris in the dumpster. Her truck was old, but she refused to pick up Jack for their first date in a trashed out, old truck.

  Driving down the country road, Charlie wished heartily that she had her iPhone, so she could check Google Maps. She’d grown up in the area, but she didn’t remember seeing any homes out this way. Then again, she didn’t drive this county road often either. Finally, when she was about to give up, there was a small mailbox down the hill. Letting out her breath, she saw that it was his and flipped
on a turn signal. The dash indicator blinked quickly alerting her that the bulb had gone out. She rolled her eyes and crossed herself, hoping that was all that would happen tonight.

  The long gravel driveway led back to a ranch-style cabin. It looked to be fairly nice in the fading sunlight and she could see that there were lights on inside. Hoping that this was the right place, she dropped the visor down to double check the address. Flipping it up, she saw Jack standing on the front porch, waving at her.

  “Thanks for picking me up. You found it okay?” he asked easily as he opened the door to her truck. He looked better than she remembered – and she had only seen him yesterday. Snug Wrangler jeans, a plain button up shirt with a white, cotton T-shirt underneath looked nice on him and appropriate.

  “I was worried there for a second that I had missed it.”

  “I like my privacy out here.”

  “I’m sure serial killers do, too,” she teased and stopped. “I’m sorry. That was really the wrong thing to say at the beginning of our date. I’m nervous. Tell me you are, too.”

  “Honestly? If that was the wrong thing to say, how about I make it even? I’ll say the wrong thing, too: can I just hurry up and kiss you, so I can break the ice?” he asked with a nervous laugh, running his fingers through his hair.

  “Wanting to kiss me is the wrong thing?” she whispered nervously.

  “Not at all! I want to be a proper gentleman and impress you. We haven’t even left the driveway yet.” Jack grinned, and she saw that there was a faint flush on his cheeks, like he looked embarrassed. Gone was the suave cowboy and in its place was a small-town guy who liked a small-town girl. “I thought about kissing you from the second I saw you. I’m nervous as hell, Charlie. I don’t want to screw up our first date.”

  “Then maybe we should break the ice, like you said. My hands are shaking, and I have to drive,” she teased halfheartedly. Jack leaned over the truck and cupped his hand around her head. Charlie saw him swallow hard several times as he moved ever so slowly towards her. She shut her eyes and placed her hand down to steady her shaking body, only to realize it was on his blue jean thigh.

  “Oh!” she gasped, just a mere breath before his lips touched hers. Both gave a slight moan at the pleasure the contact created in each of them. Charlie could swear that kissing Jack was better than anything on the planet; sweeter, too. She felt his other hand come up and lay on her cheek to hold her still. It was truly unnecessary because there was no way she was moving. Someone would have to use a crowbar to pull her off of those delicious lips. As he deepened the kiss, she found her itchy fingers were clutching at his shirt and pulling herself closer. Jack pulled back and lay his cheek against hers, just breathing. Charlie felt like her heart was pounding with adrenaline and she was trying to catch her breath, too.

  “Damn, that was better than I dreamed,” he whispered softly in her ear that was near him. Charlie just smiled and nodded against his shoulder. “You are a helluva kisser.”

  “Consider the ice broken now?”

  “Baby, you shattered my world just now,” he laughed shakily, pulling away from her. “I think we better get out of here or we might miss the movie. But I am sure as hell kissing you goodnight later.”

  “Promises, promises,” she said with a grin and looked at his expressive face – and burst out laughing. Her red lipstick was smeared all over his mouth. His grin told her that it was the same for her. Fishing in her wallet, she grabbed a Wet-Nap packet and tore it open. Frowning, she realized she only had one. As if he could read her mind, he laughed.

  “I just kissed you thoroughly and you’re thinking of germs?”

  “No, I’m thinking that I can’t kiss you again because I am out of Wet-Naps.”

  “That’s a better answer!” he teased. She handed him the Wet-Nap. He got ready to wash his face and suddenly stopped, pulling out his phone.

  “I don’t think so, buddy!” she exclaimed, covering her lower face with her hands.

  “C’mon, be a sport. This might be a memory we want to look at years from now,” he admitted tenderly. “Our first kiss looked like a we’ve been eating crayons or became vampires.” He held up the phone and she saw that he was trying to frame the two of them in the camera. Her face looked worse than she imagined, causing her to grin widely – and she saw the lipstick on her teeth. Laughing aloud, he took the photo and hid the phone away.

  “Aren’t you going to let me see it?”

  “No, you might delete it. Let’s clean up the evidence,” he teased, wagging his eyebrows at her.

  “You first, Dracula,” she cried, sticking out her tongue. He scrubbed down his face and turned for her inspection. At her nod, he handed her the Wet-Nap for her own face. Cleaning it off, she fanned herself and yanked the ashtray open, instinctively going for her lipstick.

  “You keep it there?”

  “It’s a thing of mine,” she shrugged, embarrassed. “I love red lipstick, so I have it everywhere around my house and garage. I have to check my pockets before washing the clothes. It makes quite a mess if one of them ends up in the dryer.” Dialing up the well-worn stick, she applied it quickly and turned. “Better?”

  “Breathtaking.”

  Staring at each other for a moment, he grabbed her hand and held it. “Let’s go. I promised you a movie and dinner.” They drove silently down the road to the drive-in, where the movie had already started by the time they arrived. She was happy to see that during the movie he would turn and silently mouth the words to the song at her. This surprised her with the carefree personality he showed, and she like it. After the movie, they stopped for pizza. Both found that they liked thin crust supreme pizza with extra olives and Dr. Pepper. She had such an easy time with him and it felt “good” to be around him. The night was coming to a close and she sighed heavily on the way back to his house.

  “What’s that for?”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “That was an awfully big sigh for nothing.”

  “I just – well…”

  “You don’t want the night to be over either?”

  “No, I don’t. I’ve had a great time tonight.”

  “I have, too. It doesn’t have to be over,” he whispered softly, bringing her hand to his lips. “I would never push or ask it of you.”

  “It’s our first date,” she breathed, tempted by the thought alone. “I don’t want to ruin things or, or…or really, really ruin things!” she repeated emphatically.

  “Then how about that goodnight kiss and we’ll leave tonight at this: a fantastic beginning for us. Can I see you again soon? Like tomorrow?” he asked with a warm smile.

  “I’d like that very much.”

  “Good. Now about that kiss?”

  Charlotte leaned over to him and traced his lips slowly with her fingers. They had fascinated her from the moment she saw his smile. He pursed them and kissed her fingertip. She bit her lip as he held her hand still.

  “That tickles, little one.” The tender, wanton smile on Jack’s face was almost her undoing. “Charlie, I think I need to get out of the truck. If you kiss me right now, I promise you that I’ll be kissing you goodnight and good morning, too.” He then took the hand he held, pulled it to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

  “I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight.”

  Nodding in agreement, Charlie stared as he got out of the truck. Her face was alight with surprise, disbelief and enchantment for the man Jack turned out to be. His tight jeans hid little from her eyes and she could tell that he was interested. He had exited the truck for her benefit alone. Clenching the steering wheel, she ground her teeth at the fierce longing she felt right now watching him walk up the driveway to the cabin. Throwing the truck into reverse, she began to back out against her will.

  Was it possible to fall in love that fast?

  9

  “Spill it! Before I get upset that you didn’t call me last night!” Beth threatened, shaking her Starbucks cup towards where Charlie sat totaling t
he order on Jack’s truck repair. She had been up most of the night, utterly beside herself thinking of that single kiss and where it could have gone. She regretted leaving his driveway and felt ashamed that she was that loose with a man, that she could even consider just throwing out her virginity for a night of pleasure. She had not been interested in so long. Now, some sexy rodeo cowboy swaggers into her life and knocks it all upside down?

  “Did ya bang him till your teeth shook in your head like a set of maracas?”

  “What? NO! Geez! Who do you think I am? I don’t go ‘banging’ men on the first date,” Charlie repeated, using imaginary quotes in the air to get her point across. “Or any man that comes knocking.”

  “Well I knoooooow that, silly. Buddy is here all the time sniffing after you and you have yet to bang him.”

  “I think I’m gonna be sick. Those two words: Buddy and bang – do not belong in the same sentence in this house.” She put her hand over her stomach and forehead for dramatic effect.

  “I guess that’d answer my question with a big, fat NO. Either that or your man was a lousy lay. If you have sex and you are grumpy the next day, then something is seriously wrong in the sheets! Could he not find the little pearl in your downstairs oyster? Little man in the canoe gone? Was the bean not worked over properly?”

  “You are vulgar, I swear!”

  “No, I’m honest. You are thirty years old. You have your own business and you are a strong woman. This isn’t the Middle Ages where if you sleep with someone you are ruined. Heck no! Try him on for size and see if he is compatible. The fire might be there but if your cowboy can’t ring your bell, it might be time to look for another musician. Ya get me?”

  “Crudely effective descriptions, and yes. I understand. Village bicycle lifestyle?”

  “It’s one man, honey! That does not make you the village bicycle in the slightest. It makes you a cranky, horny virgin when you don’t get any nookie in your cookie. Geez, you’re in a foul mood today.”