Bad Boy Rancher’s Baby by GiGi Reine
Chapter Two
Wade
faster than I could spit, and I was not happy about what was coming on Friday. Determined to block it out of my mind until I woke up in the morning, I headed over to Diamond Jim’s Roadhouse Bar to grab a drink.
I noticed her the second she came in, looking like a big city princess with her dangling earrings grazing her shoulders and her overly made-up eyes. Still, I could tell she was beautiful behind all that mess, so I watched her for a while. She looked like royalty, and you could tell she wasn’t from Dumas.
She walked up to the bar and surprised me when she ordered a beer. Intrigued, I kept my eyes on her as I sat and pretended to listen to my good friend Harry tell me about how Amanda broke up with him last Friday night.
“I hear you Harry, it’s a tragedy, but you two have been doing this for years. Why don’t you just marry the girl, so she’ll calm down? I guarantee half her issue is that she feels like she’s been dating you for a lifetime, with nothing to show for it. Women want marriage, and that’s the way it is, at least around here.”
My eyes never left her even as I spoke. With her beautiful blonde hair slipping past her shoulders and crystal blue eyes a man could easily get lost in, she was a beauty. Yet, she somehow seemed familiar.
“Seems to me you don’t know anything about women, considering you’ve been staring at that beauty queen at the other end of the bar for ten minutes now. Why don’t you just go over and talk to her? Women like a little conversation before they get married after all,” Harry laughed.
I ignored Harry, sipped the last of my beer and watched as the local bad boy Andrew saddled up on the chair next to her with a grin. I couldn’t hear what Andrew said, but when he ran his hand along her cheek, it hit a nerve with me.
I jumped into action and made my way over, prepared to defend the lady, if need be, considering Andrew had a reputation with the local women for being disrespectful and pushy. I moved in from the left side of her and she looked my way with a slight smile, then proceeded to ignore me.
Andrew was starting to put the moves on her. “So, I was wondering if you’d want to get out of here, beautiful. I haven’t seen you around these parts, and I thought you might like to go for a ride with me. I can show you everything there is to see in this town.”
I grabbed another beer from the bartender. “The only thing you’re going to be showing this pretty lady is how to fall on your face when I knock you out. Now, I suggest you move along over there to Lucy, she might be more receptive to your advances. It doesn’t look like this lady is interested.”
I made sure to shoot Andrew a murderous glare. We have tangled, and even had a few fist fights before, and he knew better. I held his gaze, not allowing any words to be spoken over the woman’s petite figure, as both of us men towered over her.
Finally, Andrew took the hint. “Well, little lady, I suppose if you’re not interested in me, I should be going. Maybe another time, after you’ve settled in. I’m sure we will meet again, and I can assure you, I am the best tour guide in town.”
The woman feigned a smile, her beautiful pink lips almost mocking the man as he walked away. She looked up at me and smiled, more genuinely this time.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you to stay away from bad boys like Andrew? I’m glad I could oblige you.”
“Thank you for that kind, sir, my name is Dee. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said as she extended her hand.
I didn’t know whether I should make a formal bow over the top of it, kiss it, or shake it. I took the Texas route and shook her delicate hand gently with a smile.
“Wade,” I introduced myself.
“Wade what?”
Her blue eyes sparkled at me. I was so lost in her eyes; I didn’t even state my own last name.
“Just Wade. Can I buy you the next drink? You look like you're almost done.”
“I am, and that would be great, thank you.”
“Please forgive me for saying so ma’am, but you are the most beautiful woman in this bar tonight, so much so that you seem out of place, all dressed up like that. Are you from out of town? If you don’t mind me asking?”
She smiled again, her beautiful lips slightly parted in such an inviting way that I felt the urge to kiss her.
“You could say I’m from out of town. Chicago, to be exact, but enough about me. Tell me about you. You seem familiar somehow, but it could just be that alluring cowboy attitude you have going on.”
She turned in the bar stool to face me, and her bare leg brushed up against mine. I very much wanted to rest my hand atop it and feel how soft her skin was. It looked smooth and delicate. Indecent thoughts crept into my mind.
As I glanced over her shoulder at my buddy Harry, the man had the guts to salute me with his beer. Smiling, I knew it was time to turn on the charm.
“So, what’s a gorgeous city girl like you doing in these parts of Texas?”
“Business, and I’ll leave it at that. Just business, for a while anyway, but maybe if I get to have a little fun while I’m here, it won’t be such a chore.”
She winked at me, reached out and touched my five o’clock shadow, “Damn your stubble is sexy as hell. Chicago men got nothing on you. Tall, dark, handsome, muscles everywhere, and hands that I’d love to have all over me.”
I laughed, “You know, I’m starting to think you’re not my type, princess. All this flirting you’re doing might get you into trouble.”
I’m a traditional man, a provincial man even, who knew it was one thing for a woman to bat her eyelashes and flirt a little when a man approached, but it was another thing entirely for her to flirt in such a blatant and bold manner.
Her forwardness irritated me some. I could only imagine the business she had in town had gone to her head. I was searching for a way to bow out, regretting ever going over to her.
“You know, around here, men tend to be the ones who flirt and pick up women. The women are a little more reserved.”
“Well, even if that was a rule I would be interested in abiding by, haven’t you already made the first move?” Dee thrust her hand into my pocket and started fishing around. “Let me put my number in your phone, cowboy.”
I stopped her quickly by grabbing her wrist and holding it firmly, but not so hard as to hurt her. Her blue eyes turned murderous then, and I could do nothing but laugh.
“I came over here to protect your honor against a man that wanted nothing more than to bed you. I’m glad I did too, since you’re clearly drunk and don’t know how to behave yourself.”
Gently, he flicked her hand aside and walked away, back to Harry.
“What happened? Did you strike out?”
“No. The woman has no self-control. She is a real beauty but she seems to be struggling with her self-worth or something. Maybe she just had a bad breakup and is looking to lick her wounds but she needs to be careful or she will end up with a bad guy.
I sat down beside Harry and refused to look in her direction.
“Okay Wade, but for one night with her, I think I could ignore that. Besides, she looks familiar, doesn’t she?”
“I thought so too, but she said she’s from Chicago, here on business. Wish them city folks would stop infecting Texas. Do you want to shoot some pool?” I said, irritated.
Despite my frustration with her, I found myself watching her throughout the night. She talked to a few other people, a couple women and a few men, who seemed to enjoy her company, but I chalked that up to whatever her business was in town.
She surprised me when things died down and she approached me while I was practicing my pool game.
“Want to shoot a game with me?”
She leaned her hip against the pool table, her gorgeous, shapely body calling out to me through the red dress she wore.
Still annoyed, but determined to teach her a lesson, since I’m good at pool, I stood up and smiled. I had a few beers, and the worry about tomorrow morning was long gone.
“Sure. If I win, I will take you back to my place, no questions asked. If you win, you can have whatever you want.”
I was playing with fire, but Harry’s words rang in my head the whole time I watched her at the bar. Maybe spending a night with a sexy woman, regardless of her moral code, would be good for me, to help recharge the old batteries before I deal with business tomorrow morning.
Maybe, if I’m lucky, I could scare Ms. Richards away by having a naked woman answer the door. I smiled at that thought and shook her hand.
“Okay, but If I win, the same, except I get to choose the place.”
She smiled wickedly, and something inside me awoke. My muscles tingled, and I was rigid everywhere. Excited by her boldly competitive challenge, I felt the alpha male in me rising to the occasion.
I tipped my hat to her. “Done deal. Rack ‘em.”
I stepped back and watched her rack the cue balls like an expert. She chose one of the best pool sticks in the house, and I broke them with the loud thwack of the cue ball knocking two solids into the pockets.
“Your turn, princess.”
She smiled dazzlingly, took my Stetson cowboy hat, and placed it on her head. Then she leaned over the pool table with me right in the line of sight to see her cleavage.
“Whatever you say, Wade.”
The next thing I knew, she had almost cleared the table, knocking in all but one striped ball and the eight ball. Shocked beyond words, I managed to sink two solid balls before missing my chance to hit the third in the corner pocket.
After that, the game was over. She sank the last striped ball and the eight ball in the pocket of her choosing. I was dumbfounded, stunned beyond words, but I quickly recovered myself with a polite smile.
“Well apparently, you got something to back up that attitude of yours, considering I’m the best pool player in town.”
I could hear Harry laughing behind me.
“Well, I’m a damn good pool player myself, and maybe you should have thought of that before you made that fool's bet. But, a bet is a bet anywhere you go, so let’s get out of here.”
Her perfumed figure swished past me smoothly, and I had no choice but to turn and follow. Harry’s continued laughter was the last thing I heard above the music as we exited the bar.
I got over the loss quickly. I was a little bit too relaxed from the beer and knew I might not be making the right decision, but I went with it anyway, hungry to know the taste of her sassy lips.
“So, princess, where are we going? Considering you don’t know this area, you might want to tell me where you want me to take you.”
She turned on me, her blue eyes impossibly fierce.
“Where is your car?”
“Lady you are in Texas now. Men drive trucks. And no, you’re not driving.” I retrieved my Stetson cowboy hat from her head and placed it back on mine.
I stepped ahead of her, deciding I would need to be more commanding and direct with this woman if we were going to have some fun.
“You know, I had every intention of letting you off the hook if you lost. You sure you want to go through with this?”