The Hard-to-Get Cowboy. Crystal Green

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СКАЧАТЬ if there was one thing Jackson was, it was a sucker for a woman, especially one who seemed embarrassed that her big night had been shot to hell by an unexpected profession of devotion.

      He was pretty sure that someone like Laila was used to men falling all over her, although not in such a mortifyingly public way.

      And he wasn’t about to be like the other guys.

      At present, as Laila sat there looking as uncomfortable as all get out once again, Jackson could tell she was in another tight spot, that here was a woman who was just about telepathically asking anyone in the room to interrupt the conversation she was having.

      Now it wasn’t as if Jackson would’ve done what he did next if Laila hadn’t been providing a clear opening for him. If she was having a grand old time with her date, he would’ve stayed a mile away from her.

      But being the woman-loving sucker he was, he turned from the bar, getting an even better look at her. His heartbeat picked up.

      She was dressed as if she’d just come from work, in a stylish dark gray pinstriped suit, and her wavy mass of blond hair—shiny and silky enough to make his fingers itch to touch it—was swept up in a style that left some strands framing her face.

      And…that face.

      It belonged to a beauty queen, all right. High cheekbones, full red lips, long black lashes, delicate eyebrows and all.

      Now it was more than his heart that was thudding.

      To rescue her again or not to rescue her?

      There wasn’t much of a choice, and he left his whiskey glass at the bar as he crossed the floor.

      She seemed to know he was coming before he even got there, and that did something to him—riled him up inside, stretched a string of lit firecrackers through him.

      “Well,” he said as she parted her lips, as if to utter something before he beat her to it. “If it isn’t my bride-to-be.”

      Okay, there it was. If she gave any indication that he was intruding, he would go.

      He even gave her another chance to shoo him off. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything—”

      Cade and Laila spoke at the same time.

      “You are,” the man said.

      “You’re not,” she said.

      Jackson had sure called it correctly. And when Laila nudged a chair away from the table with her foot, she only emphasized the point.

      Had Cade proposed again to this woman who’d announced to the whole town that she Never. Wanted. To. Get. Married?

      Was that why she looked like a deer caught in the headlights?

      Cade had seen her pushing out the chair, too, but Jackson only tipped his hat to them both, then took a seat, signaling to a waitress who came right over, all smiles.

      “What can I do you for?” she asked.

      “A round of beers,” Jackson said. “On my tab.”

      When she scuttled off, she left a view of the bar, and Jackson couldn’t help but notice that many a male gaze was turned his way, obviously envious that he was sitting at Laila’s table. One man in particular—a cowboy with a chunky silver belt buckle and a mustache—watched Jackson for a moment too long before looking away.

      Cade’s voice rumbled. “Not tonight, Traub.”

      Jackson was checking in with Laila, whose smile was forced, even though it seemed to be asking him to stay, no matter what.

      Sure enough.

      When Jackson faced Cade, the man seemed likely to wring his neck, if the sight of his bunched fists on the tabletop meant anything.

      Time for some peace talk. “Just introducing myself around town.” He stuck out his hand for a shake. “You can call me Jackson.”

      “I know who you are.” Cade shot Laila a glance, and if it could speak, it would’ve said, You gonna do anything to get him out of here or should I?

      But when Laila only took a sip of the lemonade that had been waiting in front of her all this time, Cade stood, got out his wallet, then tossed some bills on the table.

      When he spoke, it was to Laila, and it was far quieter than Jackson expected.

      “Just think about what I said.”

      Then he was gone, leaving only the background murmur of bar discussion over the strains of Merle Haggard on the jukebox.

      The waitress came with the beers, and Jackson decided that if Cade wouldn’t be around to drink his, he would gladly do the honors.

      He didn’t make anything out of the sassy smile that the waitress gave him, instead taking a swig of his drink, then leaning back in his chair and grinning at Laila.

      There was a little beauty mark near the tip of her mouth, and he wished she would smile, just as prettily as she had on that stage last week. But he was out of luck. She only traced a pattern on the table from the condensation that had dropped down from the lemonade mug.

      “Was I in the wrong when I sat down here?” Jackson asked.

      “No, you weren’t. Thank you. It was one of those discussions. You know—the kind that you don’t want to have in the middle of a bar?”

      “Glad to have been of assistance.”

      She sighed, still tracing pictures on the table. Jackson couldn’t make hide nor hair of what she was drawing.

      “If he puts the moves on you again,” he said, meaning to cheer her up, “you just give a holler. He’s big, but I can take him.”

      There it was—a wisp of a smile now.

      “Truly,” he added. “I know how to dodge and weave. Also, I’ve got a twin back home who’s always willing to stand up for a lady, too.”

      “Good heavens—there’s more than one of you?”

      He chuckled. “I’m afraid so.” Getting even more comfortable, he propped his booted ankle just above his knee. “But Jason’s far less reckless. That’s what everyone says, anyway.”

      “I’d heard you’re a rebel, even before you showed up at the pageant to cause mischief.”

      He took that in stride. “Heard from who?”

      She had a flush on her cheeks, and it looked so sweet that Jackson’s veins tangled.

      “I’d heard,” she said, “just in general. Thunder Canyon’s a small town, so gossip travels.”

      “I know. That’s why I proposed to you, Miss Laila—because I’d heard you were the perfect woman for me.”

      Her gaze widened.

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