Rugged Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,32
middle of the sidewalk, the Texas heat baking him, and waited for Jess to say something.
“What did she want?” she finally asked. “No, you know what? That’s not the question I want answered.”
Dallas swallowed, because he’d heard Jess talk in this clipped, irate tone before—when he’d delayed her before the wedding. She hadn’t been happy then, and she most definitely was not happy now.
“Are you over her, Dallas?”
“Yes,” he said, believing himself for the first time. If Jess had asked him that only an hour ago, he wouldn’t have known what to say. Maybe? I hope to be one day? No, not at all, because I’m still hoping we’ll make things work between us?
Any of those would’ve been true.
But now he knew she had another man in her life already. One who was supplying her with drugs and alcohol, and one who’d probably put her up to calling Dallas and asking him for money.
That was all Dallas had ever been good for when it came to Martha. Money.
Bitterness coated his mouth and throat, and while he’d felt the emotion before, it had never been this strong and this tinged with dislike.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he said again.
“Why did you call her sweetheart when you answered then?” Jess asked. “While you were on a date with me. A date you asked me to go on, Dallas.”
He thought for a moment. “Reaction,” he said. “Habit.”
“Really?” Her sarcasm wasn’t that hard to hear.
“Really,” he said, not wanting to fight about this. “Are you really back at the ranch already?”
“Yes.”
“How’d you get there?”
“I called Spencer,” she said.
Humiliation ran through Dallas, along with a healthy dose of frustration. “Spencer, huh?”
“Don’t say it like that,” she said.
“Like what?” Dallas challenged as he started toward his car. No reason to stand out in the heat if he didn’t need to wait for his date.
“I’m not seeing Spencer.”
“Yet he’s the first one you call to come get you. Why not Hannah? Or Jill? Emma? Ginger?” Anyone who wasn’t a male she’d been out with before. Someone she hadn’t kissed before.
“Jealousy is not a good look for you,” she said.
“You either,” he fired back, instantly regretting the words. His head still felt too hot as he sank into the driver’s seat, but he managed to say, “I’m sorry. Okay? I made a mistake and I’m sorry,” in a kind, normal voice.
He started the car and reached to turn off the radio. “Can I please come explain it to you in person?” He didn’t know what he’d do if she said no. Get his kids and go home, he guessed. He didn’t see Jess that much around the ranch. He could avoid her easily, especially once he moved out of that cabin.
“Jess?” he asked above the sound of the air conditioning blowing full-blast in the car.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll be in the stables.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said, and Dallas almost chuckled. Instead, he said goodbye and looked out the windshield at the ravioli restaurant where they’d eaten. They’d been about to order dessert when Martha’s call had come in, and Dallas sprang back out of his car and hurried inside.
“I need one of every dessert you have,” he said. “To go, please.”
Thirty minutes later, Dallas entered the stable, immediately wondering where Jess would be. He’d not spent much time here at all, something he needed to change. He did remember that she’d been working with a horse named Diamond Valley, because she’d gotten the horse to do what she was supposed to in a much quicker fashion than Jess had originally thought she would.
A cowboy walked toward him, and Dallas dang near tripped over his own feet when he recognized Spencer. The other man slowed and said, “You’re looking for Jess,” easily. “She’s out in the paddock with Diamond and Bumblebee.”
“The paddock?” Dallas asked, wondering what Jess had said to Spencer. The other man wasn’t looking at Dallas funny, nor did he seem like he’d found Jess in a bad state.
“Yeah, just go straight and back outside.” Spencer turned and pointed to the big double doors on the other side of the stable. “Then turn left and go all the way to the end of the building. You can’t miss ‘er.”
“Thanks.” Dallas got himself moving, hearing the other man’s footsteps recede in the other direction. He turned and looked over his shoulder to catch Spencer leaving the stables and turning toward the homestead. He seemed like a nice guy, and Dallas knew both Ted and Nate liked