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  When she turned around she was glad to see Jazzie was there rosining up her bow. She gave her a smile, then walked over to her. “Bout damned time, sugar,” she told her then took a long drink from the water bottle she had on a stool.

  “Was that because you’re interested in that kid, or because someone else was watching?” Jazzie asked her with a grin, but Jess saw the concern in her friend’s dark eyes.

  “Maybe both?” Jess said coyly, then told her best friend, “He’s messing with me sugar, and he deserves to be tortured. He’s been bumping and grinding that redhead just to punish me for rejecting him earlier. How’d you know he was here anyway?”

  “Travis told me what happened earlier, and I figured it out. I wanted the whole scoop, so that’s why I’m late,” Jazzie told her then huffed out a breath.

  Fear coursed through Jess and she asked, “You didn’t tell him did you?”

  Jazzie snorted then grinned, “Hell no, we have pinkie swear on that one, right?”

  “Damn right we do—and those are solemn,” Jess said then added, “Now help me punish the bastard. We’re going to finish this first set with Angel…let everyone know will you?”

  “You got it, girlfriend,” Jazzie said with a smug grin, “We moving to our regular set, until then?”

  “Yeah, let’s do this thing,” Jess said then walked to the mike again. They played for forty-five minutes or so, and the crowd was getting thicker. With the sun was going down, more people were dancing too. The cheap seats in front of the stage were filled except one spot, and when a tall good-looking guy with the prettiest green eyes she’d ever seen sat down and smiled up at her, she knew she’d found her ‘Angel’.

  When she finished the song they were playing, Jess raised her hand to let the band know this was the last song of the set, then turned around and grabbed her electric guitar and pulled the strap over her head.

  When the drum roll started, she strummed her fingers over the strings and made the guitar whine, then walked to the mike and latched her gaze onto the green-eyed cowboy before she started singing to him. Surprise flashed across his face, then he flushed and grinned, before shifting his position to put his elbow on the edge of the table and stretch out his long legs to watch.

  Jess ran her eyes over his body, then moved back up to meet his intent gaze and she winked. His eyes darkened and his smile widened, then she tapped her headset so the mike feed was there, then walked over to him and laid on the sexuality thicker than usual, as she sang the ending, “You’re my angel, come and take me all night…come and save me tonight.”

  When she finished, she nodded toward the back of the stage and mouthed, come see me to the cowboy, because there was no way he was going to hear her over the thunderous applause. She looked up at the crowd and her eyes were magnetically drawn to Wade Roberts. He was leaning against the same post where he had been when she’d first seen him a year ago. She couldn’t see his eyes to read his mood, but his clenched jaw, tense body and folded arms, told her she’d done a good job at the revenge game. So why didn’t she feel better then? Where was the victory that should be coursing through her. All she felt now was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  Feeling tears burning her eyes Jess spun on her heel to work her way off stage, then flipped on the canned music, so they could take a break.

  CHAPTER TWO

  When she walked outside of the tent and into the grass, the cowboy she’d sang to was waiting there for her with a smile on his face and two beers in his hand. He really was an angel, she thought, taking the beer he handed her. “That was spectacular, darlin’. You really had the crowd going,” he said then stuck his hand out to her, “Beau Bowman, brother of the anniversary girl.”

  Jess smiled at him then said, “Nice to meet you Beau…” then took his hand and stepped forward to put a kiss on his cheek, “And thank you for being a good sport and letting me sing to you.”

  “Honey, there was no sport about it…that was hot…you were amazing,” he told her in a deep rich voice, but didn’t make a move to pull her closer to him. She saw the heat in his gaze, but he seemed to be a gentleman on top of being damned good looking, and just plain nice. At least he wasn’t a bawdy cowboy who set her panties on fire.

  “Thanks, sugar…you want to dance a little? I have a few minutes, before our next set.”

  “I’d love to dance, Jess,” he told her then took her arm and led her back inside. They set their beers down on a table, then he pulled her onto the dance floor and started a two-step with her around the floor. She was moving backward and swallowed when she saw Wade still standing at the post, staring a hole through her. Now, who was branding whom, she thought, then dragged her gaze back to Beau.

  “So what do you do, Beau?” Jess asked with a smile, to make conversation, while they danced.

  He gave her a quirky half-grin and said ruefully, “I’m a Texas Ranger…visiting from Lubbock where I live.”

  “Wow…dangerous job,” she said distractedly then glanced back at the post and saw that Wade wasn’t there anymore. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  “It can be,” he agreed, then when she looked back up at him again, his eyes were curious and speculative, as he asked her with a quirk of his lips, “So, how long have you known Wade?”

  Jess’s throat closed up and she sucked in a breath, damned impressed at his observation skills, but scared shitless too, because she hoped nobody else noticed. “You must be really good at your job, darlin’,” she said in shock.

  “I’m very good,” he told her bluntly, with a twist of his lips. “But you were pretty obvious too…I think he got the point of whatever you were trying to say to him.”

  “I met him at the wedding…haven’t talked to him since,” she told him truthfully.

  He twirled her at a corner, then moved right back into rhythm, pushing them around the dance floor. “Looked to me like you more than met him, huh? Was he your ‘Angel‘ that night?” he asked her seriously and his eyes weren’t warm or friendly anymore.

  “I don’t do that a lot, Beau…please believe me,” she said in a choked voice. “I’m a pretty career-focused girl…don’t waste the time on distractions. But it was my birthday, and I was lonely…it’s my birthday again, but I don’t want a repeat performance, he didn’t like that,” she defended herself from what he must think of her.

  “So, he teased you with Katie Upton, and you paid him back, huh?”

  “Wow, you really are perceptive,” she said with a wide grin, and she felt his shoulders relax a little. “Please don’t think badly of me, and I’m sorry I used you.”

  “You can use me anytime, baby…just let me know the score first, I don’t like being blindsided,” he told her in a low sensual tone, then pulled her to the middle of the dance floor when a slow song came on. “One more, then I guess you have to go back to work?”

  “Yeah, one more…and thanks, Beau,” she said then leaned up and gave him a kiss on his lips and slid her arms around his neck. “You’re a real gentleman…don’t find those too often.”

  He pulled her against him, then growled, “Don’t push it, darlin’, my gentlemanly tendencies have their limits. You’re a beautiful woman, smart woman, and I’m a man who appreciates that.”

  “I’m going to look you up, Beau Bowman, if we ever play in Lubbock,” she said with a grin, then added, “I’d like to hear more about the limits of your gentlemanly tendencies.”

  “God, sugar, you keep that up, and you might not have to wait, until you wander into Lubbock…but don’t look me up unless you clean up your old business. I don’t like to play games,” he told her seriously and held her tight as they swayed together to the music. Jess nodded, then laid her head on his chest, and enjoyed being held by someone who didn’t send her system into mass confusion.

  He took her hand and walked her back around the stage and gave her a quick kiss, which unfortunately did absolutely nothing for her, then said, “Thanks for the dances.” With a squeeze of h
er hand, he walked back into the tent, her eyes following him all the way.

  “Damn,” she muttered wishing a guy like that was the one who set her on fire, instead of a rough-around-the-edges cowboy. She headed for the stairs, because she’d seen her band mates were already back up there when she’d passed the stage.

  A deep voice from behind stopped her in her tracks. “So, you were messing with me last year…using me?” Wade asked her shortly, then grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

  “We were using each other, Wade, and I sure didn’t hear you complaining,” she told him then jerked her shoulder from his grasp.

  “You said you don’t do the Angel bit often, but you lied…that’s your pick-up line for the cowboy of the night, right?” Wade said angrily then ran his eyes over her body and smirked like he was disgusted. “Thanks for the ride, Jess…good luck with Beau though, he’s not as hard up or dumb as I was,” Wade told her then turned and walked away, stalking toward the barn, not back to the party.

  “Wait just one fucking minute, cowboy!” she yelled after him, then took off across the pasture behind him. He didn’t stop, just increased his speed across the grass. Running in spiked heel boots wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had, she realized, when the pointy toe of her boot sank into a hole and her ankle rolled, sending a shock wave all the way up her leg. She screamed in pain then fell flat on her face, and gritted her teeth.

  Suddenly, someone turned her over on her back, then she looked up to see Wade leaning over her. “What the hell did you do? Pretty fucking stupid of you to be running across a pasture in heels,” he said nastily.

  Jess threw her arm across her eyes and moaned, then told him, “Just go get somebody and leave me the hell alone…” When he didn’t move, she raised her arm to look at him and said sharply, “Get a move on would you? I wouldn’t want to delay your rendezvous with the redhead. That’s what had your pants so on fire you didn’t stop when I yelled at you, right?”

  He snorted, then told her, “No—I’m just not inclined to stop when someone calls me a ‘fucking cowboy’.”

  “I didn’t call you that…I just called you cowboy,” she told him, then rubbed her wrist against her forehead and noticed the wig had shifted and was half off her head. With a yank, she pulled it off and tossed it away from her in disgust. The movement caused a sharp pain to shoot up her leg, and she gasped in pain, then rolled to her side and moaned. “Holy, shit…I hope I didn’t break my damned ankle, that’s all I need,” she said weakly and gritted her teeth, then begged him, “Take my boots off, please…I need to see if I can stand up.”

  “You don’t need to stand up,” he told her then put his arms under her legs and neck and lifted her into his arms. Automatically, her arms went around his neck to hold on so he didn’t drop her.

  “This isn’t necessary, Wade…Jazzie can drive the van out here and pick me up and take me to get an x-ray in Henrietta.” God, she couldn’t afford any more medical bills…she still had to pay for her hospital stay with Angel.

  “Let’s go see what it looks like first,” he told her then started walking toward the barn again.

  “But the break’s over…the band will wonder where I am…I’m sure Cassie and Luke will too,” she said with another moan. She wasn’t sure, but she thought her ankle was swelling fast, because the boot on her left foot was getting really tight.

  Wade kept walking across the pasture, until he got to a whitewashed door that looked like it lead to a bunkhouse off the barn. That was confirmed when he stepped inside, and she saw a long wooden table with benches on either side, and a cook stove in the kitchen. He didn’t stop there though, he carried her through a small living room, then turned down a hall, before he opened another door, and walked across the room to lay her on a double bed, then went back to flip on the light. He strode back over to the bed and sat beside her legs.

  “Which leg?” he asked.

  “Left,” she replied then moaned when he picked it up.

  He gently put her leg down, then asked with concern, “You sure you want me to try to get your boots off? They’re not the zip kind and it’ll probably hurt like hell.”

  “Please, or they’re gonna have to cut it off at the hospital, because it’ll be too swollen, and I can afford another pair of boots right now,” she told him and scooted up on the bed to lean against the headboard. “Just do it…it’ll be fine,” she told him then gritted her teeth.

  “Fuck the boots, Jess…I’ll buy you another pair,” he offered, but didn’t make a move to remove them. ‘You need to go to the hospital, sugar…I’ll get my truck,” he said then got up off the bed and she groaned as her foot jostled.

  “No! You don’t need to do that, just go get Jazzie, please,” she begged him.

  Wade stood there a minute with his hands on his hips, just looking at her, then he finally said, “No, I’m going to take you…I’ll stop by there on our way out to let everyone know what’s going on,” then he turned and walked out of the room.

  Because she couldn’t walk on her ankle, she didn’t have much choice but to go along with whatever he decided to do. With a frustrated sigh, she reached up and pulled the pins out of her sweaty, itchy hair and let down the bun she’d wound it up into to fit under the wig. She wouldn’t be doing that again, she thought…especially for an outdoor gig. Wearing that thing had made her feel like there was a bed of fire ants in her hair.

  Jess had made a lot of mistakes tonight, and the wig had only been a minor one. The others could have lasting repercussions, if she wasn’t careful…she couldn’t afford to be out of work, and if her ankle was broken, that’s exactly what was going to happen. People weren’t going to hire Hopalong Cassidy to sing at their events, or bars…the big ones anyway. She could probably get some smaller gigs, but those weren’t enough to pay the bills and the band too.

  Tonight she’d not only let down herself by getting hurt, she’d hurt everyone in her band, because if she couldn’t perform, they didn’t get paid. They’d have to find gigs with other bands. Even though they were all loyal to her, they had bills too, and she’d lose them to other bands.

  Wade walked back in the room, then picked her up again then carried her through the bunkhouse, and out the front door to his pick-up. After he put her on the seat, he stretched the seatbelt over her and buckled her in. She sucked in a sharp breath when his arm brushed over her breast and her nipple immediately peaked.

  He looked up at her with concern and asked, “Did I hurt you?”

  His cologne wafted up to her nostrils and teased her, and she inhaled sharply against the familiar pleasure that shot through her, overpowering the pain in her ankle. Jess straightened in the seat, then told him in a shaky voice, “No—I’m fine, thanks,” even though she wasn’t, her ankle felt like it was on fire and being squeezed by a boa constrictor in her boot.

  After studying her for a second, he pulled back and shut the door, then walked around and hopped into the driver’s seat. Wade cranked the truck, then drove through an open gate, then right up to the tent, where he put the truck in park, but left it running. “I’ll be right back,” he told her then slid out of the truck and shut his door.

  Jess looked up a second later, and Jazzie was flying out of the tent and running toward the truck, with Wade hot on her heels. She flung open the door and yelled, “What the hell happened, Jess? Oh, my god, do you think it’s broken?” she asked her voice trembling with tears, then she put her hand to Jess’s cheek and asked, “Are you okay, sugar?”

  Jess chuckled, in spite of the throbbing in her ankle, and answered her friend’s rapid fire questions in order, “My boot caught in a hole and I fell, yes, it’s probably broken, but I’ll be fine. Wade is taking me to the hospital.”