Healing a Cowboy's Heart (Cowboy Dreamin' 2) (22 page)

He’d
stop somewhere along the way to get a dozen roses.
Hell
. He didn’t even know what flowers she liked, what her favorite
color was or anything. What about her family? Did she have siblings? Were her
parents still alive?

Doubts
began to surface. How could he love someone he knew so little about? Yeah, they
were good in bed together and they could learn more about each other over time,
but what really did they have to build a relationship on?

“She
loves Ben. There’s a start. It’s a hell of a lot more than Misha had and she
gave birth to him.” He sighed. “I’ll learn about her. We can spend the next two
days talkin’.”

Yeah right.

“Okay,
makin’ love and then talkin’.”

Before
he knew it he was on the interstate headed for Houston singing along with the
radio. His fingers tapped along with the beat while he wondered if she might
have the radio on in her car. What if he called the station and dedicated a
song to her? Would she hear it? Would she care?

He
grabbed his cell phone from the clip on his belt and dialed. Luck seemed to be
on his side when the DJ picked up.

“KJ
Country what can I do for you?”

“Listen,
man.
I need a huge favor. I’m
chasin
’
a girl down to tell her I love her and I want to see if you’ll play a song in
case she’s
listenin
’.”

“Sure,
man. How about I record you and we’ll get it over the airwaves in the next
fifteen minutes.”

“You
are fantastic.” He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth.
“Okay. I’m ready.”

“I’ll
do a little intro and then I’ll have you come on. What’s your name, dude?”

“Jeff
Young.”

“All
righty, Jeff.
Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Well
folks, we have a brokenhearted cowboy on the line wanting to dedicate a song to
one special lady friend. Are
ya
there, Jeff?”

“Yes,
sir.”

“Go
ahead, man.”

“I
want to send Cowboys and Angels out to Terri Kennedy. We had a bit of a
misunderstanding and she’s headed back home to Houston right now. Terri, baby,
I love you and I don’t care if I have to chase you across the map. I’m gonna
find you and tell you in person how much I love you.”

“Cool
man. I hope you catch her.”

“Thanks,
bro. You’re the best.”

They
clicked off the recording and the DJ came back on the line. “Thanks, Jeff. I
hope you catch your lady friend.”

“Oh,
I will sooner or later, but thanks for running the song for me. She’s my angel
and I can’t wait to hold her again.”

“Good
luck.”

“Thanks.”

Jeff
clicked off the phone and waited during the longest fifteen minutes of his life
for the song to come on.
Then what?

When
the DJ came on, he heard his voice as he held his breath.

Chapter
Thirteen

Tears
had long ago dried on her face during the drive toward home. She wouldn’t cry
anymore for him.
Damn him!
Falling in
love with him was the stupidest thing she could have done, but alas, it
happened and she would have to deal with it for the rest of her life. Maybe
someday she would find someone to take his place. Somehow she wasn’t so sure.

She
inhaled a sharp, weary sigh and reached over to turn on the radio. Maybe a
little music would help. “I hope they don’t play a bunch of sappy love songs. I
sure don’t need those right now.”

A
few songs later she found herself tapping her fingers on the steering wheel in rhythm
to Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy. It wasn’t a sappy song, but it still reminded
her of Jeff.

Will everything remind me of him?

“Probably
for a hell of a long time to come.”

“Hey,
folks.
I have a special request from a lonely cowboy. He’s
got a plea for a special lady. Take a listen and I hope she hears this. We
recorded this a few minutes ago.”

Terri
half listened as the DJ’s recording came on.

“Well,
folks, we have a brokenhearted cowboy on the line wanting to dedicate a song to
one special lady friend. Are
ya
there, Jeff?”

“Yes,
sir.”

“Go
ahead, man.”

“I
want to send Cowboys and Angels out to Terri Kennedy. We had a bit of a
misunderstanding and she’s headed back home to Houston right now. Terri, baby,
I love you and I don’t care if I have to chase you across the map. I’m gonna
find you and tell you in person how much I love you.”

“Cool
man. I hope you catch her.”

“Thanks,
bro. You’re the best.”

Her
heart pounded in her ears. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? Jeff
on the radio saying he loved her?

She
fumbled with her purse, trying to grab her cell phone without crashing her car.
When she checked her phonebook, she cussed under her breath. She didn’t have
his number!

The
DJ came back on. “Terri if you’re
listenin
’, darlin’,
give
me a call here at the station. I want to find out
what happens between you and Jeff. Of course, you can wait until you actually
hook up with him somewhere along the highway.” The guy rattled off the number
as he laughed and then moved onto something else.

Her
hands shook. She wasn’t sure what to do as she continued to drive along at
seventy miles an hour toward home. She couldn’t call him. She could call the
ranch and ask for his number.
Hmm
.
What should she do? Call the station and hope he was
still listening on his end of the radio dial? Should she wait until she got
home? No, she couldn’t do that. It would drive her nuts to wait that long.

She
quickly dialed the radio station.

“KJ
Country.”

“I’m
Terri Kennedy.”

“Well
hello, Terri Kennedy.”

“Is
this the DJ who talked to Jeff?”

“Yes,
ma’am.”

“I
can’t call him. I don’t have his number.”

“Where
are you, darlin’?”

“On
the interstate about an hour out of San Antonio.
Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure,
honey.”

She
glanced at the roadside sign as a plan formed in her head. “Get on the radio
and tell Jeff to meet me in the parking lot of the Quickie Mart off the
highway.” She rattled off the exit number to the DJ, thanked him and hung up,
then waited for him to come on the radio.

The
exit came into view and she pulled her car off the highway to wait.
God, this wait is gonna kill me for sure
.
If he just left San Antonio, it would be probably forty-five minutes before he
would get off the exit and they would know whether what he said came from the heart
or not.

The
DJ came on the radio again and put her message out there for all of San Antonio
to hear. She hoped Jeff heard it.
What if
he didn’t? What if he thought when I didn’t call that I don’t love him too or I
don’t care if he loves me? What about the trust thing? He probably still thinks
I’m working for the developers and out to ruin him and his family. The
financial information seemed to be a stickler for him, but all I wanted was
information to make sure they were secure enough financially to fight the
developers in court if need be.

Terri
sat in her car watching the off ramp for his beat up Chevy truck. The minutes
ticked off slower than molasses in June. Every few minutes, she cursed the slow
time.

Several
cars, trucks, and big rigs got off the exit, but no Jeff.

“What
the hell? Shouldn’t he be here by now?”

A
black dully pickup was the next one off the exit, coming at her like a bat out
of hell. It drove straight for her car, almost looking like the driver didn’t
plan to stop until he ran over the hood of her car.

The
driver stopped at her front bumper, but didn’t exit the truck.

Terri
held her breath.
Jeff doesn’t drive a
black truck.

Her
heart pounded in her ears as she waited.

The
door opened and a guy in a black Stetson stepped out.

Her
mouth went dry.

Jeff.

She
opened her door and rushed around the doorframe straight into his arms.

The
minute their lips met in a heart-melting kiss, a huge roar of applause erupted
around them.

They
broke apart long enough to see a hundred people surrounding them clapping and
cheering.

Heat
crawled up her neck and splashed across her cheeks in embarrassment.
Apparently, all these people heard them on the radio as they hollered
congratulations.

“Come
back to the ranch with me.”

“But…”

“But
what?
I’m
guessin
’ you heard me
on the radio.”

“I
did, but I want to hear it from you.”

“I
love you, Terri. You own my heart.” He cupped her face. “We can work out the
rest later.”

“The
rest?”

“Do
you love me?” he asked, fear clear in his gray eyes.

She
threw her arms around his neck and held on tight. “Yes.
God,
yes.
I love you with all my heart.”

“Good.
Everything will work itself out then.”

“I’m
not sure I know what you mean.”

He
kissed her eyes, both cheeks and then pressed a quick one to her lips. “A few
facts I realized I don’t know about you is all, darlin’. I know enough to know
I love you and want you in my life.”

“And
Ben?”

“He
loves you. He already asked me when I was gonna ask you to be his new momma.”

“I
would love to be his new momma.”

“We’ll
plan the rest later. Right now we need to find somewhere so I can love you like
I want to.”

“Why
don’t we wait until we get to my place? I have a great bed.”

“You’ll
move home with me?”

Trepidation
rushed through her. What if he still didn’t trust her? “What about the trust
thing?”

“Mom
told me what you did for me…for the family. I still don’t understand why you
needed the financial information, but finding the rare bird was priceless. I
would have loved to seen the developer’s face when you told him his land was
worthless to build on.”

“I
wanted to make sure your family was financially secure enough to fight them in
court if need be. It could still go to court, Jeff, but the wildlife resource
committee is on your side. The last thing they want is to have to try to
relocate a rare bird’s nesting ground for some home developers. The judge they
got to sign the order declaring it a wildlife refuge is fully onboard with the
whole thing. He knows the drill.”

“All
thanks to you.”

“There
are a few more things we need to talk about with your family’s property, Jeff.
I found a few other things that might be of interest.”

He
pressed his fingers to her lips.
“Later, darlin’.
Right now I want nothin’ more than to sink into your sweet heat and never come
out, but we certainly can’t do that here in the parking lot of the Quickie
Mart.”

A
giggle left her lips. “You’re right, but how am I supposed to drive home
knowing you’re behind me all hard and waiting?” She shifted her hips, brushing
her pelvis against his erection.
“All for me?”

He
hissed as a low growl left his lips. “You’ll pay for torturing me.”

“Oh,
I certainly hope so.”

* * * *

Terri
groaned as she rolled over and opened her eyes. Sunlight poured through the
blinds on her window. Jeff lay on his stomach next to her with his head buried
in the pillow, snoring softly. They didn’t go to sleep for a long time after
they reached her apartment. Loving a cowboy definitely had its perks.

The
tattoo on his shoulder blade caught her attention. She’d seen it before, but
the night he’d slept in her cabin, he’d been in such a rush to get out before
anyone saw him, she hadn’t had a chance to examine it closely.

The
dragon started on his shoulder blade and ended with its tail wrapped around his
upper arm like a tribal tattoo. It suited him to a T. Ben’s name graced the
arch of the dragon’s back. A tribute to the love this man had for his son. She
slowly traced the nose of the dragon with her finger, loving the feel of his
skin under her touch.

“You’re
gonna make me hard again, you know,” he said, without opening his eyes.