Shoulda Been A Cowboy (4 page)

“
Yeah.” Domini touched the spot and winced.
“Maybe.”

The fight didn't last long. The noise brought
staff running from the restaurant to break it up.

But not before Keely McKay beat the living crap out of
Margo. Margo's hair stuck up every which way. Her shirt was
ripped. Her mouth was bleeding. She'd curled into a ball on the
floor. And she was crying, not Keely.

Ramona had pinned Amanda's arms behind her back.
Some man separated them and immediately herded Ramona through the
wall of people between the two warring groups.

When Keely wobbled backward, her head smacked into
Domini's jaw and Domini sucked in a surprised breath. Holy crap
that hurt.

“
Sorry.”

“
Maybe you should sit.” Domini snagged a
napkin and handed it to Keely. “Your nose is bleeding.”

“
Thanks.” Keely half swayed, half fell to
the floor. She patted the open space. “First bar fight?”

“
Uh-huh.” Domini hunkered down next to her.

“
They get easier.” When Keely tried to
smile, she hissed in a breath and blood trickled out of her mouth.
“Damn. I'm getting to old for this shit.”

The room buzzed with confusion and excitement.

Ramona ambled over, a shit-eating grin on her face,
still looking as if she'd just stepped out of a western fashion
magazine. Not a wrinkle on her clothes, not an auburn curl out of
place. Her brown eyes sparkled with victory. “You okay, cuz?”

“
Never been better. You?”

“
Awesome. I've been wanting to do that
forever.”

“
Me too. Felt good. Damn good. And we're the
ones who owed
them
payback.”

At Domini's quizzical look, Keely explained, “This
rivalry has been going on forever. We didn't go to the same
school but we attended the same church. Summer church camp was
torture. Our moms forced us to go every year until we got kicked
out.”

“
You guys were kicked out of church camp?”

“
Yep.” Keely and Ramona high-fived each
other.

“
Fighting with them was totally worth whatever
time we spend in jail.”

Keely scowled at Ramona. “Jail? What the hell are
you talking about?”

“
You'll be goddamn lucky if hauling you to
jail is
all
I do to
you, little sis.”

Domini looked up.

An infuriated Cam loomed over them.

Chapter Two

“
I can explain,” Keely said.

Cam held up his hand. “Save it.”

“
But—”

“
Not another word, Keely West McKay, or so help me
God, I will cuff you
and
gag you.”

Ramona snickered.

He whirled on her. “Got something to say, Miz
West?”

“
Nope, cuz. Umm. I mean, no, sir, Deputy, sir.”
Ramona snapped to attention and mimed zipping her lip.

Chassie giggled.

Cam's gaze encompassed the motley crew of women,
who were trying very hard to look…sober. “Sweet Jesus.
Are you all drunk?”

“
Hey. It was a party. We're in a bar. You do
the math,” Keely responded with a loud hiccup.

Which sent them all into gales of laughter.

“
I'm not drunk,” India said.

AJ waggled her fingers. “I am.”

“
Me too.” Macie laughed. “Those cherry
bombs were the bomb, Keely.”

“
No kidding.” Channing swayed as she craned
her neck to look toward the bar. “Think we can have one more
for the road? To toast Keely's victory?”

“
No one is sucking down any more booze,” Cam
barked. He glared at Domini. “What about you?”

“
What about me?”

His gaze landed on a bump on Domini's jaw. Briefly
his focus jumped to her succulent mouth—
bad
idea
—and lust squeezed his balls. “Were
you in on this bar fight too?”

Those full pink lips flattened. Those aquamarine eyes
became chips of ice. “Never confuse being soft-spoken with
being weak-willed. I stand up for my friends. I don't run
away.”

A female chorus of
ooooh
rang out.

“
Fine. All of you stay here while I straighten
this out.” He tossed a quick look over his shoulder and dropped
his voice. “And off the record? Thanks a helluva lot. You think
I wanna call my brothers and tell them their wives got drunk and were
in a bar fight tonight? While I was on duty?”

Silence.

Then they descended on Cam like a pack of hyenas.

AJ drilled him in the chest with her finger. “FYI
Deputy McKay, I'm a big girl. And if I wanna get shitfaced,
I'll get shitfaced, so back off.”

“
Don't you dare call Carter in Canyon River,
or so help me, I will ban you for
life
from Dewey's,” Macie warned.

“
Yeah,” Channing chimed in. “If you
tattle to Colby before I have a chance to explain, I will call your
mother and suggest
weekly
instead of monthly McKay family dinners.”

Chassie swayed in front of him. “What they said.
Times two, 'cause I got two ornery guys to deal with.”

Domini just blinked those exquisite icy blue eyes at
him.

Damn women sticking together. It'd been easier
when Keely was the only woman in the family. Then the McKay boys
could band against her.

Right. Keely always had the upper hand, she knew it, and
she played it well. Now they were outnumbered.

Cam stalked off, but not before he heard another round
of high fives and drunken whoops of victory.

 

 

No one pressed charges, no surprise. It didn't
take long to assess the damages. He handed his sister a piece of
paper.

“
What's this?”

“
They're keeping your deposit for the party
and you've been banned from Twin Pines indefinitely.”

Keely shrugged and folded the paper. “The food
sucks here anyway. And if Margo and Amanda are regular customers?
Then their clientele sucks too.”

Cam took India aside. “Bein's you're
sober, can you get the rest of your sisters in drunken arms home?
Since I've been barred from calling their husbands to pick them
up?”

“
Sure. I'll take Chass too, since we're
neighbors.” India's gaze flicked between Cam and Domini.
“You'll make sure if Domini's walking home she gets
there all right?”

He snorted. “Domini ain't walking home.
She's riding with me when I drop Keely and Ginger off.”

“
Why?”

“
So I have witnesses I didn't kill my baby
sis and dump her body out in the boondocks for her latest stunt.”

India whistled, directing the women riding in her SUV to
the side door. She scorched Cam with a look. “Don't be
stupid, Cameron McKay. You've been fucking with her head long
enough. Either go for it, or let her go. But it's selfish to
try and have it both ways.” She didn't wait for a
response, but spun on her heel and left.

No explanation necessary. Only one woman had him tied up
in knots. His gaze automatically sought her out.

Domini was already staring at him.

He crooked his finger at her.

She sauntered over without delay. “Yes?”

Cam had a hard time breathing when she looked at him
like that. Like she'd do anything he asked her. Anything he
demanded of her. His gaze roamed over her pretty face, she could be a
princess with her regal looks: jutting cheekbones, a high forehead, a
thin nose and a delicate jaw. Pale skin, pale eyes, pale hair. Domini
should look washed out. She should blend into the background. But she
didn't—she was a beacon of light and beauty in the
darkness.

“
Cam? Can I go now?”

He refocused on her arctic blue eyes. “No. You're
riding with me.”

“
I can walk home. Unless there's a law
against that?”

God. Her voice alone could bring him to the edge of
ecstasy. The measured enunciation, accented with the sexy, husky hint
of her native tongue. Did she cry out in English when she came? Or in
Ukrainian?

“
Stop staring at me, Deputy.”

“
Not a chance. Come on.”

Keely and Ginger waited by the door.

“
Where's Ramona?”

“
She caught a ride from a friend.”

Outside, Cam opened the rear door of the patrol car.
“You two are in the back.”

Ginger climbed in without objection. Not his mouthy baby
sister. Her protest, “Hey! That's not f—” was
lost in the cab as Cam slammed the door.

Smiling, he shoved his key in the door lock on the
passenger's side. His belly jumped when Domini placed her hand
on his forearm.

“
I can open my own door.”

“
Not without a key you can't. It's
self-locking for security reasons.”

“
Oh.”

Cam glanced at the stubborn slant of her mouth. His gut
twisted seeing the bump on her jaw. Without thinking, he cupped her
neck, stroking his thumb across the swollen spot. “Next time,
stay out of the line of fire, princess.”

“
Is that a direct order, Deputy?”

“
Yes.” He lightly swept over the protrusion
again, just because he could. “I'm bossy. It's a
habit, I'm afraid.”

“
That's what I like about you. How easily
you take charge.”

He didn't look away even when his head screamed
retreat and his dick pulsed against his zipper.

Domini didn't look away either. “Does it
mean anything? You touching me like this?”

“
Like what?”

“
Like you don't want to stop.”

God help me, I don't want to stop
.

“
Do you want it to mean something, Domini?”

“
Yes.” Her lashes fluttered. “Maybe
it's liquid courage allowing me to say this, but do you know
how many times I've imagined the different ways you'd
touch me? Softly. Firmly. Sweetly. Roughly.”

Cam's heart beat a million times faster. He wanted
to pull her closer and devour her mouth. He wanted to trace her every
curve, with meticulous attention to every dip and hollow. He wanted
to see her elegant fingers mapping his body with equal curiosity.

Four loud smacks on the rear window brought him back to
reality. He reluctantly let his hand fall from her face and opened
Domini's door.

Ginger and Keely gabbed nonstop during the ride. Domini
didn't say a word, choosing to gaze out the window into the
darkness, her hands primly folded in her lap, the picture of
sweetness. Of innocence. Of perfection. Of total fucking hotness.

That's what I like about you. How easily you
take charge.

He half feared, half hoped she'd been telling the
truth.

“
Turn here,” Ginger said.

Ginger's one-level ranch house had a detached
garage off to one side and a wheelchair ramp running the perimeter.
The sight of that wheelchair ramp caused Cam's stump to twitch
and the word
never
to
echo in his head.

Keely said, “Hey. Isn't that Buck's
rig?”

“
What? Yes. But he's supposed to be camping
with Hayden.” Ginger yanked on the door handle. “Goddammit
let me out!”

“
Hang on.” Cam shifted his weight, getting
out of the vehicle with his bum leg was harder than climbing in. By
the time he'd opened the door, Buck met them in front of the
patrol car.

Ginger nearly plowed Buck over. “Where is he? What
happened?”

Buck set his hands on Ginger's shoulders. “Whoa
there, Red, settle down. Everything is fine. Hayden's stomach
was actin' up again, so we canned the campin' trip. No
biggie. I gave him some 7-Up and soda crackers. He's sleeping
in his room.”

“
Then why are you still here?”

“
Hayden was worried about you. He said you never
go out. He made a big ruckus about the
never
part of it.”

She muttered, “That little tattletale.”

“
Anyway, I promised him I'd wait until you
were home safely.” Buck glanced at the patrol car. “Maybe
you oughta tell me why my cousin is bringing you home in a cop car.”