Why not Wyoming? (Wyoming Wilds Series Book 1) (6 page)

CJ ran his thumb over the diamond-encrusted platinum band that
just fit on the end of his pinky. Tyler had warned him not to lose the damn
thing. It’d cost ten thousand dollars. Between it and the Tiffany rock he’d put
on her finger to pop the question, Tyler had spent as much as CJ had on the kit
for his house. The thought made him queasy. Annie and Crystal were close. He
couldn’t compete with that. Would Annie expect him to? Even the ten grand made
him cringe. It was something to think about. His mortgage was the only debt he
carried. He refocused on the pastor’s words. As much as he liked it that way,
Annie would be worth it.       

Snow fell in the background as the newlyweds glided around
the dance floor. The ceremony had been just what Crystal wanted. They would
have enough perfect pictures to wallpaper their new home. Tyler had known what
he was doing when he’d insisted on prime rib for their wedding dinner. Divine.
Now with the food cleared, the cake cut and the champagne flowing, everyone
could relax.       

Fighting the urge to find somewhere to hide, Annie instead
settled in a vacant seating area over by the windows. Pulling her wrap around
her bare shoulders, she found herself missing the bridal party onesies. Chiffon
wasn’t going to keep her warm, even with sparkles.

“Cold?”

Annie looked up into a boyish smile and an offered tux jacket.

“My hero,” she said, standing to let CJ drape it over her
shoulders. She hummed happily and snuggled her nose down into the body warmed
material for a moment. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

He sat down across from her, his intense eyes raking over her
and his forehead lined in a frown. Annie glanced down self-consciously, trying
to decipher what was bothering him.

“Are you okay?”

Her head jerked back up and tilted in question. “Um, yeah.
Why?”

“After that bullshit with your aunt this morning—”

Annie waved him off before he could finish. “She was just
stressed and freaking. I’m fine.”

“Stressed didn’t give her the right to talk to you like that.”

She started to wave it off again, but the look on CJ’s face
gave her pause. He cared. Really cared. She fiddled with a jacket button and
finally nodded.

“You’re right. It pissed me off and made me feel about two feet
tall.” She shrugged. “She apologized for yelling at me. Crys apologized again
for her later. I don’t think either one of them gets that it wasn’t the
yelling. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to stay angry.”

“Ignorance isn’t an excuse.”

“You’re right again,” she agreed with a nod. “But sometimes
it’s not worth the fight, and in this case, there’s only one thing that she
said that is important. It’s Crystal’s day. I don’t want her to look back on
this weekend and remember family squabbles. It’s not worth it to me. I want her
happy.”

“She’s lucky to have you in her corner.”  

“Thank you. I think so too.”

CJ laughed.

“I know, right? All this and modest too,” Annie said, waving a
dramatic hand at herself.

“Nothing like a woman with a healthy, and accurate, sense of
self-worth. That trait probably had a lot to do with you having the guts to follow
your dreams.”

“I think a desire to hole up and hide from the world was right
up there in the decision-making process.”

“Were you always an introvert?”

“I don’t know. I have my own way of thinking about things. It’s
never bothered me to be alone. My dad described it as marching to my own drum.
It seemed to get stronger as I got older. I always had friends in school. They just
all sort of went their own way after we graduated, which I guess is normal. A
lot of people didn’t know what to say to me after my parents died. I was
suddenly in a different place in life than they were.”

“You had to grow up.”

“Pretty much.”

“What about now?”

“Now, my focus is on writing. If you think about it, most
people our age make friends at work, the gym, or at a club. I work alone. My
building has a gym I never use, and I’m not much of a party girl. I make a
pitcher of margaritas every now and then when Crys comes over, and the rest of the
time caffeine is my drug of choice.”

CJ nodded slowly like he was thinking about what she’d said. He
leaned back in his chair.

“Damn. You’re right.”

Annie nodded with a little shrug.

“There are plenty of people I’m friendly with in the community
that I know from school, or just from living here my whole life, but most of my
guide clientele are from out of state. I don’t belong to a gym. When I do go
out to the bar, it’s with the same guys. All three of them go back to
elementary days. Other than you, I haven’t made a new friend since third
grade,” he said.

His words wrapped around her heart. As attracted to CJ as she
was, she liked him too. He was so easy to talk to.

“Thank you for letting me in. I’m honored. I hope the rest of
the gang will like me.”

He looked surprised but nodded. “I think they will.”

Flustered, Annie fussed with the button. The rental shop was
going to need to stitch it when CJ returned the tux. Maybe she’d overstepped
there. She hadn’t even committed to staying past the wedding and she was
wanting to meet his friends? Slow down girl. How could this be so easy and so
hard at the same time? It had been four days. Why did it feel like so much
longer and why was her traitorous heart thinking about forever?

The wedding planner hurried past, giving them both a
disapproving frown. Annie flipped her off under the lapels of CJ’s jacket.

“I’m so glad I’m never getting married,” she muttered. 

“What?”

Annie jumped at the sharpness of CJ’s voice. She hadn’t even
meant for anyone to hear that. Blushing a little, she looked around.  

“Sorry. It’s just after this weekend I think I’ve had my fill
of the wedding experience.”

“I guess I can see that.”

“And that bitch was a big part of the problem.”  

“Amen. If I’d been the groom, the wedding planner’s body
wouldn’t have been found until spring,” CJ grumbled.

“Do you have wolves? Maybe we’d get lucky.”

“We get a few, but they don’t usually last long. They go after
the sheep and ranchers or the DNR take them out.”

“Bears?”

“Black bears. Some of the males can get territorial.”

“There’s our plan. Pitch the bitch out in the snow and pray for
over protective bears.”

CJ chuckled and shook his head, but he didn’t look opposed to
the idea.

“Look at her. She’s checking her tablet again. I swear if she
heads toward Crys with a weather update, I’m taking her out.”

“I heard her say everyone is getting to the airport tomorrow if
she has to shovel a path. Think we could suggest she get started now?”

Annie looked back at the softly falling snow.

“Do you think they’re going to make it?”

He nodded. “I think so. I talked to my buddy that works for the
county and he said as long as the weather holds, they’ll have the roads out of
here passable.”

“Did you bribe him to get us out of here?”

“Not all of you.”

Annie hid a shy smile at the not so subtle hint. He had no idea
how much she wanted to stay. She hadn’t said anything to her family, but she
had no intention of being on a plane with any of them. Not only was that
thought repugnant right now, but she really did want to see where things could
go with CJ. It might not be the easiest on the bank account, but it was the
only shot she had. She couldn’t see trying to make a relationship work from
thirteen hundred miles away on what little time they’d had.

“About that,” she said softly.    

Digging through the battered backpack she used as a carry-on,
Annie finally located her wallet in the bottom. Of course. She squeezed the
leather clutch. Her body was practically vibrating with excitement and no small
part nerves. The lodge crew had done an amazing job of clearing the snow out to
the main road, and the county had done their part. So, after breakfast, they’d
loaded up an eighteen-passenger van, two Suburbans, and after tucking the last guest
and bit of luggage away in CJ’s jeep, the crazy train had headed for the
airport. All joking aside, Annie thought the mass exodus was met with some
sense of relief by the Barrett’s and their staff.

On the other hand, her announcement at breakfast that she was staying
had been met with mixed reactions by her family. Though she knew they meant
well, she’d had the childish urge to scream at the righteous naysayers ‘You’re
not the boss of me!’ Out of a stronger desire not to look like an ass in front
of CJ’s side of the family, she’d refrained from that or from reminding them
that she was a ‘grown ass woman.’ In the end, her uncle had actually come to
her rescue by pointing out that she was being fiscally responsible turning this
into a vacation with the airfare already covered. She sighed. Right, because
all decisions were based on the almighty dollar.

She slid a shiny Visa out from behind insurance cards and
tapped it uncertainly with her fingernail. Speaking of money, she needed to get
arrangements out of the way so she could start enjoying her vacation. As a rule,
she paid for everything with her debit card figuring that if she had to
transfer funds from savings it forced her to stop and think about the purchase.
A week at a hundred and forty-seven dollars a night was—Annie hesitated,
frowned, and rounded up, uh … roughly a thousand and fifty bucks. God, she
hated math. She shook her head to clear the annoying numbers. It was just best
to use the credit card and worry about paying it off when she got home. Unlike
the rest of the family, the almighty dollar gave her a headache.

Downstairs proved to be no different. Why did money matters have
to be difficult?

“Your room is paid in full for the next week.”

At least this was a good problem as problems went. Annie craned
her neck, trying to look at the computer screen the girl was getting her
information from. If this was CJ’s doing, she couldn’t accept. The plastic card
tapped loudly against the counter as she slowly turned it in her fingers.

“I think there’s been a mistake. As a member of the wedding
party, my room should have been paid for through last night by the bride and
groom or their parents. Whoever, and however, that was handled. Now, I need to
give you my personal credit card information for the next week,” she tried to
explain.

“I do see that your room’s account was cleared this morning,
and then this reservation was made for the next seven days. Ellie, Mrs.
Barrett, entered the transaction and gave you a discounted rate. If you could
give me just a moment, I will be happy to check with her and clear this up for
you.”   

“Is there a problem, Carley?”

Annie was relieved to see Carley relax at her boss’s question
instead of tense. She didn’t want to cause the girl any problems but did want
this taken care of before CJ got back.

“Miss Brand is going to be staying with us for another week but
when I went to enter her reservation, I found we already have one for her. The
last four of the credit card on file don’t match Miss Brand’s.”

Ellie Barrett turned her smile on Annie. CJ had his mom’s
dimples.

“Sorry for the confusion, hon. Your aunt took care of it before
she left. She wanted to thank you for everything you did for Crystal. I tried
to tell her that you were staying on as CJ’s guest, that there was no charge, but
she wouldn’t hear of it.”

“I wouldn’t have either,” Annie said, smiling back at the woman.
“But thank you. That’s really sweet. You’ve done enough already with hosting the
wedding.”

“We were honored Ty wanted to get married up here. Anything for
family and, like it or not, we’re family of sorts now so I slipped the friends
and family discount on there. You and your aunt will just have to live with it,”
Ellie said with an unrepentant wink.

Annie shook her head at the sweet stubbornness. CJ’s mother was
one of those people that you just couldn’t argue with. There was nothing to do
but accept the generosity and hope to return it someday.

“I appreciate that. Thank you again. I’m really excited about
staying and getting a chance to see more of Wyoming.”

“CJ’s looking forward to showing it off. You couldn’t ask for a
better guide. If you need anything during your stay, just say the word, hon.”

“I will. Thank you,” Annie reassured her with a little wave as
she turned to head back upstairs.  

She loved the woman’s warmth and sass. It was so much
like—Annie hesitated mid-step, stumbling on the next tread. She gripped the
banister. Ellie reminded her of her mom. A fist wrapped around her heart,
giving it a painful squeeze. Forcing herself to put one foot in front of the
other, she climbed the handful of stairs to the landing and small observation
area. The last thing she needed right now was Ellie or Carley thinking she was
having a heart attack or something. How fun would it be to explain it was only
an emotional meltdown?

She closed her eyes to the winter wonderland outside. It had
been a long time since the memories had hurt. These days, it was usually the
little things that popped into her head at the craziest times and made her
smile. The similarities between the two women had just caught her off guard was
all. She took a steadying breath. This wasn’t something to get all weepy about.
This was a good thing. She should look at the positive. CJ was lucky and he
knew it. His love for his parents was just another amazing quality in the man
she was falling for.

Annie groaned and opened her eyes. Her brain thankfully shifted
gears. Falling for? She sounded like a teenage girl instead of the grown ass
woman she’d been wanting to shout about this morning. Her stomach rolled with
the new line of thinking. Her family’s skepticism gnawed at her. Were they
right? Was she kidding herself? How well could you know someone in four days? She
chewed her bottom lip. That was the point, wasn’t it? To get to know CJ better.
She was playing it smart, staying at the lodge, not at his place. Of course,
his family owned the lodge. They would probably look the other way if their son
decided to rape, murder, and feed her to bears. The fact that the pessimistic
scenario made her snort in amusement said a lot about her writer’s brain.  

Sobering, she frowned. Was it wrong to want to see if she could
have something more? From the time her parents had passed away, the rest of the
world had been reminding her that she needed to grow up, that no one was going
to take care of her now. Overnight, she’d became an adult. Looking back, sometimes
she wondered what fun she’d missed. At the time she’d numbly kept her nose to
the grindstone and graduated high school on time, all while dealing with the massive
fallout of her parent’s accident.

After graduation she hadn’t missed a beat, selling the house,
dealing with all the stuff, buying and moving into the condo. All hell hadn’t
threatened to break loose until her family figured out she planned to skip
college and be an author. Even at eighteen, she’d been smart enough to know it
was a huge step from publishing a handful of short stories to writing and selling
a novel, but her dad had always told her she could do anything she set her mind
to. She’d stubbornly decided to hold him to that, even in death.

She pushed herself off the rail. Maybe now, with her books
doing pretty well and ends meeting, it was past time she took a little me time.
Who could blame her? She bit her lip as the sarcastic voice in her head
answered her rhetorical question with a snide, ‘a lot of people.’ Well, screw
them. Taking a deep breath, she forced her feet into motion once again. She needed
to go through her email and get replies back to her agent and publicist before
CJ got back. Once the work was out of the way, she’d be free to play. It was me
time.

CJ turned as a hand slid across his back. He raised a
questioning eyebrow at his cousin. Ty stepped in closer, glancing back over his
shoulder as if to assure the privacy of their conversation.

“Are you going to be okay with Crystal’s cousin staying?”

Frowning, CJ tried to sort out the question. What in the hell
was he asking? “Uh, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, Crystal said that Annie really hasn’t had a boyfriend
since her high school sweetheart joined the Army. I don’t want her going all
stalkerish on you just because you were nice to her.”  

CJ didn’t know whether to slug his cousin or laugh. Was he
blind or just that wrapped up in his own life that he wasn’t paying attention
to what was right in front of him? Putting the last suitcase on the luggage
cart, he closed the Jeep’s tailgate and looked back up at Ty.

“I’m going to chalk this crazy talk up to you being in a honeymoon
haze. Bora Bora is calling. Get on the plane, Cuz. All is good here.”

“You never know, man.”

“Trust me. It’s all good.” 

“Alright. I’m just looking out for you,” Tyler said, pulling
him into a back thumping hug. “Thanks again for everything. Crystal and I want
to do something nice for your mom and dad. They really pulled through for us.
Let me know if you have any ideas.”

“They were happy to do it, Ty.”

“Still, be thinking about it, please,” Crystal said stepping
down off the curb. “Everything was so perfect, even with the weather surprise.
Thank you just doesn’t seem like enough.”

CJ nodded, not sure how much she’d heard. He felt a stab of
envy as the willowy blonde slid easily into the crook of Ty’s arm. The way she
fit there seemed so natural. Sometimes his cousin projected a sense of
entitlement that rubbed CJ the wrong way, but the way he was looking down at
his new wife was a type of claim CJ wanted to feel. He wanted that belonging
and connection.  

“Come on, sweetheart. We better get checked in,” Ty said,
looking around at the growing crowd in the tiny airport.

CJ froze as Crystal suddenly stepped forward and wrapped her
arms around his neck. Her lips pressed to his ear. 

“I’m not sure what’s going on with you and Annie, but you could
do a hell of a lot worse. Don’t hurt her.” 

She punctuated the words with a quick peck on his cheek before
turning away. CJ couldn’t help wondering if it was meant as a warning, like the
kiss of death if he messed up with her cousin. That wasn’t going to happen if
he could help it. Watching her and Ty skirt through the snow and slush, he
smiled. Queen Crystal had just jumped up several notches in his estimation.

Breathless and exhilarated, Annie stumbled into the lodge.
She was sure the smile was frozen on her face. How she wished she could take
the pictures in her mind and put them to film. The natural beauty of the Bighorns
was awe-inspiring. CJ caught her arm to steady her as she struggled to remove
her heavy outerwear. Annie beamed up at him. He was another thing she wanted a
forever picture of. Breath frozen in his dark beard, cheeks red and wind chapped
and blazing blue eyes sparkling, CJ was her definition of ruggedly handsome.  

His mouth came down to cover hers. Chilled lips moved eagerly
over each other, their combined breath melting the frost in his mustache. Annie
shivered as a drop ran down her chin and followed the slope of her neck. Still,
CJ pulled back all too soon. His chuckle was shy as he pulled the sleeve of his
sweatshirt over his hand to gently wipe the water from her face.

“Sorry. Just one of the hazards of facial hair and the fairer
sex.”

“Hey! I do not have facial hair,” Annie protested.

CJ’s mouth dropped open, his head already shaking side to side
in silent denial.

“That’s not—”

Her burst of laughter cut off his words. She squeaked as he
caught her up in a bear hug. The squeak turned into a squeal when he burrowed
his cold face into the crook of her neck with a growl and swung her around. Clinging
to his broad shoulders, tears of amusement streaked her cheeks. When he finally
put her down, Annie clutched at his shirt for balance.

“You’re evil!”

“Paybacks are hell,” he said smugly.

“The saying is they’re a bitch. Remember that. You have one
coming,” she said, wiping her neck against her shoulder and shivering.

“Technically, I was paying you back but if you want to start a feud,
bring it.”

“Oh! Bring it? That’s how you feel about it is it, big man?
Game on.”

CJ grinned down at her, looking completely unconcerned. Dimples
were deadly. She couldn’t resist reaching up to wipe the last of the snow away.
Turning his head slightly, he kissed her hand. Leaning there against the front
of him in the coat room, she was really glad she’d stayed. A rumbling growl
interrupted their moment. CJ pushed her back a bit and looked down at her
stomach.