6. No Means No – Roman
Chapter 6
No Means No
PLAYLIST: ”BACK OFF BITCH” BY GUNS N’ ROSES
ROMAN
God… Landon could have kicked me right in the balls, and I wouldn’t feel as sick as I did at that moment. I could’ve gone my whole life without Landon bringing up that nasty little fact.
I didn’t need that reminder, and I damn sure didn’t need him to remind Zoe of it, just when we were starting to get on an even keel. The fact that I destroyed their lifelong friendship and never had the chance to set things right has haunted me all day, every day, since Missy died and Zoe left town.
Struggling to swallow the lump tightening my throat, I cleared it and held out my hand to Landon for a handshake. “Thanks for warning us, Deputy Blackwell. If you ever find yourself in a bind and in need of a hand, I’m only ever a phone call away.”
Landon took my hand and gave it a firm shake. “I’ll definitely keep that offer in my back pocket, just in case I ever need it.”
As Landon pulled away, Zoe reached out and laid her hand on his forearm, giving it a gentle squeeze as she peered up at him through her thick, dark eyelashes. “Can I just ask… why did you warn us?”
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, baby. Just say thank you so we can send Landon on his way already.
Landon chewed on the inside of his cheek for a second, pausing to scan our surroundings before he cleared his throat and spoke.
“To be perfectly honest, I don’t like how the odds seem to be stacked against you within the department. That doesn’t sit right with me. Besides… I don’t believe for a second that you killed your best friend, regardless of the fight.”
“Thank you, Landon. It does my heart good to hear you say that… it means a lot.” Zoe sagged with relief and offered Landon a sad little smile that made my chest ache. “And I hope you know that there’s no way in hell that Roman killed Missy, either. He might have stirred up a fight between us, but I know in my bones that he would never lay a finger on a woman in anger.”
“I wouldn’t have told you what I just told you if I didn’t have a gut feeling that you’re both innocent.” Landon looked up, spotting something behind us. He wrinkled his nose with distaste and jerked his chin in that direction. “Ugh. Fuckboy alert. I’m gonna head out and confront Mr. Michaelson with the video of his employee beating that horse.”
“Fuckboy?” Zoe frowned, glancing in the direction Landon had indicated, then waved a hand in dismissal. “Pfft. Cody’s a natural-born flirt, sure, but the guy is harmless.”
I looked over at Landon and rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. He just nodded his agreement and strode back over to his SUV, leaving me to wrestle with the bombshell he’d just dropped on us.
Worse than that, I was left to face the blonde-haired, blue-eyed all-American fuck-stick that had just ambled out of the bunkhouse, spotted Zoe, and ran over to sweep her up in a bear hug, spinning her around before setting her back on her feet.
“Holy shit! I haven’t seen you since you were a teenager headed off to college in Miami, Zoe. Now look at you… all grown up, to say the least.”
Zoe snorted and rolled her eyes, giving Cody’s arm a swat in the process. “I was gone for a decade, so of course I’m all grown up, goober.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Cody grinned, flashing his perfectly straight white teeth. That smile was known to drop panties all over Blackwell, and it left me itching to punch him in the mouth.
I disliked Cody Jacobson’s lazy ass on a good day, but that dislike flared up into white-hot hatred as his hands drifted down and lingered on Zoe’s waist, just above the delicious curve of her hips.
I’m going to rip his arms off and beat him with them if he doesn’t get his hands off my girl in the next three seconds.
“Shut up.” Zoe gave Cody a playful shove, stepping out of his embrace and reaching back to grab my hand, lacing her fingers with mine.
I glared at Cody as I raised Zoe’s hand to my lips and kissed it, subtly showing off her engagement ring as I did so.
Cody’s gaze snagged on the emerald glinting in the morning sunlight and he cocked a brow at us in disbelief before turning his full attention back to Zoe.
“Does this mean you’re moving back to Twisted Creek Ranch for good, then?”
“What else would it mean?” Zoe arched a brow at him in challenge.
“I dunno.” Cody shrugged. “I guess I’m just surprised, is all. If I remember correctly, you and your fiancé didn’t exactly part on good terms. More than that, I seem to remember you saying you’d never come back.”
Zoe stood up a little straighter and crossed her arms, staring Cody straight in the eye before she spoke.
“I’m sure this is going to come as a shock to you, Cody, but some of us actually learn how to function like real grownups as we age. My dad is sick, he needs me to help him run the ranch, and my relationship with Roman is—quite frankly—none of your damn business.”
Cody held his hands up in a sign of surrender and took a half-step back. “Easy, girl. I didn’t mean to get your hackles up. I’m just surprised to see you, that’s all.”
Zoe pressed her lips together for a moment, darting a sideways glance at me before she spoke. “I thought it was high time I came home, settled down, and started a family.”
“Well, you just let me know if you want some help with that starting a family part.” Cody grinned and waggled his eyebrows at Zoe, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief as he looked her up and down.
That swaggering motherfucker has no respect for me, or for the ring I put on Zoe’s finger.
I saw red. Before I even knew what I was doing, I had a fistful of his shirt and I was in his face, giving him a hard shake.
“If you like your face arranged the way it is, I’m gonna recommend that you not talk to my fiancée like that again. Do you understand me?”
Cody held up his hands again, shaking with laughter as he enjoyed my anger. “It was just a joke, Roman. Jesus. Take it easy, man.”
“It was disrespectful, and you should know me well enough to know that I’m not just going to allow you to disrespect my woman or the ring I put on her finger.”
Cody rolled his eyes and backed away from me, tugging his wrinkled flannel shirt out of my grip as he put distance between us. “Seriously, man? You need to chill. You know I joke with everybody like this.”
“Come on, baby. I think the vet’s been waiting to speak to us for a while now, but Landon’s visit was so pressing it couldn’t wait.” Zoe slid her arm around my waist, her delicious curves melting into my side as she nestled herself against me.
Taking the cue from her, I let Zoe steer me back over to the paddock where the vet was stroking the buckskin colt’s neck and murmuring to it in low tones.
Cody’s boots crunching on the gravel behind us alerted me that he was following us back to the paddock.
“What was Landon Blackwell doing here so early, anyway?”
Zoe snorted and shook her head, sighing. “David Michaelson accused us of horse theft, which is complete bullshit. We rescued this horse from a Michaelson, Inc. employee who was beating the shit out of it with a bullwhip. And as if that wasn’t enough, Michael Carter is stirring up shit with the sheriff’s department.”
“How so?” Cody frowned, going strangely still.
Zoe shrugged and shook her head. “He has this crazy theory that Missy was murdered, and it seems that Mo Sheridan thought so, too. He apparently held onto some evidence that seems to point to Missy being attacked rather than... well... you know. He gave that evidence to his nephew, Deputy Colby Barton, when he was on his deathbed. Colby and Michael took that evidence to the new sheriff, and he’s re-opened Missy’s case as a murder investigation.”
“Are you serious?” All the color drained out of Cody’s face, and he looked like he wanted to throw up.
Zoe gave a grim nod. “I’m afraid so.”
I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, looking Cody over from head to toe. “You’re awfully pale all of a sudden, Cody. It’s almost like you don’t want the sheriff looking into Missy’s death. Why is that?”
Cody looked around, his gaze snagging on the vet for a moment before he shook his head and looked back at us. He took a half-step closer to us and lowered his voice. “Just between y’all and me… I worry about Michael and his fixation on Missy’s death. It’s an unhealthy obsession, and it’s only gotten worse over the last ten years.”
“He’s always thought it was my fault Missy died.” Zoe reached up, her trembling hand covering her mouth as all the color drained out of her face. “And he’s had the last decade to stew about it.”
“Don’t you have work to see to, Cody?” I waved him off, turned Zoe to face me, and wrapped my arms around her, stroking her hair and holding her tight. “Don’t you worry about a thing, baby. No matter what happens, I’ve got your back.”
“I know.” Zoe wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tight.
The conviction in her voice put a boulder-sized lump in my throat and I struggled to swallow it. I held her for a moment, just letting her ground herself in my touch before we both turned to face the waiting veterinarian.
“Thank you for your patience, Miss Jackson.”
The vet nodded and continued stroking the colt’s neck as she studied us. “I just wanted to be sure I got to speak with you before I left. I wanted to thank you for rescuing this guy. You did the right thing. Don’t ever let anybody convince you otherwise.”
I offered her a genuine smile and reached out to shake her hand. “My conscience wouldn’t let me leave him there. I appreciate you coming out so early to check on him and take care of his wounds.”
“I’m leaving you with some prescriptions and a nutrition plan for him, and I trust you’ll get him back up to a healthy weight in no time at all. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”
“Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your dedication and your willingness to let us pay you on a payment plan until Zoe helps me untangle a few discrepancies in our books.”
Zoe stiffened at my side at that revelation, and I pressed my hand against the small of her back in an unspoken acknowledgment that I’d explain later, after we could get some time alone to catch up.
Miss Jackson nodded as she strode over to the gate and let herself out of the paddock. “Mr. Brandt and Twisted Creek Ranch have supported my family’s veterinary business for longer than I’ve been alive. He’s as much a pillar of this community as Jack Blackwell is, in his own way. I’m happy to help him out in any way I can.”
“Thank you.” Zoe’s voice came out hoarse and choked, but she stood straight as an arrow beside me and looked Miss Jackson straight in the eye. “And I promise you, we’ll settle up any outstanding bills as soon as we can. We Brandts always pay up when we owe somebody, and we always make good on our promises. You can take that to the bank.”
Miss Jackson reached out and gave Zoe’s shoulder a reassuring pat. “I trust y’all are good for it. Like I said, your daddy is a good man.”
“Yes, he is. I don’t know where I’d be without Mr. Brandt.” I couldn’t resist chiming in. That man literally saved my life in more ways than one.
“I’m sure you’d have done just fine, even if you hadn’t wound up here at Twisted Creek.” Miss Jackson gave me a dazzling smile that left me reeling and wishing she’d pump the fucking brakes on whatever the hell she thought she was doing.
Instead, she gave me a slow, calculated once-over that made my chest tighten because it reminded me so much of the way Missy looked at me the day she died, right before she went along with my dumbass idea to fake date each other to make Zoe jealous. It turned my palms clammy, sent a shiver of panic down my spine, and left me holding Zoe just a little tighter to my side.
Slowly, Miss Jackson raised her gaze to meet Zoe’s, a subtle glint of challenge sparking in her whiskey-brown irises. “Roman here is the hardest working and most dedicated cattleman I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something in a town like Blackwell. You’re lucky to have caught his eye. He’s a real catch.”
“Believe me, I know.” Zoe’s arm tightened around my waist, and her chin tipped up, something like pride blazing in her green eyes. “I might have been gone a long time, but I know Roman as well as I know myself… maybe even better. He’s always been a good man, and he’s always been mine.”
Miss Jackson’s eyes widened, and she rocked back on her heels, darting a dissecting glance back and forth between the two of us.
God, I hope she can’t tell Zoe’s bluffing her ass off right now.
“Is that so?” Miss Jackson crossed her arms, staring us down like she was looking for any possible chinks in our armor.
“Damn straight it is.” Zoe gave a firm nod.
Miss Jackson laughed and shook her head.
“Something funny?” Zoe challenged, arching a brow at her.
“Well... yeah. If we’re being honest, every time I asked Roman out, and he said his heart belonged to somebody else, I guess I just assumed he meant Missy, not—” Miss Jackson’s voice faltered and she bit her lip, cutting off whatever was about to spill out of her mouth.
“Not what? What were you about to say?” Narrowing her eyes like a predator moving in for the kill, Zoe slipped out of my grasp, stepping up toe-to-toe with the poor, unsuspecting veterinarian.
Sensing that the vet was playing with fire and about to get us all burned, I reached out and hooked a finger through the back belt loop on Zoe’s jeans, just in case.
Miss Jackson gave a reckless palms-up gesture. “Not Mr. Brandt’s absent daughter, who nobody has seen or heard from in the last ten years.”
“And just what the hell do you mean by that?” Zoe’s voice was soft and smooth as silk, but there was a razor-sharp edge under that smooth, controlled tone.
Miss Jackson reached up and fidgeted with a lock of her sandy-brown hair, wrapping it around her finger in a tight coil, then turning it loose and repeating the process over and over as she spoke. “Him pining over a dead first love made a hell of a lot more sense than holding out for a woman all the way on the other side of the country for the past ten years...”
God damn it. Looks like Miss Jackson has more guts than brains, and no idea of when to let well enough alone.
I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned, tightening my grip on Zoe’s belt loop and giving it an insistent tug, praying it’d be enough to remind her to keep a cool head and play along.
“Well, you assumed wrong,” I cut in, determined to intervene before Zoe could lose her temper and cost us a good working relationship with the only vet in town who was willing to take a payment plan when we were barely keeping our heads above water and running in the red more often than not. “Zoe’s always been the only girl for me, ma’am. I turned you down because Zoe and I have been in a long-distance relationship all this time.”
Miss Jackson’s cheeks blazed cherry red with mortification, and she glared down at the tips of her boots, blinking furiously. “Every time I showed up here looking for you and the other cowboys told me you’d taken a couple of personal days... all those times, you were visiting her in Miami, weren’t you?”
“Yes. I was in Miami for the weekend twice a year, every year since Zoe left Montana.” I gritted my teeth, knowing I’d have so much fucking explaining to do on so many levels, once the veterinarian finally packed up her things and left.
“And you just let me make an ass of myself, asking you out over and over when you could have just told me you had a long-distance girlfriend, instead of letting me think you were hung up on a dead girl?”
My heart pounded in triple time. I released Zoe’s belt loop and crossed my arms, glaring down at Miss Jackson, letting her feel the full gravity of what I was saying. “Would that have been enough to get you to stop asking me out, or would you have tried to shoot your shot anyway, considering my woman was in Miami all this time?”
“I... yes. If I’d known you were in a relationship with a living, breathing woman, I would have let it go. Thinking you were hung up on a memory made me feel like there was hope of changing your mind, given time.”
I shoved my hands into my pockets to keep from balling them into tight fists at my side. “Understand this: no means no, even when it’s a man saying it to a woman. I never intentionally misled you?—”
“But you never point-blank told me the truth, either, and that’s just as bad as lying in my book.” The volatile mix of embarrassment and agony in Miss Jackson’s eyes twisted my gut in a cold, hard knot, but it didn’t stop what I planned to say next.
I shrugged. “You asked me out, and I said no. You asked why, and I told you my heart belonged to someone else. I didn’t owe you an explanation beyond that.”
Zoe looped her arm through mine and cleared her throat. “Look... I can tell this has been a shock for you, but we’re both women with responsibilities to live up to and businesses to run?—”
“Yeah. So what?”
“So, how about we just cut the shit and be straight with each other, woman-to-woman? Once we pay off what we owe you, does Twisted Creek Ranch need to find another veterinarian to work with, or are you capable of separating your feelings from your business dealings?”