Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
C hance entered Vance’s Tavern and scanned the establishment. He hadn’t been here for a while, but the place was crowded as usual. Vance had expanded the size of the tavern earlier that year to add more space for dancing. Already, several people were out on the floor doing a Texas line dance.
He removed his Stetson and hung it on the rack before crossing the floor to a vacant booth. He had barely sat down when Cheryl Carlyle slid into the seat across from him. The same Cheryl Carlyle who had gotten Corbin in a tizzy last month when he’d heard the rumor Mama Laverne would marry them off. A rumor Chance figured was started by Cheryl herself.
“Hello, Chance.”
“Cheryl.”
“What is it you want that would bring you off your ranch on a Thursday night?”
One thing for certain, he thought. It wasn’t her. He wasn’t that desperate. “I thought I’d come here and enjoy a drink or two. Alone.” He stressed the latter, hoping she took the hint that he didn’t want company.
She ignored it when she said, “Well, I’d rather not be alone tonight. In fact—” she deliberately loosened the top button of her blouse to expose that she wasn’t wearing a bra “—I want a drink or two myself. You buying?”
“No,” he said flatly, not caring if his response sounded rude.
She frowned. “You’re not being friendly.”
“Most people don’t consider me much of a friendly person. And since I’m on a roll, I might as well take being bad--mannered to another level and say I prefer you vacate that seat.”
Her frown deepened. “Why? Are you expecting someone?”
“It doesn’t matter if I am or not. I don’t want you sitting in it.”
“You’re worse than bad-mannered, Chance Madaris. You’re an ass.”
He’d been called worse. “Duly noted. Now I suggest you leave before this ass tells you what he thinks of you. Uncensored.”
She stood and huffed off, deliberately swaying her backside when she did so. Seeing her in those jeans did nothing for him. Not like seeing Zoey in hers.
Zoey.
Why had he thought about her during the hour-and-a-half drive from his ranch? Why was he thinking about how things would go with her and Mama Laverne tomorrow? More importantly, between her and Corbin. He would be taking her out on Saturday. His cousin better not get out of line with her or else.
Or else what? He didn’t have anything to say about anything when getting Zoey and Corbin together had been a deliberate move on his part. He figured he would have no reason to think about her once he’d done so. Damn, that strategy wasn’t working. He was thinking about her even more.
“You want the usual, Chance?”
He met his waitress’s gaze. Barbie had been his first one-night stand years ago, and he appreciated she’d understood the rules then and had abided by them since. “Yes, Barbie. The usual.”
When she walked off, he scoped the place again. This time focusing on the women. There seemed to be a lot of them. Some were sitting alone. Some in groups. Several had met his gaze and held it, and then he’d broken eye contact. He hadn’t felt anything. Not that sensuous connection, magnetic pull, or sizzling chemistry he felt whenever he stared into Zoey’s eyes.
Like yesterday. Not only had he dismissed Corbin’s presence, but he’d also not given a damn. He only considered pulling her into his arms and kissing her to share her emotions. Lucky for him, Corbin had made a sound to knock some quick sense into him.
“Here you are, Chance,” Barbie said, interrupting his thoughts as she placed a beer before him.
“Thanks.”
When she walked off, he picked up the bottle and began scanning the place again. Several more women had arrived. Some he’d shared a bed with before. Others he had not. He concentrated on the latter, but still, he felt nothing. Not a single one aroused him to a spark of hunger or enticed him to a boner.
The music had ended, so he shifted his body around to check out the thinning crowd on the dance floor to see if there were any prospects.
“I figured sooner or later you’d come here.”
He went still upon recognizing that voice. There once was a time when just hearing it would arouse every male thing in him. Now it did nothing. All he felt was immediate repugnance. He slowly turned to look into the face of the woman sitting in the seat he’d asked Cheryl to vacate earlier. Ravena Boyle.
He met her gaze and felt something—instant repulsion. And while studying her features, he thought she’d undoubtedly had a hard life since he’d last seen her, which was close to five years ago. Her beauty had diminished, and he thought nothing about her remained attractive. Her makeup was heavy. He could remember a time she hadn’t worn any at all.
“Ravena. I heard you were back in town.”
“And I heard you’d recovered from your injury. I’m happy for you.”
He picked up his beer to take another sip. “Are you? During our last conversation, you called me half of a man.”
“I want to apologize for that, Chancy.”
Hearing her say the pet name she’d always called him sent spikes of chills all through him. “The name is Chance,” he said through gritted teeth.
“I prefer Chancy.”
“Then don’t expect me to answer. And if you don’t mind, I need that seat kept vacant.”
“Why? Are you waiting for someone?”
“No. I’d rather not have you in it.”
She didn’t respond for a minute, then said, “Do you remember this is where we met? You were home on leave for a month. I saw you and used one hell of a pickup line to garner your interest. You even complimented me on how original it was. Then we had one hell of a time together. When you returned to Germany, we wrote to each other practically every day, and when you came home that Christmas, you asked me to marry you.”
He placed his beer down and stared hard at her. “That was the biggest mistake of my life.”
“People said you’ve changed. You aren’t the fun-loving man you used to be, and I regret my part in that.”
“No need to have regrets, Ravena. Walking out of my life was the best thing you ever could have done for me.”
He could tell she hadn’t liked his comment. “Then why are you so miserable?”
“Miserable? You think I’m miserable?”
She lifted a haughty chin. “Aren’t you? I hear you rarely come off your ranch. And when you do, it’s to visit your folks or to come here. To the very place we met. Why is that?”
He could tell her he came here to get laid but figured that wasn’t her business. “You think the reason I come here has something to do with you? To relive memories? Seriously?”
She shrugged. “There are some who think you’re pining for me.”
“They’re thinking wrong.”
“Are they? I understand you haven’t been seriously involved with another woman since I left. I’m back now. I admit I made a mistake in walking away and leaving town the way I did, and I apologize for hurting you. Regardless of whether you accept my apology, there’s something you can’t deny. I’ve always been in your blood, and you’ve been in mine. That’s the reason my marriage didn’t last.”
Chance stared at her. Did she honestly think he believed any of her bullshit? As he continued to hold her gaze, he hoped she could feel all the intense dislike he was emitting. “There might have been a time when you were in my blood, Ravena, but not anymore. I’ve had several transfusions since then. I don’t have any feelings for you whatsoever. None. What I do feel is disgust with myself for ever getting involved with you.”
He could feel her anger. She didn’t want to believe his words. Damn. Did she think she could return to Houston, and they would pick up where they’d left off? After what she’d said? After what she had done? Hell would freeze over first.
“You don’t mean that. You still love me, Chancy. I can prove it.”
Rage boiled inside him, rising to the top, almost reaching an explosive level. “The name is Chance, and I meant everything I said. I think you’re pretty damn pathetic if you think I could still love you, so please don’t waste your time trying to prove anything. You can’t.”
Standing, he threw enough bills on the table to pay for his beer and a tip for Barbie before turning, grabbing his Stetson off the rack, and walking out.
Chance had barely driven five miles when his cell phone rang. He answered it remotely on his steering wheel, not knowing who it was. “What?” he snapped, still steaming over his encounter with Ravena.
“Are you okay?”
He released a deep breath. Clayton, one of his older cousins, had always been protective of his younger Madaris cousins. Chance always appreciated it while growing up. Now, as an adult, not so much.
He didn’t have to wonder how Clayton knew. Vance’s Tavern was Clayton’s old hangout in his womanizing days, and he and the owner were good friends. “I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“I’m positive, Clayton.”
There was a pause. “It was bound to happen—you and Ravena running into each other. I hope you were prepared for it.”
“There was nothing to prepare myself for. Would you believe she honestly thinks she can return after all this time, say a few apologetic words, and become a part of my life again?”
“Can she?”
Chance frowned. It bothered him that some members of his family thought she could. “Hell to the double digits, no.”
“Honestly, I didn’t think so, but thought I’d check. Enough about Ravena Boyle. What about that woman I heard showed up at your ranch this week?”
It sure didn’t take long for that news to get around. “What of it?”
“How do you feel about it?” Clayton asked.
Chance was glad the question hadn’t been, “How do you feel about her ?” Clayton would be surprised by his answer. “I feel she has a right to want to know about her family, and I’m glad she’ll talk to Mama Laverne tomorrow.”
“You’re not concerned she has ulterior motives? Like thinking she has a right to your ranch?”
Chance rolled his eyes. It shouldn’t surprise him that Clayton would think that way. It was the attorney in him to do so. “No, Clayton, I’m not concerned. I know you mean well by asking, but please let me handle my business.”
There was a pause and then. “Alright. But if you need us for anything, we’re here.”
Chance knew he meant the entire Madaris family. “I know that. I’ve always known that thanks to you, Justin, and Dex,” he said, mentioning Clayton’s two older brothers. The three—more than ten years older—had always been there for their younger cousins. “And I appreciate it. Thanks.”
“No thanks needed. That’s how we roll.”
After the call ended, Chance exited the interstate for the hotel. He had planned to rumble between the sheets with a woman. One thing was for certain, he wouldn’t be getting laid tonight. For some reason, some part of him was glad he wouldn’t be.
***
“For crying out loud, Ravena, will you undress and come to bed?”
Ravena gazed across the hotel room to the naked man in bed as she angrily paced the floor. She and Ken Cox, whose family owned several jewelry stores in Texas, considered themselves sex buddies and nothing more.
She’d known winning Chance over might not be easy, but she never thought it would be impossible. “Will you believe he called me pathetic?”
“Although I don’t think you’re pathetic, I think you have a lot of nerve to assume you could return to town and expect Chance Madaris to take back up with you after the way you dumped him when he was in that wheelchair.”
That’s not what she wanted to hear. “He still loves me.”
“After what you told me he said tonight, he undoubtedly does not.”
Ravena placed her hands on her hips. “What other reason could there be for him not having a life? He’s miserable.”
Ken laughed. “Looks to me like he’s living a damn good life. He has his pick of women for a night whenever he wants one. He owns a nice spread. He has the Madaris name, money, notoriety, and respect. If that’s being miserable, then I’ll take misery. You should have held on to a good thing when you had it.”
“Dammit, Ken, he was in a wheelchair. A cripple. How was I to know he would one day walk again?”
“Well, Ravena, there is that part of the wedding vows that says, ‘in sickness and in health.’ You failed that part before you could get to the altar.”
She glared at him. “I want him back.”
“Good luck with that happening. I understand Ms. Felicia Laverne rules that family with an iron fist. She might have accepted you being part of it years ago, but she won’t now.”
“In that case, I think it’s time for me to get on Ms. Felicia Laverne’s good side,” Ravena said, moving toward the bed.
“You think that’s possible?” Ken asked, throwing the covers back for her.
“She’s ninety-something, old, senile, and probably easy to manipulate. I have to convince her that I regret what I did in the past, and that I’m the only one capable of getting Chance out of the funk he’s been in for the past five years.”
“Regardless of the old lady, you must win Chance over. It sounds like he’s immune to you,” Ken stated.
“I know just the way for him to get un-immune. He could never resist me,” Ravena said with much self-assurance.
“I hate to remind you, but he did so tonight.”
She stared at Ken, and her confidence dropped a notch. Could he be right about Chance not desiring her anymore? She refused to believe that. Like she’d told him, she was in his blood. Granted, she hadn’t expected him to welcome her with open arms when he saw her, but she hadn’t expected such bitterness and anger toward her either.
Damn him. Five years had been good to him. He was more handsome and had more muscles on his body than before. But his attitude was atrocious. For him to feel so much hostility toward her meant the hurt she’d caused went deep. For it to have gotten to that depth meant he’d love her with the kind of love that couldn’t die, regardless of what he’d said. He might have resisted her tonight but he wouldn’t do so for long. She had to believe that.
“Chance is the man I want, and the man I intend to get, Ken. No one will stand in my way of getting him back. Not that old lady or any other member of his family,” Ravena said with her complete confidence returning. “And until then…”
She removed her clothes when she reached the bed.