Chapter 5
The last thing Liberty wanted to do was spend more time with Jesse Cates. She knew what Mimi was trying to do. She was trying to suck up to Jesse in hopes he could talk Corbin out of foreclosing on the ranch. But like Liberty tried to explain to her grandmother that morning, Jesse was the type of man who cared only for himself.
She knew this because she had dated more than her fair share of men and had become a bit of a connoisseur of the male species. There were men like Sheriff Decker Carson and Rome Remington—hardworking men who cared for their families and their town. They took life seriously. Then there were men like Jesse Cates—fun-lovin’ good ol’ boys who cared only about themselves. Their only desire was to enjoy life to the fullest. They took nothing serious. Liberty’s family losing the ranch didn’t mean a hill of beans to men like Jesse. She wasn’t about to suck up to a man like that.
As soon as she was inside the barn, she whirled around with every intention of telling him just that.
Except he hadn’t followed her.
She moved to the open door and looked out. He was bent over with his head stuck in the cab of his obnoxious redneck truck. It figured he would drive a macho monstrosity with tires as big as a Volkswagen’s. Two huge flags drooped from poles attached to the cab. As far as she was concerned, Texas and American flags had no business hanging over the bed of a dirty old truck—a truck with faded, peeling stickers cluttering the back window and a dented, rusted bumper. One was of a little boy peeing on a Ford emblem and another was a Dallas Cowboys star. The others were too faded to read, but she could guess that they said something arrogant and obnoxious.
She tapped her bare foot as she waited for him to finish whatever he was doing.
What was he doing?
Whatever it was, it hadn’t been easy. When he finally pulled his head out of the truck, his Stetson was missing and his hair stood on end. He was holding a jean jacket tightly to his chest. Why he had spent so long looking for a jacket, she had no idea. It had to be over eighty degrees outside. It wasn’t until he started toward the barn that she noticed the jacket wiggling.
“What in the world do you have?” she asked as soon as he stepped into the barn.
“The daughter of Satan.” He lowered the collar of the jean jacket and a furry little head popped out. The sweet blue eyes blinked at her and Liberty’s heart melted. Babies of any kind were Liberty’s weakness.
“Aww, you sweet little thing.” She reached out to pet the tiger-striped kitten and received a sharp nip for her troubles. She jerked her hand back.
“I tried to warn you,” Jesse said. “Tay-Tay has a bit of an attitude problem.”
“Tay-Tay? As in Taylor Swift?”
He shifted the kitten in his arms. “That would be the Tay.”
“Let me guess. Melba Wadley suckered you into adopting her.”
“I don’t get suckered, but Corbin sure did.”
“This cute kitten belongs to that asshole? No wonder she’s feeling used and abused.” She gingerly held out her hand, then pulled it back when the cat hissed.
Jesse laughed. He had one of those deep-chest laughs that made you smile even when you didn’t want to. “Believe me, this cat isn’t abused. One look at her collar should tell you that.”
Liberty leaned closer to examine the pink rhinestone collar around the kitten’s neck, then wished she hadn’t.
Jesse smelled good. Real good. After selling scented candles in high school, she knew a best-selling scent when she smelled it. She could make a fortune on a candle that smelled like Jesse Cates. He smelled like a mixture of all her best-selling candles. Home Sweet Home, that had smelled like a cozy blanket straight out of the dryer. Into the Woods, that had an oaky, autumn scent. And Liberty’s all-time-favorite candle, Toasted Marshmallow, that smelled of night air and toasty campfires.
“Is something wrong?”
Jesse’s question made her realize she was leaning into him and inhaling like he was a bouquet of flowers. She jumped back and tried to act like she’d only been examining the cat’s collar.
“Don’t tell me those are real diamonds.”
“No. But they are Swarovski crystals and cost a pretty penny. I was there when Corbin ordered it. You should see her food and water dishes. He loves spoiling the women in his life. Especially his sister.”
Liberty only vaguely remembered his sister. “So if you’re friends with Corbin, explain why he refused to let Rome pay off our loan.”
“I don’t know and I haven’t been able to get ahold of him.” He hesitated. “You said that Corbin had a crush on you. Did you maybe do something to hurt his feelings?”
The truce they’d been experiencing ended and her anger flared. “So you think I’m the reason Corbin is being such an asshole?”
“I just don’t understand why he wouldn’t let Rome pay off the loan. It’s just smart business.”
She snorted. “I thought you told Mimi you were friends with Corbin. Which is it? Are you friends or do you help him run his business?”
“I don’t help him run his business. But I know enough about the loan business to know that getting your money back with interest is the better deal. So there must be another reason Corbin is foreclosing.” He held up the kitten. “You think I could put her down in one of the stalls?”
There was a part of Liberty, the pissed part, that wanted to tell him to get gone. But there was another part of her, the logical part, that was wondering if maybe Mimi was right. Maybe there was a chance Jesse could be their ally. Especially if he was Corbin’s friend—a close friend if he was cat-sitting for him. Jesse did seem just as confused with Corbin’s decision as she was. If she could get him on her side, maybe he would be willing to stand up to Corbin for her family.
“This way.” She turned and headed to the stalls at the back of the barn. She opened the gate of the first stall and allowed Jesse to enter before her.
The stall was small and felt even smaller with the bales of hay stacked in it. For her sisters’ weddings, they had cleaned the barn and stalls from top to bottom, removing all the old moldy hay bales. But because she’d wanted the country look for Cloe’s wedding, she had ordered fresh bales to place around the barn for decorations and wedding guests to sit on. With her dreams of turning this barn into a money-making venue, she had made sure to keep the bales and stack them in the empty stalls for later use.
The thought of all the weddings she could have here made her need to enlist Jesse’s help even stronger. She watched as he carefully set the kitten-filled jacket on the ground. Tay-Tay sprang out of the pile of denim immediately and raced between two bales of hay.
Jesse sighed. “We’ll never get her out of there because I’m sure as hell not reaching a hand in to get her.”
“Scared of a little kitty?” Liberty sat down on a bale of hay. “I thought a rodeo cowboy could tame any animal.”
“That’s not a kitty. She’s Satan incarnate.”
“She’s probably just missing her owner. When is Corbin getting back?”
“I don’t know.” He took a seat on the bale across from hers, his soft brown-eyed gaze direct. “But I plan to talk to him before that and see what’s going on.”
“I hope you’ll relay the information. And just for your information, him wanting to foreclose on the ranch has nothing to do with me.”
“Are you sure? You can be a little prickly.”
“Only with men who annoy me.”
He laughed. “Exactly why do I annoy you, Libby Lou?”
“That right there, for one. I feel like you’re always laughing at me. As if I’m one great big joke to you.” Most men would have denied it. But she was learning that Jesse Cates wasn’t most men.
“I can’t deny it,” he said. “I do get a real kick out of you.”
She glared at him. “And just what is so funny?”
He studied her for a long moment before he spoke. “You’re like one of those Screaming Whizzer fireworks. You know, the ones you get on Fourth of July that spin on the ground erratically and make everyone scatter like quail out of a thicket. Even though you’re scared to death they’re going to land on you and catch you on fire, you can’t help laughing as you dodge out of their way. They’re terrifying but make you smile all at the same time.”
Liberty didn’t know if she’d just been insulted or complimented.
He clarified with an annoying grin.
“In case you’re wondering, that was a compliment. Screaming Whizzers were my favorite fireworks growing up. In high school, I once traded a 1957 Chevy truck for three cases of them. Something Billy wanted to bust my britches for.”
“Who’s Billy?”
“My adoptive daddy.”
Liberty had known quite a few adopted people over the years. Most had great stories to tell about their adoptive parents, but there were a couple that hadn’t had such a good experience. It sounded like Jesse was the latter.
“Did Billy bust your britches often?”
Jesse’s eyebrows lifted. “Is that wrinkle of concern between your brows for me, darlin’?”
“Don’t be an arrogant jerk. It was just a question.”
“So you don’t care that I was beaten on a regular basis as a kid?”
Her heart tightened at the thought of a child, any child, being beaten. Children were a gift. A gift some people would never experience. Therefore, they should be cherished.
No wonder Jesse was a drifter who only worried about himself. He’d spent his childhood in fear. She started to say she was sorry—not just for his horrible childhood, but also for being so judgmental of him—when he grinned.
“Just kiddin’. Billy and Shirlene never raised a hand to us and were the best adoptive parents a boy could ask for.”
“You jerk!” She jumped up and shoved him. Most of his weight must have been on the back of the hay bale because it started to tip. She might not like him, but she didn’t want him cracking open his head on the hard cement floor either. She quickly reached out and grabbed on to his shirt to keep him from falling. Unfortunately, she misjudged his weight and her strength because he pulled her right along with him.
He landed with a grunt on his back and she landed on top of him. Both their legs rested on the hay bale, which pushed their bodies even closer together. Liberty could feel the inhalation of his breath and the thumping of his heart. She could feel the hardness of his chest and every other hard muscle . . . including the one beneath his fly.
The feeling that shot through her completely took her by surprise. Successful professionals, elite Houston athletes, and wealthy business owners had pursued her, but not one of them had elicited a spark of sexual awareness. And yet, this arrogant rodeo-roping drifter had caused an entire case of Screaming Whizzers to go off inside her.
She lifted her head, hoping his cocky smile would remind her body exactly the type of man she was squashed against. But Jesse wasn’t wearing a cocky smile. His lips were parted as if he was struggling to breathe and his soft brown eyes didn’t hold a twinkle of devilish delight. Instead, they held steamy heat. Steamy heat that kicked up her sexual awareness to pure sexual need.
When Liberty needed something, she always went about getting it.