Rowdy couldn’t believe his eyes. The last place he’d expected to see Skye...Jade, he corrected himself, was here at the dancehall. In the middle of playing “Sweet Home Alabama” he spotted her standing at the edge of the dance floor, a frantic looking smile on her face. He almost stopped playing just to rub his eyes.
After the way she’s run off Wednesday night, he figured he’d never see or hear from her again. He’d hoped for a chance to talk it out, explain, maybe figure things out. Or at the very least, make sure she was okay, but she hadn’t been online at all and he’d figured she really had gone home to visit her parents.
Apparently, she was better than okay. Dressed in Levi’s and a white sleeveless sweater, she stood clutching one of the wooden poles that separated the dance floor from the tables. He could barely focus on playing the right chords and caught Jessa’s frown of concern. Messing up wasn’t normally in his vocabulary. Until Miss Jade Skye Ballard, that is.
After the song ended, he’d mouthed “break time,” at Jessa, hoping she’d catch the hint. She had, giving him another puzzled frown. They’d only been playing an hour. So sue him.
Rowdy unstrapped his bass guitar and set it aside, taking a minute to collect himself. He still couldn’t orient the two sides of Jade he’d been presented with. His saucy Skyebaby … and Miss Snooty Pants. He shook his head and slowly crossed the floor to where Jade stood, narrowly avoiding a collision with a couple that spun past to the Hank Junior’s “All My Rowdy Friends.”
To his further shock, Jade wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned in close. He stared down at her and kept his own at his sides, wondering what in the hell was going on. Wondering if she’d had some amazing change of heart, or hit her head or lost her mind or something.
“I need your help,” she shouted over the music.
Or something. “My help? You left me standing on the Riverwalk. You didn’t even bother to hang around for any sort of explanation or to talk, you just left. And now you want my help?” he snapped.
She hung her head and rested it against his chest as Hank Junior segued into Tim McGraw. A slow song. And they were drawing stares. He pulled her a little further onto the dance floor and took one of her hands in his, wrapping the other around her waist.
She raised her head and frowned up at him.
“We can't just stand on the dance floor yakkin’ all night,” he growled over the music.
“Oh,” she mouthed, her eyes glued to his face.
“Well?”
“My mom is here.”
He didn’t miss the panic in her eyes but continued to goad her. “What’s it to me?”
“She...I’m sorry, Robbie! I’m sorry I left you there like that, but I need your help,” she pleaded. “Five minutes, that’s all I’m asking.”
He danced her into a corner and spun her out, tightening his grip as she stumbled a bit. Five minutes, huh? Did he dare? And why should he? What type of mom did Miss Snooty Pants have that could send her into such a panic. “What do I have to do?”
“Pretend to be my fiancé. She thinks we’re engaged and she wants to meet you. Five minutes, I swear. That’s it. I’ll never bother you again.”
Engaged? Shock had him pulling up short as he forced himself to not laugh or yell at her crazy request. She had a hell of a lotta nerve. Surprise turned to anger as he started dancing again, unwilling to attract any more attention.
Some perverse part of him made him want to punish her, watch her squirm a bit. He gave her his cockiest smile. “What do I get in return?”
She studied him for a minute before replying, the fear obvious in her eyes. “Anything you want.”
He danced her to the middle of the floor and pulled her close so they could talk better. Or at least that’s what he told himself as he wrapped both arms around her waist and tugged her close, unable to suppress another smirk at the feel of her full breasts pressed to his chest. “I want a woman to let me make love to her on the back of a horse.”
She mouthed, “Oh my God,” before her head dipped and he couldn’t see her face again.
His lips twitched as he smothered the urge to laugh. She hadn’t forgotten their discussion about sexual fantasies.
She finally raised her head and looked back up at him. “For five minutes of your time? All you have to do is help me get rid of her.”
“And at some point you’ll have to break our ‘engagement.’ I need a beer.” He dragged her off the dance floor toward the bar.
She’d never agree. Skye might have, but not Jade. She was too much of a straight arrow. But if she did, he’d get a kick out of teasing her in front of her mom and watching her squirm some more. Jade tugged at his hand harder and harder as they neared the bar.
He whirled around and glared at her, tired of her tugging. “What?”
“Will you do it?”
“Jade!” came a sharp voice from behind him. He turned and what he saw froze his blood. If he thought Jade looked haughty, she had nothing on the petite, well-preserved blonde bearing down on them. He resisted the urge to shiver and wrap his arms around himself. She was just the sort of person he’d never had any use for. Self-important. Someone who thought the word stopped and started with them.
“Will you?” he shot back, even though it was damn near too late.
Jade nodded vigorously and stepped in front of him, pulling his head down to hers. “She thinks we had an argument!”
“Got it.” He brushed his lips against her cheek, for show, and stood to face her mother, ignoring the exotic scent of Jade’s perfume.
Mrs. Ballard was perfect, from her sharply pressed jeans that probably cost more than everything he had on, to her pale sweater set and pearls. She had Jade’s nose and the same haughty expression Jade liked to use, but otherwise he didn’t see much of a family resemblance. She weighed, measured and assessed him through narrowed eyes, and he got the impression she found him lacking.
Not that he gave a shit.
Two could play this game. He pulled Jade as close as possible and plastered the most loving look he could manage on his face as he leaned over and kissed her temple. Her soft hair tickled his cheek and she smelled warm and earthy, spicy.
“Jade, I really don’t care to stay here any longer than necessary.”
“Relax, ma’am.” He held up a finger and smiled before leaning over and hollering over Mrs. Ballard’s shoulder, “Kellie honey! Bring me a beer, and bring one for my girl and her momma, too. Would you?”
He bit his lip to keep from laughing. Now all he needed was some dip. Too bad Bo wasn’t around.
Kellie, who stood over by the bar, where Jade’s mother couldn’t see her, wrinkled her nose and motioned for a brand.
He caught Jade’s eye and said, “Bud or...”
“Corona with lime.”
“Ma’am, what kind of beer would you like?” He smiled and waited to see just how much of a snob she was.
She visibly cringed, not much, but she did and then shook her head. “I’ll pass.”
Off the snob-o-meter. “Bud and Corona, please ma’am.”
From her spot behind the bar, Toni frowned and gestured toward Jade’s mother. Explanations would come later. For now, all he could do was smile. And besides, he was kind of enjoying himself. “You gonna introduce us, Baby?” he asked Jade, giving her another squeeze.
“Row...Robbie Yates, the Honorable Judge Trudy Ballard.”
He tipped his battered Stetson and offered his hand, which she limply shook. Jade hadn’t even called the judge, Mom.
My God! Her mother was a judge. Probably the hangin’ kind. Thank God Kellie swung by with their beers on the way to her tables. He definitely needed his now. He lifted both from her tray with a grateful nod.
“Toni wants you,” Kellie yelled as she shifted back into high gear and cruised past, her red curls bobbing.
He caught his sister-in-law’s eye and motioned for her to hang tight. She frowned at him and pointed at Jade's mother again. He nodded and repeated the gesture. Five minutes. All he needed was five damn minutes. She shrugged and moved on to her next customer, finally content to wait.
He offered an elbow to Jade's mother. Judge Ballard. And resisted the urge to shudder. She frowned up at him.
“We can talk in the beer garden,” he shouted, pointing at his ear.
“Beer garden?” Her pale blonde eyebrows rose.
You would have thought he’d suggested a hayride. He swallowed hard, his smile starting to ache, and tightening his grip on Jade's shoulder. To his surprise, she slipped an arm around his waist and squeezed back.
They made their way through the crowd to the beer garden, which had originally been nothing more than a large grassy area surrounded by a privacy fence. Years ago Susie had put a playground in at on one end and landscaped the rest with shrubs, hedges and flowerbeds. Huge old oaks she’d refused to tear down when she’d bought the place provided shade in the early evening heat. He led both ladies past the crowd gathered right outside the double doors and down a bricked path until they found an unoccupied bench. He gestured for The Judge to sit, and when she did, he joined her, pulling Jade down on his leg. Might as well make it look good.
“So, you’re marrying my daughter.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He beamed at her, then frowned as if he were really worried. “Or is it Your Honor.”
“Ma’am is fine.” She crossed her legs at the ankles and sat primly on the edge of the bench, as if she were afraid to contaminate her clothes any more than necessary by sitting back.
“Who are you? And your family, who are they? Where do you come from?”
Her mother was a judge. His father had been a wife-beating alcoholic who drank up his paychecks as fast as possible.
“I told you his father was deceased.” Jade’s grip on his shoulder increased and he squeezed her waist. Rowdy could handle The Judge, even if she did leave him feeling more like white trash than a hard working redneck.
“I’m asking him.” Her frigid tone could have iced over the nearby shrubs. Good thing he was the law-abiding type. The Judge was not someone he’d ever care to face in a courtroom.
He could talk it up or talk it down. If he chose down, it’d be that much easier for Jade to “dump him” later on. “I’m from right here in good old Bluebonnet, ma’am. Jade's right though, he died when I was sixteen and my mother lives down on the coast. My sister’s out west but her ex-husband’s family lives here, and they claim me.”
“They claim you. How nice.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He set his beer on the ground and rested his hand on Skye’s thigh. Condescending bitch.
Her eyes followed his hand then met his gaze head on, but her expression never changed. “Jade’s previous fiancé is a corporate attorney—”
“You mean the one who ran off and left her for the...entertainer?” he interrupted, biting back a snicker as she blinked in shock. Apparently she didn’t think he knew about Allan the Alien--Skye’s pet name for him. “I’ve heard all about him, and I promise, I won’t leave your daughter standing at the altar in tears, ma’am.”
“What exactly do you do again?”
“This ‘n that. I play here on the weekends and I help the owner out when she needs to me to. Do a little ranching. I’m just a jack of all trades, I guess you could say.” He gave Skye a little squeeze, waiting to see what Judge Ballard would throw at him next.
“Well, I suppose that explains why my daughter has no ring, doesn’t it.”
“Jade's ring is being resized. It’ll be ready tomorrow,” he gleefully lied. She’d never know different. He gave Skye...Jade his most loving smile, still unsure why he was helping her. Oh yeah, she’d asked. He reached for his beer and took a sip, unwilling to look too closely at his motives--beyond having a little fun and his horse fantasy.
“It’s a shame you’re going home tonight, ma’am. You’ll miss it,” Jade practically whispered.
“Isn’t it. I’ve had a rather long day and would really like to leave now, Jade.”
Her Honor stood and looked down her nose at them, her regal expression pushing him on He eased Jade off his thigh and stood up, pulling her firmly against him. “You don’t mind if we say goodbye, do you, ma’am?” He finished his request with a slightly bashful smile, head ducked just a bit--his Aw Shucks look.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “If you must.”
The Judge didn’t move. Just stood there. He turned and found Jade staring at him, wide-eyed. He took her beer bottle and set it on the bench beside his, acutely conscious of her mother’s close proximity. Surely she wasn’t so dense she didn’t realize he was about to kiss her daughter. Why didn’t Judge Ballard head inside like any decent person would do so they could talk? They had a date with a horse to plan.
“Thanks for dancing with me,” he whispered, leaning down and rubbing his nose against hers. He had to make this look good. Now he understood why Jade had been so desperate. Her mother was a royal bitch. But he’d enjoyed himself, just the same.
“Thank you,” she whispered back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He knew she wasn’t just thanking him for the dance but his help. He brushed his mouth over hers and caught her lips in a slow easy kiss. They were cold and surprisingly soft. She relaxed against him with a slight shiver and he deepened the kiss, tightening his grip on his soft, curvy armful. To his pleasant surprise she responded when he flicked his tongue against hers. Their tongues met tentative and testing and her arms tightened around his neck. Despite his own body’s response to her softening, he couldn’t completely forgot about Judge Ballard.
Mom wanted a show, he’d give her a show. Mom thought he was trashy, he’d give her trashy. Rowdy invaded Jade's mouth, determined to get a better response from her as well. He let her come up for air only to dive back in and give her the most devastatingly erotic kiss he could. He ignoring The Judge’s throat clearing, intent on showing Jade with his mouth exactly what that horseback ride would be like.
“My God, Uncle Rowdy, get a damned room.” His niece’s snappy twang pulled him right out of what had turned into a very intense, heart-stopping kiss. If they’d been alone he might have asked Jade home, but then again, if not for her mom, she wouldn’t have come to the dancehall in the first place.
In the middle of trying to show Her Judgeship just how awful he was, Rene came along and iced the cake. He nearly choked on Jade's tongue and his own laughter.
Still laughing, he broke the kiss and looked up to discover Rene standing at an intersecting path. “Hey brat,” he greeted her, keeping one arm around Jade and sneaking a glance at her mother.
“My dear Lord, where did that child learn to talk?”
“A barn, and you?”
“Rene, behave.” Rowdy gave a slight shake of his head, hoping she’d catch the hint in the rapidly dimming light. She’d served her purpose.
“You’re related to this child?” Judge Ballard demanded.
“She’s my niece.” And she had the mouth of a sewer rat. For Rene, it all came down to shock value.
“Is she indeed?”
“Oh yes, ma’am, I’m really his niece. We might be country but we don’t do incest. That’s just gross.”
Beside him, Jade was overcome with fits of laughter so bad she finally had to sink down on the bench and try to catch her breath.
“After the show you put on at the country club the other night, Jade, I can see you making a fine aunt for this little one. You two can take your act on the road.” She waved a hand in Rene’s direction.
“Aunt. What aunt?” Rene glared back at him. She tended to be a bit possessive of the men in her life.
He’d just have to pray she kept her mouth shut—yeah right—and make it okay with her tomorrow. “I’m getting married.”
“The hell you say!” From her tone of voice, he might as well have told his tomboy niece, “I’m buying you a dress.”
“The hell I say! Now, go back inside, find your Aunt Jessa and tell her I’ll be along shortly,” he growled, hoping she’d take the hint and leave so he could wrap this up before it got anymore out of control.
Rather than turning and going back the way she’d come, Rene chose to cross in front of them. Rowdy watched her pause in front of The Judge and look her up and down. “Hmmpf,” she declared before turning and heading back toward the bar. Rene’s haughty expression rivaled the older woman’s.
“Well I never in my life! What an ill-mannered child,” she muttered so he barely heard her.
“Ma’am, just a word of warning.” Snooty was one thing, but Rene was off limits. His temper flaring, Rowdy turned to face The Judge, his hands clenched into fists at his hips. “I tend to be rather protective of my girls. From Jade to Rene, to all my sisters-in-law, all the way down to my baby goddaughter. And I don’t take kindly to anyone speakin’ ill of them, if you catch my drift.”
Rowdy picked up his beer and offered Jade his free arm. She stood and took it, and for just a minute, he thought he saw something in her eyes. Admiration? Adoration? No, just a trick of the rapidly dimming light.
They headed back the way they’d come, Jade’s mother now silent except for the click of her heels on the brick walkway. Rowdy rounded the corner only to pull up short at the sight of a Boudreaux Convention. Rene, and all the women, including Maggie, Tim’s godmother. Great. Rowdy focused on his niece, eyes narrowed. She stood with her hands behind her back, eyebrows raised and lips pursed. She wasn’t pleased, but then, neither was he.
“What’s this,” hissed Jade, squeezing his arm.
“Trouble with a capital “W”.” He freed his arm from Jade's grip and wrapped it protectively around her shoulder, tucking her close to him, as her mother appeared on her other side. Then smothered a chuckle as long, tall Toni sauntered forward, her lavender cat eyes pale slivers in the dim light.
“What the hell’s goin’ on, Rowdy?” She crossed her arms and waited, her full lips pursed. So that’s where Rene had gotten that expression from.
Jade’s grip on his waist tightened painfully.
“I told you, he’s marrying her, Toni,” Rene announced for anyone within earshot to hear.
“The hell you say!” Susie’s jaw dropped in obvious shock.
Rowdy cringed. Two nights ago he’d told Susie there was no him and Jade.
“That’s what I said.” Rene crossed her arms, a smirk on her face.
“Glad to see I’m not the only one...shocked at the sudden engagement.” The Judge sniffed.
Just then Betti stepped forward, full hips swinging and blonde curls bobbing. Rowdy gave Ty’s wife a wink and she winked back with her usual good-natured grin. Betti was expecting and proudly let anyone who asked rub her swollen belly. She was also a mama bear with everyone she cared about. A trait that had quickly endeared her to Rowdy.
Betti held out a long hand and wiggled her manicured fingers at him. Rowdy took them and squeezed, giving her a grateful smile.
“We might all be surprised at the happy announcement but that doesn’t mean we’re not pleased.”
“Introduce us, honey,” Maggie Boudreaux gently ordered with a regal nod of her red head. Tim’s godmother was the benevolent Queen Mother to The Judge’s obviously iron-fisted monarchy.
Rowdy obliged with a smile. Maggie Boudreaux could be just as formidable as Jade's mom when she put her mind to it and surrounded by the rest of the clan--Rene, Jessa, Betti, Delaney, Susie and Toni--she presented quite a picture. He heaved a quiet sigh of relief.
After the how do you do’s were made, Rowdy spun around at a deep rumble behind him. “And I’m his brother, Tim Caldwell.”
Rowdy had never in his life been so grateful for his family’s support, but he was gonna have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.
“Well you’re certainly tall, aren’t you.” The Judge offered Tim her hand.
Jade stiffened at his side while Rowdy stifled a grin at the mental picture of Tim leaning over and kissing the judge’s wedding ring. But he could tell by the firm set of Tim’s jaw he wasn’t too thrilled. Either at Rowdy or The Judge, he wasn’t sure.
“Daddy, Uncle Rowdy’s gettin’ married.”
“I heard.”
“That...little girl is yours?”
“Yes, she is.” Before The Judge could say anything else, a smiling Tim motioned to Jade. “This her? The one you told me about?”
He nodded and gave her a gentle push in Tim’s direction. “This is Skye.”
“Her name is Jade,” The Judge corrected him in her haughtiest tone yet.
“Jade Skye? Is that her real name?” Tim asked with a chuckle, then immediately turned his head away as Rene nailed The Judge to the wall.
“What the hell kinda name is that?”
Rowdy smothered his laughter with a cough while Jade ducked her head, trying to smother her own giggles. “My sister’s Emerald Rayne,” Jade said, shaking Tim’s hand.
“My Gawd, Uncle Rowdy, you can’t marry her. Your kids’ll end up with some whacked-out names like Sapphire Cloud or Zirconia Tree!”
Tim roared with laughter, pulling Jade into a big bearhug and patting her back.
Despite his best efforts, Rowdy couldn’t hold back his own laughter this time and still hadn’t gotten himself sufficiently under control by the time Jade pushed away from Tim and tossed her beer in a nearby trash barrel. “I think I’d better take her home now.”
“Sunday we’re having a cookout,” Toni threw in.
Rowdy smothered a groan at what he knew was coming next. And Toni the Matchmaker was as protective as Rene was possessive.
“You should come.”
“Do you mean to tell me that in six months, you’ve never even met his family, Jade?”
“She knows some of us,” Jessa piped up, pointing to Susie and Toni. “But it’s time she met the rest of the folks.”
Before Jade could respond, he gave her a tiny nod. They’d deal with that later. “I tend to keep my affairs private until I’m ready to share.”
“When were you planning on sharing? After the wedding?”
Jade sighed and gave him an apologetic shrug, the strain visible on her face. “I’m tired, ma’am. Can we go now?”
“Absolutely.”
They said their good-bye’s and disappeared into the bar’s thick throng of customers.
“She didn’t even call her mother, Mom.” Rene looked at him, then back toward the crowd.
Rowdy snorted and shook his head. “You call your Mom, Charlie.”
“Ya’ll better get back up on that stage before that crowd gets any more restless,” Susie noted, then pointed at him. “You and I are gonna have a long talk before the night is through, Mister.”
“Lay off, Suz. Rowdy knows what he’s doing.”
“I understand that, Tim, but it’s who he’s doing it with that has me worried.”